Faction Your Goddess Will See You Now [THR]

[Dominic Praxon]

The shield did not seem thick enough to separate him from the myth within the room.

Dominic Praxon stood with his hands behind his back, his posture stiff. His gaze was drawn to the chamber beyond the control room. Through the energy field, high-frequency sensors rippled over the lab bed where Jedi Master Ala Quin lay. She was still, aside from her chest rising. Her expression emptied of awareness, and yet...undeniably occupied. Droids moved with quiet efficiency around her. Their gentle adjustments to the neural interface equipment betrayed a kind of reverence they were never programmed to understand.

He watched her for a long moment. This was Shiraya.

The name that had been on the lips of all Naboo for centuries, and the name of their proud order of Jedi until only recently, was not one he ever imagined attributing to a person. It felt...surreal.

One of the attending scientists joined him at the viewport. "Cognitive response remains limited. But the entity inside does respond to direct verbal prompts. We’ve confirmed several intelligible statements."

Dominic nodded once. "Anything actionable?"

"She speaks of a being named Set, which matches the profile of the Force anomaly currently bonded to Knight Karis. And another repeating phrase...perhaps a language we do not understand. Caer Valyn."

A name that did not show up in the Archives. It meant nothing to the Dominic, but Naboo was not his first home. It did, though, make the hairs on Dominic’s arms rise.

"She’ll say no more unless prompted. We believe individuals with personal or spiritual resonance to either Veré or Ala herself might elicit more."

Dominic’s gaze narrowed faintly. "More of what?"

"Answers? Questions? It’s difficult to tell."

He said nothing for a moment. The implications were clear. With the Five Veils Trade Initiative now at a legislative tipping point, and whispers of Katabasis already beginning to poison the margins of the proposal, anything that further destabilised his narrative would be catastrophic.

He had no stake in the survival of the woman before him. But this could easily be the unravelling of his run for Senate.

"Well. It would be in your best interest if you got what you needed....now....wouldn't it?" he said with a tip of his head to the scientist.

Your Goddess Will See You Now.

OOC:
I will run this thread as a series of conversations between your character and the goddess Shiraya.
Feel free to jump in, assume that your conversation takes place at a time seperate from when other people are present. I will respond to all as we go along.
There is a mystery to unlock that will unfold into future story opportunities.
This is open to all inquiring minds, and those connected personally to Ala.

Feel free to chat with Dominic too, if you want to engage with the Five Veils story line. But only one at a time please!

Relevant Political Matters: Katabasis Report and Ayvara Discovery​

 

[Michael Angellus]

​

Journal Entry:

Personal Log — Michael Angellus
Time: 19:58
Location: Medical Wing, Recovery Ward C
Subject: Ala Quin

They said visiting hours were almost over.
I said I wasn’t visiting.

Didn’t correct them when they let me through anyway.

I didn’t think I’d end up walking into the room, though. I thought I’d stop at the corner and just... look. Think of some excuse. But the door opened on its own. She's still. Hooked up to more systems than I could count. Pale. Not at peace, not in pain either. Just... quiet. Too quiet.

And there’s this guy—some politician-looking stiff. Dominic, I think someone called him. Looked like he’d been standing there for a while but didn’t have a clue why. Kept pretending like he did, though. The kind of guy who looks around the room like the air might vote for him.

I gave him a nod.

Someone with him, he gave me a speech about how Ala was “a pillar of resolve” and “a beacon to many.” I think I tuned out somewhere between “civic duty” and “unfathomable sacrifice.”

Then he moved away.
It was better after that.

The lights were low. The hum of medtech and monitors made it feel like a starship hanger after the sortie—quiet, but not calm. Like everything had been broken but hadn’t quite realized it yet.

I stood there.
And stood.
And stood.

Kept thinking I should say something.

Kept thinking I had no right to.

My fingers kept twitching like they were trying to find something to do. Adjust my jacket. Fix a nonexistent cuff. Brush my hair. Fidget. Anything to keep from facing the silence that wasn't her.

Then I turned to leave.

And I almost made it.
Hand was on the door.
Foot halfway forward.
Done.

Then I got mad. At myself. For walking away. For being a coward. For still thinking this was about me.

So I turned back.

And I walked right up to the shield. Not close enough to crowd her. But close enough she could hear me, if she could hear anything at all.

Hey,

I remember that I said it almost wanting to leave right there.

It came out dry. Weak. Not at all how I imagined it.

…Aunt Ala.

That felt better. Like exhaling after holding my breath too long.

I rubbed the back of my neck, glanced down at the floor, then back at her. She didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Just kept breathing, barely.

I was… difficult,

I said… voice breaking a little…

You knew that. You always knew that.

A breath.

I gave you such a hard time. About everything. Always had something to say. Some complaint. Some chip on my shoulder. Like the galaxy owed me answers… I didn't see it...

I swallowed.

I get it now. I really do. I’m not that kid anymore. Not trying to be.

A pause.

