The Lusty Togorian Maid [Maliphant]

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani sat there on the ground, eyes locked onto the words of an old grimoire she recently discovered. Words, symbols, and images were all scribbled upon each page in all sorts of fashion, yet Elani read it all as if it were her native tongue. Her time within the Dark Force Temple has given her the much appreciated quiet and focus she needs in order to strengthen her mind.

A small chirp came from the other side of the room. Elani's pet demon was just waking up from a nap. "Bobo, it's time to wake up. We've things to do." The demon pushed itself onto it's feet and walked over to it's master, pulling itself up and onto her shoulders. Once he was secured, Elani rose to her feet and returned the grimoire to it's rightful place on the shelf. The only light in the room was from the torches along the walls. Elani took one in her hand to illuminate the area around her as she moved through the temple. She left her study and began walking down the hall, towards the end where her minion, Koren Merr, awaited her. The minion bowed before her. "Koren. It's time." The massive being nodded then opened the door behind him, revealing a large room, clearly where rituals were performed. A large circle with several stone columns along the edge and a stone table in the center.

"See to it I am not disturbed." Elani looked back and said to her minion after entering the room. He nooded and closed the door behind her. He stood guard just outside the door, still as a statue. Elani continued further, Bobo still on her shoulders, and approached the table. She certainly had something diabolical planned, as she always does, but what it was, was known only to her and her minions.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

The air held frigid as a distant cry of sorcery began to take over the land, the soft overlapping whispers of spirits threatening to overcome the music playing in Maliphant’s ears. Standing outside the mausoleum of dark side energy, he readjusted the sheathed warblade on his back before taking a few steps through the massive stone entrance, more intrigued by whatever must be taking place within. Every step echo’ed off the stone walls, bringing him closer to whatever the source of this disturbance was.

He knew well enough who must be involved, the daughter of his emperor. It’d taken sometime, but Maliphant had tracked the Sith through his growing network of spies and cartels; something he was vaguely proud about if not slightly tight lipped of. The woman within was a means to an end, as all Sith looked upon the world; a rose tinted realism where everything was subject to manipulation, but Maliphant looked for allies now. He wouldn’t squander this on something inane.

The spirits grew louder as he traversed the great halls, eventually coming to witness the crude silhouette of a massive armored man, his status still and his nature imposing on stance alone. What this man carried was an aura of function, and he knew his place well; all visible in the care he took to remain still despite the roaring chasm of energy surrounding the two. With a slow ease, Maliphant removed the earbuds he was using to listen to music, readjusting his ponytail before looking up to the man, his voice moderate and cold, idle and reserved;

“Hello, Slave. Could you, by chance, point me in the direction of your master?”, he said as his eyes glanced towards the door near him.


[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

The tower of a man looked down at the man speaking to him. He had no voice of his own to speak, nor did he want to answer him, but Kervo felt compelled to give him the answer he wanted for reasons known only to him. He used his thumb to point at the massive stone door behind him, indicating she was inside. After that, he returned to his guard position. His power hammer was neatly secured to his back and he was prepared to use it in order to keep his master's ritual undisturbed.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Elani was just beginning the ritual. She began to chant words in an ancient language unknown to much of the galaxy. Her eyes were milky white as she became immersed in the ritual she was performing. Her physical form may have still been there, but her spiritual form was treading through the realm of the dead in search of a powerful spirit, one that she needed in order to empower her blade, Murakami. Without it, her possessed blade hunger would grow so strong that it would begin to feed upon her own soul. She had no living prisoners with spirits strong enough to sate her blade and she had no desire to venture off world for such a quest. This was her only option.

While her spirit roamed the underworld, her pet demon stood watch on the outside. He watched as his master was stuck in a trance. The fires around the room were whipped around violently despite there being no wind. Eerie voices from unseen forms began to fill the room. Lost spirits forbidden from entering the afterlife. The power of the dark side summoned them there, calling on them like a moth to a flame.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

The soft nudge of the shoulder readjusted the heavy handed sword on his shoulder, adjusting the strap to not pull so tightly into the progressively worn skin beneath the leather robes he wore. His gaze moved towards the door motioned to by the Imperial Sentinel, cocking a brow as he made a few mental connections about what sort of ritual was occuring behind those accursed stone doors. Around them, a maelstrom of spirits spurred and whistled, a cacophony of pain and torment situated around some unknown source deep within the well of power of the temple, the deplorable smell of a dark side nexus breaching his proverbial senses. To him however, the darkness came with something sweet, a certain comfort in power, and even the cries of the afterworld cried couldn’t overpower his sense of peace in the turbulent environment.

Eventually, his gaze moved back to the sentinel, a corrupted gaze looking the giant of a ‘man’ over. It was obvious enough why the girl was given such a goliath of a guard, with his exceptional stature only the first and foremost notable trait he likely carried; ignoring the hammer on his back and the bloodshot nature of his likely mangled body. Maliphant understood all of this, but knew just as well that even the single prospect of the man turning on him would do little to stop him, though combat was certainly not the way he intended to meet his hopeful ally.

