The Marsh Monsters

[Gerard Demici]

As he made his way through the muddy grounds, Gerard Demici had to remind himself several times of the purpose of his visit on Abraxin. A woman of course, what other reason could there be for a man to abandon the confort of his tranquil life and venture forth in this hell. Ancient trees loomed out of the murky water. Their brittle bark was weathered and pitted, scored by the marks of nature, but they had stood the test of time and won. Few dared journey this deep into the glen: only the very foolish or the very brave.

The utter silence was broken only by the buzzing of the numerous insects and the sound of the man as he made his way through the waters. Here and there clumps of moss clung desperately, filling the moist air with the scent of decay. The moon painted in the sky just added to the colours disappearing into the night slowly cascading away as the sun finished setting. The woman the man was looking for was not his lover by any means, for he had vowed to devote his life not to the love of the one, but the many. He was a Jedi Knight and the woman he sought had once been his pupil. They had shared a bond as close as could be allowed by the Jedi Order, but she was gone now. Some said she had perished on Ilum, but he knew better. He had trained her to be better.

Absent minded, distracted, his thoughts were not his own, but he didn't feel in danger. To his knowledge he would be safe, unless he was attacked by the clouds of overgrown bugs or the mats of algae that had both been nourished by the mineral soil of the tenebrous lakes. Overconfidence was often a Jedi Knight's greatest fault and it could have costed Gerard Demici his life that day.

As he trod lightly, trying to make as little contact with the mud as possible, the swamp itself tried to engulf him. It had hands and legs and two glowing red eyes, but was covered by the same herbaceous plants that rested upon the wetlands. The fiend moved even closer, the light of the full moon vanished and the Jedi Knight was casted in shadow. Was this really how his tale would end?

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

Despite swearing never to end up in another swamp or forest again, here she was. Alais was beyond irritated, but her constant misadventures taking place in forests ensured she knew how to get around them….maybe. The young Knight was swatting away at errant mosquitos and flies. She was sure she stepped in something that had to be poodoo of some sort as her feet now smelled awful.

Alais was on a mission to find a slaving operation in the jungles. The group had receded to the confines of the forest to escape any local authorities. They were planning to export the slaves as soon as possible to hide the operation so time was of the essence. As Alais began to look for the perpetrators, it only took an hour of searching before she realized she was horribly lost.

She had to rely on sensing for any life forms through the Force, and even then, that didn’t reveal anyone near her. As nightfall came, she began to get hungry, her stomach growling loud to where she was sure it would attract some scary forest creatures. To make matters worse, she still didn’t have a saber after losing it. She had a makeshift staff (actually a walking stick belonging to some poor old Jedi that she unknowingly nabbed) for a weapon and a small blaster she barely knew how to shoot.

For attire, she was only adorned in traditional Jedi robes, the hems of which were already torn thanks to traversing through thorny bushes. After a while of wandering around aimlessly, she began to sense another presence nearby. She couldn’t identify whether it was someone good or bad, but they appeared to be distressed.

After rushing towards the noise, Alais stepped into yet another swamp. She was about to turn the other way when she saw two eyes and weird limbs protruding from the same texture that made up the swamp. Alais’ eyes widened in horror, and here she had thought she had seen the weirdest things in a forest. She was about to turn and leave when she heard someone struggling with the creature.

Alais waded into the swamp and she could see it was a man that was fighting against it, “Hold on!” She quickly moved in to help before she remembered protocol. What if this was an Exile or one of the slavers himself? Alais paused for a moment, “STATE YOUR NAME AND AFFILIATION!” She felt ridiculous doing this when the man was clearly flailing around and trying not to get killed.

After a moment, she simply groaned and applied a harsh Force push to the side of the goopy creature. It worked to surprise it, shoving it back temporarily to give the man just the slightest window to scramble back.

@Aberforth

 

[Gerard Demici]

For an instant, the Marsh haunt appeared to have been slightly pushed away from the Jedi Knight. It wouldn’t last, but Gerard Demici had now been stripped of any options he might have had in regard to how he could have hoped to handle problem before him. He unhitched the hilt of his lightsaber from his cincture and, having grabbed it with his right hand, ignited its soft blue blade angling it to the ground. It lighted up the small alcove where the red-eyed creature and the man were now facing each other and the latter could now distinguish the silhouette of the girl he thought had shouted at him and who would be responsible of what would ensue. At least, he would hold her accountable.

