Ask Ziost Questions and Answers

[Arla]

Arla thought about what he suggested and shrugged. I'd be doubtful he doesn't have it on his person, but it's a better option than going straight to confrontation, she agreed.

After a moment, she quirked and eyebrow. Why do you keep track of the Korriban Archive Keeper's schedule? she asked with a mischievous chuckle. That sounded like there was a story there and this may not have been his first time doing something like this. Or maybe it was actually boring after all.

Alright, office it is, she said with a nod, heading in that direction. She descended the stairs to the main concourse, passing by the dorms and the many study rooms, meditation chambers and sparring pits. She even stopped a moment to watch a pair of Acolytes as their blades slammed against one another in a particularly vicious combat match.

You like dueling? she asked Caer thoughtfully. He didn't seem like the type to love combat, but you never could tell after all.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”Yes. If we confront them directly, there are great chances of us being caught and punished. We should avoid it.” while he doubted that the two would be killed because of it, they would still receive a punishment for it. The Annfyn really didn’t want to need to do it today, even less on this planet

He heard that Acolytes that broke rules in Ziost were imprisoned in the dungeons below the Academy, where they were forced to listen to a seven hours long recording made by Cuth Sinnb, the oldest and most boring professor of all Sith Academies. The guards watching the detention would make sure that no one slept during it.

When she asked why he knew the schedule of Korriban Archive Keeper, Caerllion’s cheeks became a bit pink. “W-Well, there was this time when I was sixteen in the Academy. I ended up involved in a fight in the middle of the archives. I usually don’t do that, but the guy offended my mother and couldn’t hold myself.” he didn’t regret it. The Annfyn would never allow someone to say dirty things about her. “He was salty because I had a better grade than him in an exam.”

“In punishment he went to work at the kitchens, while I was forced to help the Archive Keeper. We both ended up doing it for an entire month. So I ended up tracking the time that I would be able to have a break.” he still remembers perfectly when he was able to have lunch and dinner. “Maybe it can be the same here.”

“Yes, but it isn’t my favorite way of fighting. While I can go well with a lightsaber, I prefer to use my abilities with the Force.” Caerllion said, opening his hand and revealing a sphere of red energy. “If I can use both in a battle, then it’s even better. And you? Do you like dueling?"

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

She seemed quite amused by the story he told and almost proud of him in a way. It was a silly notion, of course, as this was before they had met and it wasn't like she had had any official role in his training but she liked it nonetheless. Probably because it was exactly what she would have done, too.

Well, good for you, she said, not even seeming to be a little bit phased that he'd been punished for it. Not that she couldn't understand why. While the Sith encouraged fighting and even backstabbing, they couldn't have Acolytes blatantly murdering each other in the halls of the academies. But Arla had heard rumors about "accidents" happening during training missions and excavations.

In fact, one of the ways students were encouraged to settle disputes was combat practice like the two of them were now watching. Although death wasn't permitted, these fights often involved full contact with sparring blades and often ended in injuries.

Eh, she said when he asked her if she enjoyed dueling. She couldn't say she was shocked by his answer, but that was fine. Not all things were for everyone, and she was a prime example of that.

It's fine. Lightsabers are cool and they certainly have their uses, but a blade is so small compared to the power that we wield, she said and then paused before correcting herself.

Or at least have the potential to wield. Lightsabers are a faster way to become lethal but they have a lower ceiling, she said. It was her view about the entire path of becoming a Sith Warrior. The Arcanists, but contrast, had the potential to wield the power the ancient Sith had done.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”I agree. The lightsaber is a very useful weapon, but I see so many Sith only focusing on it. They seem to forget that we can use the Force to do other things rather than simply pushing and levitating things.” he said, while watching the Acolytes practicing with said weapons. Caerllion wondered if they had the same interest for the use of sorcery.

“I don’t like how some members of the Order end up acting like mindless brutes. They seem to prefer using muscles rather than using Force abilities.” he saw one of the Acolytes blocking an attack, then using the Force to throw the other off balance. “This makes them look like simple mercenaries, perhaps they should use a blaster already. I think that a good Sith needs to balance both these two abilities.”

