freedomliveson

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

Raul scrambled past the fallen inn patrons and back outside where the same strange snow-like substance that was clustered in the inn was now falling from the sky at a steady pace, thunder and lightening rippling across the village. Battle axe gripped tightly, he sprinted left of the inn, the only sounds audible being his footsteps and ragged breathing. He knew what was coming and he knew deep within his soul that if she wasn't stopped, Kari would suffer a fate worse than death. One he had managed to survive. One that she was trying to inflict upon him once more.

He found the armored woman outside of Kari's home, arms lifted to the sky.
"GET AWAY FROM THAT HOUSE!" Raul bellowed, axe pointing at the village intruder.
"YOUR DISPUTE IS WITH ME AND NO ONE ELSE!"
"And that...that is where you are wrong." She turned, arms still raised, eyes aglow with a wintery blue light that grew in intensity with every passing second.
"You escaped once, Raul. That will never happen again." Lightening crackled from her fingertips as she thrust her arms forward, Raul rolling to the left before dashing forward a few feet and dodging again, trying to close the gap. He hoped that Kari would stay inside long enough for him to finish this...then he would disappear again.

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Oh yay! I was having fun bouncing around SUPER personal encounters, hence Revan and Bastila along with Lysa popping up. Boy, if we decide Revan survives all of this and we bring him back to the known galaxy, he's going to be very sad that his great-granddaughter died...right? We did kill Satele, right? I don't remember now. We've killed a lot of canon characters xD

Yeahhhhh, I don't remember that, BUT why don't we pull a KOTOR 2 and just skip the whole mess of writing out their escape? We can discuss it as the thread goes on, but let's get onto Lehon.

Wait, did we decide to go to Zinuthra first or just have them talk to the Council on their ship before heading to Lehon?

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

The visions that struck them in the crimson lit rooms were much stronger than any of the others, a cacophony of memories slamming into them almost all at once. When the visions began, he had been standing upright, but after they ended the Champion found himself slumped against a nearby wall, lower back almost touching the ground. One message had continuously pounded through his mind and(as he found out just a few moments later), everyone elses minds. They were to keep plunging deeper into the Academy, into "the heart". The phrase itself was enough to make Yerbol question whether or not they should continue forward, seeing as "the heart" of something as sinister as this place could spell their untimely demises, but as he had reminded himself before they entered, choice was not a factor in this instance. The Force was pushing them towards what they had to face.

The party regrouped at the eastern door before pushing the obstruction aside. They descended a staircase, traversed through more hallways, found another staircase, more hallways. It was getting to be disorienting, Yerbol stopping on several occasions to gather his sense of direction. On these stops, he thought he could hear something faint whispering to him, beckoning him and the rest of the Qyaari further. When he strained to try and pick out the words, however, the voice stopped. Was this whisperer a part of the visions they were sporadically encountering? Or was it something more ominous? The temple on Quensu featured distortions of the Force, warping whatever imprints the Force had made upon the place into twisted reflections. Yerbol feared that the Academy might have the same potential, which spurred him forward. They needed to extract whatever information they could from this place and get off-world as fast as possible.

Thankfully it wasn't too long before the group travailed down one last staircase and found a massive chamber that at it's center had a circular dais with three semi circular spires planted at specific points along the platform. They could see that from the platform were three other paths that extended in each of the cardinal directions; however, it looked like the paths led straight into a sheet of rock. What might have been past the barriers would be a topic of speculation that Yerbol would be happy to indulge in when they were safely off world.
"This is it, isn't it? The heart." Ethan commented flatly as he walked forward in an almost magnetic pace towards the dais, the rest of the group following suit. When they reached the platform, Yerbol saw them so clearly. The two of them seated across from each other, legs crossed, eyes closed, hands in front of their hearts.
"Is that the Force trying to tell us something?" Ethan mumbled, eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the pair, who then quickly vanished.
"I think so. If these two meditated here, then we will probably have to do the same. With the four of us focusing our efforts together, we should be able to get the answers we seek."
"Wait, collective meditation? I didn't think that was a thing."
"It wasn't. Not for a long time, apparently. Ari and I have only done it with others a few times before." He scanned their surroundings one last time before he planted himself on the eastern edge of the platforms, legs crossing.
"Why don't we get taught this at the Academy?"
"Because, as Ari can tell you, collective meditation opens up your connection to the Force to the others in your party. You essentially leave yourself at your most vulnerable in order to pool your energy together. Some can exploit that connection." A brief memory of fighting Illesia in a cramped ambassador's office on Coruscant came and went.
"All you have to do is begin to meditate. As you sink deeper into meditation, you're going to feel yourself...stretch out, if that makes any sense at all. Don't fight it. It'll be uncomfortable at first, but then you'll acclimate." He shot a look at his wife before telling her through their bond:

The last time we did this we had the Elders with us and they pulled us out of a potentially lifelong coma. If you feel like we're even starting to slip into unknown territory, pull us out. I'll do the same.

