Log:Jedi: Hidden Potential
The Jedi discover a group of Force-sensitive individuals on Lothal who are unaware of their potential. Operating in the shadows, they offer training and guidance to nurture these budding talents away from the prying eyes of the Sith.
OOC Date: October 16, 2023
Location: Lothal
Participants: Rey, Lira'una, Qutha Buvu Pah, Lyglo
The Lothalan system's sun hangs low in the evening sky, bathing the grasslands of Lothal in its warm light. The wind rushes across the golden grass, headed toward the swaying leaves of one of the planet's dense forests. It is a serene world, that has suffered scars of the Empire's, both past and present. The Force is strong here, with the presence of life yet still strong on the planet's winds.
The Jedi had been brought to the planet following a request from a Bothan Jedi Knight named Van Drasall. The Bothan had met the Jedi entourage at their landing site, where he'd picked them up and spoke to them about some of the situation.
Van was an archaeologist. He'd been with the Jedi for about 13 years now, a Knight for the past 3. He had a padawan named Bree, but she wasn't with him currently. Currently, Van told the Jedi that he'd come across something rather special. Lothal was known for its hidden ruins, buried beneath the planet's surface after wars long fought centuries ago.
"I have to show you to a small tribe." Van said at their meeting point, the wind causing his blonde fur to ripple against his chin and brow line. "It seems a tribe of locals have discovered something, and they... may need our guidance, before it is too late."
After their meet-up, the entourage of Jedi climbed aboard Van's speeder truck, and began a short drive in to the forest. They pass through the trees, traveling for another two hours, and by the time they stop their journey, the sun has set.
"Here we are." Van Drasall announces from the cab of his speeder truck. His door is popped open, and he steps out on to the soft forest earth below.
Rey, having been in the back of the truck with the rest, nimbly drops down from its back bumper to the ground as well. She glances back to the others, before her eyes and senses take in their surroundings.
A deep dark forest in all directions. Forest fauna making familiar, and some unfamiliar, noises. It is peaceful, and on the edge of all the ambient noises, the sound of drums and low rumbling horns can be heard. A ceremony of some kind?
"Come." Van urges Rey and the others, as he steps toward a forest pathway that sets them on a winding descent down a set of wooden stairs built in to the soft dirt...
Lira's senses come alive as the speeder truck comes to a halt and the forest envelops them in a blanket of darkness, punctuated only by the silvery light of the stars filtering through the canopy. The rich scent of moss and damp earth fills her nostrils, and the gentle chirping of nocturnal creatures acts as a soundtrack to this hidden world.
She carefully steps out of the truck, her boots sinking slightly into the forest floor, the touch of the loamy earth familiar and comforting underfoot. Her blue eyes flit across the trees, absorbing the surroundings, entirely comfortable in the very faint light thanks to her Rylothian heritage. There's an inherent harmony to the world... a currents of the Force flowing around her.
The distant sound of drums and horns captures her attention, their rhythms echoing like heartbeats.
Lira moves closer to Qutha, apparently anticipating or at least preparing for his reaction to the darkness, her familiar presence no doubt evident both in the Force and in the lift of her voice in the darkness. "I'm with you," she says, the smile on her lips evident even in her inflection.
Always in the dark and dim, frowning with the exit from the truck - the flora jedi's instincts war with one another. The inborn terror of the dark and the attempts to ignore the bone deep nyctophobia. He attempts to focus, brow furrowing and his mouth setting in a hard frown that sinks further when he finds himself losing touch with the Force as he attempts to branch out his senses into it.
Teeth chattering, quite literally, Qutha practically falls out of the truck while fumbling in his cloak, "Oh bother..." muttered while his eyes pop wider and wider, trying to drink in as much of the little light there is. He calms, some, fractionally at the words of reassurance, but it's enough to get some steadying until a glow rod is found. A button pressed casting bright golden light around the older mystic and he hangs it from his belt.
Calmer, but definitely unable to seek a place to hide, he takes to rubbing his palms together as if he'd been freezing. Still shivering.
Lyglo has been taking everything in stride on their way, his eyes flitting around taking in as much as he can from the back of the speeder truck. Upon arrival he climbs out hopping to the earth, boots sinking into the earth a bit. He follows Lira and Qutha staying close for now. His eyes scanning the darkness but not really seeing much, but he tries to stay as alert as possible.
