Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 35

Thread: This Subtle Knife

  1. #1
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494

    Closed Thread This Subtle Knife

    The sanctuary of Iziz had been invaded. Not in any literal military sense of course, but there were interlopers within the city whose presence was not so much welcomed as tolerated. Many accommodations had been necessary since the arrival of the Hapan Prince and his men, and though Salem had adjusted his sphere of control accordingly, he could not help but resent Tristan as the unwieldy obstacle he presented.

    The Prince was infuriatingly adamant about his desire to become part of court life and scarce a moment seemed to pass by without his 'perfectly shaped' nose poking into some business. There was one matter, however, to which the Prime Minister would permit no onlookers; darkness and his ample cunning would see to that.

    The night-watchmen patrolling the city walls weren't aware of the shadow that moved amongst them, stealing close to the gates themselves. For just an instant, one particularly perceptive guardsman glanced towards the dark corner where Callidus stood, as if dimly aware that he was not alone - but the thought was soon dismissed and his gaze shifted, under the irresistable compulsion to look elsewhere...

  2. #2
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    His attention was drawn to another shadow in the night, one that approached slowly from a distance. After a moment it was clear that the shadow moving toward him was decidedly feminine. Though a hood hung low over her eyes and her features were concealed beneath the folds of a dark cloak, it was more the sway to her walk that gave her away. When she was close enough to claim attention, but far enough away to still be mostly indistinguishable, she turned to the side, the cloak billowed just enough in the night breeze to reveal her shape, and the quick motion of her hand, beckoning him toward her. With a feline smile beneath the hood, she turned, disappearing around the corner behind her, the sound of amused laughter drifting toward the gates..

    Her evenings out had become increasingly hard to come by and Anxia was wasting none of this one.. She could already hear the guardsmen signaling to his nearest companion that he was going to have a look at something 'suspicious'. He'd taken her bait, and was even now moving to follow her. Not that he would find her. Even as he was rounding the same corner in pursuit of her, she had already doubled back toward the gates, wrapped in shadow, determined to get out of the city walls with all haste.

  3. #3
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    Iziz was well fortified. A lone oasis of 'civilization' amongst a vast wilderness, it had to be. The walls were tall and broad enough to withstand invasion; the gates were wrought from the sturdiest of metal and the guardsmen chosen to watch over them were trained to know every inch of their patrol as intimately as if it were their own armour. And yet still... there were some foes that ancient architects of the city had not reckoned against. Salem Ave was one of them. His infiltration of Iziz had gone undetected, just as his nightly escapes were.

    When he scaled the walls, it was not in the manner that any ordinary man would have. He moved more like some phantom, an unnatural speed to his movements, clawing fingertips carrying him upwards. Having gained the parapet, he leapt free of the wall and into the dark wilderness below. The rush of air that followed his descent drew some attention from the patrol-man above, and though he frowned in confusion, his hand falling to the hilt sheathed at his hip, after some consideration he decided the disturbance was the fault of some wild beast roaming about below.

  4. #4
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    With her back literally against the wall, Anxia moved with silent steps, keeping to the shadows at the very base of the immense walls. When she'd reached the deepest darkness to be found, within the shadowy corner of the wall and the nearest building, she removed from beneath her cloak her newest plaything.

    A careful flick of her wrist sent the seemingly delicate, yet incredibly sturdy links of the chain-whip slithering up into the air, like a silver serpent rising in aggression from it's basket. It found resistance, coiling tight around the base of a parapet. Without pause, she used her strong upper body strength, crafted from years of swordplay, to pull herself quickly and silently up the wall.

    Within the shadow of the very rise in the wall she dangled beneath, Anxia waited for the guard to pass, willing him to see nothing out of the ordinary.

    Keep moving, there is nothing here...


    When he'd moved on, she completed the climb, landing upon the top of the wall in a low crouch. Disentangling the whip, she quickly gained another hold on the limb of a tree, then dropped out of sight of the wall, into the jungle at last...

  5. #5
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    Somewhere in the darkness below, Callidus waited. She wouldn't need eyes to find him.

    There was no time to delay. For both the Prime Minister and the recently wed Princess to be absent from Iziz Palace would inspire suspicious, so it was of the utmost importance that they confine their affairs to the evening hours. Before the dawn came, they had to traverse the forest and back again, with enough respite in between journeys to complete their true task.

