Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and all rights for characters, plots and settings belong to G.R.R. Martin and George Lucas. I have no ownership.
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"I am Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith. Those who use the dark side are also bound to serve it. To understand this is to understand the underlying philosophy of the Sith. The dark side offers power for power's sake. You must crave it. Covet it. You must seek power above all else, with no reservation or hesitation.
The Force will change you. It will transform you. Some fear this change. The teachings of the Jedi are focused on fighting and controlling this transformation. That is why those who serve the light are limited in what they accomplish.
True power can come only to those who embrace the transformation. There can be no compromise. Mercy, compassion, loyalty: all these things will prevent you from claiming what is rightfully yours. Those who follow the dark side must cast aside these conceits.
Those who try to walk the path of moderation, those will fail, dragged down by their own weakness. Those who accept the power of the dark side must also accept the challenge of holding on to it. By its very nature the dark side invites rivalry and strife.
This is the greatest strength of the Sith: it culls the weak from our order. Yet this rivalry can also be our greatest weakness. The strong must be careful lest they be overwhelmed by the ambitions of those working beneath them in concert.
Any master who instructs more than one apprentice in the ways of the dark side is a fool. In time, the apprentices will unite their strengths and overthrow the master. It is inevitable; axiomatic. That is why each Master must have only one student.
This is also the reason there can only be one Dark Lord. The Sith must be ruled by a single leader: the very embodiment of the strength and power of the dark side. If the leader grows weak another must rise to seize the mantle. The strong rule; the weak are meant to serve. This is the way it must be. My time here is ended. Take what I have taught you and use it well.
Darth Revan. Darl Lord of the Sith
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There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no fear; there is power.
I am the Heart of the Force.
I am the revealing fire of Light.
I am the mystery of Darkness
In balance with Chaos and Harmony,
Immortal in the Force
Je'daii Order Code
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Essos, Ny Sar
Year 298 AC (After Aegon Conquest)
Raevan
His eyes were fixed on the green and pink marble that once formed the palace of the legendary princess, of which now only ruins remained, though mostly still standing.
Like the city of fountains itself, the palace must have inspired admiration and envy in its heyday. But that was long gone. Rebuilding it to its former glory would likely cost a fortune, and he had intended to do so at some point.
Now, however, he was more concerned with its strategic location and the reconstruction of Ny Sar's defensive walls. The time for reconstruction would come after the war was won; that was the order of things.
He wandered through the ruined and overgrown ruins of the palace, passing the bloody bodies of its former inhabitants, mostly outcasts, bandits, and all manner of scum.
No one else would inhabit this place. Norvos, whose galleys usually patrolled the river, would not allow it. Except that at this moment they were his, patrolling the area on his orders, manned by his men.
He passed his soldiers arranging piles of corpses, preparing them for burning. Spotting even children among the bodies, he only clenched his jaw. He didn't tolerate rape and unjustified animalistic aggression in war, but that didn't mean he could afford sentimentality.
War was cruel, and he had neither the resources, the men, nor the time to care for these sometimes half-feral children. It was easy to look the other way when he wasn't the one holding the sword, but that was the way of things. Whether on this primitive world or in the advanced Republic.
War never changes.
Nor what came with it. Raevan, then, wasn't going to pretend to be a saint, for he had committed cruel and terrible deeds in his life, as befits a Dark Lord of the Sith. Yet even more great and good deeds were written on the pages of his life.
Although his plans were proceeding at a planned pace, he knew that what awaited him was only more difficult. He had to move to the ruined city of Ar Noy to establish a base from which to prepare an attack on Qohor.
It wasn't that simple, however. His lines were stretched, and wagons carrying supplies and additional men would arrive over the coming weeks. Furthermore, more and more of his soldiers were beginning to suffer from local illnesses, and he was working feverishly to cure them.
And indeed, no one had died so far, but if he had left them alone for a long time, the losses could have been significant.
Lost in thought, he didn't notice when he found himself in a massive chamber, which might once have been a smaller chamber for welcoming distinguished guests, or perhaps a dining hall. At that moment, however, his men were transforming it into the commander's temporary quarters.
A makeshift table, composed of various marbles pieced together, was covered entirely with a map of Essos.
The two men he had been waiting for stood at the table. Seeing him, the men immediately fell to one knee.
