Private Serpentine Stitches

[Darth Ophidia]

Spindle​

When assembling power from ruin, it is wise to see beyond the fractured shape of what you once had. Those scattered shards may fit together and recreate what was lost, but they will always be broken. Those who see beyond the original form may find new ways to assemble the pieces, and from the ruin a new Order will arise. Now, Darth Ophidia was working with less than a the full set of pieces needed to enact her vision. So, she had set to seeking out new pieces that could augment her artful collection.

Cue: A rumour.

There was a humanoid, female presenting, black hair with a shock of white. Ashen skin, black eyes, black fingernails. The individual was last seen searching through ruins and coming back frustrated. Some called her "Spindle". She had been observed in the Krayiss system, probably searching for the Library Temple left behind by the Sith Empire.

So on the order of the Tsis'kaar, a shadow entered the chambers where Spindle had rested for the night and painted a message on the wall:

"Dark thoughts open doors - Whisper to the skull-sun and listen."

Then, in her hand placed a disk of golden metal. On one face were a serpent biting its tail. On the other was a gaping skull crested by splayed bones like the rays of a sun. The shadow came without a sound, through locked doors and windows. It completed its task and looked at Spindle with white, empty eyes before dissolving into nothingness.

And the Pale Assassin waited and saw if this Spindle could indeed figure out the riddle.

 

[Spindle]

Darth Ophidia

It wasn't often that someone caught Spindle completely unaware. The Weaver lived for her work, often up in the wee hours pouring over notes and projects, peeling back secrets like one would a fruit. Where there was knowledge to be gained, Spindle was surely close behind.

Krayiss would be no exception. Not intentionally, anyway, though it was certainly presenting a challenge. The pale specter had been certain her search would bear fruit in due time, though each lead that came up short gnawed away at that confidence. It wasn't easy finding things that didn't want to be found, Spindle was well aware. Still, the promise of what wonders a lost library would present had the Nagai intent on her search.

A mixture of alarm and curiosity emanated from Spindle as she woke to proof that she'd missed a visitor sometime in the night. The company she both kept and expected to come across were of the kill or be killed variety and yet here she was, alive and with a trinket to boot. How very fascinating.

"So I have the skull, but which door?" She hummed to herself, beady eyes staring down the written message as if searching for a hidden meaning. The ghost of a chuckle caught in her throat as she considered technicalities and wordings. "Thoughts don't have pigment, not like actions," she mused, bringing the coin skull-up to stained lips, voice dropping to a wisp on the wind. "To the skull-sun and listen," she read, keeping her ears primed for any sound that might follow. If that failed, she'd just whisper the entirety of the message, see if 'Dark thoughts open doors' was itself a passcode.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

When Spindle put her lips to the disk, she would find that it gave off a sensation not unlike a battery: A pinching and tingling sensation that left the lips momentarily numb, but not dysfunctional. Some, a simpleton perhaps, would find themselves entranced by this sensation alone.

As she whispered the first line, 'to the sun-skull and listen' she heard nothing but a faint echo- Interestingly, there was no echo in the room before. It would seem there was something new in the space around her. The echo did not come from the coin itself, but seemingly everywhere at once, and it was definitely Spindle's own voice.

She spoke again "Dark thoughts open doors-"

And the space did not echo, but answer:

"Dark words speak of hoards."

"Do the deed and it is yours:"

"Eclipse the sun."

"The Serpent Comes."

 

[Spindle]

Darth Ophidia

Spindle's eyes widened with delight as the coin responded to her words. "What a curious little thing you are, aren't you?" She murmured just above a whisper. She'd seen her fair share of enchanted and alchemized items in her day. Why, she'd made a good number of them herself, so often enraptured with the possibilities of turning the mundane to beyond.

Her paper-thin brow furrowed as she considered the next clue, head tilting to the side with joints producing an almost sickening pop with the movement. "I'm not certain I'm particularly built to face the hoards," she gave a short chuckle, the glimmer of mischief twinkling in her eye suggesting perhaps she was more prepared for the masses than she liked to let on. Eclipse the sun, the serpent comes... Curious, she turned the coin over her knuckles, so that the serpent side was facing up. Surely it wasn't that simple, was it?

Now, now, there's no need to overcomplicate it, either, her inner monologue chastised itself. Then again, there was also no requirement that the puzzle be a walk in the park. She waited a couple moments, intrigued as to if she'd already solved the next part of the riddle, before turning her attention back to the coin. Inky tendrils of shadow, spouting from her own stained fingers, creeped out from underneath her nails, moving to more completely encompass the imagery of the sunset.