chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

[forcevisions]

There's no one in this world who can help me with that.

[ because she's not asking YOU for that, girl. ]

[throughvictory]

The wizardry of this world is not like anything I've ever seen before.

[forcevisions]

You mean I need magic, not the Force?

[throughvictory]

I think that given time, and access, I might learn how to breach it with the Force. But given that I can't guarantee that, the short answer is yes.

[forcevisions]

Even to find it? I can't sense the holocron past the wall either.

[throughvictory]

That's another story. The holocron pulses with the energy of the Force. If you reach out, can you not hear it?

[forcevisions]

[ she'll ... take this opportunity to reach out. and not even with her hand! (see force 13?) ]

[throughvictory]

[ nope, she barely knows what she means by ~reach out~, even if she doesn't use her hand ]

Is that truly the best you can do?

[forcevisions]

I've never done this before!

[throughvictory]

A pathetic excuse. Your senses are stifled, and you lack focus. You're too set on envisioning the outcome you desire.

[forcevisions]

Then tell me what I'm supposed to do instead.

[ good god, woman, don't just be an asshole. no wonder the sith are all so ... unstable. ]

[throughvictory]

Stop looking for it and just feel what is already there. Don't reach for the holocron, reach for the Force.

[forcevisions]

[ she shuts her eyes, feeling the air on her skin. it's stale down here, and cold. but it prickles the sweat that sticks to her skin. and beyond it, the cracks between the bricks. and the force between them, like a pattern, an intricate weave of energy ... (see force 20) ]

[throughvictory]

[ it's her that draws rey's attention before anything, after she finally connects to that greater beyond - the presence right there, so close and so focused on her, a thrumming source of malevolent power.

she'll need to make a will save to break away from falling into focusing on that rather than stretching beyond it ]

[forcevisions]

[ rey reaches out for the darkness, brushes it, but pulls back at the last minute, suddenly horrified by the realization,
upon examination, that this is not what she seeks (will 22). ]

[throughvictory]

[ she wrests away from the sucking darkness, stretches out and touches the light and presence of many - so many - feels the tension rushing through the castle, filling its tight spaces in this difficult time. it is as she follows these trails that she senses something else, quiet at first, almost a whispering voice that is just beyond earshot. ]

[forcevisions]

[ she's heard this before. no, not exactly this. but something like it. in maz's castle. in her dreams. this time, she doesn't run away or try to wake up or pull back. she chases it down. she needs it. ]

[throughvictory]

[ in her mind's eye she sees wynn's golden doors, which seem to pulse in front of her, as the whispers grow louder and louder. something is in there, something is calling out, something is speaking a language only she can --

and then it abruptly pushes her away, or something does, sending her recoiling into herself ]

[forcevisions]

[ she shouts, stumbles back, and spills to the cold stone ground as she is thrust out of her meditative state. she's back in the dungeon, suddenly, sweating and panting and staring up at darth vane's face. ]

I felt it. I felt it, but something pushed me away.

[throughvictory]

You did surprisingly well, really.

It's there, isn't it? But protected.

[forcevisions]

What is it? More magic?

[ no, better just ask the question she really wants answered: ]

How do I get past it?

[throughvictory]

There are powerful masters of magic here, who possess their own artifacts for breaking through these sorts of protections.

You just need to get your hands on one.

[forcevisions]

[ that's enough information for rey. she turns to head back up the stairs without another word. no gratitude for the teachings of the sith. no promise of cooperation. just drive.

she wants that holocron. a part of her has convinced herself that locked inside it might be the secrets that will help her understand her own place, her role, her purpose. anything else is just an obstacle. ]

[throughvictory]

[ vane calls after her: ] They won't just give it to you, you know.

I hope you're prepared to do what you must.

[forcevisions]

[ the words echo in her ears, chasing her up the stairs. words that she wants to escape but can't because they strike too close to the truth.

but the holocron does not belong to the knighthood. it belongs to the jedi. wynn was only its caretaker, and he is gone now.

but stealing artifacts from the dragon's fire. breaking through wynn's wards? it's crossing a line. a line she won't necessarily be able to come back from.

the alternative, though, is to just let them have it. and to watch them deteriorate like ahsoka watched the jedi deteriorate.

she strikes off for the dragon's fire wing. regardless of whether she takes vane's word, of how she intends to acquire it, she knows that she'll need an artifact from there. it can't hurt to look. ]