The Apprenticeship of Valentyn to Darth Drakul Xarxes
As Chronicled by Zyldek Nagald, Year 156 ABY
Location: The Depths of Veeshas Tuwan, Arkania
Above the chilling, unforgiving tundra of Arkania's barren lands rise the spires of the antiquitous Sith library. Far removed from civilization, long relegated to the stuff of ghost stories and superstition by the denizens of that frigid land, it has remained abandoned by the locals, inexplicably. Few beings in the past thousand years have dared tread its empty halls, preferring to make their homes out of sight of the once-great citadel.As Chronicled by Zyldek Nagald, Year 156 ABY
Location: The Depths of Veeshas Tuwan, Arkania
And rightly so, though they know not why, for even now their lofty lord absconds to his esoteric chambers to craft horrific creatures and manipulate the minds of those deemed less worthy, all while bearing forth his true face and name: Darth Drakul Xarxes, Nightfather and Jen'ari. Clad in calamitous armor, the hidden lord watches and observes from his lonely tower, or beneath it in the abyss of his own underdelve, monitoring and micromanaging the planet which he loves, ensuring its prosperity while bringing devastation to those unfit to partake in it.
Though now, and oddly to those who know him, he wears no armor, instead draped in a heavy black cloak, the hood pulled up to obscure his face. Black claws in the place of what were once fingernails gently fondle the centerpiece of the dark and otherwise-empty room in which he stands. A sphere of perfectly-polished midnight crystal sits atop a clawed pedestal, its center cloudy with vermillion waves. The Arcturian Eye, a relic crafted by numerous combined minds, acts as the lens through which he views all about his planet, and through which his vision is channeled to stars beyond Olim.
Now, however, as his digits caressed the curves of the delicate artefact, he used it for a different purpose, reaching out towards Korriban, towards the Academy, and into the mind of his Apprentice, the young Kage Valentyn.
To the refugee of Quarzite, the voice ringing in his mind would manifest as a deep, haunting tone, more droning yet smoother than the usual grating voice of his Master. "Come, Apprentice, to my home of Arkania. Come to Veeshas Tuwan, the ancient library. There I will meet you, and you shall be tested once more."
As soon as it had pierced his mind, the voice absconded, and Xarxes relinquished his hold on the Eye some parsecs away. He reached now to another mind local to Arkania, that of his Black Steward, Darth Eschaton, beckoning him to make preparations for the arrival of his ward. There was much to be done.
OOC: This shall be the writing ground for most or all of the story-substantive tasks you have, my Apprentice. We shall begin with your arrival on Korriban. Post form and length may fluctuate depending on the events playing out, so do not be worried about word count or post length terribly much. We will go a week after the start of each task here before I assign another on the Facebook group, even if we have not finished the current one on the forum, to allow for DRL obligations or multitasking being too much of an issue.
TAG: @Darth Kain