Faction The Darkness Is Revealing [TSE]

[Darth Carnifex]

Bastion, Capital of the Sith Empire
The Ascendant Hall

A light rain began to descend on the capital of the Sith Empire, a sprawling metropolis that encompassed the entirety of the continent it was built over. It was a marvel of the Empire's engineering prowess, having been constructed in a relatively short time during their decade-long tenure as Lords of Bastion. Towering skyscrapers glittered in the faint glimmer of light that snuck through the oppressive overcast, dazzling displays of opulence that rivaled even the grandiose towers of Coruscant or the Mirror-Spires of Ivexia.​

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Though the centerpiece of this grand display was the Emperor's Palace, all eyes were on the large domed structure situated several kilometers away from the seat of power. ​

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For the Sith had returned en masse to the throneworld, arriving in their dozens and dozens to congregate in the single towering monolithic structure. They came in all shapes in sizes, in all dispositions and flamboyancy of dress. The schemers, the magicians, the alchemists, the warriors, the assassins, and so on and so forth. All of them were supposedly united in their dedication to the Dark Lord's edict known as the Rule of Order, in which there would only be one Dark Lord, one Sith Order, and one Empire through which the Sith were to collectively achieve their goals of galactic supremacy. In reality, that unity existing primarily on paper as the Sith quickly assembled into their own factions within the hallowed Hall. They assembled together on the forum seating, clumping together in packs according to their ideology. The largest of the two were those who were fierce adherents to the Rule of Order, known as the Chwayatqo, and those who believed that the Sith had begun to stray from their ecclesiastic origins, known as the Sith'ariqo. ​

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Despite their differences and misgivings, they still arrived en masse to witness another of the Emperor's summons. Those who were so far away from the throneworld that attendance was impossible, or was so engrained in the war that they could not leave their station, were displayed via hologram among the immense seating of the Hall. At the center was the Emperor's own seat, flanked in descending order by the seats of the Dark Council and the Sith Triumvirate. They were all there, arrayed in their collective splendor; Darth Avacyn of Sith Doctrine, Darth Sacrorum of Military Command, Darth Abaddon of Scientific Advancement, Darth Athora of Civil Administration, Darth Ophidia of Galactic Influence, and the three Sith Triumvirs; Darth Voxyn of Strength, Darth Voracitos of Knowledge, and Darth Arcanix of Power. ​

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The Emperor and Shadow Hand sat above all of them, both of them resplendent in their most elaborate Sith robes. Emperor Carnifex looked down at the rapidly swelling ranks of the Sith, his power ascendant above all. When most of the Sith had arrived, his spread his arms out wide in a welcome as his voice was magnified across the entire gathering; "Brothers and Sisters of the ancient Sith, I welcome thee to this convocation."​

 

[Velok Brokentusk]

Among thousands of sapient species, a handful of common traditions had manifested and endured since prehistory, either via direct inheritance or convergent evolution.

One such cultural practice of immense antiquity was known as bingo.

High in the forum seating, Velok Brokentusk tapped his datapad delicately with a claw the size of a human forearm. A single square on a grid turned an appropriate Sithly crimson. The square's ur-Kittat label read 'THEE/THOU.'

Velok rumbled with pleasure that would register on a Richter scale and sat back to enjoy the show. But not before hanging a large banner over the edge of his gallery.

BRING BACK THE KAGGATH​

 

[Darth Quercus]

Darth Quercus swept in, all one point three metres of them: a brilliant indigo Dromund Kaas dart flower/Murakami orchid hybrid, potted in the Fair Widow's Vase and perched delicately on a mechno-chair.

Quercus, or rather their mechno-chair, strode through the great hall with dignity that suited the moment. A slack-jawed, blank-eyed Zabrak Sith followed after, but that couldn't be helped: Quercus needed an instrument around. Quercus' mechno-chair took a seat. The instrument stood beside them and stared at precisely nothing.

As the Emperor spoke, Quercus' leaves rustled in respectful acclaim.