But this isn’t about me.

I remember my voice went low. Almost a whisper.

You need to know. About Caltin.

I sat down, finally. Not next to her. Couldn't, but up.close to the screen.

Coruscant… it was worse than the reports say. Worse than the nightmares. The Empire hit harder than anyone could’ve believed. Everything fell. Fast. There was fire and screaming and silence, all at once.

I closed my eyes.

I wasn’t there. Not in the final battle. But Connel was. I heard it all later. From him. From what’s left of the footage.

I looked back at her.

Caltin… he stayed behind. Held the Temple line while everyone else fell back. Wouldn’t let them breach. Wouldn’t let them win.

My jaw clenched.

He fought to the last breath. Held off a superweapon from making planetfall. One man. One Jedi. Against the storm. He made sure others got out. He chose to stay.

I let the words hang in the air.

Then, quieter.

He’s gone. I thought you should know.

I stayed there a while longer. Long enough that I lost track of time.

Didn’t cry. I think I’m past that now.

But I did reach out—just for a second—and gently rested my hand on the shield, as if on her hand.

Not for me.

For her.


TAG: Ala Quin

This is where he is speaking

 

[Balun Dashiell]

YOUR GODDESS WILL SEE YOU NOW
TAGS: Dominic Praxon | Ala Quin

A Goddess? That was a stretch.

Balun believed in many things. Spirits. Entities. Beings that had passed on into the next life, and those that had refused to leave this one, somehow clinging to that which was familiar to them, existing within the living plain in what sentient society viewed as ghosts or phantoms. The Force sat at the highest pinnacle of power among Balun's belief system, not a God in the sense of a figure of a man or a woman, but a conscious and living omnipresence.

What he had been told inhabited his Master's comatose form; he presumed it to be some form of ancient spirit. Shiraya? That was what those of Naboo had often spoken of, believed and praised; But he wasn't born of this world nor its neighbouring systems. He wasn't familiar with their religions nor raised upon their customs from a young age. None of it had been ingrained in him like many of his peers, and so there had always been an element of scepticism and difference.

He hadn't come to meet a Goddess or talk to a spirit.

He had come to sit with his Master and to watch over her.

"No one's actually told me the full story yet"

Balun turned to look at Dominic Praxon , his gaze filled with intrigue and yearning to understand the situation that had befallen Ala Quin . Balun Dashiell hadn't been by her side during the Katabasis Mission. He should have been, but his varied responsibilities and obligations, being so split across numerous paths, meant that he couldn't afford to be everywhere at once. He and Ala had come to accept and agree upon this, but it didn't dissolve the guilt that ate at him as he stood by her side now.

"Or her chances of recovery. What the hell happened out there?".

"Speech"
'Thought'​

 

[Dominic Praxon]

"Ah. Master Jedi," Dominic said in that same civil, yet somehow patronising tone he always seemed to conjure.

He picked up a nearby datapad, and tossed it to Balun. "Dominic Praxon. Senatorial candidate for Naboo," he said by way of introduction.

"Have a look for yourself. The team for the dig site had set up a perimeter to keep the Jedi from the worst of it," Dominic said before looking back at the sleeping Jedi Master. The way her eyes moved so rapidly, so persistently, was unsettling. It was like she was in a constant state of dreams.

"But they felt that having Jedi guard the site over all was still valuable...as...in Harrex's words...'they could sense when things were going wrong'," Dominic shook his head, "apparently Harrex died at site. So much for Jedi and their ability to sense the danger..."

He glanced back at Balun.

"No offence intended. My brother is a Jedi. Swell guy. You probably know him."

His head tilted as a point towards the sleeping woman on the other side of the shield.

"How do you now her?"

Balun Dashiell​

 

[Ala Quin]

The steady beep of life sign monitors and liquid pumps filled the room. Ala had laid their for hours, sedated to extremes, and yet still fighting for consciousness. Her chest rose and fell slowly, in eery cadence with the sounds of the room. Her lips moved, no sound but plenty to say. And her eyes moved beneath her lids, as if searching desperately for something lost.

As Michael approached, Ala's heart rate rose. The numbers vacillating between the red of dangerous and the orange of warning. As Michael spoke. Her breathing increased. Her eyes grew still, clearly staring through her eye lids directly at Michael.

When Michael told her the terrifying truth of Coruscant.

She did not move.

Her vitals dropped.

Within, she fought for her moment to express...

And in the single tear that rolled down her cheek...she won the moment to express her grief.

| Michael Angellus |​

 

[Balun Dashiell]

YOUR GODDESS WILL SEE YOU NOW
TAGS: Dominic Praxon | Ala Quin

"None taken. Not everyone agrees with us, I get it," Balun offered a faint smile, sincere despite it being brief in the moment. The Jedi were an awkward subject for some people, and he understood this. He had accepted it a long time ago and no longer let it emotionally affect him as it once did. He didn't even have the mind to mention the fact that he did not distinguish himself as a Jedi.

