Private The Pilgrims #6: Unwholesome Pursuits

[Kal]

Nodding, Kal confirmed her statement-question, seeing no real need for clarification. The same could not be said for the more uncertain matter. "Quite right, those tend to be controlled by organics. We prefer hidden or temporary apertures. I myself am able to step in and out of the Netherworld; the more mass I bring the greater the effort."

More often than not, he simply left his bodies in Realspace for that reason.

As she explained her own nature, he nodded in sudden understanding. "That explains it. You evidently have a presence in the Force, unlike your average droid, and yet your body appears neither quite alive nor quite familiar."

He had assumed her to be some form of as-of-yet-unencountered life or shrouded in some way by the Force.

Enyo Typhos​

 

[Enyo Typhos]

Kal

"I see. Interesting," Enyo remarked. It made her wonder whether a Shadow could use an HRD as host, too. "Neither of us is like the rest of this...party." Sith, Dark Jedi - she worked with both, but was neither. "Perhaps there are matters where we can work together. I know little of the Nether, but I have resources of my own in real space. More mechanical ones. I can give you my contact information and we can set up a meeting to discuss matters further."

 

[Kal]

Kal considered her proposal for a moment, then nodded firmly. This was right up his associates' alley.

Greystone had some experience with the cybernetic and mechanical, but they had only a handful of experts and no true capacity for mass-production. A partner in both regards may well be of significant value to his kin.

"An interesting proposal. I am more than happy to consider a mutually beneficial arrangement."

There was something coldly calculating about the woman. Something ruthless. That was hardly a first, however. He had dealt with many beings he found distasteful out of obligation - and she was not distasteful, she was merely dangerous.

Dangerous could as valuable in an ally as it was detrimental in a foe, if one played one's cards right.

Enyo Typhos​

 

[Enyo Typhos]

Kal

Possibilities were running through Enyo's mind. She had little understanding of the Nether. Until today, she had not known it was home to more than just disembodied shades of the dead. Who knew what beings and resources might dwell inside.Truth be told, her knowledge of arcana was lacking. Her makers had wanted a weapon. That was it.

What little formal education she received in the Force had been geared towards that. Approaching Sith to acquire further insights for herself or her siblings was ill-advised for numerous reasons. Exceptions proved the rule. But these Shadow beings could be...useful. "Acceptable, Kal of Masque," she handed a datacard with contact information. "We can discuss matters further via holocall."

 

[Venn Kolis]

The Piligims #6: Unwholesome Pursuits
Journey of the Spark
​

"Ok, 'Root-Mind'... what are you hiding?"

The dark tangle of vines and branches continuously sought to close in around Venn as he descended deeper and deeper into the twisted nightmare. He would climb downward, then begin to slide, only to stop and perch precariously to avoid a grasping tangle of wood and hunger. This jungle didn't just have a mind of its own; it was a mind all its own. Each time the fledgling apprentice called a flame to his hand to light his way, the forest around him would home in on his location. Venn wasn't being hunted. It was as if he'd already been eaten, and now he was in the stomach.

Now he ran along a huge root that spanned the depth of an impossible black ravine. Hanging tendrils looped overhead in an endlessly complex weave. His path was lit by a sputtering coal, glowing dimly from within his clenched fist. He was grateful for the time his master had taken to educate him in how to keep his fire from burning out of control; in this place, acting with wild abandon meant immediate destruction.

The others he'd come here with he'd long since been separated from. Or, perhaps more accurately, he'd foolishly left them behind at the base of the Root Mind's huge tree. His own judgement of the hellish scenario had told him that whatever the Drengir were most jealously guarding from the Sith interlopers was buried down in the depths of these horrid roots, not stored at the top of some tower. Here the Drengir's mental defenses were highest. Here, their secrets would be stored. Despite his confidence in his reasoning, it had been hours since he'd seen another person.... or at least, that was how he felt. It was difficult to judge the passage of time here.

Venn lurched forward, nearly losing his footing as the root-bridge under him began to pitch and shudder.

Fearing he'd been discovered yet again by the jungle, the boy extinguished his little flame entirely. In the pitch black, he felt the still-thrumming wood under his feet, and heard the sliding of vine upon vine, writhing like so many tentacles. His shaky breath seemed louder than it had ever been.

And then, his eyes began to adjust. This darkness wasn't perfect. With his fire snuffed out, Venn was made aware of the faintest of glows coming from under the bridge. Peering cautiously over the edge of his platform, Venn observed the indistinct and blurred form of the light's source. It was down at the bottom of the ravine, glowing so faintly the green and purple hues in the shine might have been a trick of Venn's eyes.

Well, it wasn't much to see by, but it was something. That had to be what he'd come here for. There was a path leading further down on the other side of this bridge, if he could just-

Teeth.

Now the boy had turned from the edge of the bridge to continue on. And he could see the being that had silently alighted on the other side of the bridge. It was a mass of writhing vines and tendrils in constant motion- just looking at it move made Venn sick to his stomach. It had no eyes, no face, no discerning features of any kind... but the teeth. That gaping maw full of teeth.

"We... hear you, little light."

Venn was backing away on quiet feet now, trying not to sob in fear as the thing opening its mouth and started talking. "We can.... feel your steps." No good; the bridge had untangled from the wall behind him. No going back. "We can taste.... the bile in your throat."

What to do, what to do- he daren't call a flame, it would betray his position. He could jump to the far wall? Too far. He could sneak past....? Was the bridge wide enough to oh sweet Father Prael it was inches from him.

In the seconds that Venn had turned to gauge the plausibility of a jump to safety, the Drengir Hunter had crossed to stand before the boy. Its breath was rot and mold. Every tooth was as long as his leg.... it was so hard to not focus on the teeth.

"What.... are you?"

The question was a sickly warm exhale on his face that made the hair on his forearms stand up. He was dead. That's what he was. Nowhere to go....

but DOWN.

Venn lit up his arms, his wild heart-pounding fear fueling his flames hotter and brighter than they had ever been. He plunged his hands into the bridge underneath him, his voice cracking in defiance and pain as he yelled, "I'm a Sith!" The enormous root that the boy and the monster were perched on whipped back and forth in reflexive pain, sending the pair sprawling into the open abyss. The fastest way down wasn't to climb or to slide or to swing. It was to fall.