    You have everything you need, yes?

  6. #6
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    Landing with a nearly inaudible thud, she righted herself and called the length of the whip back into the confines of it's handle with a flick of her wrist. After replacing the weapon at her waist, Anxia smiled in the darkness answering the silent question in kind.

    I have everything I need, Master.

    The simple statement carried with it many implications, but such was their way, clever-tongued dancing around words and meanings. She had everything he had told her to bring, of course. Even if at the time some of the things had not made sense to her, she knew better than to question him. She had enough respect to trust him in all matters. He was her master in all ways. She was bound to him for all time. She had everything she needed. It was as simple as that.

    Crossing through a beam of moonlight where it shone through the canopy of trees, she revealed her position, stopping just short of him, knowing that once they started moving they would not be stopping until they had reached their destination.
    Last edited by Razielle Alastor; Nov 5th, 2008 at 07:10:50 PM.

  7. #7
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    Travelling by foot was the only option. A speeder or mount of any kind had the potential to draw attention, if not immediately then perhaps some days later, when the marks of their passing were noticed by the beast-riders. Light, too, was out of the question. They had only their senses to equip them, though they were fortunate in that regard, as the Force gave them the sight and speed to navigate confidently through the dark, entangling forest-land.

    Their destination was a place rarely visited now. Years of propaganda concerning the perils beyond the city walls had conditioned most Onderonians into a state of blissful ignorance. First, it had been the threat of the Mandalorians which had kept them in line. Then, the faceless 'Legion'. Fear kept the wilds free of interlopers, and left Ave with plenty space to less loose his inner demons. What better place to unleash them than Fortress Kira?

    The stronghold had been abandoned since the years of the Freedon Nadd uprising, after which tales of ghosts, curses and all manner of paranoid speculation had kept even the barbarous Mandalorian wild-men at bay. Vines had overgrown many of its walls, but time and wear had dulled very little of the fort's magnificence. It was Adraudia's by birth-right, but on Salem's advice she had not chosen to restore it to its former state – or worse still, turn it into some kind of historical monument. No, the Prime Minister had far grander purposes planned for Fortress Kira...

  8. #8
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    The closer they came to their destination, the more excited Anxia grew. Considering what she'd been instructed to bring with her, (which was carefully stowed away in a pack, presently slung across her shoulders beneath her cloak), she had a fairly good idea about what they would be doing this night. It was something she'd wanted for a long time.. Of course, bowing to the wishes of her master, she'd accepted his word when he had told her before that she was not yet ready. The creation of one's ones lightsaber was not something to be undertaken lightly. The delay in the construction was not due to any lack of skill with such weaponry on her part. She was a renowned swordswoman, able to pick up new forms and master them quickly. Rather it was her skills in the Force which her master had wanted more... refined before the weapon could be made. She would be pouring her very essence, her will and desires, into the lightsaber as it was made. Even she could now feel that she was truly ready.

    Of course, she knew the identity of the overgrown fortress before them. Her lessons in Onderon's history had included a detailed description of the events that had taken place at Forterss Kira, and some of the other much neglected structures, concealed by both time and nature, that were to be found within the jungle. Though.. she never been here before. Anxia stared up at the fortress with a sense of spellbound awe. She was going to emerge changed, enhanced...

    She gazed askance at her master, waiting obediently for his instruction..

  9. #9
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    Though it had not seen human intrusion for many decades, the beasts of Onderon had not abandoned Fortress Kira entirely. A short distance between the tall archway through which Anxia and Callidus entered the fort, a pack of Cannok were examining the area, their eye-stalks swivelling here and there. One caught sight of the two human figures approaching and sounded a grunt, to warn its pack-mates. With a series of chirps and screeches, they scuttled past the two Sith, out into the comparable safety of the wilderness.

    “Pests,” Salem muttered.

    Beyond the antechamber, there were no other signs of life. If there had ever been anything within the fortress which merited the beasts curiosity, it had long-since decayed. Decades of disuse had seemingly left just about every part of the compound in a lifeless state. Though security measures would have once prevented two unannounced visitors from strolling into the inner keep, there was now very little to hinder their progress. Doors stood open, gun-turrets squatted silent and ineffectual. There was a stillness about the place, but it was not a peaceful quiet. It felt like the reprieve that often came before the storm.

