Proof & Payment

[Darth Valravus]

Location: Dathomir, Outer Rim
Time: Dusk
Participants: @Logan @Darasuum
Theme: If I had a Heart ❅ Fever Ray
Intro: Previously on the Zandrali Diaries... finding and defeating the arms dealers and slavers Zandrali and Aadya bring the Dathomir witches that had been held by the arms dealers with the promise of payment in the form of their arcane techniques...

It seemed she had recovered, to a degree. Zan had settled back down and let Aadya do some of the talking with the witches after they had cleared out the arms dealer base. After all, the Deucalian had no idea what had transpired to lead up to these events. She always hated the first moments after coming back.

The feeling of losing time, not knowing her she had done something foolish or not. It was not like she could tell herself since it was impossible to meet herself. It was a frustrating situation which very little could be done.

Here and now though the two Sith, Aadya and Zandrali were taking the handful of witches back to Dathomir. Zan had seen what they could do in battle. They were technically entering Mandalorian space so the Crusader had her reservations. But the way the freed slaves had made it sound it was a more isolated coven in the mountains of Dathomir so it would be unlikely to encounter any of those metal headed warriors.

The Dathomiri had been setup in the storage of the star bomber on the ride over. The light freighter they had used to attack the arms dealer's base had taken too much damage to be of any use. While it was far from comfortable the nightsisters did not complain. Slavery certainly put things into perspective but Zan also felt like they were normally not the ones to compalin even before being put into bondage.

Her ship came in for a landing. Her crew had strict orders to stay on board. Not only did she want a quick escape if things were far less welcoming than expected but also it would be best for the agents to not display their surprise and judgement towards the locals. From what Zan had heard the Nightsisters were impressive.

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

All things considered, the end result of their escapades seemed pretty worth it. The ride back to Dathomir was the first time either she or Zan had since they started their adventure to actually take a breath and relax. Reflecting on their original goal, just a couple fancy guns, their final prize seemed like winning the lottery. Aadya had been wanting to access Dathomiri magick for some time now. A double cross turning into great fortune might have been the best thing to happen to Aadya in a very, very long time.

Entering into Mandalorian space didn't bother Aadya much, especially since it seemed where they were going was a considerable distance from anything else. The likelihood of running across Mandos was incredibly slim, and given the battle prowess of the Sisters plus her and Zan well.. there was little out there Aadya thought could actually stand a chance against them.

As the ship landed and everyone departed, the Sisters took point to lead. The walk to their secluded encampment was a long one, probably over five kilometers but Aadya wasn't super great with eyeballing distances. It felt like a hundred kilometers as far as she was concerned. Walking wasn't really something the young Drast enjoyed doing if she could help it.

As they arrived, the Sisters who hadn't been abducted into slavery cheered the return of their Matriarch. Many knelt in her presence, though Aadya noticed their eyes were on the outsiders, clearly as untrustworthy as those that had been in the freighter had been. The group approached a hutt that was bigger and grander than the rest, the rest of the Sisters in the group breaking off to go their own way. The Matriarch motioned for Zan and Aadya to follow her inside alone.

The Matriarch approached an alter and for the first time since arriving back on Dathomir, broke her silence. "Your reward for liberating us from the clutches of those slavers is access to the ancient magic of Dathomir. It is not a choice that you should make lightly, the process will change your very self. Your blood will morph into the ancient ichor which will grant you access to our rituals and spells." The Matriarch paused for a moment, retrieving two talismans from somewhere beneath her alter. "Once we begin the ritual it cannot be stopped. Choose now if you wish to leave."

Aadya had no hesitation. She did not fear the ritual, no, she welcomed it. Ever since Mio had died Aadya had been searching for something, she needed change. There was no better way to do that than to physically change her insides from something normal to something... better. Determination set in her eye, Aadya nodded her head towards the Matriarch.

"I am ready."

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

She had thought of how things had gone down on Celanon. The confusion had dissipated, the blood lust had ebbed but she was back to her more calm and stoic self. Blood did not bother her. All she had done was wipe away some of the grime collected in battle and applied some bacta to the injuries sustained. It would take some time for her legs to fully heal and they were sore but the burning embers at her core sustained her.

