Play Testers Wanted Pt. 15

"Did you make these?" I asked and she shook her head. Most of the domes were living spaces but not all. Some were storage for scarlet grain, building materials, and other necessities. While perusing one of the more distant domes from the center of the village I spied a stray lump of rock amongst a pile of dark stones. "Is there a mine?"

"Mine?" My guide asked not understanding the term. I levitated the odd stone into my grasp and pondered how to explain. But first I was curious to what they were digging out of the ground. I examined the stone, and my HUD labeled the rock with a question mark. Hmm, let us see what you are. I used pyrokinesis to heat the stone. It glowed dully proving that it had a high melting point. Perhaps that is why it stored here. They cannot work it yet. "Stand back." I warned my guide as I cranked up the heat. Slowly the stone glowed, and it began to melt from the inside out. The molten metal bubbled up and cracked the exterior shell. I levitated the metal, shaped it into an ingot, and let it cool which it did quite rapidly. I checked it a second time to discover the dull dark ingot was Mor'ia, or shadow steel. I had never run into it in its raw state. "Hole in the ground?" I asked the female Sith.

"Dark City." She exclaimed. "Follow!" She continued excitedly as she guided me beyond the last stone hut to a cleverly hidden opening in the hillside. The passage was narrow at first forcing us to go single file. Soon it opened to a series of large interconnected caverns. The purpose of the caverns was clear. This was a primitive mining operation and the males of the tribe dug out ore, carried it to the surface, and smelted what they could for tools, weapons, and stored what was beyond them. It did not look much like a dark city to me. "Deeper."

"I understand that word really well." I replied and instead of smacking me she made a lude clucking sound and blushed.

The mine was lit by several species of glowing lichen. The damp conditions of the cave and its proximity to the waterfall indicated to me a huge and extensive cave system. The change was slow, but the rough-hewn walls and floors gave way to smooth polished ones and eventually to brightly tiled walkways. The steppingstones glowed when they were stepped upon and lit those around them. Soon the entire network was lit and growing brighter still. I let out a curse when we reached the main cavern. The space was massive, and the structures were clearly not crafted by this primitive tribe. The stony exteriors were covered in Sith hieroglyphs and reminded me of a cross between Egyptian and Mayan cultures. The main pyramid had sides that were smooth but at the corners were elegant carvings of warriors and wise men in intricate armor and robes.

"Ancestors." She explained. "Ooh, gods are angry!" She exclaimed when the thrum of power lightly shook the floor.

"Not gods." I stated and she hesitated but if I was willing to walk naked into the Dark City, so was she.

We took the shortest path to the main pyramid. There were a dozen smaller ones as well as at least a hundred homes nestled between the larger structures. It could have been a modern Sith city except it was buried under the hill. The thrum grew stronger as, if I was correct, the long silent generators were powering up. We had just about reached the main door to the great pyramid when a booming voice challenged us for a password. I cursed again and looked at her. She was clearly terrified, but I urged her to think.

"Clear your mind," I spoke in the Sith dialect I was accustomed to. "Let the Force guide your thoughts."

"NNNNN..." she stammered fighting the influence I believed.

"Let go." I crooned as her back arched and she screamed a single word.

"NNNNN... Nocturnal!"

'Well... fuck!' I silently cursed.

"Nocturnal... Dark Lord of the Sith... come forth!" She called out using the modern dialect.

"I am Nocturnal!" I declared feeling the trappings of time and fate settle upon my shoulders.

The cyclopean doors split open and receded into the walls. The thrum of power both mundane and mystical reached their full potential. Beyond the open portal were a flight of steps leading up. I led the way as the possessed warrior walked next to me. Her eyes shown with the crackling potency of an ancient spirit. I had a flashback of the Pride of Korriban and the Tomb of Darth Nocturnal. Things were reaching full circle or perhaps in this case a beginning. We reached the top of the stairs and the walls were adorned with stone pillars that supported the roof and were carved in the aspect of Sith warriors and mages long dead but remembered here in the state of petrified glory. On the far side of the chamber a solitary figure shrouded in shadows stood silent and between us and the figure was a mystical design etched in precious stone tiles adorned with gems.

