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caelum
Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit
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last online Oct 1, 2021 13:39:09 GMT -5
Youngling
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Jan 30, 2020 16:49:34 GMT -5
Post by caelum on Jan 30, 2020 16:49:34 GMT -5
"Is that what it was?" Nostos wondered aloud, gave wandering out into the crimson sky. "Was he your master already? Had he accepted you into his graces, trained you in his ways and called you his apprentice? Or were you shocked, embarrassed and humiliated that you had dared strike at a Lord of the Sith."
Nostos paid Karn's behavior no mind. It was natural, in that crude, animalistic sort of way, to resent what had hurt you. Unfortunate in a way, but not quite disappointing. The arkanian was young still, his training in it's infancy. He would learn in his own way and his own time.
"Life takes us upon many pathways, many roads, many destinations. At the beginning these paths are branching and infinitesimal, the potential of youth, and one is at their greatest potential. Take an average child and you would find them to be moldable putty in one's hands. The Jedi recognize this, it is how they procreate, to take that limitless potential and charge it along the pathways that lead down the Jedi Order."
A pause, before bright eyes turn back to Karn. "I do not possess the gift of Foresight, I cannot see those branching paths. It is more difficult for our kind than it is the Jedi, but I need not be Grandmaster Moho to see just how savagely you had cut at your own branches of potential when you challenged Viren. Do you think it was your mewlings as he brought you to your knees that impressed him? Do you believe that the brief clash of blades between you and him showed him the totality of your potential? That your ignorance of who he was convinced him of your worthiness to learn from him? Do you think, in any other instance, in any other way, you would have escaped your self inflicted trap with your pride intact? Your body? Your life?"
"Do you know what really happened when I plumbed into the depths of your mind, dimmed the lights in your eyes, brought your own doubts and fears into the dark?" Nostos asked calmly, voice quiet yet clear over the Korriban winds. "I diluted your own mistakes, while exemplifying your strengths. I allowed Viren to see what I saw, a boy broken by his own failures, a loyal apprentice, bereft of his master. A knight, waiting forever for his liege. A more worthy apprentice than meets the eye, wouldn't you say?"
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last online Feb 13, 2020 19:04:12 GMT -5
Force Sensitive
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Feb 3, 2020 21:38:54 GMT -5
Post by sithlover on Feb 3, 2020 21:38:54 GMT -5
Her lightsaber flaring a deep crimson red, Ven mainly focused on keeping the Tuk’ata at bay, and striking only when needed. She could sense the beast’s strong, innate sense to survive another day. However this didn’t phase Ven and she continued fighting on regardless. Soon, she began to notice that perhaps this Tuk’ata was in a much weaker state than all of the others. Before narrowly dodging another advance of an attack from the vicious creature, she could see it already had a cut on its leg from what seemed to be a rock. Getting close to actually strike a blow against the Tuk’ata, it responded enraged and lashed out its stingers at her. In an attempt to dodge the oncoming stingers, Ven turned around whipping her lightsaber around in her hands with her out of shock. As a result, she tripped and turned her lightsaber off, having landed face first on the ground. Spitting out the grime from the ground, she began to breathe heavily before sitting back up. Thinking the Tuk’ata was about to attack again she immediately turned on her lightsaber again, only to find that it lay dead with its head chopped off. Stunned, but also disappointed Ven turned off her lightsaber and sat back down, relieved. Catching her breath she reflected on how she believed that her victory was only a fluke, and that she was a total failure. Standing up she noticed Lord Nostos talking to another acolyte in the distance, and went to go approach them as there were no more visible Tuk’atas.
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Rugs
The ring-dang-doo, now what is that?
6,347 posts
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last online Jan 12, 2024 11:24:20 GMT -5
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Feb 4, 2020 11:21:37 GMT -5
Post by Rugs on Feb 4, 2020 11:21:37 GMT -5
“I...” Karn’s mouth worked as he searched vainly for words. “I...” Normally quick-witted, with always a snide remark or threat ready to go, Karn was unaccustomed to being caught flat-footed. But here he was, unsure of how to respond to Nostos’ evaluation of their prior meeting.
