House Troubles

Darth Ragious spent some time speaking with the servants of House Arren regarding the incident involving his wife Kiabe and her visit to Jocelyn Arren. Despite his reputation, he was surprisingly controlled when they were unable to tell him anything beyond what his daughter had already gathered. His search for answers led him further into the grounds, and he sensed – no, he was pulled – by a powerful concentration of Force energy that seemed to be centered within the arboretum.

The restoration of the arboretum itself had been Lady Arren's personal project, and she had spent two years pouring her passion into creating a lush, colorful environment of flora and fauna drawn from every corner of the universe. The building itself had withstood the years well, but every window had been replaced, as had the antiquated irrigation systems. It had become her sanctuary in that time, and whenever she was on Kaas, it was the first place to seek out her presence.

It had also been where she received her future mother-in-law on the day in question. Ragious felt drawn to the power inside, but his attempts to gain entry proved futile. When his attempts to raise either Jocelyn or Kaldaras by holo failed yet again, Ragious decided to try a new approach by contacting an old friend – Lady Qel'rend, who had served House Eirndeth for many years. Her own experience had seen her work closely with members of the Spheres of Ancient Knowledge and Philosophy, and she had always proven to be a valuable source of advice.

He met her in a sitting room in the main house to discuss the arboretum, greeting her like the treasured confidante she had always been. "Please, sit, and I'll tell you why you're here, though I imagine you've already felt it."

"You were hoping I could provide insight into why the arboretum will not open. Thala mentioned it, but decorum dictated that I await an invitation from someone with authority they were actually -given-," she said with a rueful smile. She was often amused by Thala's tendency to overstep her position and push her boundaries.

"She does have a tendency to just push her way in doesn't she? Remind you of anyone?" He looked over with a grin, eliciting a chuckle from the Zabrak. "And yes, I was hoping you could help me with that. It seems the electronic locks are keyed to not let anyone but Jocelyn or Kaldaras in, but those I can easily bypass. They aren't what is keeping me out."

"I will do what I can to help. Allow me to examine the structure, and I will try to discern that for you." Once he nodded permission for her to do so, Qel'rend rose to make her way out to the arboretum with Ragious beside her. For quite some time, she simply appeared to stand before the large glass double doors in silence while she communed with the Force, reaching out with her senses toward the energies within.

In time, he sensed a fluctuation in the powerful emanations coming from within the arboretum as well as a kind of 'push' from the slender sorceress. There was a brilliant flash of darkness that was much like watching an explosion with inky darkness instead of bright light, and Qel'rend was thrown back off of her feet, landing hard on the ground several meters away.

Ragious was at Qel's side in an instant, his arm under her back to prop her up. "Qel! Are you alright, what happened?" His presence tensed, ready for battle, but there was something else behind the violence he was ready to unleash - a feeling like it wasn't just battle. He was ready to defend Qel.

She groaned as he helped her sit up, her face pale and body trembling from the discharge of a good deal of her power. She drew in a shuddering breath as she mentally took stock of her body's condition before nodding. When she spoke, it surprised her to find her voice was hoarse as though she'd been in a shouting match. "Try the doors again."

Ragious hesitated to leave her side, but he is stood, his lightsaber in hand (unlit) though he couldn't remember summoning it, and walked toward the door. He reached out and tried the latch again.

The door swung open, though the power that was emanating from within had not dissipated in the least. It had only receded. A moment later, Qel was behind him after stopping to compose herself. She was still shaky, but she was determined to unravel this mystery with him.

Deeper inside the lush greenery and exotic flowering plants, the source of the dark Force power could still be clearly felt - in the direction of Jocelyn's preferred point of sanctuary.

Ragious held his hand out for Qel, his other activating his lightsaber it in preparation for what could be waiting.

She slipped her hand into his, her other extended outward, palm facing the emanation as her head tilted as though listening to something. "It is not yet contained, but there is nothing here with a form that can be fought physically."

Once he felt her hand, he forged ahead toward the source of the disturbance. He was still being careful, doing his best to stay within the paths his sister built to guide them through the lush foliage, trying not to do more damage to her sanctuary than is necessary.

As they approached the clearing, the source of the force energy could be more clearly located both by their outstretched senses and the sight of a large tree that seemed to have grown near the center. The wrought iron table and chairs that once stood beside the fountain were gone completely, but as they approach the gnarled and angry-looking tree, they could see black veins of metal woven into the decaying wood of the trunk. Closer study found further striations of black that are clearly neither wood nor metal which seem to writhe and move hypnotically if one stared at them too long.

The 'feeling' of the aberration was the most disturbing, however, for it was clearly not just made up of dark force energies, but there was an underlying 'will' within its power. Everything about the 'tree' felt like angry, unsated violence, pure and unburdened by conscience. It wasn't sentient, but it was most definitely alive.

