Trials of the Mind (Vereshin)

[Darth Ophidia]

VALLEY OF THE LOST LORDS
Undisclosed Location

L E G A C Y​

​

Legacy had long been a driving force in the minds of those who would call themselves Sith. Some would even go as far as to say they were obsessed with it. In ages past and in recent memory, the great and powerful marked their achievements with temples and monuments, like lions pissing in the sand to mark their territory. Even Darth Ophidia felt obligated to ensure that there would be something remaining after her passing; something to eclipse her achievements and pursue the ultimate goal.

Sometimes, she thought of these proto-legacies as her children. Sometimes, her children had "children" of their own. And some times, she had to pick up the slack of unsatisfactory projects and bring them into the fold. That was why she now waited the coming of an apprentice she had never taken as her own, with the express purpose of overseeing their transition into the ranks of the Sith as a Knight of the Order.

This one, a peculiar sorcerer by the name of @Vereshin

She had issued him a set of directions and instructions, and she expressed that it was imperative he come immediately. The directions would not lead him anywhere that made sense; in fact they would appear to lead nowhere at all. Yet at the end of the path there was a hunk of rock in space. By all perception, it looked to be a warm planet, too warm for anyone's good. Yet upon mere sight, chills beset one's spine. Upon landfall, one would feel the cold penetrate one's soul no matter how warmly one dressed. The winds crept through cloth, steel and flesh.

The path further was lined with withered statues of cloaked figures, their heads bowed down to peer at the lone pilgrim; their faces blank, withered away. At the end, a temple descended into the rock. This was the valley of Forgotten Lords.

Within the temple's deeper chambers, in front of a portal of stone, sat the Queen of Shadows; Darth Ophidia. Her eyes closed, her legs crossed. She meditated, sending out a beacon for Vereshin to lash on to lest he be carried away by the wind's invisible grasping hands.

This was a dead place.

 

[Vereshin]

A shuttle closed in on the ominous world in an uncharted sector of space. With a hand placed against the thick glass pane separating him from the interior and the void beyond, Vereshin shivered beneath his thick coat and buttoned the front over his scarf. The air grew frigid with every passing moment and condensation gathered on the glass beneath his tracing fingertips. Glances shifted to paper strewn across a table, a series of seemingly disjointed instructions lay beside his notebook where the remnants of his attempts to solve the puzzle rolled across an open page.

The atmosphere surrounded the hull of the vessel. Vereshin moved away from the window to close the notebook and slide it inside his coat pocket along with his pen before exiting to the corridor outside. The only guard stationed on the ship saluted him, to which he delivered a polite nod of his head. Air filled the holding bay as the ramp descended into the soil and the cold pierced his garments as he walked down and over the steel. Pointed toes pressed white soil like powder before the looming gaze of hooded statues guiding a rough path leading to the peak of a temple.

Vereshin followed the path while huddling beneath his coat and scarf and arrived at the face of a cliff. The pyramidal spire peaked from the rock above and disappeared into the cliff face above the entrance which peeked out from the front of the vertical stone. Dark energy gathered with every passing step. He heightened his senses in preparation for what may be hidden inside. Shadows closed over his head while the path drew to a close. The entrance hid his figure as he slipped underneath the stone frame and blended with the darkness.

Indigo torches illuminated the pitch hallway, their flames dancing in the surface of glossy obsidian. A dark figure awaited the young mage at the end of the vast corridor, one he recognized as the mentor of his own master. Darth Ophidia summoned him to complete his trials as an apprentice to become a fully fledged Sith. Since the day Darth Abyss took him under his wing, Vereshin channeled his passion for sorcery into raw power and emerged a formidable magus among his rank. Ophidia completed his apprenticeship today.

