A Discussion With Khartem'kahl
Darth Nox stepped off of the Imperial Army dropship and onto the crumbling ruined temple grounds covered in aggressively growing plant life deep in the inhospitable jungle of Dromund Kaas. Ten medium duty work droids, six medium duty security droids, and one field repair service droid followed Nox off of the transport. The work droids carried Nox's equipment for his coming experiment.
When Nox and his droids had gotten a safe distance away, the dropship gently lifted off and departed to the East, returning to Kaas City Spaceport well over six hundred kilometers away. The dark lord had sent the shuttle away expecting to spend several days in the ruins, searching. As the screaming whine of the Imperial Army dropship receded into the distance, Nox swept his eyes across the vine and plant covered ruins of an ancient temple complex. It brought back many memories for him, all of them unpleasant.
Sixteen years ago, before Nox was forced to face his trials at the Sith Academy on Korriban, he was a slave named Kallig toiling for a merchant at a warehouse in Ziost City on Dromund Kaas. It was during this time that, against the advice of his fellows on the Dark Council, Darth Arctis, the dark lord ruling over the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, directed the Imperial Reclamation Service to excavate the millennia abandoned temple complex.
It was quite a feat! Ten square kilometers of jungle was cut down and the tree roots carefully dug up to avoid damaging the buried ancient structures. The plant debris was then all hauled away from the temple grounds. The plant debris was ground into sawdust and left as piles of compost for the jungle to reclaim.
Vines, shrubs, and plants of every kind had been removed by the toil and sweat of many thousands of slaves. The meters deep soil covering the grounds was carefully excavated and hauled away by leased commercial excavation droids and their contracted civilian excavation droid handlers. All of this work was carried out under the careful supervision of Imperial Reclamation Service military archaeologists.
During the excavation, the military archaeologists, civilian contractors, and slaves had faced many harrowing dangers, from the wild beasts, disease, and the malign influence of the Dark Side of The Force, which permeated the temple complex. However, this did not deter them from getting the job done. Hundreds of buildings were successfully excavated on the site.
The temple grounds were paved with a tile work of massive sandstone blocks that covered the entire ten kilometer square complex. The sandstone pavement blocks were each five meters, by five meters, by one meter thick. After thousands of years, the jungle had forced its way into the complex. A few trees had stubbornly forced their way between the massive crumbling tiles at the edges of the complex.
However, it was mostly the successive cycles of growing and dying of vines, plants, shrubs, and wild beasts which had built up a thick layer of soil that eventually buried the complex's hundreds of structures several meters deep. The wild plants, shrubs, and trees simply took advantage of the deepening soil to grow their way across the long abandoned complex.
The only structure still visible before the jungle was removed was the massive pyramidal temple, which was itself covered in a deep layer of soil, trees and vegetation. The reason, one could tell there was a pyramid under the jungle growth was because of its artificial pyramidal profile above the tree tops of the dense jungle floor.
What was revealed at the end of the excavation was a mini city with many administrative buildings, storage structures, barracks, and residences, all constructed out of sandstone and granite blocks. In the center of the entire complex was the massive pyramidal temple with scores of very wide stairs leading up to a grand facade with massive sixty meter high columns, framing the grand entrance part way up the pyramid.
The soldier-archaeologists, contractors, and slaves braved the rigors of the dense jungles, despite suffering many casualties. Although the influence of the Dark Side negatively impacted the morale of the troops and made the misery of the civilians and slaves even worse, the Imperial soldiers persevered, the civilian contractors thought of their paydays, and the slaves had no choice but to press on – they had to eat.
The civilian contractors were the lucky ones. Their jobs were done, and their contracts had ended. Their presence was no longer required, and so they were sent away, along with their excavation droids.
The day had finally come, three years after the start of the massive excavation project, when the hill-sized pyramid itself was finally opened. The highest ranking military officers of the Imperial Reclamation Service leading the operation and the Sith lords overseeing the project were the first living beings to enter the temple in thousands of years.
