Ask Ouroboros

[Connor Vance]

Denon l Death Enabled​

It had been one year since Connor had left his old life behind. He’d abandoned his friends. He’d abandoned his family. He’d abandoned who he was and everything he could have been or had.

He’d done it all for power.

Or that’s what he told himself.

Not to say Darth Tiamat had been easy on him. No. Connor had spent a year fighting for every scrap of knowledge he could pull from her. He’d earned what he was. There was no classroom. There was no guard rails. There was only do or die. And Connor had thrived in it.

He’d served Darth Tiamat in many ways over the last year and knew he still would. Even if she wasn’t his formal Master, she was still a teacher and he was her disciple. He’d serve as long as she had more to offer and held power over him. If that ever changed? Well, they both understood the way of the Sith.

But Connor had come to the dead world of Denon to meet with Darth Tiamat. Not to see what he could directly glean from her but instead to propose a joint effort. Their points of interest often intersected. Tiamat was a scientist by trade but used mysticism to enhance her understanding. Connor on the other hand, was immersing himself in necromantic power and utilized understanding to supplement that burgeoning growth.

“My Lord.” Connor stated calmly as he dropped smoothly to one knee, his head dipped.

Gone was the bumbling nature he’d had when he met Darth Tiamat. Instead, Connor had become Sith. Not the pretenders that followed Tempest or Arcanos. Connor had become true Sith and had tasted real freedom through power.

“I’ve brought something that might intrigue you.” Connor would offer up the Holocron of Darth Occidius. He didn’t doubt that Tiamat knew of its existence. “I’ve reached the end of its lessons but during my meditations I found an area within it that’s locked off.” He explained. “Whatever Occidius is hiding, it might be worth your attention.”

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Over the last year, she had watched Connor grow in his passion and power. He was stepping closer to forgo his devotion to the Sith ways and on a path of true darkness. He made sacrifices, his eagerness propelled him, but Tiamat kept a close eye on how much he was allowed to have. To have power for the sake of just having it, well, it was worthless, but a power that was earned and respected offered more opportunity to grow. She had seen many eager students like him rush, the dark flame burning brightly only to be snuffed out as quickly. It would be a shame if anything happened to him, she could at least say she has enjoyed his company when he visited.

Her own progress had been slow, asking for much of the woman's patience as she dabbled into alchemy and technology to find her balance in creating a portal of a different kind.

Connor knew where to find her when he needed her and though she had seen him many times prior, this visit was different. Not only had he grown in the Force, but perhaps some maturity as well. He knew she was not one to putt-putt around on small talk and jumped right into the purpose of his visit. He held up the holocron and an eyebrow quirked with interest, allowing him to continue. She held out her palm, gently pulling the holocron to herself as she looked at it closely, listening to the quiet whispers of the darkness that laid inside.

"Were you able to open it, or shall we go together to see what this Lord is hiding?" she asked with a small grin.

@Apollyon

 

[Connor Vance]

​

Connor’s head gently lifted to regard the dark lady before him. His ears twitched slightly, his head slightly, almost imperceptibly tilted to the side. What was Occidius hiding? That was the real question. Connor had believed he had plumbed the depths of this holocron. That he’d scraped every morsel of knowledge it had to offer and devoured it. But just when concern of famine set in, a new wellspring had been found.

Connor’s green eyes, now stained with hues of reds and gold, watched as a small grin twisted to life on Darth Tiamat’s features. He’d seldom seen that expression before, but it meant that she was interested.

“This Holocron led me here a year ago.” The supplicant replied. “But I don’t think that was its goal.” He continued. “Just a happy little accident.”

At one point, Connor had believed the Holocron had led him to her. It had promised him a teacher to continue his training if he braved the test of a dead world. Her believed it meant that literally and he’d thought Denon was a dead world.

He’d been wrong on that.

But not wrong on finding a teacher. Darth Tiamat had been here and fate had guided him to her. Connor took a breath before continuing, he’d never really brought up the holocron to her. Every Sith needed their secrets, this, until recently was his.

“This holocron taught me the foundations of Necromancy.” Connor explained. “It laid the foundations of my understanding that power is just power.” He continued. “There is no right or wrong in that and those who fear it are just too weak to claim it.”

