Bankor

Aran had gotten to the base last night only an hour or two before the sun was to rise, and spent another hour explaining and re-explaining what he had learned ("debriefing," the military called it). By the time he had returned to his quarters, he planned to stay up the small time longer needed to meditate just after the sun had risen. That was his normal routine, albeit usually after having gone to bed at a reasonable hour. Instead, he had fallen sound asleep almost instantly and woken up only after the hot sun was past its zenith.

Sighing, he ignored his belly, unfilled since a handful of bar snacks at the club last night, and sat cross-legged on his floor. He felt the Force around him, the living beings, sensing the through the thin prefab walls as if they were not there. His groggy mind cleared, his anxieties about the events of last night faded, and his bond to the Force deepened.

After some time had passed, he felt an unfamiliar presence. They were not one of the Jedi he had met, but they were different than most beings. Those attuned to the Force were no more luminous than any other precious living thing -- it was more subtle than that -- but their connection could be perceived.

Aran rose to his feet and walked to open his door, curious as to what he would find.

Galen was attempting to meditate again. He wasn't trying to connect with Yulu, not yet, but he was contemplating the saber. Weilding it against the sand demon had been brief, but it had been the first time he'd used it against a living creature. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

He sat outside his pod, staring off into the desert.

Aran let his feet walk him out of the building into the rays of the late afternoon sun. Heedless of the glare, but not of the baking heat, he raised the hood of his thermal cloak. He saw (if that was ever the right word, for a Miralukan) someone kneeling to his right, facing the perimeter of the camp. He saw, also, the saber in his lap, but no other signifiers of the Jedi. Only serviceable, worn clothes, and a familiar contemplative look on a young face that had clearly spent much more time out under true suns than most.

Aran stood still, joining him in staring out at the desert. He was curious about this enigma, but having just mediated, he found himself calm enough to practice patience. Thinking of times when, as a youngling, he had presumed upon a Master's meditation, he smiled faintly to himself.

He felt the presence of someone nearby. Looking around, he spotted Aran quickly.

"Good afternoon. The desert feels more peaceful today."

"More peaceful with every meter the Mandalorians retreat," Aran said agreeably. He lowered his head in a small bow. "Padawan Aran Enfas."

"Galen Sol." he responded. "Student of Master Lyshea Mersl."

"Master Mersl!" Aran smiled. "I have heard of her wisdom and mercy. I am pleased to meet you, Padawan Sol."

"I am pleased to meet you, as well." he smiled. "But, I am not a part of the Order."

"Ah?"An unobtrusive, inqusitive noise. Aran, whose face was in a small, friendly smile, gained the faint sense of raised eyebrows behind his eye covering sunshades (a subtlety of expression perhaps familiar to someone with a Miralukan master). His hands, clasped together in front of him, parted, with one opening, palm up. A polite and understated invitation -- you may explain, or the conversation may move on.

"I have no wish to join the Jedi at this time. Even so, Lyshea agreed to be one of my teachers." he explained. "

Aran walked over and sat companionably cross-legged beside Galen. "It is a rare honor for outsiders to learn from the Order," he says, his voice even, looking out at the desert. "How long have you been with Master Mersl?"

"A couple of years." he answered. "She found me on Nar Shaddaa and felt she needed to guide me. She had had a vision."

“Then all is as the Force wills it,” said Aran equably. “Are you here as her student? At her request?” He smiled. “I am curious as to how not-a-Padawan and a Master interact.”

"She suggested that I come here, that I might discover something of interest." he explained. "She didn't suggest what that might be. I'm not sure she knew. I definitely don't think she anticipated what I found yesterday."

Aran's smile had already faded in to his usual serene expression, but he became even more neutrally intent, sensing something of significance. "And what was that, Galen Sol?"

"I recovered a lightsaber from a crash site on Nar Shaddaa a couple of years ago." he explained. "It was just after I had met Lyshea, and she instructed me on how to reforge it. It took some effort, but I managed."

He patted the hilt on his belt.

"However, I've heard a voice, since I began carrying it. Lyshea felt it would pass, that it was just an echo of it's former wielder and would fade. However, it has gotten stronger and, yesterday, I was able to meditate and commune with the spirit connected to the blade." he paused to consider the information. "He introduced himself as Jedi Knight Yulu Kess. He said he was an investigator for the Order, explaining that that was the reason he had been on the barge that crashed. I am still learning, however, I do know a little about such spirits. He seemed friendly enough, but he wasn't like anything I had heard about."

Aran listens quietly and stays quiet a while after Galen finishes. "That... is not something I have heard of," he says at last. "May I see it?"

"Of course." he handed over the saber.

Aran took the saber delicately in hand, and held it over the lap formed by his cross legs. He could not close his eyes to shut out his sense of sight, as many Jedi did to focus in on the Force, but nevertheless he gave the definite impression that he was intent not directly on the world around him, but on something else.

He felt the Force flowing through the desert -- the sand, the wind, the small creatures keeping cool below the sand, the man beside him, others nearby, and the living crystal in the saber. And, perhaps, something more...

Sense the saber: 1eF 2 Light Side


Two! Two pips! Ah ah ah... I don't know which application of basic Sense is helpful here, so I guess I do both!

Aran can sense an aura of both peace and loss, the sense of loss outweighs the calm... as if something is undone or incomplete.

"I can feel him!" Aran says, excitement breaking through serenity. "There is something he has left incomplete..."

"He didn't mention that..." he shook his head. "He seemed a little surprised to still be around, actually."

"I have heard legends of Jedi who become one with the Force, and yet speak with their own voice. Tied to an object though..." he trails off and shakes his head. "I do not remember this from any of my lessons."

Spooky lightsaber lore: 2eA 1 success, 2 advantage

His knowledge is thin in this area.

OOC: 1 Advantage, what do you want to use that for?

Lore Diffiuclty: 2eD 2 failures, 1 threat

Ooc: maybe knowing someone else to ask? PC (I'll ask around myself) or NPC, if you want to hook someone.