Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

After her rather intriguing conversation with 'Ser Villainess' yesterday evening, Tethys finds herself inclined to take a leap of faith. Sometimes the Force rewards caution; other times, trust. In this case, she trusts that whether or not she finds the person she's looking for, she's bound to learn something of interest.

So it is that she's heading into the Thul family grounds, seeking out the training field of the Blackguard (assuming they have one)... and the peculiar guard corps' masked leader.

Lady Massacre stood on a crumbling wall and looked down at an empty courtyard as the people had been given personal leave for the duration of the Festival. She enjoyed this solitude but knew it was going to end shortly as a Jedi had come calling.

Interesting.

Tethys picks her way up the side of a pile of tumbled rubble, the breeze fluttering the hem of her robes as she reaches the wall-top. She says nothing at first, cool gaze surveying the same sights as Massacre--the empty courtyard, the mix of new/repaired/ruined structures.

She lets her senses stretch out, both within and outside her body. The Force is passive here, or opaque in any case. Her eyes and ears should be equal to the scene, though.



"Lady Massacre, I presume," she says after a while.

--
D2 MA--Sense (emotional state): 2eF 3 Dark Side

"Jedi Tethys Carrack, Ser Villainess spoke at length about you," she said to the Jedi.

"I am not surprised the Jedi have shown a keen interest in our order."

"Did she?" Tethys's lips quirk somewhat. "Our conversation last night wasn't long, but it was interesting. I'm one Jedi, of course, not The Jedi." Hooking her thumbs into her belt, she gazes up at the cloud-dotted blue sky. Gorgeous, of course; this is Alderaan.

"Well, you're making me curious about what Ser Villainess had to say at such length. As I imagine you intended." Her brief laugh bubbles like water over stones.

“Oh come now, we both know one or all is the same. I would expect no less from my people, but as you say,” she said in a neutral tone.

“She said you were interested in our Order, our philosophy and our intentions. Ser Villainess is one of my earliest Blackguards, and I value her judgment. Let me guess, the Jedi see us as a threat, or a potential problem?”

"Spoken like somebody who has never had to sit in on a Jedi Council meeting." Tethys chuckles. "Lucky you."

"Why do you think the Jedi would consider your organization a problem?" She turns her cool, inquiring gaze on the masked woman.

“Jedi, Sith, two flip sides of the same coin. I had a similar conversation with Duke-Consort Thul; and I found the Sith Code wanting… it seems to breed chaos and wanton slaughter. We are ruthless, but only to our enemies. We have reservation with violence as long as it serves House Thul. But we have Honor, we forsake our old names and remember we are but servants of our Lady and the House of Thul,” she said.

“The Sith do not take rival philosophies lightly, I suspected the Jedi would be the same.”

Dapper Dog wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:05 am

“Jedi, Sith, two flip sides of the same coin. I had a similar conversation with Duke-Consort Thul; and I found the Sith Code wanting… it seems to breed chaos and wanton slaughter. We are ruthless, but only to our enemies. We have reservation with violence as long as it serves House Thul. But we have Honor, we forsake our old names and remember we are but servants of our Lady and the House of Thul,” she said.

“The Sith do not take rival philosophies lightly, I suspected the Jedi would be the same.”

"There you're mistaken. The Sith don't have an opposite view at all, only a much more limited one." Tethys opens a hand palm-up. "You're right about the results, though. Mistaking the Force for a tool never leads anywhere good."

A vertical line appears between her brows--a sort of frown that doesn't reach her lips. "But you... what makes House Thul worthy of this kind of," she pauses for a moment, considering the right word, "total subordination? Alderaan has a dozen other noble houses no more or less illustrious."

"Because I was not always Lady Massacre, besides what makes them unworthy of our devotion?" she countered.

"There aren't many sentient beings in the galaxy who are so special they're worth obliviating yourself." Tethys shrugs one shoulder. "I've seen nothing so exceptional about House Thul. And any being who asks that of you, or accepts it... that makes them even less likely to qualify."

She brings her hands together and then spreads them apart in an opening--or perhaps a throwing-away-- gesture.

"Unless, of course, you value your own self so low that burying your whole identity under the feet of any random person with a little charisma feels better than living in your own skin."

"Why do you serve the Jedi Order? I heard they get students when very young, seems an easy way to indoctrinate someone into your way of thinking," she responded.

"Is this the only life you have known?"

"You're quite defensive. You do realize all this ducking and dodging around only makes people more curious, right?" Tethys observes coolly.

"Hm." She seems to genuinely consider the question, deflection though it might be. "I guess you could call it a kind of indoctrination, yes... as long as you'd say the same about medical carers' training to 'do no harm'. The ability to act through the Force..." Tethys folds her hands together at her belt, exhaling deeply. "It comes with so much responsibility. Anyone learning without proper support, without a good mentor or guidance... it's so easy to come to harm, or even more likely, to harm someone else. So yes, it helps a lot to find a teacher early."

A corner of her lips curves up enigmatically. "I was already an adolescent when I found the Jedi Order, or it found me. You could say I had an ordinary childhood, mostly. Or, well, ordinary enough? I was going to go to technical school--be a scientist or an engineer--but the Force flowed in other directions."

Tethys Carrack wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:05 pm

"You're quite defensive. You do realize all this ducking and dodging around only makes people more curious, right?" Tethys observes coolly.

"Consider it a measure of respect, master Jedi. We Alderaanians do love our courtly games of intrigue and a casual, careless, tongue can be the end of your courtly career," she said calmly.

"But I have nothing to hide, what question have I evaded?"

"Why take an ancient dead woman's name and then attach yourself to Thul, of all the possible choices on Alderaan, or in the galaxy?" Tethys raises a brow and waits to discover what kind of answer or semi-answer she'll get in return for this un-courtly directness.

“In my prior life my family was vassal to Thul, my loyalty was already to Thul. But the exodus to Nar Shaddaa was hard for all of us, many families were decimated but House Thul held things together for us and touch choices were made but we returned to our ancestral lands. We owe Thul for this, we owe our fealty to the Duchess, and we chose to turn that fealty into strength and formed the Blackguards,” she responded.

“Perhaps that is something you cannot understand, but I cannot make it clearer.”

“You see an unworthy House, I see greatness restored. I am proud to serve House Thul, as are all Blackguards. Just as I expect the assassins of House of Rist are proud to be Rist.”

She looked down at the crumbling walls and said, “The name came to me because I found kinship in the stories of Lady Massacre. They were a comfort to me during our time in exile.”

"I see. So, you were raised in House Thul, and all this," Tethys swirls a long-fingered hand at the courtyard and barracks, "came after. Now I see why you asked about Jedi being taken in young, I think."

"You don't like House Thul, why?" she questioned.

"Don't mistake me." Tethys half-shrugs. "I'd be asking nearly all the same questions if House Organa or House Ulgo or House..." ugh, what was another of their noble houses? "...Syrush turned up with a squad of archaeo-feudal house guards who seem to have a longing for some darker and more violent age. You chose your own name, after all, 'Lady Massacre.' I assume you took it knowing how it would sound."

Pursing her lips a little, she adds, "House Thul's connection with the Sith Empire and their Force ways adds some extra shadows to the picture. But I assure you, your Blackguard are quite shady-looking enough on their own."

She laughed darkly and said, "Oh, master Jedi, we are what we need to be. But we have no ambitions beyond serving House Thul, we leave galaxy shaking matters to you Jedi and your cousins in the Sith."