Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 1, 2023 10:16:44 GMT -8
Kr'Naan sniffed the broth she had been handed hesitantly. It was of little surprise the Tusken seemed to doubt the food, as up until recently she had displayed much the same behavior in the confines aboard the Mossflower. Which made it even stranger when after getting a good whiff of the broth she began to drink it. It seemed her demeanor had changed a good deal since spending time with Snowfang down in the ice tunnels. When the roasted pig was beginning to be passed around, the appetite of the developing youngling was put on full display as when Kr'Naan was given a portion of pigflesh she like a wild animal. Not that Endor would necessarily be that keen on table manners himself, but Endor something still seemed off about how the child voraciously devoured the food given to her. What made her trust the food given to her by those she had denounced as demonically transformed heretics? Regardless of the reason, her manners must surely be the fault of his foul offspring. There was no way Tuskens ate like that normally.Kr'Naan's face would sour as Grimfang leaned in to jest about Icetooth to her, not returning the laughter of those around her. Wiping her greasy mouth on her sleeve and standing up, Kr'Naan would begin to pace around the fire, stopping opposite of Endor. Her dark eyes aglow with dancing firelight she would look over those immediately around the campfire. "I think it's time for a good story. And I have just the one. My Grandfather used to tell it to me, when I was little." Kr'Naan offered an explanation and an apology. "He was my tribe's Storyteller, a very important job. I am nowhere near as good as he was, but I think the meaning of the story is more important than just the words. I do not have his story powder either. I will do my best, though."Oh boy, here we go. For better or worse it seemed the prospect of a story had garnered the attention of the snowoks nearby who were hungry for some entertainment. There were those already sat around the fire with Endor and Kr'Naan, but a few more moved in close as the story weaving sand child prepared herself to begin."It started after the mighty Twin Suns of my home had birthed the Universe. They created all that exists or is to exist, even their own demise." Kr'Naan wished she had the powder her grandfather used to blow into fires to change colors at this point, but she continued without it. "For everything there is an end and even the divine power of the Suns could not avoid that fact when they created existence. Having created their own doom, they were well aware of where it would come from; one of their own children!" Kr'Naan paused for effect. "They knew that the lover of their daughter moon Chenini would be their end, so they cast out their daughter to walk a long path, to be alone in the cold vastness between the stars. There she would travel far from their light and warmth, nor the warmth of a paramour. Only returning occasionally." Kr'Naan would let that sink in before continuing."Eventually, the Suns had an idea to circumvent their destiny. They would wed their daughter to another of their choosing, eluding their predetermined demise and ensuring themselves and creation would continue for all eternity. But there was a problem." Kr'Naan feigned shock. "For when the daughter moon Chenini returned next she brought with her someone else!" Kr'Naan smirked as she heard a few gasps. By now some of the snowoks had left, but more had joined the story circle around the fire. Everyone enjoyed a good story."A far flung lover that the Suns recognized immediately as their own created destruction. But Chenini's lover had no ill intention to any in his heart. So when he was met with scorn and hatred both he and Chenini were confused. They were in love. Should the Suns not be happy for them?" Kr'Naan looked over the gathered crowd and at the moment of climax raised her voice. "Before he could leave the Suns struck him from the heavens and imprisoned him. Chenini pleaded with the Suns, but they would not listen to her words." There were a few murmurs amongst the snowoks as Kr'Naan paused once more. "For eons they tortured and tormented their prisoner, stripping him of his divinity and separating him from his divine flesh, scattering his soul throughout the stars. Just as they had created all existence, in him they made a hatred for all he had known or loved."Kr'Naan stood straight, glowering over Endor and the snowoks. "For in their foolishness and haste they did not realize that in the beginning they had only created the potential for their own end. With their actions they released that potential and created the Feaster, the dark serpent beneath the dunes, the unborn god Hakusar! Travelling through the Galaxy with a fate to devour all of creation!" Kr'Naan raised her arms up over the flames, calling out to the heavens. What followed was certainly not part of her grandfather's story, but instead her own religious revelations and ramblings. "Even now he searches for a means to be reunited with his celestial form!" Kr'Naan's black eyes seemed to shine even brighter as she continued her garrulous jabbering. "I have travelled with Hakusar and I have seen it! A great eye burning in the black void between our realm and that of the gods! It calls to its owner to be made whole! The faithful shall be rewarded when he remakes all of existence with the devouring of this one!"There were a few more murmurs among the crowd, though few seemed to like the ending of the story now that it had turned into a religious sermon, given the tribe's general attitude about the old ways since Grimfang had been in charge. Kr'Naan waved a hand to draw attention back to herself before continuing. "I have revelation, given to me by His foresight! Atop the mountain, a sign of proof that the Old Ways were right. You have not been abandoned. You were put here to multiply and be found, to be brought into the fold to serve His plan when the time came. We shall see where you stand when faced with divine providence!"Kr'Naan's shimmering black eyes slowly looked over the hushed audience before setting her mad gaze on Endor. She still spoke to all who had gathered, but her eyes remained locked on the druid general. "And those of you who still refuse to accept the truth shall be consumed with all the other non-believers. I advice you to think hard on your eternity."A similar self--satisfied smile appeared on her as she finished the tale. Walking over and getting herself another helping of the roast pig she would go back by Endor and continued eating. The Tusken youngling would look over and curiously ask Endor a question. "What did you think of my story?"
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
"No man is good enough to be another's master."
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Post by Endor on Jun 2, 2023 6:38:52 GMT -8
As Kr'Naan recounted her campfire tale of tusken lore, whose sliver of truth had likely been perverted by her own experience with the General's dark progeny, the hairy rebel buried his face in his hands. His ears had turned beet red, his embarrassment mounting as he waited for her to finish. Even though he didn't particularly like what she was saying, nor did he wish these gentle furry folk of the snow to become influenced by any warped suggestion the Sand Child might express, he still had no intention of interfering. Foolishly, he had given her permission to preach already and did not wish to go back on his word, even though he was now regretting telling her as much. On the other side of the fire, Grimfang's face twisted into a deep disapproving scowl as he listened to the shorter of his two guest speak, occasionally turning his fiercely irritated eyes at Endor as though to say, 'what the hell, man'. However, the chief was polite enough not to stop Naan mid-speech. He waited for her to finish and sit back down beside the bearded rebel boss."Laid it on a bit thick..." He looked up from his hands at her. "...don't you think? Did your grandfather really tell you that story? You didn't, mmmm, embellish at all?" He suspected some of her story might have indeed come from her people, this grandfather to whom she seemed to hold a special regard for, but there was much that seemed the product of a child's imagination. He wondered how many of those lies Dragus had fed into her mind. He turned his face away as his teeth grit in a moment of restrained anger, though he quickly swallowed it down and turned back, curious but kind in his expression."No." ! All eyes in the gloomy fire lit den of the Lost Tribe turned towards Chief Grimfang, who had risen at the end of Kr'Naan's story, taking her place in front of the fire after she had returned to her seat beside Endor. One didn't need the Force to sense the raw aggression radiating off the battle scarred chieftain, his chalk white fur crisscrossed with ugly ragged lines, with missing patches revealing thick corded muscle that could probably match one of the base's wampa occupants in an arm wrestling competition. A set of mirrored aviators appeared in the snowoks claw tipped paws, a relic from the building's past occupants, which the chief slid over his feral red eyes that gleamed with savage intensity. A rhythmic chipping could be heard as the snowoks gathered around the fire tapped on the ground with spear butts and crudely carved knife blades, creating a steady beat as their ferocious leader took centre stage. He unslung a gnarly looking vibro-axe that had been strapped to his back, its edge imperfect and its battery long since dead. The handle was wrapped in dragon-slug scale that had belonged to the same creature the Lost Tribe had slain when Grimfang had first pried free the ancient weapon that had been trapped in the beast's massive jaws. Every member of the tribe was familiar with Krakenmaw.Grimfang thrust the handle down, driving it hard enough into the ground to send splinters spiderwebbing through the cold ice floor. He rested his paws atop either side of its twin blades, his badge of office serving to remind his people why they followed him. Canine teeth protruded from his fat lips, quivering in barely restrained ferocity. Steam puffed in a fading cloud from his charcoal black nose, dispelling in front of his stylish shades. Each member of the tribe saw their own reflection in those reflective lenses."Old ways bring only misery and death. Old ways led to endless wars with the skel, cause great suffering to tribe, lost many snowoks. Feaster evil, not worthy of worship. Snowoks must trust in own strength." He turned his horned head until his hidden eyes were locked on Icetooth and his son Snowfang, who were seated together in one dark corner of the room. The other snowoks followed his stare, also looking at the pair. "Whitebeard nearly lead Tribe to doom with practice of blood magic he learned in forbidden caves. That why shamans no longer allowed to use. Not safe. It why Icetooth and my son use safer ice magics given to us by Mother Hoth." That last part had garnered Endor's attention. Forbidden caves? With one bulging fur covered arm, the chief hoisted the comically large axe in his paws, smacking the haft into his palm. "Tribe leave for mountain come morning. Travel in Gorax. We see for selves what up there, doom prophecy..." His attention turned from Icetooth and Snowfang to Endor and Kr'Naan. "...or glowing blue rock. Either way, snowoks face whatever there." His lip curled in clear disapproval of Naan. "As warriors. Not servants."A raucous chorus erupted from the tribe as Grimfang finished his speech, returning Krakenmaw to his backside and picking up a drinking horn overflowing with fermented tauntaun milk. He raised it above the flicking orange licks of the campfire before bringing it to his lips and taking a deep draught of primitive liquor. Where Kr'Naan's speech had brought about superstitious worry in the tribe, Grimfang's works awoke the warrior spirit of these hunter-gatherers."Maybe we should just get some rest, Naan." Suggested Endor, still wilting every time the chief looked in their direction. He was certain Grimfang was going to give him an earful about this later.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 2, 2023 9:20:21 GMT -8
Kr'Naan snorted and rolled her eyes at Endor's disbelief of the story. "I am sure if my grandfather were here he would have been much more convincing. He was much better with the ways of words." Kr'Naan's face scrunched up a bit at the notion she had embellished the story, but relented slightly. "Except for the ending parts about my own experiences, it was very much the same story. At least, as close as I could remember..." There was a tinge of sadness in the sand child's voice, her eyes staring past Endor for a moment before being brought back to the present as Grimfang took center stage before the gathered snowoks.
Kr'Naan's face grew fierce with barely contained anger as the snowok proceeded to tear down the story she had told and dissuade all from paying it any mind. If looks could kill, the snowok chieftain would have keeled over then and there. Kr'Naan started to stand up only to have Endor grab her by the shoulder in an attempt to hold her down. Jerking herself from the man's grasp, the dogmatic desert dweller barked back harshly with fire in her eyes. "If you had actually listened you would know that the only doom is to those who do not follow the Unborn God!" Again Endor tried to tug the fanatical sand fury back down to quiet her, but she jerked away once more. "We shall see, but know I will enjoy watching you fall to your knees when you witness His power!" Let alone the amount of disrespect in the tone of the disciple of the dunes, she had basically all but challenged Grimfang with her words. A nervous silence fell over the gathered snowoks, but Grimfang seemed to pay the sand child with little more than an unworried dismissive huff. To him, she was little more than a crazy child. Kr'Naan had no idea how lucky she was to have stood up to the snowok chieftain in such a way and gotten away with it. To Endor however, she was a huge embarrassment. Finally Kr'Naan sat back down on the fur next to Endor, looking over at the abashed bystander. "I think that went well." Spoken with almost no self-awareness of the situation.
