Places To Go(Baralai, Ezra, Ramoth)

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai strode down the pathways of Corellia, slipping silently into a bar. The room was dark, and there was no one else there. Exactly as Baralai had wanted it. He slid into a booth, motioning for Ezra to join him. He wrote his drink order down on a piece of paper and slid it to the bartender, remaining quiet.

"Ezra, we are about to have a very intriguing guest. He's quite the mystery, but he is essential to the work we are about to do. No matter what he says or does, don't do anything rash."

Baralai lit up a cigarette and took a puff off of it, letting a wisp of smoke curve upwards into the air. The bartender came back with his drink, and he sipped on it slowly. He was waiting for Ramoth to arrive. He was already five minutes late.

Maybe he hadn't received his note. Impossible. Baralai made sure it would reach him. He knew it had, he had felt the disturbance in the force. But where was he?

[Ramoth Ocran]

As it had happened more recently, no one noticed him as he slid past people through the crowds. He enjoyed the solitude he could achieve even in a crowd. Before, when he had been just an archeologist, people would notice him as someone to walk around or just another face in the assembly of people. But now, he was less than that to them. He was nothing. At this thought, the presence inside his head spoke up with calm indifference and a twinge of disgust in its voice.

They are Tuchakra nothings. Compared to you they are the lowest animals, the most base of creations this universe has wrought. They live their lives ignorant of the things around them, ignorant of the waves and pulses of the Mahra, ignorant of the purpose and determination that the Mahra gives us. However, until you have reached your potential, we must play by their rules. This means that the being that has called us through the Mahra cannot be tested until we are away from the Tuchakra and their petty laws.

Ramoth nodded his head in agreement with the voice. Since the incident at the tomb, the voice had become a large part of Ramoth's life and a great source of information. Even though the other presence used different names for things Ramoth knew and others he did not know, an image always followed a particular idea. For example, Tuchakra was what the other presence called Non-Force users, and Mahra was what had been called The Force by both the Jedi and Sith past. Ramoth unattentively entered a bar. Continuing to not pay attention, Ramoth even sat down in a seat across from a strange man that Ramoth noted was Force-sensitive without realising that he had arrived at his destination. Several minutes of silence ensued until Ramoth finally looked up and realised where he was. He held out his hand to the man before him and smiled.
"Hello. Ramoth Ocran, expert archeologist at your service."

[Ezra Na'chtion]

Ezra followed after Baralai like a little puppy behind it's master. It was the perfect synopsis of their relationship. He sat when Baralai sat, he drank when Baralai drank, although Ezra settled for fruit juice instead of anything alcoholic. He had sworn off the hard stuff a few years ago after several years of hard drinking mixed in with stealing and other criminal activities that he had fallen into in order to survive and feed his true obsession: reading. He listened to Baralai, a voice in his head that no one else could hear or intrude on. Talking to Baralai at this point would be odd, as everyone in the bar would see the small child talking with the mute. So he opted for being quite, and watching his suroundings. It was not long until a man sat down across from them at the same table, sitting there quite empty-like with a very blank face. Minutes flew before the man finally spoke. An Archaeologist? How did that help them? What they needed was a master of sith lore, not an archaeologist. Oh, well. He would trust Baralai on this, but he had his doubts...

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai smiled, shook his hand, and offered the man a seat. He began speaking, reaching into both Ezra and Ramoth's mind.

"Baralai Lotus, Sith Alchemist and Knight. And this is my apprentice and friend Ezra Na'chtion. I have brought you here to offer you a proposition. You see, my friend and I, we are interested in procuring a certain Sith Artifact, and given your knowledge of tombs and history, I thought you would make quite a good edition to our team."

Baralai puffed on his cigarette and motioned to the two swords Ramoth carried with him, "Long story short, I've come to ask you what you know about the location of any Sith Holocrons? Mostly those pertaining to the art of Sith Alchemy, and also if you wouldn't mind traveling along with us. I'm being concise, because, to be honest, I'm rather anxious to begin the journey."

Baralai snuffed out the cigarette and silently sipped on his drink, awaiting Ramoth's answer.

[Ramoth Ocran]

Ramoth felt the presence enter his mind and heard the words being formed there by the other person. He heard, he understood their presence, but he did not comprehend. Do not worry, I shall take care of this. Ramoth's other voice spoke to him in soothing tones trying to calm the emotional health that had been shattered by the bonding of spirits. It took much of the spirit's concentration to keep Ramoth's emotions in check when Ramoth was presented with something new and surprising about the Force, even something as simple as telepathy. Rhadamanthus pushed the fragile Ramoth to the back of their mind and took control of the body. It felt strange and he knew his time was limited, but he was determined.

To the casual observer, it would seem as though Ramoth's eyes got a little harder, his facial muscles tightened a bit more, and his face became overall a little more terrible to behold. When Ramoth spoke, the voice was also tight and controlled, betraying no emotion or feeling though seeming a bit strained. "I...too...studied Sith Lore...Sith Holocron...Adumar." Ramoth spasmed slightly before continuing, "Forest...temple. Ramoth...can find...sensitive."

Inside their mind, Rhadamanthus reliquished what little control he had obtained as Ramoth pulled himself out of his emotional instability. You are stubborn. You know that don't you? I shall help you find two Holocrons. One you may allow these...beings to have. The other, however, is our own personal Holocron and contains files specifically detailing our purpose. This Holocron can only be used by us because should the others discover its contents, they may try to destroy us...again. Do not fail the Mahra. It is our destiny.

