Karvis
Player Journals => Niil Spaar => Topic started by: Collan on April 29, 2016, 06:53:26 AM
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[not sure where I am...Craig?{
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[Collan is still outside, I believe.]
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(OOC: Wouldn't he still be on board shooting the breeze with Maris? Or is my sense of time way off? ;D)
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[Collan was back in the house. Unless he's been given permission to gather his things, that's where he is. There are also some details to be resolved on what Collan has]
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http://karvis.altarka.org/index.php?topic=258.msg7902#msg7902
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The com buzzed for Niil, Collan's voice came over it, saying, "I'm in the workshop. I'll need some help here when you can. I've already packed my room."
He neglected to mention the surprises he had for Niil, but that was the point. Collan was packing a fairly significant amount of supplies. Pretty much anything that could tie this ship to the Jedi-manuals, all the lesser crystals (they were in one case); the real crystals (bless you Maris for leaving the drawer unlocked)-those were a different case with foam padding; any parts that were clearly lightsaber related were getting packed now. Collan wanted there to be enough for 8 or so sabers. Lots of training to do yet. The saberstaff was stowed away as well...Collan had a harness now for it and had it hooked to his side unobtrusively, along with his new training saber. The original was packed already.
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Niil walked in to the workshop a few minutes later, and gave Collan a wave. "So, what all needs to be . . ." Niil's nose wrinkled at the smell that assaulted his nostrils, and exclaimed, "Graaah! What the hell is that smell?"
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"Victory?" Collan asked with a wry grin on his face, "Seriously though...what smell?"
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[Nim threw up on Collan a few minutes ago... :)]
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"Ohhhh! That's vomit. You missed Nim losing what little she had in her stomach. She got me when I went to help her."
"Take a look inside that case," Collan pointed to the smaller of two cases.
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Niil raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and chuckled as he unfastened the case's clasps, "Is it going to spit out permanent purple dye into my face, or . . . holy drek." The least part came out in a reverent whisper as he stared at the crystals inside. Even without the Force, he could tell that they were much higher quality than the ones they used for their training sabers."
"Where the hell did you find these?" he said softly, thoroughly enthralled by the crystals.
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[The case cradles four crystals in foam padding. Niil would notice that there are two extra spaces that hold nothing.]
Three of them appear to be high-quality adegan crystals. One blue, one is green, and one is yellow. But the other crystal is different - blocky, and a deep blue colour. They all sparkle as if lit from within, but Niil could swear the blocky crystal actually glows very faintly.
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Niil's attention was caught to one of the crystals in particular, a deep blue one that seemed to glow. Pointing to it, he said, "The others are adegan crystals, and that in itself is pretty impressive, but this one . . . at the risk of sounding corny, I'd say the Force is already with this one. Did someone already imbue it? Wait . . . is this a kaiburr crystal?"
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Collan shook his head.
"No...they're all unbonded but yeah. That's a kyber crystal from lost Ilum. We can make sabers...although," Collan reached under his coat and pulled out the saberstaff, "I found this in Ch'lana's room. It was his apprentice's I think."
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The shaft is long, pale grey with a black inlaid pattern of swirls running the entire length. Niil can see two emitters, one on either end. A sabrestaff then - a double bladed lightsabre.
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[something like this: http://pre05.deviantart.net/9eac/th/pre/f/2013/352/b/2/b233324af375928c4d2736d939958a91-d2s19c3.png
Only with the colours reversed.]
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Niil stared at the saberstaff in awe. Whoever made it had taken considerable time to turn it into a work of breathtaking art.
He looked up to Collan and said, "It's beautiful. May I? I promise that I won't try any maneuvers with it. A single-blader is challenging enough at my level of skill."
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Collan handed it over to him.
"I've been trying to understand it...do you know what it mean?"
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Niil shook his head as he studied it in more detail. "Not sure I follow. You mean how it's made? Or the combat forms?"