Kr'Naan caught a look from Snowfang, who motioned with his head to a more discreet place, but Kr'Naan turned and pointed her head at Endor, indicating that it would have to wait until she could get away from the druid Jedi. Kr'Naan turned abruptly back to Endor to keep his attention. "I would hope you have questions about my story. If I can offer any answers so they might get you to see the error of your ways, I will do my best." Kr'Naan smiled as if she were talking to someone of lower intelligence, placing a hand on the man's arm. "Maybe if I go over it all again, that might help you understand?" Kr'Naan continued to talk down to Endor matter-of-factly, as if he were the child. "You did save me out on the ice, so I am only trying to help save you. We are talking about your eternal soul, after all. I am sure you will be forgiven for your sins. All you must do is renounce your evil ways and accept Him into your heart." Kr'Naan's eyes glimmered with hopeful expectation at Endor as she looked him in the eyes pleadingly.
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
"No man is good enough to be another's master."
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Post by Endor on Jun 4, 2023 5:36:27 GMT -8
Endor's reply was a raspberry horn blowing from his backside as the roast hog and fermented milk made itself known in terrible fury, practically filling the cave with its heady methane aroma, potent enough to choke a hutt as it finished vibrating the ground. Removing the pipe from the corner of his lips, the General dumped the ashes into the fire and returned the object to his coat, then picked up the bundle of furs he'd been provided and started laying it out next to the fire. He talked to Naan as he prepared his bed roll, doing his best to provide the attention she seemed to crave, if only to become the target of her proselytizing rather than subject the Lost Tribe to further outbursts of misguided religious fervor."I've got a couple, actually." He patted down the pelt, smoothing it across the frigid floor to create a base layer to lay upon. "What if the twin suns were right? You said they were aware they had created their own doom, and that it would come from their own daughter Chenini. That being the case, why not destroy her? That would be the simplest solution, no? Instead you said they cast her out. It sounds as though they didn't wish her ill will, perhaps they felt a bit of parental love. Perhaps they knew something about this Hakusar that Chenini didn't." He shrugged, then scooted his butt onto the laid out fur and began to take his boots off. A condensed pungent funk of sweaty feet rolled out of either boot, withering the fire as the General placed them beside it. "I'm not saying what they did was right, but there is more than one side to any story, Naan. It sounds like your grandfather got the Feaster's version. I'd be interested to hear what the twin suns have to say about this...dark serpent beneath the dunes. Even in your own tale, the way he is described as some terrible thing destined to devour all creation, except for the faithful. He sounds...evil."Using his supply pack as a pillow, Endor got comfortable on the fur and pulled a second pelt overtop of his still clothed form, locking in as much heat as he could, which was made easier by his proximity to the fire. From his place on the ground he leaned towards it, grabbing a log from the pile beside it before adding more fuel to the fire. It had a nice bed of coals so by this point so anything added to it now burned rather easily. He then tucked his arms under the covers and laid on his back, looking up at the ceiling."Is he evil, Naan? You've met him, spent a great deal of time with him presumably. Was Dragus benevolent? Were the victims of his hunger thus far deserving of their fate? I only ask because what you've described I've heard before...perhaps not exactly the same, certainly your version is more tailored to Tatooine, but it is a fable with roots in many different societies. My people have a similar story. In my culture the dark entity threatening all creation was known as the Night Spirit, an evil demon whose main goal was to steal the Sunstar from the ewoks and use its power to raise an army of evil spirits. Sound familiar? In ewok lore the Night Spirit even has an army of mantigrues." He stopped, thinking how best to explain. He turned his head and looked at her. "Dragons."He turned back towards the ceiling and closed his eyes. His nostrils flared as he breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, blowing the end of his beard after each exhalation of smoky breath."I appreciate that you are trying to save all of our eternal souls, Naan. It's a noble goal." No sarcasm, he actually did mean that. "Clearly you care about others, which is a good quality to have. We could use more of that in the Rebellion actually. But the message you are preaching, worship the Hakusar or be eaten, it doesn't sound like the pure actions of a benevolent god. I'll admit, there are a few people in this galaxy I wouldn't bat an eye over being eaten, but there are a lot of good people as well. Maybe you've met some of them. If they don't worship your god, he'll eat them too, right? Do they deserve that?" His breathing deepened, becoming heavier. Endor let out a loud exaggerated yawn, his eyes still closed. "I'm just a simple woodsman, Naan, so maybe I just don't understand. Alright, well that part might have been sarcastic. "But when my people encounter evil, they fight it, they don't join it. So explain it to me, kid. Don't worry, I'm listening. I'm just resting my eyes." Yawn.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 5, 2023 13:09:00 GMT -8
Kr'Naan seemed to have little reaction to the flatus expelled from the man's rear, as she had smelled many things worse than whatever it was in Endor's intestines. However, without the facial cover of her mask and headwear it could be seen that her eyes began to water slightly, even as she tried to remain as stoic as possible. Kr'Naan did flinch as Endor spoke of her grandfather in what she took as an insult. "A Storyteller's job is to remember the histories of my people, as they actually happened. How he told it to me is how it happened." Still a child and very naïve in her understanding of the Universe due to her tribal upbringing, the fact that over millennia the story could have changed or been altered in any way as well as her faith in her grandfather being, of course, too great to allow any believed besmirch on his memory. Kr'Naan repeated herself as Endor opened his mouth, cutting him off with a sharp look and a stern tone. "If that is what he said happened, that is what happened."
Kr'Naan shook her head at Endor as she listened to the man continue. "You still do not understand." Kr'Naan sighed. "Our sense of good and evil cannot be applied to the gods. They are beyond our understanding or judgment." Kr'Naan looked over to Endor and stared at him unblinkingly. "He appeared to me at the answer of a prayer. In the slave markets of a world I do not even know the name of. He freed me, chose me to help aid him in bringing about his utopia." Kr'Naan relented slightly to prove a point. "Yes, since I have joined him I have seen much of what we mortals call evil by or for him. But..." Kr'Naan's eyes began to shimmer with tears as she tried to hold them back as she recollected one of the last memories of her time with Dragus. "...I have felt his love as well. It was pure and powerful. He gifted it to me on the planet where you...." Kr'Naan bottom lip quivered and she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. The Tusken drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them tightly, holding them close. "I felt it, when we were on the planet. He channeled it through me and I used it to protect him and the rest of the Flock. I cast light from my hands that burned away his enemy like fire burning paper." Kr'Naan outstretched her left hand and spread her fingers wide before closing them into a fist.
Kr'Naan scoffed at the attempts to point out similarities between the Hakusar myth and that of the Ewok entity Endor spoke of. "The other spirits you talk of are not Him." To offer proof of this Kr'Naan began to elaborate. "He has shown me affection. Treated me strictly yes, but also with much kindness, in his own way. He has taught me, things I never even knew that I did not know, or would have learned if I had never been taken from my home." Kr'Naan gestured to the now mostly slumbering snowoks. "Their pure kin, in the Flock, he adores and respects them with reverence honoring their ancestors' power." Kr'Naan's brow furrowed slightly as she tried to make a point. "You do not know, because you have not seen it. You have not spent time with him. I have."
Kr'Naan seemed to struggle with finding the words for a moment. "We are taught to fear the dark. To keep it away with light. To be good or else the monsters in the darkness shall get you. What no one tells you is why the darkness exists. How it came to exist." Kr'Naan scooched closer to the fire and held her hands up to the flames. "What he is and what he does is all because of what happened to him. It is justice and a better world he seeks to create because of how the Suns treated him." Kr'Naan returned her gaze to the flickering flames. "He is what They made him into." The child of sand repeated, though not knowing the pain they would bring to Endor. "Why is that not worthy of following? Is it not a noble enough goal to work towards? A utopia where everyone shall live forever in eternal happiness? No reason to hurt anyone, nothing to fight over." Kr'Naan struggled to hold back a yawn, covering her mouth momentarily. "A perfect world. What does it matter what acts you commit here if it is all to be remade? Nothing here matters."