Ragious stared at the tree, watching the striations move in contrast to the parts that were wood and metal. Feeling the power it was letting off through the force, he sought the best way to attack it. Then, he looked back at Qel, once again relying on her wisdom as he began the build up of force energy to unleash a Force-infused scream at the main body. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Qel'rend's eyes were focused on the tree itself, caught up by the hypnotic pattern that played out across the skin of the thing. She released his hand to step forward, reaching for it, intense anger and passion rising within her.

Ragious moved quickly to block her path, stepping between her and the tree before she could get too close. "Qel! Look at me! I need you to tell me what you're sensing."

Her lips curled into an angry snarl, and she drew not only on her own impressive reserve of Force power, but that of the tree's as well, to push him out of the way with a wave of her hand.

He was caught off guard by her attack, and it sent him a few feet to the side and down to a knee - enough of a disruption that she is able to reach the tree and put a hand on it before he was on his feet. He leapt at her, tackling her to the ground. Qel roared in pure rage as he pinned her, and resisted her attempts to throw him off. "Qel'rend you will look at me, you will focus and you will fight whatever hold is on you. You are not weak, you are strong and you will win against this thing."

While he managed to capture one wrist easily, the other hand evaded his attempts to secure it. The green of her eyes was completely eclipsed by the red that usually encircled her irises.

Something in what he said drew her focus to him, and she glared up at his face seizing on his admonition to fight the energies assaulting her mind. Hatred and anger - two things she had never dealt much in despite her Sith training - boiled within her. She directed her free hand up and over his shoulder, sending the energy that was filling her back toward its source, effectively attacking the tree with its own power.

The sound of wood cracking and metal rending came from behind him, followed by a dark tendril of inky blackness that seemed to whip toward the zabrak from over Ragious's shoulder. Its tip struck her head, and she fell back unconscious and motionless beneath him.

After making sure that Qel was merely unconscious, Ragious stood and turned on the tree. In an instant, his saber was once again in his hand and lit, it's crimson blade a beacon against the darkness of the tree. The power he had been drawing in on himself since they first encountered it is lying in wait, and when he opened his mouth, it was to unleash a destructive scream of pure hatred at the tree, striking out with the kinetic attack in the same instant he leapt to do battle with it with his Lightsaber.

The tree shattered beneath the multi-pronged attack, sending shards of wood and metal in every direction that embedded themselves deeply in anything in their trajectory, including the glass ceiling and walls, sending large panes of it falling atop them.

Ragious reached both hands out with the force to redirect any panes of glass that would endanger Qel'rend or himself. Watching the area where the tree was, he tried to feel in the force what was feeding it and making it so powerful.

The only thing left was the very base of the tree, and in the hollowed out trunk, there was a small device that looked like a datacron, still emanating with a fraction of the same power from before.

Using the force, Ragious called the datacron to his hand, and then moved to scoop Qel up and exit the area.


Several hours after the incident with the tree, Qel awoke in an unfamiliar bed. Wincing, she raised her hand to her head to rub between her two foremost horns.

Ragious had been sitting a silent watch over her for the entire time, holding the small stasis box in his lap, not willing to risk anyone else touching it. When she stirred, he immediately poured her a glass of water from the pitcher the servants had brought in at the start of his vigil. "Welcome back. Was afraid we were going to have to spend the night here."

She sat up with a groan and took the water with a grateful nod, drinking the entire glass slowly, but steadily. When she was done, she looked to the stasis box on his lap. "I take it that is what created the tree?"

Ragious nodded. "Datacron, ancient. I believe it was part of a collection owned by Mistanis' husband. I tried activating it in the usual way, but it didn't work. I suspect it wants blood."

Qel'rend stared at the box in thought. "Something meant to affect members of your bloodline then. I wonder to what end."

"I'm not stupid enough to feed it, so I suspect I'll need to find Kalista for us to get any answers."

"Yes, that would be the safest course of action. I think it's safe to assume that Kiabe brought this when she came to visit your sister, and that when its energies were released, both women were affected."

"Qel, do you know where either of them are? I guess I should have asked that at the start. I'm not trying to imply you would hold it back, I just never thought it important to ask."

A soft smile formed on her lips as though this was amusing to her, but not in any way that speaks to her thinking anything negative or demeaning about her friend. "I started searching for them both the moment I found out they were missing, but no, I haven't found them. According to the trackers I hired, Kiabe was last seen on Nar Shaddaa, and Jocelyn...is a more difficult subject. There have been more sightings of her and more recent, but nothing concrete. I brought the reports I have received with me. I was going to give them to you right away, but we seem to have gotten distracted."

"Nar huh...what the hell was she doing there? Stalking Aittera and me?" He couldn't wrap his head around it, but he smiled at Qel. "Thank you for looking out while I was away, and for keeping an eye on Thala. Even if she would have completely disregarded anything you told her was in her best interest."

"She seeks out my council easily enough, but she only seems to take my advice about half of the time." She chuckled. "I'm learning to read when though, and I am learning how to influence her accordingly."