Fwurg

[Mercury]

"Padawan Ariana..." Jedi Master Screetor sounded quite serious. "I would like to tell you of the legend of Jedi Master Azu, a master during the Times of Chaos, now long dead.

Master Azu was a great warrior, who travelled the galaxy in service of the Jedi order. He moved between many worlds sometimes smuggled by pirates, sometimes on his own, fighting his way through with his renowned purple lightsaber - he was one of the few to travel far and wide in those days, for the times of Chaos were not a good time for travel."

The Jedi master paused, making sure Ariana was listening, which of course she was.

"Eventually, Jedi Master Azu's travels caught up with him and he was forced to land on the planet Zontis. This sparsely populated world was low in technology, and out of the way, so the Jedi Master found himself unable to leave and at the time the Jedi Order simply did not have the means to help him.

Accepting his faith, Jedi Master Azu moved in with the local population, living out his days amongst them and becoming a much beloved figure amongst their number through his many acts of kindness.

When he passed away many years later, the people of Zontis entombed him in a now ancient burrial ground, a great honour amongst their people.

As you may know from the legend, Master Azu was well known for his especially powerful lightsaber that granted him exceptional duelling skills. Few however know that the reason for this was the special crystal inside the lightsaber..."

The Jedi Master looked at Ariana.

"Volcanic activity on the planet is now threatening the tombs, which means that soon that special crystal may be lost forever. As your knight-trial, you will travel to Zontis, enter the tombs and retrieve the crystal. The people of Zontis are friendly, so they should pose little difficulty, but the tomb is old, and the volcanic activity might pose a threat. I advise that you take this into account when you pack.

Since you are becoming a knight, I know that you will not need my help to prepare for missions any more, so I leave you with this. Good luck, padawan."

((OOC: This mission is intended only for Ariana. I will try to post Mondays and Thursdays. Rewards will be handled at the end of the mission.))

[Ariana Danacia]

"Thank you Master. I will leave as soon as possible."

Ariana left the room and went to the digital archives. She quickly loaded all the data she could find about Zontis, its population and the tomb of Master Azu on her datapad. She did not look into the information yet at this moment. She still had time to read through the information on her flight to Zontis.

After the archives Ariana went to quarter master Nishra to arrange for her equipment and a small ship that could be piloted by her alone and still had some capacity left for a couple of extra passengers.

Unless Nishra had any problems with her equipment she started her journey to Zontis.

((OOC: Equipment:

• Dagger blade and regular blade lightsabers with short handles
  
• DH-17 blaster pistol
  
• Heatproof Aquata breather (As used by firefighters in burning buildings)
  
• Custom-made Praetorian space-suit with boosters. (Heatproof coating applied)
  
• Communication pad (A very advanced touchscreen computer device for communication and interfacing with larger systems)
  
• Aerodynamic Backpack (containing First Aid Kit, Engineers Kit and the communication pad), worn
  
• A wireless communicator headset, worn
  
• A sealed emergency pack with survival gear for one week: (e.g., sturdy space-proof backpack, chemical water purifier, water bag, rations, single person tent, flashlight, emergency radio, a few chemical torches, sturdy rope, etc.)

))

[Mercury]

Ariana had no difficulty acquire her equipment, and Quarter Master Nishra was happy to oblige on the heat-coating, making sure Ariana was well equiped.

The flight to Zontis was boring, giving Ariana a chance to catch up on her reading. Jedi Master Azu was apparently quite the swashbuckler in his days, and Ariana got the distinct impression that some of the tales about him were a bit larger-than-life. For example, the planets he visited tended to be matriarchal and their leaders tended to not just be rather attractive, but also easily swayed by his personal charm, and she was pretty sure that was not always entirely accurate, historically speaking. Regardless of any embellishments for the sake of the narrative, the details about the lightsaber and special crystal at least appeared to be true.

Zontis, and its people, appeared to be somewhat primitive, but generally peaceful. They worshipped Gods devoted to various natural disasters, with offerings of fruit and meat to appease them, where offerings meant large feasts where lots of it was consumed with a fair dose of wine, ending in a large orgy. Quite the place it was...

