Recuperation

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"]


Mara leaned on a stone balcony at the top of a tower, watching two shaggy pulkas approach the gate. The portcullis opened, the drawbridge lowered, and in they came: the guide and the guest. Kilia Four had been medieval in one way or another for about a millennium or two, maybe more. Before the Gulag Virus it had become something of a curiosity; the Dark Age had seen vacationers and reenactors stranded with the locals, until generations united them in a truly pre-technological lifestyle. Distant lanterns and torches lit villages, sawmills, and watchtowers throughout the woods to the west, and boats on the massive lake to the east.

Most of Kilian civilization was concentrated in one continent-sized valley. To get here without making one's offworld affiliation big and obvious, one needed to land one's ship in the mountain plateaus and come down to the valley on pulkaback. She'd sent Micah the coordinates to one such plateau, and had a guide meet him there with a spare mount.

Ideally, Micah would now have a sore butt of galactic proportions.

 

[Micah Talith]

Sore butt indeed.

"Frell." thee curse ripped from the Talith's mouth, a grimace decorating his stubbly jaw. His eyes gave a small squint, peering around to get a lay of the land as the shaggy pulka underneath him gave another grunt and a snort.

"Heeyyy there, whoaa.." he cried out, leaning forward to pat the Pulka's mane to calm her down. Another trot and then his mount slowed. Leg swung and both feet fell with a crunching sound onto the ground. Force, take it -- it had been a while since he'd ridden anything. It wasn't for lack of experience as much as Micah hadn't had the opportunity to go visit oma. If there was one thing the leader of the Onderon Beastriders would make sure of was that her grandchildren had the same education as their father --- which amounted to being thrown over a cliff and calling their own Drexyl and learning at the very least to ride.

The training did not, however, let sore muscles feel any ease as he gave a stretch and gave a loud dramatic groan. A flex of the butt-cheeks, an impromptu squat. Oh that felt good....

"Need to visit Oma, some more" he quipped to no one in particular. His guide gave him a queer look. In turn, Micah offered a half cheek grin and a wave of thanks. Nohei was already here, from what he heard. Of course, she had more experience with the beast considering that -- apparently -- Mara had acquired herself a castle in a low tech world. He knew the girl enjoyed her little hideaways, but holing up in medieval Kilia Four had not been one of them.

Moving back up to his feet, the Talith tipped his head back to get a better view. A low whistle ensued.

"I know she mentioned a little clubhouse..." pardon the adjustment of the goods as he continued the stretch of legs, "But a castle rivaling those of Exocron was not what I expected." jokes and quips were Micah's way of dealing with stress and keeping the situation lighthearted. He was worried for Mara. That's what brought him here despite her reassurances that she was okay.

A tiny figure stood leaning against a stone balcony. Short thing, hair tangled in the wind. He could spot her anywhere.

Dusty from head to toe, wearing basic leather armor and that typical heavy warden cloak of his, Micah easily blend in. Top that the tousled hair and the dark stain of scruff that covered his swarthy jaw, and he could be a typical ranger in this world. One gloved hand rose, a half salute. Seeing Mara there set him in motion. Handing the reins to the guide, he gave thanks again.

With the typical swagger, purposeful if but a bit bowed, the Talith strode in to find his childhood friend.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili stepped onto the balustrade as well and stared at the pulka as it approached the keep. Her hand brushed against her very non-local jacket and shirt to brush off some sort of dust that wasn’t really there. Really, the second Kaili had seen the message had also been the second in which she had dropped everything to return to where she had last seen Mara in-person. The two of them had held a short meeting beforehand, said their hellos and exchanged the latest news over the sound of worry for recent events. It was funny almost how nothing ever actually seemed to be within the confines of ‘small’ when it came to ‘small talk’ between the youngest Talith and her best friend.

“Micah is here.” Kaili looked almost unamused by the way Mara stared at him. “We should go meet him.”

Then again, considering certain other elements, perhaps it could be held off. Like, forever.

Regardless, Kaili went inside — reluctantly so — and let Mara take the lead (reluctantly so as well.) It was her castle and her employees. Kaili was just there for support.

[member="Micah Talith"] // [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

"Mm. Sorry, what?"

Mara blinked and, belatedly, looked away from the man in the courtyard below. It took her eyes a second to focus on Kaili's face.