Not because the Prophet’s words rang hollow. Because Karn knew, in the very core of his soul, that Nostos was right.
He’d not recognized Viren when the Dark Lord approached him and told him to quit sulking from his wounds. He’d not realized, until lightning crackled from his fingers that he nearly attacked one of the Pillars of the Empire itself.
“...a boy broken by his own failures...”
Karn looked at the bone-dry ground beneath his feet. His hands were still fists at his side, his jaw still clenched in anger, but he could not bring himself to meet Nostos’ gaze. The pain of his myriad failures, at Nar Shaddaa and in the weeks since, still burned viscerally — a festering wound that refused to heal, made worse by his constant picking at it. He’d ever been quick of temper, but the loss cut his normally-short fuse even shorter.
How close had he come to inviting disaster upon himself?
He didn’t know what Viren would have done, had Nostos not intervened, if he had not drawn Karn’s ire and exposed the deep, all-consuming grief. Whatever might have happened, Karn suffered through Nostos’ work, and Viren was now his master.
But he could not bring himself to thank the Prophet. He refused.
“I don’t want your help,” he growled bitterly. He raised his eyes to Nostos as a warm wind blew, bringing a reminder of the coming day’s heat as the sun crept ever upward in the sky. “I don’t need your help, Prophet.”
The sound of approaching footsteps caught his ear. He looked briefly back over his shoulder to see one of the other Acolytes coming toward them. So at least one of his fellow had survived the Tuk’ata.
He returned his attention to Nostos, simmering anger palpable. “If you stick your nose into my mind like that again, I swear I will find a way to kill you.”
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caelum
Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit
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last online Oct 1, 2021 13:39:09 GMT -5
Youngling
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Feb 6, 2020 3:24:18 GMT -5
Post by caelum on Feb 6, 2020 3:24:18 GMT -5
The Prophet observes Karn's reactions. The boy averted his gaze, but his emotions bled free into the force, his body uncertain and unsure. That he lashed out was no surprise, though that he accepted Nostos's reasoning certainly was. He had expected Karn to rage and deny the truth, that he realized the chain of events that led him here was a point in his favor, nevermind that he didn't seem to respond to it very well.
"Would it please you more to imagine I was manipulating you instead?" he says sardonically, dry amusement evident in his tone. "We can pretend it so, if you would prefer it. That you as Viren's apprentice be a part of a long and meanderingly duplicitous plot designed to see you dead. It has been some time since I practiced self-deception, I would be glad for the practice."
Nostos smiles, a rare sight, and it is a weary expression. "Of all of us, the Order of Bronze is the most....temperamental. More than most, it derives it's strength from conflict, both inflicted and endured. Too often, in times past, the Sith have fallen to such tempestuous infighting when instead they should be focused on more worthwhile objectives. Viren's predecessor did his Order no favors in the manner of his disappearance, and I believe in time he shall be tested soon enough. Our enemies both within and without will see the weakness we have displayed at Nar Shadda, and will take advantage of it soon."
He turns aside, looking past Karn, towards the fast approaching acolyte. "Your current master will face challenges and turmoil the likes of which will test even the strongest of our kind. A steadfast, loyal, creature such as yourself is of more use protecting Viren's back than some starry eyed, treacherous little mongrel in search of his five minutes of fame."
With that, his attention focuses towards the newcomer, his smile settling into a more formal state of affairs. "Ah, it seems another one of your fellows has survived." comments Nostos. "Karn, I am unfamiliar with this one, would you know her name?"
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Rugs
The ring-dang-doo, now what is that?
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Feb 7, 2020 10:58:31 GMT -5
Post by Rugs on Feb 7, 2020 10:58:31 GMT -5
“Do not patronize me, Prophet.” Venom bubbled in Karn’s voice as his pale cheeks flushed red in anger. He’d not denied the truth of Nostos’ words, only issued a warning to leave him alone in the future. His fingers flexed again near his lightsaber’s long hilt, as fight-or-flight reactions pumped adrenaline into his system.
