The Dark Academy on Korriban

- - - And fan of hyphens. - - -

Jun-Tsu is pretty open, so please ask away. There's not much that I won't reveal even though I'd love the chance to play the character again. I pretty well trust you guys to keep IC and OOC knowledge seperate. You're all classy like that.

I loved it. Still do. Zeno will probably never find a potential partner with the feral instinct he so enjoyed embracing.

But he really puts a lot of emphasis on trusting his comrades

What was the most difficult part of playing Jun-Tsu?

I wish I could have had more interactions with Jun-Tsu, I enjoyed the few we did have.

Did you expect anything with the library to take off when it did? Did you expect anything like it when you had first designed the character?

The accent. No fooling, sometimes it was hard. And, on the opposite side, when I would post a lot in a given day I found myself writing up reports and assignments with errant z's, w's, and v's in the wrong places. You get into a groove and suddenly eweryzhing iz vaux Transylwainan wampire!

But for the actual roleplaying part, probably trying to come up with all the stuff about the Farro without going too out of bounds when it came to the setting. Mind you, I know Star Wars maybe a little better than the average person, but I haven't read any of the EU besides getting on Wookiepedia when the mood strikes me and just learning stuff about the setting. So, I was really trying to err on the side of stuff that seemed plausible and partially canon, but I will say I took some strong liberties with the 'northern' Stygian Caldera and their weird-@$$ archaic cultures.

Good grief, the amount of effort you put in to the accent was astounding! I enjoyed reading your threads and trying to figure out what she was on about

What evil have you unleashed upon the world exactly, or is that something that only Dapper knows?

Only Dapper knows for certain, and most of it is stated in public threads. The only thing I can say beyond that is that this little girl has a crazy amount of Dark Side energy pouring through her. Enough that she could be a Vader-esque vergence of the Force. You know one of those beings that shapes the nature/balance of the Light/Dark Side of the Force.

But, again, only Dapper knows exactly, and its entirely for him to decide.

Well loved Jun-Tsu's character a lot. Her accent was interesting and must have been a challenge to keep up. Good job on that.

I'm rather glad that we made that pre-game connection. It made for a really interesting story between Jun-Tsu and Remmy. Once again, even though it was my idea, that whole super power child thing was rather unexpected. I rather look forward to how the future family interactions are going to work out.

Yeah, it was definitely a wild ride, and it became something of an impetus for all my plots. Darth Traya and the Void Engine factored into it, the child ended up causing a rift between Zeno and Jun-Tsu, and ultimately brought Rem and Jun closer together. And, in truth, it was only because of timing and the back story that it even made sense.

Rem's House being a long time ally of the Farro was the only way I was really comfortable with handling the rituals and cleansing and whatnot leading up to the conception. And that was because it made a good amount of sense that Rem would have already been a part of at least a few Farro rituals, and likely gone through a cleansing or two with Jun.

This was really important since I had made a fairly pointed note that conception and marriage and in general the joining of persons was typified in Farro culture by weeks (if not months) of spiritual cleansing to make you pure conduits of the Dark Side. And so Rem really became the only option because he was the only person who had any chance of knowing those rituals, and having already completed some of the preliminary ones just from a childhood of paling around with Jun.

Saw it mentioned a few places, never hurts to say again.

As you recall the invitation to play a part of that thread took me by surprise in that I didn't realize what you were asking at first

However, that was certainly one of those highlight moments of this game. It was awesome and I definitely had to add in my thanks for playing such an awesome character and making moments like that one possible. It was really fun to write!

I'm glad you all had fun. That was definitely the point of that scene and I wanted to make it as trippy Force trance-y as possible. So, it worked out very well. Definitely something I'll be keeping as part of my character's repertoire.

A shame I never met Jun-Tsu properly outside of the scene in the infirmary.

After what happened on Yavin, that could've quickly become an awkward scene, I imagine.

Well it seems like you are really going along with the Darth child plot now. I am rather looking forward to Remmy's involvement with that story line as well and see how it develops.

I rather enjoyed all the effort you put into coming up with the ancient rites of the Farro House. It makes Jun-Tsu's back story pretty unique among the cast here.