At first glance the design on the floor was simple enough but like all things Sith it was seductively complex. To prove my worth, I had to decipher the puzzle and speak with the mute witness. I began breaking down the ritual and how to solve it when the possessed warrior gave me a firm but gentle shove forward. I staggered forward and my right foot landed squarely on the stone panel. I felt the teleport beam ensnare me and I was helpless to fight it. I was still off balance when I appeared in a lightless area. Normally I would be able to orientate myself and know where and how far I had been teleported. Not this time, Sith sorcery prevented that. I used Kaia-Jutsu for echolocation to 'see' my surroundings. I was standing on a stone bridge over a large underground lake. There were two openings one in front of me and one behind. I took on the form of a Selkath, one of the amphibious races in the Star Wars universe. I dove into the lake and switched from echolocation to sonar.

My first attempts gave me only a basic shape of the lakes shape and contours along the bottom. I swam against the pull of the current hoping that maybe there was a hidden exit behind the waterfall. Instead I felt a regular shape jutting out from the floor of the lake. I circled it to get a better mental picture. It was an obelisk and it had writing on it. I clung to one side and ran my free hand across the markings carved into its surface. It took time but better that than using light and drawing unwanted attention.

Ding! Went my HUD. 'Blind Man's Bluff.' Reward Earned: A Master's Touch.

The stone was a marker the first of seven. The top of the obelisk was marked with a septacle also called a heptagram, a seven-pointed star. I was about to push off and look for the next marker when my hand slipped and met the etching, and I felt a pulse of white-hot heat. I plucked my hand back and spied the fading septacle design burned into my left palm. Left winced in pain but endured. I poured healing energy into my palm and let the icy water cool the pain until just the brand remained on my flesh. I flexed my webbed fingers and continued upstream looking for the next marker. It was a slight struggle fighting the course of the underground stream but soon I breached the surface to the roar of the waterfall. I could not help myself. I pushed beyond the curtain of falling water to see only the rocky wall of the cavern. I stepped back and found the large opening at the top of the fall quite appealing.

I examined the cave for other exits but there was only the option high above that offered any outlet to this chamber. My next form was that of a Nexu, one of the finest climbers in the galaxy. The large feline like creatures had a large exaggerated mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Add to that their forked whip like tail and equally formidable claws and was it any wonder they had a reputation for ferocity and lethality. My claws pierced the rocky wall with ease. I reached the aperture at the top of the waterfall. The tunnel carved out by the stream was large enough to accommodate my current form with ease. I continued forward sniffing the air for any signs of predators or prey. The water level rose, and I reached the end of the tunnel. A chimney formation at the back fed the flow of water and the only obvious exit. I looked for less obvious ones.

I found the hidden panel marked with Sith hieroglyphs. A quick deciphering and I discovered the stone that triggered the secret door. It slid open revealing my first challenge. The chamber was fifty feet square with a six-foot obelisk at its center. The top of the pillar was marked with the seven-pointed star. There were also Sith characters informing me to touch the star to begin the challenge. I reverted to my humanoid shape and touched my branded palm to the obelisk. The grinding sound of stone on stone came from one of the darkened corners. The panel moved aside revealing a sarcophagus. The stone coffin opened, and the semi preserved corpse moved. Dark Side energy poured into it giving it the semblance of life. The desiccated body was loosely covered in rags savaged by the passage of time. Its eye sockets kindled with dark flame and it tried and failed to take in a lungful of air. A dry rattling sound filled the chamber as the dark warrior drew its sword from a dry cracked sheath. While time had taken its toll on the body his weapon was equally unaffected and looked newly forged.

"Well fuck!" I cursed realizing I was not just naked but equally unarmed. The thing let out a crunchy wheezy sound that I guessed was a laugh as it adjusted his grip on the sword and closed the difference. Running was futile so I assumed a defensive position and remembered a little used lesson Nightwind taught me at the beginning of my career.

"One of these days," he had said with an evil grin. "You are going to find yourself in a shitty situation. This might just save your ass."

