Distorting reality (Saveer)

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth leaned against the wall in one of the small private training rooms that branch off from the primary chamber; he was waiting for his new pupil, Saveer. The subject would be Illusions; a craft that Zereth was the most knowledgeable of in the sith order. It would be an interesting experience, for sure. Three Zereth’s stood in a row, waiting for Saveer to show.

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Saveeradeevaravaravee walked calmly into the training room, stretching an arm across his chest as he did so. As he entered, he was not entirely surprised to see Zereth Lancer - as well as his friends, Zereth Lancer and Zereth Lancer - standing against the wall. In an earlier training session, Yurza had used a similar tactic. Dropping his arm, he nodded at each Zereth in turn.

"I'm ready. Shall we begin?"

He reached behind his head, placing his hand on the hilt of his Sith Sword. If this session was anything like Yurza's, he would be needing it very soon.

[Zereth Lancer]

The two extra images disapeared in a plume of smoke and all that remained was the real Zereth. "Yes, we will begin at once..." He trailed off, noticing Saveer's hand resting on his sword, "Oh, there will be no need for that. You can't teach the art of illusion through physical pain. This is an aspect of the mind and only the mind. Swords won't come into play unless you give me reason to." He gestured to his belt with his hand. The usual array of weaponry was gone and no where to be seen (And was infact hiding under a black tarp in one of the dark corners).

Zereth closed his eyes and recalled his training. He reached into his robes and removed from inside his robes a small bell. It had no tongue, so would not make any sound. He offered it out to his apprentice, who took it with a puzzled look on his face.

“Remember, Illusions are what we’re learning today. I want you to be able to duplicate this bell. Study it, every detail, and try to visualize that you have its twin held in your free hand."

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Saveer took the bell in hand, frowning. This was much simpler than the approach Yurza had taken - though, it may be safe to say that Yurza's training was more in the art of piercing an illusion than in actually making one. Holding up the bell, he began to study it.

He turned the bell in his hand, noting every detail - the missing tongue, the small dent near the top, the scuff along the side... Every aspect of the bell ran through his mind, even down to the taste and smell of the bell, picked up by the many receptors lining his fur. After a moment or two, he lowered the bell from his eyes, holding his free hand level with the one holding the bell.

It was a few moments before anything happened, but, finally, another bell began to flicker into view. It started more as a lump of clay, unrefined and colorless, with only the basic idea of the shape coming into view. A moment later, it began to morph, flickering in and out of view as it did so. Finally, the shape became nearly recognizable as that of the bell, but it remained, for some reason, colorless.

Reacing deeply into the Dark Side, Saveer closed his eyes, concentrating as hard as possible on recreating the bell. Finally, after several moments more, the bell had been nearly perfected.

Saveer opened his eyes, and his face lit up as he beheld his creation. He had created illusions before, but never with the amount of detail that was held within this bell.

"Zereth!"

It flickered for a moment and then disappeared.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth scratched at the stubble on his chin as he watch his new apprentice's first attempt at replicating the bell. It was marvelous, a near perfect copy. Not even Zereth had accomplished such a feat until after months of training. He was about to congratulate Saveer when the furbit, surprised by own creation, lost concentration and the illusion disappeared. Zereth resisted the urges to yell and shout, as his master had done. Instead his face remained calm.

"Concentration is the most important part of anything. One must not let their mind wander so easily. The one thing that prevents one from concentration the most is emotion. Fear, joy, anger, exuberance, doubt, surprise, they all equally disrupt one’s concentration. It is true that one’s passion is the key to connection to the darkside, but you should not let it befuddle your thinking." Yes, it was true that Zereth’s doctrine was somewhat against the sith code, but what was the code if not a simple guideline to be changed and added on by each individual.

He motioned to the bell with his hand “Try it again, only this time; clear your mind of distraction and concentrate on the task at hand.”

[Saveeradeevaravaravee]

Saveer nodded, taking everything Zereth said with perked ears. Information of any sort was valuable, and this information especially so. Holding out his hand again, he concentrated once more on reproducing the bell.

After several moments, Saveer finally held a near-exact replica in his hands. He looked to Zereth, eyes narrowed and deadly serious from the concentration involved. Zereth had seemed impressed before by Saveer's accomplishment - Saveer realized that Zereth undoubtedly thought this to be his first training in the field. On the contrary, he had learned the basics of the skill from Yurza just before leaving on his mission to Kashyyyk. Today, he was here to learn more - to go beyond.

Since his session with Yurza, Saveer had been training in illusions privately, to some extent. A large portion of his time was still devoted to maintaining his business, even though he was unable to handle most exchanges personally due to his commitment to the Order. Still, with all his effort, he had continuously hit road-blocks - he could create a near-perfect image of a small object, or a somewhat-detailed image of a larger one. He could make an object move, but at great cost to the detail included therein - his best attempt at a moving illusion had been more akin to a stick-man, colorless and completely absent of detail. It was this skill that he had come here to learn.

"Now, how do I make it move?"

He moved his hand away from its position - the bell seemed to shift in shape and color, becoming a bit distorted and turning to a shade of grey-gold as it moved through the air. The shape wavered, making the bell look akin to a ball of liquid in a zero-g environment, and a small trail of the liquid seemed to follow its movement. As its movement stopped, it continued to waver, flickering between a dim liquid and a vibrant solid for a few more minutes before again solidifying itself in his hand.

[Zereth Lancer]

"Simply picture in your mind what the bell would look like in motion, and then project the image with the force, just like a normal illusion, but with movement. If you are having difficulty with it then try moving the real bell around in your hand and then duplicate the movement in your other hand. It really is not as complex as most would think." Zereth explained in the same words his master had used, "Movement is one of the three most important parts of making an illusion real, the other two being sound and light, but we will get to those later. Now, try to move it again, but remember, picture and project. You can't just will the illusion into being, your mind has to have an image in mind to draw from."