7th- overnight lockdown. pls threadjack

[bearshermark]

Sweet Lily of the Hidden Valley:

I used to travel with a lot of companions. It took awhile to grow used to each other, but since we're stuck down here tonight, I've thought of a few things we could talk about to pass the time and maybe help us work together better. Whatever anyone is comfortable with answering of course.

What is your home world like?

What kind of skills or abilities do you have?

Good ways to make money here, or unique supplies we might need?

Who isn't expecting to get a weapon and needs one? I have a few lumps of ore now if ever I can get to the forges..

Comments

[darkeststars]

There is something to be said for failure. Teaches you what not to do twice.

[bearshermark]

I suppose it does.

[He's lucky enough as it is to have lived to have a second try]

But I don't think we're enemies here.

[darkeststars]

Who, you and I? As a rule I prefer not to work against those who've been good to me. Unless they subsequently stab me in the back, of course. [ A common hazard in this line of work. ]

If I considered you my enemy, believe me, you would know.

[bearshermark]

That sounds like a good policy to have.

[He should probably be more cautious himself given his recent experience, but there are better reasons to hold onto an alliance. After all, his former hunter has become his most ardent protector]

[darkeststars]

Besides which, if you don't make it home to go save your planet and all that, then I suppose our gracious host here might derive some amusement out of having thwarted your plans. And I'm really not about that at all.

[ Funny what sorts of things two people from across universes can have in common. ]

[bearshermark]

[He laughs to himself, lingering wariness soothed by that pettiest of reasons]

I am curious though. How is balance meant to work between the Light and Dark sides of your Force ideally?

[darkeststars]

That depends on who you ask. Considering that it suffuses all of creation and every lifeform in the galaxy, there are certainly many opinions about it.

As I said, I've heard among the Jedi there is some propaganda that the Dark is a sickness of sorts, an anomaly to be purged for there to be 'balance'. To tap into the Dark Side one must unleash their most powerful emotions, and the Jedi don't believe in such things. They teach their little cult to suppress strong feelings, to never grow attached to other beings, lest they be tempted into the darkness.

The Sith believe that the Force frees us all to pursue our passions, and that balance is unimportant, that what matters is only the path to power. Anything is permitted...theoretically. The Dark Side is a quicker way to victory for some, so many of our order favor it. But any power wielded unwisely corrupts. The worst of us well deserve to be hunted.

As for me, however, well. I have my own ideas.

[bearshermark]

Put like that, they seem a little extreme from my view. Is there no middle ground?

[darkeststars]

Many would say no. There is no discipline devoted to a middle path, that I am aware of. But that is the line I try to walk. The Force calls to me in its rage and its serenity. It is the whole universe, after all. Strange to think that most listen to only one voice or the other.

[ Usually, Ashara is the only person he can safely discuss this sort of thing with, and even then certainly only in private. His other apprentices were never exactly receptive, and not even Theron wanted to sit around listening to him ramble about the Force. It's a bit odd to speak of it so openly. ]

I take it this sort of philosophy is unknown to your world?

[bearshermark]

Not in ways that restrict or encourage one's decisions that I'm aware of. Certainly, magic can be used to harm or heal but it isn't a moral debate.

Still, Light is aligned with life in Erdrea, as is the case with Yggdrasil, with the Darkness aligned with death and the Dark One. Yet even for me, Yggdrasil hasn't demanded I make any vows or live in a certain fashion. So long as the cycle of rebirth continues, I believe She is content.

Though I confess I'm not certain now if that cycle of rebirth is Her way of working around death, reincarnating people in spirit, if not in body. But without Her, it's certainly true that souls are doomed to be lost in the Void.

All I know about the forces of Darkness is a craving for power and destruction. I know it can corrupt those it touches, though it doesn't always. Certainly, those I've fought against seem to wield it without regard for life.

So far as I understand it, there is a cycle of Light and Darkness that plagues Erdrea once every millennia.

[darkeststars]

[ There's another long pause. It's getting to be on the later side now -- maybe Eleven's new acquaintance has just taken a break from typing ominous things into the network to try to snatch some sleep, or-- ]

Hm. Exciting evening.

[ Maybe not. ]

A cycle of Light and Darkness, hm? Interesting. So your overarching problem is mainly that it has swung back around?

One could say we have a cycle in the rest of the galaxy, but it tends to depend less on the metaphysical and more on which side of the war has come up with some shiny new weapon recently, hah.

So if the belief on your world is that beings are all reincarnated, do you have no ghosts?

[bearshermark]

This is only the second time the Dark One has surfaced that history tells of, so it's difficult to be certain.

For ghosts... I guess that depends on how you mean. There are ghost-like beings and monsters that can be found in Erdrea, but they don't bear resemblance to dead souls and don't actually haunt people. At least as far as I've seen.

[darkeststars]

Hmmmm. Curious. I'm something of a specialist on what you would call dead souls, I suppose -- the thought of a world where the living never hang around after their deaths is quite fascinating. What the Force would even feel like in such a place...

Well, if I do come by to see for myself, I'll try not to bring trouble with me. Though -- I suspect you and I probably have this in common -- these things tend to follow me whether I will it or not, honestly.

[bearshermark]

It's an unfortunate trait to have in common.

But I wouldn't say the dead never linger. There are souls that can't find their way to Yggdrasil when they die suddenly or violently. Some of them rise up again to become restless undead monsters, while other souls lie in wait and only need to be guided back to Her. I just haven't experienced ghosts in the storybook sense.

[darkeststars]

Ah, just a mismatch in terms then? Or the translation on this thing is on the fritz again. Sounds familiar enough at any rate.

I wouldn't say I've ever been literally haunted by a ghost like something out of a story either. Though I suppose figuratively is another matter. Some of them can certainly be, to use the fancy technical term, absolute assholes. Less in the turning into ravening monsters sense and more in their horrendous personalities. Stopped to talk to many in your time?

[bearshermark]

Not as such. I've helped send a number of them onto the next life through ritual and prayer, but I'm not sure they had enough sentience for speech.

I wonder if it's possible to turn this world's undead. I guess I don't know where they're supposed to go to guide them on though.

[darkeststars]

I once knew a few who used to hang around with me jeering at passersby. Charming. [ The ghosts of ancient Sith Lords don't necessarily have that much in common with the general population, of course, but it's not hard to imagine other ghosts being equally obnoxious. It's not like there's a lot of entertainment in being a restless remnant of the once-living. ]

Could well be to our benefit to investigate how things work here, though. Perhaps I'll put sneaking into a local library onto the to-do list. Or failing that, I suppose asking the populace for stories might be a more effective means of research around here, but -- probably best left to those with more patience than I.

[ There's something to be said for someone who at least knows their own horrendous personality flaws, right? ]

[bearshermark]

Can the rose quartz translate already written texts? I haven't tried that. I know it's translating what I'm writing, so I'd guess it's possible.

Asking around sounds good though. Maybe when things are a little less tense anyway.

[darkeststars]

Ugh, I certainly hope it can. A bad habit to presume any technology in this place is going to be dependable. Well, failing that I suppose I can figure out how to endear myself to exactly one librarian.

All quiet on your end currently?

[bearshermark]

So far as I can tell.

How are things where you are?

[darkeststars]

I think I've sufficiently relocated myself to avoid any issues. Perhaps not to sleep, but there's always tomorrow.

[bearshermark]

I'll hope they lose interest in us soon.