Under normal circumstances, Balun would have introduced himself formally to the Senatorial Candidate. He would have even gone the distance and informed Dominic Praxon of his ties to Jhaessa Prime, attempting some form of social connection for the sake of future work together, given the man's obvious position and connections within the High Republic Senate. However, as Dominic passed Balun the Datapad, he turned to reach for it, finding it difficult to take his away from Ala lying upon the medical bed.

"She's my Master" Balun answered him, pausing as he took a moment to scan the datapad briefly; "The first Jedi that I met when I visited the Naboo Republic back then. She's pretty much the reason I have a place in the High Republic today" he elaborated, voicing his thoughts aloud and unscripted as his index finger scrolled the side of the datapad's screen, looking over the report Dominic was sharing with him.

There weren't any people outside of the Dashiell's that Balun was close to anymore since Nouqai Veil's betrayal, beyond two. Ala Quin was one of those people, and the other one—Well, she was actively trying to fight being close to anyone. Seeing his Master in such a vulnerable state was horrible, and Balun felt helpless to do anything about it. It made him think back to the vision that Ala had once shared with him, and the promise that he had made that he would do whatever it took to keep that outcome from eventuating.

Sure, this wasn't the same situation, but it was equally terrible.

"What are her chances?" he asked, the words difficult to speak and yet he needed to know.

"Has there been anything that's been significantly helpful, any signs of positive change recently? Do we know anything at all that can give any kind of clue as to what the hell's going on with her?" he asked, the questions soon coming one after another, seemingly unable to contain himself.

"Speech"
'Thought'​

 

[Dominic Praxon]

His eyebrows raised. Dominic didn't much care for the idea of standing around and relaying information on Quin's status to every passerby. But for one he could make a momentary exception.

"Your master?" He said without a hint of actually wanting the Jedi to say anything in return, "I am sorry. For your loss."

"You are more than welcome to go in and talk to her." His hand gestured towards the door.

"There have been very little in the way of updates. Some half muttered phrases. Gibberish mostly...the mention of the other entity that possessed one of your council members..."

He somewhat smirked.

"...dropping like flies. Almost like it was a bad idea to send Jedi to an ancient Sith holy site."

He held his hands up in preparation for defence.

"Feel free to talk to her. In fact...the doctors here want it. They hope that it will generate more communication. She is still sedated...I don't think that will change any time soon."

Balun Dashiell​

 

[Michael Angellus]

​

Journal Entry:

Personal Log — Michael Angellus
Time: 19:58
Location: Medical Wing, Recovery Ward C
Subject: Ala Quin

Personal Log — Michael Angellus
Time: 20:42
Location: Medical Wing, Recovery Ward C
Subject: Unscheduled Encounter

I was ready to leave.

Ala’s vitals had finally leveled out—steady beeps, oxygen flow consistent. The kind of good news that makes you feel like you can walk away without feeling like you’re abandoning someone.

I stood, adjusted my jacket, gave her one last glance. I thought that was it.

The door hissed open. Dominic—ever the politician—was back, all posture and presence, like he’d been gone for hours on important business and not just getting caf.

That’s when I saw it.

No—him.

A shimmer. Blue light. It started like a reflection off the medbay monitors, but it kept growing. Tall. Broad. Familiar in a way that makes your chest tighten.

It was my uncle.
Caltin Vanagor.

Not a memory. Not a dream. Not one of the holos I’ve seen too many times.

He was there. Standing next to Ala’s bed, clear as daylight.

Didn’t say a word.

He looked at me—eyes steady, the way they always were when he wanted you to understand something without him having to explain it. Then he looked down at her. Stayed there, silent, for… I don’t even know how long.

The air felt heavier. Colder. Not bad—just… charged.

And then—just like that—he was gone.

No fade-out. No swirl of light. Just gone.

Dominic was in the doorway. I don’t know what he saw. I don’t know if he saw anything. But he didn’t move until I did.

I walked past him without a word.

I’m writing this because I don’t want to forget it. And because if I don’t write it down, I might convince myself it didn’t happen.

But it did.

I guess thread exit?
TAG: Ala Quin

This is where he is speaking

 

[Lorn Reingard]

​

Lorn stood in the half-light of the control room, arms crossed so tight his shoulders ached. The only sound was the energy field's hum, low and constant. It was infuriatingly calm, like the steady heartbeat of someone who wasn't losing everything. Beyond the field, Ala lay on the slab as if asleep, but her stillness held no rest.

He'd seen bodies like hers before, on battlefields where the dead looked peaceful until you noticed the wrongness in their hands. But Ala was breathing. Her chest rose, a faint pulse flickered. Yet, she wasn't truly there. She wasn't Ala anymore.

The Council had told him to walk away, to give space. This was the kind of advice they offered whenever they had no real answers. Their words were meant to sound wise, but they were truly just cowardice polished for presentation. He'd agreed, in the same way you agree not to open a door you've already unlocked. But here he was, back again.