The further down the slopping pathway that the Jedi proceed, the louder the sounds of a local ceremony can be heard. Van is leading the entourage through the forest, glancing back over his shoulder at Rey and the others, explaining while he talks. "Bree and I have been here off and on for the entirety of the past year, as you know." He states, bounding down the panks of wood built in to the descending pathway. "Lothal is one of the most promising locations that my research has pointed me toward. Luke Skywalker visited it a number of times in the days following the fall of the Galactic Empire, but Luke lacked the resources to really perform the necessary elements of exploration that are required. I feel we may be in a better position to accomplish this, and to ... well, sweeten the deal, so to speak... I thought all of you needed to see this first hand..."
The Bothan reaches the bottom of the forest staircase where he is greeted by a pair of locals in brightly colored robes. They offer smiles to him, quite clearly on friendly terms with the Botham male. They speak to one another in a local dialect, before the two greeters look to those that Van brought with him. They begin to offer bowls toward the Jedi entourage, bowls filled with a variety of brightly colored fruits and dried chunks of meat.
"They have been expecting you. I told them I was bringing you, for the feast, and for the show." Van says with a proud stroke of his long blonde beard down the front of his dark earthen hued robes.
"A show?" Rey asks, accepting one of the bowls, and smiling to the greeters of the tribe.
"Yes, come. Come." Van encourages with a wave of his furry hand toward them. He proceeds on around a mud-brick building with a thatch roof, and soon the party becomes entirely visible.
A good one hundred people are gathered around inside the heart of a village of brick and thatch roofed structures. There are a number of fires lit and burning bright, but even more curious, there are a number of people seated around the fires, cross-legged, all wearing brightly colored robes... and all of them floating some five feet off the ground.
Others, standing around and enjoying the festivities begin waving toward the Jedi arrivals, some moving to offer handshakes as Van had told them they would be in attendance to the ceremony tonight... if a bit late for the start of it!
Lira's curiosity is piqued by the enticing aroma wafting from the bowls of fruits and dried meats. Accepting a bowl with a gracious nod to one of the greeters, her hood pushed back and her lekku left to curl around her shoulders, she delicately picks up a piece of the vibrant fruit, bringing it to her nose. Her eyes close momentarily, savoring the smell that fills her nose.
The sound of laughter and music draw her attention, and she can't help but smile at the welcoming atmosphere. The villagers' joy is palpable, filling the air and resonating with her very soul -- an entertainer, herself... a circus aerialist, a fire dancer. The sight of the villagers floating off the ground, seemingly held up by the Force, captures her interest, causing her to glance momentarily up at Qutha before looking around herself.
Always one to interact and connect, Lira gently weaves her way through the crowd, stopping to exchange greetings with the villagers but never venturing far from Qutha's side. She clasps hands with a younger of the villagers -- though not that much younger than she herself -- her purple lips pulled into a friendly smile.
"This is... wonderful. You can take the girl out of the circus..." the little lavender Twi'lek comments, leaving them to finish the thought on their own as her eyes casting over to Qutha and then back at Lyglo, glittering with amusement.
Breathing deep, long breaths along the walk, Qutha attempts to center himself while listening to Van explain his findings. Moving slowly and with cautious steps despite the light he has hung from his belt. The orchardist clings to any sort of support or banister for the stairs. Unable to stop the tremor in his steps, or his hand when he accepts one of the bowls.
"Dear oh dear..." raising one bowl to sniff some at the offering, jaw working side to side and his gaze following the flicker of fires where he himself tries to find himself in the light of.
A few more moments breaths slowing when he closes his eyes and focuses. Calling on the Force for aid, head lowered some and his emerald eyes glance up, less carefully contained panic there and fading while now finding himself seeing more and more in the gloom as his sight is enhanced.
Lyglo smiles coming upon the gathering and he too lowers his hood accepting the offered bowl graciously with a bow. He thanks the greeters as he comes up on Lira's other side, his eyes wide as he looks to the where the drums and singing is coming from. "Wow...it's almost like back home...just less cold and dry." Glo says softly as he too raises a piece of fruit to sniff and then takes a bite.
Naturally the hovering individuals that surround the edges of the fires draws Rey's attention quite a lot. "They're performing Rising Meditations." She says, eliciting a smile from Van on her left. She glances toward him, then toward the others with her. "How did they learn that?" She asks Van, who makes a small flourish with his left hand, gesturing across the way toward the most elaborately dressed members of the evening's gala event.
"The tribal leader of the Amerok people." He indicates. "I'll introduce you all after the festivities."