There was some truth to that belief but Connor took that to an extreme. He was ravenous for more. The Dark Side was chaotic in nature, an addictive and destructive flow that had to be tamed to be controlled. But Connor didn’t want to tame it. He wanted to ride it and taste the freedoms it brought to him. To wield it as a cudgel against those who opposed him.

To reshape his surroundings into his own image.

“I thought I’d learned everything I could from it…but I think there’s a sliver of knowledge tucked away in its depths.” Connor explained. “A sliver I can’t reach on my own.” He admitted. “And if it’s locked beyond my reach, it must be valuable.” Connor continued. “Why would a Darth lock it away if it wasn’t, after all?”

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

She listened to Connor as he processed his thoughts out loud, he sounded as though he were about to loop back to where he started as he asked again the why questions of a long-dead Darth. "You're asking the wrong question." she stated, leaving her workspace behind to lead Connor to her meditation room. She handed him back the holocron and started walking around the room, igniting the candles with a small snap of her fingers, gentle orange flame catching the wicks before she returned to the young learner.

"Keep asking why and you will lead yourself to the wrong answer." she told him; the Darth was no longer living and even if he was, there was no guarantee he would explain his rational for burying this information deep within the device. Like her own holocron that she had been working on, there was certainly information she had locked far and deep in the memory crystals meant for only those dedicated to the arts she performed.

"Come, sit, let us see what there is for us to learn." she told him as she sat down, gesturing for him to do likewise. Tiamat closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, an unusual calm washed through her as she dived into the cold inky waters of the darkside, inviting Darth Occidius to join them.

@Apollyon

 

[Connor Vance]

​

Connor listened to Darth Tiamat, he didn’t argue with her. Instinctively, he knew she was right. In the year they’d spent together he learned more about himself and the Dark Side than Tempest’s Sith could have ever revealed to him. Namely, Connor often asked the question why too much. There wasn’t always a need to know why something was the way it was, just that it was.

“Of course, my Lord.” He replied as he followed Darth Tiamat.

Connor knelt across from his Dark Lady and extended his senses, cautiously. While he knew Tiamat could plumb his mind for secrets and hidden plans for betrayal if she wanted to, it was still something to be avoided. On top of that, he was certain both understood the nature of their relationship. He served her as an agent of her will and in exchange, she rewarded him with forbidden knowledge. Once one or the other no longer saw value in the other? They’d move to dispose of the other party.

Connor felt the rush of power flood his veins as his mind delved into the heat of his passions. A chill like ice flowed through him and empowered him in ways that were almost impossible to understand. There the heat of Connor’s presence met the icy chill of death that was Tiamat’s own. The two contradictory sensations washed together and blended discordantly.

It was from that chaos, something else was made manifest. A presence totally alien. Another creature of nightmare. A being whose presence was so tainted with the corruption of necromancy that it eclipsed Connor’s own. The avatar of the holocron had heard their invitations. A sliver of the Darth himself made manifest in the roiling emotions of their combined mindscapes.

“Acolyte Vance.” The being greeted, its voice as hollow, monotone, and unamused as it ever was. “Whom else have you brought with you into my presence?” It asked, showing a level of sentience that was uncommon for mere gatekeepers.

Connor’s presence, while formless here, shifted its attention to the presence of his teacher, his lord, Darth Tiamat. He would follow her lead in this, aiding in overpowering the gate keeper if she desired.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

The room became ice cold, Connor would almost be able to see his breath as the darkside expanded in the room. Tiamat's eyes remained shut as she focused touching the holocron with her presence as well as Connor, the eerie glow of light filtering through the dark shadows present eventually would reveal a figure before them, flickering as it moved to gaze at the acolyte, addressing him first, familiar with the student's presence before looking at Tiamat.

The dark woman watched through amber eyes, judging the obscure and deformed figure. It was typically of Darth's to have an inflated sense of self-worth and ego and this one was no different, "I am Darth Tiamat and you have been graciously welcomed in my presence." she told the gatekeeper. The name Tiamat was not unknown, she knew her name was still whispered across the galaxy, her work mysterious, but rumors there, especially of herself to be The Eternal. She knew the weight of her own name and if this gatekeeper was any intelligent beyond just programing, her name would be familiar also.

"You have something that you do not wish to share, this is your chance to reveal it now or suffer at my will."

@Apollyon