"Oh. Yeah, he's definitely here." She spared the new arrival another glance, then pushed away from the balustrade and followed Kaili into the tower. This right here was a moment of badly needed normalcy: getting all butterflyish about a guy, watching Kaili harrumph as she generally did whenever Mara mentioned Micah Talith.

The harrumphing was, of course, justified. Mara had cleaned up -- another badly needed concession to reality -- and wore the kind of dress that said 'I'm medieval, I'm noble, I'm tasteful and discreet, but I'm also a gorram consenting adult.' The embroidered hem swooshed nicely on the spiral stairs as she went down to meet Micah in the keep's entry hall.

 

[Micah Talith]

The place was larger than Micah expected.

His footfalls echoed as he stepped into the keep's entry hall, already tugging one glove his left hand followed by his right. The latter ran through the thick mop of his hair, pushing back the too long raggedy mess for copper eyes to see.

The place was decorated to Mara's taste. He could catch bits and pieces of her hand here even despite the medieval overtones. It struck him a little odd as it made sense. Then again, Mara did what she did out of her own accord. With that independent streak that ran as long as the Kessel run, to the take charge attitude she'd been prone to have. It had always been Aela and Mara leading the Brat Pack, on account of the two being the eldest of them all.

A fond memory managed to quirk his lip momentarily, recalling when the half Zeltron had decided to help him keep a low profile by disguising his eyes. Granted, the plan had turned to tackling him down to the ground as Mara struggled to slip the slivers of Sithspawn contacts on his eyes.

The sound of approaching footsteps drew him from his reverie, a half turn of his torso planting him in the direction the stairwell would open to. Concern and purpose were fixed upon his face.

Mara and Nohei.

He was halfway there to meet them when the Talith caught sight of the first diminutive figure. Up in the balcony, he hadn't registered the dress. Mara was the sort to generally wear spacer coveralls or island homespun with a liberal application of dirt and engine grease. A dress? Unlikely.

Micah didn't have a tendency to connect such things with his childhood friend. No, that generally was assigned to getting tossed to his arse or punched in the arm; there was a reason why Nohei and Mara got along so well after all. Both had seemed to enjoy slamming his head into the sand more than once or twice.

He slowed a step, but with the girls able to read body language through their shared Lorrdian exposure, they'd catch the subtle double take. The brown hair told him one thing, the rest well, the widening of cadmium eyes and the brief puzzled comical expression was enough to make anyone laugh. He struggled internally for an instant, as men were wont and fools to do, for the tasteful dress drew his attention in ways he hadn't put side by side with Mara since he'd been in his early teens. Seemed that even Micah could still be thrown off now and then.

That was until he had caught her gaze. What he saw there snapped him out of his abstraction. Jaw set, and he picked up his pace again. Nohei was just behind her, coming down the steps, but he only had eyes for Mara. With what his sister had also experienced in the past, she'd know why.

Micah never held to personal bubbles of space. The Talith had the annoying tendency to step right into it with a cheeky grin and joke. More often than naught, he'd often used others as his leaning perch - prompting a punch in response - or being touchy. Blame his family for the trait. With Mara, it was no different. All the more when even he could read the frazzled state she was in but trying to keep it in.

His arms would reach to draw her smaller form close, and if she didn't object - or punch him - hold her tight. He caught the brief tickle of her hair against his nose, strands fanned by his breath. Tenor voice rumbled, lighthearted as always, but just as relieved and full of concern as could be.

"Hey Shortstack."


[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Mara had cleaned up but Kaili was still the same; wearing a jacket covered in droid grease and not being shy about smearing it all over her face. Micah had always known Kaili as that kind of girl, in fact most people probably did. Boyish in many ways, yet not quite to the extreme either. There had been that one phase in which she cut her hair short, but that one had lasted a whole week before she regretted it. Unlike what people might think, Kaili actually brought her inner girl out to play every now and then. It just didn’t happen very often. Mainly because between droids and other work related activities, Kaili didn’t get out very often. Which also in the end was her choice.

Mara approach Micah, Micah approached her. The general rule was that the Talith girl was to imitate gagging at this point, but just this once she held it back. Not because she didn’t want to — Force kow she really, really wanted to — but because just this once it was a good reason. Mara had been through a lot, Micah was just being nice. That didn’t mean she would let the stares of intense judging remain unseen. She was, after all, standing behind Mara. Micah had a pretty great view — a close up even — of his sister’s crossed arms. She shifted her weight to her heels and then her toes as she swayed back and forth while the other two seemed to remain in a hug.