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
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Post by Endor on Jun 7, 2023 8:04:33 GMT -8
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! He wasn't actually sleeping, though it would be hard to tell based on the sheer volume of fake snoring that was elicited from his prone form. A cowardly means to cut their conversation short, but a necessary one as Kr'Naan's words cut deep into Endor's guts like a spear thrust, tearing him apart on the inside. She spoke of the gods doing when the one truly responsible for birthing that monster was lying right next to her on the floor. Dragus was his mistake, his responsibility. Like the twin suns from the Sand Child's story, it was up to him to set right what he had unwittingly unleashed on the galaxy. Yet he wondered about some of the things the tiny tusken said and the way she described his evil progeny, as though he were even capable of possessing some shred of kindness. It beggared belief. He had stood in front of his greatest mistake in the Covenant of Blood's filthy hangar, facing down the Famine Lord who was responsible for so much misery and woe across the cosmos, feeling the utter wickedness rolling off him in waves. Yes, he was still certain his call had been the right one. Dragus was evil, but...perhaps there was more to it.From what he had gathered about the details of the Flock, Naan's fluency in ewokese, and her relative comfort around the snowoks he was able to surmise that Dragus kept a stable of ewoks. For what purpose, he really couldn't say. Perhaps some genetic echo from his DNA had filtered down into that black hearted creature, creating a warped reflection of the one whose genes he was created from. Even the message was flawed. Endor was all in favour of utopia, he'd been seeking some measure of that his entire life, first with Cloud City and then later with the mountain village of Outer Haven on Tynna. Only for Dragus' twisted interpretation, everyone who didn't worship him seemed to need to die to accomplish his goal. That was something the former Jedi could not countenance. Committing evil for the sake of good, no, that was a tyrant's attempt to justify atrocity.Another interesting part of her story was Naan's description of being used as a conduit for Dragus' power, of light erupting from her hands to burn away her enemies. Probably the Sith clone had armed her with some sort of blaster or weapon, that was the most logical explanation, but something about that just didn't sit right with him. There was the girl's affliction to consider, a weakness of spirit that perhaps could have been the result of having raw Force energy flow through her. If she lacked the midi-chlorians to control it, that power would quickly consume her, burning her out like a lightbulb. That would explain why she seemed so diminished in the Force. But why? What benefit was there to having Kr'Naan channel energy instead of Dragus himself? Surely his misbegotten offspring had the capacity to wield the currents of the Force, through more insidious means of course, than this child. He suspected even if he asked her about those events the truth would be concealed beneath Naan's skewed child-like interpretation.These thoughts weighed heavily on him as he pretended to sleep, only to succumb to the real thing shortly after as the days fatigue from arguing with Kr'Naan finally wore him down enough to pass out. His snoring only deepened, a match for the ice beasts sleeping elsewhere in the old base. Soon night set in and the blizzard passed them by, the late hours of night transitioning into the early hours of day, the sun slowly creeping over the frost rimed horizon as it began its daily circuit across the sky. When Naan inevitably awoke, she would find the General gone, his sleeping furs already rolled into a bundle and set away from the dwindling embers of the fire. The outpost was alive with activity, as snowoks made all the last minute preparations to set out on this grand quest. The old hangar where Grimfang had shown them the Lost Tribe's snowcrawler had its large doors thrown open, exposing the interior to the bitter elements as horned snowok shepherds finished attaching rope harnesses to their herd of Icetrompers. The shaggy horned herdbeasts groaned and grunted in bestial chorus, unafflicted by the harsh chill, able to graze even with a thick layer of snowy sediment covering the ground. Their large tusks dug beneath the snow, while flat herbivore teeth tore at the ice plants beneath, ripping them up tufts of turf before mashing them into a paste. There were at least forty of the beasts all strung up in an orderly row, awaiting the command to move.There at the open portal to the hangar, Endor stood, dressed in thick furs with a hand resting against his brow to protect against the glare of the sun as he looked to the sky. What appeared almost as a bird as it swooped towards the bay opening soon revealed itself as a hang-glider carrying an abominable snowok aloft, coming in to land atop the white painted Gorax whose roof had been converted into a landing strip. On the ground outside, snowok outriders on tauntaun mounts galloped, holding long pole like spears tipped with glowing blue shards of Force imbued ice. They jockeyed for position as they raced into the hangar, striding up the lowered front facing ramp of the snowcrawler. There was enough room inside to pen up six of the beasts, though there were actually seven of the creatures in total. The seventh was the smallest, a foal barely out of the womb, just about large enough to be ridden by someone exceptionally tiny.Snowoks poured in and out of the open crawler, carrying all manner of supply. Furs, tribal weapons, food, herbs, anything and everything that they would need for an extended journey into Hoth's harsh environment. The interior of the vehicle, while technically unheated, was actually quite comfortable due to the sheer volume of snowoks packed into it and the insulation from all the pelts strung up. Hunters armed with bows were situated on the upper floor where armoured windows could be opened to create firing positions from up high.Grimfang and Redclaw stood on either side of the General, going over the plan one last time. The mornings activity had helped Endor escape the thoughts that had troubled him the night before. He felt refreshed by the dawn of a new days light. He looked down, sliding one furry sleeve back to reveal an old chrono device adhered to his left wrist. "Well, we better set out now if we're going to make good time. I should go get Naan." He turned and made to leave, when he felt Grimfang's strong paw on the crook of his arm. He looked down at the chief."Snowfang get her." Growled the chief, who turned his furry head and cupped his mouth with his paws. "SNOWFANG!" He barked, drawing the attention of his son where the eager young snowok stood next to Icetooth just outside the hangar, performing some manner of blessing. Grimfang's eyes narrowed as he saw the shaman drawing symbols in the snow with a blood dabbed claw. The chief shook his head, then continued shouting as his son turned his little horned head towards him. "Snowfang, time to leave. Go get Naan."The shaman apprentice's face scrunched up, obviously displeased with being ordered around by his Pa, but a knowing look from Icetooth was all it took to send the young snowok on his way. Sometimes it seemed like his teacher had a better handle on the youth than his father. The two were practically inseparable these days. Within a minute, Snowfang entered the sleeping den, calling out Naan's true name."Wart!" He called, his button nose trying to detect her unfamiliar scent. "It's time to go." |
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 7, 2023 13:11:24 GMT -8
Kr'Naan was ready to still continue the debate of beliefs in which neither side seemed to be changing their minds, she was cut off as Endor began to snore loudly. Scowling at the man, Kr'Naan slowly stood up and looked down upon the slumbering skeptic, speaking quietly so as not to wake him. "My master shall bring an end to this cruel existence. It cannot be stopped; even if He wanted it to. But he will save those he can from destiny and welcome us to the created paradise." Whether or not Kr'Naan truly believed Endor to be asleep or faking at this point was unclear, but before fully drifting off Endor would hear a light footsteps moving away from him.
Kr'Naan squinted as she moved about, trying to find Snowfang in the darkening den as firelights began to dim. As a furry paw reached out and grabbed her shoulder, Kr'Naan jerked around, ready to throttle whoever it was. Thankfully as she raised her small fist into the air she recognized the shaman apprentice Snowfang, and slowly lowered it. The snowok looked worried and more than a little upset and nudged the tyrannical Tusken girl off to a secluded area to speak. "Why did you tell that story? I thought we were trying to gather support in secret? The rest of the tribe thinks you talked crazy." Kr'Naan frowned and grabbed ahold of the snowok's hand, removing it from her shoulder. "Not that I need to explain myself to you..." Kr'Naan glared at the snowok who seemed to shrink slightly at the sand fury's ferocious look before she continued. "But as I said before telling the story, my grandfather was a Storyteller of my tribe. I am no Storyteller, but I remember the way he could reach into the hearts of people and bring them to tears with emotion when retelling the stories of my people. I tried to imitate him." Kr'Naan eyes stared off into the distance, growing sad and sullen as they refocused on Snowfang. "I thought I could reach some of your people before we made the journey to the mountain. I am sorry."
Snowfang studied the defeated look on Kr'Naan's face, letting out a sigh in response. "It will be fine. Still..." The snowok pursed his lips slightly. "It did not make it easy to reach out to those my master and I trust. My father's words are powerful." Kr'Naan scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Your father is leading your tribe down a path that leads to being destroyed. Are you going to let him lead your people to ruin?" Snowfang hesitated at the implication of what the Tusken seemed to be insinuating. "W-what? Me?" Kr'Naan's expression quickly grew into a sneer. "Yes, YOU!." Kr'Naan grabbed Snowfang by both furry shoulders and drew him close. "When we complete our pilgrimage to the mountain and my master, our master, descends from the skies to lay claim to this world and reunite your people with his plan, there can be no unbelievers. If your father does not have a change of heart, its life-beat must be extinguished." Kr'Naan looked closely into the eyes of snowok with her own pitch black orbs, staring deep into his being. "Make him see the truth, but if he does not you will end him in front of the Hakusar when he arrives as a sacrifice to prove your loyalty...as the new leader of your tribe." Kr'Naan had no idea how snowok leaders were chosen, but a prospective chieftain killing the current one was sure to be a good start.
Finally releasing the snowok's shoulders from her extremely tight-fingered grasp, Kr'Naan tried to show some compassion to his task. "You are not alone in this duty, though. I have taken a similar one, with the human who brought me here." Kr'Naan shivered as a cold wind blew in from somewhere and sent a chill down her body. "I have had some time to try and show him reason, but I fear he will not and I will be forced to take action when my master arrives." The choice of words felt strange to Kr'Naan, and the Tusken seemed confused at them herself as she turned slightly and tilted her head. "Regardless of his sins, he saved my life. But if he does not change his ways that leaves me no choice." Kr'Naan looked back up to Snowfang. "I need one more thing of you; a weapon. Small, and easy to hide."
Her dreams had been empty, as seemed to be her soul to those capable of sensing such things. Kr'Naan had not dreamt since Endor had taken her from her master Dragus and brought her to this world. She was certain it was part of her punishment by her master for allowing herself to become possessed by the demon that had inhabited her, that she just needed to atone, but still she longed for fully restful sleep where she could relive days gone with her grandfather or imagine her next grand adventure with Dragus and the Flock. Kr'Naan awoke to the sound of Snowfang calling out to her cold, sore and grumpy. The Tusken's eyes puffy and slightly darkened rings were formed beneath her eyes. It had not been a tranquil night's sleep for her. Her black wiry hair was a mess, parts of it flattened against her head while other parts stuck nearly straight up or sideways. An easy enough fix for someone used to hiding the wild locks beneath a head covering, as Kr'Naan deftly used a small piece of wood and a length of string to tie most of her hair up. It was muscle memory for the Tusken girl at this point, but due to her apparent exhaustion it still wasn't pretty, but she looked far less unkempt than she did prior; even if it was done essentially on auto-pilot.
Kr'Naan lifted a hand in a half-hearted wave at Snowfang, who ran over to collect her as the Tusken youngling started to lay back down in an attempt to go back to sleep. "Wart. We are readying to leave. Wake up." Kr'Naan groaned and sat back up, looking at the Snwook with a very crabby look on her face. "Yes, sorry. I did not sleep well." That much was apparent, the snowok would think to himself without saying, as he helped the Tusken girl to her feet. The shaman apprentice cautiously looked around to make sure the coast was clear before putting a finger in front of his lips for Kr'Naan to be quiet. Reaching into a bag he had slung across his shoulder the snowok pulled out a rarity among both ewok and snowok culture, a metal knife. A shard of metal taken from debris within the Gorax, sharpened and attached to a crude handle. He grabbed ahold of Kr'Naan hand and placed the knife carefully within, pushing it towards her. With her free hand Kr'Naan rubbed her eyes before frowning as she peeked at the weapon. "Could you not get me a weapon of enchanted ice? I would think they would work far better on an enemy shaman. I am sure Endor must be powerful, and has already survived one stabbing." Snowfang shook his head confusingly, wondering why she did not know such basic matters. "Magic ice powerful, but can be sensed by shamans. Metal is far easier to hide, which is what you wanted, yes?" Kr'Naan seemed a little disappointed, but she nodded and tucked the knife into her furs carefully. "It will have to do then."
A short time later Snowfang would reappear would reappear leading Kr'Naan back to the Gorax, pointing out Endor to the Tusken, who picked up the pace to reach Endor a little quicker. "Why did you not wake me? I could have helped you. It would have given us more time to talk about your salvation." Relentless as ever, even in hindsight it seemed. "Are those things going to pull the Jawa crawler to the mountain?" Kr'Naan said with some surprise in her voice as she pointed to the icetrompers harnessed to the Gorax. With the open hangar doors letting in much more cold Kr'Naan's body began to shiver already.
