Private The Crystal Grimoire 2

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

Kass' first few weeks as Chief Librarian were met with a flurry of special reserves. Students were requesting items from the vault at an unprecedented rate. Unable to keep track of them all, she decided to familiarize herself with the inventory by conducting a review of everything currently in storage.

Inevitably, she stumbled across something which wasn't on file: an unmarked Sith holocron. The crystal lattice was a shade of red so dark and muddy it was almost brown. When she first saw it, Kass thought it was dirty and attempted to clean it. The device was certainly very ancient, but its construction contained numerous anomalies that didn't fit in with any particular era of the Sith. At least, none that she knew of—which was just about all of them.

It didn't take long for word to get out about the mysterious artifact. Kass kept it under lock and key. She certainly couldn't let any students access it until after she had learned its secrets, but this situation was more complicated than usual. She had no idea what it might contain or how dangerous it could be. So, she took precautionary measures and asked the rest of the Council to send someone to down to the library to assist in activating the holocron...

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Kassogtha Cthylla

Valery had been up in the Council Chambers, shifting through reports, when she received the message from the Chief Librarian. Rumors had already spread about the mysterious holocron, but Valery and every other member of the Council trusted that Master Cthylla could handle it, or ask for help when she felt it was wise to do so. Dark Side artifacts were often treacherous, and had various methods to defend themselves.

Most notably, they could penetrate the minds of others and either corrupt or torture those affected. It's for this reason that dangerous artifacts weren't just in reach within the archives, where younglings could study as well. They were either cleansed, safely stored or brought off-world if they were particularly dangerous.

What they'd need to do with this holocron remained to be seen.

"Master Cthylla?" Valery asked after entering the archives. "I received your message and figured I'd help." As a former Shadow, her experience with Dark Side artifacts went far beyond that of most others, even if it was usually about just cleansing or destroying them completely.

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

Kass was performing her daily routine in the library when she heard Valery call her name. Despite the strange circumstances, there were always items needing to be sorted and shelved. “Yes?” she replied, pushing her cart out of the way before turning to face the woman. They had met before, but only as part of a group, never in a one-on-one interaction. Like all humanoids, Valery Noble appeared masculine to the Pylantian perspective, so Kass had no personal standard by which to judge her famed beauty. But the woman had more than proved herself a competent Jedi, which was all Kass needed to place her confidence in her.

"I received your message and figured I'd help."

“I see. Well, hopefully the holocron won’t cause us too much trouble, but it is best to be cautious. I'm sure you're more than capable of tackling anything that might go wrong.” Catching a nearby padawan volunteer gawking at them, she gave him a many-eyed glare until he resumed his duties. “Follow me, Master Noble.”

She slithered through the aisles and down a narrow corridor to reach the vault door, which unlocked with a hiss of depressurized air. Once inside, they would find the holocron in question sitting on a table apart from the many shelves full of materials.

“I have not attempted to access it yet,” Kass explained. “But as is the case with most holocrons, it probably doesn’t take much more than focusing on it with the Force. We can begin whenever you are ready.”

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Kassogtha Cthylla

Seeing Master Cthylla in person had been something Valery, just like many other Jedi, needed to get used to. The Temple was one of the most diverse places on Coruscant, with Jedi having been born all across the Galaxy to find their way here. But there was always a first for every species, and the Pylantians had definitely left quite an impression with the arrival of the Librarian. At this point, though, it no longer really phased her, so when the woman appeared, Valery greeted her with a polite smile.

"I have a lot of experience, but some artifacts can still be... tricky," Valery admitted. "But that's why I'm glad you asked for some help. Together, I'm sure we can tackle it." She followed the Chief Librarian, pausing only to join her in glaring at the student, before they entered the familiar vault.

Valery only ever got here when restricted materials needed to be accessed, or in situations like this.

"I don't think accessing it will be hard either, but prepare yourself. Raise a barrier around your mind, and let's approach it with caution." Valery would do the same, and try her best to shield herself before she raised a hand, and reached out alongside the other Jedi Master to find a connection with the artifact.

"You've accessed these types of holocrons before, right?"

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

“Many times,” Kass replied. “Never on my own.” She always had other Jedi around to help her, whether Masters, Shadows, or even just her husband Oukranos. Accessing a holocron alone had always struck her as an invitation to disaster.

