Public The Gilt, The Craft and the Lie. (The Sith Keepers)

[Serixibis]

\\. The Sepulcher, Basilica Prime

A world locked in suffering, half dead already but beating with life only possible thanks to the Dark Side of the Force.

A world of power.
​

The sleek black hull of an imperial lander sets down on one of the many landing pads across Basilica Prime, it's boarding ramp extended as a single figure shuffles from the craft. Over her shoulder is a simple pack and in her hands is the signature weapon of Korriban's Sith, a battered War-spear that seems to have been her companion for a great many years.

Her hooded gaze looks first to the sky above, it's reddish-orange hue dotted with planetary debris and the distant flash of lightning. It had been an impressive sight from orbit but now that she was on her own two feet she felt...intimidated. She was in the belly of this terrible machine now, even as it bleeds and dies around her.

Shaking her head the Acolyte steels herself and advances forward, slithering past the arched doorway of the Basilica and into the temple proper. Her people had lived here long before these Sith, the ruins outside a silent testament to the legacy of the Pureblooded. Why then would she fear this place? The question hangs like a sword over her head as she enters a small chamber near the top of the Basilica. Settling down cross-legged on the stone floor and setting the pack containing Centin Tillo's Protosaber in front of her she takes a deep breath...and begins to search.

Rumors were everywhere about this place, stories of half-hidden murders, forbidden sciences, the perversion of the Force. Such stories held some interest to the Acolyte but the most prevalent, and most important was that it was occupied. The chance to seek new knowledge, far from the red sand of Korriban and maybe even find a worthy mentor was too much for the Pureblood to pass up.

Breath.

Her mind steadied as her soul expanded, reaching out through the Force to call another to her in this benighted place. Sifting through the Force here was like wading through a pool of fetid oil, so clouded was it with the Dark Side. The spirits and wraiths took note, of course. But their attentions were not yet so focused that they came to deal with this intruder.

 

[Darth Vinaze]

Tags: Serixibis

In the bowels of Sepulcher the Dark Side was immense. Derleth could feel it in the back of his mind as he set foot on the planet, and the feeling had swelled to consume him like the intoxication of a drug as he had descended the ancient catacombs beneath this temple. There was so much power in this place. This place where the most powerful of ancient Sith came after Korriban, all laid to rest around him. He had come to ruminate on his favourite teachings of Sidious and Syn, those greatest Sith alchemists. He meditated beside a great tomb, the occupant long lost to history, surrounded by the dusty bones of those who had followed them until death.

After his meditation he stood with a cleared head and made his way back up through the temple in complete darkness. He enjoyed his ability to see in the dark as all Umbarans did, especially so he could have such times in private as he was now, in the darkest corners of the dead world. As he marched the long dead halls that had only recently been refilled with Sith lords and acolytes alike, he came across a lone woman. Derleth was intrigued by the spear and the... protosaber, of all things, that the woman sat beside. Most peculiar of all, she was a pure-blooded Sith, and he relished any chance to speak with the rare folk.

"Excuse me for the interruption, but I could not help but notice your selection of weapons," he said standing in the doorway of the small stone chamber. He himself was a purveyor of weapons from what he considered a more civilized era, evidenced by the Sith sword he carried instead of a lightsaber. "I have not seen weapons like these outside of books. Nor have I seen many of the truest Sith such as yourself."

 

[Serixibis]

\\. The Sepulcher, Basilica Prime
\\. Darth Vinaze

There...

...A Wraith?​

A trick of the light?
​

Serixibis stirred, the pale figure halo'd in darkness held it's position in the doorway. It was tall, slim. WIth skin that was nearly bloodless. If it had not just spoken to her she might have taken it for the proud statue of some ancient king, such was his bearing.

But no. With a quiet "Humnh" of consideration her puss yellow eyes rise to meet the new arrival, thin tendrils of flesh curling around her chin as her lips part and needle-like teeth click together. Her head tilts first to the left, and then a bit ~too far~ to the right like some sort of demented owl as the pale man is studied...picked apart, really.

"Your curiosity does you credit. The spear is an old friend, something I have carried since my youth. This saber..."
​

A sweep of her hand opens the pack, laying Centin Tillo's stolen Protosaber out on the cold stone floor. It seemed to contradict itself, the powerpack the product of some junkyard tinkering but the handle and lightsaber itself the work of a proper Jedi. And it was old.

"...Is a new addition to my collection. My training is at a point where I must fashion a saber for myself and so I took one from a Jedi, as is our way. I've come here to prepare the crystal and seek assistance in its final construction."
​

A gloved hand lofts to indicate the man, palm held upward as two fingers curl inward, motioning him to come closer.

"But what of you? What are you looking for here?"​

 

[Darth Vinaze]

Serixibis

Heeding the woman's gesture to approach, he slowly made his way in to the chamber.

"I am here to meditate. There is something so beautiful in the energy this planet has. I find it helps me think better, not to mention that the lower levels would make for a nice new laboratory were I in the mood to create something... powerful."

Derleth sat down in from of the woman, facing her. The Sith people's infatuation with ancient weapons endearing him to them. He wished he could have witnessed the time when a kaggath was simply two men with swords and not a galaxy spanning war.

"Bleeding a crystal is one of the purest activities an acolyte can perform. One must also have the passion to kill a Jedi, and any true follower of the Code knows where that leads. The act of bleeding is symbolic of our victories over the Jedi."

He could feel the dim glow of the light side from the crystal that the acolyte had obtained. It cried out in pain as it fought against the immense power of the dark all around it. It's agonized tune brought a faint smile to Derleth's face. He reminisced back to the time he forged his own lightsaber. His master had been a natural-born warrior and had rejoiced when Derleth took interest in creating a lightsaber. The truth however was that Derleth had been more interested in the creating aspect than the utility of a laser sword. Even Iod, the pitch black greatsword slung over his shoulder, was more a testament to the fact that Derleth could build it even if he rarely needed it.

"I digress however. By all means continue what you were doing, I only wish to observe.

 

[Serixibis]

\\. The Sepulcher, Basilica Prime
\\. Darth Vinaze

"He is not dead."
​

Her voice is neutral, deadpan as her eyes drop back to the protosaber sitting between the two of them. With a slow, careful motion it is taken up and turned once around in her hand. The power cord is unplugged and tossed aside so only the now inert saber remains, the long faded edges and scratched surface telling a story all it's own as the Acolyte drags her fingers across its cold surface.

"We fought on Nar Shaddaa, and while I overcame him in that struggle there was potential in the boy. Rage boils in his gut, a passion for life and triumph that can, with the right direction be built upon. It's our way to kill Jedi, I agree. But if one can be made to see the truth and turn from their false light...such is a greater glory."
​

The saber is turned once around, the pommel cap unscrewed slowly, almost too slowly. As if the Acolyte expected it to explode in her grasp at any moment. With a click the cap comes apart, falling to the stone floor below as Serixibis ~carefully~ extracts the internal power coil, and then the faintly glowing Kyber crystal that serves as the heart of the weapon.

"We each left with scars, and a part of each other. I left him with a piece of my former weapon. I will use that to track him in the days to come, to further test his potential."
​

With crystal in hand the now empty husk of the weapon is cast aside. Two fingers holding aloft the spoils of her battle with the Padawan Centin Tillo .

"As I bleed this crystal, so I will bleed him. And like this crystal, he will either break or bend to my will. Before all the spirits of my kin and the great Lords of the Sith I have made this vow. If I overcome him, I will submit myself to a True Darth, to be considered worthy of being made their Knight. Only then will my training be complete."​