The other members of the group took their positions, Yerbol waiting a moment before saying quietly:
"Close your eyes. Focus inward on your breathing. Nothing else. Breath. Just...brea..."

You WILL turn to the Dark Side, Revan! You were there once and you will do so again!

The Forge had corrupted her. Just like Malak. Needed to save her. Find out what this thing had done.

The deed was done...finally.

lehon

Left her behind for this. Our child will never know me.

But he will know that his father was a hero who fought for the good of the galaxy.

How noble.

lehon

They stood there together now, watching the map close itself up. Do you think someone will actually find this?

She smirked. I found you, didn't I?

The orb hung on the fringes of where they were going. Once unknown, now fully known, yet more now unknown than ever before. His hand gripped the yolk of their ship. He turned to them, shaking his head.

Do not follow, children. Do not follow unless you would see yourselves swallowed up by a darkness that even I cannot comprehend.

But we must.

Fools. The lot of you.
It was Lysa.
Her hair matted with blood, hole gaping from where she had been stabbed.
I threw my life away for less. Go. Leave.

No. I can't.

Brother, I beg of you, turn now. Save yourself. Leave them behind and go forward t...

Lehon

Yerbol gasped desperately, falling backwards onto the stone steps that he had used to reach the dais, lungs expanding and contracting at an almost superhuman pace. His breathing felt out of control, heart ready to burst out of his ribcage.

Stay focused, boy! Focused! Balance cannot thrive in chaos!

Slowly, his breathing began to slow, heart rate steadying.

"Lehon. We have to go...to.." As he sat up, he silently prayed that Aria was alright.

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

Raul ruffled his hair absent-mindedly, the ruffling accompanied by a chuckle when the innkeep mentioned Kari's preoccupation with her being covered in dirt. She hadn't changed in that regard. Always trying to get her hands dirty by fixing a moisture collector or attempting to decipher a locked codex box that she found that "could have been from eons ago!". Her enthusiasm for all things mechanical was one of the things that had caused him to take such an interest in her...along with other characteristics she had.

When the innkeep asked the question, he simply nodded, keeping the statement following as vague as possible:
"Perhaps." Normally Raul was a bit more forthcoming when someone asked an honest question, but these were times of deception and mistrust. He had learned that all too well when he had returned to Sagus Hills. Speaking of mistrust, he added quickly:
"If anyone asks after me, tell them that I ate and moved on. No needs to..." Thunder clapped overhead, seeming to spawn glimmers of what looked like snowflakes in the building.
"Get to a safe place as fast you can! GO!" Raul grabbed his battleaxe before rushing to the common area of the inn. The few patrons that had occupied the area were now prostrate on the ground, throats cut open, blood seeping across the wood floor. At the entranceway stood the armored woman, her face betraying a look of amusement as the hooded figures that accompanied her flanked both her left and right sides.
"Did you really think we wouldn't find you?"
"No. But now that you have, I expect that your masters will have to keep looking."
"Why is that?"
"You won't be leaving here alive." The woman cackled, shaking her head as she pointed towards the warrior, shadows complying with the directive as they dashed forward, their daggers poised to strike. Raul had foolishly believed in his first couple of encounters with these attackers that he could bludgeon them with brute force; he knew better now.

As the attackers drew within a couple of feet, Raul rolled forward inbetween the natural gap the attackers left for themselves in case they needed to dodge. As he returned to his feet, he swept his axe in a circular motion, weapon whistling through the air before connecting with one of the figures who hadn't dodged in time, achilles tendons severing. The other tried a downward thrust, which Raul dodged by moving his upper body to the right before ramming his shoulder into the attacker's chest. He followed up the ram with an overhead axe slash, effectively finishing the other. When he turned to face the entranceway to deal with the woman, she was gone.

Where would she...

Oh no. No no no. She couldn't have known.

But she probably did. They had known his character, his history long enough.

He found the innkeep hiding as he had directed before asking hurriedly:
"Where is Kari?!"

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yeeahhh, that would be tough for her. I'll have to explore that more in the big vision where they see Lehon.

Post coming tomorrow :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yeah, fair points on that front. I don't know if the writers were a little too pressured to come up wit something "as epic" as KOTOR or what, but there were massive plot holes that bothered me. I left off at chapter 12 because I just couldn't make myself finish it xD

Sounds good on both points :)
I'll add anything to the characters tab as I remember it/come up with stuff

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Wow. That's some straight up brilliance right there XD.

