In reply to Mord'ore'vronaa (msg # 370):

"So, what did you think?" Lord Spectre asked as the two of you through the rows of delipated buildings, leaving the city. "Of Lord Shroud and his apprentice?"

"Lord Shroud? Something is off about him. He is like one step away from disposing your worthless life with a mild displeasure, but still asking you to cooperate. I would say arrogance, but maybe he has power to back up his attitude.

His apprentice though. I liked that she talked about Darth Marr. I am not sure if she is very cunning or very candid. She looked sincere about her desire on cooperation among Sith. Still she responded my inquiries my non-answers and was about to do same thing to Lady Sentinel until she was given a direct order"

"Lord Shroud is the most conniving soul I have ever met. Plans within plans, and doesn't abide those who get in his way. He knows that the weight of the Sith cannot be borne on his shoulders alone, and he has at least enough foresight to not want the personal grudges between me and him to ruin everything we hope to achieve."

"His apprentice member of the Final Order grants her a degree of knowledge of the heritage of the Sith Order that would rival most of the Lords. That she would know of Darth Marr is less of a surprise than her being chosen as Lord Shrouds apprentice. The two are so very dissimilar from one another. Shroud, in his younger years, was an intelligence officer, much like yourself, and this Arianna is a frontline soldier of the infantry, ready to personally bring the glory of the Sith to the galaxy, by any means necessary. One wonders how the two became intertwined"
This message was last updated by the player at 21:32, Sun 22 Aug 2021.

"How about us, master? Are we dissimilar like Lord Shroud and his apprentice. If so, you may already have an answer."

"Time will tell" She replied with a smile "For now, I do not believe so. You have a knack for questions and a thirst for knowledge. You share that in common with both me and him." She says, holding up each hand to represent her and her rival "Whereas Lord Shroud seeks knowledge as a means to power, I seek secrets and mysteries for their own sake; whatever power may be derived from them is an afterthought. It would appear that you are more alike to me than him."

As the two of you walk, you come to the end of a walkway that comes up to a large hillside. Into the hill there appears to be a structure; likely a tomb, with immense stone slab doors. Heiroglyphics and murals of the ancient Sith are carved into the surface, though time has not been kind here.

"Uncovering secrets comes with no small amount of danger. Though I know where we are, I know not what we face on the other side. To discover what noone else knows, one must go where nobody else has dared."

"I agree with your judgement, master. I've always enjoyed possessing understanding and knowledge. When I was a child I thought one day I would understand everything. It was a childish dream of mine. To universe to make sense. Alas I wasn't even aware depth of my ignorance until I meet you and Saline. Frustrating in some ways. Fascinating in another..."

Dorev dutifully followed his master. He wondered what were they about to encounter.

"But someone had came here already, hadn't they? Put these secrets here, for us to discover ages later. How much knowledge had been lost?, How much will be lost in the future? But I digress, master. If is there anything I am absolutely not supposed to do, it is good time to educate me."

"Yes, someone once knew what lay inside here, but they are long since gone." She said as she brushed her hand against the stone door, looking up and marveling at it. "There is an ancient and powerful Sith Lord buried here. Darth Haize. It was quietly whispered that he had gone mad. Imagine, what secrets he must have known, how deep into the Dark Side he must have traveled for the other Sith to call him crazy. Legend says that his crypt was built like a maze, in case he ever rose from the grave."

"Is it a thing for the Force to drive it's user to madness?" He asked remembering the voice in his mind. Was this also happening to him? Would he lose his mind as he learnt more about the force?

"Ready when you are master"

"The answer to that is relative..." She said as she placed her hands together, and slowly seperated them with great effort. as her hands moved apart, so too did the massive slab doors. The very ground beneath your feet seemed to tremble in the wake, as centuries of dust and sand was forced to move in small storms. The doors fully opened, Lord Spectre drew her lightsaber but did not ignite it, and made her way inside.

"There have been a great number of Sith that have sought to capture the entire galaxy under the might and control of the Sith Empire, and been called crazy for doing so. Some, have gotten close. Yet the Republic and those annoying psuedo pacifists of the Jedi were only too happy to expand their borders and boundaries as far as they could. Still others have scoured all possible means for the Force to extend their lives forever. Can you honestly say that desire hasn't once crossed your mind?"

The Sith Lord's voice rang as an echo through the crypt, bouncing off the empty and narrow stone corridor.

Dorev followed Lady Spectre as he draw his own weapon, small blaster.