As they took their first few steps into the ancient ruined temple, the madness had finally swept out from the pyramid, falling upon the thousands of troops and slaves assigned to the massive project, like a wave of flood water washing across the landscape. Their pride, perseverance, and pragmatism could do nothing to prevent what happened to them.
The troops of the Imperial Reclamation Service, the slaves, and indeed most of the few dozen Sith lords who oversaw the project, had been driven insane with the delusion that they were the lords of Sith who inhabited the temple complex thousands of years in the nearly forgotten past.
Four Sith lords, who were wise enough to shield their minds and their beings with The Force, escaped the madness, fleeing deep into the jungle many kilometers from the archaeological dig site, and called for an extraction team to come rescue them.
The four had been summoned to the council chamber by a rival of Darth Arctis, Darth Vowrawn. He demanded the four give a report of the disaster which had befallen the expedition to the Dark Council.
Furious and humiliated, Darth Arctis asked, of the four survivors, "After three years of excavations during which you have been feeling the effects of the Dark Side, and knowing the nature of that complex, how is it that you allowed ordinary men to enter the temple? Why didn't you prepare the other Sith, working on the project, to shield themselves as well? Why didn't you take the necessary precautions before opening the temple?"
Furious, and embarrassed by this failure, Darth Arctis didn't wait for their answers. Instead he immediately ordered their executions. The Sith lords protested the order.
"It was not our fault!" one of them stated, "We were not in charge!"
Darth Rictus, who was an old man but greatly feared on the Dark Council, spoke up.
"Even if you were not in charge, you should have said something to someone who was. Your failure to foresee such a possibility and to prevent its happening is the result of the careless and lackadaisical attitude of your entire operation."
It was plain to the dark councilors there, that although the words were directed at the four Sith being judged, the words were really a condemnation of Arctis, who ignored the Dark Council's warnings. Arctis was deeply humiliated by Rictus' words, but he said nothing. The failure of the Imperial Reclamation Service could be traced all the way up to him if the Dark Council desired to go that far.
Darth Vowrawn kept a straight face, even as he inwardly enjoyed his success at humiliating his rival.
"Let's get this over with," Darth Vowrawn said, "I have things I want to discuss, and we are taking too much time with this."
Darth Rictus' arms lay on the armrests on his seat. He slightly raised his right hand at the wrist, pointing a finger at the four Sith lords, and the four dropped to the floor, dead. With that demonstration of power in The Force, he once again reminded everyone on the Dark Council the reason they gave him such deference.
The business of the Dark Council went on with the corpses of the dead on the council chamber floor. The corpses were not removed until after the dark councilors had left the council chamber hours later.
Cleaning up the problem at the dig site was promising to be a major mess. The cleanup was assigned by the Dark Council to Darth Mortis, again to the humiliation of Darth Arctis. Darth Mortis ordered a division of Imperial Army light infantry to forcibly remove the raving lunatics roving the complex.
After receiving a report of how so many thousands had gone mad for just being at the site, the commanding general of this unit, Brigadier General Rickard Brants, wisely kept his troops out of the complex, instead ordering his division to surround the temple grounds and ordering the capture, if possible, of any of the maddened military archaeologists or slaves which might wander off the temple complex.
No instructions were given about what to do with the Sith lords who'd fallen victim to the madness. Brigadier General Brants' subordinate officers correctly interpreted this lack of guidance as unspoken orders to eliminate those Sith lords. They were killed on sight.
A raging madman with the power of The Force was far too dangerous to attempt capture. No chances would be taken with their own safety. Of course, the official reports would state that these Sith lords were killed by the affected raving madmen in the temple complex.
What was revealed, after the interrogations of the few soldiers and slaves that were captured, was that the maddened individuals were reenacting – well, actually living, the bloody five way civil war that saw Sith lord pitted against Sith lord, as they fought for dominance over all other Sith. The soldiers, slaves, and the Sith lords had been slaughtering one another, in combat, for control of the temple complex.
