Padawan Field Trip

[Matsu Ike]

Location: Ruusan

The last time the jedi master had been on Ruusan she had used the waters within the valley of the jedi to regain her connection to the force and the eye of the sun to strengthen it. Learning how to brush off a wall of light for a lightsider well sometimes needed a little jumpstart as she was moving in the ship and setting down with some of the equipment they had brought for the trip. Sonic emitters to mark off locations for padawans to work without risk of creatures attacking them.

The rest was to well set some things up in case they wanted to study the temples or areas constructed by the jedi order before they had been made to abandon it. Corvus was called and asked to come along because that was Matsu main contact and friend within the jedi order. That she was the grandmaster only meant this was a chance for the two of them to go exploring again but without the giant monsters, lost cities in connected galaxies and threat of a giant wall of ice falling on them.... Progress.

The Harlequin touched down and the small treats of jerky cans and bottles of water were presented. Matsu took a little more interest in the session they were having and laid out some of the gear fr going to explore with packs as well as expeditionary suits they had made. The ruins and temples were still here as was the caves to explore. All they needed to do was go to have some fun and mind the probe droids that had been released while she meditated in case some wanted teaching.

Spoiler

[member="Orphen"] [member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Ben Corscifine"] [member="Vasek"] [member="Nen Katoa"] [member="Togo"] [member="Desric Kane"] [member="Aedric Stormwind"] [member="Katfi Drevur"] [member="Amara No'orabi"] [member="Derriphan Itsu"] [member="Belle Vos"] [member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Lawrenceus"] [member="Faratain"] [member="Lyoto Chiba"] [member="D'vok Windroamer"] [member="Roshki Belawiiks"] [member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Ayden Quell"] [member="Ronin Wendigo"] [member="Quinncolson"] [member="Nen Katoa"] [member="Anna Song"]

OOC NOTE: Have fun, go exploring, meet fellow padawans and have adventurers. If you want training then ask for it and we'll go for a large group session

 

[Desric Kane]

OOC: I'd like to request some training.

 

[Dune Rhur]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

The Valley of the Jedi, Ruusan

The Valley was quiet, but not in an eerie kind of way. More so that it made you feel a sense of reverence and the most talkative beings would fall silent. He stood amongst all of this, feeling what tranquility felt like. The statues and monuments didn't seem grandiose and arrogant. It felt right.

As the Bith walked on, he came upon the monument to the fallen Jedi heroes of millennia past. Hands folded in the sleeves of his brown robes, he bowed. He had read of their great sacrifice, the One Hundred. He wanted to pay his respects for he admired them greatly.

They'd come willingly, knowing all the while what lay in wait. But not even fear of death could stop them. The Sith menace had to be ended and it was their solemn duty. Trapped for centuries, finally they were released to the Force by then Knight Kyle Katarn.

He bowed in deepest respect and admiration to Hoth and every Knight and Master. The Bith then made his way back to the meditation complex, boots crunching on the hard-packed dirt. It took him some minutes, the valley stretching several kilometres. Finally, he entered the edifice.

Dune felt the immense weight of thousands of years in the soft radiance. It didn't threaten to crush him, but the stone reminded him of times past. At last, he came into the large and open meditation chamber.

Here was a very large Adegan crystal, the biggest he'd yet seen. Dune sat before it, crossing his legs. He closed his eyes and drew in breaths deep and calming. He felt the crystal hum softly in response.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Because of their chosen ideal of selflessness, there were not a whole lot of monuments to the achievements of the Jedi.

Ruins of the past, certainly. Rhen Var, for example. Or Ahch-To. But nothing like the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban, or the Great Valley of Tash-Taral. The Valley of the Jedi was remarkable, on a number of scales. Historical significance. Architectural significance. Artistic significance. As a memorial, it was sobering. As a reminder of the past, it was fascinating to behold. Walking through a graveyard of fallen heroes of yesterday's wars so soon forgotten to the fog of memory, finding truth in rumor and discovering the lost histories of the Jedi.

The ship descending for its landing on Ruusan was reflected in the ocular sensor of the spherical VC probe droid. The hovering orb giving a warbling sound, before ghosting through the air.

In the distance, sitting atop the shoulders of a monolithic statue of some stoic Jedi Knight carved from out of solid stone, the adolescent vampire worked with a fine, soft brush as he cleaned away the dust of centuries and worked with a specialized datapad to take scans of the sedimentary rock comprising the original piece.

How old were these ruins?

Who had built them?