The walk and alien environment made her feel like she had stepped into a place where spirits were close to the mortal plane. It was not unlike Korriban or other strange locations across the galaxy. Zan wondered if there was a force nexus on this planet. The air itself was felt in her very bones.

When the Matriarch spoke she had her attention. The Deucalian had been able to piece together only a fraction of what had occured but her stubborn mind and tenacity for survival combined into a confidence that made her feel comfortable with whatever was going to happen like she knew it as an inevitability.

Power, that was what the Nightsisters had. This made the Crusader see everything as an opportunity. Not only had things been arranged to lead to this point but Zan would have sought out the Dathomir Witches to learn their magic sooner or later. She was not going to let this opportunity go to waste.

Stepping forward she spoke at nearly the same time as Aadya. "I am ready." There was no arrogance in her. In fact she was sure this would be far from easy. But her ambitions reached high. Zan's desires soared further than what one might expect. Inside she wondered if this was what the forgotten gods had in store for her.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

"Then so it shall be."

The Matriarch began to mutter wordlessly under her breath, taking things from the alter as she did so. Aadya couldn't really tell what the things were, small vials of liquid of various hue and others of what looked like strange minerals of some kind. As Matriarch chanted, she sprinkled varying amounts of each vial into a mortar as her muttering grew more audible. "Geiss kan erde mak harden ob stein."

A green mist began to rise and swirl around the hutt like it had a mind of its own. It flowed over and through everything, Aadya could begin to feel something starting to build in the pit of her stomach. It was warm, heavy, like a ball of lead slowly becoming molten.

Geiss kan lewf mak krig ob blitz. Geiss kan pire mak blud loge raga.

The mortar was glowing intensely now and the Matriarch took both of the talisman's she'd retrieved and plunged them inside. It was like both of the necklaces were sponges. When the Matriarch took them back out, the mixture inside the mortar was gone though the green glow remained, now emanating from the talismans.

"The first step is complete. You each take a talisman and don it. Then the true transformation and learning can begin."

Aadya approached the alter, taking a talisman and placing it around her neck. It had a weight to it that was surprising, like absorbing the substance Matriarch had concocted made it far denser than you would have thought. They'd wait for Zan to retrieve hers before continuing the ritual.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The two different colored eyes belonging to the Crusader watched the Matriarch take various ingredients and mixed them together. It seemed that it was more of an art than a science or any sort of medicine. But she did not expect anything less from an occult group. Even her tribe back on Atrer III had conducted shamanic rituals. The Sith had their own ceremonies but nothing quite like this.

An unnatural chilld flowed over her skin as the eerie mist grew and swirled around them. Then suddenly she was hot before going back to cold. It was not gradual, it was just a sensation of continos flux that add to the unnatural status of everything around her. Zan was not sure if Aadya was experiencing the same thing or something entirely different. It was all so much all at once that the Deucalian was not able to sense anything other than just her own experiences.

For a few moments Zan hoped that she was not going to have to drink the concoction the Matriarch was brewing but it turned out it was just for their trinket they were being given. As the Deucalian approached the alter Zan could swear she saw the item change colors before turning to a neutral bone color. But perhaps it was just a hallucination, part of the ceremony.

Taking the talisman the witch did not seem to notice any abnormality and if she did she did not indicate that it was of any consequence. down she knew it was due to her duality as a being. Thinking of a silent prayer to both the gods and her other half she wanted such a characteristic to be a strength, not a weakness though only time would tell.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

When both women had retrieved and donned their talismans, the Matriarch would begin her chanting again. This time the phrases seemed deeper, more guttural. They had a primal aspect that the chanting before did not. As the Matriarch spoke, a vivid green mist began to rise around them. It swirled like there was a breeze inside the hut, its movements so close to seeming sentient that it was kind of unnerving.