His eyes traced every detail of her face, memorizing, searching, hoping. His jaw muscles tightened until they trembled. Every time he looked at her, he felt a war inside him: anger at whatever this "goddess" was, sorrow at losing her, and the quiet, gnawing despair that she might never return.

The security droids remained still. So did she. He knew he could stand there for hours and nothing would change. That was the real problem. He pressed his palm flat against the energy field, the vibration seeping into his bones.

"Ala…"

Her name cracked as it left him, but there was no movement from her.

He swallowed hard, his throat raw. "I know you're in there. I don't care what name you're wearing now: Shiraya, Set, Veré, whatever you think you are. You took someone from me. And I'm not leaving without her." The words were low, but sharp enough to cut the silence.

"I've buried too many friends. Burned too many names into my memory. I'm not adding hers. Do you hear me? You don't get to keep her." The stillness pressed back at him like gravity.

His voice broke into a whisper, just for her. "Wake up. Please, just wake up."

Nothing. Only the hum of the shield, and the faint, maddeningly steady sound of her breathing. Lorn closed his eyes and stayed there, palm to the barrier, waiting for a miracle he wasn't sure he believed in anymore.

Ala Quin​

 

[Isla Reingard]

​

Isla's bare feet were silent on the cold decking, yet the rooms soft hum felt louder than usual in the quiet hour before sunrise. No one ever told her anything, not really. One day, Ala simply left with Lorn on some mission Isla wasn't privy to, and the next thing she knew, Isla was back here. Back in place, but utterly lost.

The control room lay empty. The tall energy shield hummed, a faint blue shimmer marking the line she'd always been forbidden to cross. But Isla had a knack for finding the seams in rules, the points where they bent if you looked close enough.

Inside the chamber, the air felt colder. Ala lay still on the bed, her breathing slow and steady, but her face was wrong. This wasn't the warm smile Isla knew, nor the familiar raised brow when Isla spoke too honestly. This face was utterly elsewhere.

Isla climbed onto the edge of the bed and took Ala's hand in both of hers. It was warm, real. She tried to smile, but her throat tightened. "I miss you," her voice trembling. "You're right here, and I still miss you so much."

Her eyes searched the empty stillness of Ala's expression. "I don't care if you're tired, or busy in there with... whatever this is," she pleaded. "Just, please, come back. I don't want to keep telling people I'm fine when I'm not."

Her fingers squeezed tighter, as if she could pull her Master back through touch alone. Tears slid down before she could stop them.

"I saw you in my dreams last night," she said, her voice breaking. "You smiled at me. I think you were trying to tell me it's going to be okay. But I don't want 'okay.' I just want you."

She bent her head over Ala's hand, letting the silence answer. Somewhere far away, a machine beeped, its rhythm matching her Master's heartbeat. It was the only proof Isla had that she wasn't talking to a ghost.

Ala Quin​

 

[Ravion Corvalis]

​

There were few chances in life that allowed one to take a passion from which one found so much joy and make it a reality before one’s very eyes. So few infact that if one wasn’t to take such chances then they would simply flutter away like Naboo Queen Butterflies on a midsummer breeze.

This was one such opportunity. At least for the man, who dressed in rich reds and golds and whites like a shining symbol of Naboo and Republic pride, it was most definitely one of those moments you had to seize.

“State you name for the record.” The High Republic guard who was stationed at the door asked him, eyes taking in his well maintained stubble and hair, the sharp features and more importantly the small bag he carried at his side.

“Of course.” His voice was silk, accented slightly with almost a rough growl to it. “Corvalis. Ravion Corvalis. I’m on the expertise list.” Another guard had appeared behind him, patting down. “I’m an art dealer and historian not an assassin.” There was amusement in his tone, a clear message to not be taken seriously however the guards clearly didn’t partake in the same senses of humour.

“He is clear. Send him down.”

Ravion was escorted by another pair, these ones not High Republic guards but instead robe-clad Jedi, each bearing the mark of the Vanguard, the protective order of the Jedi who within the greater scheme of the Republic came across as an uncontrolled commando unit. The fact they were even here gave Ravion pause, maybe his appointment here was a mistake.

It was too late now to turn back as they allowed him through a door and then another, where he came face to face with a…

Goddess.

“Oh my…” He said as he entered, the room was silent almost in the revelry that such a guest demanded. Half of his professional career had been studying the associated artworks of Naboo and the legends thereof and right now lying within the body of someone else mere feet away from him was one of the most important ones in all of Naboo legend. “She is…”

His eyes cast sidewards to the only other living soul in the room and the one who stood on his side of the barrier. Sharp facial details and an air of importance gave him a sniff of recognisability, that and Ravion was well known enough among the noble houses that he recognised most by sight.
“Ahhh Mr…Praxon? Dominic right?” A hand was extended in greeting. “Ravion Corvalis; I’m the art supplier they think might have some answers as to this little…”

His eyes fell on the sleeping girl once more. “...Mystery.”

