Private Peace Is A Lie

[Darth Solipsis]

RHAND
MAW SPACE, UNKNOWN REGIONS​

"Tell me what your greatest strength is, in this way I can undermine you; teach me what you fear most, so I can make it so; tell me what you love and cherish, so I can take it away; show me your ambition Gren Blidh , so I can deny you and stoke the fires deep within."

The Dark Voice wandered, circling the prospective acolyte of the Maw. He had gifts, he had potential. Strong in the Dark Side, he could feel it inside of him coursing beneath the surface like a caged animal. He would become a powerful Dark Side Adept indeed, perhaps more if he was deemed worthy and found it wanting.

The secret Sith Master felt the bright sunset drift off his body, it's light and warmth slowly dissipating as the darkness crept in. The Elder reached down and grasped hold of a tall strand of grass from the prairie that stretched before their eyes. He studied the sample plucked from the ground for a moment or two, all before crumbling it between his fingers with distaste. "Rhand is a world bathed in the Dark Side of the Force, the energies here have been tended to by the Sorcerers of Rhand for generations."

His eyes shifted to the male and snapped over his form with dark grimace hidden behind the veneer of a friendly smile. "You will die or you will ascend past these trials. There will be no escape."

The Voice of the Maw turned away and glared off in the distance. Hand rising, pointing in the direction of their destination.

"A cave rests along the horizon. Inside we shall see your worth."



Gren Blidh

 

[Gren Blidh]

​

The gentle breeze moved through the matted locks of Gren Blidh, the dark smuggler, as he stood before the Voice himself. The sun and expansive field in which they stood belied none of the dark energy that encased this planet. The sun touched his face but it did not feel warm. Instead, Gren could only feel the cold, menacing energies of hate and ambition. He felt right at home here on this planet of mystical blackness.

In struggle we find ourselves, or we find ourselves lacking. That was the way of existence.

Gren's gaze fell to the horizon as Darth Solipsis gestured toward it. He could see where the golden fields gave way to craggy mountains, lurking as pale monoliths in the distance. What dangers awaited him in the dark between the cold rock embankments were unknown.

"What will I find there, Dark Voice?"

It was possible that he would find only death, and the smuggler knew it. Gren narrowed his lone eye at the objective. He could have chosen to stay a smuggler forever - he would likely be nestled in a cornerclub somewhere in Coruscant's seedy underbelly, enjoying a beverage and the patronage of the local women. But he was here, and there was a chance he would not leave Rhand alive. That was a price Blidh was willing to pay.

In a world where he was not powerful enough to master his own fate? That was not a world worth living in.

 

[Darth Solipsis]

"Weakness. And it needs discarded."

The blanketed form of Darth Solipsis stepped away into the tall grass that lined the golden fields, the Dark Voice began the trek toward the cave at a leisurely pace. He could feel the Dark Side flow through him, the eldritch energies of this world crackling from deep below the surface. The miasma of tainted energy bathed the world in a false sense of heavenly splendor. To the followers of the Dark such as Lirka Ka and Tegan Starfall this was paradise, this was home.

The Elder remained silent the entirety of the walk toward the wicked mountain range, the jagged peaks stretched on as they grew closer and closer to the mouth of the cave. As they neared then threshold, the Sith Master slowed and turned to face the acolyte. The Dark Voice extended his hand in gesture and motioned toward the ground.

"Can you feel it? In the depths there is a vergence, crackling with power. You will find this vergence and bath in it's energies."

His hand recoiled, a dark smile formed in it's wake.

"Or you will die trying."

The Elder's hand rose toward the cave in one final gesture to the dark smuggler, "You must go alone."




Gren Blidh

 

[Gren Blidh]

Blidh wasn't entirely sure what he felt emanating from this gaping maw of dark energy - whether or not this feeling was powerful enough to be considered a true vergence - but he certainly felt something. Both he and Darth Solipsis moved in silence through the fields, two dark figures against the sea of endless amber, drawing ever closer to the Force energy that beckoned to them. Gren had learned over the last few months to tap into sensations that gave way to voices, unseen and unheard to others. Feelings. They told him how to act and react, and offered pure power. But power wasn't given freely. These new powers that were growing inside Gren, they were in exchange for... what?

"I feel it, my Lord," Gren answered in a low tone, his voice almost being caught away by the breeze. His lone eye met the gaze of Darth Solipsis as the Sith Master ordered him inside the cave.

There was no reason to speak further when two men understood each other. Gren knew he had to make the journey alone; it would be his strength alone that would see him through this trail. Anything else would be regarded as failure. The smuggler and navigator conspicuously loaded and cocked his blaster with a fresh energy cell as he looked at Solipsis, before slipping the weapon back into his coat pocket. The Force operated in mysterious ways that often defied conventional weaponry, but still, Gren wasn't about to be caught in a sticky situation lacking a weapon. If there was one thing he'd learned from his smuggling days, it was that.

As he stepped inside the cave and slowly traversed further into the abyss, he had to wonder about the Dark Voice himself. What was his game in all of this - in the Maw? He seemed to be a Sith of some sort, yet his allegiance was to this band of wild pirates rather than to the Sith Empire or its several splinter factions. He could be an outcast or an agent, and for some reason he had singled out Gren himself to cultivate his power. Gren could only ask why as he moved deeper into the cave.