Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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The Voice

Tomes, books, scrolls, journals, manuscripts, tablets... All such items laid strewn throughout Etheriud's room and work space in the compound on Alzoc III. For almost 3 years Etheriud had studied the ancient Sith language, traditions, and histories to find out as much as he could about the origins of the compound, the cult that had once inhabited its walls, and a history he had long wanted to study in depth during his stay at university. At this point, he had long mastered the Sith language in both its High and Common forms as well as the kittat script used to write it. Using this, a vast array of books and information were opened to Etheriud and he wasted no time in understanding their contents. Etheriud had read epics, plays, tomes, histories, journals, books, and lessons on Sith traditions. He was becoming something of a psuedo-expert on Sith society at this point in his life in exile. When he wasn't training with his partners, Etheriud was constantly nose-deep in some sort of book. It was in the midst of his readings that he discovered a book detailing Sith ritualistic practices; something the cultists had been adept at and something they had utilized on his partner, Korogum. While the book was faded, old, and semi-indecipherable, Etheriud was determined to understand its contents.

He sat in his usual seat and began reading.
 
Chapter 1: Materials
Etheriud turned to the first section of the book and saw it was covered in annotations, scribbled out lines, and drawings of circles and demons dreamed up by previous owners of the text. He read on through the mess and was able to decipher a majority of the chapter. "The path you seek is one of reward and challenge. Be wary ye who enter this begotten realm; for a sip of power can lead to drowning in an endless sea." is the phrase that illuminated the top of the first page as a caution to those that were not ready to embark on this quest of power. This section outlined the materials needed in order to preform a ritual and how they would be specific to a ritual and absolutely necessary in order for it to function properly and not backfire on the user. Drawing utensils, a flat surface, blood if required by ritual, sacrifice if required, a clear mind, and an utter devotion to what one is about to do. Artefacts and instruments of the dark side can be used to amplify the ritual or to increase success rates, but they are not necessary. Etheriud continued reading what he could and found that the materials required varied wildly depending on both the practicioner and the ritual itself; something Etheriud had not expected. No matter, he would find some way to make it orderly and neat. Etheriud began creating a list of possible materials out of the book for future ritual attempts so that he could have it on hand whenever. After finishing the list, Etheriud found the rest of the chapter to be illegible or repetition of previous sections and moved on to the next chapter.
 
Chapter 2: Preparation
Etheriud turned to the next chapter of the book, titled "preparation", and began scouting through its contents to locate something of worth. The book was worn and used so whatever images that had once inhabited the pages were either faded or drawn over by some acolyte who lost focus during a lesson. The chapter was lengthier than the one before and seemed to be split into numerous sections to encompass the task of preparing for a ritual from the mundane to the intricate. Etheriud got himself comfortable and readied himself for the long read ahead with a notepad to keep track of the important sections for future use.

Section 1: Deciding the Ritual
Etheriud read the first section with relative ease as it was the section he could gloss over the most without missing any important material. This section primarily detailed the decisions behind choosing a ritual and what rituals should be used in which situations. Objects, people, locations, sacrificies, all necessities were outlined as well as the after-effects or possible side effects that went with the few described in the first section. Etheriud had no intention of completing a ritual quite yet and thus paid no mind to the various ancient names that scrawled the pages and their intricate runic details that circled below them. Etheriud jumped from this section to the next, hoping to find information of more substance.

Section 2: Before the Ritual
The next section drew Etheriud's attention as he read the first few sentences. This section was not nearly as dull or useless to Etheriud as the last one as it began to detail the practices, preparations, and precautions that were necessary before a ritual. This section of the chapter was the one that seemed to hold the most annotations as lines were crossed out, new lines written above them, those lines crossed out and replaced with separate lines in the margins, and images completely scribbled away to leave just a jumbled mess of ink or pencil on the page. Etheriud took close notes on the details of finding a proper location, preparing oneself mentally, and ensuring all materials had been properly collected and accounted before before proceeding. Etheriud took extra caution to note that any wrong step could have disastrous results on both him and his surroundings, something he could not risk. The sections on Kittat inscriptions were not important to Etheriud as he had already spent years at this point studying and mastering them to the point that he wrote them more frequently and neater than his own native Basic. Finishing up, Etheriud moved on to the next and final section.

Section 3: During and After the Ritual
Rituals came in three important stages: Before, during, and after and it was important to know the effects during each of these steps. For before, it was important to know the proper materials, locations, signs, and offerings needed to initiate the ritual. Etheriud took notes in his journal of the procedure for during and after a ritual. In them, he detailed where he would need to be during the ritual in relation to the ritual itself as well as what he would need to be doing in order to prepare for after the ritual. For after, he took specific note of precautions to take as well as preparations to make in order to be ready for whatever may come from the runic circle he had created. Woefully, many of these preparations included fighting or something relating to the use of a sword or a lightsaber, something Etheriud had spent little time attempting to master in an offensive setting. Something caught his eye however, relating to the preformance of rituals on certain persons. The book stated that after the ritual, in some cases the subject will preform a primal, powerful shout through the dark side which could prove potentially harmful to any surrounding persons. Etheriud circled this part, annotating it with a "Force Scream?" and went back to finishing the section, moving to the next chapter upon completing the last of his notes.
 
Chapter 3: After the Ritual
Etheriud turned impatiently to the next chapter. While he was typically able to sit through such long reads, he found himself growing impatient at the pace of this book and the fact that it was slowly becoming more and more hard to follow due to the uncountable modifications made to the text. This next chapter detailed the precautions outlined in the section of Chapter 2 in a more detailed and intricate manner in order to prepare the reader for whatever may happen after the ritual has been completed. Expanding upon the need to have a weapon at hand, the chapter detailed the different methods of fighting common appearances from a ritual circle or dealing with hosts that react poorly to the results of the ritual such as spawns, mynocks, and potential possessions from petty Sith ghosts who happen upon the source of the ritual and attempt to find a home in the body presented. When preforming rituals on people, Etheriud took extra note of being in an area that could be lost if need be due to the potential for a powerful force scream or release of force energy upon completion of the ritual that could result in damage to the surrounding area and death of those in the vicinity. All of the mental checks, sanity checks, and physical checks that the book listed made Etheriud a little more hesistant towards the whole idea of preforming this sort of ritual, but his resolve won over and he slammed the book shut upon reaching the chapter's close. While there remained 6 chapters, he had grown impatient and rushed to begin the proceedings as soon as possible. Etheriud brought the book with him as he began on his new journey. Yet something tugged at the back of his mind....


Perhaps he should have prepared more.
 

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