The Dark Academy on Korriban

In the last vestiges of deep darkness before this side of the planet aligned with its star, Jun-Tsu sat meditating on a canyon ridge. The speeder the acolyte had used to get here sat not far away, but to Jun-Tsu it was long gone. As she sat, her hands worked into their unnatural gestures, as mists of hunter green light poured off of them in tendrils. They reached out towards a gathering of disassembled parts that hovered in the air.

She chanted, and her silver eyes had grown infused with the serpentine energy she channeled. The pieces circled and orbited one another in a complex configuration that, as it went on became more orderly. For the last four hours she had meditated upon the intricacies of the mechanism, trying to emulate the ancient forms of House Farro. On her own it would have taken much longer, but the Dark Side, guided her.

Knowledge: Lore (Intellect) - 3eP+2eD = 1 success


Force Dice - 2eF = 1 Dark Side, 1 Light Side (plus 1 Dark Side)


In the last few minutes, her chanting suddenly changed, and the materials began to lock, one by one into place as they ceased to circle. Then, when they had all stopped, held by the power pouring from Jun-Tsu, they slowly slipped together, locking into an intricate weave around the illium crystal at its core. The emerald energies dissipated into the hilt, and after so much exposure to the Dark light the metal had changed to a black matching the sky.

It descended to come to rest before Jun-Tsu who ached from the lengthy meditation. Her muscles and bones seemed to pop as she moved to pick up the device. It was not the most elegant nor efficient designs but it was Farro, and it was hers.

She took it up, the hilt of black metal, and looked it over. her fingers traced the line of its design up to the jagged protrusions that jutted up at its base and head. She admired it, feeling it in her hand. Then, on her feet, she rested her other hand along the shaft and took in a breath. With a warm humming the blade flashed into existence, a deep red that radiated flecks of shimmering green.

Jun-Tsu smiled and fell into one of her forms. In the dark, the saber spun and whipped. She passed it easily from one hand to the other as she transitioned through the motions of her kata. There was a silent admittance that it was an elegant weapon, and thrilling to behold, but she restrained herself and drew herself back to a stoic stance, letting the blade disappear.

A nod of approval and then she walked from the cliff's edge towards the flat, lifeless plateau she occupied. It was time, time to commune with the force and complete her ritual.

Hanging her sword at her hip beneath her robes, she fell smoothly into the motions of her purification rituals. Her arms moved in hypnotic patterns, while her hands worked their very literal magic. She called out to the Dark Side, once more, but this time she called also to Darth Traya. That emerald energy returned to fleck through the night air, and then blossom into thin coils.

“The child returns for another lesson?” Darth Traya speaks, her presence felt before heard.

"I have done az you advized, und zeen more clearly zhe nature of zhe Woid Engine. It iz....remarkable in itz complexity, vith a connection to zhe Dark Side I, in many vays enwy. Itz attachment to zhe Umbră-Ușoară, allowz it to zee all of time, of a fashion. But ewen more zhan zhat if zhat vere not miracle enough, it haz shown me a process by vhich it vas turned to zhe Dark Side, she ritual vhich connected it zo intimately vith zhat powver."

The contrails still poured off of, and around, her as she spoke. Her mind far clearer this time than it had been when she first met the force spirit. "Tell me, I must know, can zuch a ritual be modified und performed und focused zhrough a different kind of being? Or iz it only possible zhrough itz unique nature?"

“Rituals are fickle child, but it could be done. It is the Force that gives power to them and the Force is fickle. There is no guarantee that such a ritual could be repeated, but it could be done. Yes, it could be done,” Darth Traya replies in a spectral whisper.

"It vould take zhousands of sacrifices," she opined with a steely calm. "It could only be performed v'once I vas back on Korriz vith my vamily."

"I vish for such union vith zhe Dark Side, und I have been shown zhe path I must valk. To attain it I must foresake all other pathz."

"Does that mean you forsake me as well?" she says calmly.