The skeletal warrior let out a hollow war cry and raised his weapon. I timed my reaction and as the blade fell towards me, I brought my hands together. The downward momentum of the sword stopped. The laugh was stopped short. My palms held the flat of the blade immobile. I moved my right foot backward in a crescent movement, at the same time I pushed so that the sword blade was now horizontal, at the same time I twisted my torso and yanked the undead off balance. As he staggered forward, I shoved on the blade forcing the hilt into the thing's chest cavity breaking ribs and crushing desiccated organs. A cloud of dust rose from the thing as I repeated the circular movement with my left foot. This time I pulled hard towards me ripping the sword from his grasp.

"Thanks pal," I laughed as I flipped the weapon and caught it in my left hand and decapitated my foe. The obelisk collapsed revealing my reward for winning the first challenge. I rummaged through the rocky debris and found a black hooded robe which I slipped into immediately. I tied off the waist and finished looting the pile of rocks. My other reward was an unusual multihued crystal, clearly a rare Kaiburr crystal. I added it to my inventory. I kept the ragged leather belt that would allow me to carry the ancient Sith blade.

The sarcophagus slid to the side revealing a natural tunnel leading away from this chamber. The path was easy and level but for some reason that made me more alarmed and distrustful. The walls began as roughhewn and mainly in their natural state. Little was done to alter them except the floor of the tunnel was smooth and free of debris. Twenty feet or so from the entrance the walls began to change. It was subtle smoothing and then the first hieroglyphics and images of armored warriors and robed sorcerers. One recurring image dominated the graven carvings that of Darth Nocturnal. I knew because I had discovered his tomb and knew the unique design of his robes and mask. The tunnel ran a hundred feet and ended in a massive underground canyon. To cross to the other side, I was going to transverse a narrow stone bridge that had neither guard rails nor cover of any kind.

"Well fuck!" I cursed softly and a high pitch chittering replied.

The noise grew louder, and a pillar grew out of the middle of the span and looked identical to the first obelisk. I had reached my second challenge. Something was perched on the roof of the cavern beyond. The sound it emitted was not that of the Shyrack, cave creatures I had encountered before. This was more complex and hinted at some measure of intelligence. The thing hunted by sound and my first thought was Kaia-Jutsu, the third song, the song of dissolution and scattering.

'...remember my dear Ghost,' Nightwind encouraged me. 'This song, while weak in many ways, has a devastating effect on creatures and sentients that rely on echolocation and the like. Those that hunt by sound you will confound. I just made that up... sounds pretty good eh?'

And so, I would use it once I isolated the sound the predator was producing. Until then I wanted to get a visual of the cavern before me. I could use 'Farsight' but if the things were Force sensitive, I might alert them and find myself swamped with enemies. No, I needed a more subtle way of peeking. I sat in a cross-legged position and took in my environment. It took me little time to reach a relaxed state. After five minutes or so a rivulet of moisture ran down from the crown of my head, across my forehead, down to the tip of my nose, and drop the ground. Moisture. The tunnel and the cave beyond were filled with it.

A sense of serenity came over me as my solution presented itself. I drew on the Force with the same delicacy as I would when utilizing Force cloak. I gathered the moisture about me in the form of a light ground fog. From this state I slowly built up the layers until a rectangle of water lay before me. I slowly levitated it as a thin sheet. I opened my eyes and found the water reflected my deepest sense of concern. Just as I had on Typhon, I calmed the water by calming myself. Once the surface was still, I gestured and moved it out beyond the arch and into the cavern. The surface of the roof was covered with creatures. I could not see them clearly, but the ripple of movement came from the host clinging to the top confirmed my fear of being overwhelmed if I acted hastily.

I observed them as I rejected one attack plan after another. There was symmetry among the host of creatures. They were all about the same size. Why? They had to have been hatched from eggs. If that was the case, there had to be an older female I had not seen yet. I dare not use the term queen for obvious reasons. I caught the flash of green light coming the cavern. It was the obelisk. I squinted and a green rectangle appeared around the marker. White text appeared next to it.

'Challenge Marker 2.'

I squinted more and the green rectangle flashed. The text changed.

'The second stone to win through, abandon Bogan and embrace Bendu.'

