The Untold

[Vereshin]

t H e M e​

​

​

Amidst the derelict woods of Malachor V, stone structures entwined in a labyrinth and concealed Vereshin from view. The Sith Sorcerer stood on an island of stone erected above a body of fuming water. Several islands connected by appendages adjoined asymmetrically and lead to the point on which he stood. While Vereshin himself portended and smoked on the farthest island, two exact duplicates of himself worked on the others. One doppelganger wore black robes and meditated and the other sat on the ground and scribbled in a notebook.

The Acolyte Vereshin was to receive had been sent a series of disjointed coordinates leading to his location. He had been provided with spellbooks and texts to assist him in deciphering the numbers provided, in effort to find his way to his new master. A presence approached Vereshin and he breathed deeply on his cigarette, awaiting the Acolyte to find his way through the maze of rock. The species of the Acolyte in question, intrigued him greatly and he was assured Xun would make for suitable material to mold into a powerful illusionist such as himself.

"Come closer, Xun." Vereshin called from the island farthest away from Xun. With a wave of his hand, the duplicates of himself dispersed into energy and re-grouped into his physical form. The notebook one had held appeared in his hand, which he slid away into the inside pocket of his coat. "My name is Vereshin. I go by Vi if you like." He introduced himself to the Xykan and offered his nickname. His eyes widened in curiosity over the appearance of the unusual Sith, being very fond of most things unusual himself.

"I am well informed of the abilities of your species. Please, demonstrate how you alter your form." Before they began Xun's training in distorting reality, Vereshin remained curious to know the extent of his present abilities. As Xun followed his instructions, Vereshin too, took to demonstrating the same ability through his own methods. He waved his hands across the front of his form, distorting the particles of light making himself visible. The clothes he wore transformed into a set of frayed, indigo robes, adorned with shoulder vestments of raven feathers and black bandages covering the face. Vereshin's luminescent green eyes glowed through the black cloth.

"I can teach you to bend perception and reality to your will. You already possess the skills required to become a powerful illusionist." Vereshin announced as he observed Xun's transformation. He waved his hands again and his appearance returned to display his usual attire, the cigarette still in his hand. The end was close to finished and he inhaled once more, before flicking the remainder into the toxic lake below. "What you will learn beneath my tutelage is untold." The sorcerer offered his knowledge of forbidden and unconventional arts. With a gesture of his hand, he instructed Xun to kneel in his human form.

[member="Xùnzhi"]

 

[Xùn Zh]

Malachor V was bathed in a ghostly light, reflecting from her only moon and coating the dim woodland in an eerie glow. The land here was barren, desolate and unforgiving as the Acolyte had discovered on his journey to this odd spot, where the Dark Side seemed to manifest into something more. A figure.

Mist rose from the putrid water, shrouding the stone island which burst forth from the water, and upon which the snake-eyed male spotted his beckoner, or rather, much to his confusion three images of the man which matched the description given to him. A soft sigh escaped his ravenous maw. A trickster.

Without much difficulty, the Xykan swiftly scrambled up onto the first platform and hesitantly stood next to the first apparition, and since it bore him no heed he turned his attention to the third one the furthest island. It spoke, and he conformed to his will. The phantoms dissipated into the air with a wave of the human's hand, and a soft grin emerged from his thin, whiskered lips.

"Thank you, Vereshin." the acolyte replied, far from comfortable in using the Sith's nickname to his face. Zhi's tongue slipped occasionally from the confines of his jaw to taste the air, before being pulled back urgently. He had vowed to try and break that habit. In the blink of Vereshin's eyes, the Xykan had morphed into a thin, fragile looking man with long, ghastly fingers and terribly pain skin which was thinly spread across his spindly body. He had no hair to speak of, and the veins which criss-crossed his scalp were clearly visible. Two serpentine slits were in place of a nose, and his eyes burned with a snake-like fury, and if Vi had been observant enough he would have noticed that they were the only think about the Xykan which had not changed.

He nodded, impressed by the Sith's transformation. Xun had never seen a non-Xykan transform into some ease and whilst he did not alter his biology like Xun, he had managed to warp his appearance enough that a less vigilant gaze would probably look over the dark bandages and mistake him for another. "Truly, I'm honoured by your interest in me, Vereshin." he replied before taking a knee before this new master, trying ever so hard to not tip over in this most unnatural of positions for the man.

[member="Vereshin"]

 

[Vereshin]

As the Acolyte offered his gratitude to Vereshin and with the utmost grace, the sorcerer stepped backwards and watched Xun transform before his eyes. The serpent figure morphed in shape and hue to reveal the ghastly figure of a man with pallid skin and long skeletal, fingers. Only his eyes remained unchanged and continued to glow with an orange fury. From his own illusion, Vereshin watched with deep intrigue and mused aloud to himself. "Beautiful..." He commented on the shape-shifting abilities of Xun. While the Acolyte knelt before him in his human form, he extended a hand wrapped in delicate bandages and raised his palm over the Xykan's shoulder.

"As my apprentice you will learn to harness your natural abilities to your advantage and acquire abilities untold." Vereshin stated and beckoned Xun to rise with a wave of his hand. The robes transformed once more to reveal Vereshin's true attire, leaving his appearance unaltered. "Feed your emotions into your reach and wrap the Force around the particles of light making yourself visible. Bend them to your will and craft yourself a new form which may deceive your enemies." Vereshin instructed, allowing Xun to choose whether or not he wished to remain in his human form. With the technique proposed to him, he may learn to shift to many new forms beyond the abilities he was born with.

As Xun practiced the technique, Vereshin took a step backwards and spread his hands. A roaring surge sounded from beneath their feet as the cluster of islands and the bridges of stone connecting them crumbled beneath his grasp. They plummeted into the toxic lake and left Vi and Xun no physical means of making their way back to the main block of land. With a childlike expression, Vereshin cupped a hand to his mouth in exclamation and proposed to his apprentice a more esoteric means of crossing over.

"Use this technique to heighten your focus before I show how we may find ourselves out of this predicament." As Vereshin spoke, the shape of him began to disperse into black smoke, which soared over Xun's head and gathered on the other side of the water between them. The energy swirled across the surface and returned the small island where they stood, before reforming back into the shape of Vereshin.

"Instead of distorting the light, I want you to penetrate your hold through the Force into the very center of your essence. Separate every atom and dissipate the shape. Give yourself over the energy completely and become the essence itself." The magus instructed. Apparating into energy was an advanced technique, not one he expected the Acolyte to grasp on his first try. Xun's abilities in shifting his shape were already heightened by natural means and made Vereshin confident in introducing him to more heavy methods of illusions.

[member="Xùnzhi"]