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"The saber and its crystal," Collan said, "I'm trying to understand it. Feel it. The way a Jedi makes a saber. They attune the crystal in the Force...tweak it, physically change down to the molecular level. It leaves an imprint that can never be changed. To really use another Jedi's saber, you have to listen to it, make yourself part of it...and that takes time. How much I'm not sure...but I wanted to experiment and see."
Collan smiled, "There's more. Packed up and ready to go are three locked boxes. I can't open them but inside are who knows what. Possibly Jedi materials considering it requires good senses and the ability to use telekinesis."
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Niil shook his head with a grin. "Then you've gotten a lot farther than I have. I spent a fair amount of time in hibernation when I was on board the Rogue Shadow. It helped reduce the strain on it's life support system." He looked at the boxes for awhile, and shrugged. "Yeah . . . whatever's inside, I think Ch'lana wanted someone to be well-schooled in the Force first before they could be opened. I think something nasty would happen if someone tried to force them open." Niil realized what he'd just said, and snorted. "No pun intended."
Niil Looked down again at the saber staff in his hands, and murmured, "Watch out; I'm gonna light it up and have a look." Niil took a two-handed grip with the staff, his hands about a forearm's length apart, and held it about thirty degrees from horizontal. Taking a breath to steady himself, he pressed the activation stud. Vibrant green blades of energy shot out from either end near-simultaneously, and Niil was grateful that he'd taken a firm grip before igniting the saber staff. The gyroscopic effect wasn't as bad as he'd feared, but it was still trickier than the one he'd been training with.
He held it for several moments as he admired it, then pressed the power button. The blades shut down with a faint "zzzhhhwip" sound, and he handed it back to Collan. "I'd love to try and make a training version of this, but I imagine the fighting styles would all be different." He started helping Collan get bits of equipment packaged up for transport. "You said Nim got sick? How's she doing now? Did you take her to PROXY?"
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Collan blew air out.
"I started too. Then Trax butted in and took her. She broke his nose. Then I saw Maris take her from Trax and followed him in. Before you ask, yes he was a total laserbrain. Didn't even want me to fix his nose. I was half-tempted to use the Force on him and lift him up. Nim was angry as hell and I get the feeling he was doing what he wanted not what she wanted. Totally ignoring her. And I can tell he cares...really cares. I just hope he isn't screwing it up. He needs a center right now."
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Niil nodded wearily. "Yeah, Trax and I got into one hell of a row on the way to Kashyyk about trust issues. Admittedly, I could've handled it a hell of a lot better, but he seemed hell-bent on not trusting you after that snow job you tried on the captain of the guards. I'm not entirely sure if it's because he suspects you're daddy's spy, or because you tricked him into believing it." Niil snorted. "Damn, I believed it, too, until I had some time to think about it in my cell - and once I felt through the Force what those bastards were doing to you."
He went quiet for awhile. "It's gotta be a few things eating at him. He lost his arm on Corellia, but he won't talk about it. And I think Mariah's death hit him pretty hard - more so than it did us. I think he feels guilty about her death. Just look at how protective he is with Nim and Keshani. And he's got no love for Jedi, that's for sure. Did you notice how he reacted to us when we met up in the Horuz system? He saw our sabers, and he was teetering on fight-or-flight mode there. Makes me wonder if he didn't run into Vader or some other Dark Jedi on Corellia." Niil sighed, partly out of regret and partly out of frustration. "But . . . I don't know what else I can do - if anything. He doesn't like to talk about it, and he really doesn't like people telling him what to do."
He shrugged. "It probably won't be either of us that can help him center himself. He has no love for Force-users - I can tell you that. If anyone can have a chance of success, it will be Nim. Or maybe even Keshani. We'd best leave well enough alone. He has to want to come around."
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"That's pretty much my assessment too. He's lost in himself for now," Collan looked a little dejected at that. Lost souls had a place of sympathy in his heart. Keshani. maris. Trax.
