Ask Umbara Insomniacs Unite

[Corra]

That was a question that she didn't have the answer to either. She didn't know what they had wandered into, but whatever it was was dangerous.

He handed a book across to her and she flipped it open to start reading it. The sensation of reading the book was... strange. It was a feeling of ache behind the eyes as if the information wasn't just read, but burned into her mind. She didn't think she could forget it even if she wanted to.

This guy... she said, motioning to the dead body at the center of the room ...was looking for an artifact here. Something that belonged to some Lords whose names are... I don't know, smudged out or something, she said.

She supposed he could be right about it not being a Pureblood, but there was also writings in ur-Kittat here. Surely that wasn't a coincidence, right?

I wonder if the Sith was harvesting their death here. Or if he was sacrificing people, she said.

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor’s eyes followed Corra’s hand as she gestured to the desiccated corpse. He listened to what she was saying. Hunting for an artifact? Names in the book? Sacrificing people?

“Do you think this could be a trap then?” He asked nervously.

It made logical sense. If this Sith was looking for sacrifices, why not use the ghosts to lock their prey in? The ritual circle could be used for that, right?

Even as Connor thought the dead outside grew more restless. The spirits rhyme only increased in pitch, fervor, and tone. It eventually reached a crescendo and then they fell into silence.

Connor’s flashlight flickered and died. So too did the two acolyte’s phones. The runes that surrounded them took on an unearthly purple glow. Something was happening.

As if to accent the dead outside, both Connor and Corra would hear a raspy inhale. The sound of oxygen passing through a throat flensed of flesh. The wheeze of lungs long decayed. The snapping of bones heralded the Scholar’s return to unlife.

It gazed upon them with empty sockets, rictus grin backlit by the same purple witchlight that the runes glowed with. When it spoke, the words came out in a dying man’s death rattle.

Solve the rhymes, know a name.

A warrior’s might
The Sith’s birthright
A barbarian’s power
My existence empowers

What am I?

Connor’s eyes widened at the horror unfolding before him. Deeply unsettled was an understatement. His gaze flicked back to his newfound ally.

“Fuck Corra, what do we do?”

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Maaaybe, she said, though it would be a strange situation.

Everything in the room began to change, and Corra raised her arms up as if to defend herself, but there was no real option for anywhere to flee. And then the next riddle came.

She thought about it, obviously starting with the Sith.

Power, strength, or passion, she said, any of those could be right. But a barbarian's power is from his strength and his passion, and power is in the riddle, so not power, she said, which left the warrior.

The warrior, though, doesn't benefit from power, he benefits from strength. So you are strength, she said, though she wasn't confident.

We're going to find a way out, she said, projecting confidence she wasn't sure she felt. Keep looking around the room for anything else that could be useful, she said.

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor watched in horror as the lower jaw of the dead thing unhinged and hung open. An inhuman laugh echoed from the agape jaw before it snapped shut once more. One of the set of rings that made up the wards began to flicker, the purple energies fading.

Connor took a step back within the next glowing circle. The ghostly forms of the dead began to walk through the walls but came to a stop at the edge of the next set of wards. Their gazes wandered, looking for the living they knew had rushed into the building.

Close was your answer
But still untrue
Two failures left
Then death comes for you

The skeletal creature looked to Corra once more.

A hint for thee

Young Neophytes learn
This be the truth of power
Find emotions unexplored
And you shall never cower

The creature paused before speaking once more.

Berzerker’s boon
A warrior’s power
When malice blooms
Men die as chattel

What am I?

Connor looked to Corra, his brow furrowed. “I don’t think it has to do with the code.” He told her. “A berzerker and a warrior? What do those things have in common?” His clear inexperience beginning to show through. “It said it’s an emotion of some kind.” He offered.

Connor’s eyes returned to searching the room, careful to not step out of the warded circles. He had a really bad feeling about this.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Untrue! What do you mean untrue!? That was totally right! she grumbled aloud at the ghost only to then notice that the runes seemed to have shrunk.

She had to battle back panic as she realized they were definitely going to die. All the confidence she had exuded was now evaporated into nothing.

Kriff you! she pointed at the ghostly body, deciding that if she got out of here she was going to spitefully burn his remains into oblivion. Was it wise to antagonize the ghost man? Probably not, but she was on the verge of a panic break down so here we were.

Then she felt a whisper in the back of her mind. Normally, such whispers came only in her dreams, but this... was different. A warning that the game of the little undead twit wasn't fair. Yeah, she'd clearly figured that part out, and her eyes swept over the room to look for anything else... unusual.