"I answer your summon, My Lady." Vereshin spoke with confidence and respect. A gust of wind blew through the back of his coat as the stone doors shut behind him at the end of the corridor. "I am here to complete my trials." The amethyst pin on the front of his scarf glowed brightly with energy as the light grew thin and gave away to shadows. He fumbled with his fingers and instantly forced himself to stop, repressing his nerves and holding his hand still.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Ophidia's eyes opened as the young sorcerer made his entrance. A blue smoke seemed to roll from her mouth as her lips parted in an audible exhale. The smoke quickly rolled down the steps leading up to the empty portal before which she was seated. Her head rolled to one aide and the other, as if limbering herself out of a stagnation. Then, quickly, her head snapped into focus with a quick movement as she set her ember-like eyes on Vereshin. In a single fluent motion, she rose to her feet. It was difficult to locate the joints and limbs inside the crumpled silks of black, blue and grey that enveloped her form. The way they unfurled in her rise almost invoked the image of a serpent uncoiling from its nest. Her eyes were dead still, unblinking in her ashen face as she considered the would-be knight in palpable silence.

"Step forward, acolyte Vereshin."

Ophidia's voice was dry, husky, as if it forced its way through a desert land in order to realise itself in the words spoken. Each syllable had purpose. Each word was chosen. Each gesure- Her hands slipped out of her sleeves: one hand a pale ash with a chalk palm, the other black like ink. Both palms were splayed for him to see, effortless and exact in motion, it was an invitation to approach.

"Until this day, you were but a hopeful. Now, you leave these halls as a Knight of the Sith, or-" you will die.

Her silence spoke: It was success or death - A mantra she had tried to pass on to all of her children - Half a smile played on her lips as she stepped to the side of the stone gateway. Her right hand resting on the weathered masonry.

"You will be tested, for these titles are not given; they are claimed." "If you believe you are worthy."

Her black hand indicated for him to approach the steps, but she would signal him to stop if he tried to climb more than the first.

[member="Vereshin"]

 

[Vereshin]

Vereshin stood with quiet assertion before the Sith Lady, his gaze somewhat drawn to the trace of blue smoke seeping from her mouth. She addressed him and he strode forward as commanded. The blue light reflected in the surface of his hair, inky black, neatly trimmed, slicked over lightly like the feathers of a raven. Her words aroused a fear within him both memorable and waning. All Sith Lords and Masters threatened death should their students fail. Through the many times Vereshin faced death as an Acolyte, he always emerged intact. He did not expect this instance to be any different.

The Sith paused following Ophidia's final statement. Was he worthy? To this day Vereshin had never even held a lightsaber, nor would he ever. The thought of combat terrified him and he had practiced no aspect of the many Sith arts with the exception of sorcery.

​And he excelled. He wondered now whether he was unworthy for abandoning every other area of the training the Sith demanded or if he was truly worthy for only relying on the one area where his strength prevailed. He questioned himself no further. The time for doubt was long gone.

"I am worthy, my Lady." Vereshin stated before Ophidia as he waited for her to unveil his test.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The half-smile that played on the Rattataki's lips asserted itself into a wry smirk as Vereshin affirmed his resolve.

"Then step closer."

With a nod of her head, Darth Ophidia allowed him to climb the steps.

She cupped the fingers of her right hand with her left and pierced her skin of her palm with the metal talons adorning her fingertips. She clutched the bleeding hand into a fist, then placed it on the stone portal, leaving a red hand print on the twisted stone. A wave rippled through the Force, disrupting the dead stillness of the Valley of Forgotten Lords. The portal seemed to suck into it all the cold air on the planet in a subtle, perpetual intake of breath.

"This is the precipice of your ascension: this is where your weakness dies."

She removed her hand from the stonework and held it out in a gesture for Vereshin to place his on the other side. He could easily reach from one side of the portal to the other, though its apex was far over their heads. Approaching it, he might have been able to see the runes carved into the stone. Some old and faded, others new and pristine.

If he looked through, he would see an obelisk in the far end, carved with red lettering the Sith Code. However, the air between the portal and it appeared to vibrate and blur, as though he was seeing double or triple.

