Private Poaching Poachers on Dathomir

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Ahcho-To had been informative for Dreidi, she had learnt a lot of information about the history of the Jedi. How things could go wrong for them and how things would get twisted and misunderstood over time. It had also demonstrated that a person’s actions did not necessarily reflect who that person was within. While she had been able to recover the holocron, returning it where it belonged, she also had the chance to help the smugglers reform and find a new way of time that wasn’t stealing from the Jedi ruins.

It had been something that resonated within herself. She was realising her issues with the warrior front that she had been putting on. It wasn’t doing her much good mentally and she was unsure of how to settle during the more peaceful times. Perhaps why she agreed to go on this pilgrimage, so that she could find that spark inside herself once more.

For now she was still adjusting.

While this journey was meant to be a part of her Jedi pilgrimage, Dreidi decided that she also wanted to journey back to Dathomir. There was something there, something crucial to finding answers about herself that she needed to return. It was also a good time since the next planet she had intended to visit could be difficult. The connections between the Sith and Yavin IV had her on edge, she was wary of what she could end up facing there. For now, Dreidi wanted to return to somewhere that she considered a home, a comfort to recharge and prepare for the next leg of her journey.

Arriving on Dathomir, Dreidi landed her ship near a small clan village, it was not one she had visited before. However, she was adorned in her Nightsister attire, her hair tied up as she breathed in deeply. Stepping out onto the surface of Dathomir, Dreidi gave a polite smile to those who approached her, some were cautious due to her attire while others welcomed the sight of a fellow sister. Dathomir was a mix bag of incredible dangers but also the forging of strong bonds amongst not only the people but the animals.

As Dreidi walked around the village, checking things out, she noticed that there was an elder approaching her. Bowing her head respectfully to the village elder, she was surprised by what the elder had to say.

“You look exactly like Sister Aeira, was she your great grandmother, child?” The elder asked.

Dreidi paused, “I…” Unsure how to answer the elder. “I am unsure, my father was abandoned by his parents on Nar Shaddaa when they attempted to sell him as a slave.” It was all she knew about her family on his side. The idea that she could potentially have an ancestor on Dathomir, it intrigued her deeply.

“Well, perhaps you merely carry her spirit with you child. I wonder if you would be able to handle some poachers attempting to slaughter our wildlife for sport. It had been a task that Sister Aeira had done many, many years ago. Following her path might provide you some insight.” The elder suggested.

Dreidi nodded her head, eager to figure this out, she left the village quickly behind and headed off towards the direction of the poachers' last known location. East of the village and several miles away.

 

[Mar Sango]

Of all the places to be stranded she ended up on Dathomir. Sure the planet was beautiful but outsiders were about as welcome as dry rot. Some of the clans were friendlier than others of course but Marnie was still worried.

She had landed east of a small village and was surprised nobody had greeted her yet. She could sense someone watching but they didn’t seem to want to engage.

She sighed as she ran a diagnostic on the ship.

“Well droid … unless we can find the part we need I think we are stuck here.”

A small astrometric unit buzzed at her and she grinned.

“R-5… my mistake.”

Droids didn’t usually care what they were called but this one had some spunk. It would at least make for good company while she plotted what to do next.


Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Once Dreidi had agreed to find the poachers and stop them, the villagers decided that in the honours of Sister Aeira, Dreidi would be marked and outfitted with the items that the Nightsister wore whenever she hunted poachers in the past. Dreidi was curious to know what the old Nightersister would wear and if there was a connection between them. The markings left her fingers black and mingled with the tattoos that already adorned her body. It was strange to look at herself in the mirror as they worked. Normally she would always notice how she did not look Dathomirian, she had too much of the Zorren inside her. Especially after the change, however, she could see it, there were still the typical canine attributes of the Zorren on display but her skin, it was paler than a normal human's. Her hair as well, it was much closer to the Dathomirian white in colour than the supposedly white blonde look to it that she was told it was in the past.

But there was every chance she was seeking these things out now in hopes. She could never truly know for certain.

After she had been prepared for the task by the villagers, she was sent off, she could sense the hope and desires from the villagers that wanted her to achieve. Especially since they were seeing a legend through her as well.

Finding the hunter's trail, Dreidi pulled her energy bow out and stalked carefully through the area. Not wishing to draw attention to herself by potential poachers or by the more aggressive wildlife that existed on Dathomir. Once she moved forward, she heard a voice talking, talking to a droid. Keeping stealthy, Dreidi moved silently forward and watched.

It was a fellow Jedi, Dreidi tilted her head, it was curious to see a Jedi on Dathomir. The witches were not the greatest fan of them nor had they been great allies in the past. Teleporting herself through the Magick to on top of the Jedi's ship, revealing herself in a very dramatic fashion but she knew that the poachers were never going to be Jedi. It wasn't the way.