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
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Post by Endor on Jun 8, 2023 8:21:51 GMT -8
With his big bushy beard blowing in the frigid winds entering the hangar's open doors and exposing them all to Hoth's cold temperament, the General of the New Rebel Alliance (NRA) looked down at the shivering tusken, doubly sure now that allowing her to sleep in a bit was the right move. Once they set out he'd effectively be trapped with her in a confined space. It would be next to impossible to escape her stubborn proselytizing at that point. He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, unaffected by the elements as he compensated for his furs shortcoming by drawing on the Living Force, allowing the currents that connected all living things to flow throughout his body unimpeded. He could have walked barefoot to there destination if he really wanted to, though that would be an abuse of his gifts, and he had too much respect for the natural order to utilize his abilities in such an unnecessarily absurd manner.Besides, he didn't mind a little chill. Say what you will about Hoth, but at least it didn't have mosquitoes. "Sorry, kiddo. I thought after yesterdays polar plunge you could use with a few extra winks of shut-eye." He uncrossed his arms and pointed at the two orderly rows of icetrompers, twenty beasts long each. "They're called Icetrompers. They're herd beasts that miraculously not only survive in this harsh landscape, but thrive, feeding off hardy shrubs, mosses, and coniferous trees that are common around these parts." He scratched his bearded chin. "Sort of like the banthas of your homeworld, I suppose. Shaggy pelts, horns and tusks. Very stubborn, but useful all the same. According to Chief Grimfang, the tribe maintains this herd you are looking at specifically for the purpose of pulling the sandcrawler. Hmmm, I guess that name doesn't quite fit. Snowcrawler? Well, either way, the tribe refers to the vehicle as the Gorax." How best to explain? "They're giant trolls from my home-world that eat ewoks. Fortunately they are not native to Hoth, so I don't expect we'll be running into any. Wampas, most likely, but we should be more than safe inside the vehicle."He flashed a dazzling smile of immaculate white teeth at Naan. "Come on, I want to show you something." He said, before leading her around to the front of the opened snowcrawler with its lowered ramp. The snowoks appeared to be mostly finished with their preparations at this point. As they ascended the ramp, the stink of oily secretions from scaly tauntaun flesh assailed their noses. As previously mentioned, Naan had been exposed to much worse and likely wouldn't bat an eye at the stank. Endor, however, was waving a hand in front of his nose as he approached the penned up tauntauns. He led his volatile ward to the smallest of the seven housed inside. It bleated and whinnied excitedly at their approach, stamping its feet especially as it saw Endor who had already one it over by offering it a snack about fifteen minutes earlier. There was a saddle strapped to its back, too small to seat Endor or even some of the more girthsome snowoks, but looked like it would comfortably sit Naan or Snowfang if they tried to climb onto its back. The beast snorted through its four nostrils as it kneaded it horned head into the General's chest, causing him to laugh and stroke its furry scalp."That's a good girl. Or boy." He scratched his head. "I'm not really sure which it is, but Grimfang said you can ride it if we need to venture out from the snowcrawler. Truthfully we'll probably need it when we reach Mt. Permafrost. As strong as that herd of Icetrompers looks, I'm not sure they can pull this beast of a vehicle all the way up the slope of a mountain." He nodded, accepting that reality. "No, we'll definitely need the tauntauns." Sneakily he slid a hand beside Kr'Naan's back and gave her a little push towards it. "Say hello."
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 9, 2023 8:33:14 GMT -8
Kr'Naan watched the Icetrompers silently as Endor elaborated on their nature and purpose. Her interest was certainly peaked, as they did very much remind her of the Banthas of her homeworld, at least in their use. The similarities seemed to end there, as they were nothing near as lovable and cuddly as the traditional Tusken companion animal. There was a longing in Kr'Naan heart as she thought of the herds of wild bantha of her home. She had almost been old enough to undertake the Rites when she had been taken from her homeworld, but therefore had not been paired with a bantha. Under normal circumstances, her parents' banthas would have mated and produced a suitable mount for her to raise from birth, but when her parents died in battle their banthas had joined them in the afterlife. The tragedy of this loss had long been numb, but something in her scarred soul yearned to feel the fur in between her fingers. The tempted Tusken kept these feelings to herself and her face was expressionless despite the emotions whirling within her. There was a very prolonged pause before the tiny Tusken followed Endor up into the snowcrawler.
Her eyes adjusting to the dimly lit interior of the snowcrawler, Kr'Naan was surprised at the presence of several smaller animals, compared to the icetrompers anyway. Kr'Naan expression shifted to slight disbelief and disgust as she noticed the saddles strapped to the backs of the creatures. Pushed forward by Endor to greet the creature, Kr'Naan locked up; freezing like a statue as the young tauntun began aggressively sniffing the Tusken girl who did not seem to even breathe. Finally when the beast relented Kr'Naan seemed to defrost and give Endor a glare. "I would prefer to remain in here. If I am outside freezing on this..." Kr'Naan gestured at the Tauntun. "....thing, I will not be able to try and save who I can." Kr'Naan eyeballed the penned Tauntauns once more. The peckish prophetess had missed breakfast, and so a growl echoed from her stomach explaining why her mind had immediately went to viewing the Tauntauns as little more than a meal. "I suppose if we become stranded at least we will not starve."
Kr'Naan crossed her arms and looked accusingly at Endor. "But enough about that, you fell asleep last night while I was trying to explain to you...well....everything." Kr'Naan shifted her weight onto her left leg and looked at Endor like a teacher who was at her wits end trying to reach a difficult student. "Next time I will be forced to wake you, and I do not think you will like how." Never too early in the morning for threats seeped in religious extremism. "As I have said, I am only trying to help you." Kr'Naan huffed a bit before uncrossing her arms and giving Endor another angry look, though it was more akin to a look a normal child would get when not getting their way. "I would prefer you not be damned for all eternity." Her pecan colored face blushing slightly Kr'Naan's expression became sheepish and bashful. "You saved my life in the ice. Even if it is your fault....Even with all you have done, I would like to see you in the next life once my master remakes everything." Kr'Naan, for a third time now, gave Endor a pleading look like a puppy dog. "I know you are just misguided. If you just gave him a chance I am sure you would see."
Outside there were several yips and celebratory cheers as everything was finished regarding the preparation of the Gorax for travel to Mount Permafrost. After ensuring everyone who was coming was aboard and had everything they needed, the snowok drivers responsible for the reins of the Icetrompers gave them a hearty flick, sending a commanding jolt to the attached beast. As the snowok celebrations grew louder and louder the Gorax began to move until finally it left the hangar that had been its resting place for many years. The pace was relatively slow, but the Icetrompers moved well enoguh that they would make good time to their destination to investigate whatever was happening on the mountain.
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
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Post by Endor on Jun 12, 2023 5:48:34 GMT -8
He could only imagine what Kr'Naan's unpleasant method of waking him entailed. Likely stabbing him in the neck again. "Yeah, you're probably right." He patted her on the head, turning as he heard the ramp begin to creak behind them as the snowoks began closing up the snowcrawler. As the flaking white dense metal door folded shut, the diverse and rather unique scents inside the cramped vehicle quickly became concentrated, but other than that it was pretty comfortable when compared to braving the cold on foot as they had the day before. Endor shook his head as he looked down and explained his reasoning to the Sand Child. "I just don't want you working so hard you forget to enjoy yourself along the way. Surely this Hakusar God of yours stopped to relax and have some fun from time to time. Snowfang's not the only pup of the litter aboard. I saw a whole fur-pile of woklings on the upper deck. I bet they'd all be excited to meet the mysterious off-world girl with so many stories to share."Plus it would give him a break. He wasn't that concerned about her spouting her religious nonsense to the woklings. They were too young to likely remember much, plus Naan's time among them would be short. They'd talk about this for about a week and then move on to making ice sculptures or whatever snowoks did for leisurely activities.Herd animals bleated and moaned as snowok herdsmen got the icetrompers in motion. The progress was slow at first, but steady, as they ground on at an even pace for one frozen kilometer after another. The weather was clear after the previous days blizzard and they could see the sun overhead when looking out the windows, revealing endless snow planes as far as the eye could see. Inside, snowoks still managed to busy themselves with the day to day chores of the tribe. Pelts were stretched, meals were cooked, though most of meat stores took the form of dried jerky. Smoot stained snowoks with stinking shovels scooped out the tauntaun pens and fed the beasts shrubs and moss. Many of the female snowoks made tribal jewelry. During some point of the day when Endor and Kr'Naan were in each other's company, they passed one of these artisans maidens who offered the tusken girl a necklace of woven fibres threaded through wampa teeth, with one of the larger fangs at the center surrounded by some of the smaller canines on either side.Eventually Endor led his preachy granddaughter up to the roof, opening the top hatch before letting Naan climb up ahead of him. Atop the Gorax was a long sling device and several secured snowok hang-gliders. Just as they climbed up, one of the scouts was coming in for a landing. The General had to duck as the primitive glider crafted from bones and hide swooped in, slowing once furry feat touched down on the roof. The sight brought another smile to the rebel leader's happy face."What'da'ya say, kid, wanna give that a try?" Clearly he was well unaware of Kr'Naan's fear of heights.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 13, 2023 11:45:06 GMT -8
"I know how to have fun, but trying to get people to turn away from evil is very time consuming." Kr'Naan gave Endor a reproving look. "I don't need your advice on who to seek out for my master." The sand child said with a huff before marching off to terrorize the snowok passengers of the Gorax with religious drivel.
Much of Kr'Naan's time spent within the Gorax was used trying to convince anyone who would listen to hear her tales and improvisational sermons, though few would give her more than a moment's time before moving on chattering about some responsibility or chore that needed tending to. This often ended in either Kr'Naan flinging threats of suffering for eternity or ominous warnings of this most egregious mistake which would be remembered when the time came. For several hours her screams urging repentance and true faith could be heard throughout the tight quarters of the captured snowcrawler. It was not until she had finally accosted the majority the tribe individually that the exasperated sand sermonner gave in to Endor's advice and found the snowok children who had come along. That, and when Grimfang came and gave her good staring and warning about being a nuisance she had little choice but to stay in one spot for a while.
The tenacious Tusken found some ease with retelling a story very similar to the one she had retold the other night in front of the other snowoks of the lost tribe, though the children did not seem to take it as fact but instead just a fanciful story. Even younger than she was, their minds could not fully comprehend the gravity of the information they were giving her.
"So...Huck-a-sore always hungry? Why not eat and get full." Asked one snowokling. Kr'Naan put her face in her hands before trying to explain again. "He is going to eat. He will eat everything. Everything and everyone that exists. But he will not eat you if you worship him. You'll go to a paradise he is going to create for everyone who followed him." Some of the snowok younglings looked at each before another one piped up. "I'm not very tasty, though. Why Hack-sores want eat me?" Kr'Naan held back a groan before trying to explain once more. This had been the recurring conversation that kept cropping back up. "We are all creations of the gods who tortured Hakusar..." Pausing to hopefully get them to remember the name correctly. "...and separated him from his true body. We are part of what they created." The snowoklings all seemed to nodd as if they understood. One raised their hand to which Kr'Naan pointed at for them to speak. "Why Hunky-sore-us not just fight gods who hurt him? Why destroy everything?" Kr'Naan slowly exhaled, forcing a smile while screaming internally. "He will fight them. But first he must re-acquire his god form." She said carefully, sidestepping part of the question. "After he is made whole he will continue to gain more and more power until he can devour the gods and all of existence." Again the snowoklings all nodded as if they understood perfectly, that is until another furry paw raised. "Can Hookie-sur just not eat everything? I like everything. My papa and mama are here." Kr'Naan felt a headache and closed her eyes as she tried to continue. "If your mama and papa also follow Hakusar they will be in the paradise he will make for all his faithful." More nods and affirmative grunts as the snowoklings feigned understanding. But sooner enough another hand raised with another question.
Kr'Naan, usually never ending in religious rhetoric, was quick to join Endor when he came by for her company, saying he wanted to show her something. On their way they came across the snowok artisan who gifted the Tusken girl with a woven necklace. She was hesitant to take it at first, knowing the power of the artifacts of the pureblooded kin of the snowoks: the ewoks. But if all of this was part of the plan of Dragus, surely no permanent harm would come to her. In fact, the crude necklace was sure to have some beneficial blessing inherent in the creations of those descended from the celestials. Once she was reunited with her master he would surely be able to discern the ornament's true nature.
