Log:Jedi Order: Out of the Night

Jedi Order: Out of the Night

OOC Date: January 25, 2021
Location: Sluis Van
Participants: Jedi Order: Jax Greystorm, Rune, Qutha Buvu Pah, Aryn Cole, Chani Tahn, Vhe Tenara, Kasia Ashkuri, Zandra naMuriel, and Rey Skywalker with Ben Solo

After the excursion to Halowan sent the fledgeling Order to Raxus Prime, the remnants of a destroyed datapad have slowly yielded up their secrets, and another excursion was promptly undertook. Following the trail of the lost library and its Keepers, a mysterious sect of Jedi from a bygone era, the quest has brought them here to Sluis Van.

The silin trees thin out as the group hikes along, their silvery bark giving the landscape an ethereal quality, and as they do, the pale fungus umbrellas of soft blue and pink gradually fade out to a lifeless, bland brown. Eventually, there are no colorful mushrooms left, only the dead, decaying shells. The sounds of the forest have similarly faded into an uneasy silence, the ashen needles underfoot muffling even the passing of the group.

Ben looks around as he walks, leading the way, his brow furrowed. "This reminds me of Mustafar." He glances back over his shoulder, remembering that none of the people with him were there. "...not in a good way." The path leads northward.

Jax had drawn quiet as the life had gave away to rot and ruin. The Corellian had seemed dire and prehaps had a slight unease to him. "Then remind me to add Mustafar to my list of places that I prefer not to visit." He says as he comes to exaimine the trunk of a dead Silin tree. "I do not care for this place."

Daring to touch fingertips to the bark of a tree in passing, emerald eyes wide and brows raised while the Qutha cannot help but trying to understand these new plants. Not for his own species but for the lifetime of tending to such before his uprooting from orchard life and the new world he has tumbled into.

"Is Mustafar frought with forests like this then?" some of the mushrooms clipped and tucked into a satchel pouch, some dead, some live. Separated out while he has a look like he'd want a sapling clipping from one of the trees in addition. But no time nor the place.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Rune states as they pass over the dead plant life, the pleasant journey through the bright and colorful forest slowly turning sour as the Jedi trek on. Being used to travelling through unrelenting and hazardous areas, the young Ysannan keeps his eyes moving, peering into the shadows cast by the shells of the mushrooms and husks of the trees. The novice Force user hazards a glance at Ben and the others with a raised brow. "What is Mustafar?" He asks with a genuine curiosity, eager to learn more of things he's unaware. Soon after the question is posed, his hazel regard returns to their surroundings, lips drawn in a thin line while he examines the proximity for any threats. "It is odd that there is a lack of undergrowth among these trees... typically there is at least some new 'life' that exists." Rune mentions off-handedly.

Aryn is quietly walking with the group at a position near the rear. She pauses often to look at some plant or mushroom and snap a picture with her datapad. There was a botanist back on Chandrila that would be absolutely jealous of some of these pictures, and Aryn was just eager to show them and learn something new. Aryn wears a green and brown tunic with an all-weather cape fastened over her shoulders. Normally one to wear a top with heavy sleeves, Aryn has traded that look for something more form-fitting with leather bracers. Her boots are more weathered than stylish, intended for treks like these. Aryn is thankful they have been broken in; another day of blisters was not ideal.

When the scenery began to change with the sounds, and plant life looked more dead, Aryn became concerned and worried that maybe this was the cause of some sort of chemical agent. She stops again, maddening I know, to take a sample and scan it for chemical compounds that were abnormal.

She remains quiet for now, not knowing enough about Mustafar to offer an unwanted history lesson about the planet.

The death and decary of what was likely a vibrant world is something to watch, her eyes narrowing as Vhe studies what she carefully steps over. "New life is there is life to be had," Vhe remarks in reply to Rune but she sounds distracted just as her gaze sweeps around their immediate path.