[member="Vereshin"]

 

[Vereshin]

With the command of the Lady Assassin, Vereshin placed one foot forward and climbed the steps to meet her face to face. He watched keenly as she cupped her hand and pierced the flesh, blood oozing from the crevices between her fingers. As Ophidia marked the stone portal with the blood offering, the surface visibly shuddered and gave away from matter and form. Vereshin suddenly felt the cold air leave him as though the portal had sucked it away. He followed Ophidia's gesture and placed his own hand on the other side of the stone, feeling a rush of energy upon contact and an odd shift in his perception.

As he reached forward, he noticed the runes carved into the back of the stone wall, bearing a feint resemblance to the Sith Code, words he had never paid much heed to since joining their ranks. Only now did he begin to analyze what they truly meant and if they applied to him. Fear was the emotion he channeled into his power. Sorcery and science were the passions from which bore his strength and allowed him to break the chains of his physical and psychological barriers. Vereshin held not regard for victory over an external foe. Victory over the self and the conflict which raged within the mind were the cornerstones for attaining a life that was free.

Vereshin approached the lettering of the code and incessant tingle overcame his skin. A shiver escaped down the nape of his neck and the shapes before his eyes seemed to split apart and divert from each other. The colours shifted in hue and his breathing quickened within his chest. He stepped backward on one foot and stumbled slighty. The stone morphed into the shapes of beings, some he knew, some he had never seen. They were gazing over him and drew ever closer.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Curiosity was such a powerful force.

In some cases, it drove one to seek what was beyond the ever expanding horizon. In other cases, it got one stuck in a trap and thrown in the bin. Acolytes, were so often driven by an insatiable curiosity, a hunger for new and greater power some would say. This was exactly what she used to draw Vereshin to his current place of standing. The acolytes of her line were like her children and grandchildren. She fed them, or made certain others fed them. Yet, she looked at Vereshin, mesmerized by the thinning veil. It would have been all too easy.

In that moment, the Queen of Shadows had to make a choice.

Did Vereshin deserve to walk in her line? Was he worthy of the legacy? Of being Sith? He looked as though she could have snapped him in two with her bare hands. She could imagine the way his pulse would beat against her hands if she only reached out and choked him. One of her bloodied fingers barely caressed the side of her lightsabre hilt, grazing it with the most gentle touch. No. The trials were more important than such things. She knew what to do.

When Vereshin veered a step back, he would feel a foot planting itself square between his shoulder-blades and pushing him through the stone gate. He would feel the rushing of the cold winds like an thousand hands grabbing his very soul and pulling him into the breach. The portal ignited with a flash of pale blue light and dark, opaque smoke as Vereshin was thrust into the layer between the hither and the Netherworld.

He would face the trials of her legacy, and he would live or die by the outcome.

Spoiler

This is where your visions start. Deal with them however you like. Take as many posts as you like to complete it, and tell me if there is anything you need or want.

[member="Vereshin"]

 

[Vereshin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtBO4ufugDg​

Dull pain coursed through Vereshin's back with a thud as Ophidia kicked him through the breach. Tendrils of energy grabbed his arms and legs as the netherworld pull him further into the black maw. His vision blurred, a pale light erupted before the darkness and dissipated the imagery before him. He felt his form shift between matter and space before a surface appeared beneath his feet. Shapes shifted in a melancholy kaleidoscope before his eyes and voices appeared, although they sounded very far away. The imagery collected and Vereshin found himself by a lake nestled in between a vast mountain range.

A young boy knelt in the bank and levitated rocks, his eyes dark and his hair inky black. His features resembled Vereshin's own and the sorcerer felt pulled towards him. He moved cautiously and watch him quietly play, his eyes failing to notice Vereshin standing before him. A female voice called, one he recognized as [member="Pom Stych Tivé"] and he looked upward to view the figure of his lover holding a younger child, a girl, in her arms. Vereshin's lips parted in awe as he waited for her to speak to him. Suddenly, he witnessed a distinguished and older version of himself approached her. The future vision seemed to notice his presence, whereas his family did not.