Soon, the planet came in sight - there did not appear to be a flight control authority, so Ariana would have to land on her own ((OOC: Give me a pilot check to land)).

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana used the ships scanners to scan for three things. First she scanned for volcanic activity to get her bearings on how bad it already was. After that she looked for settlements with a large enough population. Finally she looked for a clearing where she could land her ship about one kilometer away from a settlement to meet the natives.

When she had found a suitable location she landed her ship. If she did not encounter any problems on the landing she packed all her equipment and flew to the settlement.

((Check: 13 = 7 Force Level + 6 Reason -- Scanning the area and looking for a suitable landing location to land her ship.))

((OOC: I expect to be unaware of the actual location of the tomb of Jedi Master Azu. If I would be able to find it on my own this would drastically change my plan.))

[Mercury]

Ariana had the location of the settlement, but not of the tomb. Fortunately, she was a reasonable pilot, and despite a lack of traffic control, she soon managed to set the ship down about a kilometre from the town.

Sensor reports indicated that the volcanic activity was pretty bad, and indeed the black smoke in the air seemed to confirm that. Fortunately, the village was some ways away from the volcano, so it likely was not in any immediate danger, though it'd likely get hit with a lot of ash.

As she walked towards the village, Ariana could feel a tremble in the ground - likely more would follow, caused by the volcanic activity in the area.

The most logical course of action would be to go to the village and find whomever was in charge. But perhaps Ariana would like to keep a low profile, in which case a cantina was probably the best direction to head in. Or she could look for tourist information, but it was unlikely there was any. Either way, Ariana would have to come up with a plan on how to get to where she wished to go.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana did not intend to go straight for the leader of the village when she only intended to ask for directions.

Ariana first wanted to gather some information and try it subtle. Although she probably would stand out as a Praetorian she tried not to draw too much attention to her presence and did not show the locals that she was a Jedi yet by wearing her cloak over her head and keeping her lightsabers out of sight.

She went to a cantina where she started asking around about the leader of the town. She wanted to know what kind of leader he or she was and get a general sense of what resources he or she and the village had at their disposal.

Furthermore she asked around if somebody knew where the tomb of Jedi Master Azu was located.

Finally she tried to get a general sense about the danger that this village was in and if the population was aware of the threat that the volcano posed.

((Check: 10 = 7 Force Level + 3 Intuition -- Asking around about the leader of the village, location of the tomb of Azu and the threat assessment of the villagers.))

[Mercury]

((OOC: I've had some delays OOC, I will post on this again Thursday))

[Mercury]

The cantina seemed to be the only place in town where anything was happening. Most of the locals seemed to be involved in farming, which did mean they had lots of farming equipment like tractors and plows available.

Not being a farm-girl herself, Ariana stood out like a sore thumb, but she wasn't the only one. There were a hand full of other "strangers" around - folk who did not seem to belong. From what Ariana was able to gather they might be local criminals, but they at least seemed to keep themselves relatively behaved. One of them was an archeologist, but Ariana - naturally interested to hear of this - soon learned that the whole "archeologist" bit was actually a cover for a minor criminal enterprise selling drugs to interested farmers and the man held no useful information.

The leader of the village was a man named Airmis, a human born and raised here and strongly devoted to the people here, if a bit eager for power. What you would expect for a community leader, really.

The population appeared quite aware of the volcano, but forecasts suggested it would be safe - tremors and faultlines aimed most of the volcanic danger in a different direction, so the fields and village itself would likely be safe. Or so the villagers said anyway.

Ariana was unable to find out much information regarding the tomb, and people seemed not very willing to discuss it. She did manage to acquire an old tourist map however, which would lead her to the entrance of the tomb. From there though, she'd be on her own.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana looked at the maps she had on her communication pad and combined it with the information she learned from the tourist map. Ariana expected the tomb to be somewhere outside the city. She studied the location and looked for a landing site close to the entrance of the tomb. Unless the tomb was reachable by foot in less than a few minutes she returned to her ship to fly towards the tomb with it.