"I have seen many paths, und you are present in an infinite number of zhem echoing out forvard und back. I may have seen zhe vay but I need a guide on how to valk it. I am far from home, und bereft of a master. Zhe professors here do not give me zhe nourishment I reqvire to grow."

She looked up to the shade, "You do. I am here to learn of zhe Dark Side in a vay zhat ewen my family does not know...yet. But instead I am in rudimentary lessons I learned long ago, wasting my time on exams zo zhat others may zay I am Sith. They drill us on saber techniques und physical forms to prepare us for zhe front lines of var, but zhat iz not my destiny. Zhey groom uz to be fodder, but I plan to go much further zhan zhat. Und for zhat I need your help."

“Then I will be your master, and through me you will attain understand no Sith or Jedi could hope to master,” Darth Traya says.

"You have guided me thus far to greater truth zhan I have yet known. I cannot stop now....I must know more. Teach me....master." She did not wholly bow, but lowered her gaze and gave a nod of her head to the shade as a sign of respect.

“Then your first lesson will bind us, draw on the dark side… channel that thirst… that desire and I will be with you,” she says calmly.

That vestige of hesitation returned knowing the clever tricks and lies of many a dark spirit from tales told by House Farro. Stories meant to ward away such ill-conceived bargains. Pacts that were little more than deals of possession. Jun-Tsu folded her hands into a mudra of concentration and cast away the last of her reservations. She had seen such a possible future. But she had sworn to the shade and to herself...she would give up anything, and everything, to find union with the Dark Side, even her body and mind.

So, with a final call to the Umbră-Ușoară, she drew every bit of it that she could reach. Her body swam in the hazy jade energies of the Dark-light, and it poured off of her into the air like vapor or fire.

It is not possessions it is more a bond. Darth Traya will be there, sometimes in reflection sometimes as a spirit, other times as a voice but she is always there watching and guiding.

She is harsh, she listens, and she gives knowledge… words that will guide them both to true union with the dark side.

"I can veel zhe bond. Yes, you are....vith me." She continued to channel the power of the Dark Side, cycling it through her body and out into the elements around her.

“I feel the Void Engine… yes… such raw infinte power.”

She composes herself and says, “This will not be enough but it will form the foundation of our power. The Sith are nothing, the Jedi are nothing, we will be the perfection of the Force. We will surpass all who have come before.”

"Yes," she agreed simply with a confident nod of her head.

"Zoon I travel to Yawin. I have zeen it in the Woid Engine, und zhe Academy speaks of little else today. I must be prepared. Vhat do I face und iz zhere zome vay to prepare before I go?"

“The mundane dangers of any jungle but the Massassi are a threat, wild and unpredictable. The world is not as steeped in the dark side as Korriban but there is power there, Exar Kun… Freedon Nadd, and Naga Sadaw are some of the Sith that have tried to make Yavin IV their own. It is wild and untamed and that affects the flow of the Force on that moon,” Darth Traya responds.

"It zounds very much like Korriz. Not blasted and dead by zhe powver of zhe Dark Side, but channeled zhrough zhe entropy of sawage depredation und natural destruction." She thought on that for a time.

"Vhat are your zhoughts on zhe remnants of zheir efforts?"

“Monuments to vanity, petty men trying to prove they exist by creating structures that will make others envy them. Great Sith who wasted their power on petty endeavors,” Darth Traya says.

"Iz zhere anyzhing of merit zhat remains on Yavin IV zhat I should consider?"

"Of course," Darth Traya says.

"I vill zee vhat I can garner zhere if zhe opportunity arises. Until zhen I vill sift zhrough zhe Void Engine for zhe correct path. Have you any further requirements of me, master?"

“I have none for now, in time you will know my will,” she says.

"I vait vith eager anticipation for your visdom. Call upon me vhen you have want or need to do so, I am ewer your dewoted student." She inclined her head much as she had to greet the shade.

Her teacher fades.