Outer Rim
Sariffa System
Adelhoffe
Tor Alinde, capital of Adelhoffe

The tale begins millennia ago in the Deep Core on the world of Tython.

Five tribes ruled the world. Their names have been long forgotten but their symbols remain. The blue feline, the yellow horned serpent, the black spider, the green canine, and the purple avian. And the Five Tribes were united under a King in White. They were united under one King for untold generations but when the last King died, he had no heirs and a civil war erupted.

The war lasted for years until a prophecy was spoken.

The tribes would not be united on Tython. They would not be united until a new King arose among the stars. A King who walked the Morkai Anomaly. So, the members of the tribes vying for the title left Tython in search of new homes in the stars. In search of the Morkai Anomaly. Those who just wanted to live their lives remained and were at peace.

After searching for ages, the tribes settled on various planets both near to each other and near to where they believed the Anomaly might be found. Once settled, they continued their small-scale wars with each other and many forgot about the Anomaly.

But finally, the Morkai Anomaly was found, and it was very close to the planets where the tribes had settled. And the Kings of the tribes dueled to send one man there to become the King in White. And for ten generations the winner tried to access the Anomaly to become the King in White and for ten generations the King died trying, for the Anomaly was a dangerous stellar phenomenon.

But the eleventh generation produced a King who won the duels and made it through the Anomaly. The Unnamed King. He walked on the surface within and found power there, and Wisdom. Five animals spoke to him representing the Five Tribes. He built a temple to honor them and concluded that the time was not right.

He returned to the worlds of the Five Tribes and left his lightsaber there for them to fight over.

And the stories say, one day the possessor of his blade will walk the Anomaly, tasting the power within, and unite the Tribes.

"Well," said the old man. "That's how the story goes."

The three just stared at him for a moment.

"It's all just a bunch of foolish superstition," he laughed. "But wars have been fought for less. Before the Clone Wars, the lightsaber dueling tradition still held strong on the five planets. Looking for the King who would walk the Anomaly."

The man took a deep breath before continuing.

"King Gisald actually possessed what was supposed to be the lightsaber of the King in White," he said. "But he faced a challenger and I watched it live. He lost it in a match with the best duelist I've ever seen. A man named Dmitri Sluka. A young duelist who defeated King Gisald but did not kill him."

Agent Sluka and Conor exchanged quick glances.

"He wasn't a King though, not really," the old man said with a laugh. "The planets, other than Adelhoffe, had long ago stopped deferring to kings as their rulers, but he was still a king of sorts. A King of the Underworld. For, on Albin 2, the tribes had devolved into little more than gangs. And that is a story which has been repeated on all the planets of the Tribes. Even here where a King was named until recently."

"Did this Dmitri Sluka become the King in White?" Kass asked with a laugh. Agent Sluka gave her a sharp look.

"Oddest thing," the old man answered. "He defeated the dueling King from each world but didn't go. The information to safely pass into the Anomaly was supposedly in the lightsaber's hilt but he never tried to go to the Anomaly. I heard that he said, 'it wasn't time.' Or something silly like that."

Agent Sluka sadly glanced at Conor. We know why he didn't go. He was killed.

"Funny thing," the old man said, interrupting Conor's thoughts. "This is only the fourth time I've told that story since then. Are you from Albin 2 or Revelen 3?"

Sluka's attention quickly returned to the old man.

"Albin 2," Conor answered. Agent Sluka gave him a sharp look for giving away information.

The old man nodded. "The first time I told the story was to a duelist here from Adelhoffe, the second to a duelist from Corvus," the man said. "Both chased down Dmitri and challenged him to a duel to the death. Both were very good duelists but both became very dead."

The old man took his time and glanced around at his audience before continuing.

"Then nothing came of it for a while as the Clone Wars heated up and the Galactic Empire formed," he said. "The third was a Cerean 'Jedi' from Tarpau 1. Right planet, but he wasn't a descendant of the tribes. And he wasn't really a Jedi either. He was a pretender, a charlatan running around while the Jedi were being hunted. He wasn't even that good of a duelist." The old man frowned. "I did not like him, something just seemed off about him." He looked at Agent Sluka. "And, he killed Dmitri."

"Did he cheat?" Agent Sluka asked. "If he wasn't that good, how did he win?"

"I don't know," answered the old man. "The Empire was hunting down Jedi and terminating them. Their orders started out as just Jedi that they were hunting, but in the end, their orders included everyone with a lightsaber." The old man gave a small smile. "I heard Dmitri had a son and wanted to hide him from the hunt. I heard he let the Cerean win so his son could be hidden away."

Agent Sluka sat there stunned.

"Well, it's getting kind of late," the old man said. "I'm going to have to run you guys out."

Thoughts flew through Agent Sluka's head. The key to finding safe passage through the Anomaly is in Dad's hilt, he considered. But I can't read the runes. He thought another moment. "You have a lot of old manuscripts and datamodules here," Sluka said to the old man who nodded in response. "Would you happen to have a tutorial or manuscript on the script and language the Five Tribes brought with them from Tython?"

The old man laughed out loud. "Funny you should ask that," he said as he reached atop the pedestal next to him and picked up a leather journal. "I was looking at this earlier today and think it might be just what you are looking for." He reached the journal out toward agent Sluka.

"How many credits?" Agent Sluka asked as he took it from the old man's hand.

"Look at me," the old man laughed. "I'm old. I don't have much longer to live and no one comes in here anymore. I'd like to see someone get some use out of it and carry on the history of the Five Tribes."

"Are you certain?" Agent Sluka asked.

"Well, I tell you what," the old man answered. "Come back here in five years to the day. We can see what you can do to keep the tradition and history going then. Deal?"

"Deal," Agent Sluka answered and shook the man's hand. Agent Sluka joined with his companions and they started out the door.

"Bye sir, and thank you for your storytelling," Asimka added with a smile as she looked over her shoulder.

The old man smiled at Asimka as the three of them walked out the door. He walked over to his old chair and sat down then turned out the light.

Hours passed.

The door to the old man's shop opened quietly and a figure walked in.

"I've been expecting you," the old man said in the dark.

"You've been expecting me?" answered a voice from the dark.

"Not you specifically, but someone from Revelen 3," the old man answered.

"How did you know I was from Revelen 3?" asked the voice.

"You walked through my door," answered the old man.

There was a quick flash of a dark red light and the hum of a lightsaber blazing to life.

Thus ends Episode 4 of The Adventures of Agent Malgo Sluka, ISB