Ramoth came out of his reverie. "I shall lead you to a place. I can feel it, even now, calling to me." Ramoth lifted his hand to his head and rubbed it. "But...in return you must begin teaching me of the Mahra...the Force. Now...where did I say we were going?"

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai stared inquisitively at Ramoth, studying his every movement. He saw that something was strange about him. Almost as though he had entered a trance. He placed his hand on his chin as he began to talk, shooting a message to Ezra alone.

"Watch him. He seem's slightly unstable. He needs to be monitored."

Baralai could feel the force waving off of Ramoth. Something was slightly odd about the boy. Though intelligent, he knew Ramoth would have to be watched closely, otherwise, he might kill both Baralai and Ezra in his unstable state.

"Tell me Ramoth, how is it that one knows the ancient name of the Force? What brought you upon this treasure of knowledge? It was only after a long time of digging through nearly dead texts that I was able to find it, and those were stowed away in the deepest of Sith Libraries." He paused for a moment, sipping his drink, and then placing it lightly back on the table. "Pardon me for being brash, but I find it hard to believe you are in full control of yourself. Speaking in broken sentences, not remembering what you had said mere moments earlier. . .you show that you may be under control of someone else. If you don't mind telling me, I'd like to know what it is that is driving you, and if it does by chance happen to be something of darker natures, I would like the oppurtunity to study and understand it, and perhaps, give you a deeper understanding."

Baralai stared at Ramoth, his eye gleaming, and the Silver Ouroboros on his eyepatch gleaming. He grinned wryly, keeping his hands neatly folded on the table, his fingers interlocked. He was keeping his composure, studying Ramoth's every move, waiting for the waves of the Force to eb over him. He knew that he could study, and discover more about Ramoth through these waves. The Force that was attached to any living being often gave up simple messages about the being. Thier emotions, thier thoughts, after all, the Force was a living thing. It was a being that assimilated with those around it, and those who used it's powers could sometimes find themselves going mad, especially in the line of Sith Alchemy, a most personal and dark art.

It was not just the Force that was manipulated in Sith Alchemy, but life itself. It was playing God, an easy enough task once pushed, but it could have severe consequences. Baralai stared at his left arm. It had once felt human too him, but lately, it had been feeling as though it was undergoing change. It was truly an odd thing, but strange things always seemed to happen when the force was around.

While merely a second passed around him, Baralai could hear his thoughts going at millions of miles per hour, each going faster and faster in his brain. He pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it up, beggining to speak to Ramoth and Ezra again.

"As for what you said, you mentioned a temple in the forests of Adumar. Strange, I can't recall reading too much about it, but if you feel it to be a lead, then I will trust your instincts. After all," he smiled, "you seem to have a very interesting connection to the Force."

[Ezra Na'chtion]

It was a strange thing to watch, the conversation taking place between the two men. Baralai with his telepathy spoke from one corner, while this... Ramoth spoke in broken sentences with words that had neither transition nor cohesion. Listening to Ramoth speak was an insult to Ezra's education and intelligence. A hundred million years ago such speech might have been acceptable, but in this day and age one would thing people could speak better then that. There was only one excuse for such speech deformity, mental illness. Speech impedements have been, for the most part, removed from the human population in general, the result of thousands of years of medical and physical treatment to heal such problems. And now this blue haired youth was talking like some pre-evolved creature that grew up in a cave and carried a club in it's hand and stuck bones through it's nose. Being around Ramoth made Ezra want to take a bath. It just felt dirty, not in the a physical way, but in a dark way that made Ezra feel incredibly uneasy. Baralai seemed to be handling the situation well, so he was going to leave it all up to him. After all, Baralai was running the show.

[Ramoth Ocran]

A dark twinkle came into Ramoth's eyes. "You want to know what drives me? You would like to know what truly drives me?" The question was incredulous as though the men before him should not be speaking to him at all without knowing the single most important thing in his life. Inside his mind, Ramoth laughed hysterically, the physical result being a wild look showing through his eyes making him seem just that more menacing. Pulses of wild Force energy were disturbed by the emotional turmoil building up within Ramoth. To anyone else, it would seem that Ramoth was about to explode though in anger or wild laughter was debatable. But almost instantaneously, a serious calm came over Ramoth as Rhadamanthus inwardly calmed the flood of emotions. Clearly Ramoth was not stable enough for Rhadamanthus to leave him in complete control for too long but taking over his entire facilities for any amount of time left Rhadamanthus' spirit weakened and his ability to keep Ramoth in check that much smaller. While Ramoth himself did not understand the full destructive potential gained through the Force, Rhadamanthus had chosen him both because of the great potential as well as the bloodlineage. "You would not find anything about a temple on Adumar. It belong to me...it...him. After the...ascension, we...he...was locked away and his rivals scored his existence from history. You...would not find but a mere mention of him in the most obscure Sith histories...precisely where I found mention of him as an entity only. It is to one of his temples, one he kept secret from even his colleagues, that we go. While Rhadamanthus himself cannot tell me where it is exactly, he can...guide my senses. I will be able to...feel the temple the closer we get. But once again, Rhadamanthus, who also wishes my training, refuses to tell you the secrets of the temple unless you promise to teach me. Be warned that the temple is made to defend against Sith Lords and without Rhadamanthus, you will die a horrible death if you try to enter it without me."

His piece said, Ramoth ordered a drink.