The sound of droidspeak brought the tow-headed archaeologist up from his work. Glancing back at the hovering probe droid, the entrepreneurial Anzat looked over at his companion for a moment. A stream of blue light emitted from out of the probe droid, illuminating a scaled down reproduction of the ship's landing. The boy's eyes narrowed slightly, as recognition dawned at the vessel's markings.

Holding up his left wrist, the boy swiped his finger across the smooth screen of the wristlink that he wore. With two fingers, the boy typed from memory the access codes and frequencies familiar to the codecs used by the Silver Jedi. "Master Ike," the boy remarked, speaking into the open comlink. "What brings you to Ruusan?"

[member="Dune Rhur"] | [member="Matsu Ike"]​

 

[Ri'ven Gevrok]

He had been quite for most of the trip as he had decided to meditate in one of the Harlequin's personal rooms and when he wasn't meditating he had some rather fun conversations with Vashatet Shinerma, the ships scientist. When the ship had landed he went to the bridge to look over the area were they had landed. Eyeing the former temple he grew curious and decided to go find [member="Matsu Ike"] as she meditated.
Once he found her, he cleared his throat to announce his presence though he was sure that she had already known him being there. "Master, I wish to ask you something if I may. Might there be something inside the old temple?" He asked as he was curious of learning more of the wisdom and history of the jedi. Though a part of him always felt so small when he was around the masters of the order, probably because he felt diminished for their wisdom, power and experience.

 

[Faratain]

Faratain entered the meditation chamber where [member="Dune Rhur"] sat and looked in awe at the giant crystal and the ancient architecture. He felt the force flow and pulse through the room and felt calm.

"Interesting isn't it" he wondered aloud. "This place was built long before us and will be here long after..."

"Sorry, I hadn't meant to interrupt your meditation," he said apologetically. "I'm Faratain by the way, I came here to learn about the ancient Jedi."

"Who might you be?" he inquired.

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

[member="Faratain"]

"It was built some time ago, yes."

The Bith uncrossed his legs and stood, looking at the taller newcomer. "I'm Dune, an apprentice in the Order," his tone made this seem of no importance. He'd mentioned an interest in Jedi lore, which was also an interest of the Bith's. "This," he said with a gesture taking in the surroundings "Is the meditation chamber of what's come to be called The Valley of the Jedi."

"It was built a short time after the last battle of Ruusan, commissioned by Johun Othone who was the Padawan of General Hoth. The same Master who led the One Hundred against the Brotherhood of Darkness. They were subsumed in the detonation of the Thought Bomb, a terrible weapon created by the Sith. Their sacrifice ended years of Galactic conflict which cost countless millions of lives. However, the twisted Sith creation trapped all the souls, preventing them from becoming one with the Force."

"However, the Council of the time disapproved of Jedi Othone's monument, believing it a sign of arrogance. Consequently it, and the souls trapped here were forgotten. That was until over 1000 years later when Kyle Katarn came, and through his actions released the souls to their rest."

"Master Katarn had been told by Master Skywalker who had learned of it from Master Yoda. How Master Yoda had known remains unknown. I suspect he learned of this place through the Force itself. It was said he had a powerful connection to the Force, often seeing events to come."

"That is, of course, a very condensed version of events. The libraries at the Temple can tell you everything in detail."

 

[Amara No'orabi]

The first thing that Amara felt on Ruusan was shock. Which was pretty normal for her now, considering she had spent sixteen years surrounded by nothing but sand and rock and angry merchants. The planet thrummed with a hidden energy, stronger than anything she had felt on Ilum, which was rather surprising, and when Amara finally set foot into the Valley of the Jedi she nearly forgot to breathe.

"Oh," she whispered, straying from the group almost immediately to walk among the statues littering the place. Her gut dragged her until she stood in front of an enormous statue of one of the Jedi of old. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she wasn't sad. Not really. Just caught up in the beauty of the place really. The Knight standing over her was breathtaking despite the crumbling architecture and the beating the stone had taken over the years. She could almost imagine the weapon in his hands glowing a bright blue, the same color as her own lightsaber, and she almost reverently touched the statue's base before returning to where the ship had landed and then meandering into the Temple.

She caught the tail end of [member="Dune Rhur"]'s explanation and leaned against the doorway of the meditation room.

"Is that why this place feels so strange? Because the souls were trapped here for so long? I mean...you can feel it too, can't you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at Dune. "I'm Amara, by the way."

