Dominion Sandcastles | SJO DOM of Klatooine

[Elise]

Objective: 1-- fort exploration


Elise tilted her head, listening to the quick summery provided by Beltran Rarr and Klesta both. Her shoulders sagged in slight disappointment, the news unwelcomed.

"How unfortunate," she mused softly. Silver space had a whole host of planets and locations they needed to reinforce against the sith border. It would be imprudent of her to not recycle their resources where she could. Wars were expensive, and the sith had made their intentions clear. She let out a thick breath, gesturing to those around her.

"Well let us see what we can spare. At the very least, these hutts knew the lands far better than we do. Look for holocrons. I will see about helping him with these creatures." Unless anyone decided to tag along. Beltran had mentioned doing so.

She gestured to Sinestra to carry forward, her ball of light zipping in front of him to lead the way. As they pressed in, the light from the entryway fled them. The walls were quiet, the floor bare of the engine hum Elise was use to. The sound of her heartbeat hit against her ear drum. She strained to catch sight of anything around them, though she sensed nothing. For now.

"Teeth, you say?" She breathed, her steps synced with his as her gaze dragged to the ceiling over them. "How many."

Corte Fletchador

 

[Milla Caranthyr]

OBJECTIVE 2

Look inside themselves and pay attention to their own bodies. That sounded easy enough, in theory anyway. Milla closed her eyes and tried to focus on the force inside her. From her body to her arms, legs and even tail. Unfortunately she was also somewhat distracted by the cold wind that threatened to snuff out her candle. She let out a slow breath to try and center herself. Focus on the heat from her body, like it was the candle itself. The more she focused, the less cold she seemed. The feeling wasn't a drastic increase, but she felt something.

Kei Amadis Kyra Perl

 

[Amani Serys]

Objective 2

Amani shivered in tandem with Kyra Perl when she suddenly felt her bump up against her.

“Oh! Hey, Kyra.”

The sight of a familiar face was enough to make Amani more agreeable for the moment. She couldn’t help but smirk at Kyra’s initial comment; She wasn’t the only one feeling unusually grumpy today. At worst, they could at least be grumpy together.

Still, she couldn’t resist the chance to correct her, either, “Technically, a desert is defined by its lack of precipitation and vegetation, not its temperature,” she nudged teasingly back into Kyra, though quickly straightened up to hear Kei Amadis explain what was happening.

“Soooo, that’s what we’re doing?” Amani turned to Kyra to see if she was absorbing any of what he said. She turned back and peered curiously at her candle.

“Why do they call it Tapas, anyway? That’s a funny name for a Force technique,” Amani was already getting distracted, and for her to be so mutinous was uncharacteristic.

It might be a long day.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Still, she couldn’t resist the chance to correct her, either, “Technically, a desert is defined by its lack of precipitation and vegetation, not its temperature,” she nudged teasingly back into Kyra, though quickly straightened up to hear Kei Amadis explain what was happening.

"Oh no," Kyra echoed forlornly. "Not you too." Kyra didn't like feeling stupid, but it was Amani's teasing nudge that spared her the scorn. It did not, however, spare her the sass.

Kyra's foot flicked up behind them, nailing Amani solidly in the toushie. She gave an internal fist pump at her aim, their giggles settling down as the instructors spoke and tried to direct them. Their candles were lit. For a moment, Kyra appeared solemn.

Kyra closed her eyes, trying to take to heart what the master said. Buuuuut then the wind hit her and her feeble concentration shatter. Her eyes opened back up, the padawan instead looking around at everyone else to see how they were doing. Were they handling this with ease? She peeked up at Amani Serys , just as the girl broke her own concentration and whispered down to her.

“Why do they call it Tapas, anyway? That’s a funny name for a Force technique,” Amani was already getting distracted, and for her to be so mutinous was uncharacteristic.

Kyra chortled, her own mischievous nature seeming to rub off on the girl besides her. Zeltrons were notorious for the empathic abilities-- sending out their own vibes in the air and affecting those around them. In most cases it was only used to promote a relaxed, welcoming enviroment. With Kyra's increased force sensitivity, however ...

Well sometimes she accidentally caused ripples.

She was buzzing with energy.