    Turning his head very slightly, the illusion of his death's head mask shifting in time, Callidus regarded his apprentice.

    “...do you feel that?”

  10. #10
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    "Mm-hmm..", she answered quietly, her senses keenly focused on... whatever it could be possibly lurking in the darkness with them, if anything. The place was eerie by nature. Old, and avoided by all but the most stoic of souls...

    Even though nothing untoward had yet shown itself, Razielle too felt that the sudden stillness of the interior of the fortress was somehow oppressive. Her fingers inched to her side, and up the small of her back to curve around the hilt of her weapon, in readiness, should the place present them with some manner of unexpected resistance.

    Although, she was not entirely certain that any such surprise would be a corporeal presence! Many battles had been fought here, many lives ended. Those in opposition of the Onderon royal house, as well as those who were of it's bloodlines. Blood that could be traced back to Freedon Nadd himself! If the place was indeed haunted, as it was supposed by the more common, there were no shortage of reasons for such a disturbance.

    She eyed the turrets cautiously, as if she expected a round of hostile fire to start blasting them at any moment.

  11. #11
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    “This is where Onderon as we know it began... where Adraudia's ancient ancestors were married, uniting the tribes of the Beast-Lord with the descendants of Freedon Nadd. ”

    Turning slowly to take in the full extent of the chamber, Callidus pressed his lips together for a moment in a tight, thin smile.

    “Such a monumental edifice... with such a bloody history. What better place could there be to host your final challenge as my apprentice?”

  12. #12
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    Although her attention was still claimed by their awe inspiring surroundings, instinct still prickled along Anxia's skin at his words. A final challenge? And then what? Her profile turned toward him in question, one brow arched quizzically. She was intrigued, if a bit intimidated - the sensation sharpened her senses, making her feel even more alive.

    "Yes, my Master..." She lowered her head in a nod of assent.

    Years had passed now, since he had first begun her training. She had been little more than a child then. With him she had come so very far. Of course, they had farther to go yet before their mutual desires in life would be fully achieved, but if he felt ready for her to give him a showing...

    "I will, of course, endeavor to please..."

  13. #13
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    “A time will come when we require more than cunning and guile to out-do our enemies. Your training with a sword will put you in good stead for this, but a traditional blade... it will not do.”

    Striding further forward, Callidus allowed his senses to expand beyond the room in which they were stood – to the many hidden levels which lay beneath the Fortress. It was somewhere, beneath them, that Razielle would begin her challenge.

    “You must craft a lightsaber, Anxia.”

  14. #14
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    Without pause, she again nodded. "As you like..." In this, she was not only obedient, she found herself eager to acquire such a weapon and begin the process of mastering it.

    Razielle had always been considered to be something of an artist where bladed weaponry was concerned. It had always been so. Each technique that she been trained in, every strike and posture had come to her naturally. Her body and mind moving as one, in fluid control. She had no doubt that this would be the same..

    ..But she had never created a weapon of her own before..
    Certainly not something so technical, or so entwined with her own destiny. Therein lay the true challenge.

  15. #15
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    In his life, Salem had crafted two sabers, each under very different circumstances: the first as a Jedi and the second as... someone far less easily defined. Yet, for their differences, each occasion was marked by the same sense of endeavor and strife. Though Razielle's experience would be just as taxing, he could not begin to imagine exactly what it would be like. Such things were private, sacred even – a solitary ritual to be shared only with the Force itself.

    “Go, then. Let your senses guide you to where it must be done. This is something you must do.. alone.”

  16. #16
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    Bowing her head, she turned to depart and do as her master wished. Adjusting the pack slung across her shoulders, she began her journey deeper into the darkness of Fortress Kira. Her footsteps carried her up a wide and crumbling staircase, cut from native rock and covered with untold years worth of sprawling vines and lichen alike. Graceful even in the gloom, Anxia traipsed over them, her boots crushing the delicate fungus beneath them, stepping over the twisting masses of vines where they lay.

    She traversed a barren hall, occupied only by the echo of her own approach and whispers of the past. Stopping in it's center, she surmised that it had four exits. One of which she had just passed through. One before her, and two on either side. All presumably leading somewhere deeper within the fortress.

