Part Eleven: The Old Hermit
Known as the Makers, the Travelers, the Great Ones, or the Usurpers they were a race of colossal, metallic-skinned beings so majestic and close to perfection they were seen as gods and brought order to a hundred million worlds during the first ages of creation.
-The Titans
Illiana emerged from the portal at the base of a mountain in the Alteracs. Langhaer opened the magical quick transit for her since he had visited the human several times in the past and knew the location well. The spell was entirely new to the elven sith, but she trusted her husband and stepped through once he finished casting it. He didn't ask why she wanted to see the old hermit and she refused to divulge her reasons as long as he never pressed the issue. The less he knew about her plans for their child the better since he might think like Talisora and try to convince her to not proceed with alchemically altering the appearance of the fetus. She pushed these thoughts to the side as she gazed upon the mountain face. Near the summit a large castle protruded from the cliff wall like someone had carved it out of the mountain itself. She searched her surroundings for some sign of a path that would lead her to that structure, and after a few minutes she finally spotted the overgrown trail. So much underbrush and foliage obscured it that she deduced no one had traveled to the castle in years or perhaps even decades. She started walking the path carefully stepping over fallen tree trunks and ducking under low hanging branches. This continued for most of the day and near dusk she reached the end of the forest. On the near black rock the trail became much clearer to follow and traversed along the side almost wide enough for two people to walk side by side. From the base this ledge was camouflaged almost perfectly, but now at this higher elevation Illiana could see it clearly. She sat cross legged at the edge of the forest and placed her hands on her knees. Closing her eyes she entered the meditative state as Talisora had taught her and stretched out through the Force. The old jedi instructed her in many facets of the Force that none of the old holocrons possessed by Drakus ever mentioned. Her breathing calmed as she continued along the mountain path with the inner eye of the Force. For the remainder of her journey one side of the trail was bordered by the sheer cliff wall and the other a drop straight down to the base. She found several places where rockslides created gaps or the simple erosion of time wore the path that would halt the progress of an ordinary person, but with the Force she could easily leap over these to continue towards the castle nestled into the rock face near the summit. No animals lived this high nor did birds fly near the structure ahead. Strange.
Talisora and Langhaer would tell her to turn back now, but this close to her goal she couldn't surrender to despair or adversity. Opening her eyes, the elven sith rose from her meditative position and walked the trail to the castle. Her elven heritage helped her see more clearly in the dark as the sun set and the moon brightened the night sky. By the time the first rays of the rising sun began to illuminate the mountainside, Illiana stood on a wide cobblestone lane leading to an arched bridge and then the main door of the castle. No lights ever shone from the windows of the castle through the night, and she began to wonder if the old man still lived or perhaps had moved to another locale. Both her mentor and husband admitted they had not seen or spoken with Galen in decades. Human sith like Maktai could live for thirteen hundred years, but Galen's mixed blood meant his lifespan was much shorter since native humans only lived for maybe a century at best. Perhaps the old man died and neither Talisora nor Langhaer ever learned of his passing since he lived in such a secluded locale. She tentatively walked onto the bridge and to the door while reaching through the Force trying to sense the presence of the human. She stopped just before the twin black iron doors each standing close to twenty feet tall. Murder holes overlooked the entrance hinting at a tumultuous past when an easier access existed and armies tried to storm the gates. As she neared the castle it was built into the cliff face making her wonder when the structure was first constructed and how far into the mountain it ranged. Did it encompass the entirety of the interior like the Eversong base or Drakus' Northrend Fortress? Had the same people built all three in a long forgotten past and the sith found them? The chance to find those answers excited her as much as the reason she came to this location in the first place.