 

[Dune Rhur]

[member="Amara No'orabi"] [member="Faratain"]

"Yes, I remember you from Illum, Amara," he said with a smile. There had been a gorgodon and somehow they came out alive. Even the huge creature was still alive, though worse for wear after being flung away by Karen Roberts. "I won't forget that trip, ever."

He thought about her question for a long moment.

"The souls were released, they say. Perhaps you're right. Perhaps they were here so long that they somehow embedded themselves. Others might say it's psychological because of the significance. I don't know."

The Valley indeed was a strange place unlike Illum or any other place steeped in the Light Side. The former simply hummed with the energy. Here, it was a quiet echo. It almost did feel like a whisper in your ear.

 

[Faratain]

"Quite interesting theories you both have there. I wonder if there's any way to test them. Perhaps if we meditated on it for long enough we might find our answer..."

Faratain turned to Amara "I'm Faratain by the way. I only recently became a padawan. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Faratain was very pleased to be meeting different people of different races. Every encounter was a new experience.
Faratain looked around the grand room with a sense of bewilderment.

"I wonder what other hidden secrets this place might reveal if we searched hard enough."

[member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Amara No'orabi"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

[member="Faratain"] [member="Amara No'orabi"]

"Maybe we could, but if anything, the Force will reveal what it wants no matter how much we push."

The Bith Padawan knew that logic didn't always apply in matters of the Force. It did what it would, striving to maintain a balance like his own body constantly sought homeostasis.

"If you both want to join me in meditation, I'd be pleased."

His long-fingered hand gestured to the very large Adegan crystal.

"This crystal is just like those in the meditation rooms at Lothal Temple, except much larger. It helps you focus very easily, like the crystal of a lightsaber focuses the energy into the blade."

With a smile for both his fellows, he resumed his seated meditation.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Faratain"] [member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Amara No'orabi"] [member="Derriphan Itsu"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] [member="Desric Kane"]

(very nice guys and Desric request in in a post please)

Matsu heard the young anzati and she raised an eyebrow about why she had come here. "I wanted to revisit the valley of the jedi. It is something all jedi should see." She was looking at him and there was another padawan while the others were moving off and her padawan Amara she was glad to see here while she stood up looking over some of the area. "There may be padawan you never know what lays hidden underneath or has been left behind." She was also looking towards the others before reaching out with her senses and brought her hands around to trace a section of the world. One lesson that could be used and given to others while she breathed in slowly letting her eyes move rapidly back and forth watching the world as she drifted and shifted through the stream seeing everything that was there. Her mind reaching out and brushing to welcome her padawan Amara to the valley while the others were going off and talking with a small smirk. "THere is a lot of history here few get to see."

 

[Faratain]

Faratain sat down across from Dune and began to meditate with him like he had suggested. He calmly sat down and began to focus on the hum that seemed to resonate throughout the valley. He thought of the crystal and the force and let the force flow through him, the crystal concentrating his energy.

As he meditated he slowly fell into a trance. He began to see glimpses of things, images, flashes. Events he couldn't really describe for he didn't see them for long enough. they seemed like real events that had happened but they didn't seem to be coming and going in sequential order. They could be from the past or from the future he could not tell.

One image did stick out to him, His master fighting a sith on some planet, she looked younger than she was now. The word "Balmorra" echoed in his head before the image changed. The next thing he saw was the same sith and himself sitting in a room, but now he and the sith were great friends and allies. The image troubled him deeply and frightened him.

Faratain snapped out of his trance, gasping for air and sweating. He stopped for a moment, what had the images meant? This was all very confusing. He allowed himself a quick break while he collected himself before he continued meditating.

[member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Amara No'orabi"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

[member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Faratain"] [member="Amara No'orabi"]

It was easy to hear the change in Faratain's breathing for the Bith's sensitive auditory organs. He supposed it might be a difficult memory or even some premonition. Though it was said no visions were ever garunteed, it didn't stop them from seeming as if they would be. However, the future was indeterminate and murky.

Visions were a possibility, he'd read, in some cases a warning. A megalomaniac might think themselves all-knowing with such an ability. Even Bith science and mathematics could only predict probability, and of course, a margin of error was therefore built-in. Even a prophecy was open to interpretation.

There was also time. Visions were said to never specify when, only how and perhaps who and where. It was all very intriguing but it raised more questions than it answered.

 

[Faratain]

Faratain controlled his breathing and regained his composure. Even he, one new to the order, knew that the force was mysterious and convoluted in its ways. He could not make heads nor tales of what his visions meant and decided it was best not to try and understand. He decided it was altogether better to remember what he had saw but not to stress over it, perhaps by discussing it with a master he could better understand what he had seen.