Bogan was the Dark Side of the Force and Bendu was the balance or middle ground. Abandon an aggressive strategy and use one of balance. Clearly there were too many enemies to fight. I had to sneak in and touch the obelisk. My first thoughts on using the third song clearly were the right solution. My instincts were proving true. I closed my eyes and listened to the song being woven by the inhabitants of the cavern. While I had never encountered this species before their song was decipherable and so beatable. I just had to be patient. The complexity made it tantalizing to be honest. I loved a challenge and the blend of melody with a three-octave range this was a daunting task.

'Got you!' I thought as the entirety formed in my head.

My hand tapped out the counter melody before I sang it. Sound travels in waves. As I sang my voice and that of the things in the cave cancelled each other out. Silence prevailed as I got to my feet and with a hint of trepidation, I entered the cave. The only sound was the miniscule slap of bare feet on wet cold stone. I fought the urge to race forward. I counted down mentally as I drew ever closer to the obelisk. To my surprise I reached it whole and hale. I touched it with my left hand, and it crumbled just as the first one had. The damn sound of the falling stones echoed off the high roof alerting every living thing here of my presence. I collected my rewards, crouched down, and wrapped my hand around the hilt of the ancient Sith sword. The host above me swarmed. I cursed as the they dove downward but before I could draw my weapon, I realized they were not flying at me. In fact, they were power diving at the lake below the bridge. Why?

With a deafening roar and whoosh of spray the thing in the lake breached the surface and went on the offensive. I was hit by a wave of water displaced by whatever the hell was beneath me. I was nearly thrown from the bridge into the lake. The thing lunged upward and through the mist and cascade of water I caught a glimpse of it. My time among the Elder Things prepared me for the nightmare lurking beneath me. The sheer size of it defied anything natural but the host ignored all that and attacked anyway. It appeared to me at least that the things that had roosted above had entered a frenzy and were determined to kill the dweller in the deep.

Embrace the Bendu. I would stand aside and let nature take its course. With an effort I dropped my grip from the sword. I watched the conflict with great interest. I imagined myself as a wildlife photographer and my memory the film that would capture the event. They died in their dozens. The host was diminished and what was once an unbroken stream was thinned and becoming even slimmer. They were hurting it and from the wounds oozes a thick viscous substance that smelled of the open grave. The stench of the charnel house rose, and the water did little to wash it away. The dweller's blood carried the unfettered noxious odor of death incarnate. It was maddeningly pervasive. No matter what I did I could not escape it.

'Cannot breathe!' I thought as the thing below struck the underside of the bridge hurtling me into the air. Thanks to all the one on one time with Gwen I was able to orientate my body midair and land hero fashion with limbs unfurled. This was getting more difficult to remain neutral. It is easy to go on the attack, but this was a challenge of a whole new kind. The third melody entered the song. The Hive Mother had been drawn from her nest to enter the fray. Her children were dying, and she would have none of that. She dropped down like a leathery winged horror. Her voice drowning out all but the dweller's in its sheer ferocity and rage. My first glimpse of her froze my blood. It reminded me these were monsters fighting a monster.

The thing below struck the keystone of the span and once more sent me hurtling skyward. Once more I orientated. Once more I fell and landed gracefully, but this time my weight was enough to send fissures racing outward. The bridge was no longer safe. It would not hold my weight much longer. The spot where the obelisk had been now held a spinning icon. I had earned a bonus. I collected it as I raced for the far side of the bridge and my next challenge. I reached my goal and turned. Two dozen or so of the host survived and fled out a hidden opening in the roof. The mother of them all was in what appeared to be a berserker rage attacking the dweller beneath. She let out a deafening screech when the thing in the water attacked her from behind. One of its tentacles thrust... oh dear god... they were not fighting... they were... time to go. The mating rituals of eldritch horrors is not for the faint of heart.

"Eww!!" I cursed as I fled to my next challenge.

Once I was out of line of sight, I examined my inventory. The few objects not grayed out were interesting. I had in my possession a rare Kaiburr crystal, two beam emitters, a crystal lens assembly, and to make things interesting a blade length/intensity adjuster. Oh, this was going to be a fascinating little weapon when it came together. The other new item was labeled multitool. I removed it from my inventory and examined it. It reminded me of a Yautja combi stick but a non-lethal version of it. It could extend, collapse, and produce various tools and devices for a range of situations. This screamed another non-combat situation. I wonder what form it would take. I raced down the tunnel eager to embrace my next challenge.