She wanted him to foozle that one up somehow, yet not really. Comfort, albeit unhelpful, was always appreciated in Mara’s seat. Kaili knew that very well, and quite frankly there was nobody who was better at that than Micah.

That was, if you did not count Kaili. Obviously. Because she was Mara’s best friend.

“I came here a day or so ago.” She whispered from behind Mara’s back. “We’ve been talking about things, but I a lot was left unsaid until you would arrive.”

Kaili looked at the back of Mara’s head and then Micah. Telepathy took the reins for a second as she went inside Micah's mind. “I recognize how she feels. All of it.”

[member="Micah Talith"] // [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

Part of her seriously considered punching him in the shoulder. Most of her was content to just get hugged by someone who lacked both agenda and inhibition. She'd aimed to keep her composure, but she still found herself sagging into Micah's hug, melting against his chest. He'd gotten tall; she hadn't.

And then, of course, Kaili started whispering.

"I'm right here. Gawsh. I'm not that much of a wreck, Kay." Mara broke away from Micah and ran her fingers through her hair, looking away in embarrassment. At least they were alone in the atrium, at the base of the spiral stair; none of the castle employees were in sight. They knew when to make themselves scarce.

"Look, uh, Micah..." She swallowed. "I've just been trying to keep myself busy, keep my mind off things. That's about my speed right now. You want to see what I've been making?"

The basement workshop was crammed full of Force-crystal permutations in complex armatures. She'd used that half-finished gear to cleanse the Coruscant nexus, her and Julius Sedaire and Meeristali Peradun and Darron Wraith and others.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

His copper eyes met a mirror of them in his sisters' "Kai... I see you've taken to not showering now." he teased her, but the ongoing mental link would send a measure of understanding on what she meant by it.

Need to keep your mind busy, don't you Mara?

Micah could understand that. Nohei had to do the same thing after the crash. She dove into building her robots and closeting herself away. Only through time, patience, and support had she'd been able to step out into the light again. Tinkering had always been the sort of thing Mara did; he remembered that the second time he met her she'd been building her lightsaber. Now he'd been one to dive head first into trinkets and doodads, but Mara had recently been moving towards some interesting designs and creations that had perked his interest when his sister had mentioned them.

"Sure!" he told her, the corners of his eyes crinkling in the smile he gave her. Understanding that she'd need a measure of normalcy, the Talith pulled back and gave a short nod. However, he took the time to take advantage of their proximity next. His hand lightly mussed her hair. This would definitely get him a punch. So much that he, as expected brought his hands up in case to block it.

"... you don't happen to have something to snack on the way do you?" he'd say quickly as if that question would deter any potential Mara wrath.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Yeah!” Kaili shone up just as Micah did. She shook vile thoughts from her mind and focused on the here and now and on what was actually good. The bad things could wait until she got home. There was literally nothing else that she could do.

“Was it the, uh, crystal thing, right?” Asked and picked up the trail behind Mara and her brother, cautiously observing as they interacted with each other and getting ready to swoop in and break up any potential… Yuckery from happening.

Such as them talking. Yuck. Though, obviously, a yuck that was allowed to happen.

Because it was the right thing to do, and Mara was Micah’s friend too.

But mainly because of that.

(( Just in case I am not able to post for a while, you guys can go ahead and post. NPC Kaili if need be. ))​

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

Her punch glanced off his guard, and something jolted inside her, a spike of sour-tasting adrenaline. She laughed, maybe too loud. At least it sounded a little too loud to her ears. She meant it, the laugh; she just felt a bit dissociated. "Yeah, the crystal thing. And snacks. My workshop is truly a place of wonders."

Down the spiral stair steps, then a narrower straight staircase, took them to the wooden door of her workshop. It had no visible lock or latch; she opened it with a touch. Inside was a good-sized chamber, about a quarter of the keep's total basement. The other three-quarters held barrels and sacks and so forth. This chunk held bargain-bin wonders. A dog-eared book -- the Kilian Book of Adjuration, Annotated and with a Foreword by Rave Merrill -- lay open on one of the larger workbenches, with a spyglass as a bookmark. Chunks of hearthcrystal warmed the basement air. Scattered rings and other jewellery filled drawers alongside minor healing crystals. The Ankarres Sapphire hung from a wallhook by a silver chain. The centre of everything was a massive armature of metal and crystal and wood, a complex thing she'd assembled more by instinct than by logic. It worked well enough, but some elements eluded her. She found herself, unaccountably, blushing.