More than anything, Karn wanted, desperately, to run Nostos through with his blade and shut the Prophet up. But no, starting that fight was risky. If he could even get close enough to engage in a lightsaber duel, he knew little of the Prophet’s ability with a blade. A miscalculation could end with him dead, or embarrassed again at the Prophet’s hand.
He could leave. Return to the Temple. But it felt too much like fleeing with tail tucked between his legs. And so he remained, stuck with boundless agitation at the Prophet’s presence and unsure of what to do with it.
“I will serve my Master to the best of my ability,” he said through grit teeth, “and against threats from his back and before him.”
A loyal creature. Karn fought against grinding his teeth.
An echo in his mind. Colubus’ scream. The Archeri’s arm piercing her from one side to the other.
Karn’s eyes misted with tears. He broke from Nostos’ gaze again. “I don’t need your instruction to tell me to do that.” He raised his eyes, searching for something, anything to get a rise out of the Prophet. “Why don’t you concern yourself with seeing to your broken Cult, and I’ll see to my own business? Does that seem a fair trade, Prophet?”
But Nostos’ attention had moved past him, to the approaching girl. She was short, slender, flushed with vigor from fending of the Tuk’ata. Karn had absolutely no idea who she was.
His shrug, in answer to Nostos’ inquiry, said he didn’t really care, either. “I don’t know.”
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caelum
Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit
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last online Oct 1, 2021 13:39:09 GMT -5
Youngling
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Mar 5, 2020 20:19:55 GMT -5
Post by caelum on Mar 5, 2020 20:19:55 GMT -5
"I do not patronize, I observe." Nostos said evenly. "If in your own mind you see something different, then I'm sorry to say it is your own vision that is flawed."
Moving his gaze away from the other and back to Karn, he sighed. "This need not be an unpleasant encounter, Karn. We are all loyal servants of the Empire, mutual success for both of us is the ideal. My own Cult is...foolish, and led astray, but that will be rectified in time. An organizational matter, not a personal one."
He waved his hand away. "But let us not think about such unpleasantness now. I had sought some measure of solitude in walking out to these dunes, and while unexpected, I would not mind sharing such solitude with you. That is, assuming you are not too sickened at the sight of me."
A sardonic smile crept along Nostos's lips. It seemed clear, now, that the boy would never be truly comfortable around his presence. Considering that, he wondered if it was not too indulgent to amuse himself on that fact?
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Rugs
The ring-dang-doo, now what is that?
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Mar 6, 2020 14:42:57 GMT -5
Post by Rugs on Mar 6, 2020 14:42:57 GMT -5
“Yes, of course, it’s me that’s at fault.” Karn’s too-agreeable tone dripped with sarcasm. “How couldn’t I see it?” He stared flatly at the Prophet.
Need to be unpleasant? Karn fumed silently. You sent Tuk’ata after me! He held his tongue, with some great effort. He realized, that, as of now, there was nothing he could say to Nostos that would ignite a satisfactory response. The longer the lingered, the higher the likelihood of his control slipping, of making a decision he was likely to regret.
As Nostos spoke again, Karn barked a laugh. “Prophet, don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s not only the sight of you that sickens me. I mean, you’re not my type, but I’ve seen worse around the Temple. It’s everything about you that does that.” Another too-friendly smile, obviously feigned, and Karn began to walk. He approached the Prophet, though his aim was past him and back toward the Temple. Still, his path would take him very near Nostos. He did not waver, and his shoulder brushed Nostos’ roughly as he slipped by.
“Much as I’d love to spend the morning with you staring at sand and rocks, I’ve got other things to do.” Karn kept that clearly-fake jovial tone, even as he braced for potential repercussions for shoulder-checking a Sith Lord. “I’m sure I’ll see you again, though, and I cannot say it’s been a pleasure.”
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