[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/VklJuVP.png[/img]
[color=a187be][h3]Verra "Solace" Alleron, The Diplomat[/h3][/color]
[color=a187be]Interacting with:[/color] [color=f26522]Dra'kal Sherom[/color] [@Lmpkio], [color=LightSteelBlue]Airus Vel Aath[/color] [@Apollosarcher], [color=F79130]Ila'Iri Orini[/color] [@rusty4297][/center]
[hr][hr]
[b][u]Mandalore, The Citadel
Year Four, After Re-synchronization[/u][/b]

[color=a187be]"It's a bit gaudy looking."[/color]

Solace took a few steps around the table at the center of the room, looking over the holocron which sat glowing just a couple feet from her. The low pulses of red illuminated not just it but also the dark wood upon which it sat, faint lines running up and down the gold and black of the outer surfaces. For just a moment she swore she saw writing along the edges, but shook her head as she studied it for a moment longer. Regardless of it being far and away from her field of study, holocrons such as this were feats of engineering that were worth the attention. It didn't even have seams that would depict where it would open, lenses for the display of holographic images or a method of opening it at all aside from the small indent at the base.

It was there that there was a small slot just large enough for a finger to press against, dark stains against the metal showing where it had tested the biometrics of perhaps dozens through the millenia. How many did the Shadow Council have try their luck at it? Perhaps dozens, hundreds? That was a question that couldn't be answered, not by anyone in this room and even if they were to analyze the dna left behind. More than that, it wasn't like it mattered. The holocron had remained sealed, and its secrets kept secret. While she personally wasn't too big on the mysteries of the force and left things up to Ashla where that was concerned, there was certainly something about this holocron that… Called to her in a way.

Just then her thoughts were thankfully pulled away by the door sliding open once more with Padawan Orini and her preferred [i]sparring[/i] partner entering to offer his own thoughts. Unprompted, as per usual. She allowed him to take the lead in this matter, as it was really more of his thing, only taking up a position off to the side while he took his own observations.

[color=LightSteelBlue]"It's ancient... After the Second Sith War the design is more elegant than the Sith of that period... More likely from the period just after the Great Galactic War..."[/color]

[color=a187be]"You mean gaudy. It looks a bit like a Hutt paperweight to be honest, though I suppose the Sith weren't exactly known for their style were they?"[/color]

And as she had expected, he was completely lost in having the ancient paperweight there in his hands. No matter how many times they had the talk about dangerous artifacts, he just kept-

[color=LightSteelBlue]"Possibly contains a Sith spirit..."[/color]

There it was. Always something. [color=a187be]"Whoa. Hold on now, let's not get too carried away. Let's not have a repeat of Telos, or Balmorra, and we are sure as hell not going to do that whole Krath thing again."[/color] That was the last time she had been asked to come along for an archaeological mission with the order, and had almost caused a diplomatic incident with the Alsakani. He had just had to open a vault, despite warnings in some ancient language talking about the visitation of untold horror upon he who violates the tomb. And as she had snarked back to him when they were running for their lives, it had seemed that they were serious in the way of a thousand Krath War Droids. Luckily for them both, Toryn had been there too and the reactor for the tomb complex was remarkably unstable. She had met his smile with one of exasperation, turning wry for a moment as she reached for the holocron, aiming to turn it away from him but making a slight error in depth perception.

A soft click sounded as her hand brushed past his, thumb finding the indent and a sharp stabbing pain following. [color=a187be]"Ouch! It pricked me!"[/color] Though she quickly withdrew her hand from it and took a step back, it was clear that the mechanism had done exactly what it was designed to do. A series of lights blinked along the outer casing, the reader retracting within the holocron until the surface was perfectly smooth. It was as if it hadn't even been there at all, but the shifting of the device was not over, not by far.

[color=a187be]"Dra'kal, Airus. Is it supposed to be doing that?"[/color]

The red glow of light from within pulsed, strengthening until a beam erupted from the top and splashing the ceiling of the room with an eerie glow. Energy surged throughout the outer casing of the holocron, rippling waves of power activating systems that had been dormant for millennia or more. It was awake.

[i][b]"Bloodline determined."[/b][/i] It spoke with a booming feminine voice that felt as if it were shaking the walls around them, but only to the four of them directly. So it was a spirit locked within the holocron, and somehow or another it had just been released. Could it have been a reaction to the incorrect genetic sequence? Perhaps a measure used against Jedi seeking the secrets of the Sith? But the Shadow Council had said nothing of a spirit, only that twice the guardian had deigned to speak to them, and it was merely to tell them they were unworthy. If that was the case though, then at least it was appearing in the presence of four armed Jedi, and though she didn't know the skill of Dra'kal, she was sure he would be able to pick up soon enough. She was just about to reach for her sabers though when it spoke again...

[i][b]"Legacy recognized, releasing authority to the Arkanian Verra Alleron."[/b][/i]

[i][b][color=a187be]"Fuck."[/color][/b][/i]