The Dark Academy on Korriban

She had to admit...Charon's work was something indeed. Thankfully it was over and she could move to what Zash suggested: Darth Grei’s Codex of Sorcery, volumes 1 and 2.

She told her that she could skip tome one but Baesal did not like to cut corners: True mastery requires knowing all the details.

Wow, we had a library?

Had it not been for the sudden slave revolt, Jun-Tsu might never have ventured outside today. Ever since Lord Savas had set her to the task she had tried to organize an only half-organized library. She had been here most of the afternoon and into the evening. She sat at one of the tables surrounded by a varitable mountain of texts with an astromech droid depositing another text delicately on the pile with a retractable claw.

She sighed as she looked over at the droid, "Stop for zhe moment. I need to get zhrough zhese before anymore should be taken from zhe stacks."

It seemed almost like a plea. Very uncharacteristic of the otherwise calm, controlled, if malevolent Jun-Tsu.

Baesal's auditory membrane twitched

I know that accent

She shifted her position and finally noticed the sith witch

''Good evening Lady Jun-Tsu'' she said in a hushed tone...it was a library, after all.

"Greetingz," the text-besieged woman offered in a somewhat exhasperated tone as she looked up to see a familiar face. "Oh, it'z you."

"Zhat iz to say, it iz good to zee you." She quickly corrected and offered the barest hint of a formal smile. A hand drew her veil back in place, a part of it having slipped forward in her study.

R3-G3 says to Baesal, “Boop… beep… whirr whooor, whor boop bip beep?”*

*Query: How can I help you alien-sentient?*

''It is good to see you too.''

Zyn assesses the stacks of books

''Are you researching something?''

"A proper organizational system for v'one," she quipped sardonically. "I have been set to zhe task of organizing zhe library records by Lord Savas. But along zhe vay I have been researching some of zhe ancient, ancient lore of zhe Sith, and even before zhat to zhe earliest mystic orders of zhe galaxy."

''I see...I am reading Darth Grei’s Codex of Sorcery myself.'' She put the tome aside for now

''But how is the organization system is coming along?''

"Poorly," she admitted with mild consternation. "I have diwided zhe contents of zhe library into tventy different categories. I am now focusing on vhat I vould conzider zhe fifth category; History, but I believe I may need to divide zhe subject into two different classifications. V'one for History of zhe Sith und v'one for all other history. Zhe subclasses und sub-subclasses are becoming too unvieldy."

"Ugh, I detest zuch....clinical zhinking. No doubt zhat iz exactly vhy Lord Savas set me to zhe task. Mysticism iz fluid, adaptable, und abztract, zhis iz rigid, precise, und exact."

''Methodical'' she completed

She laid back, churning a thought

''So why don't we help each other?''

"How do you mean?" Jun-Tsu canted her head, veil drifting slightly to the side.

''I am a methodical person and I prefer exactitude but I lack intuition in the use of the force.''

She briefly glanced around

''In a way we are opposites so why not helps each other out? I help you with organising the library and you help me with mysticism and alchemy.''

She raised an eyebrow

''How does that sound?''

Silence followed as Jun-Tsu weighed the variables. She considered whether there was real benefit to the alliance. It seemed equitable enough on the surface, but her Sith upbringing made her more than aware that such proposals were struck only when one side was certain they had garnered the better end of the deal.

"It zeems amicable. I could use assistance, ewen if only in zhe sorting of zhese materials. But before I can truly zay yes. Vhat sort of assistance do you need? I know of alkhemy und mysticizm, but vhat do you hope to accomplish....exactly."

''A synth crystal, Lady Jun-Tsu'' she says

''Khyber crystals are one of the rare materials that reacts to the froce and creating one might lead me to a greater understanding of the root causes.''

"Zhat iz poverful majik," she spoke hesitantly. "You already know how difficult it iz to attain. I...may be able to help. I....beliewe I ran across zomezhing zhat might interest you."

Jun-Tsu returened to her mountain of texts, pulling forth a discarded tome. "Zhis iz a Huttese bestiary vritten around 3,000 years ago. I vas perusing itz pages to ze if it vas historical - it vas not, merely old - vhen I happened across mention of beasts vith natural secretions zhat focused zhe powver of zhe, as zhey put it, a cosmic energy field, much zhe zame vay as khyber crystalz. Condensed mineral deposits vithin liwing creatures. It iz, wery much like early alkhemy texts."

Baesal took up the text

''Very interesting indeed.''

I understand you are hoping to manufacture a crystal artificially, but....zhe prozess of alkhemy iz to harness natural lawz to transmogrify materials. Vhat you hope to achiewe iz zhe fusion of natural substances into an artificial, 'man-made,' configuration. To know how to do zhat v'one must look to nature for how otherz do zhis naturally, transforming banal subztances into natural prizms for zhe Force."

Baesal nods

''I understand. The sciences are founded on the understanding of those natural laws...I will certainly lokk at this''

She look up form the tome

''For the library..have you though about basing the division the works by the spheres of influence of the Dark council?''

"Now zhat iz a remarkably zimple vay to bracket zuch information. To diwide zhe knowledge along zhe tvelwe most prominent categories of influence. Yes," she nodded.

"Zhat iz most impressive, miss Zyn. Yes, if I vere to diwide zhe zubject into zhe Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, zhen I could pull out all recent history to classify zuch knowledge under zhe other Spheres. Hmm, zhen I need only cross-reference zhem, in zhe case of dual-treatises or codices vithin zhe system. Yes, yes, zhen I need only shelwe zhem vith zhe most appropriate zubject."

The witch pored over her piles of texts, beginning to bracket them in an entirely different schema.

''One of the keys of efficient management is the use of familiar patterns and their repetition Lady Jun-Tsu.''

She began looking around

''I would then suggest a classification by era and then by region.''

"Subject, era, region. Yes. An excellent hierarchy of knovledge." She nodded and pulled out a datapad to begin making notes. She slid her pale fingers over the screen slipping various texts she was familiar with into proper organizational files. She continued to nod, as they were arranged and classified further through refinement.

"Zhough subdiwisions of subjects vill, of course, need to be taken into account. Biotic Zcience can, most certainly, be diwided into explicit sub-catagories; medicine, cybernetics, biology, organic khemistry, and Sith alkhemy, just to name zhe most prominent."

''Sith Alchemy might rather be placed in the ancient knowledge or mysteries branch.'' she commented

''Has all the books been converted to digital?''

"It's nearly impossible to tell without seeking a specific title. It would seem that maybe a century or more ago the library was organized...in some manner, but since that time none of the additional materials have been maintained. Half of the written texts are only in physical form, yet it's impossible to find out which ones. I will have to go, text by text, to discover and add them."

"This will take me weeks," she nodded to herself and poured over the mountain of books.

''...if that is the case then yes...''

She frowned

''Is the astromech your only droid help?''

"It iz zhe only zhing I have zeen since I got here. It zeems zhat zhey have neglected zhe library for quite zome time. In fact, if I hadn't asked my friend ser Thalalas here, I might not have zeen another living zoul save you all day."