Bankor

Durasay had been disturbed by the events of the feeling that morning. A great disturbance in the Force. It had made the tattoo along his chest, arms, and back burn with energy as he had felt it. The Pantoran had returned to the Shrine, feeling the waves of aggression from the Sister that day prior, and the pull of the Dark Side. The Conflict that consumed the planet, and was bleeding into him. He allowed it to wash over him, using that conflict to drive his focus. Durasay could feel the pull of the Dark Side tugging at him since the day before.

It was only growing stronger as the day progressed.

He arrived at the Shrine again, looking about the encampment, wandering deeper into it.

Sister Mazakin was resting under a waterfall trying to center herself after the disturbance of the morning, the waterfall was part of the tree where water un off was making it’s way down the massive tree that supported the Dark Sky Shrine.

In the large pool of water there were bio luminescent creatures swimming in the waters that came up above her waist as she sat in a lotus position.

The Pantoran slowly, quietly approached. He didn't wish to forcibly disturb her meditations. Yet this place had drawn him in. He stood before the pool, hands folded behind his back.

After a long moment, he spoke up. "You felt it too?"

"I feel many things, Senator Mixo," she responded in Huttese.

"Though I suspect your cryptic inquiry is referring to the ripples that polluted the Way."

"I do indeed, Sister Mazakin. A Disturbance in the Force is how it is known to me." He smiled slightly, looking down at the pool, then up to the waterfall. "It was unsettling, and knowing that many have felt it, adds more to the ill nature of it." A pause for a moment, then a slight puzzled look on his face. "May I enter the pool? Or is it sacred to your path?"

"You may, though the blood-shrimp will take their blood price, if they sense your fear," she offered.

OOC: Cool or Discipline at Fear 1.

Overconfidence was always Durasay's sin. He waded into the pool, a grin upon his face. But then he felt it, one of the shrimp slide into his boot, and his eyes widened slightly. While not showing the external signs of fear, he could tell that they could feel it. It waded from him, into the pool. He still pressed forwards. Despite feeling the fear, the conflict.

LM8 - Fear 1 (Presence 4, Cool 1, Easy Difficulty): 1eP+3eA+1eD 0 successes, 3 advantage


(Three advantage to not look like I'm affected? I suppose 1 conflict and a setback for whatever happens next?)

“They have sated themselves,” she said chuckling, as his blood mingled with the pool, the rest feeding on the drifting pantoran blood in the water.

“You come here because what you felt disturbed you, yet billions die every day in this galaxy.”

"That means that however it happened, wasn't normal. It was a concentration of death." The Senator pursed his lips, watching as his blood seemed to flow into the pool, the way the little shrimp seemed to take their fill. He chastised himself, a flash of rage at his weakness. The conflict was a darkness now upon his soul, and he refused to let it linger their, uselessly, he would tap into that anger.

"What do you think caused it, Sister?"

“It was distant, but local. Garig Port Town has been ravaged by death,” she responded.

Durasay's eyes widened. The Port Town. They had sent aid. Resources. Material. People. He stopped for a long moment, his hands falling into the pool. He regarded the woman for a time, as if trying to find the words. The stillness of the moment, only disturbed by the movement of the Blood-shrimp, and the sound of the waterfall. "Do you know what happened? Any news?"

“Only that it has suffered,” she responded. “Perhaps it was the Mandalorians… I doubt it was the Resistance.”

He thought on her words. He hoped not. They had given support. Vando Nee had taken command, he wasn't going to rely on Suicide Bombers. But something had unsettled him about their meeting. Something just didn't feel right. Durasay looked off to the side for a moment, contemplating the water. "What gives you that doubt?"

"They are weak," she replied.

"No. We gave them support." There was a slight growl to his voice, that flash of anger piercing through. Holding onto that, fueled by his arrogance. "I made sure they got the support needed. Their hero was brought back to them. They were not weak, I refuse to believe that the Resistance was weak there." His eyes flashed that red hue again, as he stood in the pool.

"Believe what you wish, if it soothes your anger," she replied.

He clenched his fist, focusing that anger to purpose. On how to defeat the enemy. "It isn't about soothing anger. If the Resistance falls, those Mandalorians will come for you, too. Can't you see you should be supporting each other? Why wouldn't you aid them?"

“They may, they may not. We do not bother with those beyond our walls unless there is a need. The Mandalorians will come for the Republic before they come for us,” she said.

“Why should we bother ourselves when there are other threats for them to face.”

"Because everything is connected. Through the Force, or the Way, eventually, it will come to you. Mandalorians move, planet to planet, not threat to threat. If they aren't stopped, they will come after you sooner than you think." Durasay responded, dropping the Huttese for Basic. His hands slipped into the water, reaching through the Force to the blood shrimp swarming around him.

"Hiding in a Monastery, separate from everything else, will not buy you much time."

“Why does that matter to you? You who treads the dark path, your Way is not like the Jedi ones. Your Way is more like ours but less pure. We do not fear these warriors, we do not hide, we simply wait. These people mean nothing to us, they are nothing to us, unless they prove they have value,” she replied calmly.

“Connections… all things have their place in the Universe, have their Way, but not all Ways survive.”

"Everyone has value. As friends. As allies. Even as pawns if need be." Durasay's chin raised slightly as he spoke, feeling his confidence beginning to return. "You are right. My Path is nothing like the Jedi. I do not subject myself to clustering away my feelings, deadening myself to the Galaxy. The Force, The Way? Through them I will be truly free. But no one here fears these warriors, our enemies. We won't give them that satisfaction. Respect their prowess?" He grinned at that. "Absolutely. But Fear is hardly a factor here, against them. They are merely people."

“You speak brave words but we see much fear in your people. Maybe you do not fear, but you do not speak for everyone. You don’t need to. Every person is responsible for themselves, surely one you have enslaved yourself yourself to would agree,” she responded.

“That is their Way, yes, to dominate those beneath them.”