[EA5] Darkness at the Peak (Closed)

[Ender]

Human | Commmanding |Fearsome | Stronger in the Force Than You

The ancient human, dressed in a white tunic and black pants, stood at the edge of the cliff, his hands folded behind his back. Boulders floated around him, slowly, as the Force emanated from him, exerting his control over his domain. He had reached out to his two students, through the Force, calling them to this place.

It was time.

[Sharn]

Sharn answered those summons, even if a part of him was revolting against being so easy to call upon. Whether he liked it or not, however, profound changes in how he perceived the matter, space, energy, life and time via the lens of the Force had already been creeping in. He was finding himself more dispassionate and impassioned at the same time, an observer of the world that is both in and out of the objects of reference. He found himself questioning the vestiges of normativity in his thinking, focusing only on patterns and grand themes. He enjoyed it, having a great mind aligned to a broadening vision.

"Lord Nygmus." He approached, watching the spectacle. Was Runi here too?

[Runi Vizsla]

Runi was quick to answer. She'd spent the last day since she'd met Lord Nygmus in heavy thought, trying to sort out her feelings on what happened and what to do about it. In the end, she accepted it. What she'd done, what it might mean for the larger Galaxy. She couldn't rightly call herself a good person anymore. She'd seen the warning signs and walked right past them for her own selfish goals.

So, what now?

With little else to go on to answer that, she arrived. She couldn't help smiling a little, despite herself. Sharn was there. She looked toward Nygmus after nodding to Sharn and putting a hand on his arm. "Why is rock lifting such a big part of training, anyway?" She asked, half-joking.

[Ender]

The boulders twisted slightly, before crumbling beneath the weight of his power. His smile came easily, as he turned to face the pair, keeping his hands behind his back. "Because it is the easiest way to practice control, power over lesser things." His voice was low, and calm. A booted foot stepped forward, taking a large step towards the pair. "Tell me, what do you think of this place?" He extended an arm, looking out over the vista, the rains falling upon them. It didn't seem to bother him, yet it lent itself to the air of oppression that surrounded everything.

The view itself was picturesque, if stark. Gray clouds hanging low, as rains fell into the valley beneath them. It caused some rocks to slide down a nearby cliff face, echoing as a crack of thunder. "The strength this place shows, you can feel it, can't you?"

[Sharn]

Sharn smirked when Runi touched him. "I can discern all the interacting forces that hold this landscape together." He replied to Nygmus, putting his hand around Runi's waist without making a single excuse. He seemed emboldened to act as his will dictated regardless of consequences.

[Runi Vizsla]

Runi looked out over the landscape. "It does. It's very stark but beautiful."

[Ender]

"There is beauty in something like this, you are right, Runi." He smiled, before looking back out to the valley. Feeling their presence behind him, he noted the growing conflict within Sharn, the way he seemed to be exploring things. "Sharn... tell me, in that discernment, have you felt it? The nothingness that allows you to exert your control?" His voice above a whisper, as the rains fell upon them. He regarded the way the Chiss grabbed at the other student, curious.

"So different from dispassionate assessment, don't you think?"

[Sharn]

"Feelings are algorithms, subliminal functions of the brain driven by hormone-induced configurations of neural charges. I am not alienated toward them. I have never been. I recognise lust, anger, fear and whim for what they are. But now I am incorporating them more seamlessly into my drives, I can shape them to be the vessels of my accomplishment. Even if it is dispassionate discernment, that coolness is there because I will it, and the empirical input into my senses is corrected for their affective impact." He grimaced wryly. "I recognise fewer constraints."

[Ender]

Nygmus didn't laugh, but his smile didn't disappear either. "That is good, to not feel so bound. But be cognizant of it, as well. To do so, brazenly, could lead to others striking out at you at inopportune times, Sharn." He spoke with the wisdom of ages, watching the Chiss closely. "To cultivate a distant aloofness, but forgettable charm, is a good way of hiding your intentions, of keeping yourself beneath the notice of others."

[Sharn]

"I prefer to keep myself well above the notice of others. I am not a worm to hide and grovel. My place is in the infinity of the void, riding creations of my ingenuity." Sharn replied confidently. "I shall carve and pave my own way to the understanding of the Force at the most fundamental level. I look forward to your assistance, Lord Nygmus." He glanced at the woman he was holding in his grip. It was more about stressing togetherness in the quest than to state a claim, even if the interest had been there and had never been hidden. "As I want to continue on it with my True Sith companion if she so chooses."