As Endor opened the hatch and beckoned Kr'Naan outside she was once again overcome by the unwelcome cold of Hoth's climate. Kr'Naan squinted as her eyes adjusted once more to brightness of the open world compared to the claustrophobic interior of the Gorax. As they walked Kr'Naan peered over the edge of the snowcrawler and blanched at the white world below. While not entirely scared at this height, she was certainly not comfortable either. Her eyes grew wide as a Snowok glider pilot touched down on the landing strip atop the Gorax, skidding to a stop. At the offer from Endor Kr'Naan balked before beginning to vehemently decline. "No way! Absolutely not!" Kr'Naan looked the large sling-shot device over, up and down, eyes filled with disbelief and barely contained fear. "You're just trying to get rid of me with that thing!" Kr'Naan fussed at Endor accusingly. "Well it won't work!" Kr'Naan gave Endor a shove, not that her strength would be enough to make the man budge the slightest. "How about you get shot off into the sky?"
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
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Post by Endor on Jun 17, 2023 5:17:40 GMT -8
Now there was a thought. "Maybe I will." He replied, his smile appearing to stretch impossible beyond the borders of his beard in a Lightside mockery of his dark progeny's wicked grin. Where Dragus' malevolent expression usually promised violence to follow, Endor's exuded a joyful warmth. His forest green eyes were gentle, not hard and scaled. It was no wonder Kr'Naan had such a hard time accepting what the General had told her, that he was the one responsible for creating that demonic drake. They were practically nothing alike, save perhaps their devilish good looks.Eager to show the snarky snow raider what she was missing, he helped the recently landed snowok out of his hang-gliding harness before he began hooking himself up instead. At first he wasn't certain if the contraption would be strong enough to accept his weight, but then he remembered how burly and solid some of Tarfang's white furred cousins could be and resumed his previous confidence. He wasn't entirely sure where the snowoks had found an elastic large enough for their launcher, though he suspected Echo Base was probably absent whatever it belonged to. He liked Grimfang's people but he knew from his experience with Redclaw how pilfering those paws could be. Once the glider was connected to the launch device, Endor flashed Naan a thoughtful glance."Last chance." He chided, but took the matter-of-fact way she crossed her arms and turned her head away for the sign it was. "Alright, suite yourself." The rebel said with a bearded scowl, then nodded to the snowok standing next to the switch for the launcher. The snowok pulled back on the switch and released the pin holding back the elastic, flinging a happily screaming Endor forwards at breakneck speeds, dipping as he went over the end of the snowcrawler and then rising as the gliders wings caught the wind, carrying him high into the air. He laughed like a madman, clearly enjoying the experience and the sense of weightlessness as he soared across the open sky. He experimented with the controls, figuring the right way to lean to get it to go in either direction, as well as up and down. "Now this is podracing!"Hoth might look like a lifeless ball of ice from space, but it was teeming with life beneath the surface, if one knew where to look. Hardy plants, shaggy herbivores, deadly predators, which wasn't to mention the sentient races like the skel. It might not have been as obvious as the swamps of Dagobah, but the Force was strong here.Endor felt it as he soared like a bird, his potent bond with the Living Force connecting him with all living things. He took a deep breath of frigid air, feeling his vitality renew with every refreshing inhalation, expelling his worries with every exhalation.I am a leaf on the wind. Watch me sore. With his druid abilities he manipulated the currents of air, gaining altitude until he his eagle eyes could see well beyond the also excellent vision of the scouts on the ground. Another bizarre parody of his villainous doppelganger. Where Dragus had powerful olfactory senses and weak eyes, Endor's sense of scent was somewhat stunted, at least compared to the ewoks he had grownup beside. The General's eyes more than made up for that shortcoming, spotting a herd of snow banthas crossing the planes to the East. "Should've come, Naan." He muttered to himself, before directing his attention further North where he could just make out the bluish peak of a mountain in the far distance.That had to be Mt. Permafrost. Even at such a distance he could feel a pulse beneath the skein of reality, a powerful sensation of raw unbridled energy, as though Hoth's frigid heart beat for their attention. With their destination spotted, he turned the glider around and made back for the Gorax, only to find Kr'Naan had already retreated inside. After landing and handing off the glider, he climbed back down into the snowcrawler and found his troublesome ward educating a group of snowok young on her misguided faith."Hakusar." He said interrupting her. "More like Haku-bore, am I right?" Even if the children didn't understand his joke, his goofy mannerisms and facial expressions caused the gathering to laugh.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 19, 2023 11:11:37 GMT -8
Rolling her eyes as Endor flew off into the sky before heading back down the hatch and into the belly of the Gorax. By now the entirety of the snowcrawler had just about had it with the sand child, but thankfully her efforts seemed to have focused once more on the snowoklings nestled deep within the safety of the metal behemoth they rode inside. As frustrating as it was to try and explain things to young children (pot meet kettle), Kr'Naan knew she could not give up in trying to convert anyone she could. The progress made by Snowfang and his shaman master were unknown to her as they had had little time to speak to one another since embarking from the Lost Tribe's village, but every now and again she saw one of them moving throughout the innards of the transport vehicle. Not that she said anything to them. Even though she was certain that all of this was going just as her master had forseen it, she still did not like having to work with shamans. The unmagical uli-ah was unsure if the magicks performed by the descendants of the Celestials lauded by her master qualified as the same powers of the gods which made them blasphemers, but in the end it made little difference to her prejudice. Where else would such power come from? They were of use, for now; much in the same way her master had the Flock and their abilities.
By the time Endor returned Kr'Naan was metaphorically pulling her hair out after trying in what seemed like vain as far as she could tell to curry the favor of the snowoklings. It seemed her radical and uncompromising personality was not the best at reaching them. Kr'Naan once more shot Endor a disapproving look before turning her attention back to the snowok younglings and talked to them with all the charisma of a youth pastor trying to seem cool the children they were supposed to cultivate the minds of...poorly. "Helping shape the future to how it should be? The unlimited power of a god to guide your actions? Moving throughout the stars with ease and destroying all those who stand in His way? It is never boring."
The snowoklings seemed to perk up at the mention of travelling out into space and great battles, but Kr'Naan had already turned her attention back to Endor, standing up with her fists on her hips. Fortunately, for Endor and the snowoks it was a good thing Kr'Naan was still young and not learned in the ways of manipulation, wooing crowds or public speaking. Their lack of understanding or belief brought out a forceful side of her that only betrayed the childishness of the posing proselytizer; because despite the sincerity, Kr'Naan was simply untrained in converting any large number of unbelievers to her side. In time she might become a gifted speaker and leader among the faithful, but that was likely still a far ways off and only able to come to fruition with proper guidance. "You will not be laughing when He comes to retrieve me. What will you do then? More jokes? Damning not only yourself but all these poor souls to be devoured for all eternity!?" Kr'Naan began to yell at the man.
It had been some time before Kr'Naan had really lost her temper at the druid general, having resigned herself to trying to save the wretch of a man in return for saving her. However, it was becoming more and more clear to her that it was not likely to happen and that thought of yet another failure was becoming too much for her to bear when she would face her master upon his return. Becoming overwhelmed with the embarrassment and humiliation she would face, Kr'Naan fought back tears as her face grew hot. "I wish you had just left me on the Covenant to die!" The Tusken youngling screamed before running off into the poorlit lit depths of the snowok controlled snowcrawler. There was anger behind her words, but it was hiding the fear and sadness the lone Tusken held within her.
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Endor
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Post by Endor on Jun 21, 2023 6:21:07 GMT -8
A blank expression formed on the General's bearded visage as he watched Naan run off to have another pity party in the lower decks. He suspected some of the behaviour was related to the fact that the tusken child was still young and likely going through a number of hormonal changes, only it was intensified by the trauma she had endured, both at Dragus' claws and as a result of Endor's own action. It didn't matter that his intention had been pure, Naan still saw him as a one who took her home and killed her friends. Even if the galaxy was far more complex than the understanding of a child, it still deflated his confidence and made him unsure of what course of action to take. Everything so far felt like a misstep. Le sigh. He put his face into his palms, feeling the urge to scream in frustration but just managing to hold back the mounting stress. After a moment he slid his hands up and ran his fingers through his long mane of unkept hair before finally lowering his hands to his sides and slapping his legs."Right. Well I had better go check of her th..." CREAK! "...uh, huh?" The Gorax around him seemed to rumble and groan before coming to an abrupt stop. Odd. They shouldn't be stopping yet. During his little trip in the sky he had spotted the nearest valley suitable for grazing and it was still a ways off along their path. Outside he thought he could hear the groan of Icetrompers, and down in the holds below something was unsettling the tauntauns. They were whinnying and bleating from their enclosures near the vehicle ramp. Very strange.Approaching one of the bulkheads where the armoured panel could be pushed out and propped open to let fresh air flow through the snowcrawler, the former Jedi turned politician turned pirate turned druid turned rebel organizer, placed his hand on the cold metal and pushed the window open to give him a look at the outside. The second the panel popped out, a snarling tusked snouted creature with abyssal black eyes appeared in front of the opening, startling Endor and causing him to step back. The growling creature clambered at the opening with boney claws, pulling itself inside the vehicle. The shock quickly wearing off, the fur clad woodsman reached a hand down to his left hip where the wooden handle of his lightsaber hilt hung from his belt. He plucked it from his side and held brought it up in a two handed grip in front of him as the tusked creature pulled its woolly brown and white form inside, scraping the floor with its claws before bounding at the General with savage intent. SNAP/HISS! Slipping a pale thumb over the activation stud on the hilt in his hands, a brilliant white blade of crackling plasma emerged from the lightsaber emitter and extended out over a meter in length, nearly searing the short ceiling overhead. He lowered the scorching point of the energy blade and drove it home, skewering the charging alien on its super-heated length, its oily fur erupting in flames as Endor deactivated the blade and smashed the creature across the snout with the butt of his lightsaber hilt.Flames crept across the furry corpse as Endor bent down to inspect it. "Skel." He quickly confirmed, rolling the creature over with a booted foot. Just then another tusked primitive appeared at the window opening, snarling with rage just like the first. Without batting an eye, the forest druid extended a hand and manipulated the arms propping open the window hatch using the Force, telekinetically snapping it shut on the creatures neck. Warm steaming blood sluiced across the General's boots as the hatch slammed closed, dropping a severed head replete with tusks at his feet."SKEL!" Endor heard Grimfang's rough voice from the decks below, cracking like a thin sheet of ice over a frozen lake. That confirmed it. Inside the Gorax the Lost Tribe was in a panic. Snowok hunters were running back and forth, many manning the upper decks to make use of the murder holes and to fight off the skel trying to climb through them. The General raced through the claustrophobic corridors, climbing down to the next level only to run into the Chief who was climbing up. Endor's forest green eyes met Grimfang's furious expression of cold wrath. "I need to find Naan." Sputtered the rebel quickly, intent of squeezing past the burly armed snowok. Grimfang refused to budge."Going wrong way. Fight is outside. Protect Gorax from Skel, fight for Lost Tribe, protect Dark Child at same time." He was about to argue but one look at Chief Grimfang's furious furred face told him this wasn't up for debate. More so, when the Rebel Alliance established themselves on Hoth at the old Echo Base location, they had forged an alliance with the Lost Tribe. Endor had promised to aid them in times of need and to fight on their side against any foe that wished them harm. He was responsible for more than just Naan in this moment. It was his job to save everyone. Conceding, the General nodded and turned around, climbing back up the stairs as Grimfang followed him towards the top hatch."Why are they attacking us?" He asked, clearly confused. "I thought we brokered a peace treaty between your people and theirs. Is this some sort of betrayal?"Grimfang shook his scarred features from side to side as he reached behind his back and retrieved the large double bladed vibro-axe strapped to his furry backside. Its edge was imperfectly honed and the battery for its ultrasonic vibration generator had long since dried up, but something about the brutal looking weapon wielded by the snowok chief seemed alive. The burly armed tribal leader squeezed the dragon slug scale wrapped handle of Krakenmaw in a death grip, his fangs protruding from his lips as a low growl rumbled in his throat."Peace treaty with southern skel tribe. These northern skel. Northern skel dicks. They not negotiate, only kill adults for food and take snowoklings for slaves. Only one way to deal with."Flinging open the hatch leading out to the top, Endor and Grimfang climbed onto the roof of the Gorax just as swarms of the primitive tusked natives scaled the sides of the snowok mobile home. Reactivating his lightsaber, the druid opened himself up to the Living Force, beseeching Hoth to share its bounty and empower his body. Fighting back to back, Endor and Grimfang were like the eye of a terrible storm, delivering swirling death to every enemy around them. From their place atop the snowcrawler, the General could see hundreds of skel, climbing out of burst moguls in the snow where they had clearly been laying in wait. The ropes connecting the Icetrompers had been severed and he could see the hostile savages leading them away. Sithspit! Without the herd they'd be dead in the water. Below he could hear the groan of the Gorax's ramp as teams of skel with hooks and ropes began to pry open the vehicle.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 22, 2023 9:43:42 GMT -8
Kr'Naan had found a quiet dark corner inside the snowcrawler to be alone after he latest outburst at Endor. The Tusken child sat with her knees in her chest with her head resting in her folded arms atop, staring at the wall. Her mind was muddled with conflicting emotions. While Kr'Naan was certain all that had happened was all part of her master's plan, her faith in herself was at an all time low. No matter what she told them, the members of the Lost Tribe had little reason to believe her. While blind faith was not without its merits, she knew that without proof of the Devourerer's existence and power there was little she could do with her current abilities to persuade them otherwise; at least not while the chieftain, Grimfang, was able to undermine her attempts. But how would Dragus react to her perceived failures? As her mind conjured scenarios of Dragus disappointed in her, tears silently falling down her pecan-colored cheeks, her shoulder was jostled, causing the child of sand to snap back to reality and begin to reach for the knife Snowfang had given her which she had tucked inside her fur coat.