"Quite majestic isn't it?" she heard a male voice say. Spinning on her heel she turned to face the origin of the voice, but no one stood behind her. Turning her head back and forth she could see nothing that could serve as the source. Instinctively her right hand lowered to the hilt of her weapon at her hip. "No need for that," it said again as the hilt flew from her waist towards the edge of the bridge. From thin air a rotund old man appeared. He wore dark brown robes like a monk with a lighter brown scarf over each shoulder and falling past his waist. Long white hair and pointed goatee framed his round and slightly wrinkled face. The lightsaber came to rest in the stranger's outstretched left hand. Light blue eyes set deeply over a warm smile. "I mean you no harm, child," he continued as he lowered his gaze to peruse the weapon in his hand. "I sense much power within you and by this I can tell you obviously have some training in the Force."
"Who are you?" she asked as she assumed a fighting stance. Lightsaber training wasn't the only combat skill she possessed.
"You're the outsider here, child. I should be asking you that question…should I not?" He tossed the hilt back to Illiana. She caught it and gave him a confused look. "Youngsters…always quick to assume the worst…I suppose I will answer despite it goes against any protocol I was ever taught. You may call me Galen."
This was Galen? She placed the hilt back at her waist and stared at the man. Talisora told her this man was skilled in the jedi arts and true that he appeared out of thin air using some ability she didn't know which meant he was trained. However, this man was fat. How could he be the same person her master told her to come here and meet? If she pressed the issue she doubted he could pose any challenge. The man cleared his throat causing her to focus on him again instead of letting her thoughts wander.
"It is common courtesy that once I have told you my name that you respond in kind by telling me yours…or were manners something overlooked in your upbringing?" he asked now with his hands on his hips.
"How did you do that? Appear from nowhere?" she asked.
"Manners are overlooked," Galen sighed. "This world has lost itself in recent decades. Not surprising with the arrival of the orcs and the wars, but that still doesn't excuse the lack of proper etiquette these days."
"I'm sorry," she replied holding her hands before her waist. "I have seen some appear as you did from the shadows, but never in broad daylight. I was just…surprised." She placed her right hand over her heart and gave him a slight bow. "My name is Illiana."
"Well met and all that," he replied with a chuckle. Illiana looked up at him again confused. "I've been teasing you…and testing you. If Talisora told you about me then she must have told you that I am not all that prim and proper. If I was I would have greeted you outright instead of following you under my Force cloak since your arrival at the base of the mountain yesterday."
"Testing me?"
"If you had the temperance of your father then you would have snatched the lightsaber right back out of my hand and attacked me. Instead you showed great poise…a readiness to defend yourself, but also much restraint against an unknown antagonist. That testifies not only to your trust in your abilities but also a bravery that few possess." He turned and walked to the main gate. A slight wave of his hands and the giant doors opened inward with loud grinding coming from the large hinges. With a nod he indicated for her to follow him and he walked past into a long yet narrow courtyard. "I knew your father a long time ago. I would say he was very kind…for a sith."
"How do you know who my father is?" she asked falling in step beside the old hermit. Once past the doors they closed just as loudly ending with a boom that echoed throughout the valley.
"Tali called me on our holocommunicators and told me you were coming here and why. Tell me…does she look as young and fuckable as I remember?" Illiana leaned away from him, but he kept looking towards the main door of the castle as they walked through the courtyard side by side. "Oh she was a fun one. I was half the man then as I am now and in a good way. I was strong and lean and always willing to test my stamina with her sometimes for days at a time with the right concentration. She never liked me grabbing her lekku in the heat of that climactic moment, though. Probably because her brain actually goes into them, but until that orgasmic…damn she was the best."
"You are not at all what I expected," Illiana stated still leaning away from him and adding some distance between them as they approached the castle doors.
"What? You think jedi are asexual creatures? We sexed up that place in Quel'thalas all the time when I was younger." He looked at her with a whimsical expression. "You don't need to worry that I'll try to rape you in your sleep if that's what you are wondering. I don't think my dick will ever get hard again and my time with Tali was over a century ago, but I still have my memories…really good memories. She made the most gaud-awful faces when she climaxed but her moaning… "
"Too much information," she interrupted trying to drive the image of this man and her master fornicating from her mind. "I just imagined you were this wise master who chose seclusion to contemplate…"
"The meaning of existence? Why are we here?" he chuckled and then leaned his head towards her and grinned widely. "Once we get inside I may yet surprise you again, child. But until then…this is only a part of who I am…of who all sentient beings are whether they like to admit it or not. Procreation…the act itself is just as much fun as the rewards…which is why you are here, correct? Seeking ancient knowledge to influence the appearance of the child in your womb? I bet you enjoyed creating that life as much as you will watching it grow." She gaped at him with her mouth open. "Don't be a prude…the world has too many already."