A curious furrow of her brow before she glances up at the Zelosian amongst them. A shake of her scarf wrapped head which is a brilliant chaotic patchwork of colors that stands out in their current locale.

"I don't know that being reminded of Mustafar in any way is going to be a good thing," Kasia remarks to Ben, adjusting the strap of the bag that she carries with her so that it rests on her shoulder more comfortably. She isn't what one would call a nature type, nature is something you look at from a distance, and as such notices none of the issues with any of the growth, under or otherwise.

The desolate landscape stretching on before them earns an uneasy look from Chani. She regards it as something to avoid touching even as her footfalls break brittle needles underneath the soles of her boots, barely creating enough noise to be discernible above the banter passing through the group. Her hands shift as they rise from their spot near her thighs, shaking back the wide sleeves of the robe and the more fitting sleeves of her tunic at the same time. She seizes the edges of the dark brown outer shell wrapped around her and adjusts it forward, seating it more on her shoulders so that the hem itself is more likely to hang rather than drag along a ground that looks so poisoned Chani's afraid it might poison her, too. "See anything unsual?" She asks it of Aryn, halting when the blonde does to take samples of the local fauna.

Zandra is quiet as she follows along, her gaze taking in the scenery such as it is. She glances to those who do speak, a half smile crossing her face at Rune's 'feelings.' Qutha gets a more obvious grin at his specimen collecting, as does Aryn. Zan simply pauses when the group pauses, listens when someone is speaking, and otherwise conserves her energy for the moment. She's careful when she walks to stay on the trail, perhaps using what little tactical knowledge she has to hide tracks in each other.

Rey had spend the journey to the Sluis Van system inside the dorsal gun well ofthe Millennium Falcon, not out of any sense of impending danger, but rather because itw as a good place to sit and read aboard the YT-1300. With the Porgs rushing around, chasing after Klaud while he meanders around the ship helping Chewbacca work on various ship systems... Artoo and Threepio in the rec room complaining at each other like grumpy old men... and Ben, doing Ben things. Lets just say the gunwell is a great place to get away inside the ship and read, about Sluis Van. Its culture, its people, the battle stations in orbit around it and how they were effected by the Galactic Concordance Act, it's all very interesting... at least to Rey.

Here and now, with her hood up, and a light jacket worn over her Jedi clothing, she's off on the fringes of the traveling group, taking a moment to use a small slip-knife to cut a handful of mushrooms off of their roots. She rolls them around in her hands and then puts them in a white cloth wrap that she slips in to her satchel on her left hip.

"Mustafar is a mining world, a moon actually. It has petrified forests upon it, though I only ever saw them from afar. Lots of volcanic activity, very... smelly." Rey says, waltzing through the browner foliage now as she glances over toward Ben, not sure if he even knew she'd been there or not!

"Not really," Ben answers Qutha. "Just one in particular." A glance runs towards Rune at his question. "Not a place I hope to return to." Rey elaborates on the details, and he nods vaguely at her explanation, eyes drifting back towards the landscape before them, the path leading north. The trees continue to thin, and before long it becomes visible through the thin haze and the still air; a temple.

A large dome marks the central chamber, with spires of leaning grey rock jutting up at sharp angles around it in a primeval facsimile of the familiar Jedi Temple shape. With the passing of the years, a particularly gnarled silin tree has worked its roots down into a crack in the central chamber's wall, widening an opening in the stone as its twisted limbs pushed further in before it, too, succumbed to whatever befouls the environment here; the mushrooms covering it are brown and dead. A dim light pulses through the gap in the rock; a blank slab of weathered stone, blooming with crumbling lichen, blocks the main entrance.

Jax looks at the 'jedi temple'. He freeze and pulls back his hood. "You know what Rune said. I feel that way too." Jax frowns looking to Ben, "Was there anything in your research about who or what awaits us in this temple? Cause well it looks jedi. It doesn't feel jedi."