Drawing the knife in a flash Kr'Naan raised her head to see it was only Snowfang, who held a furry hand up give Kr'Naan pause. "Shhhhh. Something not right." Before Snowfang could elaborate the noise from Endor's encounter with the first of the Skel could be heard. A horn was blown as an alarm. Snowfang seemed to know exactly what it meant. "Skel! We need to stop them from cutting loose the-" The Gorax began to slow, turning sideways as the strength of the Icetrompers was no longer there to keep it going straight on the ice. Snowfang braced himself against the wall, praying the snowcrawler not tip over and kill them all. When finally the uncontrolled sliding ended, Kr'Naan was already stood, listening to the growing sounds of battle echoed around them. Kr'Naan's mind birthed a plan in an instant, fueled by the malice and hatred she felt for Endor for constantly humiliating her. "This is perfect!" With her small hands she grabbed ahold of Snowfang's arms with a sly smile on her face still wet with recent tears. Confused, Snowfang tried to pull back slightly from Kr'Naan, put off by the lack of sense she was making. "Not perfect. They already cut loose icetrompers. Stranded. Need to get them back."
"No, the perfect time to strike! How many of your tribe are on our side?" Still confused, Snowfang did a mental head count before answering. "Maybe....half? If all speak the truth. Why? Strike what?" Kr'Naan laughed knowingly before leaning in and telling her plan to Snowfang. "Get word to all who we can trust that we will use the chaos of this attack to take control of the jawacrawler. No more waiting. We start taking prisoners as we defeat these attackers. It's the perfect opportunity!"
Snowfang would focus his mind, drawing the Force to him and using it to locate the minds of those whom the shaman apprentice had confidence in, passing along the very improvised plan. His concentration was broken momentarily as Kr'Naan jostled his shoulder to get his attention once more. "Tell your master to find us. We are going to go find Endor and your father. We will need his help to take out the human shaman." Kr'Naan looked around at the ceiling and walls of the Gorax as the battle sounds only grew louder, followed by metallic screeching as their attackers tried to force their way inside. She shook Snowfang as the snowok seemed to shrink at the thought at confronting his father now, as opposed to later. "Do not hesitate! If we can take them alive we shall do so, to present them to the Devourer as a gift. But we have to move fast! Where are they?" Snowfang closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly, concentrating hard to locate the two individuals. Luckily, it seemed they were both at the same place. "Top of Gorax. Outside!"
Atop the Gorax the defense was going strong as Endor, Grimfang and the other snowoks atop the snowcrawler did their best to keep the Skel at bay, but soon they were forced to form a circle formation at the overwhelming numbers of attackers climbing aboard. They had cut them off from the hatch leading back inside, and in fact had begun to try and fight their way inside. Held back thanks to a trio of snowok warriors armed with force-imbued ice spears that pierced all who tried to make their way inside the bottleneck. As the Skel continued to try and pile in, suddenly there was a rumble in the Force.
Skel, both alive and dead, were expelled from the hatch as if someone was blowing spitballs from a straw, sending them flying through the air and those close enough toppling over from the shockwave of the attack. Climbing atop the snowcrawler through the hatch was Iceooth, followed closely by Snowfang and Kr'Naan, all who quickly joined the fight as tide began to turnn against the Skel. Kr'Naan, at a severe disadvantage with only a metal knife, did her best to stay close to Icetooth and Snowfang, only moving in to parry blows meant for either shaman before they could muster the power to send their foe flying off the Gorax or crush their bones with their mind.
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
"No man is good enough to be another's master."
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Affiliation: New Rebel Alliance (NRA)
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Post by Endor on Jun 22, 2023 18:46:33 GMT -8
"Fight!" A brilliant white blade, crackling with the contained power of the sun, swept left and right in an endless series of skel smiting strokes. Alien blood sizzled along its length, filling the air with the taste of burning metal and boiled vitae, steaming in the unforgiving artic chill. Even as the cold winds crept in from the North, the direction they had been heading, the embattled General had never felt so hot. A veil of sweat coated his skin and caused his wild mane of unkept hair to stick to the back of his neck, while his bushy beard was heavy with clinging particles of blood and spit. Atop the Gorax with his abominable brothers of the Lost Tribe beside him, the forest druid fought like a Snow Bear, indominable like a mountain and as savage as the foe they currently fought in a desperate battle of life and death. Endor could taste blood on his lips, most of it not his own. The whole planet seemed to shake as he roared over the clamour of claws on steel as a shaggy tide of brown and white fur scaled the sides of their mobile refuge and came at the beleaguered defenders in an unrelenting horde. Gripped in both hands was the wooden hilt of his lightsaber blade, carved from a piece of the Great Spirit Tree on the Forest Moon, blessed by the forest. With the firkraan crystal at its core, the former Jedi became a storm, an avatar of nature's wrath.Each one of his blows sent a skel corpse flying back into the mass of its comrades, smoking and stuttering with electrical current, stunning their kin as the electically charged cadavers came into contact with them. Teeth grit and bared, Endor used his entire body, booting skel off the top with powerful kicks to the head or meeting brutal headbutts with his own hardened skull. A trickle of blood running down from his scalp carried sweat into his eyes, stinging them as he tried to blink the effluence from his sight. For every one he killed, another dozen seemed to take their place, slowly wearing him down as every fresh opponent chipped away at his stamina. Fortunately he didn't fight alone. A furry muscular back pressed against his own as Grimfang gave ground, catching a club blow on the haft of Krakenmaw before pushing off with his axe and sweeping across the skel's stomach, opening its gut as steaming entrails spilled across the roof of the snowcrawler. They were regularly forced to check their footing as the roof became slick with blood, rapidly freezing into ice. A sharp stab of pain radiated from the rebel leader's right thigh as he slipped and was raked across the leg by curled claws of bone.How long could they keep this up? Whatever advantage his lightsaber and talents with the Force, it was not enough, not with so few against so many. Still, it wasn't in him to quit, no matter how lopsided the fight or how unlikely their odds of survival. There were too many people counting on him, several of which fought at his side in that moment, or were located inside the besieged Gorax. He had brought Naan into this conflict. No matter his intention, it was his responsibility to bring her safely out of it. They had to win.
Redclaw watched from the tauntaun enclosures as the large ramp of the snowcrawler was slowly forced open, inch by inch. Grapple hooks made of sinewy bone clung to the top and already skel were clambering over the side, climbing their lines before the entrance was even completely pried open. The snowok tracker took that small advantage and made the most of it. With shocking agility he was on the first of the wicked savages as they dropped into the lower deck, his claw carved dagger of Force imbued ice already in paw, rapidly sticking tusked primitives in their vitals. No strike was wasted, no energy spent needlessly, every knife thrust final. His blades blue glow was darkened by the blood staining its sharp surface, though occasionally he wiped it dry on the fur of fallen foes. His act of bravery defending the ramp alone inspired others inside to take up arms and join him. Primitive tools of artistry became weapons, some even used the horns jutting from their furry white heads to gore their enemies, or worse.Tauntauns whinnied, bleating and crying in panic inside the confined space. Redclaw pulled one of the snowoks that had come to his aid out of the way as an out of control beast rushed past, trampling several skel as it sought to escape danger. The tribe member nodded thanks, at which point the tracker released them and got back to the bloody business at hand. The skel were a savage reflection of the world that had made them, unaffected by the cold and as merciless as a winter storm. But they had forgotten one thing in attacking the Lost Tribe, something they had failed to consider. Abominable Snowoks had Wampa blood flowing through their veins. The tracker bared his fangs in a hateful snarl before sinking them deep into the neck of the skel he was fighting, tearing out the primitive's throat as a crimson river sluiced across his fur. Packs of small snowoklings swarmed over skel like hungry wolves, clawing them apart before sating their appetite on fresh flesh. In the face of such barbarity, several of the skel tried to climb back out the way they had come in, only to be pulled from the breached ramp and summarily ripped apart.