[Runi Vizsla]

She looked between them as the conversation goes on around her. At the moment, it didn't really involve her, so she didn't see a reason to try and invent something to allow her to weigh in. She nodded when he looked at her, though, and shrugged. "I don't have anything that specific in mind, aside from just wanting to know more. I guess I'm not much for grand, overarching goals and ideals at the moment."

[Ender]

"Curiosity is a marvelous thing, Runi." Nygmus addressed her more fully, "the need to better understand is a powerful motivator, and a good reason to allow you own power to grow." His hands came lose from behind his back, as he reached about, pointing his hands at a nearby rock structure. A storm of dark side energy lanced from his fingers, even more powerful thanks to the pervasive power of the Dark Side on the planet. Sweat beaded upon his brow, as the structure exploded beneath his power. Smoke billowed out from the destroyed minerals, a geode, shining in the darkness and the rain, crimson in color, and just pulsing with the dark side.

Nygmus Unleashing (1 Dark Side Point floating from Vergance of Noventa): 3eF 3 Dark Side


"Tell me. Has the lightsaber managed to overtake modern weapons yet?"

[Runi Vizsla]

"That's..." She almost forgot to answer when she saw the crimson geode open. "Um. Not for most people. It used to be the standard weapon of the Jedi. It's hard to use it to its full potential without the Force."

[Sharn]

Sharn immediately recognised the source of the sheen and couldn't help but grin. It was quite a time since he had held one last.

"The greatest modern weapons capable of destroying planets have been a scientific extrapolation of the idea behind lightsaber."

[Ender]

"Interesting." The Dark Side was palpable from the geode, as he nodded towards it. "This planet is suffused with minerals. Here, the Dark Side is especially strong, changing and altering their growth. My power has bent these to my will." Step by step, he moved closer and closer, reaching down, his hand picking up some of the crystal debris.

"Exquisite. The absolute power of it. All in the palm of our hands, my students."

[Runi Vizsla]

Runi hesitated before she approached... but in the end, any worried she had about it didn't stop her. She approached the crystals and picked up one delicately between her fingers, studying the dark side=infused crystal. There was something about such an infusion that didn't feel entirely unfamiliar. "Hm..."

[Sharn]

He let Runi go first, releasing her from his hold, but followed soon after, thinking of how he was going to harness their power this time. The shards were much smaller than what he had been getting for his laser experiments from Jedha but somehow he didn't doubt the potency of the one he wordlessly reached for.

[Ender]

There was a certain darkness to the crystals each of you held. The Dark Side was evident in your grasp, and the feelings and passions that could be relished in it seem amplified by being in their mere presence.

"You will never find yourselves without the might of the Dark Side. Remember this, as a reflection of the drive to accept all facets, to bring the power to your whims." Nygmus' words slithered into your ears, as he walked up behind both of you.

"These will be the hearts of your weapons, and their crimson blades will mark you for what you truly are. And all will quake with fear in your presence."

[Sharn]

There was a siren's call in Sharn's head that compelled him to embrace it. To abandon the distant observer's vantage point in relation to the Force, to seek more than pure knowledge, but also the power that came with it. Was cognition of the Force even possible without the power to look? In quantum world, all waves are indeterminate until you observe them. The inevitability and the promise of intervention bored into him as he felt the maleficious warmth of the corrupted crystal. He felt it familiarising with him, or him with it? A few days before he would have laughed off the idea that he might be wielding a lightsaber one day. But now, it seemed like the only reasonable solution, for the terror it would ingrain in those who would wish to stop him from accomplishing what he wanted. He was tired of making excuses, walking the fine line between asserting himself and societal acceptance. Fear was what all sentients felt and understood, a social multi-tool.

And, without question, he would build the finest lightsabre in the galaxy once he would apply his technical ingenuity to it, yet another hallmark of his superiority.

"Let the making of a weapon out of this kyber mark the moment I have transcended many limitations on my path to seeing the multiverse and the Force in it for what it is."

[Runi Vizsla]

It was seductive. The idea of power, to go through the world with people unwilling to get in her way... Passion, anger. It felt... good. She squeezed the crystal a little. But... This... Her mother had left to protect her from people who wielded something like this. From those who desired power above all and destroyed everything in their way to get it.

That was all the talk was aimed at. Power, power, power. She wanted to understand. She wanted to option for others not to fear her.

Runi set down the crystal.

"Something like this particular crystal... doesn't match my goal. Fear toward me... at best, it limits my options."