"Pity... though I still should like to see the petrified as well as the living. Who knows, maybe digging deep enough might find an odd seed or two." Qutha frowns eying the tree briting into the temple, brown fungus... the glow. Brows drooping over his eyes, the Zelosian edges closer towards the main group just as his hackles rise, so to speak.

"Prophetic. Rune." lips pursed and gazing from face to face to try and gauge how they might be feeling while his gaze remains on the temple. "Which way do we go in? Through the root crack? Or find the proper door?"

"I suppose we are fortunate that we do not have lava to contend with in addition to the barren landscape." Rune admits, a hand sneaking out from within his voluminous robes to gesture to the dead forest around them. He does spare a second to wonder at Aryn's datapad, quietly watching the use of electronics. That's still a skill the savage has to master let alone understand. Typically the Ossusian becomes more frustrated with the confounded things, having no luck getting them to do what he wishes. It's probably good fortune he doesn't own a droid, more than likely the poor machine would either have a number of dents in it or have short-circuited by this point.

Rune returns his thoughts to their purpose for being on this planet and, before too long, the temple rises into view, its sense of foreboding permeating even as the group nears. "I think we may have found what is perverting this land." He remarks, his lips spreading into an even tighter line. "I do not know... though whatever lies in wait does not wish us good will." the grim looking Ysannan adds, shuffling in place while his mind runs away with thoughts of what could be contained within.

Aryn has a very cold shiver climb up her spine just after Chani asks if she's found anything. The blonde doctor straightens up, shaking her head with a perplexed look. "Nothing to suggest outside involvement. This is no common malady; at least from a science stand point." Aryn clips her datapad back into place and gestures to Chani that maybe they should rejoin the group. There's something wrong around them; something dangerous. This becomes more apparent when she sweeps her cape back to show the holstered pistol and lightsaber at her side. "..just in case," she says to herself, side eyeing their surroundings in a sheepish way.

The less of the pitiful growth there is, the more ominous it feels and Vhe is looking more uncomfortable by the moment. It seems she is not the only one as a few give voice to their growing concerns. She slows her step and stops all together to keep some distance from the blocked entryway. She brushes fingers at the edge of the tail of her scarf, a light tug before releasing it and smoothing her hand down along the brass cylinder that is her lightsaber strapped to her side. The reassurance is enough as she draws a deep breath.

"The question is, is it wise to go in considering what most of us our feeling?" Her attention settles on Ben and Rey but it is Aryn's observation that gets a nod.

"Honestly, it's starting to seem like having a bad feeling is just good sense," Kasia shoots a look over in Rune's direction. The fungus earns a slightly crinkled nose and a look, but what really draws her eye is the faint glow. "I suppose that's not supposed to be happening?" she asks. Like Aryn, she her jacket and bag around so that the weapons she carries are within easy reach, just in case.

The brief reprieve from walking over, Chani turns and continues, unable to ignore the humid sensation of a light hint of sweat developing on the nape of her neck and around her temples. The robes are a little too warm for walking in over such a distance, and she lacks the proper instruction to deal with the issue in the easy manner. She's also starting to feel nauseous and wonders if she's inhaled something horrible that's been stirred up by their passing through the foliage. That feeling starts to resolve into a thicker, weighted sensation in the pit of her abdomen, and as the temple comes into view, Chani realizes it's not nausea at all. It's a natural fear instinct blossoming from the warning being whispered to her by that galaxy-binding energy she communes with.

"Was the temple here before all the decay, do you think?" She's worried what kind of sentients would build one here otherwise, because this feeling? It's not a good one. She's unsettled, and the subtle shifting of her weight from one foot to the next and the way her right hand is more over her thigh rather than next to it indicates in a subtle, physical way that she wants to keep it closer to her stunsaber than farther away. The pervasive need to defend herself certainly isn't getting any lighter the longer they stand here.