“Do you know, meeting you made me reflect about the type of Sith that I want to be.” he turned to look at her eyes. “At first I wasn’t sure of what I could do, if my path should be that of a warrior and help with invasions. Now I want to help the Empire expand through diplomatic means. Of course, with a little touch of the arcane.”

Perhaps Arla would think that he was being silly in saying that, but he wanted her to know that she already had an impact on his life. “The use of political manipulation and sorcery can be a good mixture.” in front of them, one of the Acolytes defeated the other. “Maybe later we can do more political takeovers together. Hopefully, this time without Hutts.”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla couldn't say she entirely disagreed with his assessment. On Dathomir, maleli... men, aren't generally taught magicks. They're too brute-like, she said, though Draugr and her mother had seen some of that begin to change. Arla wasn't entirely sold on it, but she was coming around on the idea.

There will always be people who are little more than tools because there will always be people who can't think for themselves, she said. She knew she thought of herself as better than most other people but in her defense, she was better than many other people. She wasn't going to be ashamed of her confidence.

As I'm sure you noticed, I'm not much for diplomacy, she said. She honestly didn't know where she would end up in the Order. Despite not being much of a duelist and front line fighter, she was still a warrior and may well end up a warlord. Or maybe she would teach the arcane in the academy. Or maybe she would end up dead long before then. It was a reality that she'd be a fool not to address.

Have you ever considered going undercover? Into the New Republic or ISC or FWA? she asked. He had a penchant for diplomacy and the Force could go a long way in such a position. She had no idea how he'd take the idea but it was one worth considering, at least to her.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion nodded when Arla said how the females of her species saw their males counterparts. From hearing about his father’s interaction with the Nightsisters, the Annfyn already knew that men were considered below the women in the Dathomirian hierarchy. Sometimes they were even considered disposable.

“What do you think of me?” he blurted without thinking. Once again his sharp brain seemed to show how he became slow in her presence. “I mean, do you think that I’m like the males of your homeworld?” his attempt to correct what he had said only seemed to get worse. The Acolyte wanted to punch himself in the face.

He smiled when Arla said that she wasn’t good with diplomacy. Caerllion still remembers the fiasco that was their talk with Garlon in Collumex. If wasn’t for her teleport, the Acolyte was certain that they would have remained a long time on that dungeon.

“Well, I more or less live undercover in a FWA world. Only the closest allies of the House of Cyfnos knows about my allegiance to the Sith Empire.” since he had joined the Order, the Annfyn had a double life. Everyday he needed to be careful to not be discovered. “It was thanks to my position here that the Empire was able to secretly operate on the planet.”

“Do you want to go undercover?” he asked, curious to know if it was something that Arla wanted to do for the Empire. “Maybe you could infiltrate a government and turn it for the Sith from inside.”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla shouldn't have been surprised at his question, but she still was. Or maybe it was just the way he had said it? Or maybe it wasn't something else entirely. She was so caught off guard that she very nearly started talking about her mother directly but caught herself.

Dathomir's changing, she said. The truth was her opinions of men were shaped not only by her culture but by her mother as well. While she didn't speak directly ill of Arla's father - because she rarely spoke of him at all - Arla was perceptive enough to see the scars that had been left on her. The deadbeat had left her alone to raise Arla, and it didn't speak well of him or the rest of his gender.

It has changed, she said, thinking once again how Draugr had made strides to change it. You don't seem to exhibit the characteristics many of our men do. You have more thoughtfulness to you, she said.

Hm, that's true, I guess, as he explained his position within the FWA. She hadn't really thought of it that way and that was probably because apart from what he'd told her, she still knew almost nothing about his homeworld.

She snickered slightly as he asked about her going undercover and she shook her head. No, I don't think so, she said. Too much like diplomacy. I'm a Nightsister and a Sith, and I don't have enough patience to pretend I'm anything else, she said, her face twisting up for a moment in thought.