But she wanted the knowledge still. Even at the risk of life and limb, she wanted to know the secrets and find the items of power... if there actually was one.

Wait... was it the book? Had the book put that thought in her mind? Her eyes dropped down to look at the book in her hands and her jaw dropped open slightly.

Corra, you are so far out of your league here, she realized, trying desperately to calm her mind.

Okay, okay, okay. His chair... uh... is that glowing? she thought to herself, frowning and looking down at the... whatever that was.

But oh she was curious.

Okay, emotions, she said, repeating aloud what Connor had just said. The book seemed to whisper in her ear about the deadly sins, and she started trying to go through them, typing them out in her phone for... memory purposes while her head was clear. They were, after all, the basis for the primal sorcerous spirits of the Sith.

Uh... what so pride, sloth, lust, gluttony, wrath, greed, and... uh... her face scrunched up as she tried to remember the last one.

I don't remember the last one, but this answer has got to be wrath or rage, right? she said.

 

[Connor Vance]

The sound of bone clicking on bone echoed from the Chronicler. The sound of jaw opening and snapping shut in response to Corra’s answer. A skeletal hand was waved, both Connor and Corra would feel a shift in the Dark Side.

The Chronicler extended a hand towards swarm of specters. There was a ghastly scream that issued from the undead. A full fourth of their number was caught in an invisible vortex. The pained echoes of their cries steadily vanished as they were pulled within the corpse this entity inhabited. The unearthtly purple witchlight that glowed from somewhere deeper within it’s inhabited body intensified slightly.

Rage. Correct. The Chronicler chimed.

Almost in response the faded and smudged ink on the page began to reform. The ancient ink coalesced and formed and began to write once more. An R appeared before the ink began to write forgotten histories on the page.

Lord R———

In an attempt to defy fate Lord R——— sought a way to merg-

Connor looked horrified at what he’d just seen occur. His gaze pulled itself from the creature before them and back to the ghosts. Then back to Corra.

“Did that thing just eat those ghosts?” He asked, his ears completely flattened.

A laugh issued from the creature once more.

The Neophyte learns.
Knowledge at a price
Power for power.

The purple Witchlight flared within the creature. It’s mouth opened and words flowed out.

Always present but never here
I live to love but find life drear
Ever seeking yet never finding
I sup from passion yet always starving

What am I?

Connor’s mind danced as he tried to understand what the riddle was and the answer to it. “We can just find a way out! Kriff this thing!” Connor yelled over to her. “Look at the stone it’s sitting on, it’s glowing at the edges!”

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Corra's mind was churning as she watched what happened, and it occurred to her this place worked both ways. The spirits here wanted to destroy this being. This Red being of potent power. This person who they wanted to devour and who now devoured them in turn.

But only so long as Corra answered the riddles, yes? If they were all eaten then what? The ghost would be free? Her eyes narrowed even as they dropped to read the words that she now knew were inscribed in the book. It wasn't a matter of having seen them appear, it was that she knew the writing was there.

But she was Sith. She was a Sith with a lust for knowledge and power. And Sith who needed to know more, and this writing... she could see there were four letters.

Four letters, four riddles. I wonder if the same person has to answer all the riddles? How will they ever answer it if they don't have the book? she wondered.

Yeah... Corra said in response to Connor's prompting, although it was about the most insincere "yeah" on earth. The "okay I hear you, but really no. Or at least not yet."

A quarter of the ghosts gone, she thought to herself. Which meant she now played a dangerous game. She walked a line of peril in order to gain knowledge... one could say a meddling child.

She didn't dare voice her plan aloud, but she wondered if Connor would pick it up as she let him look at the book and lifted four fingers before pointing to the first three letter spaces in the book.

Always present but never here, she repeated, finding this the most confusing of them all.

I live to love but find life drear. That could be sloth or lust, she said.

Ever seeking yet never finding. Again lust or greed, she said. Lust was always thirsty but never satisfied, always needing more.

I sup from passion yet always starving. Lust or greed or gluttony, she said.

Always present, but never here, she returned to the first sentence. She was unsure, and she looked to Connor to see if he had a thought and would otherwise say.

You are lust, she said.

 

[Connor Vance]

There was a moment of silence from the Chronicler. The sound of vertebrae popping echoed in the room. It’s head tilted to one side as it eyes Corra and the Connor respective.

Lust. Correct.

Its hand extended forward and another fourth of the ghosts were caught in the maelstrom of power. They were dragged screaming into the fires of this creature’s otherworldly abyss. The purple flame within it only grew brighter.

