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Lannik Dig Site, Neutral Camp


As the shuttle hobbled and bobbed through the air on ancient thrusters in dire need of maintenance, Miarhi sat with her back braced against one crate and her feet up against another. There had been no passenger shuttles set to depart from Palesia to the dig site for another day at the very least, and none of the available speeders within her price range had seemed like something she wanted to take through treacherous terrain, so paying for a very uncomfortable spot on a supply shuttle had been her best option. It would have been almost tolerable if not for the fact that Miarhi was currently torturing herself to make a friend happy.

She had her datapad, an excessively elaborate model Ashyn had given to her as a gift after hearing that she'd passed her trials to become a Padawan, propped up against her knees in order to read the drivel currently filling the screen. It had been a very thoughtful gift, meant as a way to keep in contact with each other through the Holonet even when they were half the galaxy away from one another, but it had come loaded with an insidious trap: a trove of romance novels that Ashyn wanted her to read. When the painful novel recommendations had come one by one they were fairly tolerable, but now she had a veritable library of the things at her fingertips. Ashyn was Miarhi's best and oldest friend, and she so loved having someone to talk to about her favorite genre of novels, so there was nothing Miarhi could do but suffer through the things to make her friend happy. She just wished some of them had at least a speck of realism to them. The current read, a horrid thing called Dawn of a Knight's Dream, told the outlandish tale of a rogue Jedi and a Mandalorian warrior fighting off pirates and developing a romantic relationship along the way, and it didn't even have any horribly exaggerated sex scenes to provide some amusement. All the author names blended together, but Miarhi had a strong feeling she'd read some of this one's work before, and they were definitely among her least favorite if her memory served her correctly.

A sudden lurch signalled the shuttle descending toward the camp. Or perhaps it was just the shuttle finally dying after what seemed to be many years of service without any work being done on the poor thing. Normally one would expect panicked yells from the pilot in that case, but the man had been so gruffly taciturn that Miarhi would be surprised if he gave more than an annoyed grunt at the prospect of hurtling to his fiery demise. She braced herself harder against the crates, just in case, and after a minute a hard bump followed by stillness made it clear they had in fact been landing rather than crashing. Miarhi pushed herself to her feet and stretched out her cramped muscles, grumbling at her cloak as she fought to untangle it from her legs. She still wasn't quite used to having the long garment to wear atop her simple tunic and trousers, but it was part of the attire that marked her as a Jedi so she wore it proudly. She just also maybe cursed at it now and then when it got in her way.

When she finally clambered out of the back of the shuttle, Miarhi found the pilot coming around to ready it all for unloading. She gave him a smile and a respectful nod. "Thank you for your assistance." He just grunted at her as expected, so she sighed and hurried on her way rather than trying to make conversation. She'd carefully examined every piece of information she'd been able to find about the neutral camp of the Lannik dig site, and thanks to that (and the obvious signage) she was able to find her way to the cantina that was apparently the central hub of activity in the place. Her plan was to ask around to find the whereabouts of her new master, but as she stepped through the doors she felt something unexpected: another Force user nearby. She was no master of using the Force to sense her surroundings, but she was certain someone in the building or nearby was definitely trained in the use of the Force. Given all the talk of Sith possibly being in the area, Miarhi was very careful and as covert as possible in her surveillance of the large, open room that made up the majority of the ground floor of the cantina. Her fear subsided when she finally spotted the Miraluka sitting at one of the tables, but it was quickly replaced with a mix of anxiety and excitement in equal measures that were hard to suppress.

Miarhi took a minute to calm her breathing, without much success in translating that external calm to into internal calm, but it would have to do for the moment. She marched over to the table and cleared her throat twice before managing to get any words out. "Uh, Jedi Knight Airus Vel Aath? I've been sent by the Council. This datapad should explain it all, but, um, I've been assigned as your Padawan." She pulled the mentioned datapad, a much simpler model than her personal one, out of a pocket and set it on the table in front of the Knight. "Oh, and they said I should introduce myself because they didn't sent word in advance. I'm Miarhi Gako, I just passed my Padawan trials six days ago, and I... don't know what else to say. Um, I think they said they put my records on the datapad?" People at the nearby tables were staring at her by this point, and Miarhi flushed with embarrassment as she realized that a fairly crowded public place was probably not the best place to introduce herself, but it was far too late for such considerations. "Uh, sorry." She quickly sat at one of the chairs across from Airus and made herself busy with staring down at the table and trying to predict just how fast she'd be sent back to Tython for being an utterly useless Padawan.
Oh right, I probably should have linked my dudes when I made the thread.