Or actually, just no desire to, she said. It wasn't that she lacked patience, it was that she was who she was and she didn't want to be anyone else.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

While Arla said her opinion about him, a smile appeared on Caerllion’s lips. Even if the Nightsisters were starting to think differently about the men, the Acolyte thought that it wasn’t common for them to praise male individuals. This way, the Annfyn thought that hearing her say that he had more “thoughtfulness” was great.

“My species believe that males and females deserve to have the same rights. Of course, during our history we have had more queens than kings, but it’s more out of spite to the Zephi having more men ruling Thustra.” he said, laughing with the last part. It was incredible how his people's hatred for the Zephi was so big that several details of their culture were formed out of spite for them.

Caerllion nodded when she explained her reasons for not wanting to work undercover. Not everyone was capable of maintaining a facade, while living another life secretly. Like how she disliked diplomacy, he didn’t see himself being a full time warrior. In the end it was all a matter of taste.

“By the way, since you said your opinion about me, I think that it’s only fair if I reveal what I think about you.” Caerllion turned to look some more at Arla. “I think that you are very powerful and clever. Few Champions would have been able to teleport two people at the same time and if it wasn’t for your idea of mind controlling that mercenary, we would never have taken Columex.”

He stared at her eyes, thinking how pretty they were. It wasn’t only her eyes, but Arla’s whole face was beautiful. Even her facial marks. Unfortunately for Caerllion, his brain had another moment of dumbness. All these thoughts about the Champion being beautiful came out a bit too loud, being enough for her to hear. When he realized it, the Acolyte’s face became as red as a tomato.

“Sorry!” the Annfyn said in panic, while turning away. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but it’s what I think of you too. That you are very beautiful.” he always prided himself with being a good orator, always thinking before speaking. Now he was acting worse than a child.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla refrained from commenting on his homeworld though she silently praised them for having more queens than kings, even if their reason was shady at best.

Arla's eyebrow quirked as he declared that he was going to give his opinion of her. She hadn't quite been expecting this, but she didn't stop him from going forward with it, wondering precisely why he was so determined to do so. Was there some scathing comment he'd just been dying to unleash on her?

Oh... no, it wasn't that. Quite the opposite, it seemed. Even Arla - as socially uninclined as she was - could tell what he was thinking. She just stared at him for a moment, that Sephi blood she had in her that he so hated causing the emotions she had not to register on her face.

By now, he'd turned the color of a tomato and she could see how uncomfortable he had become but she wasn't really sure what to say. So she did what she did best for better or worse: she said what she thought.

So you want to screw me? she said. It was just a statement, pure and simple. There didn't seem to be any judgment or accusation behind it. It was another glimpse into the fact that things were very different on Dathomir than... most anywhere else.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

From all things that Arla could have said, this one never crossed Caerllion’s mind. To be honest, his brain wasn’t in the best shape at the moment. It was having problems processing what he had heard. His only reactions were his mouth opening and closing, while his face was even redder than before and his ears twitched.

“No! I mean, yes if you want too! Maybe?” he babbled, before massaging his temples. It was difficult to find an answer for it. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t want to do it, but his comment about her wasn’t an attempt to convince her to do it with him. Caerllion needed to focus and find a way to talk with her without giving Arla a bad impression.

“In my homeworld, we usually like to say good things about people that we like. Be it romantically or only friends.” he always thought that it was something normal to be done on other planets, perhaps it wasn’t that way in Dathomir. “In my case, I think that I like you as a friend, but I’m also infatuated.” he confessed, feeling like an idiot.

When he was interested in someone, the Acolyte would go directly to the point. However, with Arla it was different. He wasn’t going to say that it was love, because it was very important to his culture and to be reserved for a pure Annfyn like him. What he felt right now wasn’t that, but went beyond the simple desire to screw.