"Well, uh, here it is."

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

He had to duck a bit to step inside, less because of his height and more about his curiosity. Neck craned in first, followed by a noticeable piqued, "Huh."

Dusty boots strode inside, passing the blushing Mara as she restlessly watched the Talith take his survey around her shop.

The corner of his mouth immediately drew up, curling back a stubble covered cheek at the significant bits and bobbles that identified this as Mara's sanctuary and abode. Intrigued wonder would ripple from the Talith for the Half Zeltron to pick up, and even then, her Lorrdian upbringing would be able to find the clues and cues that he was fascinated by the sight of it all. He began a small walk around the room, picking up a few things to study them further. They were, after all, creations or collections made by Mara.

The first was one of the hearthcrystals, and he immediately was like a kid in the candy store studying it. He'd never seen anything like it, and it was warm to the touch, but not hot.

He brought it up close to his face, thumb rubbing over the blue quartz in avid fascination.

"You've managed to isolate how Force energy is converted into heat?" he asked, intrigued, flipping the stone over and studying it anew. He knew she had the Ankarres Saphire and Nohei had mentioned she'd been working on several projects. Perhaps this had been one of them? It was much like the Ring of Erebos he had created, only that instead of taking in Dark Force energy and storing it, this crystal converted into a gentle heat.

"Well, that's interesting." he added, unable to help himself as he grabbed a couple more to test out if there were more then would the heat increase.

"Nice going Shortstack," he added, a genuine compliment while he was still playing with the small collection of hearthstones. Really, the man could get lost studying things. But tomes, oh tomes were his favorite. So once he'd catch sight of that dog-eared book, Micah was bound to ask more questions.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Hands pocketed, feet dragging themselves across the floor. Kaili observed the slight shade of red that seemed to spread across Mara’s cheeks as she watched Micah walk around the room. It was immature of her, of course, but part of Kaili really wanted to step in the middle there and seize the moment and make sure nothing happened. Not that anything actually would, but the prospect of Mara and Micah passing each other ‘inappropriate’ blushes and glances haunted the back of the younger sister’s mind. It would be like watching a brother pass an awkward pass to a sister, incestuous by near-familial definition. Then again, just because Kaili had fallen overnight didn’t mean Micah would. The solid proof of that being the simple fact that they had all known each other for more than ten years, he had been given plenty of opportunities if he had so desired.

Then again…

Constant vigilance.

The two halves of her mind waged war. Logic and the fact that she could deduce Micah wouldn’t do anything, versus the creative fantasy that said he most likely would. It was what men did, right? Kaili rolled her eyes. In the end it was all her. Who was the creep if not the person who imagined it first?

Kaili tipped back and forth on her feet as she dug her arms into her armpits and thought of something else. Or rather, anything else, like Allyson. Then again, with recent events in mind and the tension it brought, perhaps it was best not to. Kaili settled for focusing on the feeling of a customer being grateful for a custom droid delivered on time. Her hand patted against her pocket and she withdrew the blue Ankarres Stone she had gotten from Mara before.

“Oh right, this thing.” Kaili blinked before putting it to her forehead as an inside joke between her and Mara. “This is still how it works, right?”

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

Mara glanced at the crystal on Kaili's forehead and snorted. "Totally," she said. "And yeah, Micah, that's pretty much what I did. Teased out that one property of the Ankarres Sapphire and replicated it. I'm thinking of trying something similar with thaissen crystals from Mimban, how they convert the Force into light. And I've got a couple ideas on how to do the same with Rafan Firkrann and electricity, and pyronium and hyperspace energy. But that's all pie-in-the-sky, long-term...stuff." She smoothed her dress against her hips, a nervous kind of gesture, and caught him fixating on the big open book.

"You'll like this," she said, removing the spyglass that served as a bookmark. "It's a version of a local text from this planet's Force tradition, the Kilian Rangers. It's a ritual for Force severing. This one's full of my aunt's notes -- she even wrote a foreword to it and shoved it in there. Compared it to the Jem Wyzen holocron, the one I picked up at auction a couple of years back. Better in some ways, worse in others. The two of them together give a pretty decent idea of how to make a Darksider, uh, not a Darksider anymore. In the sense of not being a Forcer anymore."