Zandra's steps are carefully taken. She shudders a bit as a thought occurs to her, but she keeps it to herself. She reaches for the Force, concentrating on everything that is around her, and letting the Force be her guide. There is a calmness to her, that is somewhat disturbed when she squeaks, jumps, and takes a couple quick steps towards whichever jedi is nearest to her. "Are you sure it's all dead? I swear I just saw something move over there," she murmurs. Walking through something's house again - this is not Zan's idea of a good time. She takes a breath, listening to the others, and says, "I think it feels rather quaint, like it's been alone playing dice with itself for maybe a titch too long." Her words slow, as it seems she's the only one who is feeling that way. Frowning, she quiets to try reaching out for the Force once more,

Initially, Rey's steps slow whne the temple becomes more and more visible as the desire to visually look the place over as they approach it is a bit ... consuming. But as the others talk more on it all she catches up again with another series of shuffling-hurried footfalls.

"This isn't the most hidden of places we've seen. It could have quite literally anything occupying it. Especially with the Sluis Van Congregate seemingly doing nothing to offer security for this old sites." She comments, keeping tot he right and side of the group. Her eyes dart to Vhe, then to Chani, then back tothe temple as they draw toward it.

"I've come across records of a Jedi presence on this planet, prior to the Clone Wars, but I've found next to nothing on this site up... to now." A breath is taken in and slowly released as she looks to the others. "Adventure." She says, showing a faint smile to uphold a sense of positivity? Though Zandra's mention of seeing things does draw her eyes in said direction. "Lets keep our senses alert..." She does warn in a bit grimmer a tone there-after.

"No, just that the library had been moved here. There was mention of disagreement among the Keepers over a few of the volumes that were added. Nothing else," Ben answers Jax, giving a quick shake of his head. As the others offer up their commentary on the structure and what might be inside, he gives one short nod of agreement. "I feel it too." The remarks about wisdom and good sense fall on deaf ears; these are not things that Ben has ever spent much time worrying about. "We have to see what's inside. We need to find the library before someone else does."

The door to the main tower, the domed rock structure in the center, stands silently before them, tomblike in its cold immobility. Ben steps towards it, laying a hand on it and giving an experimental push. Nothing happens. "Hm." Fingers drag over the stone towards the corner, where the door meets the entryway, looking for a seam, any sign of how to open it. "There's nothing. Not that I can see."

The light shining dimly through the crack continues to wax and wane in regular intervals, undisturbed by the Jedi's presence and prodding, though the feeling of unease in the atmosphere does not abate.

Jax looks back at Zandra, "We're not letting you play dice with yourself anythime soon." He says and nodss, "Do you think it was moved here after the fall of jedi order? To hide it from the Empire." He says standing there for a moment as if he's trying to look around the place. "I see nothing."

"Vhe." not trusting the glow within, nor any unconfirmed source of light really, Qutha lifts one of the glow-rods from his belt and offers it to the ysanna woman. "In case the dark is greater than we expect..." studying her a moment,

"If there is something the order must recover, the question is how willing are we to late fear guide us away from it?" looking back at the temple with a lump in his throat and a slight paling of his skin. His thoughts already running along the same lines as Ben's it seems. "Most times, if a government ignores a place, mystical or mythical legendary surrounding it only draws in people who want to use that for a place to hide. Or a place where darker things dwell and benefit unintentionally." Qutha swallows again and then he considers. Closes his eyes, and shudders with a mixture of apprehension and frustration as he tries to find his thoughts, or the thoughts The Force might influence.

"Maybe we all need to work together?" holding out a hand and moving as if to try and lift or slide the door - venturing a guess if nothing else.

"Perhaps..." Rune responds to Kasia's claim, "...though I would much prefer to have positive feelings about the places we visit than the constant negative ones." the young Jedi adds with a small grin that plays at the corner of his lips. But be as it may, whatever is in there will soon be brought to light for certainly this is their destination. Rey has the right of it and he nods resolutely while he works on steeling his nerves. "Yes, Adventure." Even so, much of adventure comes with some risk and he parts the fabric away from his own saber in the interest of being ready.