"We'll have to trust the Force that he remembers we're his friends," Collan added and then paused, "So how did you figure it out? I figured Nim would have me pegged if she saw me. Ch'lana could get in my head if he wanted so he probably knew."
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Niil shook his head. "It wasn't right away. Hell, when you spun that tale for that guard captain, you had me fooled. But even while they were escorting me to that cell, my brain was jumping between wanting to cut you in half for being a mole, and outright disbelief that you were a mole. So I decided to shove all the emotion aside, and looked at it from a logical standpoint."
Niil started to tick points off on his fingers. "If you were a mole, you had several dozen opportunities to betray the Karvis resistance. Ch'lana and Demaia? Even if you orchestrated that whole raid on the prison ship as a way to take us out, you had a lot of chances to kark us over. The fighting was desperate enough that all you'd have needed to do was shoot one of us in the back. And none of us even knew Demaia was there except you; why even tell us about her if you didn't want to risk seeing her freed? And even if any of that can be ignored, why help us and Ch'lana to take down that dark Jedi and his stooges? Again, all you had to do was shoot one of us in the back when we were coming to his aid."
Niil snorted. "Setting up a trap on that battle station made even less sense. If you were coordinating with the Empire to capture Ch'lana, Nightshade and myself, then you'd have obviously conned us into going to the Horuz system. If it was pre-planned, why not just arrange to have a few Interdictors set up near the fringes of the Horuz system to rip us out of hyperspace? We would've been sitting ducks, and could've been neutralized easily. What if the plan was to let us get inside the station first? All right, why were we allowed to get as far as we did? As good as we are in commando-style raids, we wouldn't have gotten past a corridor or two if they knew we were coming."
Niil eyed Collan. "Most importantly, I think Ch'lana - most certainly Demaia - would have seen right through you if you were serving the Empire. Galen, definitely. And if you were trained by your father, you probably would have been powerful enough to wipe us out in a few heartbeats . . . especially if no one suspected you. You had absolutely nothing to gain by helping us free the senators. You know the threat they represent to the Empire; it would have been far better to kill them than run the risk of having them rescued. And . . . well, you probably wouldn't expect to find such a valuable and successful Imperial operative strapped to a table and having the living frak tortured out of him."
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"Just so," Collan said, giving Niil a wink, "Demaia for sure. She was deep in my head."
He paused. The moment hung in time.
"I didn't quite tell the whole truth when the Emperor had me before him. The whole time I was doing my act...I enjoyed it. Savored every bit of it. It was...like a really good cup of kav...evil, vicious, dark kav. It sang in my blood. I couldn't stop it if I wanted the con to work either. You have to keep going or it breaks the spell of your words."
"When I was before the Emperor, I don't think it was just fear that made me kneel. I think that the Dark Side made me do it. I didn't lose myself...but it was much closer than I was comfortable with."
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Niil raised an eyebrow. "Being that close to a Sith lord that has Vader as his servant? I wouldn't doubt it. We're still novices in the grand scheme of things, and already had the Dark Side nibbling our ears. But when you were running the con while we were there, what did you find yourself enjoying? Trying to trick the Imperials, or everyone in general?"
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Collan shuddered, "Everything Niil. The promise of power whispered to me."
He fell silent for a minute, eyes downcast.
"The worst part was that it was my voice in the whispers. The Emperor knew what I was going through and tried to manipulate me," and then Collan smiled, "He should have kept quiet because I knew he was trying to manipulate me. That helped snap me out of it more quickly."
"And I hope you never have to meet him," Collan shuddered.
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Niil shook his head. "That makes two of us. But who knows where the Force will guide us in the future? We might have to. But know this, Collan . . . you were faced with one of the most powerful users of the Dark Side in the galaxy, and he wasn't able to turn you. You, in the end, chose not to, despite all that fear and Dark Side manipulation pounding through your head. Hold on to that not as a point of pride, but as a reminder of your conviction."