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

It was fun watching Mara get into showing off her collection.

There was a bit more animation to her expression, a flush to her cheeks in her excitement to show what discoveries she’d uncovered and what she managed to create from that. Being the eldest along with Aela in the Brat Pack, both Mara and his older sister always managed to impress in whatever they did. Natural born leaders they were.

The spark of suspicious annoyance came from his youngest sister’s direction, and over the dark crown of Mara’s head, Micah shot Nohei a befuddled look along with a pointed stab of his tongue out at her.

Really, sometimes he wondered what was going on in her head. At times she looked at him as if he had some crazy plot in his mind -- which to be fair, he generally did have several versions of crazy plots. Although those generally revolved around going exploring places he probably shouldn’t be wandering into to begin with.

That was about the time when Mara mentioned her aunt. Rave Merrill. He honestly couldn’t help it but a scowl crept over his swarthy face at the mention of her. Nohei had told her what Rave had done in regards to transferring all that knowledge about Techno Beasts to her -- without Nohei’s permission. That didn’t bode well for Micah, not only because he was protective of his sister, but because it had also made Nohei feel as if she couldn’t even trust their parents to talk about it.

Hopefully, Mara didn’t see it, but Nohei would --- considering she was eyeballing them as if they were about to do something scandalous.

“Wait, a method to cut a person from the Force?” He queried, his scowl turning into a slight frown of interest. Be as it may, whatever Rave had done to Nohei, she knew her fringe Force Traditions and more than a few extraordinary bits.

“That’s a pretty powerful move.” he murmured, leaning close to Mara to get a better look. Dark forelocks fell over his brow, partially framing his glowing orange eyes as he read about the Killian Rangers. Well, one wouldn’t be able to do it by themselves; at least that was reassuring.

“.. permanent?” Micah inquired, the scent of oiled leather and cedar drifting over to Mara as he turned to regard her.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

"Depends what you'd call permanent. Most of the examples in the book remind me of the Qel-Droma stories Dad used to show me in the Great Holocron. When Nomi Sunrider severed Ulic from the Force, it lasted the rest of his life, but he disappeared when he died. That's about the most extreme example I can find. The book also talks about 'lesser sanctions', which could include short-term things like cutting someone off for all or part of a fight's duration. Suppressing their abilities rather than severing them outright. And in between you get things like what the combined Councils did to Ashin Varanin at the Sigma Station convocation -- busted her back to Apprentice.

"The lesser sanctions are things you can pull off solo, if needed, and depending on relative strength. Full, permanent severing absolutely requires a lot of people; the book and the Wyzen holocron don't offer anything comparable to what Sunrider did to Ulic Qel-Droma. But there's a lot of scaling in between. I've even used some of the lesser sanctions in combat, to suppress people's Force connections. Only partial success, but still success.

"Anyways, I've practically memorized the dang thing. Feel free to read it and use the holocron if you want, while you're here." She put up a hand to forestall a potential objection. "I know you came to see if I needed cheering up, but it'll do me good to know you're getting something useful out of your stay. Besides, there's a few people I wouldn't mind Force severing, and I clearly can't pull it off alone, now can I?"

She grinned to take the edge from that. She hadn't meant it as a declaration of intent or vendetta. Heck, Kaili was already nervous enough about the ethics of the technique as it was.

 

[Kaili Talith]

There had been some laughter as Mara responded to the joke, but it quickly ended as her attention set on her brother. His nostrils had flared up at the mention of Rave and she knew very well why. This wasn’t the time to tell him that the whole thing had gone down just a few stories above them either. The girl’s lips pursed and she looked over at Mara as she discussed the act of severing someone from the force. Her reservation against the technique was very much still there and not much had happened to change her previous opinion on the matter either. Her soles planted themselves flat on the stony surface of the castle as Kaili began to look in another direction.

Yes, it was a powerful move.

Yes, it could be permanent.

Yes, it could also be lesser.

No, Mara’s joke didn’t hit the good spot.

The edge of Kaili’s mouth twitched for a second as she found solace in staring over her shoulder and down at the ground. It lasted for a few seconds before she set her sights first on Mara, and then Micah.

“No, she can’t.” A barely audible whisper parted the blonde’s lips before she cleared her throat. “No, she can’t.” Kaili repeated herself so that the others could hear her. “Me and Mara never got to practicing it, much less contemplating it before we went on to do something else.”