While flying towards the tomb she scanned the area for a suitable landing site at a short distance from the entrance. When she had found the tomb she scanned for structural integrity and looked for the volcanic activity in the area. She landed her ship near the entrance and prepared it for a quick departure after which she walked towards the tomb to study the entrance.

((Check: 13 = 7 Force Level + 6 Reason -- Finding the tomb and studying the area for volcanic activity and structural integrity.))


((OOC: Unless the tomb is only a minute walking distance from the settlement I am moving my ship.))

[Mercury]

Ariana flew her ship to the entrance of the tomb, soon finding her scans to confirm the story she had been told - the tomb was structurally unstable and facing collapse, possibly catastrophic collapse even! Going inside would be quite dangerous!

The entrance was huge, but the bridge leading up to it was broken - nothing that would stop Ariana, but she noted at least that some of the structure had already collapsed. Outside were several crates and tents, but nobody was there to tend to them.

Before her lay the tomb, but Ariana was quite sure if she went inside, she would not come back out until she had completed her objective or was forced to flee the collapse in failure.

((OOC: Last chance to gather up additional supplies, do other things, etc. If you go in, it's on ^_^))

[Ariana Danacia]

((OOC: What is the distance from the volcano to the tomb?))

Ariana quickly looked through the crates and tents to check for things that might be out of place or look interesting.

Since Ariana had wings the missing bridge was not a problem. Ariana spread her wings, jumped over the bridge and entered the tomb. She landed on the other side of the bridge and carefully minding her steps from here.

[Mercury]

((OOC: The tomb is built into the volcano. It is literally part of the same mountain. Due to ashes, there is no clear reading as to the exact distance to the crater, but its not that far.))

Navigating her way through the tomb was easy as the way was lit by various self-sustaining light sources, likely installed to add atmosphere to the place, a sorely lacking resource at the moment in every sense of the word. The air was filled with the scent of sulphur and the dust of broken rubble that had fallen over. Clearly this place was dangerous and Ariana had best watch where she was going.

As she moved deeper into the tomb, Ariana began to realise just how big this place was - was this truly the tomb dedicated to a single Jedi Master, even a great one? Did not the Jedi Code mention something about arrogance and self-importance? How did this place come to be what it was?

The questions mattered little for the moment as Ariana came to what was best described as a roundabout, a circular room with three doors, plus the one through which she had entered, a giant obelisk in the centre which had toppled over. To the left, a passage was marked with the word "Azu" in galactic basic, though formatted as a glyph in the local language. No doubt this indicated the direction of the Jedi Masters tomb.

In front lay a passage leading deeper into the tomb, turning left after a short distance, away from the direction of Master Azu's tomb.

The final door to the left was blocked by the toppled obelisk, but it was here that Ariana detected something interest: the sound of voices calling out for help. Someone was trapped behind there!

"Help! Help!"

[Ariana Danacia]

Although Ariana pondered for a second if she had enough time to help this trapped person and get to the crystal she quickly came to her senses and could not just ignore a living creature asking for help.

Ariana looked at the Obelisk to check for damage to the walls of the room. She moved as close to the door as she could and said in a firm voice. "Hold on I am coming! Step away from the door."

Ariana activated one of her lightsabers and sliced straight through the top of the obelisk that was blocking the door. After cutting through the rock she carefully lifted the piece and moved it to the side with her telekinesis until she cleared the door.

Ariana looked at the door and tried to carefully open it. If it was locked she would simply push her lightsaber through the lock to force it open.

With her lightsaber still active in her left claw she opened the door with her right claw and looked through the door opening.

"What is your name?"

((Check: 15 = 7 Force Level + 5 Energy + 3 Telekinesis -- Moving a part of the obelisk away from the door it as blocking.))

[Mercury]

Ariana's lightsabers had some trouble cutting through the obelisk, but with some solid work, she managed to slice off large pieces that she could toss away using the force.

After digging through the rock for several minutes, she managed to force an opening leading towards the voice.

Stepping beyond the glowing remnants of the rock, she found an older Zontaran who had gotten quite dusty from falling debris.