Stepping over to the aging temple, Rune too peers about for a way in, craning his neck to look up at the tree which split the wall of the temple with its growth. "Perhaps in through there?" He offers as he pushes the fabric back from his arms and prepares to scale the wall. The male Ysannan takes stock of the surface momentarily, mentally logging a possible path up the side before he steps forward and attempts to make that thought a reality. It appears easier than it looks and the nimble, but wild haired Force user, makes his way up the crumbling wall toward the tree above.

Aryn is caught up with the architecture of this place to be any real help to their search in finding a way inside. Her search leads her around some of the stone work, her gloved hand tracking along its outer edge to observe the age of the structure, its stone, and the weather that has assaulted it. Aryn gets so caught up in this analysis that she crouches down to trace some of the character-cracks of age with a hand, admiring the masonry work with a smile despite the looming danger of their situation.

Vhe reaches out to take the glow rod from Qutha, a nod given to him. "With the light coming through the cracks like that, I am not sure it will be but better prepared than not," she says as her attention shifts to the others who are quietly inspecting it until Rune begins to climb the very surface of it. Concern edges the corner of her eyes before she steps forward while making room for the others, attempting to peer around the edges of it to find what is not easily found. It remains just that, not so easily found as the woman shifts her weight upon her feet, smoothing her hand along the edge of it, half expecting to feel something as she draws her hand away quickly after the initial touch. When nothing happens she leans in, continuing to look for clues of how to get past that does not require climbing and extorting what is likely a small opening.Z

"You and me both, buddy," Kasia's response to Rune is given with a brief grin. "Somewhere nice and warm, a beach with some nice chairs so you can relax, watch the water, contemplate force things of course. Maybe some nice ocean side food service." She watches him climb and makes absolutely no move to follow that act. Instead she moves in a similar direction but only does so in order to look around in search for something useful, something out of the ordinary. She's got both hands resting on her hips as she turns, then pauses. A slight crease forms between her brows as the hands slip off her hips and she moves over to the door again, just slightly off to one side. "There's a hidden alcove over here," she calls out, at the very least letting everyone know where she is should this alcove prove to be a trap of some kind.

Rey imparts the knowledge that she's read about Jedi having a presence here, but Chani isn't settled by her admission that there's little to nothing about the place they find themself at now. The uneasy feeling doesn't abate. If anything, it grows more intense. The others begin viewing ways to enter the temple and Chani decides to try to clear her mind and be in the moment, rather than try to focus on cracking the puzzle that is the temple's exterior. She'd much rather center herself and rid herself of this horrible sensation. Taking a deep breath in through her nose, Chani closes her eyes with the exhale and forces herself to relax as she does, breath coming through her parted lips just loud enough that it generates a noise inside of her head at the same time.

She works to demolish the knot in the pit of her abdomen, repeating to herself that trusting in the Force and letting it guide her will keep her safe. She detaches from everything for a few moments, as if her body is nothing but a shell containing a deeper essence she can slip into when she's able to focus like this. Something comes to her. She's sure it's not her own thought, but it feels like it is. It feels like intuition, just with a clarity she's not used to. Her eyes open a few moments later. "That alcove near the door. I think that's the way in." She gestures towards the one Kasia is talking about. "It needs some sort of key. Maybe some kind of energy? I.. think the Force is telling me this." She seems hesitant to suggest such a thing, like she doubts the others will believe her.

Zandra laughs at Jax's smart alec remark, but doesn't respond. Instead, she reaches to see if she can shift her senses a bit, stepping forward to actually touch the rock. There's a quiet moment, as the others all do their searching and the like, as Zan opens her senses to the electromagnetic wavelength. She breathes in and out, marvelling over how fuzzy an dstrange this is. It's a feeling more than sight, more than any of the senses she's used to, seeming to overlap them all. It takes a moment to adjust to the oddness of it all. "I can smell the - I'm not sure - the magnetism the polarity of the rock," she says softly, eyes wide as she stares at the rock like she can see right into it. "It tastes - like it's not balanced right. Imbalanced." She stands completely still, except she moves her mouth like trying to get rid of a bad taste. Pthui. "I see smudges of grey energy, overlaying everything - it makes it all fuzzier." Strange - well, it was that to begin with, this is just a little worse. "The grey smudges run in a different direction through the rock than the rest of the temple seems to - Oh no." Zan's calm expression goes to a frown. "COME BACK!" she calls, rather plaintively, and then she sighs. "I've lost it."