The ink on the page continued to write itself out. Bringing forth another snippet of otherwise time lost lore.

Lord R—l—
In an attempt to defy fate, Lord R—l— attempted to defy fate and merge the souls of the departed with her brother’s broken bo-

The Chronicler’s permanent grin seemed to widen somehow as another sliver of enticing knowledge was given. Connor took a steadying breath. “Give us the next riddle.” Connor said in faux calm.

The piglet whines
This one’s soul shines
Power unrealized
Fate unwritten
Time ticks by

The Chronicler’s attention was solely on Corra. It ignored Connor completely. It was focused on the one who’d answered its riddles, the key to its jail cell. It extended its over hand and floating above it was an ethereal triangular object.

It can lead to where power resides
A fate could be realized
Freedom for freedom
Power for power

The Chronicler’s offer hovered there for a few seconds longer before its hand snapped shut and the image vanished. The temptation of a holocron, a vessel of untold power. But was this creature lying? What truths were held behind those soulless shark’s eyes?

The glimmer of gold
A need for glamor untold
I leave you feeling regal
But I am the root of all evil

What Am I?

Connor didn’t bother to look at Corra. Instead he slowly moved towards the Chronicler. He wanted to make sure he was in position to help Corra out in whatever her plan was. If she got this right, there were supposed to get out alive. Once he was sufficiently close enough t he’d nod at Corra.

“You’ve got this Cor.” He encouraged. He wished he could be more help to her beyond knocking this thing around but this just wasn’t what he was good at. Slicing? Sure. Undead and Eldritch monstrosities? Above his pay grade.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

As it turned out, another group of the ghosts were pulled inward toward the dead vertebrae man.

Lord RI... and a she, she thought to herself as she looked at the words appearing.

Connor was maneuvering, but he didn't seem to make a motion to her to indicate that he had found anything particularly of threat. She wasn't sure what she was going to face next, and she wasn't convinced they were going to not be double crossed.

You are greed, she said. This one was - thankfully - a little easier than some of the others, and should give her another little glimpse into the name of the person as well as the tale they had lived.

And then, as the words would come onto the page, she promptly did as she had planned.

Look, I gotta do a little more research. Not that I - a good Sith - don't trust you, but I'd rather not have my soul eaten before I graduate, she said giving an "apologetic" smile before motioning for Connor to help her throw open the chair's position and head for the glowing exit.

She didn't even wait around to hear the final riddle... yet. Though someday, no doubt, she would return.

 

[Connor Vance]

Avarice. Correct.

The Chronicler’s mouth opened and a further quarter of the dead were absorbed into that unnatural furnace at its core. Now the flames began to eat through its host’s body. Purple glow danced across the ceiling and floor as the body’s robes immolated. Despite this, the body itself didn’t seem to be too burnt or damaged. A testament to whatever this was.

Lord R—LA
In an attempt to defy fate, Lord R—LA attempted to bind the souls of the departed with her brother’s broken body with the spirits of the departed. Using the fleets at her partner Darth —————‘s disposal she conquered and annihilated countless primitive civilizations. Using thei-

The Chronicler’s grin clearly extended, how no one was sure but it did. It was so confident in its victory. So assured of its freedom. It never saw the betrayal coming from mere Acolytes.

Connor nodded at Corra’s gesture. He gathered power into his hands, gripped the edges of the stone with the force, and in tandem with Corra lifted. The stone would come free and crash against the ceiling. The sound of snapping bone and the wet slap of pulped flesh echoed into the room. The stone fell from the ceiling and into what looked like a tear in reality that sat beneath it. The block vanished into its depths.

Connor heard the body of the scholar hit the ground. He watched in horror as the body began to rapid heal. The grin on the body’s face was gone. This thing looked pissed. It screeched in rage at their betrayal.

“We gotta go!” Connor shouted as he offered Corra his hand before leaping into the portal and the unknown.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Corra was real interested in all of this, listening and reading with rapt attention despite knowing that she wouldn't get any definitive answer to the riddle's end. Not yet at least.

Sorry! Corra shouted as she leapt into the purple void, not exactly sincere, but like maybe a little sorry.

She flew through the hole and before she knew it, was carried along the waves of space and time, tearing off into the jungle like a gulf stream before being dumped out right outside the academy's entrance.

She glanced down at the book still clutched in her hands, giddy as a school girl as she practically squealed over her new acquisition.