"I am Elder Terluk." The man explained "You have to help us. We were trying to move the bodies of our ancestors before the tombs were destroyed. Several others are still trapped further down. There is not much time, everything is coming down! You have to help us!"

This posed a dilemma for Ariana. She had already wasted some time digging out the elder, if she also went looking for the others and get those out, she'd never have enough time left to also find Master Azu's crystal - the ancient relic would be lost forever...

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana had already made up her mind when she choose the door that Elder Terluk was behind.

Ariana quickly checked the man for wounds and estimated his capability to move quickly on his own.

"You don't happen to know a short cut to the tomb of Master Azu while we are helping your colleagues do you? I was send to retrieve his remains. However important it may be to save his remains I can not ignore a call for help from people that are still alive. Lead the way!"

Ariana followed the man in the direction of the other people expecting a new obstacle to arise at any moment.

((Check: 15 = 7 Force Level + 6 Reason + 2 First Aid -- Checking the general health of the man and his ability to travel on his own.))

[Mercury]

Following the man, Ariana soon found herself heading deeper into the tombs. She passed several large statues, some of them toppled, eventually finding her way to a bridge over a deep ravine that had collapsed. It would pose little trouble for the flying Jedi, but the Zontarans weren't winged so it was an impossible obstacle for them to take.

Several were waiting on the other side, one of them on a stretcher. They had also brought several humanoid shaped, wrapped up packages, no doubt the remains of the dead that had been 'salvaged'.

Just as they arrived, a loud rumbling went through the mountain, a red light filling out the dim blue light from the lamps... Lava had ripped through down below and it was now filling the deep ravine, the red light shining up from the depth. It would be a while before it filled up, but the lava would rise as would the temperature as it got closer!

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana spread her wings and flew to the other side. She counted the Zontarans and the amount of bodies that they were dragging around.

"Did you guys recover the remains of master Azu?"

Ariana quickly looked at the location that they came from and than turned towards the people. Looking at the amount of people and the cargo they were bringing Ariana immediately decided that it was time to prioritize.

"Leave the remains behind. We have no time left to recover them. They are not worth dieing for! I will fly you guys across the ravine one by one."

Ariana quickly started to lift the people and started flying them to the other side of the ravine one by one.

((Check: 13 = 7 Force Level + 4 Strength + 1 Flight + 1 Force Speed -- Carrying the people across the ravine one by one.))

[Mercury]

((OOC: Your fly skill is high enough. Approved))

"We can't leave our ancestors! They would be buried under the volcano, or even burned!" the Zontarans protested.

Ariana began flying them back over the chasm one by one, which was a lot more work than she imagined, though the updraft of heat helped. One by one, the Zontarans set foot on the other side, though one of the elders stubbornly held on to a pair of wrapped up packages, unwilling to let them go.

"No! We have to save the ancestors!" he called out. With the two bodies he held on to, the man was too heavy for Ariana to carry off.

Meanwhile the lava was filling up the ravine, rising ever higher, and increasing the heat in the area to be almost unbearable, sweat pouring over the Zontaran's ((OOC: And Ariana if her species sweats.)).

They did not have much time... certainly not enough to get all the remains out of there. In fact, Ariana doubted she'd have enough time to get the Zontarans all to safety even if the man wasn't resisting her aid.

[Ariana Danacia]

With the man clinging on to the bodies Ariana became impatient and angry.

"I came here to save the living, it is to late for those who have already passed away!"

Ariana focused her telekinetic energy on the two bodies that the man was carrying and ripped them from his hands into the air with a short burst of energy. When he was no longer touching them she immediately dropped the bodies letting them drop into the ravine of lava.

Directly after dumping the weight Ariana picked up the man and dropped him off on the other side of the ravine with the others. Ariana did not wait for anybody and left directly for the exit expecting the others to be ahead of her already or follow her. "Save yourselves, run!"

((Check: 15 = 7 Force Level + 5 Energy + 3 Telekinesis -- Ripping the bodies from the old mans hands and dumping them in the lava.))