"Pffft, tapas." Leave it to her to make that word wound dirty. She dissolved into a girlish giggle, elbowing Amani. "I bet our parents didn't sign off on this." The wind carried her voice through the quiet clearing.

 

[Desbre Gensan]

​

Objective 2 - Tapas Training
Tag: Kei Amadis | Jasper Candos | Kyra Perl | Milla Caranthyr | Amani Serys

---

Desbre shook her head. It sounded simple enough. She'd learned to channel the Force into her own body to ease her pain to the point of erasure. Then she’d begun learning the basics of healing her own body from her third teacher. Plumbing the depths of her body, cells, cardiovascular system, and more.

The last time she did such a thing, she had been on the edge of consciousness and plunged deep into her body in what amounted to a healing trance. This was more active or wakeful. She supposed that the techniques could be combined to survive in harsh conditions for even longer. Like hibernation.

Taking a deep breath, she lowered herself to the ground. Conduction was one of the fastest ways to heat loss, especially without a micro-climate. Convection was the second way to gain or lose heat, followed by radiation. The latter, her people knew all too well, as they naturally saw from the top end of the visible light spectrum down into the bottom of infrared. They could literally see where they were losing heat in cold environments. As a result, they made top-of-the-line thermo-regulation gear. But this environment was home to the young woman.

Another breath passed through her nose and her eyes closed. She didn’t have to reach. When she opened the gates to the Force, it came like a flood. Eager, twenty kilos of life packed into a ten-kilo box. Even in a desert, it teemed with its own life. Even in the cold.

Instead of expanding her sphere of awareness, her sphere of responsibility, outward, she turned her gaze inward. The sound of the wind, of the tittering girls in the group, even the voice of the instructors faded away for the moment. She focused on her breathing. Breath was life. Inhale life-giving oxygen, and exhale the remnants of entropy. As her focus narrowed, the rushing sound of her pulse filled her ears. her heartbeat built in her awareness. She could feel life’s drum thumping, pumping in her chest, down near the core where she was warm.

This she plunged into, seeing it as the light of a golden star. It warmed her but did not overheat. It was pleasant, even. She fed the Force into that, stoking the flames, building them and letting them expand. The light, the heat expanded outward as she fed it, letting it begin to fill her up. It was like a warm blanket fresh from the dryer, or warm sunshine on one’s back on a cold spring day, but rising up from within. It wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t agonizingly slow. It rose up like curls of smoke, steadily filling up the spaces.

 

[Jasper Candos]

Kei Amadis @ Amani Serys @ Desbre Gensan @ Kyra Perl @ Milla Caranthyr

To be honest, Jasper was so focused on making it to the group when he got off the transport ship, that he didn’t even felt the cold and wind from the planet around him. Now that he had time to stop and insert himself into the class, along with the lecture that Kei Amadis did a few moments ago, has made him finally acknowledge the weather on the planet. He was grateful he had looked up information on the planet and learn about the weather otherwise he wouldn’t have had an extra layer of cloth to keep him warm.

“Tapas…” He silently said to himself, trying to remember anything he had heard or read up on to no avail. He read up on different force powers at the library but didn’t read anything about this one, he figured that information on Tapas was back at the library at the temple, and that he must not have gotten to it yet since he wanted to be thorough when it came to reading about and understanding the force. He was taking his time when it came to learning about the different aspects of it and didn’t want to miss ANYTHING on it.

Being given a candle, Jasper made quicks detailed look to it. Checking to see if there was anything “off” about it but found nothing and concluded that it was a regular candle. He looked over to the other students to see their reaction to getting one of their own candles to see how they would retract themselves but found nothing out of the ordinary from them.

 

[Kei Amadis]

Tag: Jasper Candos | Desbre Gensan | Kyra Perl | Milla Caranthyr | Amani Serys


OBJECTIVE 2

Milla Caranthyr | Desbre Gensan | Jasper Candos

Retaining Heat.

Even sheltered behind the rocks, the flickering candles were a lesson of concentration in the wind as much as the breeze on themselves. Would it go out, would it stay lit, would the sand put them off or the excitement of a new technique. As they began focusing on themselves, understanding, maybe relaxing tension, hearing their heartbeat, feeling the warmth inside their own bodies that were already there, some were going beyond even that and developing warmth internally.