Kriffing yes! she hissed in excitement. This was what it was to be alive. Stealing secrets on the brink of death from the long dead Lords and spirits of old. She couldn't wait to dig into whatever this book could teach her and learn from it. Learn more about its master and know secrets long forgotten to the ancient Sith.

See if you get a trip like that in the daytime, she said with a laugh that was probably at least 50% an "I'm alive" laugh that came after a near death experience.

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor’s world became a kaleidoscope of colors, sounds, scents, and sensation. He felt his body itself stretch and bend in ways that felt unnatural yet didn’t hurt. Then he was falling from the air about two feet above the ground.

thump

“OOF” Connor oofed as he hit the ground first and then Corra landed on top of him, winding him slightly.

She quickly scrambled to her feet in celebration as she gazed at her prize. Here in the early morning light Connor could see the book better. There was no doubt, it was make of skin, flesh, and sinew. A strange aura rolled from the book, he could feel each page as if they had minds of their own. It was as if the book itself was a living ecosystem or something that shouldn’t be. It repulsed Connor.

But Corra seemed absolutely enthusiastic.

“Yeah that’s nice and all…but a skin Bible? Whatever that thing was it had some serious issues.” Connor stated, shaking his head. “What’s it say?” He asked, craning his head to read.

While Corra could read the words on the page as plain as day. Connor couldn’t. It was an indecipherable mess, symbols and letters mixed together with maddening infrequency. Sigils that shimmered with unnatural power would fade and redraw themselves before Connor’s eyes. His brow furrowed in confusion.

“Imma say you can keep this piece of loot Cor.” He told her with a nudge. “I’ll just keep the nightmare fuel of that late night adventure…and avoid that arena from now on.” His ears flicked and a very small smirk touched his lips.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Corra flopped out on top of Connor, scrambling to get off of him and trying not to think about that feeling of the two of them being all tangled up together. It wasn't like that, but her mind seemed to want to linger on... other tangles.

As she shook that thought out of her head, she was ecstatic still. Connor looked disturbed and repulsed, and for a moment she wondered if he was going to think she was a complete psycho.

She tempered her excitement, suddenly blushing slightly and feeling a little bit uncomfortable. But it's a necronomicon... she said, sounding almost dejected for a moment as he judged her "skin bible."

Still, she cracked the pages and read the excerpt to him before closing it up and putting it away. There was still a great deal unknown about the mysterious Sith Lord but that just left a puzzle open for her to try to solve.

She scooted over to take a seat on the steps leading into the academy. If this were a normal planet, the sun would be coming up to warm them now, but here on Umbara... it was just more darkness.

You're new to all this Dark Side sorcery stuff, aren't you? she asked curiously.

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor shrugged when Corra muttered about it being a necronomicon. It was a book made of skin. It had a screaming face on the cover. And it wrote on its own. That was a nope from him. But to each their own.

“We all got hobbies.” He replied as he brushed himself off.

Connor would follow Corra over to the Academy steps and sit a little above and to the right of her. She asked him if he was new to the Dark Side stuff. Connor’s ear twitched, he leaned forward some and looked down at her.

“Nah, my buddy Arak has showed me some magicky stuff.” Connor replied. “I can move stuff with my mind. I can let us talk with our thoughts. And I can freeze things…only a little with that though.” He explained. “It’s tiring.” He gave a shrug. “But he thinks the thing I can do but he can’t is really cool. Wanna see?” He asked.

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

She went back to looking at her book for a moment, letting her fingers trace along the skin cover.

When he said he wasn't new to any of this magic stuff and then talked about... regular uses of the Force, her eyes narrowed slightly.

No, that's not what I... and then she stopped herself, shaking her head ...never mind, she said.

This stuff... she said, holding up her new book that he found creepy. ....is what I meant, she said. Clearly, he was new to all of that stuff.

What thing that you know how to do? she asked curiously. Of course she couldn't resist a nice, useful new piece of information.

 

[Connor Vance]

”Ooohhhh” Connor replied as Corra held the skin Bible up to his face. “You meant like, creepy angry ghosts? Guys with purple fire in them and a bad case of the munchies? Weird books that write themselves and symbols that keep ghosts out?” Connor asked rhetorically in rapid fire. “Yeah…there’s not much of that back on Shadda.” He admitted.

When she agreed to check out his power Connor’s ears perked. His normally neutral expression upturned slightly. “Cool. Grab your phone out for me.” Connor told her.

When she pulled it out, Connor would touch the back of it with a finger. His body would go rigid, the green faded from his eyes until only the whites showed. Her screen would turn on and unlock. It would go to her phone book and she’d see his name and number entered on its own. Then he’d retreat back to own body.