 

[Darth Voracitos]

The presence of Voracitos within the mortal galaxy was a sparse one, his agents across the galaxy providing eyes into a reality that now scarcely interested the Sith Lord. Did he provide a function within the Empire as its Triumvir of Knowledge? Yes, he possessed a form that oversaw such things, attending meetings in silence with only brief interjections from the True Voice of His Gluttony. His flesh was spread thin across space and time, the girth of his presence ever-expanding into dimensions unseen by any Sith Lord prior to him. The dark abomination he had become after the Invasion of Rhen Var rested within his Grove of Gluttony in a dimension all of his own, while his one good eye oversaw an entire material plane shift and change. Time became almost immaterial to him. Sometimes, however rarely, the revelries of gluttony could be interrupted momentarily long enough that the Soul Banker could be enticed to make physical form within the galaxy.

"Lady Envy, how heavy does your burden weigh?"
​

The Dark Lord rumbled to his most useful Hungered Vassal, the ugly Zabrak in her tattered robes and alchemical mask, weighed down by the latent power of the Soul Star... still left unused. That would change. For some time now this servant had been kept in his personal demi-plane safeguarding his most prized possession, waiting to be used while she harbored the consciousness of his oldest servant, the Savant Wrath, now deceased. Her response was silence. It was as if she were caught frozen in a moment of time as if she had never left her failure at Rhen Var. The Sith Lord would ask again, but not today, there was a moment in time that his presence was requested, and out of respect for the Host he would honor this request.

A curled tooth appeared above the seat reserved for the Triumvir of Knowledge, then another and another, until a vaguely mouth shaped ring of teeth poking through reality hung in the air, like a mouth without a tongue. Suddenly, the mouth closed and the teeth clashed against each other, leaving behind a clear rift to the netherworld where the rest of the mouth belonged and the body it was attached to. The many horns and tendrils of Lord of Guttony passed through the rift that his toothed stomach had created, and it closed behind him as he hung in the air. When finally the rip sealed itself, the gnashing teeth of his stomach opened, and the darkened pit was exposed, seemingly endless. Voracitos floated gently, like a fleshy balloon filled with meat and bone, down and into his seat... which was more of a bed to an ordinary person, and even accounting for his usual size, his present form seemed still too large for the throne that was allotted to him.

Then, it waited for the others, the eye seeing reality for the first time since Rhen Var.

 

[AMCO]

The assembled might of the Sith Order was a glorious thing to behold, nay, experience. Their collective presence sent ripples through the Force, the greatest among them blanketing out the mere Knights - such as Adrian himself. For now, anyway. He was nothing if not forward-looking.

Where some had opted for robes or armour, the Alchemist wore an all-black three-piece suit, golden Sith runes tastefully drawing attention to his most admirable qualities - at his side, his apprentice Aren D'Shade , wearing whatever she had chosen. He was her master, not her babysitter.

Smiling broadly as he spotted a pair of similarily progressive Sith already engaged in what looked like an engaging debate of their own, Adrian raised his hand in greeting, raising his voice to be heard over the crowd. "Lady Farr, Lord Dabo! A pleasure, as always. I trust you don't mind if we join you - my apprentice, Aren, I don't believe you've been introduced."

The Weequay was a skilled enough sorcerer, but it was the female Zabrak she really ought to meet - a fellow practitioner of Mechu-Deru.

Allowing the little encounter to play out, he spared an annoyed glance at Velok Brokentusk - this was but the second time he had seen the Whiphid in person, and he remained decidedly unimpressed. He much preferred Velok the Younger - author of several of his favourite tomes.

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

Gunnr stared at the collection of Sith rushing into the convocation, being's heading at variable speed to their spots. How they bustled, or swooped, or begrudgingly shifted into the myriad positions was as fascinating to the sheltered Panathan as their garb and dress. What Sith chose to bring with them, where they chose to be in relation to the Emperor and his Shadow Hand opened Gunnr's eyes to the many worlds within her husband's domain. Within their domain.

Sheltered in the Royal Box, the many wives of Emperor Carnifex mingled as was their want, some in attendance, some not. All who did attend that Gunnr could see were dressed in finery, as befitting the Empress-Consort's and their positions. Saijo in a pristine gold and black dress, her natural hair up at the crown of her head in gold bands.