He’d learned early, there was no better way to learn a force technique than to "personalize it, make it your own". Practicing himself, he gave them time. Occasionally speaking about muscles, the friction of clothing or armor, wind on the body, getting that sense of themselves.

Until the lesson flipped

Drawing in Heat...

“Move your attention outwards to the candle, the heat it has.” A real and easy example of heat that anyone could see or feel. Symbolic but as was Amadis’s way practical. “Sense that warmth on your hands, and in the bowl.” Breathing in again, steady and calm, keeping the connection with the force at the heart of the technique. “Feel heat warming naturally. Your body benefits from it with no effort. Don’t need to take. A naturally flow, where your center comes from, effortlessly.”

The peace at the core of all the Jedi, was the natural flow of the force. Meanwhile Valrel was watching to see if any of them needed aid. Eventually there would be no candle but all in time. Some were better introspectively at retaining their body heat, others would be better at drawing it externally...

Kyra Perl | Amani Serys

While Amadis continued at the front, taking lead for her. Opening one eye, Valrel Kos peered at Kyra and Amani.

~BOO~

In their minds. A loud voice spoke as if behind them, looking over their shoulder, but if they turned or sensed no one was there. It was good-natured and playful. ~Should I sssssh you. No. Your gift is your energy and love of life. Connect to the wind, the candle, life and energy all around you. That's you.~ When that word had settled, Valrel Kos ended with looking at them directly, almost a smile when she turned to Kei. He was also grinning as he often was. Who knows, maybe the two Master’s had a plan from the start for this, plotting behind the scenes for excitable students. He said nothing, he’d been young once, a few thousand unshaven adventures ago.

Introspective and Outward looking technique, both in the lesson.

 

[Klesta]

Objective 1: Fort exploration
Allies: Beltran Rarr Elise Corte Fletchador Sinestra

"Utinni! It appears the life support systems have taken extensive damage, but not enough to warrant a complete overhaul"

These pipes that made up the life support systems, water, venting, he could fit right into these, and he could readily assess the damage taken in the venting system, while the water system, on the other hand, had virtually no water left because of leakages and ruptured pipes. In effect, the Jawa realized just how extensive the overhaul would then be. It's not just one system, it was all the major utilities. And maybe have some molecular toilets so as to reduce water usage, he thought, while also realizing the implications of the use of molecular toilets: with molecular toilets, food will be less of an issue, too, once the system is operational. He would rather hook up the molecular toilets to the fortress' kitchens: that way the ingredients will flow more easily. However, there was initial reluctance at first when he had molecular toilets installed in the Hosnian Prime office: people had msigivings about eating processed poodoo, even with the technology in the molecular toilets resulting in food that was safe for consumption.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Klatooine, entering ancient fort
Objective: Explore the ancient fort, assess for future use as a base
Allies: Elise Corte Fletchador Klesta Sinestra
Enemies: Snarlin' beasts
Armor: OS-114 "Katarn Mk. II" Combat Armor

Primary Weapon: OS-109 Fate Assault Rifle (chest rig)

Secondary Weapons:

• OS-104 Reaper Blaster Pistol (drop holster, right side)
• OS-101 Retractable Vibrosword (On belt)
• Krath Itak Sword (back scabbard) Note to Force Users/Force Sensitives - this blade emanates a strong Dark Side aura
• Beskar Sword (back scabbard)
• 8 x frag grenades (chest rig)

Misc Gear:

• OS-112 "Valkyrie" Jump Jet System (Mounted on back)
• OS-108 Energy Shield (Left wrist)
• 2 x OS-107 "Hermes" Sensor Drones (chest rig)

Beltran nodded to Klesta as the small hooded being spoke. He'd encountered Jawas only a few times before, but it had been enough that he'd learned quickly to respect their abilities when it came to repairing aging systems. "I'd be happy to leave the specifics to you, Master Klesta." He replied matter-of-factly. "I can detail a team of engineers to help you figure out just how much overhauling will need to be done and what can be safely repaired, if you like." Beltran wasn't sure if the small being was interested in joining their ad hoc team as they journeyed deeper into the fort, so he wanted to provide the Jawa with another possibility if they desired.

Turning to the others, Beltran pulled a pair of fist sized remote drones from his utility belt and released them into the air. Immediately they began to float as their tiny micro-repulsors moved them forward into the darkness. "These drones will take scans of the area. They should be able to detect non-shielded power sources and non-masked life-signs and provide us with a reasonable map of our immediate surroundings."