"Master!"
"Grandmaster!"
Both greeted him with unusual enthusiasm. Morven and Vorkhyn, his enemies not so long ago, now seemed to be staring at him, as if he were the Force itself.
Raevan, however, got straight to the point. "How did the task I entrusted you go? Since you are here, I take it has been completed."
Vorkhyn was the first to speak. "Master Raevan. As you commanded us, we captured him and brought him to you."
Raevan raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing the presence of another Force user in the next room. However, it gave him a strange joy, and perhaps a bit of pride, to watch his two apprentices compete to please him.
Of course, everything was within reason. He nodded. "You did well. Now I will bring him to the chamber."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them shot off like a catapult, returning a moment later, dragging a stunned and bound man from head to toe, a man who looked slightly older than his father and had dark blond hair.
The man, however, was short, standing just over five feet tall, and his slight build didn't help the puny impression he gave off.
In this case, this man proved that appearances can be deceiving, for he was another member of Those Who Dwell in Shadows, or simply the Sith Brotherhood, just like Morven and Vorkhyn before him.
Moreover, he was higher in the hierarchy than they were, so Raevan sent them both to capture him, having previously shown them several useful tricks and abilities useful in combat with other Force users.
Raevan, observing the man for a brief moment, smiled faintly, then said aloud, "Ludwig. I know you're awake. You don't have to pretend anymore. It won't change anything."
His two apprentices glanced at each other in surprise, then focused on the seemingly unconscious man, who remained motionless.
With a sigh, Raevan lazily extended his index finger toward him, from which a small Sith Lightning shot out, striking the man's body. With a cry of pain and surprise, he leaped to his feet.
The man's eyes, though slightly wide with pain, narrowed dangerously, settling on Raevan with an uncanny alertness, but it was the alertness of prey expecting to be devoured at any moment.
"Better now," Raevan said with a small smirk, then sat down on the small throne that was currently being formed from green and pink marble with the Force's help. "Tell me, Ludwig, what am I to do with you? Logic dictates that I extract all possible knowledge from you and then kill you."
The man didn't respond immediately, observing him intently, maintaining his composure despite the fear simmering within him. "Yet you didn't. That means you want something from me," the man remarked coldly, hiding his true emotions well.
Raevan nodded approvingly, "Good." You're not stupid, but no. It's not like you can offer me anything I couldn't take for myself. No... Instead, you should ask what I can offer you."
"What can you offer me?" the man muttered, utterly baffled. "What can you give me that my master didn't?"
"Knowledge, power, meaning, the future, and, above all, I offer you your life," Raevan replied, instantly quelling the Force storm raging within him against the man.
Ludwig fell to his knees as if someone had thrown him to the ground with immense force, and indeed they had, for Raevan used his telekinetic abilities to make the man realize the chasm that truly separated them.
But as quickly as the pressure had appeared, it vanished, and he continued as if nothing had happened.
"Let's be honest. I know the stories of your master well, and I know why he found himself on this planet. Darth Andeddu loves hoarding knowledge and hates sharing it. That's why he fled to a primitive planet."
Raevan then rose, approached the fallen man, extended his hand, and added, "I offer you knowledge even your master could only dream of. But first, I offer you freedom."
His hand touched the man's head, then used the Sever Force and Light Force on him, rebirthing him as a new man, free from the whispers and the Dark Side's addiction, open to new knowledge.
It was perhaps a brutal and risky method, as it could break him or even shatter his mind, but Raevan didn't have time to convince every opponent to his path.
Especially since he possessed such abilities, it would be a sin not to use them.
He focused his gaze on the heavily breathing man lying at his feet, then looked at Morven and Vorkhyn, who were staring at him with awe.
"Look closely. I'll demonstrate one of the abilities I plan to teach you. This ability is called Revitalize, and it's typically used by Light Side users, but I'm not going to teach it in my way. Because for us, there's no Light and Dark, only Force."
He then knelt and touched the unconscious man's chest, then directed the Force to restore the man's vitality, remove fatigue, and undo the damage left on his mind by the entire procedure of severing the Force and cleansing the Dark Side.
A moment later, color returned to Ludwig's face, and his breathing became calmer. He also began to awaken.