"Ah!" Cried Endor as a tusked snout clamped down on his arm, fangs sinking deep enough to grind against the bone. He released his hold on his lightsaber, watching helplessly as it tumbled from his grip and rolled over the side of the snowcrawler. In rapid succession he delivered a punishing series of punches into the alien's face, cracking it repeatedly between the eyes until it released his arm and stumbled back. The General forcefully thrust a boot to its chest and sent it sailing over the side, before looking down at his bleeding arm. "Keep fighting!" He yelled, though his voice had long grown hoarse and his words were a pale whisper of their usual self. Around him lay several of the others, gutted and bleeding, the life absent many of their eyes. Even the infinite font of physical strength that was the snowok chieftain seemed to be running on fumes. Grimfang's scarred chest rose and fell in struggled breaths, a nasty gash from brow to cheek had blinded him in one eye, a white furred parody of his father. Somehow in the deadly scrum, Krakenmaw had come alive in his grip, the series of jolts awakening the ultrasonic vibration generator concealed inside. Both blade faces glowed orange as its razors edge became super-heated with friction.Too little, too late. Endor fell to a knee, a dozen cuts across his fur clad body had sapped him of his remaining strength. His mind too distraught for peace, its usual clarity blinded by pain, he could not even summon the Force for aid. Then in the darkest hour when all seemed lost, the roof hatch leading to the interior of the Gorax erupted outwards, scattering skel corpses like snowflakes in a blizzard. An ethereal light caught his attention, almost blinding the General with its luminous brilliance, until his forest green eyes pierced the arcane glow and saw the antlered bear behind it. Icetooth had appeared, wielding the ice magics of Hoth as only a true child of this world could. A frigid gale swept across the roof, blowing felled bodies and screaming skel warriors from its surface, before depositing them unceremoniously to the ground far below. Many fell upon the tusks and clubs of their own kin, breaking bones and bleeding across the snow. The snowok shaman carried his staff of frozen wood as he walked across the roof unchallenged, bird bones rattling against its surface, its top capped with a resplendent blue permafrost crystal the size of Endor's fist.Icetooth wielded his badge of office like a snowcerers staff, wresting the primal magics of the land and using them to batter and bludgeon the skel, channeling the cold to freeze many in place before they were hacked apart by snowok blades. In that moment Endor felt his hope renew, rising from the blood slick metal surface to rest a hand on Grimfang's shoulder. The chief turned, ready to strike, pausing at the last moment when he saw the General's bushy blood soaked face. "We're saved." Blood flecks misted from his lips as he struggled to hold enough breath to even speak. "Look, Fang, your boy is with them." Endor pointed a skinned finger across the roof to where Icetooth's magics had formed a barrier of wind and snow. Inside that ethereal snow-globe were Naan and Snowfang, fighting at the old shamans side. The forest druid was so exhausted he didn't even consider where the tusken child had got the knife she wielded to great effect, he was just happy to see she was still alive. All around them the appearance of the shaman was turning the tide in their favour. Skel dropped their clubs and fled in the face of the Icetooth's magic, fearful superstition overriding sense as they still possessed the numerical advantage to win the day.There wasn't much to the fight after that. Over the course of the next few moments, the attackers were routed and fled in defeat, leaving their dead behind to be claimed by the ice. Endor nearly collapsed, falling onto his arse as his legs gave out beneath him. Everything was sore and stinging, nor was the cold helping much with that. He watched as Grimfang kicked one of the last skel corpses from the roof, freeing clinging blood from his axe with a final sweep as its vibrations slowed until completing stopping. The chief slung the axe over his shoulder, fixing it to his back before turning towards his son. It was a touching moment really. Endor watched as the short little lad walked up to his father and gave him a hug. A loving smile split Grimfang's lips, filling the woodsman voyeur with feelings of warmth and happiness. ! Then something changed.Grimfang's eyes went wide, his smile turning into a shocked expression. The General's brow furrowed in confusion as he continued to look on, sensing something wasn't right. Snowfang appeared to release his father, taking a step back and to the side to reveal the hide bound handle of an ice dagger, thrust up to the hilt in the chieftain's stomach. Wha... "NO!!!!" Cried Endor in a mixture of rage and shock. Spitting blood, he rolled over and struggled back to his feet, slipping as he stood and falling back to his knees. On all fours he tried to crawl towards his friend, though as the fatigue and blood loss set in, he was having a difficult time focusing or even remaining conscious for that matter. A desperate desire to save his friend gave him just enough strength to make it a little farther, until he bumped his bleeding head into a fur clad figure. Endor looked up into Naan's unforgiving black gaze, still to struck by shock to comprehend the totality of what was unfolding. His first thought was for her safety."Get...behind me, Naan." He croaked with shivering lips as he stood up and stepped past her, placing himself between his granddaughter and Snowfang. Endor tried to take another step, but the snow-raider's hand on his sleeve stopped him. As he turned, he felt a sharp pain in his side, followed by a blossoming chill. He looked down to see the primitive handle of a makeshift knife protruding from his side, the sharpened blade attached to it buried in the meat of his gut. Blood soaked hands belonging to Naan gave it a final twist, snapping the handle and leaving the blade inside of him. Everything started going dark. |
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 23, 2023 12:13:15 GMT -8
The now battle-scarred Gorax stood triumphantly among the scattered corpses of Skel attackers; bruised but still standing and under the control of its snowok keepers. A schism had formed however, between those who followed the faith of the old ways, of the Devourer, brought forth from shadowed whispers to the forefront by the arrival of Kr'Naan and the child of sand's plot with the shaman apprentice Snowfang and his teacher Icetooth. Having taken advantage of the chaos of the Skel attack, nearly half of the roughly one hundred snowoks aboard the snowcrawler had enacted a very rough plan and assumed control of the battered metal beast and rounded up together. Only those who resisted were harmed and only those who would not relent to minimal violence were slain.
Redclaw, having left with a small group to pursue the Icetrompers, finally returned nearly two hours after leaving to hunt down the beasts used as sledding dogs on some of the Tauntauns. When they returned, only able to retrieve half of the herd and reattach them, the air of the Gorax had shifted considerably. There was tension and fear in the air, with a strong bouquet of uncertainty and the stench of something unfamiliar to the snowok hunter. But before he could determine what it was as they neared the half closed ramp to investigate, it dropped open revealing almost two dozen snowoks armed with slings, spears and clubs; all aimed at their returning brethren.
At first Redclaw did not believe what he saw, thinking there was just a delay until their tribesmen would lower their weapons and they would resume their journey. But the snowoks within did not lower their weapons. In fact, they moved out to engage the returning icetromper retrievers and binding their arms and tying them together by their necks before taking them inside. After all of the new prisoners were taken within, the Gorax once more set off, now at a much slower pace with the lower number of beasts to pull it.
Within the dark belly of the Gorax, the fresh captives were tossed with the other. The smell of blood, battle and betrayal still hung in the air. That was the stench he not been able to immediately identify. What he could also identify was the scent of Endor, though the captive snowok did not see him at first. "Take that one up to the Oracle with the human!" One of the snowoks guards yelled before cutting Redclaw from the rest of the others and practically dragging him up to the next inner level of the snowcrawler. Taking a chance, Redclaw jumped at his snowok captor, disarming and disabling him, being sure only to knock them unconscious as he did not know what had overcome his furry fellows. Shouts in the snowok tongue came from below as he raced upward, climbing up spear in hand and ready to attack any who came too close or got in his way.
Redclaw found himself forcefully pushed along to the central room of this level, the other side paths blocked by the traitorous snowoks who defended their stations well enough to make Redclaw continue along the predetermined track. Coming to a stop, he could now see why they had guided him this way. Swinging from the ceiling, hanging upside down by his ankles was Endor, hands tied to his waist to prevent him from using them. From his side still protruded the broken metal knife, crudely wrapped with bandages to keep it in place. A small puddle of the druid's blood had dripped from the wound down his body and from his face to gather onto the floor. Standing in front of Endor, back turned to Redclaw, stood Kr'Naan, inspecting the bandages on the rebel general's wounds. "I thank you for getting the beasts back. Now we won't have to walk the rest of the pilgrimage." Kr'Naan turned to face Redclaw, her face calm as her eyes went to the spear he had stolen from the guard he had escaped. "I want no harm to come to you, any of you, until the arrival of my master. Drop the spear and let us talk."
Redclaw smugly smirked before letting out a warcry and charging the seemingly the defenseless sand child. But as he ran, he felt himself lifted into the air, suspended by magic. Out from behind a shadow stepped Snowfang, hand lifted and eyes glowing with the magicks of Hoth as he held Redclaw aloft. With a twitch of one of his stubby fingers the spear Redclaw held in a death grip flew from his hands. With his other hand the shaman apprentice used his supernatural abilities to bind Redclaw in a similar fashion to Endor. They hung several feet apart, hands bound to their sides to keep them from using them easily. Kr'Naan walked over to Snowfang and shoved a gag into his mouth before tying another length of cloth around his head to hold it in place. Moving back to Snowfang, Kr'Naan gave the shaman apprentice a congratulatory pat on the shoulder as he finished. "You have done well, Snowfang." Snowfang averted his eyes and bowed his head slightly. "Maybe too well. My father-" Kr'Naan interrupted the snowok with glare, causing him to flinch. Realizing the harshness of her expression, she softened the twisted expression and leaned close to Snowfang to calm his worries. "You performed perfectly. Icetooth says he will survive, at least long enough to reach the mountaintop and witness the glory of my master descending. After that...It shall be up to the Hakusar if he lives." Snowfang nodded understandingly but still seemed trouble. To help remedy this, Kr'Naan gestured to off in the direction where presumably Grimfang was being held. "But I doubt he will survive if he does not change his mind. Go. Try to get him to see there is no other way."
Snowfang seemed to perk up slightly as he jaunted off, leaving Kr'Naan alone with the hanging Redclaw and unconscious Endor. The usurping uli-ah turned as she heard a groan escape the lips of the burly warrior monk. Her lips curled into a mad grin, her black eyes staring without emotion into the human as he awakened. "I am glad you are finally awake. I was beginning to worry." Her tone was flat, matching the lack of shine in her eyes as Kr'Naan lightly patted Endor's cheek as he seemed to slip back into unconsciousness momentarily. "No more sleeping. It's time to wake up." The gentle approach having little effect, Kr'Naan's eye twitched with anger. The Tusken child's face became devoid of emotion as she reached up and pressed a finger onto the protruding knife-blade still sticking out from Endor's stomach, causing it to excruciatingly move inside of him. Redclaw wiggled and squirmed against his bonds as he watched.
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
"No man is good enough to be another's master."
Posts: 204
Affiliation: New Rebel Alliance (NRA)
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Post by Endor on Jun 24, 2023 18:47:21 GMT -8
A hissing red lightsaber blade sizzled back and forth, flashing against and equally bright blade of scarlet fire attached to a long hilt with a second blade sprouting out the other end. Every time Endor pressed forwards in a series of aggressive strikes, he found himself repeatedly outmaneuvered, forced to give ground less his head become severed from his body. He knew she could do it too. He had trained Kitana well in the ways of the darkside, just like his master Darth Dragus had taught him. Endor grinned with pride as he let some of that old hate they shared flow into his limbs, granting him unnatural strength and speed until his body became a wicked red cyclone of hellish light. With his single blade and basic Shi-Cho form he battered her spinning double blade away before releasing his left hand from the wrought iron black hilt of his steaming blade and wrapped a black gloved hand around his apprentices throat, pulling her in close until their lips were barely an inch apart and he could taste her breath. They were both breathing heavy, pleasantly drained and euphoric from their exertions, drawn into each others passionate saber play. He had never been so aroused."There's more to fighting than cold logic, my dear." Their lips almost touched as he spoke, his breathing finally starting to slow as he focused on controlling the rate of his heartbeat. "Your tactics are sound but they will fail you against an opponent stronger and more savage than you." He grinned, his teeth immaculate white. "Indulge in your passion. It will give you strength."Kitana brushed the midnight blue hair from her sweat dampened face before pressing her body against the Sith Master, her master. Still breathing hard, her lips spread into a desirous grin and she chuckled hoarsely with a battle parched throat. "I was just waiting for the invitation, my Master." She pulled him in close and...everything got a little fuzzy from there.