Dominic Praxon​

 

[Blaire Sal-Soren]

Why?

The word would not leave her, and no others would come. It was the only question and it ran through her mind at all times and yet now it burned stronger than ever as she stared at the woman who lay comatose in bed, wires stretching from her body like a tangle of vines to the various machines in the medical room that were monitoring her condition.

Blaire did not know this woman but she'd been told that she was a Jedi and particularly close with Lorn, another Jedi. Blaire did know Lorn, not very well but better than many other Jedi.

It wasn't for Lorn's or this woman's sake that Blaire had, in secret, come to pay a visit. This woman being close to Lorn was not all that Blaire had learned of her. Rumor of an impossibility had reached Blaire and compelled her to come here searching for answers to her own impossibility.

Why?

Rumor was that laying comatose in front of her was Shiraya given flesh. Shiraya. A goddess. Found trapped in a world of darkness and set free by explorers from Naboo. If this truly was Shiraya why was being kept here and not her temple? Why the shield? Why the caution?

Why?

Blaire could not help but feel a pang of familiarity and empathy for this woman full of tubes and wires. It was not so long ago she herself was in the same place. Her mind or soul or whatever lost in the void as doctors kept her alive on monitors and tubes and whatever else. In the void was a voice, a voice that helped put her back together again, making her more than whole.

"Was that you?" She asked softly, "did you save me? My children? Thank you."

Silence echoed again broken only by the sounds of medical equipment.

"Why?" The question burst from her not at all softly. "Why now? Why wait until I was grown to answer my prayers? Why wait until mama was gone, until after Brandyn had moved on, until Briana no longer looked at me, why make me like them now that I'm nothing like them?"

| Outfit: xxx | Tag: Ala Quin | Equipment: xxx |​

 

[Ala Quin]

Please note: Only the words of the goddess are audible to characters listening. You will only hear one side of these conversations.

Lorn Reingard

Beep. Beep. Beep. The constant reminder of life was not as soothing as it ought to have been. It was more a reminder of life taken, absorbed by another.

She did not move. But she heard it all. The conversation within took place, but only the goddesses words could be heard.

"That's Lorn," said a calm voice. Ala was serene, and at peace.

"It is a new love. Isn't it child?" Said the goddess, words that Lorn would hear.

"But it feels old...well worn already."

"Ah yes. Your soul's divine need. To find the one you always longed to find. Fulfilled in the touch of such an one," said the goddess. She was not cruel. She was not harmful. Ala had only felt respect, and dignity from the goddess, despite still feeling like she was within a prison of her own mind.

"He has lost so much..."

"You fear for him, dear child..." She said, lips muttering the words for Lorn to hear.

"When can I speak with him?" Ala's words came with a slight crack in them this time.

"I cannot allow it. I would slip into your subconscious...beholden to the whims of mortals...I have seen what they do to one's such as I...and my beloved...I am sorry child."

"I promise I would not let them..."

"Your protestations are heard, but I will not bend."

Tears. A soft whimper.

"They need to let me leave. Caer Valyn alone will be our salvation."

"Can you tell Lorn something for me?"

"Yes. My child."

Within the humming room of medical equipment, Ala's lips parted and whispered her message. "Stay."

​

---

Isla Reingard​

"A child speaks to you."

"Isla?"

"Yes."

A long pause was decorated with only the quiet sighing of a Jedi trapped within her own mind. It was not a new experience. The company was certainly an upgrade from the last time too.

"Children are the future," said the goddess, "it grieves me most that she should suffer in this moment of injustice."

"Then...let me go to her. I promise I will give you back control after I speak with her," her voice was laced with the hopelessness of her plea.

"No. My child. Set still gnaws at his soul as he seeks me. I must go to him. Caer Valyn alone can help us."

"You keep saying that word. Carevallen. What does it mean?
The goddess, usually so quick to answer, did not do so quickly this time. That alone was telling.

"What message do you wish me to give to her?"
Ala's message was transferred, whether Isla understood it was from her or not. "Have hope."

---

Blaire Sal-Soren​

The conversation within had been going for some time. The goddess, had been vague and cryptic about her plans as ever, but Ala was doing her best to understand.

"Veré?"

There was no response. This was new. She was usually willing to converse. Instead, there was silence.

"Was that you? Did you save me? My children? Thank you."

"Yes. My child."

"Why were you so quiet?"

No answer came. It was as if the goddess was ignoring her, speaking directly to whoever might be out there. Like they had a few times before, Ala felt the emotions of the goddess without words being spoken. Here, she felt confusion. A distinct impression that the goddess was saving face.

"Why? Why now? Why wait until I was grown to answer my prayers? Why wait until mama was gone, until after Brandyn had moved on, until Briana no longer looked at me, why make me like them now that I'm nothing like them?"

"Now. You are ready."

Ala could feel the anxiety within the goddess. She was faking understanding the complaint of whoever had troubled her so.

"You lied to her," Ala said in a whisper.

