Myriad Reckonings

He recognized one word she said, that name. But he was careful not to react. Revealing he knew specifics about the doom of Atoa would surely raise suspicion.

He slipped back into silence and studied the walls as they walked. What a wealth of knowledge was down here. A few of the runes he recognized from his rudimentary studies, but he still knew so little. The prospect of learning about these this was exciting. It almost was enough for him to forget the other half of his mission.

Raia led him down many more tunnels, chatting occasionally but mostly focused on getting him to someone who could communicate. She admitted to herself that she was a little unnerved by him, not just because of appearance but because of how quickly he'd managed to get past the waterfall and how tuned in he seemed.
At last they arrived at the entrance to the main chamber. Raia was both surprised and unsurprised to find all who were awake clustered around the opening with her mother and sister at the front. A few of the others murmured among themselves as they saw the stranger.
Kurra, for her part, stood straight and tall as always. Undernourished like the rest of them but carrying herself with dignity and grace, she looked every inch the priestess. Her tattered white robes hung about her like mist, her long white hair was dull but carefully combed, and her piercing brown eyes betrayed nothing. Mother, hunched and leaning in a cane for support, let her daughter step forward while she observed the stranger from a distance. Raia had seen this technique over the decades; they worked in tandem with Kurra acting as an the attention-grabber while Mother went unobserved or dismissed and cautiously probed someone's mind.

"Thank you, Raia," Kurra said with a nod. Raia dipped her head and stepped to the side, though she kept her lance ready. "Welcome, stranger. You were expected."

Sirejj studied the small gathering. He sensed their suspicion. He stood in respect of their presence, not putting forth an air of too much confidence lest he come across as arrogant.

When the priestess, similar in age he guessed to the guard who'd met him already, spoke, he heard one thing but understood another entirely. A little startled, he looked at her curiously, wondering what kind of telepathy she was employing to do such a thing. The fact that they were expecting him, though he'd assumed so, gave him the feeling that their vision reached farther than his own. He'd have to discover what that meant later.

"Greetings." He said in Dathomiri, but the language was highly unsuited to conversation. He'd have to go back to using basic at some point. He hoped they wouldn't be too upset about it.

Raia blinked; they did appear to be communicating well enough.

"I am Lady Kurra, one of the last of our kind." She folded her arms into her sleeves. "What would you ask of my people? Why have you risked so much?"

She seemed to understand him. He wasn't sure how, but he was interested to learn.

"My name is Sirejj. Like you, I am one of the few remaining Dathomiri. My people and their magicks were exterminated before this war began." He spoke through his teeth sightly, as if this displeased him. "Since then I have been searching for the remaining places in the galaxy where magicks remain strong and untainted." He thought of the Sith and Jedi and how they'd wiped away the many unique cultures and uses of the Living Force throughout history. This was not just a thing the Empire was guilty of. "I have studied this world for some time with what limited knowledge was available. This was one of the last untouched civilizations. But I see you as well have suffered a great loss at the hands of those senseless destroyers." Seeing a great civilization wiped out without a second thought struck too close to home.

Raia's face darkened, but Kurra remained unmoved.
"The strength of Atoa is waning," she said to him. "But I sense the Final Heart beating within you. The invaders sought to end your connection to it as well?"

Spoiler

was just thinking that between his Dathomiri tendency towards necromancy and whatever illusion spells he manages to learn from the Atoans whenever Sirejj casts that projection of Garoche to distract Vader it's gonna be bloody terrifying

He nodded. "That was their intent. My homeworld is all but uninhabited except by scavengers. I have spent many years travelling the stars and have unfortunately reached far too many worlds where the heart has already been darkened." His staff was a means of connection to his homeworld. Without it, casting Dathomirian spells was far more difficult. It was one of the reasons he'd studied so hard to connect to the life force of the planets themselves. It made it easier to reach back to the origin of his strength.

Spoiler

Oh god you're right
Vader knows what the Dathomiri can do. And he was tricked easily by the Padme illusion. I bet he'll think Garoche is real

"And why have you sought out the Atoans? How did you come to know we were even alive?"

Raia had wondered the same thing. Perhaps some of the survivors who fled off the planet had been less subtle about their origins.

Spoiler

he may be a little real, but also not at the same time. If Sirejj wasn't probably actively in a chokehold or otherwise about to die it might even startle him.

Those projections have a surprising level of autonomy especially with a combo of the two magicks. The Atoan magic brings realism, the Dathomirian magic brings horror.

Vader is gonna flip his lid

"I learned of your homeworld through one of your people. Sadly they were...taken down before I could speak with them. They'd been discovered by those who draw their strength from destruction and death." He'd been tailing the same inquisitors he'd fought before a year ago when they'd captured and done away with a strange individual, the likes of which he'd never seen before. He'd then gone and investigated more, only to find a scarce little information available in any outside databank. "I have sought this place only for the wisdom and knowledge it may provide me. I don't know what you might ask of me in return, but I am willing to fulfill any request within reason." He glanced at the much older woman who leaned on her cane. She hadn't said a word yet, but he had a feeling she was closely watching him.

Mother met his eyes calmly and said nothing, though she withdrew from his mind somewhat.

"It's tutelage you seek?" Kurra's eyebrows lifted. "You wish to learn of the Final Heart and our ways of serving it?" She looked him up and down. "Your mind takes the shape of one who has already been trained. There's a darkness in it."

"My training consists of knowledge I've gleaned from the remains of my civilization. I have studied all I can, but there is far more I should know. Most of my people's spells and rituals were lost when they came." His brow furrowed. "I was not given the chance to be trained properly. The greatest of our Mothers and Sisters were targeted first, leaving behind many either untrained or blind to the lifeforce of our homeworld." He attempted to catch on to their terms and names for mutually understood things. He suspected the Heart they spoke of referred to the Force, and more specifically, the lifeforce of Atoa itself.

"If you have nothing in mind that you can offer, then why do you expect us to teach you?" Mother asked at last. Kurra lowered her head slightly in deference, while Raia crossed her arms. She grasped that the stranger sought knowledge and that the Heart did beat in him after all, but beyond that she was lost. Hearing only half a conversation was of little use to her.

Sirejj turned again to the older woman, his body language nothing but respectful. "I don't know what I could offer that would be of any use to you, unless you planned on escaping this place. But my senses tell me you intend to stay here till the end, which is a noble choice." This is where he would have to be careful. He had their attention, but convincing them to share their magicks, that would be another story. "I cannot bring back what you have lost. I feel that is what some of you desire most." He cast a short glance at the guard who'd brought him in. She clearly did not understand their words, but was making a great effort to do so. "I understand that knowledge comes with a price, and I am willing to pay that, whatever it might be." He was curious to see what price they might name.

"We are tethered here," the old woman agreed, though she looked toward Raia for a split second. "Most of us. What I would ask is that you share what you learn rather than keeping it to yourself. That is the only way Atoa survives, now. Teach others, tell them what happened here, show them how the Heart beats here."

"I hope to one day restore my world...or a world out of reach of those who would pervert the old ways. Your knowledge will live on." This was mostly true, and he said it as if he meant it entirely. Were there some other details he wasn't adding? Perhaps. But he was certainly not adverse to teaching others. It was just not an option on the table as of yet. He could barely keep himself from trouble, let alone teach anyone else. He'd opted not to think about it.