[Mercury]

The man looked in horror as Ariana tossed the dead into the lava, but now he had little reason to remain her. With the last of the Zontarans now on the right side of the cliff, the group hurried back towards the four way chamber, the cave collapsing in various places around them.

Fleeing further, Ariana rushed out of the cave, just barely making her way outside - the last of the group - before the entire entrance collapsed behind them!

There was till one broken bridge before them - the one at the entrance where Ariana had come in - but now they had a little bit of time to get everyone to safety.

Regardless, the opportunity to go after master Azu was lost, the entrance blocked by debris. They had made it out, but neither the Jedi, nor the Zontarans, had been able to retrieve what they needed...

"Oh the Zontarity..." one of the saved Zontarans cried upon seeing the destruction of the old burial ground.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana lifted the zontarans over the broken bridge and pointed them to her ship. She counted the people and hoped it would fit on her ship for a short time.
Ariana flew the ship to the other side of town and landed it there to let all the people out. Ariana looked at the map of the area while flying to the other side of the village. She estimated that with a full volcanic eruption this town could be engulfed in lava.

She than talked to the elders of the village and tried to convince them to evacuate the area. "If you don't evacuate the village everybody can end up in the lava just as the zontarity. Think about your children."

[Mercury]

The village elders seemed somewhat confused by Ariana's incorrect use of the word Zontarity, which wasn't the name of the burial grounds so much as the local word for "humanity" which simply did not make sense for the Zontarans in its original form. Regardless, the elders seemed to understand Ariana's warning, getting started on the evacuation.

Soon the entire village was turning into an exodus, people gathering up their stuff and moving to safety. Ariana oversaw the evacuation, helping out as best she could to make everything go swift and smoothly.

Ariana soon figured out there were a lot of elderly and children who couldn't make the walk to safety and who needed transportation. Her ship would likely help, but it would not be enough for everyone.

Before she could think of further idea's, she was interrupted by sounds of a conflict however. Moving closer, Ariana noticed some of the local criminals that Ariana had spotted earlier were making trouble. The men had a large vehicle, still half empty, and they were charging money to take the elderly and children on board for evacuation - those who would not be able to get out in time on their own and who would need to be carried otherwise.

Two of the burliest criminals seemed to be facing off against two elderly townsfolk.

"Look, if you don't pay, you don't ride. This is my vehicle, and I won't have any freeloaders. Go find transportation elsewhere!"

"But Sir, there aren't enough vehicles to go around and there are many others seeking transportation. You have the room and we don't have the money... please have mercy!"

It looked like Ariana would need to interfere to resolve the issue - maybe diplomacy was key, or she could try and force the matter. Regardless, her own ship would not solve the problem, so one way or the other she'd have to deal with the thugs.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana looked in her bag for the traveling credits she brought. She reserved a small amount for resupplying and refueling on her way home and put the rest in the front pouch of her bag.
Ariana walked closer towards the two thugs. Ariana moved her cloak aside showing one of her lightsaber to the criminals for a few seconds. She did not activate it but only showed she had one.

"I don't want any trouble boys. I understand that such a vehicle is not cheap. Let me rent your vehicle for the day to transport the elderly and children to safety. I will pay half up front and half at the end of the day. "

Ariana showed them the credits from the front pouch and was ready to give them half if they accepted.

"I know it is not much but it is better than nothing. Just accept the offer, it will give you some credits, the elders and children will get to safety and I will go home when we are finished here. Everybody wins."

[Mercury]

"The current market seems to be going in a different direction than the one your thinking of."

He looked at Ariana's lightsaber, then back at her.

"We'll trade you the vehicle for your ship instead. We give you the vehicle now, you give us your ship after everyone gets to safety."

There was no way that this land vehicle was worth a spaceship...

[Ariana Danacia]

"I don't want to buy your vehicle. You must think I am desperate to offer me such a crazy deal."

Ariana grabbed her yellow lightsaber from her belt and activated it. She pointed it towards one of the thugs.

"The credits are my final offer. I hope you realise that this vehicle is not worth losing your head over."

((OOC: I would like some description of the situation. Are these thugs carrying weapons? What about other thugs around and bystanders?))