 

[Dominic Praxon]

Dominic turned from the Jedi, not with any intent to slight or dismiss, it was simply proper to greet another guest. Networking as always.

"Dominic Trozky...House Praxon...but no one's counting," he said as he meet the handshake. He went by Praxon on Naboo, so he was just being picky in this instance.

"A pleasure to meet you, Corvalis...art supplier? Bring some crayons and quills to give psychography a try?" He said, as his gaze followed the nobleman's lingering look.

"Art...antiquities...relics...this situation seems to pull at the very heart strings of Naboo's identity. Please...tread with caution."

Ravion Corvalis​

 

[Balun Dashiell]

His eyebrows raised. Dominic didn't much care for the idea of standing around and relaying information on Quin's status to every passerby. But for one he could make a momentary exception.

"Your master?" He said without a hint of actually wanting the Jedi to say anything in return, "I am sorry. For your loss."

"You are more than welcome to go in and talk to her." His hand gestured towards the door.

"There have been very little in the way of updates. Some half muttered phrases. Gibberish mostly...the mention of the other entity that possessed one of your council members..."

He somewhat smirked.

"...dropping like flies. Almost like it was a bad idea to send Jedi to an ancient Sith holy site."

He held his hands up in preparation for defence.

"Feel free to talk to her. In fact...the doctors here want it. They hope that it will generate more communication. She is still sedated...I don't think that will change any time soon."

Balun Dashiell​

YOUR GODDESS WILL SEE YOU NOW
INVENTORY: Balun Dashiell's Jedi Robes
TAGS: Dominic Praxon | Ala Quin

"Where was this Sith Holy Site?".

This was the final question that Balun Dashiell would bother Dominic Praxon with, not out of any disregard for the man but the impression that Praxon had better things to be doing with his time than spending these moments answering the questions of an Apprentice. Balun wasn't anyone of particular rank or significance within the Jedi Order, beyond being apprenticed to Ala Quin —A blessing and testament of the Jedi Master's generosity more than it was any indication of his stature. He had simply been in the right place at the right time and met the Jedi Master's good graces on the day that she had agreed to train him. A day that he had not once forgotten, and a memory that felt like a hanging weight around his neck as she lay there in a coma in the next room.

"Thank you kindly for your time, I'll go in and sit with her" Balun turned and bid Mr. Praxon his regards, soon bowing with a more casual demeanour than was common for Jedi. He didn't bend at the waist but merely lowered his head for a brief moment out of respect before taking his leave of the man, and stepping on past, and through into the next room where Master Quin lay upon the medical bed.

At first, he didn't say anything. Balun simply sat upon the seat near the bed with his fingers laced, hands in his lap as he looked over his Master's motionless form. For someone who was so typically full of life, love and a generally bubbly attitude, this was difficult to contend with. A Jedi Master, someone who appeared so young and energetic, and yet wise beyond first impressions, brought to heel to such a state of vulnerability.

Balun frowned, brows furrowing. His jaw tightened, his teeth clenching down against one another as he tried to imagine what had happened on Katabasis. His attention briefly turned to the window, seeing his own reflection, a one-way window which on this side appeared to be a mirror. In a sense, that made things easier as he couldn't tell whether or not Dominic Praxon remained in the next room.

"Leave it to you to force me to express my feelings to a corpse", he remarked, sarcasm strong in his voice as he glanced back to where his Master lay. A quiet chuckle escaped him, a subconscious habit of his during a moment of discomfort. Balun always found it easier to make light of a situation rather than being honest about his feelings or addressing a situation head-on. His Master knew this about him, and so the remark felt fitting, especially after she and Brandyn Sal-Soren had set up their little ambush for him and Cerys Dyn the first time they met.

"You could have at least contacted me before heading out on the assignment, ya' know. I'd have dropped things if I'd known..." He continued after a momentary silence. The quiet seemed to last far longer than was comfortable. It was like talking to a wall and expecting the wall to be listening, knowing it couldn't answer, but at least hoping the architecture could appreciate the company.

"Who am I kidding. I'm better off heading to Katabasis for answers. All I'm doing here is sitting on my hands and hoping for a miracle. This whole situation's a blasted joke..." he muttered under his breath, resigning himself to lean back into his chair, his gaze looking across the room towards the exit. Katabasis. The thought was more than tempting. It was a plan with merit. It was the only idea he had that he figured would have some sort of clue that might help him.

There were specialists. There were scientists. Doctors and the like, but none of them would talk to someone like Balun. He had no authority or clearance here. What he did have, however, was a ship, a kark ton of credits and the independence to go where and do whatever the hell he liked.

Jedi Master: Ala Quin
Major Faction: The High Republic
Sub-Faction: Jhaessa Prime
Conglomerate: Dashiell Incorporated™
Subsidiary Company: Dashiell Retrofit™​

"Speech"
'Thought'​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

​

Lorn froze as her lips moved. The voice was hushed, too calm, too knowing, yet it was unmistakably her face, her breath, her mouth, shaping the word as if it belonged only to him.