Valery seemed cautiously optimistic that the device would pose no threat too great for the two of them to handle. With that in mind, Kass forged a connection with it as well. She didn’t lift a pseudopod or make any sort of gesture; the Force came easily to the Consular.

The holocron began to glow as power flowed into it. Kass was afraid there would be some obstacle preventing them from accessing it, but the capstone lifted and the sides of the pyramid unfolded like the petals of a dark red rose. A hologram appeared, depicting an elderly Human male. With long gray hair spilling out from beneath a primitive golden crown and a large, impressively muscular body swathed in garments made from animal skins, he glared at them with a face like stone, his massive arms crossed over his chest.

“If you want knowledge, you must answer my questions,” the hologram growled. “Tell me, what is best in life?”

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Kassogtha Cthylla

"That's a wise call," Valery agreed. "Too many have fallen or died during encounters with artifacts." But even having just one other Jedi with you could prevent that. The risk was there today as well, even with two of the most experienced Jedi handling the artifact, so she was glad that they'd be working together on this. But with that out of the way, the Chief Librarian tapped into the Force and reached out to the Sith Holocron to form a connection.

To find a way for it to reveal its secrets.

It didn't take long before they got their response — the Holocron opened up in a way she had seen several times before, and immediately she could feel the darkness rise within the room. She frowned, focused on her mental shielding, and watched as the gatekeeper appeared. At first, Valery blinked while she studied the man in front of them. He looked the part of a Sith Warrior, with a body and attitude sculpted for war. But here he was, his form used as a gatekeeper for a Holocron.

The question that followed got Valery to raise an eyebrow, and rather than immediately answering it, she telepathically reached out to her fellow Jedi, <My guess is that we'll have to answer this as if we're Sith if we want to gain access.> Trying just that, Valery cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Power."

It was through power, that chains were broken, after all.

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

It seemed a logical conclusion. Kass waited with bated breath to see if the gatekeeper would accept Valery’s reply. The warrior showed no reaction at first, but then his expression soured.

“Lame.”

Utterly blindsided by his dismissal, Kass could only blink in surprise.

“‘Power’. Really?” The gatekeeper scoffed. “Thousands of years of waiting to ask that question, I get the most basic answer imaginable. Come on, use your brain. Give me something more interesting than that.”

The Chief Librarian exchanged a glance with Valery, her pseudopods wriggling in the Pylantian version of a shrug.

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Kassogtha Cthylla

Ah, a sassy gatekeeper.

Valery raised an eyebrow and briefly glanced at Kass before she turned back to the Sith gatekeeper. She wanted to snap back at him but she probably shouldn't-

"I know what it's not - being stuck in a holocron for thousands of years," she told him before raising a hand up through her hair, eyes still focused on the projection. The best thing in life to her was going to be wildly different from a Sith, and she wasn't about to share that personal side of her either.

"Maybe the best thing in life is not knowing what comes next. I bet you weren't expecting to pop up in the rebuilt Jedi Temple."

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

Kass winced as Valery revealed where they were, not sure how the Gatekeeper would react. But rather than becoming angry or shutting down, the Sith laughed. It was a deep, rumbling chuckle that soon grew into an uproarious guffaw as he bent over with the force of it.

“Ah, that’s a good one!” he said, slapping his knee. “Who knew Jedi could have a sense of humor.” Turning to Kass, he asked, “What about you? What is best in life?”

Kass thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “A good book.”

“Heh. Thrills, and knowledge. Don’t worry, you’ll have both soon enough. I just have two more questions to ask you.” He glanced between the Jedi Masters. “Describe true happiness.”

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Kassogtha Cthylla

Valery flashed Kass a confident grin, but she did feel relieved that the holocron didn't shut down entirely. If it had, accessing its contents would have been a lot more difficult. There was probably a way to get around the gatekeeper or override him completely, but figuring that out would have been a headache.

Still, even though their answers were satisfactory, they weren't quite done yet.

"Being able to watch my children grow up," Valery said without hesitation. "The happiness comes down to having a purpose far greater than yourself, and nothing is as pure and joyful as raising a child." Perhaps another lame answer to this gatekeeper, but there was nothing that could capture happiness better.

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

The Gatekeeper made no comment on Val’s answer apart from a grunt of acknowledgment. “And you?”

“Service to the Force,” Kass replied.

“Bah!” The Gatekeeper glared at her contemptuously. “You must not have children, then.”

“I have three.”

“And you put the Force above them?!”