“In Annwfyn, when someone is infatuated, they invite the other to do things together. Dinner, nightclubs, trails, festivals, cinema. Anything that both like to do. Sometimes it can end with a screw later.” he explained, not sure if Arla was familiar with all that. Probably she already went in a date, what only made him feel more stupid for explaning all that when she probably already know.

“Sorry, all this explanation was stupid. I tend to talk too much when I'm nervous.” he laughed nervously. “I’ll understand if you want to ignore all that, but I can’t avoid asking. Would you like to go on a date with me someday?”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla just continued to stare at him as he proceeded to flow through his levels of flustered. It didn't even seem like he was entirely sure what he wanted to say. The word he picked was... a decision.

Infatuated? she repeated. It sounded more like a disease when described that way, like saying one was constipated. He went on to explain what it meant in his culture and it seemed... well, it still didn't seem like the best word, but she supposed if that was what his people called it then it must have just been cultural.

This was that off-world ritual that so many cultures (so. many. cultures.) seemed to have. It was, again, so wildly different from Dathomir where men were typically just selected by the woman and that was that. Or perhaps they both found one another attractive and simply moved forward under those inclinations. Feelings seldom had much to do with it. Her mother had developed feelings and look where that had gotten her.

She almost blurted out "why" as her response to his question but managed to bite her tongue. Just because it wasn't typically Dathomir's way didn't mean that it had to be wrong.

Caer, I like you and I'd be happy to eat with you but I don't think I am... her face twisted up ever so slightly in something that was one step away from confusion ...infatuated. I am sorry, she said. Despite it all, her goal wasn't to hurt him. She did like him and considered him a friend, but she was getting sense - or rather it had been spelled out to her - that that wasn't enough.

In fact, she didn't think she'd ever had those feelings for anyone before. Sure there had been plenty of people through the years that she was attracted to but feelings of attachment, belonging, and affection comparable to what she had heard about... that was foreign to her.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”No problem! You don’t need to feel the same way.” he said, faking his disappointment. He already expected that Arla didn’t feel anything for him, but hearing it wasn’t nice. At least he didn’t offend her and was stabbed by her lightsaber. “I’m happy that you like me, we can continue being friends.” besides, who knows if someday she couldn’t change her feelings about him.

Taking a deep breath, the Acolyte decided that they should change the topic of their conversation. If they continued talking about feelings, Caerllion was sure that he would continue acting as an idiot. “We needed to make plans to invade the Keeper’s room. There will be a specific time interval for us to enter and pick the keys before they return from lunch.”

“Perhaps we could make a mold of the keys and go somewhere to make a copy of it. This way the Keeper wouldn’t notice that it disappeared.” there was a great chance that the Keeper would mobilize the entire Temple to seek who had stolen it. “With a copy in hand, we could visit the Archives during the night and search in the secret session. What do you think of it?”

“By the way, what’s the subject of the book that you are after?” Caerllion was curious to know what she wanted to find. He wondered if it was about Sith sorcery or something else. “I’ll understand if you want to maintain it only for yourself.”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla heard his words, but the impression in the Force didn't really match up with it. But should she had been surprised? This was an important piece of most societies and she wasn't trying to hurt him.

He seemed so flustered she would have found it humorous if it weren't for the fact that she could feel that small ache in the Force that emanated from him, and it kept any such levity from her.

He moved right along and she almost said something but paused. What would she even say? She almost winced but didn't, bottling the thought down and doing her best not to make the situation any more uncomfortable for either of them.

Instead, she let her mind be pulled to what he was saying, nodding along as he described their next steps.

That's a good plan, but it does mean we'll need to break into the Tradecraft Workshop as well, she said. That was the only place on campus that she knew of where they could get a ID chit duplicator. That should be easier to do, though. I think I should have access, she said. It was one of the benefits of being a Champion, it turned out.

