The Dark Academy on Korriban

Jo'ren was furious at himself for failing to score in the lightsaber round of his exam, although it had been satisfying to pound the senior student into a bloody mess afterwards. Still, he held the rage in his gut as he made his way straight out of the testing arena and towards the spot where he had met Jaina Von the day before.

He only hoped she was true to her word. As he waited for her arrival the big sith ran through a series of training drills and pondered the meaning of the morning's trials. Lord Savas' words kept coming back to him: there is more to a Sith than a lightsaber...

Jo'ren was soon followed by one of his former roommates, as Xevine arrived dressed in a training attire. "Hello there roomie." She indicated towards the good natures Sith. "How's it going?"

He was still deep in thought as Xavine approached, so his first instinct was to look at her with annoyance. It didn't last though.

"Fine.". Getting to his feet he dusted his hands off and have her a wry smile. "Passed the exams but still pissed at myself for not doing better. How are you, my Lady Xavine?". His grin spread as he wondered if she liked that as much as 'Xev'.

Xevine smirked. "Fine... today went well thankfully." She raised a hand and patted the red giant's shoulder. "There, there. I am sure you will have more opportunity to rip off arms and show your true worth." She rolled her shoulders a bit, and then moved to join the man in his exercises. "They are not giving us much time to find our footing.... but that is only proper, no?"

Jo'ren gave her a winning smile. "I don't know, they stopped me ripping off that guy's arms today... Still, I guess it was good to see my old roomies all passed the exams."

He thought about her observation and eventually added: "Don't expect to get any time to catch your breath. You do, it's 'cause something worse is coming."

Xevine smiled. "I'm catching my breath right now, I know there's worse coming. Like your smell." She poked fun at the red menace, before stretching herself a bit. "Managed to settle in yet? This place still feels a bit weird to me."

The Red Menace chuckled. "Hah, this is the sweet smell of success...Xev." He started what seemed like a lazy set of slow crunches that were actually extremely difficult to perform.

"Oddly enough, yes. It feels welcoming enough to me. Then again I've been here before."

Xevine's smile quickly turned to a frown. She moved closer, until she was inches away from Jo'Ren the Giant. "Don't. Call. Me. That." Her voice was icy, and her eyes full of anger, and... did her spikes grow a bit? Nah. They were just pretty close to Jo'ren's throat, at this height.

Jaina stood looking at aspirants train, she did not seem impressed though she showed little of any emotion. Some students had done quite well, while many had shown themselves weak. She was assessing how to fix the deficiencies.

Jo'ren shrugged at the Zabrak and sighed. "Then don't be a bitch. You know I smell great."

At which point, beyond Xavine's head, he spied their Master of Arms, with whom he had scheduled an appointment the day before. Or at least she'd said she might work with him if he came along today at this time.

"Got to go, fight club." Stepping past Xevine he walked across towards Jaina Von.

"Excuse me my Lord. I was hoping for some of your time, like we discussed yesterday." A brief surge of rage passed through him. "After this morning it's clear I have plenty more to learn..."

“Yeah, your deficiencies are obvious,” she said turning to him, the tone is matter of fact and to the point.

He shrugged. "Good, it'll be easy for you to teach me how to improve. I'm ready and willing to learn."

"Not so fast you stinky bastard." She half-seethed, half-smiled as she followed Jo'ren, and bowed towards the armsmaster. "My lord." She disciplined herself not to point and laugh at the proud sith.... she did perform decently at combat that day.

“Get a weapon,” she said with a nod.

OOC: You can make three Lightsaber rolls, difficulty is 2 Challenge die with 2 setback dice, the weapons master is dueling you. To impress her you need at least 3 successes over all those rolls a Triumph counts as 2. Threat is strain taken and Advantage will allow you to regain lost strain.

This was his chance. Jo'ren took it.

He collected a training saber, flicked it on, and gave his opponent a salute. At which point she began her whirling spiral of death and destruction that did something nasty to him, although still he acquitted himself well (2 advantage to hopefully offset some of the despair effect [A nasty proper lightsaber wound perhaps?]).

