Nobody special

[Ebon Dir]

A haggard looking man appears on the battleground. He was in insignificant looking man, with nothing to set him apart save for a scar over his left eye, and perhaps the poor look of his threadbare clothing.


Until the wind caught his cloak, and his handicap was layed bare: he had only one arm.

He spoke with a soft voice, a voice that whispered of numerous hardships and many years of hard living. He spoke simply, he spoke few words.

"I look for someone to train me in the ways of the force."

[Ebon Dir]

*ahem*

Perhaps I did not speak loudly enough, I seek someone skilled in the ways of the force. I seek those known as the Dark Jedi...."

[Aisha Klan Klan]

OOC: must not laugh at the pink lightsaber....must not laugh at the pink lightsaber....must not laugh at the pink lightsaber....

[Delirion]

From far away, through the endless stretches of space, it seems, a voice reaches out to him; a voice cracked and broken, whispering yet quite clear.

'If thou dost have a wish to seek us out, let thy emotions guide thee. For we do not let thee come unbidden - thou must prove that thou hast considered thy fate clearly.'

The voice subsided, with the same whispering that had first reached his mind. Then silence reigned again.

[Ebon Dir]

::senses that whoever just spoke to him can hear him, even though nobody is present::

Know this, I have searched for those who would consider teaching me...and for those from whom I would accept teaching. I believe the dark jedi are the ones I seek, and I will come to you if you will not come to me.

::pulling his cloak close around him, Ebon continues his search for the ones he seeks::

[Delirion]

~Bast Castle, Vjun - Delirion's Quarters~


The weak contact broke, the voices regaining once more hold over her thoughts. It had been the whispering of the stones, their never-ceasing melancholy song, which had brought her news of this man seeking to find the Dark Jedi. How they had known, how they would be able to span across space and feel the desperation of One, she did not know, could not know... would never know.

Yet she trusted them - they were support for her body, nourishment for her soul, temporary peace for her tangled thoughts. She trusted them to know of things she would never know or feel, trusted them to let her know when she was needed. As they had let her know about this man, and his search for the Dark Jedi. As they had made it possible to whisper the words of welcome to him over the emptyness of space.

They would let her know when he would come.

[Ebon Dir]

(flash forward several months)

Ebon stands on the surface of a barren planet, staring up at a lone, stark tower. A shuttle sits behind him a distance, smoking and beyond repair. He had thought he was lucky to make it from the crash alive; now, looking at the ominous clouds looming on the horizon and the utter lack of visible lifeforms, he wasn't so sure. He had searched long and hard for this place, and he hoped against all hope that this wasn't another of the countless dead ends he had met thus far.

His skin was a bit more scarred, his cloak a little more stained, but he had arrived.

And for the first time in a long time, he felt at home.

With a tired look on his face, Ebon knocks on the large, ironbound door.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

The door splits down the middle and opens. A short, ape-like being stares up at the weary travler.

The two of them regard each other for a moment, and just before Ebon Dir can utter a word, Hob speaks in a soft, yet guttural rhyme.

"Wanderer from a far-off land,
You have stumbled upon The Black Hand.
But be warned- you are expected
By those you claim you have respected.
Hob has seen you from the day
Delirion sent her voice your way.
Visions tall or visions small
Complicated, simple- Hob sees them all."

"Ebon Dir state the reason
You have sought the Black Hand this season."

The ape-dwarf slams a fist to the ground for emphasis. A noise echoes throughout the halls of the castle, dying out to complete silence.

[Ebon Dir]

::looks down at the....thing::

If you really "see it all", you know damn well why I'm here. I want to train with the dark jedi. I want to be taught in the ways of the force. I want someone to help me with these demons that cloud my mind.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob slams a closed fist into Dir's gut, causing the other to double over and gasp for breath. He then wraps a powerful fist around Dir's throat and hurls him inside the castle.

Dir scrambles to a sitting position, but Hob is already trapping him in position on the ground. Showing the obviously surprised man lying on the ground a gnarled knuckle, Hob growls.

"Hob can remove demons for you
It is simple: Hob will break you in two.
Neither thought, nor uttered word
Of disrespect to the Black Hand shall be heard.
Shall now be when Hob demonstrates
Or would you prefer to learn at slower rates?"