"Hey there." Her appearance while could be intimidating, her tone was friendly and open.

 

[Mar Sango]

"Hey there."

Marnie jumped and spun around, noticing there was now a woman sitting on her ship. Oh how she hated magic! The laws of nature didn't seem to matter on Dathomir and it was so hard to tell what was coming next. Luckily the woman didn't seem to want to hurt her.

"Hi." She rubbed her chest, fighting off a panic attack and smiled weakly. The woman appeared dressed like a nightsister, though admittedly Marnie didn't know much about the culture here.

"I don't mean any trouble. My ships busted."

Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Dreidi smiled and let out a little chuckle as she jumped from the ship and stood in front of the Jedi. "Dreidi Xeraic, Jedi Knight." She extended her hand in greeting, hoping to soothe the Jedi's nerves and fears about being around her.

"Yeah? Well, not sure the village I came from would have supplies to fix a ship like this. Dathomirians don't really deal with tech like this. However, there are meant to be poachers around here, dangerous sort but they are clearly off-worlders like yourself. Help me out with them and I will let you raid through their stuff to see if they got the parts you need?" Dreidi offered, her accent wasn't strong Dathomirian, but she spoke with the convictions and beliefs of one who had lived their whole lives here.

Putting her hands on her hips, "doing some work as a Witch of Dathomir, so helping me out as well will help the Jedi look a little better in the eyes of the Dathomirians." Dreidi commented, she wanted harmony between both sides of her life, internally and externally.

 

[Mar Sango]

“Poachers? Here? That’s horrible.”

And it was. Marine loved the outdoors and she valued the life of every animal. It broke her heart to think of any animal suffering and if there was ever a way she could help she would. The fact that this might fix her ship issue was a bonus.

“I would be honored to help. Are the poachers hunting Rancor? I’ve heard they breed in this planet.”

Her droid buzzed behind her and Marnie realized she had not introduced herself.

“I am Marnie Sango. Jedi service corps member.”

Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Nodding her head, "it is not a great situation for the villagers, the wildlife and the people have a delicate balance, poachers disrupt that and risk the wellbeing of those that live here in harmony with nature."

"Rancors are likely the prized hunt for these guys, but there are many creatures native to Dathomir that appeal to hunters like these." Dreidi inspected the other Jedi with her yellow eyes, assessing Marnie's skills, "pleasure to meet you. New to the New Jedi Order? Just not seen you on Coruscant before."

Her ears pricked with the sounds of the environment around them, things were moving out there but nothing that sounded like their target yet. "I think the droid might be best left here and we will be following a trail that was created by a witch of Dathomir decades ago. The villagers pride themselves on the old ways, the traditions and this is one of them. They also believe it will connect me to that witch, someone they believe is my ancestor so if you see anything mystical, do not fret."

It was a friendly warning since few Jedi would know how Dathomirian Magick worked.

 

[Mar Sango]

“….New to the New Jedi Order? Just not seen you on Coruscant before.”


Marnie felt her face fall but she tried to recover quickly. The truth was most Jedi looked down on the Service Corps. They treated members of this branch as if they weren’t real Jedi. Marnie had been chosen as a padawan but her master had died in the war. She had only been chosen because she was a valuable research assistant of course, and no other knight was willing to take her on so she had been side shuffled into archeology. That didn’t seem like a good story to launch into at the moment however.

“I don’t make it to Coruscant often. The droid can stay behind. “

The droid beeped in an offended type of way and Marnie glared at it. It wheeled back over to stand by the ship.

“I think they make attitude standard on these models now.”

She shook her head and held her hand out, offering to let the Witch Jedi lead the way.

Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

"Did I say something wrong?" Dreidi noticed the dower look that was Marnie's expression and wondered if anything she might have said that could be offensive.

Nodding her head, "that's understandable. Travelling and visiting the galaxy is much more exciting and wonderful than being cooped up on Coruscant." Dreidi commented, she wasn't against Jedi taking time to find themselves and wandering the galaxy, there were many out there that needed their help and support. Remaining in one place was never something that Dreidi was particularly keen on.

Leading the way, Dreidi followed the old trail, it was a long winding trail that Dreidi felt some connection to. Some history of hers was buried here and linked to this path, it was surprising but she felt her Magick was more powerful than ever before as she followed the trail. "I think we are getting close, I can sense something ahead. How are you doing?" Dreidi asked, checking that the other Jedi was handling Dathomir fine, some could be overwhelmed by the darkness.

 

[Mar Sango]

“Dathomir is a strange planet but there are beautiful things here.”

