Cast of a Thousand Shoulders

Sometimes parents -- much less a Council of them -- inevitably play favorites. Sometimes meritocracy can be crueler than the most structured of societies. Such hearkens the saga of two warrior-scholars trapped in each other's shadow, and one glory-seeker who knew not what was shed upon throwing lot in with them. Such stages a quest on the behalf of questions one galaxy cannot answer.

Warning #1: author is an unashamed advocate of unorthodox pairings. Contents may be more coherent to those with general knowledge of the KoToR I and II plots, but no apology is made for the characters' liberal and/or inaccurate recounting of events.

Warning #2: author operates under the delusion that all good stories must beat out their own paths. While this is sadly no formula guaranteeing a "good story", this work may, between ignorance and intent, meander far, far off-track in characterization and metaphysics. The reader may, in no particular order of preference, (a) treat this as living in a parallel universe, (b) offer corrections and the occasional knock on the head, (c) stop reading.

Insert-standard-disclaimer: universe and back-story owned by the usual suspects. Events, portrayals, and additional props in this work suffers from the author's interpretation and penchant for melodrama.

Request-for-comments: author will be pathetically grateful to Star Wars mythology and/or phraseology gurus willing to point out kinks. Please keep in mind that author is a blue-blood earthling.

Apologies: author is constitutionally unable to resist changing past chapters (hopefully for the better) upon review. As such the text (though not generally the storyline) may occasionally morph on the unsuspecting reader looking to refresh their memory. On the other hand: reviews (yes, harsh ones welcome!) are mostly taken to heart and do have some discernable impact. Whether this is a good or bad change will need to wait for reviews of reviews.

(OC) 8/30/05: Thanks to Shibboleth's Aeon's comment I reread the first chapter and found a hideous disconnect between the style I started out at and the (methinks better) style the story demanded of me. Patchwork is always hard to try to pass off as not-patchwork, but gave it a try. Hope it flows better now.

(OC) 9/5/05: Removed some earthisms from chapter 2, and another minor change the reader can have fun hunting for. Chapter 3 was recalcitrant and still too raw for comfort, but rather than rewrite it for the n-th time I'll hope for some constructive reviews to ease things along.

(OC) 9/16/05: Some major cosmetic (oxymoron?) changes to chapter 4. Added short (and probably useless) one-liners for all chapters.

(OC) 7/24/06: Time dilation factors swallowed half a year. Really! I went back and tried to simplify the style, but depending on the depth of the ruts, the effect may well be imperceptible. Apologies. Might take another stab in another six months, but for now it's on with the story.

Spoiler (!) #1: the Exile is the official star of the show, though we democratically borrow eyes of observers. We retain two of the author's favorite (and believed underplayed) entourage characters for this continuation of the Exile's adventures. An irascible old coot may be dragged out of retirement since the Prodigal Knight's turn, but must be excused for taking much time about it. Revan makes late entrance as well, though it comes to no-one's surprise that the Knight's signature sprawls the galaxy in indelible ink. Lastly, be not surprised if the Exile reverts to habits of agglomerating an army, and be not alarmed if they are faces of a future meet.

Spoiler (!) #2: in the (opined) tradition of the beloved games, this is a conversation- and character-driven piece that is unabashedly voyeuristic of relationships. There is romance, but the author works on the belief that "romance" is merely a facet of the subtext between worthies. There are plots, secrets to be uncovered, but the author may be rather verbose in the reaching of waypoints. For the rest, the reader will simply have to read.

Chapters (WIP)

1. In the Tale, a Story

2. A Curtain Falls

3. And Another Rises

4. In Words, Not All Is Said

5. Cruelest, the Subtle Chain

6. Castles and Sand

7. Composition of Stars

8. Best of Men

9. Pieces On Board

10. In An Era's Wake

11. Reverie

12. Dues Perceived, Dues Paid