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Collan didn't smile at that. Pride? No. Firmness of conviction. Absolutely.
"Well. I've only accelerated my confrontation with my father. Once I begin to learn to manipulate the Force around me strongly, it will set off ripples that will lead him right to me. That's part if reason why I looked for anything Ch'lana may have hidden. I will need to learn in order to confront him."
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Niil reached out and clapped a reassuring hand on Collan's shoulder. "When that time comes, I've got your back." He looked around the shop, and said, "Have you got everything you need? I'd still like to pay Maris and Nim a visit. I haven't seen Maris since we bugged out of that station, and I wanted to thank her for what she did for us. And to see how Nim's doing."
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Collan looked around as he hooked the saberstaff back on the carrying rig. He'd packed several boxes of materials, a good portion of which could not be plausibly explained as not-Jedi-related. There was other materials in there as well which would allow for up to 8 sabers to be made. Spare partsand training materials were always needed. Plus all the manuals. He studiously avoided any of Maris's things though and made sure she had enough for her sabers.
"Yeah. Almost," Collan replied after a quick visual inventory, "I suspect Maris will be along shortly. Just as an FYI, she was apprenticed to a Shadow, who vanished when she was 5. She spent most of the last 17 years on her own, until Master Shaak Ti found her. Then Shaak Ti was murdered too. She's tough, smart, and a little troubled."
Collan paused, "I gave her two of the crystals for her to build some sabers. She's taken a shine to Keshani...sees a lot of herself in the kid. I don't know where either are going but they'll be good for each other. I'm going to miss them both if they go their own way," especially Maris he thought to himself, but Collan was quite sure why he liked Maris as he did.
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Niil caught the subtle warning in Collan's words and nodded. "I was gonna ask about the two missing crystals. And no worries . . . I wasn't going to go fire-and-brimstone on her anyway, seeing as I didn't know anything about her. Rahm probably already did that. Sounds like she likes Nim, too, if she took over medic duties from Trax."
He looked around the workshop one last time, and slung his own duffle bag over his shoulder with a chuckle. "I was going to grab some stuff for when it was time for me to make a lightsaber, but it looks like you've got all that covered. Hope you don't mind me begging for a few items when I'm ready to start construction. I, ahh, take it that you've laid dibs on that Kaiburr crystal?"
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Collan shool his head.
"No. Actually...When it comes time, I'll pick a crystal that feels right. If it's the kyber crystal then it'll be that. But if it's not, it's not. I'll trust the Force on that."
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"True enough. Do you know anything else about the kaiburr crystals? I know it's supposed to be one of the best, but not much beyond that."
OOC: Walk and talk, I guess?
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Collan corrected his pronunciation, "Kyber. They come from lost Ilum. It's supposed to be in the unknown regions. Younglings would go there to collect a crystal for their first lightsaber. The crystals are nominally colorless till the Jedi imprints themselves upon it. Most become blue or green. Though there were instances of other colors."
It was a recitation from memory. Pulled from the databank of Collan's lore knowledge.
"Let's get these boxes ready and on the Rogue Shadow. Have you got your stuff? I need to get mine from my room. Then I'm ready. Just need to say goodbye to Nightshade. And Trax too."
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Niil slapped his duffle bag with a free hand. "All here. I'll start moving over the boxes while you go grab your stuff."
OOC: OK to wrap up.
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Collan nodded.
"Yeah. That'll work. Thanks! I'll grab my go-bag and get a couple boxes too and see you onboard."
[ooc: yeah. Unless an NPC has something to say. Collan won't want to leave without saying good bye to everyone not going on the Shadow. He will try to find Maris too.]
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(OOC: So, umm, how much stuff are we looking at for transferring over? Will the Rogue Shadow have enough room?)
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[OOC: Yeah, there's storage room. You guys travel fairly light.]
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[I think we're done on this thread Craig. We're taking all our stuff over to the Shadow]
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[1 CP each, Collan and Niil]