    This was when her physical senses would no longer be of use to her. She must rely on her instinct to guide her to what must be accomplished. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her feelings, letting her desire for her future, their future...and her desire to enhance her own power lead her.

    She started down the path to her left..

  17. #17
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    Though he did not follow her in body, Callidus was with Anxia in spirit as she explored the abandoned halls of the Fortress. His feet carried him elsewhere, to other chambers whose contents lay covered in heavy blankets of dust and shadow. Everywhere, there were echoes of life both material and otherwise, the former evidenced by up-turned furniture and the like, and the latter by faint echoes of the dead that permeated the energy of the Force within. Eyes narrowed, Ave listened but heard only a distant whining, a feeble sound that deserved no more than a passing thought. Dismissing the idle curiosity, he returned his focus to his apprentice...

  18. #18
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    Her path downward curled beneath the foundations of the bygone fortress. The folds of her cloak billowing softly behind her, Anxia's stride never broke it's determined cadence, even as she stepped over the jagged teeth of uneven flagstones where they had been pushed up from the crumbling mortar.

    Bypassing rooms to either side of her path, she ignored the feeling that she was being observed. Whatever lurked in the shadowed alcoves was either not of this world, or likely were creatures of the jungle overhead who had stumbled into the depths of this place to make dens. Neither concerned her. She moved on..

    Before her now, the path had crumbled away entirely, sloping downward out of sight. The collapse looked to have happened some time ago, as there was no sign of any recent trauma to the area and it was long covered over with dust and debris. Something cold permeated the vicinity beneath. It's chill touch leaked out and pooled around her feet, spiraling up her legs, pulling her forward..

    Whatever it was, it wanted her to move forward.. She sensed danger, and darkness, but she feared neither. She followed her instincts, brazenly making her way down to join whatever awaited her..

  19. #19
    TheHolo.Net Poster


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Salem Ave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    AKA
    Jenny
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,494
    In the antechamber, Callidus knelt in silence.

    “What do you feel, my apprentice?”

    “I feel...”

    “Don't think about your answer. I want to know what's in your heart - your soul - not your brain.”

    With his head bowed, for a moment the boys jaw became tight as he suppressed the urge to sigh. The fingers he held outstretched in the air twitched, lingering like the unschooled hands of a fledging pianist, anxious at the thought of his clumsy fingertips drawing forth clumsy notes.

    “I feel.. a force, like magnetism. There's.. tension, as if the individual parts are trying to become one.”

    Someone touched his shoulder, fingertips curling into the coarse nerf-wool of his robe. The hand squeezed, as if to say: well done.

    “Apart, they are all of so little consequence... but with your will to shape them, they can become something more. Your presence alone inspires in them a new awareness of purpose, an impetus they would otherwise never have known. You have it in you to turn these broken remnants into something amazing, Salemescro: you can give them meaning, if you can only realize how they fit together, how they connect...”

  20. #20
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face!


    DragonCon 09
    Has been a member for 5 years or longer

    Razielle Alastor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    AKA
    Erin
    Location
    Hapes
    Posts
    2,719
    Light and sound seemed to be unnaturally obscured in this place, that was her first thoughts as her booted legs slid downward into the opening split through the fortress floor. Even the scrape of shifting gravel seemed prematurely silenced.

    Her second thought was that she no longer felt quite alone. The feeling had nothing to do with any of the jungle beasts that may have be lurking about. This presence was more sentient. So long as it did not interfere with her reason for being here, she saw no reason to engage whatever shared the space with her.

    Removing the pack from her shoulder, she reached inside and retrieved a wrist-mounted light, turning it onto it's dimmest setting. She did not attach the light to her wrist, but rather set in into a groove in the carved walls, a niche that seemed to be waiting for a torch, but she had brought none with her, the flash light would have to do. she took account of her surroundings. The chamber was obviously constructed at some older time than the rest of the fortress, it seemed possible that the fortress had even been constructed around it, but she could not say for certain. It could have been a trick of the eerie light, but she was certain that the walls were adorned with some of the same symbols she and Adraudia had uncovered in scouring tomes of old..

    Moving to the center of the room, she sank to her knees on the floor and removed the rest of the collected items from her bag, Components that she only had a basic knowledge of how to assemble, crystals that had come to be in her possession through Fate, and the will to see it all completed.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •