The Dark Academy on Korriban

After a quick trip to the refresher when she arrived, Shaisha didn't feel the need to go back out right away, and she figured she'd have some time to take in the place again before all the other students managed to scurry themselves to the Academy.

Some probably thought the museum-part of the Academy boring. Because all these Sith were dead and gone, and most of their power and legacies already stolen or plundered. Shaisha on the other hand felt at home among the history, as if she belonged there somehow. Perhaps she would too one day be spoken of like Naga Sadow, or Marka Ragnos...

Shaisha wasn't the only one curious about the past. After a few hours of training Jo'ren had decided to reacquaint himself with the Academy. He had tried to raise Gerry on the comlink to offer a tour, but it kept asking him to leave a message.

"Do try not to get yourself killed Gerry, it would be a waste of potential."

The sight of his fellow True Sith up ahead led Jo'ren to put the communicator away, and he moved quickly to catch up to her. He didn't bother to pay dumb this time, it was just the two of them, and they were Sith.

"Good afternoon Shaisha, I trust you enjoyed the stroll through the wastes this morning?"

She looked over her shoulder at Jo'ren as she heard him speak, stopping her thoughts of days gone by next to a display about Ajunta Pall.

"Good afternoon, Jo'ren." She smiled pleasantly. "It was a nice enough warm-up for the coming days, I'd say. Though it seems I wasn't the fastest one this time around..." she looked up at him with a knowing glance.

"Guess I underestimated the competition."

Jo'ren smiled slyly. "So it would seem. I heard the winner is quite the catch you know. Fast, strong, pleasant to look at.". He waved a hand. "I'm sure he has other fine qualities."

Their voices echoed pleasantly in the museum's halls.

"It was an amusing introduction, but I look forward to the real tests.". His eyes blazed with excitement as he spoke.

"Really? You'll have to introduce me to him then," she teased in return with a friendly grin. "I'd want to see what sort of other fine qualities he may have."

Shaisha glanced back to the long-gone Sith lord and then back to Jo'ren. "Khalim made it back too in good time, I trust?"

Jo'ren laughed at her response. "Oh I'll pass that along. I have this strong feeling that he'll be delighted to show you.". He winked and soaked up the camaraderie.

"Oh yes, I met Khalim in the training yard earlier. He can't have been too far behind me. Within an hour certainly. You probably arrived around the same time."

His gaze was drawn to a statue of Marka Ragnos.

"Good to see such a strong performance from our people."

"Good to know," she nodded, both glad to hear Khalim performed satisfactory, and in agreement that the three Sith students had done a good showing on the first day (completely ignoring the fact that the teachers did want those three to succeed well).

"Must've arrived more or less at the same time as him, yes. Lucky for me that the more interesting one of the two of you showed up here though," Shaisha chuckled quietly. "He seems like a clever and capable Sith, just not with as much humor that you seem to have."

"Handsome and interesting you say? Careful, it might go to my head.". Jo'ren smiled but his expression was thoughtful. "Our colleague will become a powerful Lord I'm sure. His demeanour suits that path, but it is not the only way.

He ran a hand through his hair as he thought back to his own family and their history. "We Raths seek out our own path. Where others buy into the pretense that there is some sort of balance between life and death, light and dark: that one must choose? Our choice is to laugh at it.". He smiled a little roguishly at her. "If you are going to set the universe alight, you might as well enjoy the flames."

She grinned a little at that piece of philosophy. "Not a bad way of looking at things, if I do say so myself."

"Not so much philosophy of light and dark, or life and death for me... mother served in the Imperial Guard, before dying in service. My sire is... well, in a somewhat similar position. Keeps him pretty occupied, so he hasn't taken the time to stress that kind of talk. I know he expects me to excel at the Academy, as he did in his youth." Shaisha gestured in a 'what can you do'-kind of way.

"Personally, I think too many might forget that passion is our strength."

He was considerably taller, so he had to look downwards for a deeper look into her eyes. "I am sure your mother would take pride in her strong and beautiful daughter. Your father as well even if he does not care to say so. Passion doesn't just give us strength, it makes life exciting Shaisha. It is...intoxicating!"

He spoke with a fierce joy that caused the words to bounce around the room. The statues just stared back blankly as they guarded the display cabinets and their treasures of ages past.

The golden embers of her eyes looked up at him, reflecting that passion and lust for life that she had in her soul.

Having spent so much time around pampered noble boys, who thought themselves cool and savvy, it felt almost liberating to speak with one who seemed to feel the same way she did. And his booming words caused her to laugh.

"I'm sure, somewhere, a stuffy old Lord disagrees with such intoxicating passion..." she covered her mouth a little to avoid causing too much noise. "Probably because they never tried it."

With a laugh he looked around for any hidden Sith Lords before replying. "Almost certainly. Their loss."

