Faction Ot Ainah Mgehye'lloig | [ GE's Force Users ]

[Seed of Terror]

O̷̢̗̱̹̱͐̈̓́́͝t̴͔̥̠̬̯͙͕̩̀̀̆̊̚͝ ̷̮͚̜̤̟̟͇̪̗̭͙͉̪̬̤̈́͂́ͅA̶̺͉̲͌̀͆̂͘ì̷̧̠͓̒̐́̌̕ņ̶̮̞̮͓̙̗̝̣̥̙͚̂̽̇a̵̛͈͖̲̯̼̩͖͌̌͆̓͌̓̍̌͛̊̚h̶̨̤͎͓̹͍̜̤͚͍͉͖̏̇̓́̈́͋͛̏͂̓͛͘͝ ̴̰͉̼͔̤͈̦́̂̄̄͋̄͗̔͂̈́͊͘͜͠͠͝M̶̗͖̝̳̱͔͖̘͈̬͙̫͍̆̎̑g̸͈̗̬͖͌͜͝͝ȩ̸̢̛͍̗̺̦̣̣̖̇̏͋̀̃̋̏̏̃̃̎̓̕͜h̸̨̨̫̜͓̱̯̣͔̗͙͚͒̚͜͜͜y̸̫̱̗͍̗͗̓̑͊̄͋́̔̒ȩ̴͎̅'̶̡̦̜̪̹͍̺͍̓̈́͗̋͊̀͗̌͐͜͠l̶͕̤͓͉̆͒́͛̒͗͊͒̈́̆̒̚l̸͇͊̉͛́̽͐̅̄̈́̀̕o̸̧͎̫̘̭̯͖͋̿̌̌͊̎̓̕͜į̶̥̲̬̩̘̱̰̻̰̖̿̔̒̔̏̒̽̾͘̚͝g̷̲̙̠͕̙͙̥̜͈̝͆̿̈́̑̄̔͐͘͠​

Several individuals who had once been members of the Ashlan Crusade had since joined the Galactic Empire. Some of these were Force Users, while others were not. A particular group; one dedicated to the study of religious history and theology, aligned themselves with the Church of the Dark Side, where they continued their research and projects. For a long time, their work yielded only general insights, nothing truly tangible… at least, not until the events of the Planeshift took place. It was then that one of their projects accelerated dramatically.

One of their earliest studies, launched back in the days of the Ashlan Kaiserreich, had borne the motto "know thy enemy". After the Planeshift, this study resurfaced and drew renewed attention. During the age of the Maw, the Ashlans had seized control of a quarantined world known as Wgah’nagl, or The Dark Planet. This world had once been home to an eldritch species known as the Mgepah’bthnk or The Touched, and possessed an unusual faith called Ot Ainah Mgleth, or the Whispers of Truth.

This religion was monotheistic, venerating a god named Gnaiih ot N’ghftnahh; the Father of Shadows in Galactic Basic. The deity was especially intriguing because he was said to be one and the same as Typhojem, the ancient Sith god. Among the records lay an extraordinary account: the Ashlans had captured and slain the religion’s high priestess and/or prophetess, only for her to be resurrected by Ashla’s will as punishment - because she hurt the Ashlan living saint - the Ashlans transformed into a Light Side eldritch being. This woman was now known to the galaxy as Celeste Demici . Following her fateful encounter and duel with Darth Vinaze on Malachor V, she had regained fragments of her memories from that life and had spoken at length of her faith and its whispers.

The religion also described a sacred, hidden place from which the planet’s Force-sensitive priests and priestesses could summon eldritch creatures. Sith summoning rituals were traditionally used to call forth demons or the undead from the Netherworld, yet this was something altogether different. Research indicated that this realm was another Force plane entirely; a dimension referred to by the faith as the Throdog ph’ or the Great Beyond. Now, the group had finally uncovered a way to open a gateway, a rift, into this mysterious plane. More precisely, they had discovered a ritual not only to summon entities from that realm, but to cross over into it themselves.

Of course, this was no simple feat. Not every Force User possessed the strength or knowledge to tear open rifts between planes and dimensions. For this reason, the group summoned the members of the Dark Side Elite, as well as Force Users from the Church of the Dark Side, to Coruscant. There, within the Imperial Palace and at the very heart of its Nexus, they were to perform a grand ritual to open a passageway into the Great Beyond; and to step through it. Their mission: to explore the realm, and, if possible, recover technologies, artefacts, or relics of power.

