Ask Felucia Study and Practice... Years of It

[Arla]

Per my new OP template, thread is death enabled​

Felucia had been a home to the largest Nightsister coven off of Dathomir after Renfry had taken over the planet for the Empire. In recent days, Arla had begun to set up her own roots here, and the presence of Nightsisters made it a location that was ripe for aspiring Sith Arcanists.

As such, there were more tomes and holocrons here than most other Sith planets that weren't main archive worlds. It had made a good place for Arla to start getting the information she needed to about sorcery. She'd already been embedded for a time with a Sith Tribe on Korriban to learn ur-Kittât, and that was one of the hardest pieces to get off the ground.

Now, she sat in one of the libraries of the Sith base, deep in the mountains, copying over spells, incantations, and runes to take into the jungle for practice. The planet of Felucia was vibrant in the Force, which was one of the reasons the Nightsisters had set up here in the first place.

She sat back in her chair and sighed, setting her pen down on her grimoire and running her fingers through her hair.

Sometimes... I just wish I already knew it all, she grumbled quietly to herself, eyes flicking around the area to see if there were any other likeminded souls stuck in the "studying" portion of learning the arcane.

 

[Jerex Dorn]

Not too far away from Arla was another sith, an old, tall man, horribly scarred and showing obvious symptoms of dark side corruption. His appearance would be terrifying to most, yet the way he was behaving would be vastly different. The man was taking notes, writing and looking at various books and scriptures all at once with a soft smile on his face, the smile of a person that genuinely enjoyed himself, a creepy expression on such a distorted face.

There was something that made Felucia alluring to old Jerex Dorn (Besides the great amounts of knowledge in the arcane stored within the planet, of course) and that was the fact that almost everything on the planet seemed to be out to kill you, pure lethality in a natural state, the old sith sometimes wondered if the dark side had touched the planet well before the empire even arrived! Why, Jerex had in mind to take a closer look at the beasts...maybe they would make for suitable test subjects for his experiments, an Acklay was vicious on its own, what would happen if he used the power of the dark side on one?

It was nice to sit back and learn, to be able to travel worlds once more. His last battle had proven a learning experience, but also crippled him for months, all those icicles, stabbing him in the back like little spears...They didn't allow a poor old man's to do much for a while, he could walk now, but he could not move as fast as he once did, not right now at least...Cybernetic treatment was always open, of course, but Jerex knew the metal interfered with the force, not as good of a conduit as flesh and bone...So he had to seek for other ways to treat his ailment where old fashioned medicine could not. He was not in a hurry, however, the journey was almost as good as the destination for him

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla tried to remember who she had seen sitting around in here for a long time, which might indicate who was here studying something intricate. She mentally excluded anyone who looked like they were an acolyte and eventually her eyes settled on a man who looked particularly smug in his looks.

His body was heavily taxed and all-but-destroyed by the Dark Side, which she had to guess meant that he was some sort of sorcerer or something else that relied heavily on the Fanged Spirit's power.

More than that, though, he was looking at a book that she'd been wanting to read for hours. She'd had little success in getting her hands on it, and waiting him out wasn't working either.

She grabbed the book she was reading and rose, sliding into a seat across from him.

Do you mind if I quickly cross reference something from that book? she asked, pointing to the one he was currently reading. She was just... very typical of herself. Straight to the point, not wasting time.

It won't take long, she offered as reassurance.

@Versok

 

[Jerex Dorn]

The old man took his eyes off the book as he heard a young voice ask for the book he was reading, his eyes scanned Arla from head to toe for a moment before giving her a smile that was meant to be polite but, like most things he ever did, looked both smug and evil "Why of course, all yours young lady!" The man said in a lively manner, leaving a bookmark where he had left it before handing it to Arla.

"It is a nice change of pace to see someone so young be interested in such a book, most people your age are usually far behind when it comes to the more technical parts of the force" Jerex said, the old man knew of the true power of the force, of the dark side. The amount of things they could do, the way it could bend the laws of the galaxy to its very will...They were given a huge boon that was largely ignored nowadays by most sith, prefering to take the easy route of lightsabers and basic attacks, too impatient to learn more before trying to conquer the galaxy.

"May I ask what do you aim to find? What you're searching for? I could be of use, two minds are usually better than one, after all." The old man added, offering his help to Arla. Even though most veteran sith forgot, it was the duty of the older ones to make sure the new blood was prepared once they died...And sorcery and deeper delving into the dark side seemed more and more scarced as the years passed, as the sith empire became more "empire" than "sith", so he had even more reason to help.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla looked at his grin and wasn't entirely sure if it was supposed to be comforting or threatening. Many creatures barred their fangs when they were trying to threaten someone, but given his apparently kind words, she had to assume it was a friendly gesture.

Thank you, she said, sliding the book across the table to herself and thumbing through the pages.

Too high of a casualty rate and too hard to learn, she said. Although she was certainly not one of those who neglected the Arcane, she understood why others did. The skills were slower to pay off than a lightsaber blade, and in the meantime while one was learning them, you were vulnerable to being killed.

And few good teachers, she added. It was the other part of the problem. As much as Arla didn't like leveraging her mother's name, she had had an excellent teacher, and it set her ahead. Even the other Sisters on Dathomir had been excellent teachers as well.

As he asked what she was looking for she pulled out the other book she had been reading as well, setting it on the table.

There's certain techniques to change one's physical shape for a time, she said, And there's a summoning for Shade Spirits. So I'm wondering if there's a way to channel the shade spirit's power into oneself, she said.

I saw mention of a "Shadow Walk" and I think that might be what it's talking about, but I don't see an incantation for it anywhere. Basically being able to transform one's own body temporarily into a smoke and shadow state, she said.

@Versok

 

[Jerex Dorn]

"That is true, teachers in these matters are hard to come by within the empire...Why, I never had a tutor for these arts myself! Alas, the ones with the knowledge tend to be very...Private about it" The old sith agreed, even though he didn't really reply about the casualty rate as he thought that was a silly reason to not partake in it. Were they not sith? Their path was already one filled with death, most often than not they would die within a few years, all of them seeking to be that exception...Why not go even a bit higher?

"I have read about a few of the form changing abilities, and I can recall those mentions of "shadow walk" in a couple of these books..." Jerex said, grasping his fingers together as he looked at the young lady in front of him "Unfortunately, the "how" of it I doubt you'll find within these walls" He added.

"Like I said, sith are very private about their knowledge and, as a result, those applications of the force that are not commonly used usually fade away, forgotten...and not readily available even in wells of knowledge such as this one" Jerex explained, it was a sad reality, but it was part of the nature of the sith, the fact that they all wanted to have an edge over each other...Why would you show your tricks to those that could backstab you in a moment?

"No, when you search for uncommon knowledge, you come here to find those mentions...And then try to find the source of them, the "how" may be lost, but the background of it may remain" He said, separating his hands before raising his index finger, putting it over what he had been shown "After that, an expedition is in order to retrieve this lost knowledge. Maybe the force user that created it left a tome somewhere? Maybe the answer is within their tomb? Maybe you'll need to fight ancient abominations for it? Each quest for knowledge is its own deadly little adventure, but quite rewarding." Jerex said.

"Of course, I'd make 100% sure that is the case, so I hope you find what you're looking for in that book!" He let this whole exposition sit for a moment, letting Arla comes to terms with what he had just said "So...shade spirits, I believe that is a shadow magick term, yes?" Jerex asked, the fixation with shadows from the ones of Dathomir he knew about and it would explain her affinity to these finer terms.

@Phoenix