Armed with the knowledge of what happened to the Six Hundred and Nineteenth Archaeological Regiment and the entire archaeological expedition, Brigadier General Brants informed his command of his strategy.
"We aren't stepping foot on that complex, not a single one of us. Kill any you see with long range sniper fire, and long range blaster rifle engagements. If they leave the grounds to challenge us, we'll close with and destroy them – but only outside of the complex grounds. We shall not pursue the fleeing enemy onto the cursed temple grounds."
Over the next few weeks, the soldiers of the Imperial Reclamation Service and the maddened slaves had decimated themselves and reduced their own numbers down to only a few score of troops and slaves remaining, even while Brigadier General Brants' troops picked off the ones they could with long range sniper fire.
Lord Pharshol, in actuality a sergeant in the Imperial Reclamation Service who believed himself to be the ancient Sith lord, had the advantage over his one remaining rival, Sith Lord Vacuus, who in actuality was a slave believing himself to be that Sith lord. However, a stalemate had developed in their civil war. So, the killings came to a halt with a momentary truce.
Meanwhile, greatly humiliated, Darth Arctis lost quite a bit of influence and power in the Dark Council. He died a few weeks after the cleanup operation of the temple complex had begun. The cause of death was determined to be – natural causes. Darth Thanaton ascended to the Dark Council, succeeding his dead lord.
It was nearly twelve years ago, some months after Thanaton ascended the Dark Council and a few years after he'd left the Sith Academy that Nox, then known as Kallig, Lord of The Sith, had to meet with his master, Darth Zash. He was to assist her with a dark ritual at this very temple. The last remnants of the remaining maddened archaeologists and slaves continued to whittle their own numbers down, with Kallig and Khem Val having had to kill a few of them on their way to a sacred chamber within the temple itself.
Prior to entering the grounds, Kallig had prepared his mind and body, to guard them from the madness that was still permeating the temple complex. Yet, he was woefully unprepared for his master's coming betrayal. It was here that his old master, Darth Zash, attempted to steal his body so that she could extend her life while sacrificing his. Kallig was most fortunate that his disgruntled minion, Khem Val, had intervened and saved his life, despite hating Kallig in those days.
Twelve years had passed since the day the excavation site was again closed, since the last of the remaining maddened Sith, military archaeologists and slaves had finally wiped themselves out. The temple was sealed off and, once again, all were forbidden to enter the temple complex.
Nox was amazed at what an impressive comeback the jungle had made in just over a decade since his last time at these ruins. The aggressively growing vegetation was, once again, well on their way to concealing the ancient ruined buildings with vines, plants and bushy shrubs. Broad-leafed plants, growing knee high, almost completely hid the massive tile stones that paved the temple grounds from view. The massive sandstone tiles that paved the ten kilometer square grounds were mostly reburied under soil already several centimeters deep in several places.
Twelve years ago, when he went to meet his master, not a single sprout grew anywhere on the temple grounds, but upon his return, over a decade later, he could see that the jungle had, once again, begun to reclaim its prize. In a few more decades, if he lived that long, Nox expected to see the trees begin to force their way into the compound again, as the soil became deeper.
Nox had come alone, bringing only his droids. His droids did the heavy lifting as they cleared the vegetation, from the stone slab veranda, which had re-grown their way up to the top of the wide steps leading to the grand entrance of the pyramidal temple. The droids also busily scraped away the soil which had been accumulating anew on the ancient temple's veranda at the top of the grand stairs.
Meanwhile the security droids stood guard or conducted security perimeter patrols, keeping watch for any threat which might attempt to ascend the stairs to the grand entrance and interfere with Nox's experiment. He didn't expect bandits or enemies, but gundarks, which made this region one of their habitats on Dromund Kaas. Gundarks were a particularly ornery and aggressive jungle beast which could rampage through his experiments and ruin his work.
