Third Eye

[Darth Abyss]

Unnamed World somewhere in the Nihil Retreat, Abandoned Temple

The Sorcerers of Rhand were one of the numerous sects that reached out to the force in their search for power and enlightenment, even if they like many others denied that their power had the same source as that of jedi and sith. They believed that the force was nothing compared to the way of the Dark, a energy field born out of the cosmos itself, fueled by the natural entropy, chaos and destruction that filled every corner of the known universe. While Abyss wouldn't fully agree with them, he found the concept to be intriguing as he himself believed that chaos was the natural, and the only sustainable state of the galaxy.

Yet it was not just their unique ideology that fascinated him. They were another proof of how close philosophy and application of the force were related. Darksight was an ability commonly associated with the Sorcerers, a way to see into the future on a more advanced level than the techniques related to jedi and sith. Abyss theory was that their view on the galaxy allowed them to not only see the many possible futures, but it also gave deeper insight to the myriad of small pieces that lead the path of the galaxy to said futures.

Thanks to his research deep into the other orders build around the force he had learned fractions of this skill, but the future had never been his greatest talent. He was gifted in the more esoteric ways of the force, but the future was never as clear and open to him as the past. But this trip wasn't meant to further explore his own ability, it was part of a new lesson he had prepared for his new apprentice [member="Alara Slayn"]. She had shown some talent for the art of psychometry, and so it was likely that she would be gifted in the sight into the future as well, maybe even more than he was himself.

The world he had picked was nothing but an empty rock, with an atmosphere only barley breathable for a human, and with no live on it besides a few bacteria and very simple plants. The only thing that stood out was a temple build by the sorcerers ages ago, which had been abandoned long before Abyss birth. Not that the temple itself would help to see into the future, but a certain mindset was helpful when delving deeper into the esoteric arts. A symbol like this had proven to amplify his focus and attunement to the darkness, and he hoped that it would do the same for his apprentice.

He had send out a message to her comm, in it nothing but a set of coordinates that would lead her here. Since she had left Malachor he had send his agents after her, and notified his network of spies and sleepers that were spread through the whole galaxy, informing him about her movement and actions, as well as her way of travel and transportation. That coupled with his knowledge of her name made if fairly easy to figure out to where he had to send his message. The sith lord rested in front of the temples entrance, his eyes closed and legs crossed in a state of deep meditation to pass the time he spend with waiting for her. While it was barley visible, a closer look revealed that his body was not bound to the earth, but instead levitated just a notch above the ground, a sign of how far his mind had traveled into the flow of the force.

 

[Alara Slayn]

If the Unknown Regions were generally not a swath of space people regularly passed through, then the Nihil Retreat around the Perann Nebula was one of the last places you'd expect to find people whose minds hadn't yet been completely splintered to sundered. The Nihil Retreat in and of itself seemed to be where our reality intersected with another - dark energies poured from within psychic rifts in space-time, where once the infamous Sorcerers of Rhand twisted what they called the "Way of the Dark". Now admittedly, Alara knew little of anything more than that, apart from the cryptic little clues left in journals. It had been a few rotations by now, at least by her estimates, since she came to know her master, [member="Darth Abyss"], but Alara seemed frustrated at how slow progress seemed to be now. Ever since being introduced to the esoteric implications of the art of Psychometry, she'd seemingly lose herself in trying to get a hold of, or at least be exposed to, everything and anything. What began as a horrifying awakening to the galaxy's true nature just beyond the fringes of one's sanity was now an oddly insatiable hunger for stories and fragments of history, even emotion, lost to time's weathering.

This unchartered world seemed more desolate even than Malachor in the centuries following the great battle that took there. There was no wildlife, very little fauna to speak of, and barely any air to breathe - it was unsettling, although perhaps profitable for someone whose powers arose in contention. The teenage youngling walked the barren earth, cloaked in her hooded robe as she approached what seemed to be a temple structure ahead - to this exact place where she'd receive starmap coordinates that were as ominously accurate as could be - with decimal points in the millionths. Under her dark rags she'd lost that fair, youthful complexion on her skin, which now gave way to a sickly, fleshy, almost ashy quality that was atypical of either the Morellians or the Ysanna. Her eyes had an equally unnatural amber-to-yellow glow to them, and always seemed to gaze either at a distance or not without a great degree of intensity. Since that fateful first meeting she'd come to learn the cold, hard facts of life, and while she wasn't going around cutting people down up front, she understood how much more powerful information, secrecy and the ability to move unseen was. An opponent you were dueling with was contentious, but manageable, seeing as she'd be in front of you. But a stalker who knew when and where to find you at your weakest, and then stab you in the back? That was the ultimate threat.

