Post by Lord Nexus on Jun 1, 2021 11:13:13 GMT -8
There was no sound as he fell in the darkness; all he felt was his stomach lurch as the ground crumbled beneath him, leaving only the hungry maw of some forgotten void which laid beneath the ruins. There was no time to ponder his situation, as the ground suddenly leapt up to meet him. The silence of the void was broken, as the resonating clang of metal meeting stones reverberated throughout the chamber. Air blasted from his lungs as he hit the ground, leaving him immobile for a few seconds, as his body throbbed in pain.
He sat up slowly, attempting to adjust his eyes to the darkness that enveloped him - yet they never did. Letting out a grunt of annoyance, he reached into a pouch on his utility belt, procuring a small translucent rod which he promptly snapped. A dim yellow glow emitted from the emergency light-stick, giving his surroundings some semblance of visibility. Holding it at an arms-length from him, the man swept the room, looking for any indication as to where he was. The floors were smooth - a finished black stone with pale veins streaking through it; this was not a natural formation, but a chamber of some sort.
There were no signs of life, though the faint smell of dust and cobwebs filled his nose - no one had been in this place for quite some time. That was a good thing. Malakaii Concordia had only been at the Sith Academy for a few weeks, and he was sure if another student saw him in his current disheveled state, they would surely think of him as a vulnerable target - though they would be sorely mistaken. Even in his current state, Malakaii was a physically imposing human, standing at 6'5, with a muscular physique which was reinforced by his broad shoulders and a barreled chest. His Concordia trade mark silver hair and pale blue eyes added a strange beauty which contrasted his brutish facial features - making most overlook his square chin, jutting jaw and large nose, which was crooked from being broken one too many times. While not as large as many other species, Malakaii's physical appearance acted as an unspoken warning to most that he was not one to be bullied.
Brushing the dust off of his now dented Sith trainee armor, Malakaii took a few steps into the darkness, noting that even the sounds of his boots against the stone were muffled in this dark chamber – though he knew it was not due to a natural anomaly of any sort. Even though his training had just begun, Malakaii had a keen perception of the force, and this place was strong in the Dark Side- stronger than anything on the surface of the Valley of the Dark Lords.
He wondered how no one detected it sooner and how by mere chance, and a hint of misfortune, he had stumbled across it. He had been exploring the thoroughly plundered Tomb of Marka Ragnos when he stumbled into a strange anti chamber with a monolith at its center. That was where Malakaii first felt the tug of a darkness that seemed foreign on Korriban. That alone was enough to warrant his curiosity. As he approached the monolith, the ground suddenly gave way, plunging him into the darkness of whatever this chamber was.
Upon reaching the nearest wall he could find, Malakaii began to survey the room, noting the glyphs that seemed to cover every inch of the walls, from floor to ceiling. He could not make sense of much of it, as he was not versed in the language of the ancient Sith - but given the extent of the writing, he knew he stumbled onto something that could gain him substantial favor at the academy. He followed the wall with slow, steady steps, continuing to survey the room - while some might panic in a scenario like this, he did not. If this was not a natural structure, it clearly served a purpose - and there should be a door somewhere around the room - after all, ceiling-based entries were impractical at best, and precarious at worse.
His fingers suddenly came across a slab of stone jutting away from the wall. A doorframe! He took a moment to examine the door – it was wrought of a metal as black as the stone floor, yet it had a malicious sheen to it. First the young man searched for a panel to the door, but it was fruitless.
"Come on Malakaii, how can you expect to be a Sith if you can't open a kriffing door!"
He pushed against the door, but it did not budge. Taking a step back, he assessed his situation. Locked in an unknown ruin beneath an ancient Sith ruin - one that no one had been in, probably since the construction of the tomb above it.
Why would the Sith build the tomb of one of their most esteemed leaders directly above this place, and then suddenly forget about it? He knew of several places where Jedi and Sith alike built atop ancient places of power, including the Jedi temples on Coruscant and Yavin. Yet in these cases the ancient sites were either built on to reverse or amplify the power that radiated from the source – this site was different. No one cherished this hidden place of power – instead it was tucked away and forgotten, and probably for a reason - given the Sith's thirst for knowledge and power, a place like this should have been found by now.