"I just don't want to hear about you and my master," she said with a shudder. "And what I like to enjoy…sexually…I also like to keep private…if you don't mind."
"Oh…I get it…kinda like imagining your parents fucking…not a good image is it?" he said with a smile as candles hung on large stone columns lit around them. She could see no one else in the immense entrance room, and while she watched each wick light as they neared she wondered what created the flames. However, only their path was illuminated as they walked further into the castle. Dark shadows hid the outlying walls and even the far end of the room. She looked behind them and as they walked the candles behind them extinguished. She could not see the door they had just walked through only seconds before. Galen leaned closer to her with his hand on one side of his mouth and whispered, "This place is haunted. Ghosts light the candles so that we do not join them by some pratfall or another we might stumble over in the darkness."
"You're having me on," she sighed. "It's some sort of technology…artificial candles or electronic wicks that light by some controller on your person."
"I possess no advanced technology in this castle beyond my single holocom unit, young lady, not even a lightsaber," he replied. "And this is no Force trick as I am sure is your next guess. No…I do not lie by saying this place is haunted by spirits unwilling to pass from their former existence to the next one. This castle is ancient. By some records I have found older than the Sundering millennia ago when the Burning Legion first attacked this world and the Well of Eternity collapsed into what is now known as the Maelstrom. Many ghosts inhabit this castle yet none are violent or carry some malice towards the living, at least none that have revealed themselves to me. In fact I have grown quite fond of them and they of me. If not for them I would never have found the library down in the catacombs."
"Then why can't I see any?" she asked looking around her as the candles continued to ignite and extinguish as they walked deeper into the mountain. They must have passed through doors and she knew they turned at least once, but in the darkness she never saw any blocking their path and still no walls to indicate they walked down hallways or corridors. "If they are Force apparitions then I should see them or at least sense them, but I do not."
"As I said…they revealed themselves to me and even then only after I had lived and explored this place for over fifty years," Galen answered. "Until they felt they could trust me I could never see or sense them either and by then I was well versed in the jedi arts as taught to me by your master. You are a stranger here and therefore they hide from you as they did me at first, but still they light the candles. If I can trust you then they will provide that much for you…at least for now."
"Why is that?"
"Centuries ago a sith learned to bind ghosts to himself thereby gaining their power," Galen answered as they continued walking. Another turn but to the left, Illiana knew for certain this time. "Yet such a technique has been known on this world for much longer than that…necromancers…" His voice trailed off as he stopped suddenly causing the elven sith to falter in her step almost falling over. "Until they know that you are not such a being that would enslave them, they will remain hidden."
"So are they human?" she asked. He looked at her and cocked his head to the right. "The outside looked like those in the human kingdoms, and this castle lies in the heart of one of their mightiest."
"It is not their design for its construction predates any recorded human history."
"And you know this for certain?" she asked. He nodded. "How are you so certain. It looks like human architecture to me…at least what I have seen."
"And who's to say that early humans didn't travel in the valley below and upon seeing this majestic structure felt themselves inspired to create their own buildings in its image?" he countered.
"And you know its age…how? Erosion patterns on the stone? Or did one of the ghosts tell you this? Perhaps it lied to you."
Galen stood tall and placed his hands on his hips. "Or perhaps in that library I mentioned I found writings from over fifteen thousand years ago. Kaldorei scribes detailing in their journals of how they discovered this castle that was unlike any other structure they had ever encountered. Earthen…tauren…even dragons…no other race on the planet built their structures like this one and so awestruck they were that they traversed the same mountain path that you did and found the castle completely devoid of life. They spent millennia here until the war with the Legion trying to ascertain its mysterious past and finding only few answers."