Using his HUD, Beltran quickly transmitted the code necessary to access their encrypted telemetry via datapad, or any other similar device, to them. Taking hold of his rifle once more, he spoke to both Elise and Sinestra . "I am ready to continue if you are."

 

[Corte Fletchador]

Objective One
Elise, Beltran Rarr , Klesta , Sinestra

After listening to Klesta say that life support would only need a partial overhaul, Corte began to wonder what other mysteries that the old fort might hold. Looking to Beltran Rarr , Corte asked Lieutenant, from where I am standing I can see a dark stairway heading into what is presumably a basement. I think it would be prudent of us to decend below and see what is down there. Would you and some of your men like to join me?

 

[Amani Serys]

Objective 2

Amani quickly went from riffing with Kyra Perl to nearly jumping out of her skin when the voice called out, seemingly from behind them. She squeaked in surprise but regained composure quickly at Valrel Kos's words. She looked over to see the masters, Kos and Kei Amadis , apparent enjoyment on their faces. She saw the humor in the situation but couldn't help but be a little embarrassed at her own behavior.

"Alright! No more goofing around!"

She kicked back at Kyra, her face and voice suddenly stern. She shut herself in again to try and regain concentration, though she peeked out of the corner of her eyes at Kyra, tightening her lips but unable to help but give her a knowing smile. Maybe she still wasn't totally back to being serious.

Amani closed her eyes, for fear that looking at Kyra would make her get too off track again.

She pushed out every distraction around her, and focused in on the candle before her.

She could feel it, the faint heat of the flickering flame dancing in front of her.

The cold around her seemed like it was slowly beginning to melt away. It was working!

She drew her consciousness in closer, until she and the fire became one.

The heat was swelling up, overtaking the biting chill.

Then, a desert wind blew past her, kicking up sand and dirt over her face and candle, and abruptly snuffing out the flame before her. Amani spit flecks of sand off her lips, and fluttered open her eyes to see the decidedly extinguished candle before her.

She stared blankly for a few moments, before loudly interjecting,

"Oh, come on!"

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra only grinned as the masters teased and trolled them, the girl equally able to take the mischief she dished. Both watched them. She watched them in return, her eyes twinkling as she took even longer Amani to settle down.

Meditation was not her strong suit.

Amani received a second butt-kick, and it was only the girl's determination to focused that stopped Kyra from instigating them further. Kyra pouted for a moment, then followed her example.

A deep breath was taken, the girl struggling to lower her heat beat enough to feel comfortable closing her eyes. It did happen though , and not a second too soon. The wind kicked up, throwing sand up at them both. Kyra sputtered, wiping her eyes clean before looking back at their flameless candles. 'Awwwe," she echoed.


In the center of the group, several padawans were showing great success. A fact which made their apparent failure sting a little harder.

She tried to force-throw sand at Desbre Gensan 's candle. Kyra was a brat.

 

[Jasper Candos]

Desbre Gensan Kyra Perl Milla Caranthyr Amani Serys Milla Caranthyr Desbre Gensan Kei Amadis


OBJECTIVE 2

Jasper focused his attention on what Master Kei said and did throughout the demonstration of Tapas and made it a personal note to remember what he said. “Personalize it, make it your own” he repeated those words a few times while he listened to what Kei was saying to him and the other students. As if he was in a trance from the man’s words, Jasper looked over the now lit candle and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Drawing in the heat from the candle that was in front of him and then the force that was around him. He thought back to when he was taught by another Jedi from the temple to keep his heart rate slow in case of a time when he needed to and see if he could use it to his advantage in understanding how to use Tapas.

He figured if he could use some of the steps that he learned when slowing his heart rate, then he would convert those steps into steps for keeping the candle lit while dealing with the winds. It took him a few minutes to focus onto the heat, longer than most of the students in the group. But Jasper wanted to make sure that he got it down perfectly and he was a believer in slow and steady in moments like these.

The candle’s fire visually changed a little bit, thus signifying Jasper hold on it through the force. Jasper took slow in exhales and exhales, making sure that he doesn’t do anything too rash that will cause the fire on the candle to blow out. The wind from the desert soon came, as Jasper knew it would and attempt to keep the flames lit on the candle. The cold and wind were not forgiving to the young ones as well as the others there on the planet and in a few seconds, the flame existence on the candle that was being held by Jasper was gone.