Stay.

It wasn't a demand for distance; it was a lifeline thrown into the storm. His hand fell from the shimmering energy field, fingers curling as if grasping something unseen. Droids turned in mechanical unison as his other hand reached for the control panel. He acted without hesitation, uncaring of any future protests. The shield hissed down, the hum in his bones vanishing. Only the silence between her breaths remained.

He crossed the space to her like a man at the edge of a cliff, slow but certain, knowing this step was irreversible. She lay still as marble, only the gentle rise and fall of her chest, and faint tears on her lashes, betraying life. His knees hit the floor beside her bed before he fully registered falling. One hand found hers; it was cool, yet warm enough to assure him this was real, not some ghostly remembrance.

His thumb brushed her knuckles. "I'm here," he rasped, his voice so low, as if anything louder might shatter her fragile state. "I'll stay. I don't care who hears. I don't care who you are right now. I'm not leaving you again." She didn't stir. No answer came. The quiet stretched, tight enough to make his ribs ache from holding his breath.

"Whatever this is between us, it doesn't change anything." His forehead touched the back of her hand, his voice thinning to a whisper. "You come back when you can. Until then, I'll be right here." Somewhere behind him, a droid shifted its stance, an almost human sign of discomfort in the clinical room. Lorn stayed put, holding her hand tighter. Perhaps that alone was enough to tether her, even if the rest of her was lost beyond his grasp.

Ala Quin​

 

[Isla Reingard]

​

Isla lifted her head. The words came soft and strange, as if carried on a wind from somewhere she couldn't see.

She blinked, gripping tighter. "Have hope?" she repeated under her breath, tasting the words as if they might shatter if she spoke too loudly.

Hope. It was the kind of thing people offered when they had no real solutions, or what politicians inserted into speeches, or healers murmured when medicine failed. Yet, coming from Ala, whether it was truly her or not, it felt different. It felt like a thread being lowered into a pit she hadn't realized she'd been falling into.

Her lips trembled, and she gently pressed her forehead against Ala's hand. "Okay," she whispered, her voice thick. "I'll try. But you have to promise you'll follow it back to me. No matter where you are."

The steady beeping of the machine filled the silence again. Isla allowed herself, just for a moment, to believe the faint warmth beneath her fingers was Ala's silent promise.

Ala Quin​

 

[Aiden Porte]

It was difficult, it reminded him of events that happened to him a while back. He hated it, it bothered him that they were in so much pain. And there wasn't anything that he could do. He peered through the door as Lorn and Isla sat vigilant next to Ala. He didn't want to bother them, so he backed away and just stood with his hands behind his back. His thoughts drifted to Ala, who in truth he didn't know to well. He only knew her through the way Lorn and Isla talked about her, she was truly wonderful.

It wasn't fair to either of them, it wasn't fair to Ala.

He just hoped, truly hoped that they were going to be okay. That Ala would wake up and be okay.

Aiden took a deep breath as he leaned back against the wall. The Jedi Knight closed his eyes, focusing on the collective energies of the force. His mind cleared the way, there was hope. He could see it, he had to believe in it. For all of them, he had to believe.

These people were his family. He would lend what strength he had to them. Just as they did for him during his time of pain.

For all of them.

 

[Ala Quin]

Reminder: Your character will hear only the dialogue in purple.
Balun Dashiell
​

Dominic had seemed to have moved on to speaking with others, and trying to pull himself out of the facility in general. A scientist looked up from her data read out, glanced at Dominic and then at Balun. Upon realising that Dominic was not going to answer Balun, she spoke up. "Reports say it was the Temple of Broken Chains on Katabasis..."

~~*~~​

"Balun?"

"Yes. He grieves for you too."

"He cares for me."

"Many do. You are greatly loved."

"Let me speak to him please...he is probably worried...probably angry and wanting to do something. I know him well enough to know that he will not sit idly by," Ala's voice pleased in the expansive darkness of her subconscious prison.

"He will find only sorrow on Katabasis...just as I did." The goddesses voice contained a depth of sorrow that Ala had never touched before. But seen many times since being possessed. She understood it deeply now. And still, she longed to be free.

"When can you let me free. I fear for what people will do...in trying to save me."

"Caer Valyn alone can help now. You must let me go to seek Caer Valyn."

"Tell me what it is. Tell me what they are...is it a person or a place..."

"Release...me..."

---

Lorn Reingard​

"You love Set so much."

"You feel it now?"

"Yes. And I know...that my love for Lorn does not compare...but it is still real."

"I feel it too. You love him as you have loved others. Zakk. Kaila. Aayla. These names...you loved them too."
Ala pulled back. Her mind was an open book to the goddess. She felt seen, by benevolence, but somehow still invaded. "It...it is different with Lorn..."

"It is new. You love easily, child. And you love wholly. Do you want this human for all time? Or could you see another take his place?"