Whatever it was that she did was not enough to crush his spirit however. He came back stronger than before, perhaps driven to prove himself, or perhaps it was natural talent. Either way, he came out of the second round on top by the slimmest of margins (1 success).

The final round was a blur, his training saber managing to keep pace with and parry all of her attacks, while he pressed forward and somehow managed to pull out a convincing win against the weapon master when all was said and done. She was clearly his better, but there was something worthy in Jo'ren. He has potential.

Eventually she pulled back and he lowered the weapon.


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Day 2. LA. Duelling with Jaina Von roll 1. Lightsaber (Brawn). 2 challenge, 2 setback...: 2eA+2eP+2eC+1eS 0 successes, 2 advantage, 1 Despair


Day 2. LA. Duelling with Jaina Von roll 2. Lightsaber (Brawn). 2 challenge, 2 setback...: 2eA+2eP+2eC+1eS 1 success


Day 2. LA. Duelling with Jaina Von roll 3. Lightsaber (Brawn). 2 challenge, 2 setback...Spending a destiny point.: 1eA+3eP+2eC+1eS 2 successes


Total = 3 successes, 2 advantage, and 1 despair

Xevine observed the Red Menace go up against the Betraying Master of Arms. It was a spectacle, and she felt the energy come in waves from the combatants, her blood quickened, and a part of her longed to lunge into both and tear them apart... but no. A proper Sith controlled their rage.

Zeno had acquitted himself well. Jaina was not impressed though she had seen something, something that needed improvement. She said, “You did good, most would be impressed but I am not.”

“That first strike was sloppy, you exposed yourself for little gain, a skilled duelist would have gutted you. I should have gutted you, but this is a training scenario.”

She raised her hand and he lifted on the ground and he felt power clench around his throat. It was agony of searing pain as he couldn’t breathe and then it was done. He crumpled to the ground.

“Remember that pain, that is a fraction of what exposing yourself would have cost.”

OOC: Using Despair effect, he sustains 3 wounds not soakable.

The wound had been a wake-up call but when she used the Force to choke him it was pain on another level. Rubbing his throat he sat up and shook some sense back into himself, unable to speak for a moment. He simply nodded a firm acknowledgement.

"I... I'll remember alright. Thanks...for the insight."

Rising from the ground to his full height he bowed stiffly.

"So. When can I return to you for my next lesson?"

Xevine's expression was neutral, and she stepped closer, though not next to Jo'ren. He looked worse for wear, but then, the bigger they are, the harder they fall....

She looked towards the Master of Arms. "My lord."

She said to Jo'ren, "Tomorrow."

"What do you need aspirant," she said to Xevine.

Xevine she glanced towards Jo'ren, before returning her attention to the Sethi before her. "Would Lord Von honor me with an opportunity to prove myself?" While she didn't have a rapport with her like the Red Menace, she did have a better showing at combat that day.

Inwardly he felt the joy of his arrogance having paid off. It balanced nicely with the pain from his saber wound. He kept his expression neutral though when he replied.

"Thank you my Lord."

He turned to watch the interaction between Von and Xevine.

"I have time to kill, fine," she replied.

OOC: You can make three Lightsaber rolls, difficulty is 2 Challenge die with 2 setback dice, the weapons master is dueling you. To impress her you need at least 3 successes over all those rolls a Triumph counts as 2. Threat is strain taken and Advantage will allow you to regain lost strain.

Xevine stepped up and..... wow. The exam took more out of her than she thought, as her skills with the saber could be best described as 'useless flailing', not even managing to hit the instructor even once. She was breathing heavily by the end, and rage was boiling up inside of her fiercely.

#1:
D2: Impressing Lord murdermachinator, Lightsaber (Brawn): 2eA+1eP+2eC+2eS 2 failures, 5 advantage


#2:
D2: Impressing Lord murdermachinator, Lightsaber (Brawn), Destiny to upgrade 1 die: 1eA+2eP+2eC+2eS 1 failure, 2 advantage


#3:
D2: Impressing Lord murdermachinator, Lightsaber (Brawn): 2eA+1eP+2eC+2eS 0 successes, 2 threat

Jaina was a wall, a wall that nothing pierced unless she willed it. She said in a neutral tone, “You need more work.”