"It would be a lie if I say no. However, I never thought I would have means to pursue such goals one day. But here I am, in an ancient ruin undisturbed for thousands of years, following a promise of knowledge.

What am I to do with such goals, now I know it is possible to reach them?

"Is it?" She said as she turned her head slightly "I know of no immortals, Jedi or Sith, and not even the twice deposed Palpatine expanded the actual size of the Empire, may the maggots get fat on his rotting corpse."

"The point is that we pursue what others want but are fearful to try. The dreams of lesser beings are goals among the Sith, and that is why we are meant to rule over them. Their constant, agonizing fear of failure and rejection broadcasts to fear of those who attempt to make real what they can only imagine."

"In short, I do not believe the Lord Haize went mad at all, but that he had become as removed from the Sith as the Sith are from non Force Sensitive beings, and was feared and hated for it."

"Perhaps my assumptions about immortality stem from my ignorance master. but impression I got was that nothing is impossible with the Force. You have given me a lot of to think about. One last question if you are willing to answer. İs there anything specific we are looking for here?"

"You are correct in that regard. Through the Force, there are no impossibilities, only unknowns and undiscovered opportunities, which is also why we are here. It was said that Darth Haize's secrets were buried with his bones. I have a suspicion that was meant literally."

"Haize is the last Sith that is confirmed to have seen or touched the greatest repository of knowledge of the Force and the Dark Side: The Emperor's Holocron."

"I want to ask how are we supposed to extract those secret from his bones. But I reckon that question is irrelevant until we find them Lady Spectre's answers were illuminating but they were causing more questions to form in his mind. What was a holocron? Who was the Emperor? He had small guesses for both questions but there would be no end of his inquiries and there were better places to ask them. So he kept his silence and waited for an order.

"The honest answer is that I do not know. I suspect we are the first people to enter this crypt since it became occupied. All I do know, is to keep your eyes and ears open..."

Make a perception check.

Following his master's command, Dorev tried to detect anything interesting.

Today: Mord'ore'vronaa rolled 20 using 1d20+8.  Perception.

In the distance you hear the sound of lit lightsabers. The hallway forks off, with the sound coming from the left corridor, but not the right.

He felt fear as he heard the lightsabers at first. But his curiosity beat his fear. It always did.

"Master, I hear sound of lightsabers coming from left. Interesting, considering we were first visiters in a long while. I would like that if we can check it.

The Sith Lord couldn't hide her smile. "Heading straight into danger for an opportunity of discovery. You will do well, apprentice. Take the lead." As she motioned with an open flat hand.

"You are right to be curious about this. No living thing that I know of could have survived so long."

"As you wish, master" said Dorev and slowly walked into left corridor. As he walked he tried to reach the force. He tried to see beyond what his eyes saw.

Today: Mord'ore'vronaa rolled 20 using 1d20+6.  Use the force.

Extending your sight beyond your physical eyes, you see the source of the sound. A group of four sentry droids, all holding lightsabers.

These things were exceedingly primitive in their design aesthetic; conserving on any part or component that wasn't strictly necessary, so that these machines could run 'forever'.

Dorev had told from Saline and his master that Force was capable countless many things. At that time, he thought he understood them, but experiencing it was much...  so much more different.

"Master I see, no, sense 4 sentry droids each wielding a single lightsaber in front of us. I suggest engaging them from distance given their loadout."

OOC: I had just realised this was my fifth successful use the force attempt. Yay me

Not all of them have been sufficient to move the dial towards fully trained so to speak, but you are doing well.

"By your leave apprentice. You're the one with the blaster." She smiled as she motioned forward, staying behind you until the distance was closed.

Declare how much distance you want to have between yourself and the droids before engaging them.

As you are first able to see them with the naked eye, they would be at a Medium Range with your blaster pistol, (41-60 "squares"), which would put you at a -5 penalty but give more time before they're on you.

If you push in to a short range, you would have a -2 penalty, within 21-40 squares.

To remove any penalty, you would need to be in less than 20 squares.

The droids move 6 squares per move action, which they can take two of if they're not attacking.

Is there anything I can use to take cover? Or is it just an empty corridor I am seeing?

"I would like to you to hide at the fork, master. I shoot one of the droids, retreat, and pull them towards you. Then you can ambush them."

It is a straight corridor, with mighty pillars all the way down, reaching from the floor to the vaulted ceilings. You estimate that they are probably half again wider than you are tall, with several feet between them. Statues can also be seen between them.


"Your logic is sound, apprentice. I will hide as appropriate. Just ensure there is a suitable distance between you and them."