"Preposterous," she countered. "Who would spend thousands of years in a single place?"
"A race of immortal beings whose perception of time differs greatly from ours… we mere mortals," he replied pointing at himself and then her. "And it was not only the outer face that struck them with awe, child, but what lies deeper in the mountain." He gestured around them with his arms. "All of this…this outlying castle we walk through now…I believe it was built during more recent times most likely by the earthen yet still before written human history began. But deeper…I have seen similar structures and all enhanced in some way with magic, but this place…arcane energies don't exist here."
"Just how different are you talking about?" she asked. "I have lived in fortresses built within a mountain…"
"Not like this you haven't," he interrupted. "I know of the places you speak of…Eversong and Northrend…no…this fortress will astound you as much as it did me when I first discovered it."
She leered at him but said nothing as he smiled widely at her. In the darkness they continued deeper into the mountain. Eventually after traversing down several flights of stairs they stopped at a large wooden door stained with soot from candle and torch smoke. The elven sith stoically watched the human as he stepped towards the door and reached out with both hands. They opened with the same loud creaking at the hinges like the outer main door to the castle above, and the two jedi looked out into complete darkness. Illiana sighed deeply wondering if she would ever see this secret Galen gushed about earlier. He looked over his shoulder at her with that same wide grin, and then suddenly thousands of torches lit ahead of them. Illiana's eyes widened at the spectacle she gazed upon. Hundreds of catwalks sprawled in the darkness traversing in every direction like strands of a spider web each lined with lit torches casting an eerie glow in an immense cavern. Along these several blocky structures were aligned like waypoints in a labyrinth. She looked down to ascertain where the bottom might be, but all she stared at were hundreds more of the walkways for as far as she could see. A large single column stood near what she surmised had to be the center and oddly almost all of the catwalks lead to that structure. Galen spoke truthfully in that this place was unlike any she had ever seen or read about in all of the books or holocrons she studied in her lifetime.
"Impressive, yes?"' he asked at her side. She simply gave him a nod as she continued to stare at the bizarre construction before her. "When I first gazed upon the maze of walkways I reacted then just as you are now."
"All paths lead to the center," she muttered in awe.
"A central spiraling staircase spanning from the top of the mountain's interior to several miles into the planet's crust. It is down there, at the bottom, where the library exists."
"Did the night elves in all their millennia ever find it?"
"I suspect they did, child, but much of what is down there is written in some obscure language I have yet to decipher. Vast amounts of knowledge …so much one could spend many lifetimes and yet only scratch the surface."
"Are we going down there?" she asked finally looking back to his smiling countenance. "So much history…"
"We will not," he answered drawing a frown from the elven sith. "In your condition…even trained in the Force as you are it is much too dangerous."
"My condition? I am obviously in much better physical condition than you."
"But I am not the one carrying a child," he retorted. She looked down at her stomach and instinctively covered it with her hands. "Were you not pregnant I wouldn't hesitate to show you what wonders lie down there, but since you are an expectant mother…better to ere on the side of caution. Plus…I lived here fifty years before I could even discover this cavern. Remember…the ghosts assist me because they know me. You…"
"I am the stranger," she added. "Perhaps I can return some day and visit the library?"
"Perhaps if you stayed long enough or visited often and earned their trust." He looked at her suddenly very serious. "Despite that vast repository of knowledge below us, and what I learned under my former masters, I am sorry to say that Talisora sent you here on a fool's errand for I do not possess the skills or the rituals you seek."
Illiana stared out into the cavern and the labyrinth of catwalks. "So she sent me here as a diversion knowing I would seek such knowledge despite her advice to the contrary. By coming here I would waste time…"
"She sent you here to learn something," Galen responded.
"And what is that?"
"That despite all the vast knowledge available, some things cannot be changed and not all that we hope for is achievable. The one person who possessed the knowledge you seek is dead and with him so too is all that he knew. I do not doubt that your father performed rituals on you to enhance your appearance, but can you honestly say what he did was the right thing to do to you?" She cocked her head to the side unsure of her answer. He then smiled and motioned for them to return from where they came. As they left, the giant doors closed behind them. "Let me tell you something about your father that I doubt anyone has ever told you."