So, I really don't have much to add to those points except for a few things here:

-The Rakata certainly seemed like(for the most part) a people consumed with attempting to establish dominance over anything(or one) that they come into contact with. Naturally then whatever survivors from the Infinite Empire were left on Lehon would be po'ed that Revan kinda tanked their whole Star Forge operation because of their desire to exhibit power over the galaxy. This desire stems from Valkorian...

-...who ran the Eternal Empire out in the deep fathoms of Unknown Space(KOTFE never explained that very well, did they? At least, I haven't received an explanation up to where I'm at now, which is chapter 12? I think?) and utilized many of the same techniques Renso became aware of in his little corner of space thanks to the teachings of the True Sith. I'd like to think that Valkorian discovered how to manipulate the Force to preserve himself from Sith who he then killed(that sounds like him, doesn't it? xD) to try and preserve the secrecy of his powers, which of course didn't work thanks to the True Sith establishing themselves far enough away from Valkorian to escape his notice. Right, so back to Val.

-Val builds up the Eternal Empire, which naturally catches the attention of the Rakata, who attempt to wage war with their own Infinite Empire. Naturally Val is intrigued by how the Rakatan can exploit the Force for their own galactic domination, so he allows for skirmishes to occur while intelligence is gathered about their new opponents. After sufficient recon, Val "surrenders" and allows the Rakatan leaders to unbridled access to the capital city. With the Rakatan's guard down, Val's military forces seize the various weaponry the Rakatan have along with their leaders, who Val promptly tortures in order to extract information(because, again, it's Valkorian). The torture doesn't last for very long, however, seeing as the Rakatan leaders aren't morons and know when they have been defeated, so Valkorian's Eternal Empire and the Rakatan's Infinite Empire strike a deal. The Rakatan fork over their knowledge and blueprints to the Eternal Empire while being given the support of the Eternal Empire to go out and subdue the unknown regions of space. This then sparks the Rakatan invading known space and establishing their hold over known space until infighting(of course) broke their empire down and so on.

-Fully aware that the Rakatan would eventually consume themselves, Valkorian bides his time, constructing more Star Forge type machinery and consuming more and more of his sector of the galaxy until all of it can be claimed as a part of the Eternal Empire. From there, he launches a campaign into known space and establishes the Empire, disguising himself as the Emperor and eventually is killed by our boy Voldon. Although his body is gone, his spirit remains painfully alive and is currently guiding his son, Arcan, to amass enough of a force to finish what he started. The Eternal Empire's potential dominance over all sentient life is the threat Revan sensed all those years ago and recruited Meetra to help him with.

Wphew! How does all that sound?

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

While the apprentices attempted to get the nav unit in working order, Aria voiced her concerns about the potential pitfalls that they could encounter at the Academy. He chuckled at her description of the temple guardian, sighing in mock nostalgic longing.
"Those were such fun times, weren't they? Hanging precariously from ledges and doing other death-defying stunts." Another chuckle came at Kytra's innocent assumption about how far the Sith would go to protect their secrets, adding to Aria's comments:
"What from what we've seen, the Sith and slash or the True Sith are VERY keen on making sure that only those who can jump through their deadly hoops without incident can have access to their secrets." He heard his wife's thought echo across their bond along with the anxiety that memories from Quensu brought. It had been a long time since he had thought about the beginning of their journey together(it HAD been around three years), but his wife's recollections brought back a few unpleasant memories of his own. If this Academy had any sort of defense system like the original True Sith temple on Quensu, they would have to be even more alert than they had been. Yerbol cast a glance down towards Aria, about to share his concern when Ethan told them that the nav unit had managed to get working.
"That's either a magnificent display of your ability with machines or a straight up miracle from the Force." Ethan bristled a bit, looking at his Master with miffed indigence.
"Maybe a bit of both would be more appropriate of a description?" The Champion smirked, searching for a retort when he felt a wet muzzle bump his hand, a question uttered from Taral.
"Indeed. I know you're not exactly the biggest fan of the planet, but we'll be off world soon. Before you know it..." He took a knee, scratching the hound behind the ear.
"You'll be back on Zinuthra hunting acolytes in no time." Taral snorted happily in reply, the party then exiting the ship with no mishaps(thankfully) and Ethan even managed to revive the nav unit one more time before pointing them in the direction just opposite of where they had started the descent into the valley. He could feel the apprentices chafing a bit at Aria's commands, so he added:
"We're on a world known for harboring massive Force signatures and played host to one of the worst war atrocities in known history. You'd better stay sharp. I'm not going back to the Council and telling them that we lost our apprentices because they were careless." Ethan's shoulders, visible from behind thanks to his position at pointman, sagged a bit as they plodded forward.

Good. Sag. Better than getting your head chopped off.