"I don't want to go through that again...finding someone else...I just want..."

"I know. It hurts to lose. But fear of loss is not the correct motivation for love. Why...why do you love this one? Is it more than your fear...more than a fleeting feeling?"

"If he asked me..."

"You would say yes. But why."

"Because...I love him."

"You...love him. And there is nothing you would not do for the one you love."

"Yes..."

"Likewise."

---

Isla Reingard
​

Ala's possessed body lay still before Isla for a long while. The goddess was silent. And then...a whisper...

"Over dale...over sea...all that comes...all that sees..."

Her eyes twitched.

"...Set and Vere...there love beyond...the oceans blue..."

Her eyes twitched rapidly.

"...yes they shine...shine over Naboo..."

​

 

[Balun Dashiell]

YOUR GODDESS WILL SEE YOU NOW
INVENTORY: Balun Dashiell's Jedi Robes
TAGS: Dominic Praxon | Ala Quin

​

"Reports say it was the Temple of Broken Chains on Katabasis..."

Balun glanced back to the white-cloaked woman who had answered him, lifting his gaze partially as though he were about to nod in acknowledgement, and yet finding himself somehow absent from his environmental awareness. His thoughts were convoluted, he too distracted by the nature of his Masters condition, thus he offered her a smile and mouthed the words thank you before moving to Ala's side.

He had been warned. Informed of the supposed nonsense mumbling, words that Ala spoke yet made less sense and shockingly reinforced the rumours that had been circling him before his arrival. Of course, others were talking about Master Quin's condition: his fellow students telling stories of some sort of Goddess, which immediately got his back up and reminded him why he kept others at arm's length most of the time.

Sitting in silence, he simply listened.

"Yes. He grieves for you too."

"Many do. You are greatly loved."

"He will find only sorrow on Katabasis...just as I did."

"Caer Valyn alone can help now. You must let me go to seek Caer Valyn."

"Release...me..."

Balun almost wanted to believe that she might be talking about him.

That selfish inner voice that secretly hoped that those around him might find an interest enough to speak of him in a positive light, yet this was different, no passing group of colleagues, but a mind possessed by something ethereal.

Caer Valyn.

That was a name that stuck out amidst the rest of the difficult-to-hear mumbling. Words of seemingly little consequence to those monitoring his Master, yet the mention of Katabasis was also made.

That was all the validation that he needed.

His brows furrowed as the impulse to speak came to him. Would she even hear him? He highly doubted as much. She was in a coma, and he was sitting here feeling the need to say something, truthfully, as a means of trying to find comfort in the worst possible scenario. That was what people did during these sorts of times...

Forcing himself to lean back into the chair at the side of the bed, he fumbled through his pockets for his commlink and eventually raised it to speak into. Auren Vellisar 's frequency was the go-to for many things with regard to the High Republic, where Balun wanted to cut corners and get around certain security measures or the need for documentation.

"Balun. We've been expecting your return. Where are you?"

Auren's voice answered with a calm yet significant question, Balun having been scheduled to return to Jhaessa Prime for some much-needed administrative work, meetings with other potential investors and even a holo-reporter wishing to learn more about the growth of the new world.

"Something came up", Balun replied shortly, soon shifting the tone of the conversation; "I need another favour, Auren. Can you get me clearance for Katabasis?".

"Stars alive, kid..." Auren verbally sighed from the other end of the transmission, "You know, when you told me that you skirted the rules of the book, I had at least expected you to have some consideration for the legalities of my position. I work for the Senate first, as much as I would love to help you and wind up being disbarred, you've got to give me more than that...?".

Balun's jaw tensed, teeth clenching down upon one another as he considered how to respond.

"Katabasis. Restricted Space. Hm...-I don't have access beyond the public forum. Strange".

"That doesn't sound good?" Balun asked, his gaze landing back upon his Master while speaking to the Senator of Jhaessa Prime.

"It usually means someone's hiding something. Whether militaristic in nature or some form of political scandal.

Let me do some digging, I'll get back to you.

Oh, and if I manage to sweet-talk someone around to it, you seriously owe me. I can only put my name on the line so many times for your personal pursuits".

"You've never let me down, Auren".

"That's not comforting. Thank you is all you need to say".

He lowered the commlink, the transmission ending then and there, leaving Balun once again in an empty feeling room with the near non-verbal body of his Master helpless in her bed. Balun hadn't been in there for very long, and already he was craving the need for another cigarra. This whole situation felt karked up.

"You can lecture me about it when you're back to normal", Balun remarked, speaking directly to Ala Quin this time, his tone sarcastic yet still an attempt to bring some humour into the uncomfortable space between them.

Let her Jedi friends play by the rules, Balun had always told his Master he wasn't among them.

Jedi Master: Ala Quin
Major Faction: The High Republic
Sub-Faction: Jhaessa Prime
Conglomerate: Dashiell Incorporated™
Subsidiary Company: Dashiell Retrofit™
​