Public Tea with Tiland V: Thracior

[Tiland Kortun]

Thracior was an odd world. One had to admit, and its clans had a long history of warfare and skirmishing, even forbidding marriage between different clans, with that crime being punishable by death. Even were he not a Jedi, Tiland suspected he would have been horrified at the practice. Yet, it was the Force that drew him here for reasons of its own. It was a long way from his normal stomping grounds of the Outer RIm, and he felt uneasy being so close to the center of the galaxy. He could almost feel the gravity trying to pull him in to the deepest parts of the Core.

But he set that aside and erected his makeshift table. It wasn't much. Just a log set upright, with other logs lying on their side set around it in a circle. He sat at one with his satchel next to him. A small brazier sat on the table, small flame flickering in a bit of breeze that came in from the woods, while a decently sized portable cauldron began to steam. Its crisp aroma wafted into the air and Tiland settled himself more comfortably. The sun in the distance was just beginning to set and its yellow began to darken and crispen into crimsons and oranges. The world did have excellent sunsets. He had to give it that.

Next came the small bundles of leaves and herbs. He wasn't sure which blend was perfect for the event, just yet, but he would come to recognize it as the Force spoke to him. He would simply need to be patient and blend the tea as others arrived or the circumstances changed. Much like living the Way of the Jedi and the Way of the Light Hand, tea brewing was a delicate and flexible art with power that far exceeded what it would have looked like. It was something that he appreciated about it. It was an art that he had spent over six hundred years studying and striving to perfect. And it was an art he would continue to strive to perfect as long as the Force permitted.

Around the lip the table, he placed a series of simple wooden mugs with handles for those who would join him. He didn't know who they would be, but the Force always brought those in need to join him. After all, sharing tea with a fascinating stranger was one of the great joys of the universe.

 

[Darth Themis]

Wearing: Robes of Balance

Armed with: Lightning Rod (Single bladed pink lightsaber)

Darth Themis walked a world of violence and desolation, her visions having drawn her to this place.

Getting used to a future like this was going to take some time. Wow had everyone wised up to the games Force Users played. Themis
could still tussel with the best of them, but for now she was simply catching her breath.

Themis had visions of a boy strong with the Force. A clanless in hiding in the mountains. Many futures said a Jedi would reach him a year from now and teach him the ways of The Force.

Themis was in no mood to simply allow it. Themis intended to teach the boy the truth: The Light was a Tool. A tool to realize order, unlike like the Dark, which is what made Themis a Light Side Sith, and therefore, a heretic.

She had come here as a fortune teller, dressed in long jet black robes similar to those of the Jedi Temple Guards. As she was Shi'ido, her lightsaber was concealed within a cavity formed from her own flesh. The pink synthetic crystal within grew ever more saturated by the twisted light nexus in her body. There were subtle markings in the black armorweave fabric. The ancient symbol of the Light, a circle with strange geometric patterns was encased in a pentagram. The pattern was faint however, thanks to the very black fabric. Her hood was down, her light mutated eyes obvious: the whites were a metallic bronze sheen, her irises an unnatural dark green. She was beautiful, incredibly so, but there was a grimness to the mouth. Her hair had been morphed shorter to better fit under the hood. She had taken the forest path, not because she wanted to feel close to nature, but because once she had set foot on this world she sensed someone her visions had given no hint of. A person strong with the Light. A Jedi.

She may have died as Moya De Lifte but she had ressurected as her heretical Sith persona from before her time as a Jedi fighting the Cult of The Brain Demon. The Jedi were peers. She wanted most of the same things they did. But she did not want to obtain those things the same way the Jedi did. She had tried it their way once already. Her beloved De Lifte Family had been butchered in the end, despite having legitimately trained most of them as Jedi, as her original deal with Adrian and Ellen De Lifte had stipulated.

She had done it the Jedi's way and her loved ones were all gone. All except one, potentially...if she could find her.

It was the aroma that caught her, then the flame. An old presence in the light. Didn't seem to be here for her, but one never knew...

Themis decided to play to her curiosity. Not like any alarm bells would really start going off in his head unless there was fighting, and Themis had not come to fight.

She entered the space, and saw Tiland Kortun and saw him setting up mugs.

"Pardon me, stranger...I am a bit cold. Would you mind if I join you?" She asked, her visions not showing at the moment. Her tone matched that of her face, grim but non hostile...

Sometimes a Jedi was too savvy. Ninety nine percent of the time, despite the way the Light was present in her, Jedi would not be alerted.

It was that last percent that had been a nasty surprise for her.

Hopefully he wasn't too sensitive...she didn't feel like fighting a peer...however misguided...