His feet parted, his knees flexed slightly and his lightsaber was raised above his shoulder. Moving back, his elbow was now flexed at a thirty-degree angle as the lightsaber blade was now parallel to the ground and pointed at the monster. It wheezed and growled, but ultimately launched an assault. Having adopted a defensive stance, the Jedi Knight was deftly able to slice one of its limbs. The barely dissociable shapes of the beast under its foliage made it impossible to tell which, but if he had had to guess he would have opted for its superior left member. The creature backed away, but sustained its glare; its bright eyes fixed on the man who revolved to address the girl.

"Oh dear, was it absolutely necessary for you to be so loud? And that Force push, what’s up with that?" he inquired admonitorily. She had to have been a member of the Jedi Order. She could have been a Jedi Exile, if not for her austere appearance and her vacuous request for him to identify himself. Anyone with half a brain ought to have known better: what good did she expect to come of it hic et nunc? Still, if she was a Jedi Knight, she couldn’t have been for very long: an experienced follower of the light side would not have resorted to violence. The situation was bound to escalate.

"I am Jedi Knight Gerard Demici. And you, young one, might have gotten us in more trouble than you bargained for." Even as he concluded his sentence, he used the Force to probe the surrounding areas. He could feel the unrest beyond the tree line. Marsh haunts always hunted in packs…

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

Alais was immediately annoyed at the snarky greeting she received from this ungrateful twit, “Excuuuse me! I happen to be trying to rescue you, you jerk!” She was already half deep in the swamp and deeply regretting her choices. As he introduced himself as a Jedi, she inwardly sighed in relief. Normally her bad luck usually put her face to face with people that wanted to kill her.

The swamp creature was none too thrilled at not only having a limb chopped off, but now it was being ignored. The beast seemingly receded back from the attack, allowing the little haughty exchange to take place. However, it was simply changing its tactic as it sank deeper into the swamp. Instead of lashing out overtly, the creature began to pool around Gerard and engulf him from all sides.

As the forest creatures within the trees began to chirp behind Alais, the swamp beast attempted to coil around Gerard’s legs and yank him down below the murky water. If it succeeded, he would have a difficult time trying to come up again. Alais felt uneasy, unable to see what the creature was doing. She simply saw some movement rippling towards the Jedi that momentarily shifted his attention to her, “Look out!”

Meanwhile, she heard some splashing nearby, glancing to the side right as a strange creature rose up from the depths. Alais screamed as she backpedaled away from it, the serpent-like creature extending its long neck to snap its jaws at her. It missed her by a few inches, but she managed to get her blaster and shoot it. The creature was already reeling back and her shot tore into the side of its neck, only managing to anger it even more, “You wouldn’t happen to have an extra lightsaber, would you?!” Alais cried out to this Gerard fellow who was most likely dealing with staying alive as well.

@Aberforth

 

[Gerard Demici]

Having experienced a feint relief, Gerard Demici was suddenly overtaken by a vivid panic, for he was soon surrounded by the fiend whose appendages were lashing at his legs and wrenching him down. Reacting on instincts he thrusted his lightsaber where he imagined the core of the creature rested and reached for the Force to push hard against the ground bellow him and propel himself out of the creature’s reach. Though Jedi were taught to value the life of all beings just as much as their own, the Jedi Guardian was ultimately unable to overcome his primal urges and willed the Marsh haunt to die. It emitted an anguished shriek that echoed the severance of its connection to the Force.

It was not until gravity exercised its pull and the Jedi Knight regained his footing, landing a short distance away from his initial position, that he grasped the toll the rupture of his commitment to passivity had required of his constitution. Neither his body, nor his soul were now in balance. He was grateful for the adrenaline still rushing through his veins, the only thing that would guard him against the dangers yet to come. The situation was dire as a Dragonsnake was showing signs of aggression toward his companion who was seemingly only armed with a blaster because she requested a more noble weapon. "Do I have an extra lightsaber? Exactly what kind of Jedi are you?" he retorted exasperated.

The restlessness of the groves that had only intensified following the rattle caused by the two humans and the aggressively of the reptilian creature would prove too much for the Jedi Knights to handle. "This is pointless. We cannot fight the things one after the others," Gerard Demici explained to his impromptu comrade who was vying for her life. Nevertheless, he began to study the irate saurian alert for any weakness it might exhibit as it rose high above the waters preparing to swallow Alais whole. Serendipitously, Gerard Demici remembered that, while the scales of the Dragonsnake were durable, its internal cavities were not. "Its insides are not as invulnerable. Shoot it through the palate if we have a chance."

@Sreeya