Snow business like Xho business [D8, LM]

[Zizzy Roosh]

The Jedi Temple on Ilum. It was marvellous. Zizzy had a feeling that she remembered reading about it in one of the books in her trial. Maybe she was imagining it though.

She walked inside and threw the good of the Thermal cloak back, releasing her tendrils. Pulling out the holocron she reached for the connection with Camlen. "Okay, we're on Ilum at the temple. It's pretty amazing to really be here!"

[Hatoful GM]

The Jedi at the entrance had been stern indeed, but they let Zizzy in without too much trouble. After all, she was a Jedi herself.



A little nudge was all it took to wake Camlen up. He flickered into visibility.

"Huh. Yeah. Just like old times." He looked around. "Do you know the way? I can give you directions." His lips quirked. "Just make sure to look up as you go through the main chamber. You don't want to miss the sight."

[Zizzy Roosh]

Zizzy looked around a little awestruck. "First time I've ever been here Camlen. Directions would be good!"

Her eyes and tendrils did their best to capture the sense of the place. It wasn't quite what she'd imagined, but that just made it all the more impressive.

"At least it's a bit warmer inside. I guess you can't tell." She gave him a grin.

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen returned her grin with one of his own, a very boyish one. "Well, the main chamber's just in a few steps, so... look up."

Hundreds of meters above, Zizzy would see an enormous crystal hanging in the air. Light reflected off of it at all angles, illuminating the enormous statues surrounding the room.

Smiling, Camlen mostly watched Zizzy's reaction. "Master Xho's lab was left door, up all the stairs, and then last door on the left. When you're ready." He said.

[Zizzy Roosh]

A few steps later and up she looked!

"..." Zizzy stood for a few moments just looking at the spectacular scene in silence. "Whoa!"

She couldn't remember if it had been in the book of wonders but it was pretty wonderful. "How old is this place? Look at the size of those statues. Who are they?" She slowly walked across to the stairs, occasionally looking to make sure she didn't trip over anything while staring upwards.

[Hatoful GM]

"Masters from ancient times." Camlen said, his voice soft. "Tens of thousands of years ago. You just get such a sense of history here."

After a moment, his lips quirked. "As I recall, sense of history got me through the first three months or so. Then the really cold season set in. It was good I got to travel so much."

There were occasional passing Jedi, going about their business for the day. But not many, and they didn't seem especially curious about Zizzy.

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Those ancient Jedi really knew how to build stuff bigger than strictly necessary. It's awesome though! I guess you got pretty fit going up and down all the stairs every day?"

She smiled and started to head up the stairs. When she passed Jedi she would give them a nod.

"Oh yeah, if this is summer I don't think I'd want to be here for the full winter experience."

[Hatoful GM]

Grinning, Camlen spread his arms. "Sure did. Don't I look it?" He joked. In truth, he was a pretty fit looking one-third meter tall projection. "And yeah, I think enormous statues must have been a really hip architectural phase thousands of years ago in the Jedi. Seems like they'd stick a giant statue anywhere they could find room."

There were, in fact, a lot of stairs; a dozen or so floors to the top. It seemed that the lights were dimmer up higher, too; perhaps they struggled a bit more, farther from wherever the generator was.

[Zizzy Roosh]

Laughing at his quip took stair-climbing energy but it seemed worth it. "I know what you mean, those Jedi architects really only did one size."

As she wound her way up she noticed the dimming lights as they drew closer to the giant crystal. "Is it labs and studies all the way up? I guess Master Xho needed to be closer to the stars for his research, right?"

[Hatoful GM]

Frowning, Camlen shook his head. "Can't be that. He's at the end of the hall, so he's pretty deep in the mountain, actually." He chuckled. "I think he just wanted to discourage casual visitors. I remember the closest rooms to his being empty."

He flashed her a sheepish smile. "Doesn't seem fair, you doing all the work. At least I don't think this cube of mine is very heavy."

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Oh, so there isn't a view of the stars? That's a shame. Hmm, I wonder if there's more to it than that, or if he really did just want the peace and quiet?" It seemed a bit excessive, given where they were.

"No, you're pretty light for a buff Padawan. Say, I don't suppose you know about all the different types of lightsaber do you? I'll be making my own one soon and I figured I should start thinking about the options."

She took yet another flight of stairs, reflecting that she'd probably get pretty buff doing this every day too.

[Hatoful GM]

It was possible that Camlen may have visibly brightened at the word 'buff'. "You could never tell with him." He said, still looking pleased. "Like I said, he was always trying to stay two steps ahead of everyone else."

High enough on the stairs, there didn't seem to be Jedi passing by anymore.

Camlen smiled at Zizzy. "I know a bit. I used the simple sort myself; a lot of people who do Niman do. Were you thinking of something more complicated?"

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Yeah but, twelve flights of stairs ahead seems a bit much." She wondered if the visions had made him paranoid, or the subject of his research.

"Niman seems like a good style. I've been looking at Soresu too. Anyway, I'm not really sure what type of lightsaber would be best. I'm not exactly that great with one, so I was thinking that something defensive might be good? But I don't know enough about them"

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen chuckled. "Yeah, I remember thinking they seemed like a bit much when I had to climb them, too."

He nodded. "Soresu could be good for that, then. Isn't that what Master Orgus does? If your telekinesis is pretty good, though, Niman incorporates some of that."

(you can move to the lab when you like. No rush; the chat is fun! Just wanted to make sure you weren't waiting on me to do it!)

[Zizzy Roosh]

"You know most of my people are really Willowy. I'm feeling like a champ right now." She paused a moment, looking back down ten flights of stairs.

"I'm getting much better at telekinesis now. Spent a lot of time on the journey here moving this funny little cube around with my mind." She gave him a grin. "So that's Niman AND Soresu to add to my training programme. I don't suppose you can teach me some Niman can you?"

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen laughed. "Hey, anyway I can help, I'm glad to. Even if that's as lifting practice."

He nodded excitedly. "Sure! We could..." His lips quirked. "I mean, yeah, I probably can figure out a way to do that. I was gonna suggest we spar sometime, but that doesn't seem likely to happen soon." His smile was just a little sad. "It's surprisingly easy to forget that I'm a holocron now."

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Hey I forget that all the time. And right now I think you'd still beat me in sparring even as holo-Camlen." She laughed.

"Okay, let's finish this crazy workout called going to the lab." She started heading up the last flights towards Xho's workshop. "Say, do you remember if Master Xho had any specific enemies in the Sith?"

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen chuckled. "Maybe." He said. "Well, if we ever get a chance, I promise I won't go too hard on you. Not until I'm sure you could handle it."

The question made him frown. "No... wait, yes. There's one name I remember him mentioning more than a few times. Lord Zash." He grimaced. "I got the impression she was interested in esoteric knowledge herself. Not usually overlapping with him, but often enough."

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Ares says that the beatings are just part of the training. But he would say that." She nodded at the name as they went up the last flight of stairs. "Okay, so do you think this Zash could have been responsible for his death? Or was it just the usual sort of rivalry?"

As they reached the twelfth floor she did her best not to look too relieved.

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen had made this climb too often to be anything but sympathetic to anyone who had to make it.

"Oh, absolutely she would have killed him. She sounded pretty... out there." He said. "I just don't see how. It's not easy to get on and off Ilum."

The light was even dimmer up here, possibly owing the fact that all of the rooms were dark. "Last one on the left." Camlen reminded her. Apparently her walking wasn't quite done.