“I never said my children didn’t make me happy.” She gave him a few gentle smiles. “But I am happiest when the hierarchy of importance is arranged to place the Force first, family second, community third, as it should be. If I placed my children first, I would no longer be a Jedi. I wouldn’t even be here—I’d have left long ago to be with them, for they are not Jedi. But I am, and I belong here, serving the Force.”

“I didn’t ask where you belong, I asked you to describe happiness!”

“What’s the difference?”

“Final question,” the Gatekeeper growled. “Define love.”

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Kassogtha Cthylla

Valery listened to Kass' answer with a curious expression as it made her think back to all the old discussions about Jedi and attachments. In the past, Jedi believed to avoid them entirely, while most Jedi now embraced them and often held the importance of family above being a Jedi. Kass seemed to be in the middle, and it was likely the better way to feel about it.

Valery's own stance was perhaps a little bit different, but that difference only made things more interesting.

"Final question," the Gatekeeper growled. "Define love."

"Odd question for a Sith gatekeeper," Valery commented with a smirk. "To me personally, true love is a combination of almost unconditional affection and fear. When I look at my husband or kids, I can't imagine being separated from them anymore. They bring me a lot of joy, give me purpose and make me feel complete. Though it comes with fear as well. Losing them would be the most painful thing imaginable. A pain I've already experienced once, when I believed my husband to be dead."

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

“I had a family once,” the Gatekeeper muttered. “I did anything I could to keep them safe. Even turning to the Dark—though I didn’t realize it at first. I felt no different, still the same Jedi I always was…”

A solemn silence followed. “What became of your family?” Kass asked.

The Gatekeeper seemed to look right through her. “They were lost to me.” His gaze refocused, and he spoke sharply, “You answer my questions, not the other way around.”

“You asked for the definition of love. Well, love is many things, but chief among them I would have to say are forgiveness and mercy. And there can be no fear in love.” She glanced toward Valery, not uncharitably, but with a firmness in her eyes and the tone of her voice that suggested this was not just an opinion of hers. This was something she knew. “I would not want my loved ones to suffer. I dread the thought of my children dying before me, or of my husband’s life being cut short, but there is a difference between dread of something that might happen, and fear of the inevitable. We are not immortal. Death is part of life.”

“A banal platitude that brings no comfort. You speak like you have never known the pain of loss.”

“Before I knew love, I knew loss,” Kass said. “My mother died and my father sold me. I was resentful of it then as you are now. The people we leave behind will lose us, too—and the people we have lost will be restored to us someday. We will all be reunited in the Force.”

The Gatekeeper frowned. “I wonder if I was reunited with those I loved,” he said softly. “Or if I am still raging among the stars…” Uncrossing his arms, he pointed a finger at the two Jedi. “Swear that you will find out what became of me, and I will give you access to my knowledge.”

“But you said we just needed to answer three questions,” Kass protested, puzzled and slightly annoyed by this new twist.

“That is true.” The Gatekeeper stroked his chin. “You need only swear it. You are Jedi. I know you will honor your word.”

Valery Noble​

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant Temple

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsabers
Tag: Kassogtha Cthylla

After listening to Kass and the gatekeeper, Valery perked a brow at his final request. Much like Kass, she was under the impression that answering his questions would be enough, but now he wanted more? In other circumstances she would have said no, but it felt as of their answers had sparked this request, so it at least wasn't a planned change in the agreement.

He was just curious about what happened.

"Very well, you have my word that I will do my best to find out. But I can't make a guarantee that we will. There is no telling what exactly happened, after all." She looked at Kass and offered the Librarian a smile. If Kass didn't want to help, that'd be fine. Only one of them needed to, right?

"But please, will you give us access to your knowledge now?"

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

"I will find out your fate," Kass agreed after Valery.

"But please, will you give us access to your knowledge now?"

In response, the Gatekeeper flickered and disappeared. For a few moments it seemed the Sith warrior had tricked them, but then the pieces of the pyramid-shaped holocron opened up like a flower, revealing an ancient scroll hidden inside. Kass tentatively reached in with a pseudopod and plucked up the scroll, bringing it over to a nearby table. Carefully unrolling it, she saw ancient Sith writing, the first part of some sort of spell.

"This is it," she said, rolling up the scroll again. "Recipes for Sith sorcery." Turning to Val, she bobbed a curtsy. "Thank you for your help, Master Noble."

Valery Noble​