When he asked her what she was after from the archives she only paused for a moment before answering. It's a book about shatterpoints, she said. Written by Darth Malon who was supposed to have been blessed with the skill of reading and seeing shatterpoints, she said.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion nodded after Arla said what they would need to do. “Even if it gives us more work to do, at least we avoid being hunted down by a furious Keeper. The one from Korriban when mad could rival even Darth Raze’s dark presence.” it was a jest from his part, but he would like to avoid having the fury of a Keeper over him. He was being serious when he said they could be scary.

“Even if we didn't have access to it, we could still use our magick to bring it to us.” he had been practicing summoning spells and was confident that his abilities would allow him to bring a duplicator. However, her plan made things even easier and didn’t make him waste energy with it.

When Arla revealed what she wanted to find, Caerllion made a pause to think about it. He had read about shatterpoints somewhere, but it wasn’t explained their purpose with much detail. “ Isn’t it the Force ability that can be used to sense the significance of an event? I saw it in a holobook about curious abilities of the Force. It also mentioned the ability of locating unconventional routes through hyperspace. However, it didn’t have detailed information.”

“Would you allow me to read it after you finish? Or maybe we could even study that together.” he still remembers when Arla said in Columex that they could discover new things together. The Annffyn was a person hungry for knowledge, so he would take any opportunity to learn more.

“I think that we need to prepare to put our plans in motion. Do you want to visit the Tradecraft Workshop now? We could pick the device and be prepared for entering the Keeper’s office tomorrow.” Caerllion suggested, now curious to know more about the shatterpoint. Maybe he could even find interesting things about alchemy inside this part of the Archives.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla nodded as Caer pointed out they wanted to avoid the Keeper's wrath. They, ideally, wanted to do this without being identified at all.

She nodded as he mentioned what the ability was. Yeah, it also has some combat applications allegedly, she said, though it was difficult to say for sure. She didn't know much about it, which was precisely why she wanted to learn more.

I think that seems fair, don't you? she said with a smirk as he asked if he could study it as well. There was a part of her that wondered if it would go right over both of their heads currently, but it was always the right time to try.

By now, the duel below them had finished up and the two acolytes were limping their separate ways, one far worse for wear than the other.

Yeah, let's get going, she agreed, heading along the walkway and up a floor to one of the intelligence floors.

You know, I wonder if we should copy it, she said thoughtfully after a moment. Otherwise we have to take it, study it, and break in to put it back, she said.

I think it's a physical tome, though, so we can probably just grab pictures, she said. It'd take a while, but it was better than breaking in twice. Maybe one of us could even do that while the other returns the keycard, she said.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion smiled when Arla answered his question about studying shatterpoints together. “Cool! If it can really be used in combat, maybe we could develop a technique with it. Perhaps one where we can use our magick.” he suggested, his mind already making plans about it.

The Annflyn reflected on what Arla was saying, the possibility of taking pictures of the book didn’t seem so bad. “I think that you are right. We can take pictures of it and study them calmly later. We could even save a copy in a virtual archive, to not risk losing the pages.” it was for the best if they had saved copies of it. Who knows if they would have this opportunity again.

“Do you have any preference for what you want to do? I could do any of the two.” Caerllion didn’t mind if she ended up wanting to take the pictures, while he returned the keycards. The important thing was that they could find the book without no one finding them.

While they walked, a thought crossed Caerllion’s mind. “I was wondering if we would find something guarding it. I mean, it wasn’t uncommon for the Sith to place traps in important places. Do you think that there could be something like that in this part of the Archives?” it was another thing that they needed to be careful with.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

She shrugged. I guess I'll get the images, she said. She didn't have a strong preference, but it was always better to do the more important jobs yourself. At least, that was her take on things.

It's possible, but hopefully not, she said in response to a guard. Things were slightly different in the academies than they were in the tombs so she hoped that wouldn't mean monsters in the academy. It was a bit of a liability.

She angled up toward the Tradecraft lab and waved her ID chit in front of the reader. The doors slid open with a hiss and she made her way over to the machine, looking at it for a moment and pursing her lips together.

There's probably an instruction manual around here somewhere, she muttered. She didn't exactly want to ask for help lest that leave them with many unanswerable questions, so she pawed around for a few moments before plopping down a massive manual on the desk and starting to page through it.