As she climbed the little hill leading up to the temple, she couldn't help but notice that she was getting nothing out of coming into contact with the rocks here but oblivion - no children in their histories to throw them around, no witnesses to battles, no spies upon the greed of sentient beings. It was just, lifeless. A fitting place for meditation maybe, but not quite as relaxing as say, the rolling plains of Dantooine.

As she approached the derelict temple's sanctum, Alara finally caught sight of her master, who appeared to be floating just above the ground in some sort of trance. It was easy to miss at first, but he just didn't seem to have that root to the ground below. It perplexed and fascinated Alara, who in turn couldn't get frag from practicing psychometry here.

"I'm here, master, as you directed", she spoke up, her face somewhat raspier and heavier now.

 

[Darth Abyss]

The sith Lord rose to his feet as his apprentice approached him, but instead of pushing his body of the ground physically, he simply ascended into a standing position, with his feet still not touching the ground until he stood straight. Levitation had its uses, but for Abyss it was mainly a technique that allowed him to fall deeper into meditation. His yellow eyes opened, their sulfuric gaze filled with a fire that even overshadowed hers. The change that had found her was obvious, both visually and in her aura, there was a distinct taint on her that marked her as another one that truly walked on the path of the sith.

"Welcome Apprentice. Follow me."

With his voice as emotionless as always the sith greeted her, before turning to the temple behind him. In a moderate pace he began to close in on the closed door that kept them from entering, one of the few parts of the temple that survived the test of time. When he reached the heavy metal gate, he stopped in his walk, just a finger length away from the ancient relic. He had entered the temple prior to the arrival of his apprentice, but he had decided to close it again for one simple reason.

The door had been created as a test to make sure that only the sorcerers, or those able to pretend to be sorcerers, could enter. Not that the lock behind the door was overly complex or heavy, all it needed was a small mental push, not even real telekinesis. The catch was that there were many, many locks behind the door, and while the right one would trigger the door to open, the others would release a multitude of traps, some painful other deadly. And the only way to find the right one was to look into the future, and find the hint that would reveal the truth. The sorcerers even applied spells to the door that negated most other force abilities, and even his mastery of psychometry was useless against them.

Yet he didn't planned to reveal all this information to her already. He wanted to see how she would approach the problem, and if she would be able to come to the right conclusion. Or maybe she even found yet another way, even if there were very few. Besides explosives and heavy weaponry there was little that could breach the door itself, working around the lock.

"Open the door."

[member="Alara Slayn"]

 

[Alara Slayn]

Although their exchanges weren't quite as unnerving now that the proper roles had been drawn between them, Alara didn't feel any more comfortable knowing that at any moment she could be killed off or replaced. When she was roaming the streets of Coruscant, she knew that she held more psychic abilities than most, however latent. She kept behind but close to [member="Darth Abyss"], careful to watch his every move in case she was asked to do something, or if he was here to phase her out and find a newer, perhaps more aggressive apprentice. Admittedly, she didn't fit the profile of the overly and eagerly aggressive Sith, but rather was a broodier, more calculating little psychopath. Since their last meeting she hadn't even drawn her lightsaber even once, and to be honest she didn't really plan to unless there was no other way. Violence in and of itself was a tool to her, and she need not revel in it hedonistically unless it served her ambitions, however profane.

When confronted with the huge stone doors now before them, Alara's first instincts were to attempt to use her psychometry on it. She was already expecting another psychic storm the moment she put her hand on it, but shockingly she got no readings from the ancient stone.

Nothing?

She almost couldn't believe it. She tried to press a little harder, and even went so far as to deliberately shut her eyes and roll them back under her eyelids to concentrate. Still, nothing. Alara then turned back to her master standing beside her, looking a little dumbfounded, and then quickly looked back at the stone barricade before her with a puzzled, frustrated look. A quick glance around the ruins gave no suggestions of a switch or lever hidden somewhere either.

Ah, this must be like those infernal tomb doors back on Korriban, she thought finally as she took a step back - somewhat more confident now that she'd figured it out. Clearly this was a test meant for her however, but it was not as if her master was about to go telling her the secrets to bypass every door - the whole point was for her to open them herself.

Then sticking out her hand, she began trying to channel the Dark Side to do her bidding. A deep silence fell over the young girl almost immediately, and some of the smaller rocks and pebbles around them began to shake as she struggled to control and direct her focus. Ironically however, as she grew more and more frustrated, so did her focus improve, and it was only a few seconds before little trails of dust were falling from the doors' tops.