Gunnr stood at the edge of the box, one hand pressed against the rail and the other stroking the soft downy hair of her and Kaine's newborn daughter Taiya, who nestled in a scarf against her mother's Leather-armoured chest. Kaine's voice was strong, the Crimson light a powerful creator of shadows around his throne.

"A honey cake for your thoughts, my spear blossom." A set of warm lips pressed against Gunnr's neck, as two slender, pale arms wrapped around the larger woman. Ahani stepped on a shallow box to prop her chin on Gunnr's shoulder, a finger stroking the furrow out of Gunnr's brow.

"How many there are... All so separate and disparate, but joined. I have no memory of seeing so many cultures represented in one place." The bride breathed deeply. Held Ahani's arms to her chest in a hug. "I've missed so much of life, it seems. There's so much I've yet to see for myself."

"Give it time, we have lifetimes to see everything. Gosh, I remember being so young. It all seemed overwhelming then, but my war-loving beloved, you have the time. Now, what are you observing, eh? See any dissidents we ought to gut in the arenas later? How about invidious spies?" Ahani chuckled deeply, as their husband began to speak. A hush came about, as several of the younger Zambrano children rushed to the box railing to strain on their tip toes and see as much as they could. Gunnr shifted so two raven haired, emerald eyed boys could squish in between the railing and their mother, one of the boys swerving to peek at his infant sister. Hand stroking his hair, Gunnr smiled down at him, proud of how smart he looked in his leather 'armour' modelled after their Panathan Warrior kin.

"Mama! Mama, look... I can see Father and our sister and.. can they see us!? Hullo!"

"Shhhh. Father is speaking." The younger of the two pushed his brother softly, a finger over his lips. Ahani chuckled and nuzzled her nose briefly in Gunnr's neck, as the Panathan grinned down at the boys and clucked her tongue to shush them.

Darth Carnifex Ahani Najwa-Zambrano Vandra Zambrano @Zambinis

 

[Darth Pteron]

Pteron laughed as her weak gaze read the large letters displayed next to the whiphid above her. It was a deep and unsettling rumble that stretched the definition of laughter to the point of breaking, reverberating even through the thick layer of water around her. The amusement the whaladon found in the furry creature’s display of boldness. The dark lady respected the contrast he posed to the refined and certainly quite imposing display of imperial power that would be frightful to anyone not already well versed in the dark arts of the Sith.

Her massive frame cast a shadow over many of the, comparatively, puny humanoids around her as her mighty lungs heaved. The golden mask adorning her rostrum glistened in the light, casting the transparisteel tank that held the water necessary for her survival in many different shades of red and blue. The massive hide she bore was inscribed with various runes and inscriptions that only added to her unique charm.

≪ What an amusing fellow. I do believe I’m rather fond of his disposition … and his philosophy. How my heart yearns for the days of yore. ≫ she cast the message directly into the minds of those immediately around her, willing or not.

It was less an attempt at invading their privacy than it was an attempt at normalcy, she had to endure the conversations of others, so who were they to deny her the same right?

AMCO Velok Brokentusk Aren D'Shade

 

[Isaiah Dax]

It wasn't every day the Sith came together to sit down and enjoy some nice Sith propaganda to get the dark side grinds geared up. That made sense... right?

But yeah anyway a huge turnout, all the Sith had gathered even some Isaiah's old fellow acolytes had shown who had tried to wave down all the way from the mid-rear of the chamber where he was met with disdain and nasty looks. They were happy to see him, most definitely. He eyed Velok Brokentusk and gave him a wave and a smile despite barely knowing the man. The Saariaishash had a whole list of Sith-Imperials that the inquisitors had to study and Velok the Youngest was an interesting fellow. He then took notice of the Darth Pteron who overshadowed the convocation and waved at her hoping to get her attention as well. Fascinating Sith all around, it was nice being in this huge space. Eventually, he received Darth Pteron's telekinetic message.

