Questioning Philosophy

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

Zavzen Sae'ryx sat in his study aboard his ship, The Eternal Saviour. The rectangular room may have been small but it was filled with everything a study would need. A wooden desk with a holoterminal embedded, sat against one wall with a high-back and soft looking chair behind it. In front of the desk there were two other chairs. Two other walls had bookshelves pushed against them. Each bookshelf was packed full with a combination of books, datapads and the odd holocron. The wall opposite the desk had a door taking up most of the final wall but had two cabinets on either side. The cabinets contained research and notes made by Zavzen.

The Zabrak was currently wearing his usual black tunic and trousers but this time the tunic was fully fastened, not hanging open as Zavzen usually had it. His cloak was currently thrown over the chair along with his sash. His blaster pistol, knife and lightsaber were currently resting on top of the desk and his swords were hung up by their sheaths above his head along with a wood Three-Piece Staff.

Zavzen was currently waiting for an ally of his [member="Venris Helion"] to appear. For some time now Zavzen had felt a conflict within the human but had decided to let him deal with it, recently though the zabrak had felt the conflict increase and had become worried. He had eventually learnt that Venris had been struggling to choose a path within the Force to follow. Zavzen, understanding the situation having gone through something similar, had offered and ear and potential advice but hadn't heard anything until recently. Now Venris was coming to see him where Zavzen would attempt to do whatever he could to help.

At that moment though Zavzen was talking to HAELI about his brain. "Are you sure?" He asked the ten inch taller holographic image of HAELI being projected from the deasks holotermianal. "Yes, I'm sure." The AI sighed, "The neural pathways within the Parietal Region and Ventral Pathway are decreasing in number. It's slow but it's happening. Also sections of the brain involved with the Neural Workspace are slowly having an increase in pathways." Zavzen sighed and ran his hand through his hair. As he did so HAELI tilted her head before speaking up, "Mr. Helion is here for your appointment. I'll send him through." She said this in an imitation of a secretary. "I'll guide him to you." She said with a slight smile before flickering out of view. Zavzen sat up to look at the door, suppressing his distress, no point worrying people.

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

After several minutes Venris stepped through the door. He had left all of his usual assortments of blades and explosives behind for this, meaning that for once he was not a walking arsenal who would set off every metal detector or weapon sensor in a building. He pulled his hood back, revealing two eyes lined with black beneath them and a cut from a recent sparring match with one of Tyranus' crew members.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked, remaining standing with his hands folded behind his back.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

When Venris stepped through the door Zavzen gestured to one of the seats in front of him, "Please take a seat." Zavzen thought for a moment what the best way to approach the subject before choosing to be blunt.

"From what I can tell you are unsure about what path of the Force to follow. I asked to see you because, as someone who walks the path of both Light and Dark, I think I would be able to offer you some good advice." Zavzen leant back, staring at Venris all the time, "Now, is there any questions you would like to ask or anything in particular you want me to talk to you about?"


[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

"Advice?" Venris muttered, surprised by the former Sith's offer. "What advice is there that could actually help me?"

For a decade now he had wandered aimlessly, drifting between both sides but never embracing either. He had felt lost and unsure...he didn't even know where to begin to talk about his problems with Zevzan.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

Zavzen smiled at the lost man. "I am someone who has tried to dedicate his life to Ashla and Bogan, light and dark. I have walked both sides of the line and seen the lives of Jedi and Sith. I have spent a long time on trying to disect the Force, to understand it, in and out of meditation. It is only recently that I have found balance and, as such, spiritual peace. I think there is a lot of advice i could offer you. So once again, ask me your questions and I will give you my answers."


[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

"I would if I even knew what to ask," Venris sighed, remaining standing. "If I knew what to ask I'd probably be already well on the way to finding this harmony you're offering. I just...don't know where to even start."

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

Zavzen lent forwards and linked his hands together, elbows resting on top of the desk. He rested his chin on his hands and sighed, "Yes that is the usual problem. Not having the questions to get the answers you need." He sighed again before gesturing to one of the seats in front of him, "Please sit."

He paused a few moments before continuing, "Now, the only idea I have at the moment is to tell you what I think of both Light and Dark and go from there. If you choose Light, you will find peace, harmony. You will be someone who could fight for truth and justice, as corny as that sounds. But, with harmony comes the lack of motivation, the lack of drive. Over time you would start to become stagnant. If you choose the Dark how ever you will find chaos and with chaos motivation, you would never stop, you would keep moving, keep improving. However, over time you would forget what it feels like to bathe in the light and your inner demons would consume you. Both sides have their positives, both have their negatives. You must choose which negative you will turn towards in the hopes of conquering it." Throughout his explanation Zavzen did not touch on the grey, the place in between for it was a difficult place to be and he would not force someone into taking the burden, he just hoped Venris wouldn't catch on to that fact.