The Matriarch's chanting continued to increase in volume and as it did the mist itself seemed to react, becoming somehow more.. violent and stronger. As the Matriarch reached the zenith of the prayer, the mist plunged itself into Aadya's body. It felt like getting stabbed but somehow worse. The very blood in her veins felt like they were on fire, somehow pumping battery acid instead of blood.

Through gritted teeth Aadya suppressed any desire to cry out. She was used to pain in a sense, but this was different. On a scale of one to ten it would be like a thirty. The few minutes it lasted seemed like hours, but just as Aadya was almost ready to give up the Matriarch stopped and the pain left; the mist dissipating harmlessly into the air as if it was never there to begin with.

"Your transformation is complete." The Matriarch declared, a content smile spreading across her face. Aadya found it almost creepy in a way, she'd not seen the Matriarch make any facial expression outside of general annoyance and disdain since they had met. "Your veins run with the ichor of Dathomir, giving you the ability to control our magick." Pausing for a moment, the Matriach began to place her things back beneath her alter. "I suggest you stay here for a time so that you can learn how to use it. Otherwise, there is a good chance you'll just end up killing yourself. There are also techniques you cannot learn on your own."

Aadya shrugged her shoulders and looked towards Zan. She wondered if the strong Deucalian woman had been able to stand up to the pain of their ordeal better than she had. "I think we should stay. What do you think?"

Aadya would do whatever Zan wanted to do. She didn't quite trust the Witches enough to stay here by herself. They may have seemed helpful, but this was simply quid pro quo. There was no saying that they wouldn't just turn on her if she was alone.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The experience before her was not something unexpected, but it was certainly a sight to behold. The old ways her people had done shamanic retuils stuck with her. No matter how many times she saw one, she had been able to feel how different everything was in those moments. The other binding power of the galaxy coming closer with the physical and tangable world in those moments.

Now the matriarch's intensity increased and so did the sensations coursing through her. The weird green mist curled around her, slowly rising up to her chin, obscuring the image of her own body. Then like a coiled serpent streams of the green mist shot into her nose, her eats and her mouth. Her head shot back as the power from the mist pushed into her.

The surface of her skin felt like it was on fire while simultaneously being under pressure from a deep ocean current. A pained gasp shot from her mouth. She was able to exhale despite the constant inward flow of mist, like it was not actually conveyed by any type of air.

The darkness around her perception increased. Zan felt like she was in an abyss while the torrent of power started to needle every surface of her being. It felt like her soul had been acupuncture by a deamonic presence using hunting knives instead of needles. By the end of it she found herself down on one knee in a stable pose. She had reached out, grasping the sensation of pain and pulling it deeper. Zan knew that the pain and the darkness that was behind this power was also what was going to make her stronger.

Standing up and straightening her posture all the pain she had felt a moment ago was gone. Instead it was replaced by a sense of power. Raising both hands in front of her face arcs of bluie-ish electricity sparked from finger tip. She balled them into fists for a moment and felt the desire to use the power. More than the techniques now available to her there was a sensation of strength, physical and ethereal.

Turning her braided head towards Aadya she saw her already looking at her. Aadya seemed to be in better shape than Zan but the Deucalian felt that she had just walked a dangerous line. Her ambition and hunger for more power was telling and it was risky, causing more pain and trials than what most would originally need to overcome just to complete the minimum. She was not satisfied with just that.

Unbeknownst to Zan her white sceleria had been turned black. Her height had been changed, her tattoos altered and her muscle definition a little more detailed. Looking down at herself the Deucalain began to notice the changes. "ohdang, check me out?" She felt great. The Crusader proceeded to flex a little.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

It wasn't until Zan mentioned that Aadya truly noticed the change in her appearance. The ritual seemed to have changed her greatly and luckily in a positive - albeit slightly intimating - way. Aadya's eyes widened slightly when Zan flexed, finding the act surprisingly sexy in a way she'd never really looked at Zan before. Deciding that those feelings would be better off addressed at a different more... personal time, Aadya looked back at the Matriarch.

"You are free to walk this place as if it was your home. Our debt has been repaid, but you will forever be welcome here. The other Sisters may treat you with suspicion at first, but in time they will become your family. Go, find your place. There is much for them to teach you and much for you to learn."