"Your head must hurt from all the telekinetic traffic you get once who walk into a room." Isaiah said to her in a playful manner. Seriously it must be a pain to have a bunch of people talking to her at once through telekinetic means. He wouldn't know he barely does that sort of stuff. After he walking through the crowd he saw AMCO and Aren D'Shade and sped towards them. Especially given that Vandiir was another member of the inquisition like he was, he entered his space as well as the two Sith Lords he was already talking to. "Lord Vandiir. It's a pleasure to be with you in such a sacred place in the presence of his highness."

 

[Darth Voyance]

A slow, taunting, and lazy clap began to flutter from the entrance into the grand assembly hall which hosted this rare congregation. Emerging from the engulfing shadow cast by the high vaulted entrance archway, were a pair of golden leather gloved hands. Then from the darkness came the rutian twi’lek it had belonged to.

Dressed in dark robes accented by half-capes that dangled from her shoulders and gilded with decorative trim was the mistress of Voss and the newly constructed Dark Praxeum, herself – Darth Voyance. A Sith Lord who had proven to be as distant as she was mysterious. Often left to her own devices by her former master, the Emperor himself, she had returned to the Sith Imperial Capital after conducting her own projects.

Fully out of the shadows Voyance was revealed in all her jeering and clapping. A sly smirk stretched her face and she finished her clapping by throwing her hand aside and gesturing to Velok Brokentusk . Her gesture then recoiled into a point directed at the illuminated words of protest by the curious Whiphid.

“Splendid,” she said.

“Splendid indeed.”

Voyance dropped her hand strolled across the gathered lords towards her own seat nearby. As she did she nodded her head and rolled her smirk from either side of her lips.

“It puts me at ease that at least some have not forgotten the traditions that give our name as Sith meaning,” she laughed.

“Such a shame it took a ridiculous Whiphid to point it out.”

---

≪ What an amusing fellow. I do believe I’m rather fond of his disposition … and his philosophy. How my heart yearns for the days of yore. ≫ she cast the message directly into the minds of those around her, willing or not.

It was less an attempt at invading their privacy than it was an attempt at normalcy, she had to endure the conversations of others, so who were they to deny her the same right?

---

Voyance scoffed and replied in the dark void of the Force back to the titanic Sith Lord (Darth Pteron ), <<A time when Sith were Sith, don't you agree?>>

Voyance halted and turned on her heel to bow to the other Sith Lords and then turned again to bow to the Emperor. Completing her greetings, she batted away the folds of her robes and slowly reclined into her seat. Following Voyance were her attendants, and a couple of attaché members of her newly forged secret splinter order – the Qotsisajakaar. She had brought them along to bear witness to what wanton fetishistic Imperial servitude had done to the Sith. For Voyance had changed from the obedient apprentice she once was. She had learned much and found the Empire's Sith wanting.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

A body sat slumped in the seat of the Pyramid of Galactic Influence. The dark robes of black and blue draped over slender limbs hanging lifelessly over the sides while the head lulled to the side, half-covered by long, dark locks of hair, and shrouded under the wide-brimmed hood.

Then, a sharp intake of breath.

The body arched and fingers balled into fists as she exhaled and shuddered. She leaned on her knuckles as she sat up to a proper seated position, then rose to a standing with creaking joints. Her eyes opened slowly, the pale white irises igniting like a pair of burning coals. Her skin crawled as though a thousand worms fled the darkness within. Her breath calmed as she gagged and coughed quietly into her sleeve.

It was difficult every time, settling into a body not one's own.

Yet, when she brushed back the hood, the scarred, bald dome of her crown became apparent. She looked to Darth Carnifex as he made the greeting, then swept her eyes over the crowd.

It was difficult to unite the Sith. Fractures emerged so easily in the throes of the dark.

When brought together, they were like acid and water; if mixed incorrectly, they would react violently and damage everything they had worked so careful to build. She looked on as these warriors and assassins, sorcerers and philosophers and politicians, gathered under the Sith-Imperial banner. She could see the dividing lines already, but those divides were not the ones that made her concerned. It was the dividing lines she could not see yet that made her worry.

As Darth Voyance made her entrance, clapping and commenting, Darth Ophidia scowled.