Van looks at the other Jedi then, and smiles toward them. "Wander about, sample the food. Try some of the drinks, if you dare. This festival is to show you the ways of the Amerok people tonight. They arranged this for you." He tells them, smiling at the reactions to the party that he sees in the others.
Rey just stares across the way toward the Tribal Chief, who stands in bright orange and yellow robes, face paint applied to his brow and the sides of his nose and cheeks. He raises a goblet when he sees their newly arrived guests looking his direction.
The next few hours: The party continues on. The six people performing the Rising Meditation continue it throughout the party, with their eyes closed shut, their legs crossed in front of them as they connected to the Force, likely lost deep within the pathways of the galactic energies all around them, and beyond...
The Jedi are greeted by the tribes people, offered little hand-crafted gifts of figurines of Jedi in hooded robes, or necklaces with pendants of various local wildlife. More food is offered, and a variety of beverages with varying levels of alcoholic intensity should someone be brave enough to indulge in them!
Finally though, hours later, the party begins to die down, and Van collects the Jedi up to escort them to the Chief's home. They're ushered inside, and Van introduces them to 'Chief Morok.'
It is then that Rey, draped in some brightly hued scarves that were gifted to her during the party, offers a soft bow to the Chief, who smiles toward the Jedi.
"Welcome to our home." He says softly to them. "Prior to Knight Van's arrival... we had not seen a Jedi here since the Skywalker graced our village... I was saddened to hear his fate. I was but a boy back then, but I remember the impact his presence had. He showed us to enlightenment... and I wished to show him what we found through his teachings."
Morok's home is quiet, lit by candles and a few solar-powered light units built in to the roof above. He rises up from his chair, passing by one of his servants, and toward a table where he flips the lid of a box, producing a Jedi Holocron...
It's really not so unlike what Lira was used to. While a bit more primitive, it felt so familiar that it almost like being home -- the community, the crafts, the villagers (especially the children, whom she spent the most time with during her mingling), and the ambiance of celebration all around them. She'd sampled the food, endured a fit of surprised coughs (much to the delight of everyone around her) when she took a swig drink she didn't realize was alcoholic, and even showed off a few slight of hand 'magic' tricks of her own that had less to do with the Force and more to do with having grown up around a 'family' of people who entertained the masses as a way of life.
By the time Lira looks up and realizes that they're being ushered inside the Chief's home, she has one of the dolls in her hand and a pair of the necklaces bound together draped around her neck that the children had altered specifically so that it would fit over her lekku without having to be untied.
She's watching, listening to the Chief, but she's quiet, her lekku shifting in a bit of agitation when the box is opened to reveal the Holocron inside, her gaze immediately shifting to Qutha and Rey, no clear reaction of her own, apparently, until she determined exactly how big of a deal this was. She'd never encountered a Holocron in the wild, before... had they?
"Rey... jus' 'cause folk ain' part've th'Order ain't mean that such's that form've med'tation is out of the reaches of aught who are servants've th'Force." Qutha had noted before they had been ushered out to go about the festivities.
The Zelosian had ended up spending much of the time actively avoiding anything with refined sugar in it. Keeping to simply fresh sliced fruits or spiced meats. Waving off offers of anything sweet - but having no compunctions regarding the alcohol. Downing stronger and stronger as the night goes on to sample flavors.
As alcohol has no affect on his species.
In the chief's den, the sight of the holocron garners attention. Head canting to the side before asking, "Did Skywalker leave that here?" hands folding before him.
Lyglo dances and mingles and gratefully accepts the gifts particularly a wildlife pendant. Spending his time eating and meeting with anyone he could. Though he stuck mostly to the younger adults and teenagers, where he could at least try and understand what they said and how they thought. Though when they're ushered into the chiefs tent Glo remains quiet listening and watching his eyes do land on the holocron. However he just stands straight and waits to hear what's said about it.
The Chief brings the Holocron toward the center of his home's main hall. He displays it to the Jedi onlookers, its gilded edges glinting in the light of the area around them. His eyes flicker up to Qutha, and after a second of processing his question the Chief gently shakes his head twice. "No." He says of Skywalker leaving it with them. "No. The Skywalker did not leave us with this... He left us to find it ourselves. You see. The Skywalker came to us alone. He was believed to be a Shadow Crosser to my people. Shadow Crossers live in the darkest places. They come from the dark, to claim those who are lead astray from the ways of our people. But we were very wrong about the Skywalker. He was no Shadow Crosser. He was, in fact, the heart of the Light. The Elders of my people at that time, grew to know him, and welcomed him in to our seacheti... Our.. uh... society." The Chief explains, finding the right word in his mind. "Skywalker proposed a mutual relationship with our people. If we would help him with his explorations, he would help us learn about the ways of his people... The Jedi..." The Chief has a long grin form on his lips.