To the temple entrance with toe others, Rey pauses and observes Ben's reaction to the door before she casts her eyes upward, spying what lies above. When Rune starts to move toward the fallen tree, Rey's brow furrows a bit at the sight of it. "Be careful." She warns the other while he dares to take such, not that she hasn't done similar things in her time...

The mention of the alcove draws her eyes toward it, but soon she's starting to search about them... As she spies a collection of fallen stones, Rey steps toward it, only to have a little rolling-robot come racing up from the brown grass of the fields they'd come from.

"Rey. Rey." The robot says in a concerned voice. "You will get your hands dirty, Rey."

"I'll be fine." She replies to Dio, who circles around behind her, then tilts his cone-y head up to look at the temple.

"This place is scary." Dio bluntly tells everyone.

"I found something, I think." Rey states as she rises back up and hold out an old bronzium tetrahedron, offering it to whomever would wish to take it. "It could be a key."

While the others inspect the door, the place around the door, their feelings about the door, tasting the magnetism of the door, Ben keeps poking around on its surface, lost in his own thoughts on the matter. As he steps back away and raises his hand to try to shove the whole thing in by brute Force, the rest of the Jedi appear to have reached a consensus, complete with possible key, and he lowers his hand with a twist of his lips downward. Oh well. Maybe next dark temple.

"Let's try it, then." Taking the pyramidal object from Rey, he reaches into the alcove Kasia found as Chani directed and inserts the item into what seems to be a slot shaped for it, after turning it around a few times to find the right face.

Immediately, the stone door grinds upward as the charge is altered through whatever arcane building techniques were used in its construction, reversing the electromagnetic polarity of the door's rare earth core and sending it higher. A grinding noise interrupts the smooth ascension, though, leaving the entryway only about a meter high. Dropping to his hands and knees, Ben scuttles under to the other side.

On the inside of the temple, the Jedi find the detritus of an order, of sorts, abandoned. Jedi iconography abounds but there is a sinister twisting of the familiar themes, a pervasive sense that something has gone awry. Things are off, and the aura of unease and danger intensifies as they step inside. Ben himself cringes from the sensation of the place, looking around at the forgotten statues, the inscriptions and engravings, artifacts and personal belongings alike scattered here and there about the chamber, covered by the dust of several decades.

Above this, Rune enters through the gap of the tree's roots that also provide a convenient way to clamber down and join the others.

Perhaps more alarming even than the ruins themselves is the new, modern equipment set up in the center, worklights casting illumination that phases with the whir of the generator powering it.

Jax had to get down much like Ben does and then rises to his full height within the chamber. His eyes scanning the room, "The fallen. I wonder how old this is? Its been ancient times since there was a large number of fallen jedi?" He says though is eyes fall on the light on the terminals. He quietly makes his way to the terminal and begins to work quietly. Then after a few moments of work, "There's first hand account of the activities of somebody who seems to be looking for 'jedi secrets.' They've been doing this for eight days." Jax lets out a sigh, "It's never a missguided intellectual from the university is it?"

Moving forward to tuck side ways and scoot beneath the door in the shortest way, even if the slab coming down meant the horrific death of Qutha Pah as opposed to just terrifyingly messy crippling injury, there is a weather eye for above and ahead as the Zelosian makes his way in.

"Fantastic." murmured at the sight of immortalized malevolence before them all, holding out a hand to help up any who would take his offering. All the while, while fighting the terror of the literal and mystical Darkness around him - Qutha breathes in, to settle himself.