Cautiously he reached out a large hand, brushing her cheek gently if she allowed it, though only for the briefest moment.

"You know, I like you Aspirant Shaisha Vreysk." He gave her full title playfully, but there was a sparkle in his eyes. "I think the future just got very interesting."

Shaisha allowed the touch, taking a moment to savour the brief experience of his calloused hand against her warm skin and it's delicate ridges.

"And you're not too bad yourself, aspirant Jo'ren Rath," she returned the term of adress in kind, biting playfully down on her lower lip. "It will be interesting to see you around here at the Academy in the coming days. And who knows, we might meet again... somewhere where ghosts of the pasts aren't staring."

He smiled again and lowered his hand before stretching out his arms and revealing the massive muscles.

"Did you hear that ghosts of the past? She wants to see me again!"

His arms dropped lazily to his sides.

"Works for me. Actually I'm planning to take a speeder out in the next few days to explore the outside world. Maybe you'd like to come for the adventure? Got to be some place we can find lightsaber crystals around here."

“The ghosts are dead, they are not deaf, aspirant,” an old raspy electronic voice said. It was attaché to aging man well you assume he is of advanced age due to black metallic cane he is leaning on and the slow pace of his movements.

His breathing is audible through the mask, and in his wake was a plain woman, perhaps older than the students but not by much.

“Lightsaber crystals are not the pinnacle of Sith training,” he said with a sigh. “Do you think Naga Sadow or Ajunta Pall became great because they waived their fire sticks about? Well do you?”

Oh how the force loves to toy with us - His fathers words echoed in his head at the perfectly timed arrival of a Dark Lord.

Jo'ren swiftly assessed the pair, and bowed to the man in the mask.

"Forgive me for disturbing you with my exuberance, my Lord. In answer to your question: No, I do not. Yet constructing one's own lightsaber remains an essential part of our training. The sooner it is done, the sooner I can focus on developing my connection to the Force."

*Jo'ren spends a Destiny point hoping to gain some sort of boon or other positive outcome for himself from Lord Savas*

“I can understand youthful exuberance, aspirant.”

He approached with a tapping of his cane and said, “Does a lightsaber make a Sith? Do you know how lightsabers came to be?”

It was somewhat exhilarating to have not been struck down and he watched the masked Lord as he approached with no small amount of interest.

"A lightsaber does not make a Sith my Lord, but the Sith made the first lightsabers. According to my family at least. My lineage stretches back to Sek'nos Rath, and the days of the Infinite Empire." He was obviously proud of his heritage. "I admit to knowing little of their origins beyond this however."

"My lord," Shaisha bowed to the Sith lord.

"... The first lightsabers were of Sith origin, I think? The Jedi stole that knowledge in the Great Hyperspace War, I was told."



(OOC: Should I roll something for the history? Also, likewise spending a Destiny Point for a positive outcome, like Jo'ren did.)

OOC: Lore or Education roll at Average difficulty.

Shaisha added what she knew of the early Sith history that she recalled learning at a young age, including some of the first weapons known as lightsabers, as well as the protosabers that came before.

D1. Untrained Education/Intelligence for Sith history: 2eA+2eD 3 successes

Jo'ren didn't have anything further to add and gave Shaisha a nod and a smile as she proceeded to recall some more details.


D1. Does anything else spring to mind about lightsaber history?: 2eA+2eD 0 successes

“I could feed you propaganda and say the Sith created the first but this is untrue as I understand it. Perhaps the truth of who built the first is lost to time… or maybe we must dig deeper. The earliest Sith did not even use lightsabers, they relied on specially treated blades that could withstand the strike of a lightsaber. Some of these swords may even still exist and I am sure we have some display, somewhere.”

Lord Savas sighed audibly before adding, “The earliest lightsabers had not yet miniaturized their power sources requiring large backpacks to power them, highly impractical for a military weapon.”

“The Infinite Empire is not a common topic, aspirant. Few Sith willingly study that era, or even care to know about it,” he said focusing on Jo’ren.

"I'm sorry to say I haven't learned much about it, my Lord, but it is something I wish to correct. The history of the Sith has always been of interest to me." She bowed her head respectfully to the masked Lord.

"Things that are lost are often simply waiting for the right moment to be found again my Lord. As for the Infinite Empire?" He shrugged his large shoulders and settled into an easy stance beside Shaisha. "It is long past, but that does not mean it could not hold secrets that would benefit us in the present. In truth I know little of it, except that the founder of my line discovered the great power of the dark side in that period." He too was now wishing he had studied his ancient history lessons in more detail.

"I recall seeing an ancient blade somewhere in this museum once when I visited as a child, it could have been one of these you are describing. Perhaps it was put into storage?" He thought about lightsabers requiring backpacks and a look of distaste crossed his lips. "A backpack power source would be cumbersome. I suppose most warriors would have required my physique to be able to fight with those early lightsabers."