While lost in contemplation, Malakaii did not notice the sudden emergence of another presence in the room - it was not until he felt the rooms temperature drop several degrees, and the hairs on the back of his neck begin to raise that he was not alone.
He sat up slowly, attempting to adjust his eyes to the darkness that enveloped him - yet they never did. Letting out a grunt of annoyance, he reached into a pouch on his utility belt, procuring a small translucent rod which he promptly snapped. A dim yellow glow emitted from the emergency light-stick, giving his surroundings some semblance of visibility. Holding it at an arms-length from him, the man swept the room, looking for any indication as to where he was. The floors were smooth - a finished black stone with pale veins streaking through it; this was not a natural formation, but a chamber of some sort.
There were no signs of life, though the faint smell of dust and cobwebs filled his nose - no one had been in this place for quite some time. That was a good thing. Malakaii Concordia had only been at the Sith Academy for a few weeks, and he was sure if another student saw him in his current disheveled state, they would surely think of him as a vulnerable target - though they would be sorely mistaken. Even in his current state, Malakaii was a physically imposing human, standing at 6'5, with a muscular physique which was reinforced by his broad shoulders and a barreled chest. His Concordia trade mark silver hair and pale blue eyes added a strange beauty which contrasted his brutish facial features - making most overlook his square chin, jutting jaw and large nose, which was crooked from being broken one too many times. While not as large as many other species, Malakaii's physical appearance acted as an unspoken warning to most that he was not one to be bullied.
Brushing the dust off of his now dented Sith trainee armor, Malakaii took a few steps into the darkness, noting that even the sounds of his boots against the stone were muffled in this dark chamber – though he knew it was not due to a natural anomaly of any sort. Even though his training had just begun, Malakaii had a keen perception of the force, and this place was strong in the Dark Side- stronger than anything on the surface of the Valley of the Dark Lords.
He wondered how no one detected it sooner and how by mere chance, and a hint of misfortune, he had stumbled across it. He had been exploring the thoroughly plundered Tomb of Marka Ragnos when he stumbled into a strange anti chamber with a monolith at its center. That was where Malakaii first felt the tug of a darkness that seemed foreign on Korriban. That alone was enough to warrant his curiosity. As he approached the monolith, the ground suddenly gave way, plunging him into the darkness of whatever this chamber was.
Upon reaching the nearest wall he could find, Malakaii began to survey the room, noting the glyphs that seemed to cover every inch of the walls, from floor to ceiling. He could not make sense of much of it, as he was not versed in the language of the ancient Sith - but given the extent of the writing, he knew he stumbled onto something that could gain him substantial favor at the academy. He followed the wall with slow, steady steps, continuing to survey the room - while some might panic in a scenario like this, he did not. If this was not a natural structure, it clearly served a purpose - and there should be a door somewhere around the room - after all, ceiling-based entries were impractical at best, and precarious at worse.
His fingers suddenly came across a slab of stone jutting away from the wall. A doorframe! He took a moment to examine the door – it was wrought of a metal as black as the stone floor, yet it had a malicious sheen to it. First the young man searched for a panel to the door, but it was fruitless.
"Come on Malakaii, how can you expect to be a Sith if you can't open a kriffing door!"
He pushed against the door, but it did not budge. Taking a step back, he assessed his situation. Locked in an unknown ruin beneath an ancient Sith ruin - one that no one had been in, probably since the construction of the tomb above it.
Why would the Sith build the tomb of one of their most esteemed leaders directly above this place, and then suddenly forget about it? He knew of several places where Jedi and Sith alike built atop ancient places of power, including the Jedi temples on Coruscant and Yavin. Yet in these cases the ancient sites were either built on to reverse or amplify the power that radiated from the source – this site was different. No one cherished this hidden place of power – instead it was tucked away and forgotten, and probably for a reason - given the Sith's thirst for knowledge and power, a place like this should have been found by now.
While lost in contemplation, Malakaii did not notice the sudden emergence of another presence in the room - it was not until he felt the rooms temperature drop several degrees, and the hairs on the back of his neck begin to raise that he was not alone.