I try, and in all honesty, the "Dark Child" idea I think will always be something of a background issue with Jun-Tsu, unless Dapper has other plans that bring her more fully into the spotlight. Otherwise, by the time the next game rolls around she's already going to have given birth and is unlikely to take the baby with her on potentially dangerous missions off planet.

How so?

I got the impression that Jun-Tsu disapproved of Zeno "reigning in his anger", so to speak, and thus would probably have disapproved of Shaisha being the one to help him do so.

And Shai would be all "ugh, backstabbing b***".

Ah, yes, that. Well, the thing that drew her to Zeno most was that he didn't restrain himself for the sake of convenience or appearance. She called him 'her beast' (zviera) for a reason, so the more bestial he became the more she adored him. Him losing his mind effectively made him exactly what she wanted of him, add to that the idea that the Farro worship the primal, predatory aspect of the Dark Side, and it's doubly upsetting to her that he's suppressing himself. It's like turning your back on enlightenment.

Darth Baby probably won't do much for awhile, that is a long term plot

Hey, he's still a wild card with plenty of love for conflict and rage! You'll see that in the future!

This hasn't been approved by Dapper as "canon" but I'm going to leave my Epilogue here in the open for anyone with an interest in reading it.

***


Cold clung to her thigh and ran a shock of discomfort through her body. A sharp gasp cut through the silence and echoed in the dark corners of the immense alveus. Dozens of hovering glow-orbs illuminated small patches of the vast bath, but even the highest couldn't reach light into the vaulted ceilings of the chamber. The smooth, ashen stone that comprised the walls dove into the classic obsidian tilework of the floor. Five swanned spouts fed into the great pool at the chamber's center, their fluid draining silently into the frigidarium.

Jun-Tsu was alone, draped in a sheer, unbound robe. It's length slid along the surface while the rest fell from her form. She took another step down into the pool, this time the numbing cold drawing up to her waist. Her pale skin disappeared beneath the pitch black of the pool. It rippled like liquid about her, but made no sound, and light didn't reflect off its surface. Živá voda, liquid void, night water, fluid darkness. A specialty of House Farro and its alchemy. A concoction infused with the dark light of the Force.

The sith witch descended a final step, the black rising to her brest. Once again a gasp escaped her as a tightness gripped her chest. She could barely feel her feet or her legs at this point, but continued to walk the bottom of the pool until she reached the center. Doffing her robes, which floated like a sheer net upon the surface, she took a deep breath and slowly sank beneath the waters.

*

“Enter, mein child,” the dry, tones projected through the door as they opened. A thick, choking fragrance poured from the dark apartment. Lavish, in its own way, the high penthouse of the eastern palace was an expansive suite of rooms and chambers befitting Sith nobility. The style was outmoded, and the fashions archaic to a fault. Tapestries, runners, and heavy drapery lined every wall, floor, and ceiling, while trinkets, baubles, and tchotchkes filled what space could be found. The source of the caustic scent was no where to be found, but seemed to permeate every object. The overall effect was one of supreme clutter, with a thousand talismans, fetishes, and charms adorning every surface.

Each one was forged or found by a long forgotten Farro. And each one had its purpose, but only the Witch-Queen of the Farro knew them all.

“Come,” that withered voice spoke again from deeper within, and Jun-Tsu followed it through the expanding rooms to the balcony. There, even with the treetops of the eastern jungle, she found Ka-Tai Farro, matriarch of the Farro, Witch-Queen of Korriz, and her....

“Great-grandmuter,” she approached with reverence, offering a bow that caused her veil to fall past her shoulders to either side of her face.

“Zo, you hawe returned to uz.” The woman turned, the two moons of Korriz illuminating her desiccated face. Her form was shriveled, with bent, gnarled limbs that were all but useless. This was the price one paid for immortality, at least the kind that the Farro ascribed to. What that most people would look so good as they passed midway through their third century.

Her ornate veil, rose in conical points and then draped like a curtain into a train behind her, and rheumy eyes stared blindly at her descendant. They no longer worked, much like most of her body, but she had long ago surpassed any need for them. She saw with the dark light of the Force, clearer than human sight.

Her decayed legs no longer carried her, instead falling uselessly beneath her, but covered by the lengthy, heavy robes she wore. She moved by will alone, carried by her own mastery of the Dark Side.