Nox directed his droid work detail to set up his instruments which would record many different aspects of the environment and capture any anomalies while he conducted his ritual. The devices, mounted on tripods, were set up on the ancient stone veranda at the top of the grand stairs just in front of the grand entrance, which was once again sealed.
The veranda was a single huge sandstone slab that had been sundered in two places during the ancient civil war, Nox could only imagine how, but it represented a powerful control of The Force greater than any blaster rifle which was in use by the maddened soldiers just over a decade ago. Next he went about activating each device, ensuring they were correctly calibrated and functioning properly.
Nox ordered the droids off of the veranda. They walked off of the stone slab and partway down the stairs, which were still covered with the jungle vegetation. There, the droids waited for further instructions.
In the meantime, the dark lord set up a portable field plasma cook stove, setting the tiny camping stove on the stone floor. He set a tiny pot on the plasma stove and poured water into it from his canteen. Then he began to open his military field rations, setting a couple of the pouches into the pot with its already boiling water, to heat up the rations.
Next he took out his field mess kit and waited for the food to heat up. The dark lord, poured the contents from one of the heated pouches into his mess tin. From the other pouch, he tore pieces of the reheated flat bread from its pouch, then picked up his eating utensil. Thus, Nox prepared his midday meal, a hearty nerf stew and baked flat bread, and a cup of hot caf.
As he ate, he thought about his coming experiment, worrying that if his quarry were unsuitable for his purposes that his efforts here would be in vain. He would have to move to another location within the temple complex and repeat the entire process, setting up the instruments and conducting the ritual again, and again, until he found a suitable subject for his experiment. This promised to be a tedious few days.
Nox contemplated breaking the seal to enter the temple if things did not pan out with his search.
"Maybe in there, next time…," he thought, while looking at the sealed temple entrance.
The dark lord finished his meal, taking the last bite of his cooling flat bread which he'd used to sop up the last of his stew.
Nox set aside his emptied field mess kit, and instructed one of the droids to wash the items for him. As he collapsed and secured his tiny field plasma cook stove, Nox realized he was alone, and that any failure here could mean his death or the loss of his sanity.
"I probably should have brought Khem Val with me," Nox thought, uselessly – too late.
Nox finally began to prepare for his ritual. He sat and, closing his eyes, began to meditate. He concentrated, gathering the power of the Dark Side of The Force to him. In this place it wasn't hard. The Dark Side was very strong here.
When he felt that he was ready, he began his ritual. The ritual was one of a few methods used for detecting and luring the Force ghost of a long dead Sith or Jedi, forcing them to reveal themselves to the ritualist.
The strange accidents and disastrous events that forced the Imperial Reclamation Service to shut down archaeological operations at this ancient temple were, to those who studied such things, telltale signs of the presence of one or more Force ghosts.
Nox's worry was that the Force ghost, which he was very sure was of a long dead Sith lord, probably one of the Sith who died during the ancient civil war, had gone insane. If so, the Force ghost would be useless to him.
The dark lord began to permeate the area with his presence, using The Force to expand his aura into the very stone blocks of the temple, the stairs, and the paved grounds. As Nox's aura permeated the soil, and every living plant which covered the stairs, and the vines which were growing over everything, insects and other small creatures came out from hiding to flee in terror.
Nox concentrated in this fashion for quite some time, until he began to feel The Force push back against him. It wasn't The Force however. There was an intelligence behind the attempts to push away at Nox's presence. The dark lord of the Sith cracked a wry grin.
"I've got you!" Nox thought, savagely.
He pushed even harder, this time pouring in his malice. Soon, Nox was overcome with a sense of terrible dread, as the area around him became flooded with an air of deep unending fury, and unfathomable hatred. Nox willed himself not to let up the pressure and to not give in to his growing fear.
