Valley of the Dark Lords

The male was always ready for a good fight. He grinned and nodded, looking around. "So where should be to look for one or these animals? Perhaps inside one of the tombs?" He asked, bypassing her question entirely. He glanced further down the valley, idly wondering what was down that way. "Or should be try to get past the terentarek and continue in that direction?"

He asked her quietly, almost conspiratorially and grinned as he did so. He was ready and anxious to get in to action, his flesh shivering as dusty orange hair rippled from it before retreating back as he pushed down the urge or transformation. He finally decided to answer her question. Well, partially answer it. "Names have strong meaning...with it you gain a lot of information about a person. After we conclude this fight, if we both survive then I will tell you my name. Until then, call me Tiberius."

Avogo glanced at Tiberius for a few moments, after he told her his 'name', before diverting her attention back to the beast and her focus back upon the challenge at hand. This would be an interesting fight without The Master watching her performance and judging her every move. And now, with The Master's life force within the realm of Chaos, Avogo was free to use the skills she was taught to pave her own way in her future. When Tiberius mentioned going into one of the tombs of the Dark Lords, Avogo's eyes narrowed and an annoyed look briefly appeared upon her face. The specs of the Dark Side energy within the black wells of her eyes seemed to stared directly at the male's soul as she fixed her eyes upon the tomb of Naga Sadow. After a moment of silence, the Dark Haired Sith finally turned half-way to the male and spoke with a voice littered with distrust.
"We can search in the other tombs here, but not the tomb of Naga Sadow."

Ram watched and listened to the exchange for a few more minutes before they went silent and the man then spoke out. Come out? He was not hiding, merely watching. Nevertheless Ram stepped forward, his mind always working and thinking and judging as he went. A plan formulated and he decided to go with it as a smirk crept over his lips and he strode over to the two. It was never his intention to hide, though how the man told him to come out, without looking in his direction was interesting, taking note of the signature and all other factors involved.

As he came within a dozen or so feet, he showed his hands by letting them show out to his sides, showing that he no weapon in hand. His person was quite the opposite, with nearly half a dozen kept in various locations, though they were not of an immediate threat and he would not surprise attack. No, his mind and his force aura were all that he needed and relied on at the moment. One's mind should be all a Sith needs to emerge victorious from nearly all situations and this was especially true in the case of a man who sat on the Emperor's Dark Council of Lords, a small council at that.

"Greeting. I am Lord Diux, and contrary to your original belief, I am not spying on you, nor to I mean for you to be harmed. However, I couldn't help but overhear your intent for your being here. Tell me, what would you give for the information on where a tuk'ata may be found?" He looked to the two a brief moment before taking a few steps in stride to his right, speaking all the while."As I happen to know where you may find one, I would be willing to impart this upon you, while I also have a counter proposal. A few 'outsiders' have landed on this world, this birthplace of Sith, with a ship bearing Republic registration codes. While their presences have been hidden since they've landed, I was able to catch a glimpse as they descended from orbit and knew that they were not dark side. They are Jedi and while I do not know their specific intent, they seemed to be tracking another vessel which was not of the republic. I can only surmise that this is their attempts to mask themselves as they hunt one of my own. He had been gazing at the Tomb of Naga Sadow as he spoke, though turned now and looked the man int he eye first as he finished his statement. "Would you be willing to help me find and "deal" with these guests of ours?"

As if finished, his eyes flicked over to look the woman in the eye now. The man was clearly not of here, but she had been meditating earlier, thus indicating a deeper belief and hold on Sith values. He looked to her in interest and wonder as to whether or not she would see the Jedi hunting on Korriban for the threat that it truly was.

Ca'guuror was facing the male when the female exploded. He might be untrained in the force, but even he could feel the dark side enveloping the female and he turned back to her slowly. His own rage was building now, the animal inside himself roaring to be freed. Freed upon the female who threatened him like some insignificant cub. Freed to sink its fangs in to her flesh and rip and tear, before finally feasting upon the entrails of the aggressor. His entire body trembled as the animal came forth, threatening to over power his mind.