By the time the volunteers arrived, the group had prepared everything. There was little left to do now but begin the task for which they had been gathered…

O̷̢̗̱̹̱͐̈̓́́͝t̴͔̥̠̬̯͙͕̩̀̀̆̊̚͝ ̷̮͚̜̤̟̟͇̪̗̭͙͉̪̬̤̈́͂́ͅA̶̺͉̲͌̀͆̂͘ì̷̧̠͓̒̐́̌̕ņ̶̮̞̮͓̙̗̝̣̥̙͚̂̽̇a̵̛͈͖̲̯̼̩͖͌̌͆̓͌̓̍̌͛̊̚h̶̨̤͎͓̹͍̜̤͚͍͉͖̏̇̓́̈́͋͛̏͂̓͛͘͝ ̴̰͉̼͔̤͈̦́̂̄̄͋̄͗̔͂̈́͊͘͜͠͠͝M̶̗͖̝̳̱͔͖̘͈̬͙̫͍̆̎̑g̸͈̗̬͖͌͜͝͝ȩ̸̢̛͍̗̺̦̣̣̖̇̏͋̀̃̋̏̏̃̃̎̓̕͜h̸̨̨̫̜͓̱̯̣͔̗͙͚͒̚͜͜͜y̸̫̱̗͍̗͗̓̑͊̄͋́̔̒ȩ̴͎̅'̶̡̦̜̪̹͍̺͍̓̈́͗̋͊̀͗̌͐͜͠l̶͕̤͓͉̆͒́͛̒͗͊͒̈́̆̒̚l̸͇͊̉͛́̽͐̅̄̈́̀̕o̸̧͎̫̘̭̯͖͋̿̌̌͊̎̓̕͜į̶̥̲̬̩̘̱̰̻̰̖̿̔̒̔̏̒̽̾͘̚͝g̷̲̙̠͕̙͙̥̜͈̝͆̿̈́̑̄̔͐͘͠

 

[Darth Vinaze]

The Prophet of the Sith'ari's return to the galaxy had been marked by strange tides. His forced exile to the depths of the Netherworld had felt to him much longer than the three decades that had passed in real time, and even then upon his return he had discovered the ramifications of Darth Solipsis 's ritual on Tython were widespread. The dilation of time in realspace was significant, with some mortals having lived only a few years in the span of 30, often unbeknownst to them. Then there had been the planeshift, and the cosmic unbalancing of the companion galaxies, something he could not merely chalk up to coincidence. The Shatterpoint Ritual had not sundered the universe as intended but it had, without a doubt in Vinaze's mind, irreparably damaged spacetime.

Though Vinaze had always worked in the shadows behind the scenes, his quest to herald the Sith'ari had long ended. Solipsis had firmly established himself. The King had been made and the Kingmaker had transitioned his role, away from that of a spiritual advisor into a spiritual enforcer, a spymaster, ringleader of fanatic religious assassins. Yet even deeper in the shadows, the Sith Sorceror turned his attention to pursuits from before he had joined the Brotherhood of the Maw all those years ago.

Ambitious Sith sciences, the manipulation of the midichlorians, of life itself, twisting mortality into a horrible shadow of its former self. He had returned to find Exegol, his adopted home where had learned such arts, destroyed at the hands of the Jedi once and for all. So too had his research complex on Tash-Taral been long since ransacked by the Jedi Lords. But it had not taken long to discover that all was not lost, for in their thirst for knowledge there were Ashlan Crusaders corrupted by his maleficarum. They had betrayed the Ashla for the Bogan and used his research for their own ends. But they were weak enough to fall to the Dark Side, and they were weak enough to be bent into his service when he returned.

The fallen Jedi revealed to Vinaze the apple of their eye, the end of their research. Not the creation of Sithspawn, but a source from which they could be drawn, horrors from a realm beyond that already existed, and need only to be tamed, unleashed. These monsters were descended from the Left-Handed God himself, Typhojem, the father of monsters in Sith myth. Twas a name seldom spoken, and such it surprised Vinaze that the fallen Jedi knew of the name, let alone equating the god of The Touched with him.