Darth Embrus

Zaek Saxon, Mandalorian Mercenary
Another quick addition because I realized I forgot to do it a few days ago: added Kutar Zema as a listed Apprentice with a paragraph in the underlings listing section to explain his current status.

Force powers updated to conform to new guide nomenclature. Since it went from having 5 steps to 6 steps of experience/talent levels noted, making a simple one to one translation impossible, I've nudged some things up and down a bit to make sense. The main thing of note is that I've listed Precognition as a Grandmaster level talent while Force Rage remains a Mastered Talent, because basically all of Embrus' training and solo practice/study from day one has honed his talent for Precognition in one way or another whereas the Force Rage is newer to him. I've also tweaked the bio and list of accomplishments a bit to note his great talent for Precognition, which I should have done before but I overlooked that in my focus on getting the Force Rage stuff right. All changes are noted in the hider below for ease of reference.

Just for the sake of clarity and transparency, I've just updated the entry named Buckriders. I got bamboozled by PMs not having the little notation at the top saying a post has been edited, so I didn't realize the version of the entry I'd grabbed the night before I posted this thread ended up being edited in the extra day that was given.


The submission period is over, so it's time to get to the voting and critiquing! All the relevant rules can be found below, but check out the general Rules and Info thread for more and to leave any comments or suggestions on the contest as a whole. The theme for the inaugural Monthly Adaptive Storytelling Contest was...

WOTM Throwback


Before getting to the actual entries, here's a quick recap of the prompt our entrants were asked to fulfill and below that the voting rules.

Theme: Mythology

Write a story involving a myth. Myths cover a WIDE variety of things, usually explaining traditions, historical events, or natural phenomenon. Check out Greek, Norse, Egyptian, etc. myths if you aren't familiar with what sorts of topics myths cover.

Components: Use at least two of these in your story.
  • The protagonist of the story is a villain.
  • The story involves one character trying to trick or deceive another character.
  • The myth does not involve gods.
  • The myth explains a technological advancement as the result of supernatural events rather than mortal ingenuity. (Note: things like the invention of the wheel to the creation of the first spaceship both count as technological advancements.)
  • The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting.


Extra Challenges: These are optional. The entry that best fulfills each extra challenge (as decided by @Jorick) will be highlighted after the voting period ends.
  • Overachiever: Use all five components in your entry.
  • Mic Drop: Have a character deliver a devastating insult to another character.
  • Artist: Use your words to paint a mental picture of a vividly detailed setting.


Voting Rules:

1. Submit your vote by posting in the voting thread before the deadline: before midnight (in US time zones) on August 16th.
2. Submissions are posted anonymously for a reason. Revealing which entry was yours before the voting period is over will result in disqualification.
3. Contest entrants cannot vote for their own entry but are invited to vote for a competitor's entry.
4. Comments on and critiques of the entries are highly encouraged, but do keep in mind that criticism should be constructive rather than destructive.
5. The entry with the most votes in the end will be declared the winner. @Jorick will also highlight those who did the best job tackling each extra challenge.
6. All site and contest moderation rules are of course in effect.

And without further ado, the entries:





Just so folks are aware and not wondering what's up, I'm pushing the deadline back a day. Any entries submitted on August 9th (in US time zones) will be accepted, and the voting/critique thread will go up shortly after midnight.
Darth Embrus's Stronghold
18:00, <DATE TBD>, 1333 PRE


Sleek, dark metal rose high into the sky among the ancient stone and rust that made up most of the standing buildings on Korriban, and the setting sun gave it a gleaming halo. It was designed with the express intent to intimidate, and Darth Embrus could see its effects on the Acolyte that stood before him in the center of the old stone plaza that sat in front of the main entrance, though his awestruck attention also seemed to be pulled toward the Mandalorian standing silently two steps away from Embrus. The Overseer that had brought this young man to display his skills was less impressed by both the building and the mercenary, but then she had been there many times before to escort students of the Sith Academy who believed themselves worthy of Darth Embrus's attention. He humored them most of the time, but more often than not they were sent away with an earful of scathing criticism.

"Was that mess meant to impress me?" There was no need for the Acolyte to look at his face to know that his mouth was turned downward in a sneer, thanks to the venom dripping off the words. Truly the Human's performance of lightsaber forms and Force powers had been above average, but that question was always the first he asked of those hoping to become his Apprentice, and often the only one asked.