Van steps in then, and motions toward the Chief, the Bothan speaking up again. "Master Luke gave them the leads on the Temples here on Lothal. He didn't have the time, or resources to explore them himself, but the Amerok had both. Master Luke promised he would return some day, to check on them, and help them explore what they had found... But..." Van trails off there, and once more strokes his blonde beard.
"There is a problem, however." The Chief says. "Our people discovered this Box of Dreams, and in time we learned how to access the spirit that resides within it. But... many years ago, war came to our village, and our enemies knew the power of this Box, they sought to take it, and in the chaos..."
The Chief pulls on the Holocron's top, causing it to split down the middle, exposing the broken inerds of its interior.
Van speaks up again, his dark eyes going from the Chief Morok to the Jedi entourage. "The Amerok hope for the Jedi to rebuild the Holocron, and in-turn they will show us the temples that they discovered..."
"What happened to the people that tried to take it?"
That voice that rises from near the back of their little entourage is soft and high, young, and perhaps even hard to spot as it also comes from the shortest member. Lira'una, her head tilted lightly to the side to watch the goings on -- though she had no interest in being 'front and center,' it's also had to see and be seen when you're short -- gazes between Van and the Chief.
It's a simple, innocent question, asked in the same way a child might wonder about an element left out of a bedtime story. And she waits with that same level of intense interest that a child does for an answer. She knows there is one. There must be one. They didn't get the holocron... so what happened to them? Did they simply stop trying?
"A hol'cron cain't jus' be fixed." there's a new sadness sweeping across the face and essence of the Zelosian, "Th'means n'method're... Difficult an'r a task that requires long work n'study. A piece of the maker resides there, their knowledge." holding out a hand for the small device.
Qutha's mouth twisting up again, head canting to one side.
"N'this sort're thing... it needs careful wachin'... 'cause if the Empire gits wind... They'll send Sith, not just troopers." head turning towards Rey now with both brows up, "If it's th'will've th'Force, we'll be led to these temples, Rey... Otherwise it's better ifn' they remain concealed."
Lyglo listens intently his eyes focused on the chief as he tells the tale. The Mirialan stays silent for now however, given the question upon his own mind was already asked. He does however look around the group trying to gather information and learn more. He folds his hands behind his back and he shifts side to side, as he than listens to Qutha.
At first the Chief regards Lira, but then Qutha signals for the halves of the Holocron. The Chief offers them to Qutha, tentatively allowing him to take them. "War happened." The Chief quietly says to Lira. "The Box of Dreams helped my people. It gave us foresight in to our rival clan's advances. The Elders, the ones who you saw empowered with the wings of the light, they saw the advances of our attackers. We uprooted our village to try and flee from them before they could come for us, but... they were quicker. They used technologies from the fallen cities to the north... We were forced to defend ourselves. They wiped clean more than half of our kind. But in the end, the Box of Dreams helped us survive. Losing it now... it is a hardship my people fear. They fear we will not survive without its guidance now..."
Rey's eyes are on the Holocron as she glances up to Qutha when he speaks to them directly. She glances back toward Lira, and then to Lyglo. "Holocrons are a key to our own Order's revival. They are valuable relics of the old eras of the Jedi Order, but not all of them are as .. rich in quality teachings as we might need them to be. It depends on who created them, and how well they were created..." She softly says, her eyes glancing back to the broken device in Qutha's possession.
"I'm afraid we cannot fix this for you though, Chief Morok. I am glad it helped your people survive this long, but Qutha is right. The more your people would learn from this device, the greater chance you have of attracting the attention of the Empire, and if they come.. I'm afraid your people would not at all stand a great chance of survival..."
The Chief draws in a deep breath at this. His chest rising inside of his sunset-colored clothing. He gently nods his head a few times before he turns then to walk toward the table that the Holocron was retrieved from. He pushes aside some scrolls, and a few small woven baskets before he pulls something else out. A leather bound journal. He walks back toward the Jedi and offers it to them. "The Skywalker's notes. If I am not to personally show you to where we found the Box of Dreams. Then I will return these, and let you find the way yourselves, should you desire. The Skywalker left this with us to help us, it is only right that I return it to you... his people."