The Eldorai muttered a brief "Sorry" under his breath before returning to meditation. Again he focused on the crystal, he focused on the background hum of this place and the resonance it had with the force. He breathed deeply and again fell into a trance-like state.

He received no images, this time, he took that has a good sign. He felt the force flow through him, and through the Bith and even through the other Jedi in the room who were not meditating. He felt as one with the force and he felt at peace. He felt as if he could sense the being of billions of other life forms including his own. This sensation at once exhilarated and calmed him. he continued to meditate to seek what knowledge could be learned by being one with the force...

[member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Amara No'orabi"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

@Faratain@ Matsu Ike [member="Amara No'orabi"]

Though he'd be happy to meditate for a lifetime there, Dune decided it was time to speak to Master Matsu Ike. He rose silently to his feet, leaving the sylvan apprentice to his finally peaceful meditations. The Master was something of an unknown quantity to him.

Approaching her some minutes later, he noticed the archaeologist [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] there too. He bowed and addressed his question to both of them.

"Masters, I have a question about events here millennia ago. The Thought Bomb consumed the One Hundred but all of the Sith Lords present too. Why did they do it? It seems like madness."

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Full of history? That was putting it mildly.

As it was, Sor-Jan was conducting a rather interesting survey for submission to Net Zillo -- the Obsidian Order counterpart to what the Jedi would recognize as the Consular branch, focused on research and the advancement of knowledge. He wondered if he could get the Techno Union to take an interest in this world. Without Republic support, and the Hutt Cartel so close at hand, the artifacts and resources of Ruusan were ripe for piracy to bring the death of history down on them.

But, those were thoughts for another time. Hopping down from the statue that he'd been studying, the boy dusted his hands off on his clothing and made his way toward the famed Jedi Generalist of the Coalition. While he might not respect their clone military program, he did respect the Silver Master known as Matsu Ike. "A pleasure, my Master," the boy remarked warmly.

​

"Why did they do it? It seems like madness."​

The boy turned, bowing in kind to the Bith apprentice who had spoken. "Simple," the Jedi Archaeologist opined aloud. "Arrogance."

In terms of academic papers, 'arrogance' was merely a better word. Madness was quite apt, and more of how Sor-Jan would have described it himself.

"The Dark Side preys upon emotion," the young knight recalled, slipping into lecture mode without even being conscious of what he was doing. "One thing about people who are highly emotional is that they are not very rational," the teen stated. Basic psychology, really. He wondered if the Sith hadn't slept through those portions in university. "We usually divorce those two concepts. Emotion and reason rarely co-exist."

Were any of them here to ask the Sith just what they were thinking, it was either a glorious last stand... or else they'd been fools enough to think that they could control that much power. If he were to make a guess, Sor-Jan would have said the latter.

[member="Dune Rhur"] | [member="Faratain"] | [member="Matsu Ike"] | [member="Amara No'orabi"]​

 

[Ri'ven Gevrok]

He seemed a little puzzled at the answer [member="Matsu Ike"], gave him and walked away and decided to just go take a look for himself. He climbed up to the academy thought as he reached the entrance of it. Staring inside it he raised an eyebrow as the soft wind made a sort of whistling coir through the abandoned Academy. "Whelp might as well make the most of this little field trip." He said to himself as he took the first steps inside the academy.

 

[Faratain]

Faratain's concentration by the surrounding conversation. But he didn't mind, the history and lore were interesting and it was good not to become too consumed with the force.

He stood up and walked over to [member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] and [member="Dune Rhur"] .

"If the thought bomb consumed the sith lords as well then what was the point," He interjected. "Even in with madness self-preservation s one of the key principles of being a sith, why to destroy themselves?"

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The teen looked up as an Eldorai padawan spoke.

"Imagine how powerful they would have become had they been able to harness and control those energies," the teen noted, finding himself feeling as though he was back in an academic setting. Such as when he'd been a professor of history at the Academy on Yavin 4. "Perhaps they had thought their skills in the Force would shield or protect them, and merely found themselves overwhelmed."

Given the nature of the Force nexus that subsisted still, it was possible that the Dark Side energies had become magnified and escalated out of their control as well.

The Force, or what some would call the Light SIde, could be overwhelming at times. The adolescent Anzat couldn't imagine how much more so the Dark Side must be, and didn't care to experience it. If one allowed themselves to play with that kind of fire, inevitably they would be burned by it.

[member="Faratain"] | [member="Dune Rhur"] | [member="Matsu Ike"]​