Jasper quickly sighed but figured it wasn’t going to get done on his first try. He discreetly glances over to the other students in the group to see how there were doing with their practice. Not any better than him for some and not any worse for others. He knew this was going to take some time to get it right and mentally prepared himself for it before coming here but he realized that he might not be enough.

 

[Sinestra]

"Ain't really thought of countin' em." Jude replied dumbfounded. "Y'all can count 'em when ya meet 'em."

The group continued onward with Master Elise's ball of light and the soldier's remote drones leading the way. Another Jedi mentioned of a staircase leading below and Falkrowe was just about to say it was where the fried electric grid of the fort was but shadows interrupted him.

Shadows growling and hissing.

From the stairway leading below, a pack of black, red-eyed beasts rushed upwards in a ferocious assault against the expedition. The agent's 'old pals with fangs'. Jude instinctively took a few quick steps behind Master Elise shuffling to a safer distance. Jedi, after all, were much better at being meat shields.

"Can't count that much." Jude muttered when the light of the ball illuminated the numerous sharp fangs perfectly ordered in the maws of the beasts.

Elise Beltran Rarr Corte Fletchador Klesta

 

[Milla Caranthyr]

Milla was just starting to get used to drawing at the heat from her own body, even the friction caused by their own clothes. Now the masters wanted them to reach out and draw heat from the candle they held. That was easy, well...maybe easier said than done. Especially since there was so much to distract them, the masters included.

Reaching out with the force, Milla soon found the small flame. Bright and energetic, almost seeming alive in the force. She focused on the ball of heat, reaching out and trying to draw it in. The act was much more difficult than the previous challenge. This required reaching beyond themselves and towards something that wasn't living. Between the elements, other students and the masters, the task was very trying. Milla focused harder, blocking out everything unnecessary. Soon, she felt it. A soft warmth from the flam. Faint, like touching a metal rail that sat in the sun for a while. The feeling was there, that's all that mattered.

The young padawan let herself sit on that level of connection for a few minutes. The wind, however, threatened to snuff out the flame. Milla began to wonder, if she could draw heat from the flame, couldn't she place heat into the flame? Make it stronger and less likely to extinguish from the wind and cold? There was only one way to find out. Focusing on the flame, the young girl tried to reverse the technique. This was a different challenge, but she took it in small steps. Steps that, surprisingly, seemed to have results as the little flame felt like it was putting out more heat. She smiled and tried pushing more heat to it. Then...the small flame erupted quickly, doubling its size before snuffing itself out a second later. Milla jumped in surprise and dropped the now extinguished candle holder. She looked around with a sheepish grin. "Uh...oops."

Kyra Perl Kei Amadis

 

[Desbre Gensan]

Objective: 2
Tag: Kei Amadis | Kyra Perl | Amani Serys | Jasper Candos | Milla Caranthyr​

---

Des concentrated still on the heat within. The directive to focus on the candle’s heat came as no surprise. She could make out its warm glow through her closed eyelids as a close source of thermal radiation. The saturated red glow of the bright point in the infrared spectrum came to her easily. Without the wind, she was fairly certain she could have felt it against her skin. She sometimes could with plain laser light.

She had just begun to focus her attention on the candle while splitting her attention on her own heat. Sending her awareness outward was fairly easy, as she had spent a great deal of time focusing on that with her first teacher. The second had focused more on threading the Force through the body.

So it was that she felt that pulse, a mixture of mischief and perhaps resentment. She almost saw the wave of sand coming before the push in the Force came. Instinctively, she raised one hand to try to ward off the cascade of the annoying grit. She deflected part of it, but the wind, the air moved by the push, and the sand itself covered her and the candle, snuffing it out.

The Arkanian’s jaw tightened for a moment before she let out a slow, long-suffering sigh. Saying nothing, she dusted herself off and focused on what heat was left within the wick. If she were quick enough it wouldn’t take much heat to re-ignite it, but the ambient air was a massive heat sink.