The Acolyte shook his head. "No, of course not. It was meant only to show you my potential." The Overseer's eyes narrowed in disappointment; the last hopeful student she'd brought before Darth Embrus had said something similar in response to the question and was sent away with scornful laughter. There were, of course, reasons she had never risen beyond the role of Overseer.

Darth Embrus's sneer turned into a faint smile as he nodded. Where the prior hopeful Acolyte had been donning feigned humility in a pitiful attempt to please, this one gave off an aura of sincere reflection on his inadequacy. "Good. You're not quite ready, but perhaps soon you will be." He turned a more obvious smile on the Overseer, born in large part from his amusement at her confusion. "He's got the perfect build and mentality for Djem So, but you incompetents have been focusing his training on Soresu. Correct that mistake and bring him back in a few months." The Overseer, a woman whose name Embrus had never bothered to learn, simply nodded and turned to leave before her anger could boil over and make her do something she might not live to regret, and the Acolyte gave him a respectful nod before he turned to follow.

"As fun as that was..." Zaek's dryly sarcastic remark did not require any further words to make it clear just how bored he was. "Before the interruption, we were discussing matters of payment. My services are worth double what you've been paying me, and we both know it."

"Ah, yes." Darth Embrus turned on heel and swept past the Mandalorian, beckoning for him to follow. "It's a good thing I like you, else I'd have cut you in half for your impertinence long ago."

The Mandalorian's snorted laugh was almost enough to make him follow through on the threat. "You could try. Ever tried cutting through beskar? You'd be better off throwing me around with your damned Force power. That way you'd actually win."

It was a clearly calculated insult, and the audacity of it amused Embrus enough to soothe his anger. Even if he threw Zaek around like a rag doll, it would be admitting that he was not good enough to best the fabled Mandalorian armor with his lightsabers alone. Attacking with just a lightsaber would perhaps be a fatal mistake if the first blow was not a killing blow, but to do otherwise would be to admit weakness. "You're a clever little bastard, I'll give you that. I ought to pay you for your wit rather than your skill with a blaster."

"I'll pass. I'm looking to double my pay, not cut it in half."

The odd pair shared a laugh as they strolled back into the Stronghold, greeted by the sounds of clashing lightsabers and grunts of exertion from Darth Embrus's favored students hard at work in the training hall. Rather than heading toward the sound, he led the way to his study and left the students to fend for themselves for the rest of their evening practice. This was far from the first time the Mandalorian had asked for a raise in his pay, but doubling it was a new extreme. Embrus was inclined to grant the request for one simple reason: Zaek was in fact worth the credits. Giving in and saying yes right away would be no fun though, so there were many more insults and jokes to be made before the deal was struck.
Korriban



Korriban is a hub planet for Sith characters, and perhaps for intrepid independents, to interact with one another as they please. Any approved characters for the persistent galaxy who have some reason to be here can feel free to jump in. It's going to be a sandbox sort of thing rather than having a defined plot, so feel free to scheme and push along whatever stories you like here.

There are a few noteworthy locations on the planet that can be used for various shenanigans:
  • Korriban Arrival Port: The planet's main spaceport, located near the Academy.
  • Sith Academy: One of the main training facility for Sith Acolytes, and the primary point of interest for most people on Korriban.
  • Valley of the Dark Lords: The burial ground of the ancient Sith Lords of Korriban, replete with tombs and angry ghosts.
  • Darth Embrus's Stronghold: A decidedly new building among the ancient structures and ruins, used as Darth Embrus's home and base of operations. Also houses the gaggle of underlings he likes enough to keep nearby.


I think that sums it up, but if you've got any thoughts for useful info that ought to go here just lemme know and I can toss it in.
Korriban



Korriban, the ancient homeworld of the Sith, was lost to them for a millennia. It was recovered in the early days of the Great Galactic War, and now that the Republic was forced into signing the Treaty of Coruscant the planet and its Sith Academy have thrived as a major center of learning for those who undertake the grueling trials to become a Sith. Korriban is a harsh planet, full of barren wastes and dangerous creatures and tombs of ancient Sith whose angry ghosts still haunt the land. Such dangers do not deter the living Sith from using the planet as a base of operations of all kinds, and the Imperial presence on the planet only increases with each passing year.

Whatever a Sith may desire, from deadly challenges to ancient wisdom to venues for political machinations, they can find what they want on Korriban... so long as they are strong enough to reach out and take it.
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