“Dad said we shouldn’t fear knowledge though, so…” The kid took a deep breath and straightened her back. “It is better to know and not need than, well, I guess the opposite.”

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] // [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

Truth be told, Micah had been researching something similar himself in regards to cutting people off from the Force. Well, more like tricking people into believing they were. Micah was all about practical jokes, but this trinket would be useful in the right situation...

It had been one of Micah's long term projects; started back when he was a teenager. He knew that it would require studying more on the mind affecting power of Force Suppression and how he could utilize it in an artifact that could temporarily make a Force user believe that they had been cut off from the Force. Pulling it off would be by far one of the best tricks he had so far, and not to mention useful. He had considered that maybe further study of his grandfather’s holocron might do the trick.

Maybe even talking to Uncle Di.

However, with this bit of information that Mara had.. Maybe he could finally do so with her help. All of this knowledge.. everything that she was offering him to study and learn, honestly it floored him. The offer clearly hit jackpot in the terms of best gifts to give Micah: access to more things to stick his nose into and study.

Cadmiumous colored eyes shot from Mara to Nohei and then back to Mara again. He gave a slight cant of his head, as if saying, well now this would definitely kick things up a notch.

"Well... maybe one doesn't have to actually cut off anyone from the Force if the situation comes up." He began, and both of the girls would see the twinkle in his eyes.

"I'd been working on something for the longest." He admitted, grabbing a spare stool to drag over towards the desk. He set it down and plopped his arse down, boots coming up to rest on the rungs. One hand ran through the length of his shaggy hair, allowing more light to reflect across his swarthy visage.

"What do you two know about suppressing the Force on someone else?"

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"]

Empathic senses caught Kaili's intense discomfort and disapproval. Somewhat chagrined, Mara sat by a workbench and smoothed her skirt over her thighs. 'Between the Jem Wyzen holocron, my aunt's notes, and the Kilian Book of Adjuration? In theory, a lot. I've even, uh, tried it in combat. Sith Lord, big mess. It worked, more or less. Suppression, not severing. It weakened him while he fought someone else."

She glanced at Kaili, judging her best friend's mood. Still not great. She'd pushed the subject too hard. "That was all I felt comfortable trying, and that was at need. Anyways, Micah, you left a sentence half-finished. You said you were making something that could do this without...doing this? What do you have in mind?"

 

[Kaili Talith]

It was a small comfort that Mara had used it only in smaller measures, yet not really. Perhaps in the end it all boiled down to an inherent fear of losing her own connection to the force that lead Kaili to resent the practice of this particular skill. She relied on it in almost everything she did in her company and life. Not that the two were particularly separated from one another. Yes, Kaili fully understood that in the end it was a great tool to use on those who had been sentenced for a crime worthy of such a punishment, but she still couldn’t help but wonder if it was something anyone else had the right to strip from a person. If anything it was bound to create even more resentment, and that in itself was pretty much the exact opposite of solving said problem.

At least focus shifted to Micah. He was good with these things. He always knew what to do.

“More importantly, is it temporary or permanent?” Kaili blurted out on impulse. “I mean, it’s-”

Deep breath, sigh.

“Never mind.”

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] // [member="Micah Talith"]​

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Mara made sense with what she was talking about. Frankly, he was also a bit uncomfortable at the thought of Force severing anyone --- However, if it came to push come to shove and it was necessary for the situation, then he'd back it up. This was where Nohei and he didn't quite see eye to eye and he was a bit more pragmatic about it.

His youngest sister wasn't very keen on either take, but he grabbed a stool and plopped himself down.

"Yeah, I had been trying to think of a way to be able to create a trinket or something similiar that would provide the same sort of Force Suppression effects; be it simply because one is wearing it or an area of an effect." the corner of his mouth gave an upward quirk.

"I had originally intended it to be a sort of a practical joke..." oh yeah he could feel the glower coming from Kaili then. "But thinking about it, it may come in handy if the need for such an item comes up."

He leaned forward, forearms resting upon the tops of his thighs as he would elaborate further, "What is Force Suppression at it's core?" bright orange eyes went dancing from Mara to Nohei. "A fantastic and powerful mind-trick."

"It may not even actually give the full effect by itself. Perhaps be a focus to allow the implementation of it." he gave a slight grimace. "There are flaws though... it is all based off on just how strong someone's willpower is and what mental protections they may have... so I'm still trying to consider what ways to cross that bridge."