“Well-”, he said motioning to the door, expectantly.

“Let her know I’m here, slave. I don’t have all day.”

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

And at that moment, suddenly, there was silence. The spirits laments were silenced. The dark side energies dispersed, returning to their aura normally felt within the temple. A light knock on the door behind Koren came, breaking the silence. Two more followed. The sentinel turned slowly and took hold of the knob of the massive stone door. Using all his might, he heaved the door open, sliding it to the side, revealing the one behind it. Elani Zambrano stepped out of the ritual room, Bobo on her shoulder and Murakami on her back, kept within it's sheathe. Koren slid the door close, it's massive weight grinding against the ground then ending with a thud as Koren closed it.

Elani reached into her pocket and pulled out a small nut like treat and handed it to Bobo. The creature took it and began nibbling at it. The woman then turned her gaze to the man in front of her. Her scarlet eyes looked upon him. The flame reflecting off her eyes lit them up brightly.

"You summoned me, my lord?" Her voice was soft, yet chilling. Like a docile banshee.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant glanced around in the moment of calmness, watching as the spirits fell back to their hovels and dimensional difference, as if the house party that was their calling had been busted by the metaphysical cops of days old. It tickled him, if only slightly, the metaphor he made in his head before looking down to the harshness of the stone on stone of the door being swung open; only for the slightly shorter Epicanthic woman to look Maliphant over, and him in turn.

She reminded him of her father, or at least what Imperial propaganda told him about him.

“I did indeed.”, he said in a tone that matched her own, though a scintilla of difference unfounded within. Something unreadable.

“My name is Darth Maliphant-”, he said as he reached a hand out to greet her.

“-You must be Elani Zambrano, correct?”

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani reached back behind her head and pulled up a black hood onto her head. She began to walk forward before replying to Darth Maliphant. A name she did not know. A face she did not recognize.

Yet, he knew of her.

"That is correct." Elani continued walking away from the ritual room. "And what is it I can do for you, Lord Maliphant?" She stopped in her tracks as she waited for his reply.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“You can help me through an alliance, infact.”, he said, coming out fully direct to the Zambrano Heir.

The two began to move away from the ritual site, heels clicking against the stone as they moved through the ancient temple. The spirits may have been gone now, but the combined presence of the two in the force was enough to overwhelm the latent energy that was still held within the progenitors walls.

“You likely know nothing of me, but I am an up and coming Sith, just as they all are. However, unlike most I’d argue I’m cut from a different cloth.”, he said with a small grin.

“Call it intuition. Regardless, I even come bearing a sword for you, or your companion.”, he said motioning to the bigger bodyguard.


[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani continued her walk after he spoke. A sigh escaped her lips. "All Sith are cut from a different cloth, Lord Maliphant. That is nothing new. It's the quality of that cloth that matters. Whether you may be steelcloth or dreamsilk, is yet to be revealed." Elani stopped at a stone double door. She looked back at Koren and nodded at him. The behemoth moved towards the door and pushed it open. Opening the door revealed a small library. Several shelves of tomes and grimoires hung from two alcoves along the walls and a fireplace in between.

Elani moved over to one of the shelves and began reading through the spines of the books. "What would you gain from this alliance? You intend to use me and my power against your enemies?"

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant walked wit hher as the doors were pushed open, humming slightly as he listened to her words, though more interested in the tomes as they slowly came into sight. He didn’t touch them, only looked with his eyes, passing over titles such as “Tales from The Telos: Sith History”, and more. It was an exceptional collection, but Maliphant knew better than to fall victim to his curiosity and grab a book, instead wandering to a seat near the fireplace and taking his spot, moving the sword to sit on the table between the two chairs.

His gaze moved back to Elani, speaking in the sickly sweet tone Maliphant was known for, a tone that dripped in silver;

“Infact, I don’t have enemies I can’t deal with by myself. I seek an alliance to improve our empire, for political power, if you will.”, he said as he leaned back.

“I’ve already collected a small army of supporters, but the more contacts you have doesn’t hurt. Some Sith don’t consider friendship a viable quality of life, what with betrayal and all…”, he said once more with a dismissive wave of his head.

“And yet, here I am, offering a favor for a favor.”

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani allowed a small smirk to grow on her face. She had never been approached for an alliance such as this one. Most wanted her for her power in order to gain the upper hand on their enemies.

But Elani refused to be a puppet a long time ago. Those who saw fit to use her in that way, found themselves in unending agony.

"And your offer is this...sword?" Elani reached at her lower back and gripped the hilt of her sword. Sounds of sharp metal sliding against wood could be heard as Elani pulled her blade a few inches out of it's sheathe. "As you can see, I am quite sated on that part so if this is you're offer, you have yet to entice me. Yet." Elani pushed the sword back into it's sheathe and continued looking through the bookshelf.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“No, not really.”, he said glancing to the sword.

“It is of good craftsmanship, sure, but not of my own.”, he said as he moved his gaze to Elani.