"They cannot see you." The older figure of Vereshin said to his present self. He kissed Pom's cheek and moved towards the young boy, helping him out of the sand and holding his hand while they walked up the river bank. An uncharacteristic pang of sorrow weighed on Vereshin's chest as he watched his older self care for his family, something he would never have fathomed until now. The vision left the boy with Pom and she lead back towards a stone house at the foot of the mountain.

"Is this real, or only an illusion of the future?" Vereshin asked his older self. He wore oval, rimless glasses, a long coat over a suit and a cigarette holder balanced in between his fingers. He discarded the end while his wife was not watching and slid the holder into his pocket.

"This is the choice you must make before the future takes hold." The older figure said as he turned around to face him. Perplexed, Vereshin looked at the stones. What was presented was necessarily a glimpse of his reality, merely a suggestion, a possible outcome to many. The vision extended a hand and beckoned him forward. Repressing a gulp, Vi followed and his older self lead up the bank of the river to the little stone house. The little boy ran from the gates and embraced his father, who tousled his hair. Pom sat on the porch bench and cradled their daughter.

"What is the future then?" He asked while he watched the family scene, smiling slightly. He found the vision confronting and almost too touching to be real. He was only young and did not feel ready to have a family, not for many years at least, the thought at present was simply not fathomable. The other choice the vision offered piqued his interest.

"I will show you." The older version of Vereshin left Pom on the porch and extended a hand for his present self to take. In the moment he gripped his fingers, the scene vanished into oblivion and the grass fell away beneath their feet. The void opened once more and consumed them, transporting them to a different plane and a different time.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Vereshin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn-_GMTaJJ8​

​

The plane of darkness fell around them to give away for constellations and galaxies spiraling unto a cyclonic abyss. Feeling a physical pull on his skin, wind rushed through his hair and a hard floor formed underneath Vi's feet. The hold on his hand released and the old physicist disappeared before him. He gasped in fear and grabbed the consuming hole in desperation for some form of guidance. The floor beneath him widened and grew walls of marble. Arched, stained glass windows coursed upward through the stone and curtains billowed at his feet as the vision took shape. The room felt different to the previous landscape, no air of family or love lingered in the hall.

An otherworldly darkness festered in the place. Vereshin squinted amidst the shadows and struggled to see. He reached into his pocket and found his glasses, placing them over his ears and widening his eyes in attempt to decipher the morphing shapes. The trace of life lingered, a corrupt and decrepit version of such a thing and he strained to trace the room for any familiar presence. There was a presence and only slightly familiar. Vi's chest heaved as he tried to calm his breathing. Fear shook his wrist by his side and with every passing moment, the presence grew strong. A seething darkness emanated from the shadows and took form from endless flowing robes.

"I remember you." A voice, monotonous and eloquent, yet soft as air spoke to Vereshin in a tone he recognized. The voice of the old physicist, only expressionless and void of joy. Smoke trailed upward and across the curtain from a gothic throne at the head of the room. Black robes splayed across the marble and displayed pitch white hands, nails fashioned into black claws and holding a long, glossy cigarette holder. An intravenous drip hung from a stand and entered the vein of the skeletal hand. Ruby eyes glowed beneath a hood amidst charcoal corruption and veins laced across the pristine white skin.

"How?" The young knight only muttered without bothering to inquire about the identity of the figure. Vereshin already knew who he faced. The man rose from his thin and pursed his feminine fingers across each other. He was far more thin than his younger and a strain in his voice told Vi that he struggled to even speak. Vereshin moved closer and gripped the side his trousers as he swallowed his fear. Next to the wall sat a wheelchair which Vereshin assumed the man required most of the time

"You are time past. I am Darth Adethys." The old Sith Lord stated his title. He spoke slowly and his eyes struggled to even open completely. As Vereshin moved closer, he witnessed a figure of undocumented power, physically corroded from raw Dark Side potency. This was the choice the Physicist proposed to him. To keep his happiness at the cost of power or sacrifice everything, including his own quality of life in exchange such power. A leather cincher bound Adethys' tiny waist over soft, black robes barely hanging off his emaciated form and pooling over the ground. Vereshin raised his voice to ask the question pursing his mind.