Des brought up one hand, her right, and curled it around the end of the candle, creating a shield for the wind. The heat that pooled in her core, especially between her shoulder blades was as strong as ever. This she focused on, as well as her hands and the candle. The light from that star became a flow of charged plasma, glowing incandescent gas that she sent spiraling down her arm, as though it were being drawn by a black hole. She made it part of her, an extension of her body and will.

She let the heat pool in her palm. Immediately her hands began to tingle and the surfaces began to heat. Narrowing her focus, she made that point f heat smaller and brighter, compressing and compressing it. A grimace of concentration passed across her face as her brows knitted.

This bright spot of heat she bent through an opening in her skin. Or at least she visualized it that way. That glowing heat energy spiraled out and began to curl about the wick. She focused on vibration, on light, on heat, pouring more and more into it, along with the Force. Carbon began to incandesce as the latent heat within began to build, but the wind stole much of it away.

Des began to sweat with the effort, the concentration. This was completely new territory for her, and much more difficult than she’d experienced in the past. But success was close. Very close. Smoke began to curl off the heated wick. Just a little more!

Don’t force it. It’s a partnership. The words came to her unbidden and she knew not where. The padawan pondered this for a moment. Maybe back to her earliest days learning blast deflection. Her first teacher came back to mind, and how much she missed him.

Relaxing, a little, her shoulders eased down as she opened up to the Force. This she let fill her up and be the source of energy she needed. Pouring it into that point of the wick, the smoke became hotter until it glowed, incandescing to life. Flame! She had it there, practically in the palm of her hand.

She fought not to cheer in triumph but instead poured more and more. Only now it was easier since she had more to work with. The flame didn’t so much grow in size now as it burned hotter, cleaner, edging into a pure blue, almost invisible but very hot flame. Then she let it grow, basking in the radiant heat against her skin, and the heat flowing through her and connected to the candle. All three aspects at once, as focused on fortifying against the wind. For now, she pushed it to no greater intensity or height, instead focusing on stability and endurance.

There would be many storms ahead and she would need this fire, figuratively and literally, to weather it. She had to make it strong and durable. She sensed this wasn’t part of Tapas training, but it was a pathway to something even greater. It was something she would most certainly be practicing. The manipulation of thermal energy was a vastly useful tool. If she could do it here, she could do it again. The key would be remembering the feeling, and how it was done. And getting faster and faster at it. She needed to be able to deliver it on demand.

For now, she poured the Force, and her joy into it, but also some of her sadness and trepidation. Maybe she could let go of some of the pains that clung to her lick second skin. For the time being, she focused on her own introspection while keeping her attention to the heat and exercise with razor precision.

 

[Kei Amadis]

Tag: Jasper Candos | Desbre Gensan | Kyra Perl | Milla Caranthyr | Amani Serys
Objective 1,

Amani Serys | Kyra Perl

First of all some sand blew back at Kyra… seemingly out of nowhere…

“Is there heat in the air? Does the force need heat to be warm?” Valrel said with a slightly raised eyebrow. Two methods to think about. Some warmth was everywhere, even if it felt colder. Flames were relit if needed by the female Jedi Master. Almost as if the distraction of it going out was all part of the lesson. The Masters had hoped some would rely on the flame, they wanted to make it paramount and then for it to go out. So important. Then go out. Repeat. Adjust. Repeat. Adjust. Until they realized they didn’t need a prop.

Looking to Kyra and Amani “Want to know a secret. I am no good either.“ He looked at the flame in his own hands, “only an average Jedi.” Stepping into the cold wind away from the rocks, all the scarfs came off just leaving the robes, “When ready, step out into the wind.”

He blew out his own candle before the wind could, drawing warmth into himself from the air alone, because he realised however cold he was, there was colder. Some heat was there to draw in. Demonstrating what could be done from very little, and if they were fully cognizant that they were the force, it could be done with almost no heat at all. That however would take time and mastery, right now he was learning to Master tapas alongside them.

Milla Caranthyr

Milla had doubled the sized of her flame. Taking a moment to speak to her. Kei repeated what Valrel had said, almost like the pair made a good teaching team. Looking at Milla’s dropped prop. “What happens without the candle?” He grinned. Despite her mishap, Milla had got it almost, “does it have to burn or is there warmth enough for your body here without fire?” Wanting her to realise that she didn’t need the props, or actual fire to burn, she and the heat was enough unless she needed otherwise. Degrees of control.