His body was trembling, flesh shivering like a horse would to dislodge annoying flies. Inch long fur grew from his pores across his exposed arms, neck, and ears. His ears sprouted out and upwards, becoming pointed with tufts of fur upon the pointed tips. A deep, rumbling snarl built with in his chest, erupting past lips pulled back exposing teeth elongating in to wicked sharp fangs designed to rip flesh from bones. His face was elongating in to a muzzle and his nose flattening. His hands flexed inside their shuk'orok, wanting to he free to unsheathe three inch long claws that would shred through durasteel like so much paper.

As the male was changing, his only known force power did a well. An alpha predator, his mind was animalistic and reached out touching the minds of creatures small and near before finally latching upon the biggest, most violent minded creature nearby; the terentatek he had seen earlier. His mind attacked the mind of the terentatek, luring it with temptations of force sensitive blood which was the beasts favored form of nourishment. The monster roared, and came forth from down the Valley. The deadly beast bellowed, approaching the group wanting it's promised meal and ready to attack somebody to achieve its single minded purpose.

Tridra, riding upon the shoulders of his master began hissing violently, the two flaps of skin upon either side of each of his heads extending sensing his master's anger and sudden change. His head swayed, three fanged maws opening and closing in a threatening display. His fangs where coated in a paralyzing poison that although wouldn't kill would leave a even a human paralyzed and opened to attack. However the three headed serpent didn't strike, having been trained to do so only if ordered to or Ca'guuror was unable to give the order. However the three heads remained alert, ready to strike in a rapid fire manner at the female.

Inside Ca'guuror's mind a voice was speaking to him. Not a hallucination, or a manifestation of the Force but a memory. A memory of his adoptive Mandalorian father, who had rescued him not only from the wild but also from himself. A single phrase that he had spoke, time and time again to the young male in an attempt to help train the boy to control his animalistic urges. Now this voice spoke softly in the back of the transforming male's mind.

~You are the animal. The animal is not you. ~

As quickly as it had come, Ca'guuror pushed the animal down, taking control of his body. The fur retreated back in to his flesh leaving just a fine, tan down like coating upon him. His face retreated backwards, shortening and becoming fully human again as his ears slipped downwards and resumed a more curved instead of pointed look. His hands slowly relaxed their grip upon themselves and the male took a deep breath. Reaching up, he stroked the back of the center head of Tridra, trying to calm his pet as well as he slowly smiled to the female. However the hulking armored form of the terentatek behind himself remained, huffing and rumbling, shifting its incredible weight from side to side. His lips parted, and he response to the female's question was soft and lower but carried no tone of threat. Instead it was full of vagueness, and mystery.

"I...am me."

Had it been much more further then he anticipated? Revlan recalled the sight of the old statues from Krayt to Ragnos in the fair distance standing outside the ruined ship , the dead Sith would soon be in the stomach of a hungry beast wandering out there in the Valley. So much for greatness. There was much potential to the title of Inquisitor. His lips had flaked and bled, his wounds of torture would only burn so much more in the heat upon him. His brow, random fingers twitched as he strained his weary state to the point that exceeds exhaustion and he stumbled but caught himself from falling. He looked up with his bloodshot blue eyes and glared at the ever so distant dreshdae reflecting in the daylight like a beacon but it was the exhaustion that would take him first as he fell to his knee's then hit the dirt becoming motionless. 

The dry feeling of the the dirt made his hand cringe, his skin had splintered. Suddenly he heard the sounds of gravel being crushed under the weight of a near by being, somewhere near by someone had spotted Revlan. His ears rung with a high pitch frequency and his head ached by this sound and everything seemed a lot more brighter then it had originally seemed. The footsteps stopped and Revlan felt the boot of this stranger press up against his side. Oi, you alive?! He turned his head, making a weary glance up towards the man but the light blocked his face out. 

The man noticed Revlan was weak, vulnerable. He could kill him here and take his belongings that had fallen off Revlan including his lightsaber which the man quickly snatched before Revlan had a chance to ignite it. I'll get a few good credits for this I will.. He said then laughed. 

Revlan heard him laughed as he begun to scavenge about the area, he had been kneeling down with Revlans weapon clipped onto his belt. He would not die here like this and have some low life scum do this, so he reached out. His hate had turned into something much more, and so the power of the dark side had bent to his will when suddenly the hilt ignited the blade directly threw the mans body. Revlan felt the power surge threw his body, giving him enough energy to get himself back on his feet. He yanked the hilt from off his belt, even found fifty credits on the man. He caught his breath then continued towards some sort of civilization.