Set your devices input spherons to digitize at frequency 2986, she read before looking up at Caer.

I have no idea what that means, she said with a completely straight face.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”Then I’ll bring the keycard back to the Keeper’s office.” it could be more problematic to return it without being caught. Caerllion wondered if he could use his magick to teleport it inside the office. Recently, he had practiced doing it with small objects. So far he had some good results and nothing was lost or destroyed during his most recent attempts.

“Yes, probably I’m only being paranoid. I don’t think that they would put a Sith spawn inside a public Archive, even if it’s a restricted session.” the Annfyn laughed, thinking about how it would be implausible. However, the Acolyte shared Arla’s hope that they were right and there would be no nasty surprise waiting for them here.

Caerllion followed Arla toward the Tradecraft Lab. Since he was still an Acolyte, the Annfyn didn’t have free access to this part of the Academy. He watched the Champion use her ID chit to open the door, allowing them to enter the laboratory. He hoped that soon he would rank up and have these benefits.

The interior of the laboratory was full of machines and devices. Some of it the Annfyn recognized, while others he had no idea what they were used for. Being here made Caerllion conclude that he needed to study more about how to operate these things. Who knows if he wasn’t going to need this knowledge during a mission.

While Arla was reading the instruction manual of the machine that they were going to use, Caerllion was looking at it in pure confusion. He had no idea of how they could use it. “Me either. I never used it before.” he said to the Champion, while trying to find how to turn the machine on.

Suddenly, the Acolyte remembered something. “Maybe we could find something about it in the Holonet. Let me see the model.” Caerllion turned to see the cover of the manual. “Ok. It’s a PX20034.” he typed this information in his Datapad and soon received some results. “Nice! There are a good number of tutorials in video. ‘How to operate your PX20034’, ‘Learning to use a PX20034’, ‘PX20034: Only idiots don’t understand how to use this one’.”

He frowned, feeling offended by the last one. It was as if it was talking directly to the two. “We only need to find which one is better and see how they operate it.” he passed his Datapad to her. “Which one do you think is better?”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla's uselessness was not going to be coming to a conclusion any time soon. She had virtually no idea at all what any of this was talking about and as he looked up a video tutorial, she just shrugged.

I guess the one that doesn't assume we know anything, she said. While she couldn't speak for him, she knew almost nothing about any of this. First one, I guess, she said, and watched the display monitor sprung to life.

The man on the other side walked through all the details of the tutorial and how to use the machine, and she tried to follow the prompts exactly as instructed.

Okay, I think that's good? she said with another shrug. I guess there's only one way to find out, she said.

Want to meet at the same balcony again tomorrow morning? she asked. We can finish out any prep before lunch, she suggested, not that there was a great deal more for them to prepare besides executing their plan.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion nodded in agreement. Like Arla, the Annfyn also had no idea of how this device operated. His focus lay on diplomacy and politics, not in operating this type of thing. After seeing how apparently using the PX20034 was something easy that only an idiot couldn’t do, the Acolyte decided that he was going to pick some holobooks about technology and tradecraft to study later.

The two Sith watched the tutorial play out. The Annfyn made some effort in trying to understand the commands and how they would translate to the real thing that was in front of them. While the video was very explanatory, Caerllion still had moments to scratch his head in confusion.

“You are right. We’ll only find out if we try it in the machine.” in the end they would need to apply the steps presented in the tutorial. Hopefully it would work and the machine wasn’t going to explode in their face. “I’ll save this video. This way we can have easy access to it while we work.”

“Good idea. We can decide if there is anything else that we want to do before starting the plan.” one last moment to prepare wasn’t something bad. Caerllion always thought that was good to be prepared for any possible problem.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Caerllion asked, curious to know if Arla would be busy with something else. “Maybe we could go eat together? It’s still early to sleep.” while they needed to get up early tomorrow, the two Sith could still have dinner before returning to their rooms.

@Phoenix