But their trail was clear and well walked, for the Ashlans had consorted with The Touched for years. It all led back to a name and a place that Vinaze had long forgotten. Celeste Demici was merely an adopted name for the creature, who had once upon time been like Vinaze, a spirit of the Dark Force. He had encountered her many years ago, though the truth of her planet was unknown to him at the time, and now Vinaze had traded his ethereal nature as a spirit to return to life in a mortal corpse once again. He could not enter the Netherworld himself to discern if it was simply a pocket dimension that they intended to enter, or if it was something else entirely. In his own journeys deep in the Netherworld, the true nature of Typhojem had eluded him. Thus he found himself reliant on the ritual the fallen Jedi had spent years devising.

Their calculations were correct it seemed, their research of Wgah'ngal and its people thorough. Eyewitness accounts and ancient religious rites passed down in oral tradition, translated from their twisted tongue for the first time. And it would all culminate in the heart of the galaxy.

To walk through the halls of the Jedi Temple brought a feeling of great triumph to Vinaze, as his cloaked form glided silently towards the ritual chamber. It was perfect to be performing in here, of all places. The Force was wounded in this place, the pinnacle of the Light wholly enclosed in darkness, captured, perverted by the Dark Side. The veil between this world and the next has been thinned to the point where the Sith Lord swore he could catch glimpses of the Netherworld if he cocked his head just right, and he could hear the screams of the Jedi who had been slain to make all of this possible, each an echo in the Force.

Vinaze entered the ritual chambers to find everything prepared by the Church's underlings. They did not dare to look him in the eyes, but if they did on this occasion they might have found an expression of pride.

He wondered who might arrive, given the nature of the event. The Emperors Elite were much more focused on the hunting of Jedi across the stars, and the New Sith Order itself had dwindled in size, but the call had been put out to all in service of the Emperor that could bend the Force to their will, regardless of creed. In Vinaze's mind, any who would join them and live to tell the tale was a vindication of the strength of the Sith.

 

[Thomas Barran]

WHISPERS OF MADNESS
I

​

The Imperial Palace,
Coruscant, Galactic Deep Core (903 ABY)

'We good?'
'Not at all, Great Khan.... Not here - this planet is trouble.'
'Worry not, Imbuement is permitted. Just remember, some of those shadows could be attendees.'​

The Khan could feel it already, the maddening sense that the very fabric of reality itself was taut, already threatening to tear itself asunder at a moment's notice, he had experienced such nights on more occasions than anyone of the Bloodhound's ilk were comfortable admitting. Even casting a knowing, urgent glance of apprehension, an honest showing of his own to avert any potential doubts in the minds of his subordinates, as there would be many more who knew the disconcerting truth; it would not take much to tear a breach in Realspace on Coruscant, and certainly not at the gathering within the Imperial Palace itself, to which the invite had been by a kindred dreamer of the Great Sith'ari's return.

Accompanied by kindred in resurrection, to a site of her specific choosing.

The birthname was not known to the Bloodhound, but when he had heard Celeste Demici 's surname, it was then that the one-eyed Woad began to pay more attention, and this was only in the first, rumoured whiff of the gathering he would go on to attend. Darth Vinaze , however, would require no such introduction, and when the Bloodhound noticed his presence, (and on approach to the ritual site at that-) the prior acceptance of the invite seemed all the less insane in hindsight. But when he finally entered the ritual site, Thomas would find himself amazed to see his daughter there, but in seeing Seer'aa Barran there with Y'sanne Stradd, he would smile in realisation that his daughter was right to be here.

'Greetings from the Mawsworn, everyone.... I assume we all know why we came to our realm's ultimate seat of power.'

​

Cracking his knuckles, Barran spared a proud smile for his daughter for a moment, (and a nod of appreciation to her powerful mentor) then turned to the plan's architects before he continued,'I mean - can you not feel it? Seems as though we need little more than a nudge to tear a breach in Realspace here.', trailing off to pull his eyepatch away from his face for the task ahead. The carved, eye-shaped ruby in his right eye-socket had a purpose in matters of ritualistic concern, and on this night of nights, lighting the ruby in a red glow with whispered incantations as his index and middle fingers pressed against it, the Khan knew he would need it.

'So, whats the plan?'