"Where is my family?" He demanded. Adethys parted his lips, revealing black teeth and gazed away to the side. He raised the cigarette to his lips and blew the smell of opium into the air. Vereshin coiled his fists and dug nails into his palms. A sly smile curved into Adethys' mouth as he tormented the young Sith with silence.

"Your family died long ago." Adethys finally answered. "The immortal mage surpasses all life and matter to breach the realm of dimension as the Force knows." In his silence, Vereshin received Adethys' words and his brow furrowed with a sensation he did not comprehend, sorrow. The Sith Lord lived for millennia and in his age, forgot the happiness and appreciation of life he felt during mortal life. "I have endured the bounds of reality." A pause held the air between them and Vi opened his mouth, preparing to speak, before Adethys raised his voice.

"You discern a fraction of it." The Immortal Arcanist teased with a raise of the cigarette holder. With silent admission, Vereshin knew he was right. All of his life he studied the Force. He understood the Dark Side while remaining innocent to the hurdles of everyday life. He remained blissful in ignorance, until now, until confronting the future vision of himself, decrepit and void of humanity. Vereshin discarded his innocence with a tremble of his lip and a pained gasp. He breathed deeply and contemplated. He realized now what the challenge entailed. In order to prove himself a Sith, he would have to defeat the illusion of his future self in combat.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Vereshin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MJzvyzbqGI​

​

Vereshin's nails coiled deeper into his palms. Anger pulsated from his presence as he recognized the emotion uncharacteristic to him. Darkness gathered at Adethys' feet and blanketed his form in a mirage of opaque smoke. The Sith Lord mocked his younger self with a sly curve of his cracked lips. Reaching down, Adethys slid the needle from his hand and set the intravenous tube over the stand. He plucked the fabric of his robes and strode forward gradually with a sinister laugh. Vereshin's stance remained unmoved. He furrowed his brow and breathed deeply amidst rising anger.

"You are limited." The Sith Knight stated. "Nothing but a dying husk. For how many souls you have consumed to bypass the Void, the physical form is finite." He coursed over the emaciated form of Adethys, barely struggling to stand without the intravenous drip supplying him with sustenance. His state was that of an addiction, sustaining his life through draining energy over and over again until he withered away. Vereshin had no desire to lead such a cursed existence."The feat of immortality is not attained through the manipulation of energy, but of time." There were greater paths to power as he knew.

"Time, which you have little of." Adethys threatened. He discarded his cigarette in an ashtray on the wide armrest of his throne, sliding the glossy, black holder inside of his lapel and swishing forward. "Be it by the hand of another or the will of nature, your family will die and there is nothing you can do to bypass your loss." Adethys' voice rose as he spoke deeply. The height of Vereshin's anger reached a peak and he uncurled his fists. He made his choice. The Sith Lord smiled a final menacing grin and his younger version violently sent a hand forward. Palm splayed and fingers outstretched, a thick bolt of electricity split the air between them. Adethys jumped to the side and sent forward his own hand, collecting the energy in his telekinetic hold and compacting the volts into a surging, black sphere.

The lightning from Vereshin's hands danced off the marble and shattered the glass. He poured all of his strength into the casting and moved his feet slowly. Adethys pushed his grasp forward and sucked the energy Vereshin cast into the spiraling black sphere, turning on his heels and battling the younger mage around the space of the hall. Strengthening his hold, Vereshin altered the state of the lightning and compacted the particles. He transformed the waves into a beam of dark energy and sent a final push forward. The spear shattered Adethys' orb and split the marble surrounding them.

Both Sith were thrown off their feet with the impact and the younger, healthier knight landed clean on his wrists and knees. He heard the rattled breaths of his older counterpart, laced with the occasional ring of mad laughter. "Strike me down. Give into your anger." Vereshin listened to Adethys gasp for his aged breath and motioned slowly towards him. "Only then will you truly be Sith." The Sith Lord rolled over and leaned on his wrists, which looked like they might break beneath him. Blood trailed from the tiny wound in his hand where the needle had been removed. His head rolled over involuntarily and he struggled to even open his eyes.