“I brought it along to see what kind of Sith you were. Some are inspired by greed, some power, some turn to putty at the mention of ‘power unending’.”, emphasizing the last words with quotes from his fingers.

“No… Infact, I think you’d do far better simply working with me in terms of knowledge. I have a rather large collections of documents myself, if you’d ever like to stop by my home.”, Maliphant finished as he glanced to the large collection of books that surrounded them.

It was true that Maliphant had a larger library than this, but its contents were also more varied. Galactic history, force theorems, lightsaber craftsmanship, and so much more lined his halls that it was hard to say what he knew about and what he didn’t. He spent many an evening reading its depths, from medical textbooks to the fine details of how a repulsorlift worked; some of which led to the expansion of his own company. Still, some sith simply looked to study, and Maliphant was just one of those types; though his reasons for such were unknown.


[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

"Ah, here we are." Elani smirked as her eyes stopped on a slim tome with golden lettering along the spine. She reached up and pulled the book from the shelf, but she did not open it. The shelves began to groan and the ground rumbled. The shelves began to part and reveal a hidden passage leading to a circular stairwell. "Come, Lord Maliphant. I have something to show you."

Elani descended down the stairwell, eventually disappearing from sight in the darkness below. Koren stayed behind, preferring the nice openness of the small library to the small stairwell. As Elani continued on, torches perched along the walls lit instantaneously as she passed each one, almost like a trigger. Elani's bare feet felt the cold black obsidian of the stairwell all the way until she reached the bottom. And, at the bottom of these stairs, there it was, the hidden library beneath the temple which held hundreds of books of various design and purpose, each one different from the one before it. It was one of Elani's most prized possessions and best kept secrets.

And she was sharing it with him. "To gain my allegiance, Lord Maliphant, there is something I need from you. A favor for a favor, yes?"

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant rose from his seat, but left the sword, idling towards Elani with a subtle hum as she moved through the stairwell. He noticed the self igniting torches, and considered them tasteful, if not a bit much in terms of effort for the sake of a spooky aesthetic; though to each their own. It wasn’t like he had a human replica droid wander his home, making him breakfast and otherwise serving as a maid and servant all in one.

His thoughts trailed back to the situation at hand as before him a larger expose of books and archives that hid far more than the eye could see on first glance. Tomes likely spanning back thousands of years, each with their own hidden knowledge. In those moments, he wanted to talk about his experience with The Telos Holocron, arguably the largest collection of Sith Knowledge, yet he knew the dangers of speaking about it, so instead he bit his tongue and let the Zambrano walk before him, only before she spoke.

As his eyes wandered, he responded slowly, bringing his full attention back to her;

“Of course, but what could the heir to the Zambrano family ask of someone such as I?”, he said with a cock of his brow.

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

The sounds of bare feet softly hitting the floor could be heard throughout the library, but no other forms could be seen from where they stood. The darkness hid many secrets from one's sight. Even more than what the many books held.

"I'm not sure if you know, but my kind has been hunted down, butchered and nearly erased from existence. I am referring to witches. True witches. Not the cheap imitations the galaxy has seen fit to allow to roam aimlessly."

Small cloaked figures began to appear from the dark corners of the large room, revealed by the small flames of the sconces along the walls. "My father does not see the potential in what I am creating, but you seem to be a man of wisdom. Surely, you can see the potential in having a coven of powerful witches at your side. But, we are finite. I can only do so much on my own, but with your help, I could turn this small circle into a thriving coven. What I am asking of you, Lord Maliphant, is that should you, in your travels, come across lost witches or those for the potential to become witches, you will bring them to me here. Do we have a deal?"

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant idled behind the Zambrano, simply nodding as she spoke before offering a kindred smile, that of a friend more than a business associate. With it, he spoke in a slow manner, but one that gave credence to his intent;

“I think we can manage that…”, he said with a slow nod.

“Consider it a deal. I’ll send any promising witch candidates to you.”

In truth, Maliphant would do exactly that, but the last potential candidate for a force user he met he took on his own apprentice. Differentiating the two would be difficult, but he would at least offer Elani that of his own personal pick of apprentices from the Sith Academy on Barbatos, that which are hand chosen by the local Overseer. With a grin, he offered a hand outwards to her, as if to finale the deal;

“And in exchange, you’ll provide me with the political support to expand within the government.”

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani let a soft smile appear on her face once Maliphant agreed to her terms. "You'll have my support, Lord Maliphant." She reached forward and shook his hand. The cloaked figures disappeared, returning to the shadowy corners of the library. "The Murakami thank you for your aid."

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

With a slight nod, Maliphant readjusted his weight as the two looked at eachother, offering her a similiar smile. It was hard to impress someone from such a noble lineage, but Maliphant was moderately proud he had succeeded with minimal effort; a gift to say the least. With a soft laugh, he simply shook his head before looking around his library and speaking once more;

“Well, that was the extent of what I came here for in all honesty.”

His gaze slowly came back to her;

“Is there anything else you would need of me, Elani? I’d hate to leave so soon if there is something else we could work out in addition.”

[member="Elani Zambrano"]