Shrugging, Aadya looped her arm around Zan's and lead her back out of the hutt. The Sisters outside continued to look wary of them, but the outright distrust that was present when they'd arrived seemed to have faded. One of the Sisters that they'd brought back came up to them, an almost out-of-character smile on her pallid face. "Come, me and the other Sisters have much to show you. No sense in wasting time."

Following the Sister, Aadya couldn't help but smile herself. Not only had she and Zan gone through what they'd gone through and came out the other side, they actually helped some people in the process. Quite the different story from what she would have expected when first agreeing to get in on an arms deal with Zan.

Life was funny that way.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The Deucalian continued to admire the changes made to her physique by the ceremony. Only when the matriarch started speaking did she look up. Her words did not fall on deaf ears. Zan understood the meaning of them. "Thank you." There was a sense of honor she got from the woman and appreciated it, fully intending to return it.

Feeling her cohort come along side her and actually looped her arm through Zan's arm. The Crusader looked down at her smaller companion with a cocked eyebrow. She had not expected the action but liked it all the same. The darkness of her scerla diminished now that she was no longer using the force. It seemed that it was just a temporary affect of her using excessive amounts of the force but she would only learn of this at a later time in the mirror.

The two exited, an even more pleased smile on her war painted face. One of the witches they had freed stood out from the rest with her expressed appreciation evident. "Right behind you." The Deucalian said in response.

This whole endeavor, having started as one of her shenanigans ended up quite well. They had beaten the crap out of some criminals, freed some slaves, got some good equipment, and now earned some new power along with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge even more.

❅​

The following after the Nightsister the two Sith were led to meet with a few members off the coven that they had freed. Not all of the sisters they met were from that group and some took some convincing. The following training that came spanned more than that afternoon. Days in the odd red light of the planet saw them utilizing the unique versions of techniques they already knew like force lightning. Zan rather liked the newer version and with the traditional blue and night sister green she even managed to make it a turquoise color, not unlike the flames on her hand had manifested.

Together, Aadya and Zan would meet with one trainer after another. Going through excersizes that reminded her of some of the intense courses she went through in the Sith Academy. "I'll admit. I like their style." She said to her fellow Crusader. The woman was not one to focus on aesthetics too much but the nightsister's had something that resonated with her.

Days would go by and perhaps it was even weeks. But that was fine with the Deucalian warrior. She could feel after each successful lesson and technique learned that she was stronger. The exerted energy was rewarded with power and knowledge. It also helped quite a bit to have a partner like the Aadya.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

The time they spent together with the Sisters on Dathomir seemed to all blend into one giant blur. The training was intense and difficult at times but overall incredibly rewarding. Aadya felt a confidence in herself and her abilities grow even stronger than what she already had, which was considerable since Aadya pretty much already thought she was the best at most things she tried.

It was also nice to be in such close proximity with Zandrali for so long. Usually their meetings only lasted the length of whatever mission they were on, but with this they had been afforded the opportunity to do things together that weren't just furthering the interests of the Empire. After this, Aadya considered Zandrali her best friend (maybe a hint of.. more) in the galaxy. Or at the very least, confirmed that feeling that she'd already had. The two had done much together and Aadya hoped that they would continue to do so for some time.

When the time came that the Sisters had given all that they could give, Aadya and Zan would leave Dathomir and head back to Sith space. With their new powers and, although she'd almost forgotten given everything else, their new guns the two would walk - Aadya looping her arm through Zan's just like she'd done weeks ago - back to their ship and head off.

Aadya would remember the Matriarch and the Sisters forever, and told herself that when she was able she would return to regale them with the exploits that she'd undoubtedly have. A small part of Aadya itched to go find some Mandalorian idiots or Alliance fools to practice her new powers on, though she figured that would come with time.

For now, she'd take a well earned break on the ship as they traveled back, hopefully able to lay her head in Zan's lap and get some real sleep for the first time in weeks.

//end thread


@Darasuum