"This should be interesting," Illiana stated.
"He was one of the original twelve lords," Galen continued as they walked back into the dark castle. "He voiced his concerns to the others that they should not accept the offer by Sargeras but instead heed the call of one of their own, a sith lord named Vitiate. They outnumbered him and so many of their surviving number was forced to imbibe the blood of their would-be savior to complete the deal. Even at this time your father was ignored as he implored to their reason. 'How could such a deal benefit us?' he asked only to laughter and sneers. Acolytes and lesser lords succumbed almost immediately to the taint of green skin and near madness. Slaves of other races…zabrak, twi'lek, some humans…they perished because the taint of the demon's blood was too powerful. Their bodies withered as they cried out for mercy. Even when as their numbers dwindled and the greens warred with them, the other lords ignored the warnings of your father…all but one…Drakus. They left the others to suffer the consequences of their decisions and struck out into the world searching for some corner they could call their own. Drakus, as you know, carved out his niche in Northrend by creating his own little…and unknown…kingdom. Your father, however, was fascinated by the elves and particularly the quel'dorei."
"And how is this important to my situation?" the elven sith asked as they entered a massive room filled with antiquated iron furniture as candles fired to life across the entire room, and in the far wall a fireplace ignited. They walked towards two chairs arranged before it, and she welcomed the warmth she felt as they neared. She didn't care now why this room had become accessible to her. "I have heard tales of the greens and the reds and their little war that no native race knows about. I know that father favored the elves…I am prime example of that."
"Ah, but what you do not know is that before their arrival to this world, your father was married to another woman…one of pure blood. It was she who Talisora killed to free the elves two centuries ago."
Illiana stopped forcing the older man to halt beside her. He looked at her with a wide smile and motioned for them to continue, but she hesitated. "Are you saying that my father cheated on his wife with my mother? That I am some love child and that is why he abandoned me to the care of Drakus?"
"Not at all," Galen answered. "They fell out of favor with each other long before he met your mother. You see…Nyrexia didn't harbor the same fears he did regarding the deal with Sargeras. In fact…she was the one lord who initiated the deal that sealed their race's fate on this world. However," he said pointing to the two chairs. Illiana moved towards them and sat in the one on the right while he continued speaking while sitting in the left. "Once the green blotches started appearing on the skin of those who did not drink of the blood, it was your father who decried that his wife had brought the end of their species with her blind fear of the jedi. The taint was a signal to him that their heritage was to die on this rock and the sith race would become extinct just as their old nemesis had wanted. Those like Nyrexia accepted such as their fate, but not your father. He knew that for his species to endure it could not continue as pureblooded sith because the taint would always plague future generations. So he studied this world's history and knew the elves had faced and defeated Sargeras and his demonic army millennia ago. That resilience more than anything else is what attracted him to that race, and initially why he fell in love with your mother. He used his powers of the dark side not to affect your appearance to make you look elven, but to ensure that you would not carry the taint with you. He meant for you to carry on the legacy of his species even if you didn't look like a pureblood sith. Through you his race endures. That is why influenced your genetics while still in your mother's womb. In you he found the cure to the taint of Sargeras. None of your children will bear the marks of that horrendous deal."
"And just how do you know all of this? Did his ghost tell you? Is it amongst us with the others lighting the candles in this castle?"
"Not quite in the same manner as you are implying, but yes…his ghost told me," Galen answered. "Since I studied under him for a short time, he sent me some things he meant for you but dared not leave them with your mother nor could he send them to you in Northrend because Drakus didn't agree with your father about the future of their race. So in his last months he secured their passage to me. I am certain there are more, but what became of them I do not know. I have not received anything else since his passing."
Illiana sat up in her chair. "What gifts?" she asked.
"Holocrons he created especially for you," Galen answered. "And now that you are here they are yours as he intended."