A beach would be nice, Rune thinks as he nears the his destination, the one on Chandrila is rather pleasant and everything else Kasia describes sounds like veritable icing on the cake... not that he would know what cake is... or icing for that matter. Regardless, the thoughts are banished when he lays hand on bark, hoisting himself up while minding the requests to be careful. Rune also bears in mind the overwhelming sense of 'scariness' they all, including the tiny droid, feel in relation to what lies within, thus taking a moment to secure himself on his perch before peering cautiously through the crack into the temple beyond.

It's about that time that the door below begins sliding upward with a deep rumble, causing the lofty Ysannan to cling to the trunk of the tree until the movement subsides. He blinks a couple of times as each of the members below duck under the halted door and disappear into the darkness. Rune turns to look back through the crack, spying the Jedi within the temple on the other side. "I suppose that is one way to do it." he gruffly complains, kicking his legs over the trunk to drop to the floor inside. He stands and dusts himself off with a sheepish grin directed to the others. "Hello there."

Now inside and reacquainted with the group, Rune gazes around the room, noting the equipment with the lights in the middle but more intent on what they are keen on illuminating. He gazes at the statues bathed in light for a few moments, shifting his attention to the ones not lit... and then back. "They are only putting light on the ones that have writing." He comments, lifting a finger to point at various inscriptions on the statues.

Once inside, Aryn quietly congratulates Chani on her meditative achievement by lightly patting her arm in passing and trading a smile. Her attention shifts to their surroundings and Aryn slowly moves toward the mini-monuments and what passed as artistic expression through stone and symbolism. One emblem in particular prompts her to wipe the dust away and shiver.

"Dark are the deeds that this temple memorializes. These relic monuments speak to a group that drew power from the Force and used its influence in a profane and devious way. I can only speculate, but I believe this feeling we are experiencing, the twisting, uncomfortable essence is somehow related to the practices carried out beneath this stone. How truly dark they must have been for their perversions to live after they have returned to dust." Aryn shivered visibly after saying this, and began to whisper a prayer to the Father, asking that his shield safeguard them.

Aryn remains nearby, proceeding no further for now. Her hands clasp over her lower back and she contents herself to study the ruins more; this time, in contemplative silence.

While Jax applies his handy skills upon the machine, Vhe is giving a long look around after entering with the others and slowly approaches the machine with him. Listening to what he has to say, she makes a thoughtful sound before reaching her hand down to brush her fingers over the metal surface of the machine. There it rests as she reaches in through the Force, finding where it connects and becomes one with that all encompassing energy. The Ysanna looks about to speak when a zing of electricity makes her jump, nothing more than putting her hand in the wrong place but she shakes out her hand, feeling it tingle as the stray strands of hair escaping her scarf begin to frizz and rise the active charge.

"Okay, won't try that again. So this person is likely still here, are you sere its only one or is it just one in the log?" This asked of Jax.

Kasia steps back as others deal with the process of inserting the key and opening the doorway, flinching at first at the grinding sound of the door being opened. There's an absent brushing of her hands as she watches Ben get down and slide beneath the door, as though anticipating the grime that's going to get on her as a result. Even so, she gets down and scoots similarly into the space, again cringing, this time because of the overwhelming sense of wrongness inside.

She gets back on her feet and begins to brush off the expected dust and grit from her hands while her head turns and she surveys this space. "What's that?" she asks without giving a whole lot of indication as to what she's asking about, taking a handful of steps and leaning into look at a modern looking device. A hand-held holocomm. She turns to look back at the others, thumbing over her shoulder at the device.

"This doesn't look like it's been here very long, so whoever left it definitely might still be here."

