Faction [TSC] WELCOME TO 1313 | OPEN

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre listened intently to Tatiana's explanation of how her people manipulated energy and matter, her eyes shimmering with a quiet curiosity at the intersection of their two worlds. When the woman finished, Iandre took a slow, deliberate sip from her glass, allowing the amber liquid to settle before she attempted to frame an answer for something so vast.

"It is a difficult question to answer simply," she admitted, her fingers resting lightly against the rim of the glass as she leaned back. "Not because the Force is a secret, but because the answer changes the longer you live with it."

She tilted her head, a soft, nostalgic warmth softening her features as she recalled the quiet meditation rooms of her youth.

"My earliest lessons weren't of power, but of patience. We were taught that the Force was not a tool to be owned or a weapon to be wielded; we were taught to listen to it first. As children, we sat for hours just learning awareness—feeling the life moving around us and the quiet currents beneath everything."

A faint hint of amusement touched her lips before her expression turned toward a more grounded humility.

"Only after we learned to listen did we learn to move stones or sense emotions. But the most important lesson was humility. No Jedi knows everything about the Force, and no one ever will. It is older and larger than any philosophy we could build around it. Even now, I am still a student, constantly unlearning and discovering."

She gave a small, graceful shrug, regarding Tatiana with genuine interest.

"We begin by admitting we do not fully understand it. Your people approaching it through the lens of science is a perspective the Jedi rarely consider in such mechanical terms."

She tilted her head again, a stray lock of dark hair shifting to reveal the graceful line of her neck.

"Do your people believe that through measurement and science, you will eventually achieve total precision over it?"

Tatiana Sah

 

[Gillem]

GILLEM

Watching the way Riff had pulled out the gun made Gillem a bit…nervous to say the least, but his stoic attitude remained as his mechanical hand gently placed over the barrel to keep it pointed to the ground.

“Watch that barrel Riff, I’d like to keep this mug of mine.”

The rolled paper was offered to him and he plucked it from her small fingers without hesitation and drew a deep inhale after placing it on his lips. His lungs expanded taking in the smoke as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of weight being lifted from his shoulders. As he exhaled a sharp cough exited from his lungs as he pounded over his chest with his other hand.

“What the feth is that stuff?!”

It was far less smoother than what he was used to, the stuff he would home grow.

The feeling of his body felt lighter as his lungs developed a prickling sensation. His eye dilated as a wave of…something overcame him.

Riffraff asked him a question to which he delayed his response for a bit longer than he usually did answering with only a simple response.

“...hm?”

His body started to rock from side to side.

“I don’t shoot garbage.”

He gave her a confused look.

Riffraff Ranat​

 

[Tatiana Sah]

"It does?" Tatiana's brow rose a hair at Iandre's suggestion the answer concerning the Force could change over time the long one 'lived with it.' Perhaps it was a metaphorical way to explain finding deeper meanings and hidden facets over time?

Patience. Listening. Awareness. The blonde nodded in understanding. Yes, her time among Jedi had often included similar teachings. They were simple concepts, but Tatiana found them difficult to apply. How did listening help one wield a field of energy? And telekinesis came from listening? Now that was an interesting statement. Tatiana knew how to move a stone; did that mean she knew how to listen, but had overlooked the act of doing so?

Humility. A grand scope no one person could learn in its entirety. Her brow drew down over her slender nose as Tatiana fathomed the image Iandre was painting.

"Through thorough analysis and experimentation my people believe it is possible every question can be answered, and that we will reach a state of perfection words pale to describe." There was a lofty tone of aspiration to her voice, but it wasn't blind zealotry with a wild-eyed stare behind it. "Now that we are aware of the Force, they will strive to understand its laws and how best to utilize it with maximum efficiency and effectiveness."

How successful they would be would likely demand on people like Tatiana. Engaging outsiders seemed to generate all manner of curious and unique thoughts they took for granted. Perhaps, despite their great accomplishments, her people simple weren't... imaginative enough. Which was a strange thing to consider given the many constructs they'd built over the years that nothing in the galaxy rivaled. It truly was a shame so much had gotten left behind when their planet had been relocated.