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Darth Themis

Tiland hummed softly to himself as he arranged the table. There was a rightness to a tea ceremony performed properly, a certain way of moving, but more than that, a way of living that was encompassed in the delicate nature of the ritual. He savored the experience as much as he did the tea itself, even without considering the metaphorical nature of the events that could be used as a teaching tool.

Someone spoke and he looked up, a smile spreading across his face. "Of course, friend. I welcome all travelers to my tea table. Please, come and sit." He gestured to one of the makeshift seats. "Especially when there is a bit of a chill in the air. It will be ready soon."

He checked the water above the brazier again and nodded with satisfaction at its progress before turning to his companion. She was Force-sensitive. He could feel it distinctly, very much of the Light. Yet in a way he had not experienced before. Light, like all things, had many aspects. Some were gentler than others. Light made plants grow, but could also scorch and destroy them. It gave sight to their path, but also blinded when experienced strongly. The glyphs in her robes were barely visible in the Dark, but these too he recognized as ancient symbols of the Light. Older than him, perhaps, which was a rare occurrence.

Yet the aura from her matched her face and voice. Grim, almost hard. Not evil, per se, but not good in its whole sense. Something different, perhaps even inverted. It was hard to make out, but she had made no threat, so he would give none in return. Instead, he began opening various pouches that sat on the table in front of him, giving a quick sniff to test the strength of each ingredient. "Something warming feels appropriate, I think." He furrowed his eyebrows as he scooped them into the small bowl. "I am Tiland Kortun. Herbalist and Jedi. Might I hear your name?"

 

[Darth Themis]

Themis, obviously, gave Tiland Kortun the name she had used as a Jedi.

"Moya De Lifte..." she answered. "Fortune Teller..."

Yeah, a Fortune Teller who can tell nearly any fortune accurately except her own, she thought cynically in regards to her own abilities. They had never saved her when it truly would have mattered. Always, she was cast down in the end. Always.

Themis gazed upon Tiland, sensing how ancient he was. Definitely older than the Plague. But by how much?

The Plague, in retrospect, had been the only point in her existence where she had been legitimately heroic. She thought she was doing the heroic thing during the Reconstruction Era. It wasn't until she had pretended to be a Jedi for too long that she understood the difference between what she was doing and actual heroics...

As she waited for the Tea, Themis began to notice other things about him. She had fought many Anzat, and realized she wasn't the only one here with her own demons.

"How did you come to be here, Master Jedi?" Themis inquired.

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Darth Themis

Tiland paused to consider the grain of the tea grounds, taking a pinch of it and feeling the texture. He gave a short nod before looking back up. "Well met, Moya De Lifte." An eyebrow raised as she spoke. "Fortune teller? You have my curiosity. It is rare that I meet one of those. I suspect your business has been quite desired in the past few years."

He pulled a strainer from his satchel and scooped in the tea grounds. Leaning low, he carefully shook the utensil and let the smaller bits fall into the teapot where they belonged. His brows narrowed as he focused on the tea process. One more tap and shake and the tea leaves were ready. He turned and unscrewed the top of the thermos. Steam wafted up as he poured it out into the tea-pot, cut off as he replaced the lid. "There, just a few minutes now."

Tiland brushed the last specks of tea off his hands and relaxed in his small, impromptu seat. "Oh, I wander," he said airily, with a wave of his hand. "Hopped aboard a freighter that needed a medic. Felt like I was meant to depart here and wander about. Found some delightful herbs and other medicinal plants. What about yourself?"

 

[Darth Themis]

Wandering. He got to wander.

Themis envied Tiland Kortun .

When he said her fortune telling abilities must be in high demand, Themis shook her head.

"Oh, not as much as you might think." Themis admitted. "Surprisingly few want to know their future. Because if it comes true, did it come true because it was meant to, or because you were told it would?"

When he asked what she was here for, she didn't give the obvious answer, as he would no doubt attempt to stop her.

"Here to give...advice." She admitted, "its a thankless job...seeing what must happen...and being disbelieved. Occasionally, even your own visions lie to you. Utterly. I heard there were ancient Force Texts, so thats one more reason I had come here."

Themis's hands rested on her spear. It was her only real source of comfort these days. Her only remnant of a happy memory in this lonely era. This lonely, deadly era.

What a world to live in. Themis often stayed on her new ship because the new era scared her. It was everything she had feared in the reconstruction era coming to pass.

Themis, above all, wanted to find Julia Crownwraithe and settle their mutual feud with the cult that had ruined both their lives.

"Hoping to run into a relative..." she added, trying to use the Force to look for Julia. But their was no sign. She wasn't meant to find her yet.

"Your studies are probably much more practical then my own turned out to be. Probably should have studied herbs a bit more. They smell nice."

Themis clutched at her spear a little tighter, suppressing the memory of her family's death. Even after being dead centuries it hurt like it had happened thirty seconds before.

Themis, for all her power, was a lone, unhappy creature.