All he felt was pain as consciousness slowly came back to him. "Ugh. Five more minutes, Tarfang." He grumbled, trying to go back to sleep as his body wanted to go into recovery mode. What he really needed was a Jedi healing trance to increase his bodies healing, but he needed to concentrate in order to do that. The constant aches and all the swaying made that very difficult. Then he felt pressue on the blade jutting out from his side that sent a fresh rush of pain surging throughout his nervous system. His eyes jerked open and he let out an awful moan, sputtering as he coughed through the avalanche of agony he felt, which wasn't helped by the fact that the whole world appeared to be upside down. Endor growled with his teeth gritting through an aftershock of pain, then finally unclenching as he gasped for breath. As his eyes darted around, he could see Redclaw hanging in a similar predicament beside him, wriggling around as he snarled and thrashed like a feral wampa in heat. He blinked sticky blood from his eyes and more recent salty tears as he squinted at Kr'Naan, trying to make sense of what was happening.
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Kr'Naan'Kar
The Sith Eternal
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Post by Kr'Naan'Kar on Jun 26, 2023 12:28:35 GMT -8
Kr'Naan let out a huff and frowned before turning away from Endor as he spoke. The words stung, but she felt a quivering numbness from the adrenaline coursing through her body at her actions. Kr'Naan remained silent for a few moments, inhaling and exhaling slowly and steadily to prepare herself. It was easy to drown out Endor's words as she closed her eyes and thought of her master, Dragus. The Saurian Sith had usurped much of the Tusken youth's support system, let alone her belief system. Without his constant influence, the sand child did feel a stabbing pang of remorse for having to resort to such actions. Quick to shove those uncomfortable thoughts to the depths of her mind, far from the surface, Kr'Naan kept a strong face as she looked back to Endor, anger rising within her at his complete inability to appreciate what she was doing for him.
"You don't understand! I am saving the galaxy! UGH!" Kr'Naan screamed as she threw up her hands in exasperated disgust at Endor. "Why can't you understand that?" Kr'Naan tightened her lips in anger as she began to pace back and forth as she continued to speak. "I have tried explaining it to you, but you just don't understand." Kr'Naan raised a hand up partially into the air, an index finger pointed up and shaking as she continued to ramble. "That's why I had to take the chance. I saw it so I took it. I had to." Kr'Naan lowered her raised hand and stopped in dusty tracks, turning back to Endor. "I want to save you, too. But you just cannot see it." Kr'Naan's face seemed to struggle between worry and anger as she tried to explain everything to Endor. Finally it morphed into a sort of unsure half-smile with raised shoulders as if she were trying to reassure the man while having little confidence it would make him feel better about it any way she worded it.
"You need to be broken." Kr'Naan held up a hand to silence Endor as his eyes grew wide in confusion and fear. "Like when I was taken from my home! Her tone seemed to try and put a positive spin on an obviously horrible experience. "You need to be brought down to your lowest point. Like I was!" Again, the Tusken terror seemed almost chipper in comparing her past trauma to Endor's current predicament. "When I was at my lowest, I prayed. To anything. To nothing. I did not expect an answer." Kr'Naan grabbed a mildly dirty cloth from the nearby table and walked over to Endor, using it to wipe away some of the trail of blood falling downward from his gut wound from his face to keep his vision clear, for the moment at least. "But He did. And I'm sure if you experience that feeling, when all is lost and you pray...He shall answer. Just as he did for me." Kr'Naan smiled down at the hanging human's face, her black eyes meeting his forest green ones.
"This is for your own good. You'll see that someday." Really not liking the ambiguity of that timeline. How long was she expecting to have him hanging around to be tortured? From the table on the other side of the room, Kr'Naan grabbed another length of cloth and wrapped it around her head to cover her mouth and nose. Kr'Naan then took a stone bowl filled to the brim with the narcotic moss the snowoks enjoyed and set it down on the floor before Endor, setting it ablaze with small piece of flint and metal from the Gorax's always providing body and waving her hand around to waft the hallucinogenic smoke towards Endor's inviting nostrils. "Icetooth assures me that this batch is especially potent, with special ingredients, just for you." Kr'Naan reached out and placed a hand gently on Endor's cheek, her eyes returning to their previous cold state. "You'll see. I promise." Kr'Naan finished before backing away to get out of the smoke and into less trippy air, watching Endor from afar and ready to intervene when he was in a properly pliable state.
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Endor
New Rebel Alliance
"No man is good enough to be another's master."
Posts: 204
Affiliation: New Rebel Alliance (NRA)
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Endor on Jun 26, 2023 18:17:42 GMT -8
Keenly aware of what the burning moss was, Endor tried to pull his head away, but was rather helpless given his wounded and bound state hanging from the ceiling. When that failed him he tried holding his breath, but the tusken tyrant was persistent and held the smoking bowl until he gasped for air and was forced to swallow a lungful of hallucigenic smoke. He could tell within seconds that this was a particularly potent strain of magic moss, heavily fertilized into a serious darkside dank that addled his wits and caused his vision to grow fuzzy. The only advantage he had in that moment was that Kr'Naan underestimated the druid's tolerance for mind altering substances. Like the furry family that raised him, Endor was a child of the forest, his spirit belonged to the people of the Great Tree. Part of his shamanistic training had been the regular indulgence of sacred Endorian herbs. He and Tarfang also used to enjoy the occasional toxic mushroom from the edges of the duloks swamp. Rather then panic as he felt the affects of the burning moss elevate his mind and deepen his connection to the universe, he closed his forest green eyes and opened his third eye to the Force.His only chance was to try to control the direction of his hallucination, lest his grip completely slip as his mind slide into a bad trip. It would be a challenge given the pain his body was in, but that seemed to matter less as the layers of reality peeled away and his spirit was able to soar free of his body, flying high across the star speckled tapestry of space like a lantern bird lighting the constellations, before his winged form descended back to the forest floor and sprinted through the foliage in a family pack of churi, their long legs carry them through the brush almost as fast as an Imperial speeder bike. The flock of running birds stopped as they reached the old Imperial base, now overgrown with weeds as nature began to reclaim it. Endor lay on his chest, face peering through bush as he and Tarfang crept closer to the abandoned outpost."I don't know about this." Said a youthful Endor, his body shaking nervously. "Are you sure its abandoned?" A white gash appeared on Tarfang's dark face as his lips crooked up into his signature greedy sneer. He licked his lips as he turned from his human friend and fixed two beady eyes on the empty base. Well, empty of people. Certainly not empty of loot. Who knew what sort of cool and shiny thing they might find inside? He patted Endor on the back. "Trust me, it's empty. Stick with me and your luck will never run out." Endor blinked sweat from his eyes, looking over his shoulder as blaster bolts rang out after him down a cloud white hallway on Bespin. One bolt got a little too close for comfort, scorching the shoulder of the open vest he wore over his naked chest. With gold piercings in his ear and his mop of hair kept back by a bandana, he didn't blame the port authorities for thinking they were pirates. They were, the newly christened Bespin Blood Pirates. He flashed a rakish grin before drawing his blaster and returning fire, covering Tarfang's retreat as the agile ewok battered away energy bolts with an acid yellow lightfoil. That was before... He stood before LaHash of the Barsoomian Alliance, who had just declared him the new Baron Administrator of Cloud City. Unbelievable, from pirate to politician just like that. So many memories.Eradomens. Always it came back to Eradomens. From the streets of Cloud City to the backwater village of Outer Haven, this villain had caused problems for the people he loved time and time again. Every time the moment came to put an end to it, to finish that evil for once, he always refused to cross that line. He wasn't a killer, and nothing Eradomens did would make him become one. Another hard won fight, another wrinkle added to his forehead. He was getting tired, there wasn't as much fight in him anymore. Maybe it was time to shut down his clandestine projects. The thing he had left behind on Nomad City, it could never see the light of day. Project Chimaera was a mistake best destroyed. He opened the door and entered his office, sitting down at his chair just as he always did, before resting his feet on the desk. Click!KA-BOOM! "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" He screamed as his spirit tumbled end over end, lost in a vibrant wobbling directionless rainbow as he fell through the astral plane, surfing on the celestial groove waves. Every sound was distorted, he didn't dare speak lest his voice stretch from here to infinity. Whatever the hell was in the moss, it was damn good shit. Damn good shit. Damn. He blinked again.As his eyes opened he found himself staring at the same forest canopy he had seen as a child. He sat up, naked as the day he was born, covered in leaves and dirt. He knew these woods though, he could never forget them. He was inside the borders of Bright Tree Village. This was his home. But how did he get here? He looked at his hands, they were a little more wrinkled than he was expecting, though they were also less wrinkled than he had seen them before. Taking a moment to check the rest of himself out, he guessed his current age to be around fifty. A fit fifty at least, just by the broad woodsman shoulders he had and the bearish physique. Time skipped ahead. "Forget it. I'm done with all that. I just want to live in peace, here, where I can watch her grow into the woman I know her mother would be proud of." Endor turned his face away from his childhood friend, who was a sight for sore eyes hunched over a cane, missing an eye, with fur greying to almost white. The druid looked into the cook fire of Tarfang's sister Kneesaa's hutt, watching the flames dance over the charcoal logs.Across from him, Tarfang gave him that same greedy smirk, now less a white gash and more just four yellow bumps. "Trust me. We're going to be heroes. The merchandise potential alone..." His fur seemed a little greener than usual. "We can call it the New Rebel Alliance. People love things that are new. They'll eat it up." "WWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Everything around him went dark. He was still upside down, only instead of swaying in the snowcrawler, he was swaying over a vast pit of emptiness. He could feel a terrible hunger in that gaping maw that seemed to form fangs around its edges. Along its lip was Kr'Naan, garbed in the same bizarre outfit he had found her in aboard the hangar of the Covenant of Blood. Her eyes were black like two shards of onyx, unforgiving and cruel like an ancient pharaoh of the sands. She was the bringer of darkness. He saw it now. Somehow this determined and mutinous child was going to summon her evil master here. He could see the mountain so clearly, frigid and impossibly steep, swept with gale force winds and prone to avalanche. Yet at its peak a meteorite blow had cracked open the planet's protruding crust and exposed the heart of the Hoth, a glowing blue permafrost crystal the size of a trailer, surrounded by a mountains worth of Force imbued ice. The beast would not be able to resist. He grit his teeth and snarled like a bear, frothing as the narcotics fought with his system. Another chance to slay a dragon.
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