Jasper Candos

While Kei spoke to Milla, Valrel moved to Jasper, who seemed one of the two quietest most internal students, “you are doing well,” she praised with a tap on the Padawan’s arm encouragingly, “You have a sensible way. Slow and steady practice” standing near his side, “what do you sense?” the Hapan Jedi Master asked to see if she could help with his methodology and to get him to open up. “Seems like for you breathing is a key ingredient.” Hoping to get him to work with that, which could lead to a hundred techniques to learn.

Desbre Gensan

Desbre was so internally focused, she was able to block out almost all the world around her. Which Kei was very impressed by, even cleverly shielding her candle and deflecting sand. Which he was currently sending back at Kyra... How he could help her progress? His own mindspeak might not be powerful, but he would try. A very snowy picture was sent to Desbre, icy, cold, the detail was faint because Kei was weak at this technique. Sensing her need to produce on-demand, he introduced what happened in life, more distraction. That faint hard to make out detail might distract her from her task. If it proved too much he’d stop, but this way she was getting an advanced lesson in starting to block out unwanted visitors while focusing at the same time on her technique. Adding value where he could. Soon sand and mental images would be effortless.

@All
Valrel watched them all speaking, “As you feel your technique grow, remember where it comes from, that effortless connection you shape and guide.” Kei nodded and added, “Never take, direct, it's already there.”

 

[Corte Fletchador]

Objective One
Elise, Beltran Rarr , Klesta , Sinestra

Just as Corte suggested the group descend into the depths of the old fort, almost like clockwork, a pack snarling beasts rushed the group from below. Corte, in one smooth motion, retrieved his lightsaber, activated it, and slashed the first beast that ventured close enough in half. Hoping this might cause the others to cower in fear and back down, he waited for what happened next. Then in unison, the beasts slowly advanced on the group. Seeing that Sinestra had taken refuge behind Master Elise, Corte said to all who were in the room If you are armed, now would be the time to fight with what you brought. Just as he said that, he ran his lightsaber through another attacking beast, severing its head from its body....

 

[Elise]

Location 1
Beltran Rarr

Elise's eyes flashed, her lips parting in protest as the first beast was slain.

"No, wait," she uttered, shooting out a protective force shield to catch Corte Fletchador 's saber before it could behead the final beast. Her raised hand turned into a fist; the beast rose into the air before it could lash out and harm Corte in response.

"We are in their home." She pushed past them both to stand before the beast. Another set of eyes appeared further down the hallway, their approach slowed by the sudden death of their comrades. Elise caught the creature's gaze, holding it with her own as she reached out with her mind. What went on between them was indescribable, the Master's mind blank to those that might open up their senses to gleam a clearer understanding of the exchange.

After a moment, the canine-esk creature gave a whimper and closed its fanged maw. Elise relaxed, her shoulders dropping as it was lowered and released.

It gave a sharp yip-whine, scooting steps backwards and up the wall like a spider.

The hall was quiet, full of tension as it went back to its pack ... and left the hall in a scuffle together. Elise turned back to the group, wiping blood splatter off her face.

"Violence should never be our first path," she told the knight softly. She looked at the other two, nodding to make sure they were well. "Keep your eyes peeled. Something tells me they are the least of our concern..."

Something lurked deep within-- an image she couldn't make sense of from the creature's mind.

"Did you see anything else while you were in here?" She asked Sinestra , swiping more blood from the crook of her nose as they started forward.

 

[Milla Caranthyr]

Milla thought about what Kei Amadis said. Did there need to be a flame for there to be heat? Probably not, no. "No, I don't think there needs to be a flame for heat." She rubbed her poncho against her forearm. "There's heat from my clothes when I rub them together, and my hands."

Okay. So she needed to direct, not take because it was already there. Even though she didn't need it, Milla picked up the small candle holder anyway. Closing her eyes, she tried again. This time she tried to direct heat from warm places to colder ones. With a bit of focus, and patience, she finally managed to direct enough heat to feel warm against this cold climate. Satisfied with that, she directed heat towards the wick of the candle. More and more heat was pushed towards it. Every once in a while she'd rub her poncho against her forearms to create heat and then direct to colder areas of her body. With a little effort, and a lot of focus directing heat, she got a small wisp of smoke to rise from the wick of the candle.