[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

"What about the place between the two?" Venris asked. "Everything you just told me is what my master used to say. Fully embracing one side of the Force was something he'd criticize; he dabbled in some things that had put him at odds with the rest of the Order...mainly things that are traditionally learned by Sith. He insisted that it just took sufficient willpower and knowledge to make use of the dark side without becoming enthralled by it."

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

"I had been hoping you wouldn't ask that. Oh well." Zavzen stood up and walked around the desk before heading for the door, his bare feet making soft taps on the floor. "Come, follow me." He said. He exited out of his study and into a corridor before entering a door a few stride down the hall. The new room had nothing inside of it. The only thing of note was that is was even smaller than the study and that holoprojectors and holorecorders were welded onto every wall and the ceiling. After entering Zavzen stepped to the side to access a computer terminal, "In here I do my recordings." He explained, "I will be showing you my first one. Then you are to return to my study and we will discuss further the grey path." Turning, the Zabrak exited the room, closing the door behind him, then returned to his study.


(The Recording: http://starwarsrp.net/blog/258/entry-676-an-exploration-of-the-jedaii-code/)

 

[Venris Helion]

Nearly twenty minutes later Venris knocked at Zavzen's door and waited to be admitted. He had read over the file regarding the Jee'dai Code and marvelled at how similar it was to his master's teachings. Nothing about it was similar word for word, of course, but the general teachings and meaning behind it all...perhaps his master truly had been a 'Grey Jedi' as many had called him almost mockingly during mhis final years in the Order.

A lot of the in depth analysis into every line of the Code had struck Venris as....quite reasonable, to be honest. It seemed to provide a good standing for compromise between the Jedi and Sith codes, and emphasized one thing that his master had always told him: there is not always a black and white or dark and light side to the force, nor were there two paths that he would be forced to choose between. The Grey Path seemed all the more appealing to him because it avoided the extremes and shortcomings that could be found in both the Jedi and Sith Orders throughout history.

But before he simply threw himself onto this third path, he would require more guidance in what it could lead to, what it would demand of him...he had to know if it truly was what he wanted to bind himself to.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

Zavzen looked up from his work on the seventh lightsaber form, Juyo, when he heard a knock on the door. Looking at HAELI, who was standing/hovering/being projected next to him she mouthed 'Venris' before flickering out of view. "Come in Venris." Zavzen called out.

He gestured to one of the seats in front of him, hoping this time that the man would take a seat. "I take it you have questions," he stated, "If so, ask away."

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

"The Jee'dai Code was interesting and...thought provoking," Venris admitted as he stepped in. "It speaks of avoiding becoming stagnant, yet it also speaks as though it embraces the teachings of both the Light and the Dark. I suppose my first question is...how does one manage to walk the Grey Path without falling prey to the Dark Side?"

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

Zavzen sighed and leaned back. "That's a hard question as it has no real answer apart from: you do. Many people have different ways of doing so. I focus on maintaining a constant and equal flow of the Force, both Ashla and Bogan, around me, you might taken a different approach." Zavzen now leaned forwards and stared at the male in front of him with a smirk, "Now, do you have any more questions, or can I ask one of my own?"

 

[Venris Helion]

"I think we will only get anywhere if you ask me something now...I still am trying to wrap my head around everything that I have read." Venris admitted, taking a seat this time.

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

"Very well." Zavzen stood from his chair, picking up his lightsaber, one metallic the other wooden, and approached Venris. "I offer you the chance to become a Je'daii Journeyer. To journey through the Temple of Learning and strive to gain power to protect the innocent." He ignited his lightsabers, the yellow blade with red fractures and black blade with yellow fracture ignited with a snap. "I offer you induction to the Order Of The Je'daii, Learners From The Kwa, Defenders Of The Innocent, Conquerors Of The Rakata and The Infinite Empire. Do you wish to become my Je'daii Student?"

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

Venris was suddenly glad that he'd chosen to sit down this time around. He was being offered a membership, more or less official, in an order older than the Jedi and Sith. He stared at Zavzen, trying to process this offer...

"...so long as it's strictly an educational matter," Venris rose to his feet. "You know more of the Je'daii than I do, but I'm a little too....ruined to be a padawan again. Just as your student however, solely in learning the way of the Je'daii...I accept."

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

Zavzen smiled and placed both humming lightsaber bladed on each of Venris's shoulders, being sure not to touch his clothing, before swinging the lightsabers around so that the blades were aimed at either side of Zavzen and the end of the hilts were offered to the human. "I want these back after" Zavzen murmured before speaking again in a loud an official voice.

"Do you, Venris Helion, accept tutelage in the ways of the Je'daii? Do you vow to shun ignorance and pursue knowledge? Do you vow to discard fear and acknowledge power? Do you allow the Force to embrace you? Do accept that you will be come the fire of the light? Do you accept that you will become the mystery of darkness? Do you accept both Chaos and Harmony into your life? Do you embrace the Force? If so, accept the hilts and swear the Oath." Zavzen paused for a moment before whispering, "The Oath is the Je'daii Code."