She agreed that the purity of the Sith needed to be kept, but some traditions were the exact reason previous empires had fallen apart. The Kaggath? At its most extreme, it was one of the guiltiest of such travesties.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

To say her time on worlds controlled by the Empire was limited would be a serious understatement. Aren was a free woman and she would come and go as she pleased. Her training was ongoing and always happening. Her all the time connection to the holonet was both a blessing and a curse. That connection was how she learned of this gathering. So she made the time to be here.

Arriving with her Master, this would be one of the first times she had actually been in the presence of more than one Sith. Taking this as an opportunity to show herself, she would still look like some wonder eyed tourist. Here there were many races, but that really did not hold any interest for her.

As expected, her eyes were drawn to the throne when the Emperor welcomed them. After he finished, the conversations around the room began again and her attention came back to Adrian when he spoke. Since this was the first time she was here and knowing it would be a very large gathering, she left her droid companions in her room.

Not having met anybody else other than Adrian, she wasn't entirely sure how to greet these other people. Deciding to give them a nod, she kept her hand at her side.

"Nice to meet you both."

Others started crowding in and somebody came up to the two of them. Making room to him, she silently listened to what he said to Adrian. Almost wanting to return to her friends, she stayed her ground. If nothing else, this would be a break of routine and a change for the young woman.

AMCO Isaiah Dax Darth Pteron

 

[Valessia Brentioch]

"Oh, I like her," Valessia mentioned to her son, as Darth Voyance made an entrance. She sat high in her private suite with seats ready for her daughter, Alessandra Creed and her grandchild. Darth Auctorita was her official title around these parts, and so she peered over the railing with a smile. Kaggaths were so old fashion, then again, they would be massively entertaining. Gunther turned to his mother and sighed, he wasn't a fan of these big meetings.​

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He'd much rather be out with the troops than stuck here.​

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"Please Gunther, at least pretend to enjoy being surrounded by so much power." Valessia chided and looked across the hall with delight, and the twinkle of ambition sparkled in her eyes. The sight of the Dark Lady of the Lake was also one to behold, "well, it looks like someone managed to avoid being sent to the slaughterhouses for sushi." A whispered phrase anchored with a devil of a tongue. "Gunther look it's a Whipid, and I am such a fan of the decor, truly."​

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Valessia typically worked away from most of the Sith. She preferred the workings of the criminal underworld yet even she could not resist such a summons, a rare and ungodly task to gather all of the Empire's power under one roof. ​

 

[Vaulkhar]

A gold plated mask peered out from a blackened hood, bearing a grotesque grin to those around its wearer. The monstrous entity within the swelling ranks of cultists and cowards gave off a darkness all of its own, radiating a hate that challenged that of Solomon. Its anger rolled off of it in waves, assaulting any too close with a clear warning to move away. It seethed in the shadows of the hall, a wound in the force given human form. Though it stood as a man, glared about as a man, and spoke as a man would, this creature was no man. It had been pulled beyond the veil and forced into a mortal body to serve a sputtering shadow once more. Now anchored to the dark side, this beast found no joy, love, or kindness in life. Only pain strode beside this unnatural horror, as it should be.

Vaulkhar Zambrano hated each person who had attended this meeting. Many of them were mere cowards, living in the shadow of his father and his plethora of puppets. A laughable sight, to say the least, one the undead monstrosity sought to rectify, in time. The day had come for the truth to come to light. For too long, the Dark Lord and his council paraded half-truths to the peoples of the Sith-Imperial Empire. What remained of the Sith? Titles? A thirst for power and conquest? These traits were shared among the galactic forces, marking the philosophies of the modern-Sith as pure fearmongering and cowardice. Vaulkhar Zambrano's father had erred in calling this meeting to order. None within the empire will walk away without hearing the whisperings of annihilation, promised to the nihilistic bastard upon first peering past the veil of mortality.

He need only wait. Wait for the attention to fall squarely upon his father's shoulder. Wait for silence to fill the chamber and lay claim to the space they all shared. For only in silence could the Bloody-Handed Bastard share the truths of extinction.

Soon...