“Vhat hawe you brought House Farro in your absence?” The husk of a woman drew closer and reached out a cracked hand to lift her great-grandchild's face. In spite of her frailty, even the most nubile acolyte could feel the immense power pouring out of her. “Show me vhat you found.”

There were no secrets from Ka-Tai Farro, and Jun-Tsu reached beneath her robes to retrieve a small black orb. “For House Farro, great-grandmuter,” she held it out to the monarch.

Instantly it was pulled from her grasp, and hovered before the ancient matriarch, “You have vound it! I knew, but hoped, you vould. Such pover vithin it, but...” her head canted to the side, “Zhere iz a prezence vithin.”

“I bring you more zhan zhe Woid Engine, bound und a part of it, iz zhe zpirit of Darth Traya, v'one of zhe Triumverate und-” she was cut off by the sharp motion of her elder.

“I know who she iz,” a wicked grin crossed her features as she stared at the orb. “She vas a contemporary of mein, but played zhe great game too much. Mein Darth,” she addressed the void engine.

“It iz good to zee you hawe surwived zhe centuries....in v'one vay or anozher. Und taken on new shtudents I zee. You should have known zhat House Farro vould surwive.”

There was no answer, or if there was it was one Jun-Tsu was not privy too. Whatever it might be, her great-grandmother's smirk grew broader. “Ve are, of courze, happy to help v'one of zhe old jen'jedai. Ve are of zhe blood, az zhay zay, are ve not.”

Again silence.

The old woman closed her eyes and let her hand fall across the black surface of the orb. It let off a great stream of darkness, tendrils of power flaring out from it and lashing at the night air before being retracted back into its form. Ka-Tai laughed a clipped deriding sound and released it.

“Mein child, I beliewe I vill allow zhis arrangement to continue. It pleases me to hawe v'one of zhe Farro acknowledged by zhe teacher of Darth Nihilus und Darth Revan. Her teachings vill be most....useful.”

She returned the orb to the young witch, as she drew drew closer, “but vhat iz zhis about a child.”

*

Enveloped in darkness, absolute blackness. Just a glass of živá voda was enough to induce a powerful trance, separating the spirit from the body to send it into the black of the Umbră-Ușoară. It was state not unlike death, and just two glasses more was sure to kill almost anyone. Anyone, that is, save a Farro. It was their birthright.

The night water seeped into her skin and permeated her body. The energy and the tincture saturated her form, as she hovered in the frigid abyss. A minute passed and Jun-Tsu could feel her lungs burning. It was the only part of her that still felt like anything. Her nerves felt dead in the concoction, and finally she couldn't hold her breath any longer. A rush of the fluid was sucked in and made her choke. She convulsed beneath the surface and she instinctively tried to rise. A force kept her submerged and she thrashed, her body feeling more and more aflame. More of the water flooded her lungs until they were full and nothing she could do could dispel it.

But with that filling, came an almost serene release. Her body continued to jerk in sporadic spasms, but she no longer felt that pain. Not with the živá voda giving her what she needed. Her breathing relaxed and she continued to float in the nothingness. A dull cold filling her chest and spreading with her blood, with every pulse.

*

“You stupid girl!” Her great-granmother chided her as she lifed Jun-Tsu and threw her into the chamber. “Ve could hawe uzed House Desvright!”

The young woman coughed after having the wind knocked from her. She struggled to her knees where she rested her head on the floor, “I'm zorry, great-grandmuter! I did not zhink he vould be zo pozzessive.”

“He iz a man!” The old witch yelled. “I told you to get zhe support of zhe core Houses, und you bring me v'one! All ower a child! You had a zentury or more to hawe children! Zhat iz not vhy I zent you zhere!”

“A zhouzand apolgiez mein Qveen, but all iz not lost! I've zhe scion of zhe Torsin, und vith him a veb of influence, und he is ripe for instruction. He longs to know our vayz. Und I beliewe vith just a gentle push ve could zee House Balmung become House Remmington. Zhey can go into zhe light.”

“Und mein child iz poverful!” Jun-Tsu protested.