As someone ignorant to the finer points of Jedi history and someone with no training in the exploration of old, dusty temples, Chani doesn't venture deep into the antechamber they find themselves in once slipping through and taking the help offered by Qutha to do so. The stomach-churning is gone, but Chani doesn't feel safe. The Force is still telling her that she's in danger, she's just no longer experiencing malaise about it. "I.. kind of recognize some of these symbols from the book I read in the temple, but it.. I dunno, it seems wrong?" Chani glances around to the others to see if anyone else is focusing on them or if their attention is turned elsewhere. Her hands brush at her robes, absent-mindedly trying--and hopelessly failing--to rid them of some of the sediment that's collected onto the dark brown fabric.

Watching Aryn move to the stonework, Chani gravitates towards the noble woman as she sweeps away some of the collected dust on it. "..Well, that explains the feeling, I guess. Try meditating? It helped me with the sensation."

Zandra takes a look around as they enter, after crawling in under that only partially opened door. She looks around, and as the others do, notices the new equipment. As Jax heads for the computer, she concentrates, trying to see if she can sense a life form other than them, anywhere around. She doesn't sense anything and shrugs. "I am not noticing anyone here," she says softly. "Anyone else?"

With the pathway opening, Rey gives another look to the others finding their way within the old temple, it's hallowed halls giving off a number of warning senses in the Force that this place's past has not been entirely slanted toward the pursuit of the Light Side of the Force... to say the least.

Rey's hand comes up to sweep her hood off of her head, as Dio rolls around her feet and peers out from behind her ankles toward the interior of the temple. "Trouble. I-I sense trouble." The little Scout Droid states, becoming more and more adept and saying things like he hears the other Jedi say, almost as though he's assuming he's a Jedi too! "We will over-co-come it! Ri-right, Rey?" The cone-headed droid states, looking up to her.

Rey, is stepping over toward some of the statues, and now holding a small device from her satchel in one hand and a leather bound journal in the other. She used the device to snap a picture of some of the decor here-in, then places it upon the journal. "Right." She tells the droid, absent-mindedly.

When the page-sized device is pulled off of a page of her journal, it's left behind a recreated image of the statue she'd taken a picture of. She flips the page to do the same with another...

This one draws Rey in, her booted feet stepping up toward it and her right hand shifting the transcribing device in to her left to hold it inside the journal. Her right hand reaches out to touch the stone crafted item before her, fingertips ghosting across its surface. It only takes a few seconds, before she pulls her hand away and is visibly effected.

Rey's eyes dart about before settling on Chani. "No, you're right. This Temple was built by Jedi, only they were Jedi who wished to separate themselves from the Order. They created this place as a refuge from it, but, it all only ended in violence." Rey states, her voice calm if weighted by the grim visions she'd just witnessed.

As she steps toward where Jax is, Dio rolls after her. "Too much violence." The little droid's voice replies.

Ben doesn't join the more intensive investigating the others have begun in, too busy looking around the area with a sour expression. "I know this place. I don't know /this/ place but I know this. I've BEEN this," he announces, gesturing expansively at the whole thing. It's unclear if he's referring to the temple's history, the interloper's research apparatus, or both. "And I hate all of it."

As the group continue to pick around the place, struggling to understand what happened here and who they've crossed paths with, a noise kicks up outside, a sputtering whine that grows into a whorling, high-pitched howl that grows in volume for a moment before gradually receding into the distance: the distinctive sound of a speeder bike, retreating from the scene.

As the echoes fade, Ben's expression settles into a deep frown, lines carved deep in his face, and his nostrils flare as he sucks a deep breath in through his nose and blows it back out. And then another one. His eyes glance at the nearest stand where archaeological equipment rests in a neat, taunting tray, and after a moment of internal debate, he simply takes another deep breath. "...there's a chance they haven't found it," he allows, though it's clear from the way he says it, he thinks that's a slim chance. "And we have their terminal. It's not a total loss." All the deep breathing resolves in a huff of exasperation. "We'll take it. Then we should sweep the rest of the place and go. I have no wish to linger here."

Beaten to the punch, but with assets in hand, it seems the Jedi's quest is just beginning.