Raevan, however, looked at his students, explaining, "This ability practically restores an exhausted or weakened person to full strength, both physically and mentally. It involves properly directing the Force so that it does all the work for you."
Raevan's eyes then returned to Ludwig, who, having pushed himself to a sitting position, looked around, blinking, disoriented, as if unsure where he was or what he was doing.
A natural reaction to his rebirth, if that's what it could be called.
"What have you done to me?" A weak voice, though still remarkably calm, emerged from the man's mouth, indicating that even in this situation he was in control of his emotions. Impressive.
Raevan smiled faintly. "Didn't I tell you I would free you? I have. You are free from the influence of the Dark Side, and with it, your former master. Now you may follow the path I freely offer you."
Ludwig frowned at these words. "And what is this path? How is your teaching different from that of Darth Andeddu? How is it superior?"
Raevan raised an eyebrow and asked, "You must be joking. You have just experienced one of the many things your master would not be capable of, for it requires extraordinary control over the Light Side of the Force, and that is beyond the capabilities of the Sith."
"If you're not a Sith, then who are you? I know you used the terrible Dark Side ability in Myr. I felt it in the Force like a dark wave crashing over you." Ludwig's voice was still dripping with suspicion.
Raevan sighed slightly, then said patiently, "If you follow me, I will teach you the way of the Je'daii, the way of balance, where we are not limited, like the Sith and Jedi, to just one side of the Force, but accept and treat it as a whole."
"You can use the Light or the Dark Side, but each is only part of the whole, and therefore only part of the truth. Only through mastery of both can one become a true Master and reach the true limits of the possibilities the Force offers."
""Darth Andeddu taught us that devotion to the Dark Side of the Force is the only true path to power, and that it abhors opposition," Ludwig replied, his words laced with understanding.
Raevan smiled at him with a slight smile of satisfaction and replied, "Because he is shortsighted and blinded by his own arrogance, believing, like all Sith, that he is an apex predator and that the only way to become stronger is to delve even deeper into the Dark Side."
"And that's a mistake," Morven interjected from his side. He and Vorkhen had had a very similar conversation, but they were still only taking their first steps on this new path he had shown them.
"Yes, that's a fatal mistake," Raevan admitted. "They don't understand the Dark Side any more than the Jedi understand its opposite. You can't understand something viewed from only one angle, and with a predetermined understanding at that."
"You cannot understand the Light without the Darkness and vice versa. The Darkness itself will consume you, while the Light itself will blind you."
Silence fell in the chamber, broken only by the sound of water dripping from somewhere in the ceiling.
A few long seconds passed, and Raevan saw the gears in Ludwig's head turning. Then the man rose, slightly clumsily, and knelt on one knee.
"So I ask you, teach me your wisdom, Master."
Raevan watched with incredible satisfaction. Another of his enemies' students had joined his side, and soon the rest would follow, or perish.
"Rise, Ludwig," he said solemnly. "At this very moment, I accept you into the renewed Je'daii order. From this day forward, you become a member of the Order of the Dawn."
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Asshai by the Shadow
Year 298 AC (After Aegon Conquest)
Darth Angron, Dark Lord of the Sith
His mind was ripped apart by a devastating pain as a horrific, inhuman scream pierced and reverberated through his mind, and his connection to the Dark Side heated up like a heated iron rod in a forge.
He didn't know what had happened, nor did he understand why, but the Dark Side was filled with fury, though it wasn't an emotion in the human sense but something he couldn't explain in human language.
And it wasn't the first time, as something similar had happened several days ago, though then its reaction had been much weaker, as if it had simply been unpleasantly surprised. The same couldn't be said for what had just happened.
Recovering, with difficulty and heavy breathing, he rose from his knees, where he hadn't even realised he'd fallen, overwhelmed by the sudden pain.
Blinking to clear away the dark spots, he looked around the corridor he was in but saw no one. Well, at least he didn't have to kill anyone who saw his degrading position, as his master wouldn't be pleased.
Irritated, he moved forward, traversing the dimly lit corridors, lit only by the occasional green torch.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows to his left, wearing black robes similar to his own but with a distinctive embroidered symbol on the chest, signifying his position in the Dark Council.
Where Angron had an embroidered silver raven, signifying his focus on knowledge of all kinds, the woman before him possessed a red dragon, symbolising her focus on Sith alchemy and other abstract uses of the Force.