“I know your child iz poverful! Vith training!” Her milky eyes stared up into the ceiling, distant and twitching rapidly. “Zo much trouble vollows zhis birth. I zee it. Und vithout zhe proper rites before hand! You know our vays!” She returned her attention to the youth before her.

“I know, great-grandmuter, und almost all hawe been obserwed. Zhat iz vhy I chose Rem. He vas pure enough to conceive vith, und I had him drink zhe živá voda for a full zhree veeks before zhe conception. It vas enough for his zeed to surwive vithin me. Und ve vere able to be upon zhe altar of Nudas Min, who sacrificed tens of hundreds of zhouzands to zhe Woid Engine. Our ritual pulled ewery last vestige of vhat pover remained und zhen added zhe original pover of zhe Woid Engine. She vill be a....” Jun-Tsu hesitated.

“She vill be Ten'kto je-dma!”

The old woman stopped and was silent for several moments, “How can you be zertain.”

“Look into zhe Woid, zhe path ve valk leads to zhe v'one who is darkness. A prophesy....by you! Und I hawe zeen it now too in zhe orb. I zaw ten zhouzand futures, und zaw vhich v'one I vished to valk. Together ve can vinally enter zhe Umbră-Ușoară. Not just interpreting itz vill but being itz vill.”

The witch-queen looked down at her prostrate heir. Again a lengthy silence as she appraised her, “Perhaps.....but not az you are. Time avay haz polluted you vith zhe light. If you are to birth a true Farro, you vill be cleansed und your daughter nursed from zhe Umbră-Ușoară.”

*

Hours passed, or was it days, Jun-Tsu's consciousness drifted in and out of her body as the živá voda pushed her into the darkness. Terrifying hallucinations, or maybe they were visions, seemed an ever-present companion now. Fear, hate, pain, they condensed into a single dull sensation. It was the only thing she felt, and even that had begun to fade with the endless torment of the waters. Now she laid their, numb, and empty. She wondered if this was, perhaps, how jedi felt, as they purged their emotions.

As the thought slipped through her mind, she felt a weight lift from her and she slowly began to rise. The minute her face hit air, she nearly wanted to retreat back beneath the infused waters. It stung her face like fire. It was hot, horribly hot to her near frozen form. But she endured and slowly rose, needles jabbed into her nerves as they once again flared into life. She almost longed for the frigid numbness of the bath.

“No child, come,” her great-grandmother called from the edge of the pool. Four servants were there with food, blankets, and wine.

Slowly the young witch, stone-faced, waded to the far end of the pool and rose. Her silver eyes were black as pitch, with lips and fingertips to match. Jun-Tsu hadn't even noticed she hadn't started breathing again, but when she did, finally, take in that first breath, all four of the attendants fell dead, trays and urns clanging to the floor. Tendrils and contrails poured from their bodies and into the young witch. What little color she had slowly returned, fed on their life.

“I've newer velt zuch pover, great-grandmuter.” Her tone was bleak and even as she raised a hand to watch the dark energies coalesce and move across her body. "I can feel it....zhe light iz gone. It haz been killed.”

The elderly woman smirked viciously, “Dear child, you do not ewen comprehend vhat power veels like. Not yet, but you vill.”

Pretty dark and trippy. Fit great with Jun-tsu.

And my name showed up!!

Of course it did. You're integral to the slow rise of House Farro.

And yeah, given that aside from scenes like this people would never get to see Korriz or what House Farro is like on its homeworld I really wanted to try and set a definite mood. That and to give an idea of what I had in mind when Jun-Tsu was talking about home and her great-grandmother to so many people.

I rather like it. Thanks for the read! I look forward to more about House Farro and what Jun-Tsu will be doing.

You could have used House Deathwright!

I liked the write up. Very fun stuff. Hoping/looking forward to see more of Jun-Tsu's story in the future too!

Well, you are a core world house with resources. Of course we could have used you.

And I look forward to playing Jun-Tsu in the future, though I'm really going to have to look at whether Nar Shaddaa is really appropriate for her story. As much as I would love to see her and Zeno meet after several months doing their own thing.

But I'm just not sure it's going to make sense.

Nar Shaddaa is fun times. We can gamble with the Hutts and play Hutt Ball.