[Ebon Dir]

::tries to push himself up to a sitting position, struggling to regain his lost breath::

No....no, that's quite alright. You've already been quite...persuasive. I assure you, no disrespect was intended.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob reaches down and grabs Dir by the neck. Tossing the man over his shoulder, Hob encircles his waist with one arm and shrugs the newcomer's body into a settled position.

And suddenly, the Black Hand's Sight breaks into a flat out run, bounding off walls and speeding down the hallway on one knuckle and two legs.

He reaches a twisting staircase that spirals up into invisibility and stops, dropping Dir like a sack of potatoes.

"DELIRION! DELIRION!" he calls, then ambles off, leaving the newcomer alone in the dimlit central area.

[Ebon Dir]

::shaking his head to clear his senses, Ebon struggles to get his bearings::

Delerion? Could she be the one that called me?

[Delirion]

Detaching itself from the darkness of the long halls, a shadow steps forward into the light, dimly outlining the figure of a woman in a long cloak.

As Ebon Dir looked up to see what was blocking out the light so suddenly, she held out a hand, to grasp his arm, and pull him up.

When he stood, he could see her clearer, yet her face was partly hidden by the cloak's cowl. A slight smile seemed to be playing on the thin lips on her face.

"Thou must forgive our Sight - he hath not learned the ways of common courtesy. Or if he has, he doth choose not to show them too often."

She let go of his arm, her fingers slowly slipping away to hide underneath the cloak again, then she turned and walked away back into the darkness of the halls.

When her dark figure had almost dissappeared into the shadows again, she called out to him, who still stood rooted there on the same spot from which he had gotten up.

"Thou art the one I once spoke to, art thou not? Dost thou plan to stand there forever, or will'st thou follow me to meet my brothers? We have been waiting for thee. All is readied for thy arrival."

Then she was swallowed by the darkness again.

[Ebon Dir]

"We have been waiting for thee. All is readied for thy arrival." Did you hear that Ebon?

(quietly)
Of course I did, I'm not deaf. Now shut up Amon.

::Ebon turns to see the cloaked woman disappear into the darkness, her robes fading into the dim light. Following her, he quickly became lost among the many halls and passages of the keep. Stopping, lest he get even more lost, he waited for someone to find him again and lead the way::

[Delirion]

At the end of the corridor, she opened the door leading into the great hall where they would usually gather for these meetings.

Light spilled out through the door, into the dim corridor, and shone like a beacon for their visitor to see.

Delirion entered slowly, and walked over to where her brothers were standing, silently.

This was not merely the usual ceremony they would follow - this was to be the last new initiate they would accept. Their numbers had grown from only three, to the present nine, and this was already more than they had ever planned.

As they stood there waiting for Ebon Dir to reach the end of his long journey, Delirion looked from one face to another, considering what she felt towards each of her brothers - and towards her new sister.

'Rane. Lord of Nightmares. Locked away in his quarters, we have not seen much of him lately. He does not seek the company of others... much like myself. Yet, his is a solitude I would not care for.
Cloak. Lord of Deception. Jeseth is surely the most amicable, the most openly accessible one amongst us. Yet they know not what lurks behind this facade... I wonder if he does himself? The glimpse I saw of my brother's thoughts during his strange illness certainly lies heavy on my own heart - yet he lives in this strange world of his own, masking his pain with his constant workings.
Tielle. The watcher. Like Rane, I have not seen him much. He sits and meditates up in the tower. What is going on in his mind? If he has still one left... cyborg that he is.
Vos. Lord of Confusion. And that he is indeed. Yet he seems the gentlest one of us. But what do I know? No more than he let us all see.
Aren. The Purge. Brooding on death, like I do. Yet is it the same thing? He can feel death - the last seconds of each person's death as they are laid down onto the ground at his feet. What does it feel like, to die so many times in your heart, while your thoughts remain cold, distant?
Shimi. The Empire's spearhead. Considering himself no more than the best of us, doesn't he? He does not know what we know... clueless. We would all have more power over him, if we would choose to do so. Yet it serves our interest to let him serve them lies...
Hob. Our Sight. The grim-faced gatekeeper who likes to vex me and speak in verse. What does he see with those eyes?
Aiyalin. Self-styled Lordess of Lust. I cannot bring myself to like her - yet am I not simply jealous that I am no longer the queen of the castle?'