"But some have suggested that wouldn't be possible. That the Force has a 'Will' of its own that might seek to elude efforts to quantify it. Do you believe that as well?"

Iandre Athlea

 

[Naniti]

Naniti nodded and tried to shift a little closer as Lysander spoke. Of course it'd been good. How could she complain? He'd done nothing but given her opportunities and humor her academic pursuits in addition to martial ones. Hadn't tried to dominate or belittle. The only thing she could fault was Lysander, perhaps, being too considerate. He didn't push about her past, or her abilities... Sometimes not about her feelings, but then there were days like this where his violet partner challenged him to get a response; and Lysander did respond.

"The less attention I draw, the easier it'll be for me to follow you to the ends of the galaxy," Naniti replied jovially. They viewed Lysander as indispensable and even as a student. Meanwhile, the Togruta was simply the curious woman that orbited the Prince. Who would notice if her assignment changed? Or that Naniti had a hand in making them change. Lysander could as well, but he was already tasked with so much responsibility. It afforded her the opportunity to 'meet' new people in places that might be useful again in the future too.

Slowly, she worked in closer to bump up alongside Lysander. "I'd like that. The two of us. We deserve it." The galaxy could manage without them for a little while. If it couldn't, it could burn, and they'd pick up the pieces afterward. Long as she had Lysander everyone else wasn't as important. "You are going to show me some of those less refined and elegant moves, right?" He'd been all kinds of regal in a ballroom, but Naniti wanted to know if he could cut loose in a less sophisticated setting.

Lysander von Ascania

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre listened carefully as Tatiana spoke, her attention steady and thoughtful rather than dismissive. The conviction in the other woman's voice was unmistakable, not arrogance so much as a sincere belief in the power of knowledge and discovery.

When the question came, Iandre did not answer immediately.

Her fingers curled loosely around the rim of her glass as she took a slow sip, the pause suggesting she was weighing the words rather than searching for them. When she finally set the glass back down, her gaze returned to Tatiana with a quiet calm.

"I believe your people are not wrong to seek understanding," she began gently. "Curiosity and study have always been part of the Jedi tradition as well. We built libraries that spanned thousands of years of observation and recorded knowledge about the Force."

Her expression softened slightly with the memory.

"But even those archives never claimed to contain all of it."

She rested her hands together on the table.

"The Force behaves like a current that flows through everything. Life, matter, thought, time… it touches all of it. That makes it difficult to treat like a simple equation, because the variables are constantly changing."

Her head tilted slightly as she considered the phrasing.

"You can study the wind. Measure it, chart it, learn how to ride it. But no one truly commands the wind itself."

A faint smile touched her lips.

"The Jedi eventually came to see the Force in a similar way. We can learn how to move with it, listen to it, sometimes even guide its currents for a moment…but claiming mastery over it entirely tends to lead people into dangerous territory."

Her gaze remained steady but kind.

"As for whether it has a will…"

She paused again, this time not from uncertainty but from the weight of experience.

"I have felt moments where the Force seemed to push events toward a certain outcome. Small coincidences, warnings, instincts that arrive at exactly the right moment."

Her voice lowered slightly, thoughtful rather than mystical.

"Whether that is truly a will, or simply the natural harmony of countless living things influencing one another, I cannot say with certainty."

A soft breath escaped her.

"But after living with it for so long, I have learned one thing."

Her eyes met Tatiana's again.

"The Force rewards those who approach it with humility far more often than those who try to conquer it."

The hint of warmth returned to her expression.

"Your people may very well uncover truths the Jedi never considered. Knowledge has a way of expanding when different perspectives meet."

She tilted her head slightly.

"But if you ever reach the point where you believe you have completely solved the Force…"

A faint note of dry humor slipped into her voice.

"I would recommend double-checking your calculations."

Tatiana Sah