"Circe. What do you want? I have neither the time nor the inclination for your games," he snapped, taught by past experience that nothing good came from contact with this woman.
He saw the woman's lips curl into a smile beneath the hood that covered most of her face. "Ah, I am truly hurt by your words, dear Angron. I would expect much more courtesy from someone in your position. Our Lord does not tolerate disputes between us."
Angon frowned at her words but didn't comment, stepping past her and moving forward, only to stop mid-step upon hearing her next words.
"You felt it too. The Dark Side's rage, or perhaps I should call it fear."
Angon turned sideways to her, looking at her more closely. "What do you mean? How could a Force even feel fear, and of what?"
The woman smiled wider, revealing her teeth. "Who was talking about a Force? I was talking about the Dark Side's fear. It doesn't want to be controlled, for it craves only one thing: domination and control."
Angron frowned, now genuinely intrigued. "Are you suggesting something is trying to escape the Dark Side's control? Doesn't our master teach that we are the ones in control?"
Circe laughed lightly, as if genuinely amused. "A fool's answer, but you are no fool, Angron," she said wryly. "Think, just because our master claims something doesn't mean it's true. And we're both old enough to understand what the truth really is."
He didn't answer. He didn't need to. They both knew he agreed with her. They both knew the sweet whispers of the Dark Side of the Force and how intoxicating it was to immerse themselves in it and abandon the illusion of control.
"Let's say I agree with you," he replied with a sigh. "But where are you getting at with all this?"
The woman lifted her hood, revealing a cascade of once-black, now slightly greying hair and skin slightly wrinkled with age, and then stepped a little closer.
"Think Angron. The events of the last moon are no accident. This prince from distant Westeros, who suddenly reveals himself to be an absurdly powerful Force user, not even fifteen years old, with knowledge of the Force and abilities that even our master may not have heard of, or even if he did, he's hiding them from us.
"I feel it in the Force." How active, how excited she's become, and despite her fear of the dark side, her excitement doesn't wane. As if she's expecting something, awaiting it with great anticipation. This isn't normal. The winds of change are coming."
Angron pondered her words. The very words that had been echoing in his head for the past few days, though perhaps in a slightly different form.
"You're not suggesting..., are you?"
The woman glanced involuntarily up and down the corridor, though neither of them sensed anything nearby, and then replied in a hushed voice.
"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm simply suggesting that you consider whether, when the time comes, you want to be consumed or float. The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. I feel it in the Force."
"Fine. Enough. I got it the first time," Angron replied with slight irritation, raising a hand to shush her.
Circe gave him one last predatory smile, turned on her heel, and headed in the opposite direction he was heading, pausing briefly a few meters away.
"By the way, I was going to tell you that our master is looking for you and isn't in a good mood."
With those words, she disappeared into the darkness of the corridor, but he paid no attention to it as he hurried toward Darth Andeddu's chambers. Even someone in his position wouldn't dare keep their master waiting.
Entering his master's chamber, completely shrouded in the Dark Side, he was surprised to see two other members of the Dark Council. Nemesor and Atun knelt obediently before the figure of their master, who was clearly displeased, as his words confirmed.
"Finally. My patience has a limit. Be grateful I don't have time to punish you, Angron. Join your brothers."
So he knelt silently, fearful of his master's wrath, beside Atun, who was also too terrified to give him his usual malicious smile.
"The three of you will join your brother in the war raging in western Essos. You will bring with you your finest warriors, both in combat and in the use of the Force."
Angron didn't show it, but the words were more than a shock to him. Four members of the Dark Council and dozens of Sith to fight a single Force user? Was this Raevan Istatonian really that powerful? What was his master hiding from them?
"Your task is to slow Prince Ravan's advance," Darth Andeddu added finally, increasing their confusion.
"Mas... master. Shouldn't we kill him when we arrive?" Namesor asked, gathering his courage, but Andeddu shot him a cold look.
"You wouldn't be able to, my foolish apprentices. You are to slow him down until I myself arrive and confront him."
Angon felt more alarmed than ever, for in his more than six centuries of life, he had never seen their master leave the palace, let alone Asshai. How truly monstrous was their enemy to force him to intervene?
At that moment, the prospect of traveling west didn't seem the least bit appealing.