Beside her, the child stepped forward, and she felt small fingers slip between her own, to grip them.

'The child...'

Yet then it was that a shadow fell over the doorstep. Ebon Dir had arrived, had come to the end of his journey.

[Ebon Dir]

::quickly realizing that the castle was practically void of life, Ebon abandoned all hope of someone finding him, and decided to search for his mysterious greeter himself. However, this time, instead of relying on his mind, he let his feelings guide him, reaching out, leading him to the chamber.

He found it was easier than he had imagined, whoever was in the chamber had a strong presence, one that he could not have ignored even if he had wanted to. Rounding a corner, he caught a glimpse of light, burning through the darkness. He was drawn like a moth to the light, his legs bringing him forward without any command from his mind.

Entering, he was faced with 10 grim visages, the mysterious doorman, the one who had called him, along with six other men, a woman and ....a child?

Ebon realized he should do something, and dropped to one knee, bowing his head briefly before rising again. When he spoke, it came out quiet and rough due to the dryness in his throat::

Greetings, I am known as Ebon Dir. I have come, as you no doubt knew I would.

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth glanced for a moment at Hob, seeking some sign of understanding. He had no prior knowledge of Ebon's arrival, though really it mattered so little to him now... The time for it had come. Ebon was here.

"And what are you seeking, Ebon Dir?"

[Ebon Dir]

Wow, look at 'em. What a bunch of grim folk. Hey, do you remember back when my grandpa died and everyone was wearing black...

::his brow furrows with concentration, as he tries to drown out Amon's endless prattle::

I have come to you to learn of the force. I wish to learn to weild it, to perform some of the wonderous feats I have heard of it. I have come to find those that can help me cope with the voices in my head. I have to come to learn how to channel the frustration and anger I feel, to channel it into a weapon, to channel it into a tool.

[Jeseth Cloak]

"And once you have learned to wield it? Then what..?"

Jeseth continued to examine the man, his eyes tracing over the stump where there should have been an arm. He ensed the man's insecurities.

[Ebon Dir]

I will be blunt. Long ago, I dreamt of being a Jedi, of protecting the downtroden, those who have lost all they had. Now I am one of those I sought to protect. Still, I feel the need to do protect...but not as the Jedi; for peace cannot be achieved through talk, it takes conflict. But stronger than my desire to protect is my desire for revenge, revenge against those that took my life from me.

[Jeseth Cloak]

"In time, your need for revenge will be calmed. Whether it be by satisfying it, or quellining it - that shall be a different tale."

Jeseth smiled. Something he rarely allowed his dark brothers and sisters to see; It was a good sign.

"You are welcome among us, for the time being (providing the others agree with my judgement). You have no training and shall therefor begin as an initiate to our ways. If you think of betraying us, then you should also think of taking your own life; It will be far less painful then what shall befall you." He turned to the others, "Any objections? Let them be spoken - I have nothing more to say."

Jeseth walked off calmly, his mind entertaining other ideas.

[Lasitus Tielle]

It was always quite the occasion when some visitor stumbled into their abode. That munchkin at the gates weeded out the feasable entries, and, well, what happened to those rejected was not an issue.

With a squat of his powerful haunches, Lasitus bounced off of the tower and onto the roof below... From there, to the earth. He sprang forth, avoiding any acidic pools, searching for where the ship had landed.

[Ebon Dir]

::can't think of anything that needs to be said as he stares at the back of the retreating man::

Nay, I have no objections. Now, I would ask if there is a place I could rest. My journey here was long, and I am a bit sore from my....greeting at the door.

Wow, what have you gotten into, Ebon, look at those people. Have you ever seen a more glum group of people in your life

::tries to shut out the annoying voice as he waits for some directions::

[Darth Rane]

Even as he stepped forth, Darth Rane raised one clawed hand to his jaw, lightly scratching at it in contemplation. Something he had not foreseen, but it was far from detrimental. However, it proved that the Force was not completely made his slave... yet.

"You have taken the first steps towards enlightenment. Very good. Now, we will be your guides, opening doors to worlds beyond your imagination."