"Tsuktah Khack!"
Nox perceived the voice, filled with deep hatred, as though it were emanating from within his mind, echoing. Nox did not let up the pressure, but he worried that the Force ghost had gotten into his mind. After a moment, however, he realized it was an illusion, meant to make him think so, to unsettle him.
Nox became thrilled when the Force ghost spoke again.
"Rrahghah neth halet?!"
It was the language of his ancient ancestors, the dead language of the Sith Pureblood, a tongue that hadn't been spoken in nearly four thousand years, except by a very precious few scholars, Nox being one of them.
Nox replied to the Force ghost in that ancient dead tongue.
"You seemed so lonely, with no one to talk to. That is why I am disturbing your slumber."
"I should consume your being, erase your existence!" the furious ancient spirit blasted back.
"You don't want me to keep you company?" Nox asked, mockingly.
"Why do you meddle in my rest?"
The long dead Sith lord studied the living interloper sitting cross legged on the temple veranda. He was dressed in a very flamboyantly stylish set of armor, red and black in color. The Sith's hair was done in a thick braid, draped down between his shoulder blades, a most flamboyant style.
"Why do you disturb my peace?"
Nox knew that what he said in response to the long dead Force ghost, would mean nothing to the ancient Sith Lord. The Sith Code had not yet been formally codified in the spirit's ancient lifetime.
"Peace is a lie! There is only passion!" Nox said, scornfully. Rebuking the ancient dead Sith Lord, he added, "Don't speak to me of such a useless thing as peace!" Then with venom in his tongue, Nox said, "Only the Jedi speak of peace as though it means something. Please, don't tell me that you are a long dead Jedi."
The Force ghost became infuriated at such an insult and attacked Nox with a wave of Dark Force energy. However, Nox was prepared and guarded against the attack.
"What was that supposed to do? Are you trying to make me laugh? Please don't tell me that's all of the power you have," Nox said, scornfully. He then scathingly derided the spirit. "It's pathetic! You must be a long dead Jedi!"
"I am Khartem'kahl, Lord of The Sith! Do not mock what you do not understand!" the Force ghost returned angrily.
"A name," Nox said in Imperial Basic, "Now we're getting somewhere."
"What gibberish was that, whelp? Has your mind already become addled?"
"You have told me your name, Khartem'kahl. Now I shall tell you mine. I am Darth Nox, Dark Lord of The Sith."
"Dark lord?! You?! Don't make me laugh!" the ancient spirit said, mockingly, "You're naught but a whelp, still wet after your birth!"
Nox was about to respond, but at that instant his security droids began firing their blaster rifles and their one light blaster cannon. The enraged roar of a fearsome beast answered the reports of the medium energy combat arms. Nox bolted to his feet, and drew his sabrestaff. There was no doubt about it. That roar belonged to a gundark, a big one!
Khartem'kahl laughed, "Now you will die, whelp!"
Nox realized that Khartem'kahl had somehow summoned the beast, drawing it to the temple steps from deep in the jungle.
"So, his soul is tied to the temple, but his influence can extend beyond the complex into the jungle beyond!" Nox reasoned to himself, acknowledging, "He is strong!"
The sounds of metal explosively crashing against metal attested to the great violence of the gundark's rampaging attack against his droids, and the diminishing sounds of blaster rifles shooting was a testament to the effectiveness of that attack. Nox ran to the edge of the expansive stone slab veranda, igniting his sabrestaff.
As he reached the top of the wide stairs, he engaged a locking mechanism that separated his sabrestaff into twin lightsaber hilts. Beholding the chaotic scene on the stairs below, he saw a full grown adult gundark bull.
He was amazed to see that the gundark was using a large tree log as a shield to block the blaster bolts as the beast swung one of his medium duty droids, using it as a club, knocking away the last of his security droids. Nox immediately realized that Khartem'kahl was actually directly controlling the gundark's actions.