"I am a Sith Sorcerer." Vereshin stood tall and spoke. "I do not strike." With a final statement, he leaned forward and placed a hand over Adethys' face. The Arcanist greened as he waited for his younger self to end his misery. With his fingers outstretched, Vereshin absorbed the life energy from the Sith and collected his power, assimilating the matter of his form and uniting both of their essences. As the body of Adethys' vanished, the light portraying him transformed into the wilted figure of [member="Pom Stych Tivé"]. She lay lifeless and bloodied and Vereshin immediately leaned down to cradle her head in his arms. He stroked her hair and muttered fruitlessly while trying to piece the illusion together. The marble beneath them turned to sand and the body of Pom disappeared.

Vereshin awoke on the floor of the temple in the Valley of the Lost Lords. His lips quivered. Blood trailed from his head as though the illusion had been real. His legs felt weak as he struggled to stand, shaken and overcome with newly acquired power. He had succeeded and he was alive. The figure of Ophidia stood over him with an expressionless gaze. He stared upon the Sith Lady with a hapless plea, silently begging to complete the ordeal. He raised a hand to his face and felt moisture, smelling the salt of involuntary tears as every facet of his life pieced together in a single moment.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

To her, it had been a mere moment, but Darth Ophidia knew how these trials twisted time and space. She looked down at Vereshin's form as he lay sprawled in the dust. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I sense your suffering."

She stepped off the edge in a manner most casual. The shadowsilks shrouding her form fluttered and spread like a tangle of tentacles as she fell, then draped on the ashen floor as her feet hit the ground with ghostly effortlessness. Ophidia towered over Vereshin as her hands folded together at her abdomen.

"It will temper you, strengthen you. It will give you power"

From the position of being folded at her waist, she moved her right hand to pluck a lightsabre from her belt. She whipped it out to the side while pressing the activation button. The bloodshine blade erupted with a furious hiss and cast the cavern in a sudden wash of red light.

She could sense in his sadness, what she would consider weakness. However, in a time such as this, she knew it was good for motivation.

"-Power to save that which fate would take from you."

A wicked smile played on her lips as she raised the lightsabre in front of her. Were she about to strike him down, or knight him to the Sith?

"Darth... Sabezt."

Her voice, dry and husky, seemingly made the stone and ash quiver with the sound of his name: A name of power; the name of a Sith. She reached the crimson blade down to hover right over Vereshin's left shoulder, then moved it over his head to the right shoulder, and finally to hover right over his head.

"Knight of the Sith."

She raised the blade vertically in front of her again. The half cocked smile now spreading into a full smirk as she stared with burning, knowing eyes. Never blinking, never wavering.

[member="Vereshin"]

 

[Vereshin]

Vereshin trembled as the Sith Lady received him. Newfound power surged through his every fiber and radiated from his palms, causing them to feel hot. He raised a hand and watched particles ripple above his touch. Upon hearing Ophidia's words, he rose before her and lowered his head. The loss of Pom, although an illusion, remained with him and his legs felt weak with grief. He received Ophida's guidance and swore to channel his feelings into power. He gathered his posture and stood up straight while the Sith Lady ignited her lightsaber.

"Darth Sabezt." She granted him his official title. A little chill escaped beneath the frayed scarf and Vereshin felt his shoulders straighten with pride. Deep within him, Vereshin knew he still had a long road ahead before truly discarding his weaknesses. He mentally vowed to use the name of Adethys only in secret until the day came when he was granted the title of Sith Lord. He was no longer a child, yet still had many more years to grow.

A disturbance in the Force drew his attention to [member="Pom Stych Tivé"]. Somehow he felt the illusions of the trial affect her in the physical world and as Ophidia deactivated her saber, Vereshin's feet shook in preparation run and save all that was dear to him. He knew the Sith Lady's words to be true. Ophidia lowered her hilt and he moved by the dismissal of her hand and left the temple.

​

/end thread​

[member="Darth Ophidia"]