Van strokes his blonde beard, his own expression neutral as he observes quietly.
"I would wish one thing further though.." The Chief adds. "That you spend a bit of time with us before you leave, and answer some of the questions of our Elders of Flight. They... have concerns about some of the dreams they foresee in their moments of levitation. They see the darkness all around, the Shadow Crossers growing in numbers across the stars. They wish to know more, if nothing else, to help them understand what it is that they see. Once, there was such light in the stars... Now there is such Dark. My people simply want knowledge..."
Lira nods faintly, and even if she didn't seem exactly satisfied with the answer, she didn't press the issue further. She already seemed as if she felt a little... out of turn. She'd seen the holocrons on Tempes. She'd even used a few of them. It wasn't as if she didn't know what she was looking at, but /making/ one.. much less /fixing/ one.. wasn't something that she seemed to have the faintest idea how to even begin.
But then her attention shifts to Rey, listening and nodding silently. Questions. So many questions lingered behind her eyes. Qutha would certainly be familiar -- would recognize the little shift of her posture to move her weight to the balls of her feet as the excitement and the urge to unleash all of that chaos in her mind strained at her teachings.
But she kept it in check. She stood quietly, listening to the exchange, her lekku slipping off of her shoulders to rest against her back.
And then those notes are being offered, and it's simply too much. The curiosity bubbles up and over, her eyes shifting from Rey to Qutha.
"May I see the journal?" she asks. At least she didn't dare just walk up and take it. She at least had the manners to ask politely first, even if there was the glint of adventure in her eyes.
And yes, the Elders of Flight wanted answers, but the Jedi had their own Elders here to answer those questions better than she could ever hope to. What she really wanted to know was... what was in that journal?
"Shad'r Crossers is the Sith, reckon, Rey." Qutha's brow knits tighter and he looks to the broken holocron, studying it and running fingertips over it with a mournful reverence. The loss of knowledge, no matter how trivial, being a blow to the zeolsian sage. Head bowed slightly, he carefully wraps up the holocron in a handkerchief produced from within his robe. Cinching it up as a highway wanderer might a bindle to hang from a stick before that too is tucked away out of sight.
"I'd be happy t'he'p... See what questions kin be answered. But more'n anythin' - I'd suggest t'become mobile... A n'madic people, rather'n puttin' down roots. S'long as y'practice th'Force, y'us is gonna need to be hidden and keep hidin' even then." hands folding before him again, "Not out'r fear... But necessity." lips pressing into a firm line, breathing deeply and taking time to measure his thoughts out before he continues,
"Th'Force'll direct ye as y'er needed. But caution while th'Balance is shifted int'r shadow is a watchword." not interfering with Lira asking about the journal.
Rey's eyes look up to Lira who is indicating a desire to see the journal. She nods toward the Twi'lek, indicating that it is entirely fine for her to take it from the Chief. She glances at Qutha who is wrapping the Holocron pieces up, then regards Lyglo with a understanding expression. "In the wake of the Galactic Empire, the Jedi Order has become a trillion fragments scattered across the known galaxy, and potentially even beyond it..." She tries to explain to the youngest of their entourage. "One of our missions is to try and gather up some of those pieces and further push them back together. In hopes of reforging elements of it, but stronger..." She says this softly, before her stare goes toward the Chief again.
"I'll happily stay a little while longer to speak with your Elders, and should members of my group wish to as well, they are welcome to." She notes to Morok who seems pleased by this.
"Excellent." He says. "We shall have sleeping arrangements made up, so that you do not have to travel back tonight. Come morning, I am sure you will have quite a crowd of interested members of my people waiting to hear as much as you are able to tell."
It may not have yielded the tribe a restored Holocron to teach them, but it seems to have yielded them enough to please the tribal leader.
Van softly nods his head, before he motions to the others of the Jedi. "Come, I'll show you to the sleeping bungalows." The Bothan indicates.
Rey offers a bow to the Chief, her hands touching some of the lovely scarves she was gifted during the event tonight. "Thank you for your hospitality. We'll do everything we can to help your people understand what Master Luke inadvertantly helped you stumble across..." And with that, she looks to her group again before she follows after Knight Van, who is joined by his Padawan Bree outside, she a bit tipsy from the celebration, and also draped in various brightly colored cloths. She straightens up when she sees Rey and Qutha emerging though, and tries to hide her slight intoxicated condition.