He executed a Force Persuasion technique on the gundark, attempting to sever Khartem'kahl's connection to the violent creature, but his attempt only partially succeeded. While Khartem'kahl worked to strengthen his control of the enraged gundark, Nox's attempt to break that control also had an effect that he did not like.
The gundark noticed Nox's presence and immediately charged after him, but this also caused Khartem'kahl to lose complete control of the beast. However, to the long dead Sith lord, that did not matter, because the effect was practically the same. The beast was after his enemy.
Nox, became instantly alarmed, and worried greatly that his instruments and his precious data could be destroyed by the rampaging beast. So, he ran down the stairs to lure the beast away from his instruments.
The gundark became greatly surprised. It was accustomed to watching its prey flee in terror. The beast had never had a prey charge at it before, and so it paused in its tracks, carefully studying its prey's movements.
Nox blasted the monster with Force Lightning, using both hands. The monster was greatly surprised and hopped back, giving a surprised shout from the painful sting of the Force Lightning attack. Then, using The Force, Nox lifted one of the destroyed security droids and sent it flying into the back of the beast's head.
The monster rubbed the thick hide on its chest to alleviate the stinging sensation from the Force Lightning strike while keeping a wary eye on Nox. The creature was greatly surprised by what had struck it at the back of its head. It snap-turned about to see what was attacking it from behind. Nox dashed forward, using The Force to speed him forward, and stabbed the beam of his main hand twin lightsaber into the monster's buttocks, which was head high to the Sith lord.
Nox was shocked at just how hard the beast's hide and musculature was. His weapon only penetrated half way, and slashing the blade out was met with great resistance. The dark lord was forced to deactivate his weapon to break it free of the beast's tough rump, while jumping back to avoid the screaming beast's backhand attack. Nox immediately realized that it was actually Khartem'kahl's doing. The long dead Sith lord protected the beast from Nox's lightsaber attacks, while attempting to pin the dark lord within the range of the beast's long reach.
However, the beast could no longer rampage about, and its movements were greatly hampered, but it became greatly enraged! Khartem'kahl watched in glee as the monster blindly attacked the space around it, throwing the log it had used as a shield and the droid it used as a club, both at Nox. Nox easily dodged the hurtling objects, but the beast took to ripping shrubs from the shallow soil on the stairs and threw those at Nox, who then used The Force to deflect the flying shrubbery.
The beast charged at Nox, but the painfully sharp stabbing pain in its buttocks stopped it in its tracks. It furiously roared at the sky, clearly frustrated. Nox used that opportunity to hurl another ruined droid from behind the beast, to strike it at the back of its head again. The beast quickly turned to see what was attacking it from behind, as it had done before.
As before, Nox used that opportunity to attack the beast's exposed back, this time attacking with both lightsaber hilts. However, the beast remembered that's how it got stabbed in the butt the last time. It turned back, with Nox in midair, both weapons poised to pierce it. Nox found the beast's reflexes astounding!
Lightning fast, the beast was already swinging its huge arm as though to backhand Nox and swat him away. Nox adjusted the aim of his main hand weapon, while deactivating his offhand weapon. He pierced the beast's forearm in between the radius and ulna, instead of the monster's back.
Nox used The Force to guard against the monster's powerful strike, but he went flying anyway. Again, using The Force, he regained his balance in midair and controlled his landing. The dark lord was winded, and badly battered from the strike, but he remained alert.
The beast struggled as it limped away, clutching its forearm with its other clawed hand, and yowling in agony. Nox deactivated his main hand weapon and recombined the twin hilts, reforming his sabrestaff. After composing himself, the dark lord limped back up the stairs to the veranda. Lord Khartem'kahl stared angrily at Nox as the dark lord approached the Sith lord's Force Ghost.
"What did you say your name was?" the Force Ghost asked in the ancient dead language of the Sith Pureblood.
"Darth Nox," the dark lord replied in that same dead language.