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Darth Avacyn had never understood the necessity of displays of power. Despite being seated so close to the Dark Lord himself, indicating her place within the empire, the woman felt no pride in it. Many years ago, when dark forces convened to form the empire she now fought for, she was a Sith Knight who could only dream to be where she was now- someone whose mere presence commanded respect, someone with great influence and power.

She had never lost sight of her reasons why she walked the path of the Sith, but today she cared little for the trappings that came with it. Splendor, opulence, authority, none of it carried any value. And yet Avacyn was here, playing her part in what she saw as a theater. This was in the interest of the empire, the home of her family. It was a nation she would bleed for. Not in the name of an emperor or even its people, but those who truly mattered to her.

Ishana. Xariah. Xarielle. Azarin. Gideon. She fought so that they had a safe home, away from the chaos and death that inhabited the galaxy. That singular motivation had gotten her to where she was now. And so, despite her differing views, Darth Avacyn was still there.

The dark councilor looked to her side as Darth Carnifex officially begun the meeting, though it didn't elicit much of a reaction from her beyond that. Instead, she patiently waited until matters of importance were to be addressed. There was much to be discussed.

First, however, it seemed there was a certain tension created by Darth Voyance that to be touched upon.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Through an encrypted transmission, the seated image of the Triumvir of Power, Darth Arcanix, appeared in her designated seat beneath the Emperor and the Dark Councilors, wearing a dark dress with a hooded cowl. Still recovering from the dual events of Kaine Australis's brutal attack and the surgery afterward, she was unable to attend the grand convocation personally, but she had needed to make her presence known. Ensconced as she was, as overcome by grief still that she was, she was still a Triumvir of the Sith and her duties could not be ignored.

She quietly took in the sight of the Sith filling the hall, splitting into their factions. United though they were within the Sith Empire, internal divisions were never far away for beings such as them. The traditionalists were certainly making their presence felt, between Darth Voyance 's entrance and Velok Brokentusk 's banner declaring for the Kaggath to be reinstated. Her eye traveled to the warped and corrupted figure that was Darth Voracitos , wary of the Sith abomination that was the Triumvir of Knowledge. She had yet to air her suspicions about what occurred on Anzat to him and the Emperor.

Tradition was all well and good, the Rule of Order was certainly rooted in it, but tradition had a bad habit of getting in the way of progress. The Sith were the adaptable ones, the ones who constantly evolved and changed while the Jedi remained rooted in their dogma. It was something they had exploited for millennia.

Plus, discovery required experimentation.

Keeping her volatile emotions in check for the moment, she didn't need to start the meeting right off by calling for Kaine Australis and all Mandalorians not very clearly aligned with the Sith's heads, but... it was certainly a topic the incensed Sith Lady was going to raise. She was already debating issuing an edict to her alchemists and sorcerers about raising restrictions on experimenting with the Mandalorians. It would be something likely she decided on and announced here.

Darth Carnifex Kaalia Pavanos AMCO Valessia Brentioch Darth Ophidia Vaulkhar Aren D'Shade Gunnr Zambrano Isaiah Dax

 

[Velok Brokentusk]

Velok laughed heartily as Darth Voyance spoke - a sound of enjoyment, not mockery. The nine-hundred-pound Whiphid touched the display of his datapad a bit too hard. A crack spiderwebbed across it, but the device remained functional for the moment. Four more squares with ur-Kittat labels turned red on his little screen.

POINTLESS DISPLAY - Voracitos' arrival.

HUMANOID BIGOTRY - Voyance.

NO TRUE SITH - Voyance.

LATE AND LOUD - Voyance again.

The bingo grid was only five by five. Velok trembled with anticipation.

 

[Sere Reene]

x

 

[Darth Voracitos]

The singular eye of Voracitos swept across the room and upon seeing Velok Brokentusk message, the Sith Lord produced two smiles from his head and his stomach. Such gall and ignorance was amusing to the Lord of Gluttony. What the Whiphid called both pointless and a display was in fact, neither. The action was as fluid as walking and served the same purpose, to enter the world of the living from the realm of the dead. It was also by far the least of what he could produce for a display.