Marnie answered in response to how she was doing but before she could elaborate she caught sight of what looked like a camping area. There was a low burning fire and tents. The worst part was the baby rancor in a cage, that sat next to a cage full of what looked like exotic birds. These must be the poachers.

“It doesn’t look like they are at camp.”

They must be out finding their next target.

Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Nodding her head, "Dathomir can be a wondrous place to be. It is why I wish to do more in branching relations between the natives here and the Jedi. I feel as someone with a foot in both worlds, I need to try and unite them." She shrugged, it was a complex issue that she was having issues in dealing with.

Entering the camp, Dreidi began muttering to herself in the language of Dathomir, casting her Magick to bond with the creatures, her eyes were pure white as she used her Magick and she was able to convince the creatures that they meant no harm. She then opened the cages using her Lightsaber to slash them open. Dreidi first released the birds and then the baby rancor.

"This one believes that their mother is the target of the poachers. The largest rancor of the region, but also very important to the balance and this little one could not survive out in the wild without her." Dreidi informed Marnie, she then finished her spell and her eyes returned to normal. "We need to head over that direction." Dreidi pointed to the distant moutain, "that's where they will be. Contact your droid and tell them to see if they can find the parts you need while we hike on."

Dreidi then moved forward, around her, she could feel the presence of a spirit. One that was warm, hopeful and encouraging, a spirit that was connected to her. Was this Sister Aeira? Her great-grandmother? Was this proof and that she was on the right path?

 

[Mar Sango]

“It would be nice to have better relations between the Jedi and civilizations like the Witches. I fear it may be a grand undertaking to accomplish though.”

It was heartbreaking seeing the little animals in cages. How could anybody do this? The mother was separated from her child. Both were scared and worried for the other. How could anybody cause such sadness in the galaxy?

She nodded and pulled out her comm unit to let her droid know to start scouting. Hopefully if the droid encountered witches they would help with the needed parts.

The two female Jedi kept moving forward and soon they heard male voices up ahead.

Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Holding a hand up, she cautioned Marnie to hold position, reaching out in the Force to Marnie, she spoke telepathically. "I am going to take a look around, stay here and keep hidden. Once I scout around, I will come back and we can discuss a plan."

A few whispered chants and a prayer to Dathomir, Dreidi felt her body shiver and the Magick turned her invisible. It was a difficult spell for her to maintain and took a lot of effort but at least it would improve her chances to scout and gain information on the poachers. She wandered forward and heard the voices more clearly, they were talking about hunting the rancors and how much trouble there had been. Apparently they had lost a couple people, the remaining group was a mix of races, some Trandoshans, Rodians, Humans and others.

Dreidi kept counting out the numbers and assessed their blasters and weapons before returning to Marnie. Her invisibility dropped and she panted hard as the cost of the spell hit her suddenly and swiftly. She took a moment to recover before looking around. "Marnie, I'm back." Dreidi called out in a quiet tone.

 

[Mar Sango]

The Witch started to scout around and Marnie waited as instructed. The Jedi folded her arms and hid behind a large rock. How many poachers were here? What types of weapons did poachers even use? This was a fine mess she had ended up in.

“Marnie, I'm back.”

“What did you learn?”

Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Dreidi leaned against the wall and breathed in deeply. Her energy levels were low now and she needed a moment to catch her breath. Looking to Marnie, she held a hand to let her know that she needed a moment before she could answer. The use of magick as powerfully as she had done was a lot more draining on herself than she had anticipated.

"10... Roughly 10 poachers. 4 are doing some guard duty and they are all armed with long rifles. Think it is just standards blaster rifles, but can't be certain." Dreidi stated with a slight breathlessness in her voice as she slowly recovered. She shrugged, "I'm not sure our best way to approach but I don't think we can go full out attack since there is too many unknowns."

 

[Mar Sango]

10 was a lot to take on all at once. Marnie was thinking the same thing as the Witch mentioned it might be too much to take head on.

"We could divide and conquer. I'll take five and you take five. We ambush them slowly, get them on their own. We use deception and rebel fighting tactics. The key will be not letting one of them run off to get reinforcements."

Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Location: Dathomir
Outfit: Nightsister Gear
Equipment: Nightsister energy bow, Lightsaber
Tag: Marnie Sango

Dreidi nodded her head, "that's certainly an idea and I am sure that we could handle that. Though we should be careful, the idea of splitting up is dangerous game if one of us is caught." Dreidi wouldn't normally worry to much about being caught since she would just teleport away. However, right now she was tired and it felt unlikely for her to continue jumping around with Magick and the Force wasn't an alternative in this tired state.

"Guerrilla tactics, keep mobile and pick off one by one, make sure they are disoriented and think we are ten times larger than we are." Dreidi assured Marnie. "You head that way, I will cover the opposite then." She let the Jedi head off first.