Let's see what you're hiding from me.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Her first step was exactly the same he had taken when trying to open the door. Psychometry was highly useful for a situation like this in most cases, but as someone who had traveled to countless ruins and abandoned temples during his life he had learned that many of them held security measures beyond physical walls, so which could work against the force applied by those that sought to enter them. The magic employed by the masters of old overshadowed most of what the sith and others of this period were capable of, with only very few expeditions. Her next step was the use of force, frustration and anger simply channeled at the door, in a rather foolish attempt to open it. It was unsurprising, in his acolyte and even knight days he had acted in similar ways more than once.

"Places like this will not reveal their secrets if all you do is to approach the problem headfirst."

A chuckle left his lungs, to small and silent to be really noticeable, as his left pushed in the air while the power of the dark side was channeled through it into a telekinetic push against the back of her head, meant to push face into the door. He wasn't a sadist by any means, but it was important for a sith to find at least some enjoyment in this live to keep himself for stepping over the edge of his already fragile sanity. Besides, pain was a great teacher, when used in the right way.

"Strength can bruteforce open many doors, but you do not posses strength right now. Until the day you do, your mind has to be the thing you rely on. There more you learn about those that build the temple, the closer you will get to the key."

It was actually easy to figure out the way to open the door, with the skills she already had. The door itself was shielded against the force, but everything else, including the stones right in front of the temple weren't. If she would use the art of psychometry on them, she could learn bits and pieces about the Sorcerers of Rhand, and through them maybe even the way to open the door.

[member="Alara Slayn"]

 

[Alara Slayn]

The subtle but droning Force pressure being applied on the door died as quickly as it was focused, Alara's concentration having been broken as her face almost hit the ancient stone in front of her. Only an agile step forward and another outstretched hand to brace against the aged doors kept her from planting her face hard. Feth! And yet, almost as if in a stroke of genius on her master's part, that 'jolt' to the head caused her to see a vision - not the retrograde sort that allowed her to see into the past, however.

I see, myself?

In what felt like a cloudy dream with her eyes still open, Alara caught a brief glimpse of herself. First she hit the door, but then some unseen witchcraft caused her to drop lifeless to the floor. A quick flash of light, and she caught another fleeting image - behind the door was an elaborate wall of traps, mines and devices. It didn't make sense, but Alara was shrewd enough, at least as far as those few milliseconds were concerned, to know that these were machinations meant to keep people out.

And before she could see anymore than those flickering images, she zapped back into reality - once again standing still with one foot forward and her cold master still behind her.

What?

Alara decided to trust in the Force and bank on what she'd just saw. If it was the case that this door was trapped, the creators must have had a special key or method for opening it. In shades of Malachor, she picked up one of the little rocks nearby, held it close and closed her eyes: in an instant, she was transported back in time: from a rock's perspective, she saw the Sorcerers of Rhand themselves using their dark magics to construct the door. An intricate web of traps was laid out behind it, and as her strange vision confirmed, seemed to be for the express purpose of keeping people out.

Almost instinctually, Alara held her other hand out again, and while keeping her eyes closed, felt behind the door. Every once in a while she'd nearly trigger a trap, but it didn't take long before she felt what seemed to be an old stone panel. A quick press forward and downward, and in seconds the stone door began rolling open.

Without turning back, Alara walked forward, feeling just a little more confident than before.

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

With a small, but satisfied grin on his face, the sith lord followed his apprentice inside the temple she had just unlocked. It was almost a shame that she didn't triggered one of the more painful and less deadly traps that secured the door, as that would've been a lesson well taught. But to her "luck" the temple held more than enough hidden secrets that could teach her a lesson in how dangerous and rash actions could be. Decisions like allowing a man like Darth Abyss to become her master.

The inside of the temple was as much in ruins as the outside, with only very few unbroken pillars and sculptures telling the stories of the great craftsmanship that once placed it on the surface of this world. For someone as Abyss it was clear on the first glimpse that this was not a temple of the sith, despite the darkness that it inherited. There were no runes, no words in the old language to be found anywhere, and the half faded relics that depicted those that ones ruled here had no resemblance with the lords of old.

"Apprentice, what is this place?"

He was her master, but yet it was not his duty to teach but hers to learn. Part of his expectations for those that meant to learn from him was to conduct research without his guidance, and that research would now be tested. Only those who understood the past could shape the future, a statement that was more literal than metaphorical in this place.

It was not that he expected her to be well versed about the sorcerers, but someone who meant to dabble into the way of the sith had to collect a vast and wide spread knowledge about all the orders of the dark to survive. After all their path was as much about adaptation as it was about strength, so strictly limiting herself to sith knowledge would be a weakness he would punish.

[member="Alara Slayn"]