The Valley of the Dark Lords was as desolate and as unforgiving as Rutil Iorek had expected it to be, even to those that had claimed it as their final resting place.  Once a place sacred to those that worshiped the power of the dark side of the Force, it had fallen into ruin and disrepair over the centuries, occasionally being used as a training ground for those enraptured by promises of power and prestige among themselves and the galaxy as a whole.  But while the grizzled Zabrak standing on the bridge of the CR90 corvette landing almost directly in the valley proper had not expected the Sith to be sentimental, he had expected some level of respect for those the Sith claimed to be the best their alleged order had ever produced.  For all their talk of their ancient traditions and how mighty their forefathers were, seeing the final resting place of their most honored members left their claims sounding as empty as their souls.

So far as Rutil was concerned, it was yet another vindication of everything he believed about the dark side, and why its practitioners should be put as far down as he could send them.

The soldiers under his command were already making ready for their missions when the Jedi stepped off of the ship, and the saffron cloak he wore made him almost indistinguishable from the rusty-colored sand and stone that made up the infamous Valley of the Dark Lords.  It was even less impressive in person.  Taking long strides towards what must have been some grouping of statues, Rutil saw little more than tall stones sticking out of the ground with only spacing and a general grid pattern to tell an observer that there had been any significance to them.  His jade eyes looked to the sides of the valley, where caustic winds had wiped away much of the engraving of tombs that had been carved directly into the rock, with only a door at the bottom of each tomb and an unnatural smoothness to the valley walls above them to betray their true nature.  And at the end of the valley, relatively untouched by the ravages of time and the indifference of its hosts, the pyramid of the Sith Academy stood as the ultimate testament to the final fate of every Sith Lord.  It was taller than the surrounding tombs, smoother than the valley stone, and it was clearly meant to be the centerpiece of the valley, but even it had not managed to avoid abandonment and disuse, falling into disrepair and saved from total ravishment solely by its comparatively recent use.

The Spearhead's floodlights illuminated the valley, and soldiers set up small light fixtures near the openings of each of the valley's tombs, ready to flood each entrance with blinding light and illuminate the way for whatever team was designated to make entry.  And while the men hustled this way and that, their Jedi commander stood as still and as silent as the former statues in the courtyard, his eyes not once leaving the pyramid at the valley's end.  His silence and stillness was broken only when the ship's captain, Marris, approached him.

"Excuse me, sir," Captain Marris began, "do you have a moment?"

"I have one moment, Captain," Rutil responded in his usual abrasive, gravelly-voiced manner, "don't waste it."

"Sir, some of the men are worried.  More worried than I've ever seen them, in fact, and some of us went through basic training together.  At first I thought it was merely nerves, that you might be sending us on a suicide mission, but their worries have only compounded since we reached orbit.  And...I'll admit, my knowledge of the Force is limited despite our duty posting, but..." Marris paused, trying to find the words that would leave him sounding halfway competent, "...Master Jedi, is something on the planet at work here?"

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

The grizzled Zabrak slowly rounded on Captain Marris, barely-concealed contempt shooting forward from his jaded green eyes, boring into the captain's very being as he thought of the many ways he could chastise the man.  He and his men were scared?  Of a few rocks and some blowing wind?  This was the elite fighting force of Felucia?  Whatever enthusiasm Rutil had gathered for the mission vaporized as the person acting as his lieutenant showed his true colors.  Nevertheless, it was a fair question.  Ignorant - especially from a man that answered to Master Calmcacil - but fair.  Perhaps answering it would quell his cowardice, and when it trickled down to the men, they would be able to not royally botch their mission.

"The planet is at work here, Captain," Rutil finally said, his voice as cold as the coming night, "the very planet.  The Force can be warped.  Twisted.  And if done for long enough, and consistently enough, it can leave an imprint on a place that cannot be undone.  But that's all it is.  All you and your men feel right now is the shadow of the Sith perverting the Force for their own ends.  Anything that could pose a threat here is long dead, or long since removed.  Feel better?"

"I...uh, well..."

"It doesn't matter," the Jedi abruptly interrupted, "you're here to complete a mission, and we won't be leaving until it's done.  Get on it, Captain."