"What do you want from me, Darth?"
"Darth is my title. Address me as Darth Nox, or as Dark Lord."
Khartem'kahl was clearly not amused, but he could see that Nox was not making a joke, either.
"Darth Nox, then," Khartem'kahl corrected.
"I want to conduct a Dark Force experiment, but I need your help to do it," Nox said, answering the Force ghost's question.
Khartem'kahl became visibly alarmed. He clearly realized that his existence was in jeopardy, although he did not know by what means he was endangered. However, a Sith lord plainly told him he wanted to experiment with him! He prepared to renew his desperate battle for survival against the clearly powerful Darth Nox.
"Experiment?! What is this experiment?!" he demanded, his tone clearly giving away his intent to not give his cooperation.
"I want to learn if a Sith lord who has become a Force ghost can commandeer the body of a living Sith lord and thus come back to the world of the living."
Incredulity overcame the Force ghost. He had to be sure that he heard the dark lord correctly.
"You want me to test a ritual that will bring me back from the dead? Alive, again?"
"Yes, that's it exactly," Nox replied matter-of-factly.
"That's impossible! That can't be done!"
Nox shrugged, speaking quite frankly.
"I don't know if it will work. That's why it's an experiment."
"My existence could end," Khartem'kahl said, as though weighing the consequences of a failed experimental ritual.
"My research indicates the one to suffer consequences of failure would be my apprentice," Nox weighed in, speculating, "If the ritual succeeds, then my apprentice's existence will end, and you will have a new body. If it fails, you won't lose anything, but my apprentice might end up completely insane or dead."
"What if I refuse?" Khartem'kahl challenged.
"I literally cannot force you to do this. You have to learn the ritual, and you have to perform it. All I can do is to bring my apprentice for you to ambush and make the attempt."
"What do I get in return, if I cooperate?"
"You get a new Force sensitive body and a new life to do what you will with it. Don't expect me to give you anything else besides that," Nox said.
With that, Khartem'kahl strongly suspected that Nox would betray and kill him. No Sith lord ever gave up an opportunity to rule over other Sith lords.
"Is he actually offering me my freedom?" he asked himself.
He tested Nox.
"You are being too generous. I get a new life among the living, and my freedom."
Nox realized his mistake, too late, but tried to cover for it.
"If you consider a life of service to me as freedom, then yes. I allow my servants to live and prosper as they will, so long as they do my bidding when I demand it of them. It's a fair trade, service to me in exchange for some autonomy."
Khartem'kahl was almost willing to believe Nox, but he knew that there would be something that he would never be able to give the dark lord if it were demanded of him. That is, to forget the ritual that would be taught him. He knew Nox would want to protect his secret.
However, Khartem'kahl had grown tired of his existence. He had forgotten how invigorating merely speaking with another capable and talented mind could be, even if his interactions with this dark lord was rife with hostility, it was nevertheless thrilling to the ancient Sith Force Ghost.
His existence was an eternity of emptiness. No challenges, no new experiences, no way to leave this little piece of the temple complex. His existence was forever tied to this place, this desolate ruin in the uncivilized jungle.
Khartem'kahl was willing to risk ending his monotonous existence if he could live, even for a short time again. The Force ghost had a random thought that hadn't occurred for him to consider in over twenty five hundred years.
"Oh! To breathe in the air and smell the scents of a living world around me again!"
"I will do as you ask, Darth Nox. In exchange for my new life, I shall serve you, as I seek to make a place for myself in the world of the living," the ancient Sith lord said, realizing that he would need to flee with his new life and go into hiding.
Nox was exceedingly pleased. He smiled his deep satisfaction, nodding his approval.
"Most excellent! I shall return here with my apprentice in one month's time, but now I shall teach you the technique. You must master the technique before my return with my apprentice."
Khartem'kahl's Force ghost nodded its acquiescence, and Nox began the lesson.