Still, the Sith Lord held no vested interest in enlightening the alien creature with this knowledge. He didn't know him, at least not personally, and was similarly unimpressed with him as Velok was with Voracitos. It was better to hoard such knowledge for oneself, which the Triumvir of Knowledge did regularly, of course, for all pertinent and valuable information.

Teach, only when it was important to one's own self-interest.

 

[Hailyn]

Tradition, progress. It was as though the empire was ruled by two heads, two separate halves that seemed almost diametrically opposed to the ideas of the other - both desired to be Sith, but neither seemed to agree on what a Sith "really" was. For as vague and broad as these two groups were, the side that desired a return to arcane tradition and the other which desired a march towards progress and results, it was certainly stunning to her that they simultaneously could pinpoint what was not truly a Sith. Perhaps she was biased, perhaps it simply came with the times, but Braith could recollect her short tutelage with Disciple, and the two sides of the coin being argued over as the correct one - as though a coin could have a right side - seemed to ring true to none of the qualities of the Sith she remembered meeting in her youth.

Where was the hunger to grow their divided empire, the consolidation of power to eliminate petty squabbles and rivalries, and the deference to the Emperor? In all fairness Braith was not one to speak on respect to her paramour's nephew, she could hardly tolerate him, but she could set aside her personal disapproval and understand that it would hurt their empire more than help it to do anything but work towards a united compromise that would also curry favor with their, er, esteemed leader.

Fortunate though she was to not be in the ruling party, a likely target for much scapegoating over the direction of the empire, Braith still numbered among the many lords, if only as a sort of show of solidarity for her lover - Darth Prazutis . If this were the only difference between her and the rest of the Empire that counted themselves among the number that filled this hall it would have still made her feel unwelcome from the moment she took her seat, but a number of other reasons alienated her from the rest in attendance beyond such a relation. Her only desire was to keep this hellish government in working order and to exploit its desire for war and conquest to punish the populace of the galaxy that broke with reason and sacrificed their integrity to oppose a difference in ideology. In far less words, she was more interested in where war would take her than political nonsense.

"The less arguing I hear about who is more 'Sith' than the next the better. I don't recall your ancestral people being this petty."

She rolled her eyes.

"Much less an argument over tradition and politics - the most efficient manner of dominating the stars is the only proper discussion anyways." She added with an exaggerated tone of exasperation, evidently fed up with this division - which she supposed only helped to feed into her status as someone who hardly belonged.

 

[Taresa Kae]

Force concealment and stealth field gave way to a flicker, revealing the acolyte somewhere at the back of the room, the black-armored form’s helmet obscured her face, not that it mattered because the face changed depending on the mission or who she was ordered to track and kill. It was a strange helmet though, never the same way twice to look upon, and though given who or rather what she was the assassin was incredibly good at hiding it…

...her attention did fall upon one of the latest entrants for the briefest of moments, until that same attention withdrew back to the shadows where it was practiced to be, committing to nothing and revealing nothing. Still, a Sith Lord might pick up on it, she might not, it was a crowded room. Why? That was a very old story.
Judgment said nothing to those present. The gathering was strange to her, so long alone killing people on command for the long conflict, brought a natural inclination to avoid crowds or use them as a distraction in her work. The ‘Echani’s’ back was naturally to the wall and sneaking up on her was equally naturally difficult, many tools of her trade on her person and more hidden. The first steps of her master toward taking an interest in the empire, to see what this one stood for or was made of, held curiosity to the former one sith acolyte.

Predatory in part but far more observant than anything as she looked around at the Sith. Each one glanced at. Judgment didn’t attempt to judge worth today, she reported. More subtle in the application of her attention toward almost all present and reacting to very little that was said to her in return, beyond a nod or if appropriate a half bow, playing the part she was assigned. Traits Darth Ophidia may or may not recognize her training from times before, who can say, after all she had killed the last assassin she’d replaced. Becoming the second sith she noted in the room, out of three the Kae was aware of.

Velok Brokentusk was given a passing glance, breaking the natural inclination and training to focus on nothing at all to give attention.