“I can uh, put my mind into machines. Like tech stuff and make it do what I want.” He explained. “But that’s my number, so you can reach me for us to solve this riddle together.” He told her as he stood up. “Or if you want to hang out. You’re cool chick Cor.” He told her. “Different but definitely cool.”

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

Well, she couldn't blame him, she supposed. Most people didn't really get into the whole "secrets of the Dark Side" thing even among the Sith. Plenty of people saw it as either a waste of time or a questionable return.

When he told her to grab her phone out, her eyebrow quirked up skeptically, but she handed it across to him.

He reached out to it, and although she could feel the Force working, she had no idea what it actually was that he was doing. At least she had no idea until her screen popped open and she saw the name and number in her contacts. She was a whole mixture of emotions at that point.

On the one hand, she was still surprised to see he had done it. She knew of technomancy, but she had never actually seen it performed before much less knew how to do it herself. She was, of course, suddenly extremely interested.

Secondly, she was a bit giddy to have gotten his phone number. After all, he was pretty cute...

Wow, that's really cool! she exclaimed enthusiastically, smiling even broader at his compliment.

Well, you're not so bad yourself, she said. Yeah, it came as no surprise that she was "different" but that wasn't always bad. After all, those who made it the furthest in their "business" weren't usually the average.

We should definitely do this - or maybe something similar - again sometime, she said.

 

[Connor Vance]

Connor always enjoyed showing off the one Force ability he was good at. So when Cor thought it was cool, he felt a little more content in what he could do. And the fact he didn’t do much to help with the eldritch demon? Demi-god? Ghost nomer? Regardless, being able to showcase that he wasn’t entirely useless felt pretty nice.

When Cor complimented him in return, Connor playfully nudged her with his elbow. He nodded at the skin bible in her hand, she still hadn’t told him what it said. “So? What did we almost die for?” He asked. “Burning Man said something about names and a story, what’s the story about?” He pushed.

When Cor asked if they could do this again sometime, Connor thought for a second. “Only if we have at least thirty percent less ghosts, demons, and soul sucking monsters.” He replied. “Plus, now I’m interested in whatever that thing was hiding too.” He admitted. “Guess we gotta see this through to the end, huh?”

@Phoenix

 

[Corra]

She popped the book open again and read from the page that had the inscriptions on it.

Lord R—LA
In an attempt to defy fate, Lord R—LA attempted to bind the souls of the departed with her brother’s broken body with the spirits of the departed. Using the fleets at her partner Darth —————‘s disposal she conquered and annihilated countless primitive civilizations. Using thei-, she said and stopped reading before giving a shrug.

That's as much as there is. Got some research to do, I guess, she said. And maybe a return to the arena one day when her powers had become much more advanced.

Fiteen percent less, she said as if it were a barter now that they had become locked in, and she smirked.

Look, it's always going to be ghosts and sorcery with me, she said with a coy smile, though the words were probably more true than he realized. Or maybe he really had realized that it really was all ghosts and sorcery with her. Where he excelled at heists and jobs, she was better at just... learning about things and ways to apply them.

Where'd you learn to do your technotrick? she asked curiously. Had he just been born with it? An innate ability to understand and interact with electronics in a way that few others could?

 

[Connor Vance]

“So you’re telling me that two Sith killed their way through the galaxy or something and history just forgot them?” He asked as he shook his head. “That doesn’t seem possible, even if it was a long time ago.” He stated, clearly confused.

“I guess we have some research to do.” Connor corrected her. “I can cut class to nap back on the ship and we can meet at the library later on today, if you want.” He offered.

When Cor tried to negotiate the percent cut, Connor’s ears flicked with amusement. “Twenty percent, final offer.” He joked in reply. When Cor told him it was all ghosts and sorcery with her, he shrugged. “Arak’s the same way but he does a lot of mind stuff.” He said plainly. “So long as you handle new ghosts like you did those, I think we’ll be just fine.”

When she asked where he’d learned his technotrick Connor paused. He hadn’t learned it persay. “I didn’t learn it really.” He started. “One day a few years back I touched a holoprojector and my mind just slipped into it.” He grimaced slightly. “It was…pretty scary and took me a little while to figure out how to get back in my body. I didn’t touch a piece of tech for a few months after it happened again.” He admitted. “One of my instructors said that sometimes the Force manifests in people like that. They can just do things without being able to control it really.” He told her with a shrug. “What about you? How did you find out you could do the Force?”

@Phoenix