__

After climbing back up out of the valley, the party worked their way forward, snaking cautiously around fissures and cavernous openings that emitted the same noxiously colored gas that the valley featured. There were a handful of instances when Yerbol could just...feel something on the edge of his senses, but when he stopped and reached out to his surroundings, nothing was found. Taral too was a bit more cautious than normal, choosing to slink back from his mate's side and stay alongside the rear guard that Yerbol served as. It made the Champion feel slightly better that the hound felt something was off as well, even if they couldn't identify what(or who?) was causing ripples in the Force.

It wasn't long before their path once again was flanked by cliffside, although this didn't last as long as their initial exploration of the planet. Instead of being greeted by a valley, they were looking down at a winding path that went from gravely sheet of rock to faded, yet ornate marble colored white and light green, colors swirled in a semi-circular pattern that was also present on the facade of the visible structure. An opening into the building was also visible, yet as they drew ever closer, rubble and debris marred what would have been a breath-taking entrance hall. When the group arrived just within a few hundred feet of the entrance, Yerbol swayed backward, then-

So many came here for her. Did they, did you leave with what you sought?

Pause.

No. Left with more questions that were answered apart from her.

Understandable. She wa-

The two of them stood just beyond, faces betraying concern. They knew what was here.

And they were afraid.

His eyes opened to find the apprentices nervously staring at him, Kytra's whiskers trembling slightly.
"Did you see?" They exchanged looks with each other before Ethan spoke with a tremor in his voice:
"It was...it was Revan, wasn't it?" Yerbol nodded.
"Meetra, too." The name sounded so familiar, like conjuring up the memory of an old friend who he hadn't seen for just a bit too long.
"The visions are only going to get stronger as proceed further into the Academy." He took a moment to close his eyes, refocusing his mind, his energy to ensure that he could withstand the potential trials and visions that were to come. It was then he remembered how much he had expended in helping them get planet-side and was suddenly less inclined to try and take any more of a beating from the Force.

But what choice did they have? When was there ever a choice to stop?

Shaking his head, he nodded to Aria, telling her through this bond:
We stay strong and we stay together. Right?

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Haha! Slobbing out...man, sounds like you a great time! xD

Right, to your thoughts:
-I'm ok with getting to the Academy without any more troubles. I don't know why I feel this way, but their time on Malachor has felt like a LOT longer. Maybe it's because I took a hiatus, but I'd like to get to the Academy and move onto actually getting to somewhere close to Revan xD

-Oh for sure in terms of the duo having visions at the Academy. I mean, Kreia made it sound like Revan, Scion and Nihilus were trained at that Academy, so it should be teeming with the Force. In my head, the Academy sequence (and after) is structured like this:

-Arrive to be greeted by a quick vision of Revan and Meetra entering
-They go in and traverse the ruins while being guided by occasional visions of Meetra and Revan(so basically the imprints of the duo serve as guides)
-Eventually they find the meditation chamber utilized by Kreia as well as Revan and Meetra. After receiving yet another quick vision of Meetra and Revan sitting in the center, the four of them take a seat and are instantly bombarded with a flood of memories from all those who have sat there before. It can come as quick or as slowly as you'd like, but eventually I'd like for a vision of Lehon to become clearer along with Revan and Meetra discussing where "The Dark Ones" went
-After discussing their visions with the Elders, they go to Lehon where upon landing and getting to the Temple of the Ancients, they discover a Star Map planted by Revan that plots a course deeper into unknown space

And that's where the crap really is going to hit the fan because if I remember correctly, they're going to be traveling DEEP into unknown space. We can figure out what we're going to do with that then? Or do you have ideas already?

Goodbye, my almost lover. [Numenera]

Raul's upper body sagged forward on the creaky cot upon hearing the barkeep's voice, eagerly strolling to the door and receiving the tray with a verbalized note of thanks before he set the tray down.
"I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning, so here." The pouch that had once occupied the corpse just up the cliffside was withdrawn, Raul handing over several shins, which he knew would be more than enough to cover his tenure there.
"My thanks for the hospitality. It can be...difficult out there." He half turned towards the tray, ready to pounce on nourishment that his body desperately craved, but he stopped, words tumbling out of his mouth:
"The woman who was fixing the light fixture; is she an employee of yours?" It would make sense for Kari to help out, but was this a place of stability for her now?
"Forgive my prying, but curiosity is a trait that tends to possess me at times." An apologetic smile crossed his lips.

___

The armored woman motioned with her left hand, beckoning the shadows that had remained idle to come forward now, their blades reflecting the slivers of moonlight that pierced through the clouds above. She looked up, noting the almost tremulous gathering with a smirk. It was nice to have someone who could control things like this.

She looked back at the shadows, pointing at the inn. Their only acknowledgement was to drift, almost glide down the slope, blades forward.