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 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:05 pm
7
Vyrtem followed the old man to an aisle in the library much like any other and was directed toward a series of thick books written by a Jedi-turned-Sith by the name of Darth Trax.
"I highly recommend this set. It's a little unconventional," Here he smiled and touched his nose "But, then again, you wanted unconventional, didn't you?"
This librarian was very sharp, despite his age. Vyrtem nodded cautiously. "You could say that."
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:09 pm
8
The old man put his hands of passively. "I'm not here to cause any problems. A young man willing to study is a rare thing, especially one willing to read instead of listening to a holocron. I merely assumed. Trust me, I am a big fan of unconventional methods, and Darth Trax is a fascinating subject. If you have any questions, I'll be around, and would certainly be happy to have some company if you want to discuss your readings."
Vyrtem thanked the librarian and carried the books to a table in the back, secluded corner of the library.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:16 pm
9
He didn't much have to worry about unwelcome company. Most Initiates focused on practical instruction, and the library was practically a ghost town today. Those who did come to the library often checked out their items to study in peace and quiet. Vyrtem eyed the old, leather-bound tome and wondered how much patience someone had to have to write a book down like this, and wondered how the Darth had had the time to do so at all. He figured that once you became a Darth, you might have a lot of down time without an apprentice, but wow. That's a lot of patience for something you could have just put onto a holocron.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:23 pm
10
He began reading at the foreword that gave a brief history of Darth Trax' life. Apparently he had been a master Jedi, and had even held a council seat before he became disillusioned with the council and fell to the Dark Side, defecting to join the Sith, bringing his apprentice along with him, a young Jedi who eventually became Darth Armatus. His reasons for defecting were given as being closely related to the soft stance of the Jedi in certain wars and conflicts, and Darth Trax had felt that a sterner hand was necessary. He himself had gone to the warzones and --without permission from the council-- had participated in the fighting.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:26 pm
11
It was during these conflicts that he had become known as Darth Trax the Immortal. These papers were written after he had been exiled from the Jedi and been welcomed by the Sith, later compiled by his apprentice Darth Armatus into a series of histories, journals and lessons that formed the set. Vyrtem wondered at how much respect you have to have for your master to go through so much work to make sure that his name lives on like that. To gather and compile all this information by hand... Wow.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:29 pm
12
Vyrtem was intrigued. he opened the table of contents and then to the first page. The Unbreakable Warrior. The title had a certain allure to Vyrtem. The young Sith began reading. And read he did. He devoured the first few chapters before the library closed, and lay in bed that night with his mind racing.
The book was reviewing the training that Darth Trax had received at the Jedi Academy on Tython. Not their ideologies, of course, but their techniques and the philosophies behind them.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:33 pm
13
Unlike Vyrtem, Darth Trax' temperament leaned toward patience, and he practiced defensive lightsaber combat almost exclusively. Like Vyrtem, though, he emphasized survivability at all costs. Continuing in the face of injuries and never giving up until he was unable to even stand. But now Vyrtem had a tutor. Someone to study. To learn from.
As soon as breakfast had been served the next day, Vyrtem was back in the library, and by the end of the day he had finished Darth Trax' history. The next two books were all function. But he had to wait. The librarian allowed Vyrtem to stay until he had finished cleaning up, but had to make the boy leave before he locked up.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:37 pm
14
Vyrtem was waiting at the doors when the old man, smiling, came to open the library. Vyrtem spent the entire day there, reading. Studying the philosophies behind what the Jedi called 'control' techniques. Control powers required a strong understanding of one's self to exercise. It was this school of techniques that allowed Jedi to live for decades longer than they ordinarily would. Vyrtem was fascinated. The Sith, themselves, often lived short, brutal lives, or sustained their life force with raw power, rather than simply maintaining what they already had, and Darth Trax viewed this as wasteful. That philosophy threw away so much that the Sith might otherwise have.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:41 pm
15
Focusing on the present brought the Sith power, but if it destroyed their future, what was the point? Darth Trax preached passion, yes, but also temperance. Do not lose yourself to rage, but instead seeth. Let your passion boil inside you and be a source of power from within rather than allowing it to explode. In his eyes, lava burns much longer than blaster gas, and is even more destructive.
This idea was revolutionary to Vyrtem. He had always been taught to unleash his anger. To let it wash over him and consume him like fire. Such was said to be the way of the Sith Warrior. But here he was being told just the opposite. That allowing it to fester, to roil, could make him even more powerful. Could make him Immortal.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:46 pm
16
Vyrtem began studying the first technique before nightfall. A power that they trained even the youngest of Jedi in, but that the Sith --according to Darth Trax, woefully-- left at the wayside. An ability known as Tutaminis. The description fascinated Vyrtem. It was said that a master of Tutaminis could survive blaster fire, explosions, electrical shocks and could even catch lightsabers bare-handed! It was exactly what Vyrtem needed! But his time was up. The librarian touched the boy's shoulder and startled him out of his daydreams.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:51 pm
17
Vyrtem looked around and noticed that the lights were off. "Oh. I'm sorry. Thank you, Master." Vyrtem stood, placing the books reverently back on the shelf. He thanked the old man again and went on his way, returning to his quarters to sleep and meditate on what he had read. According to Darth Trax, the essence of the technique was based in the fundamental understanding of energy. Heat and electricity were both simply excited states of matter, and the Force that the Jedi and the Force often used was a state of excited matter in the user, using that energy to guide and shape the actual Force that existed that existed around them all.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:55 pm
18
If you thought of the Force this way, and understood how it related to physcial energy, you could take other forms of energy, transfer them through your body, and utilize them to influence the Force itself. If Vyrtem understood it right, this was the fundamental process by which one emplyed Tutaminis, and while he did not completely understand the method, he was not complete reading the lessons, and so would have to wait before he could try to test the power out. He forced himself to practice patience, in the way that Darth Trax taught.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:58 pm
19
Darth Trax mentioned specifically an instance when Force Lightning had been employed against him and he had absorbed it before turning it back on his attacker. To have that sort of power was worth anything. Vyrtem would work however hard he had to to gain mastery over it. Work himself to the bone, until, bleeding and broken, he had that degree of control over the world. He imagined the world when he was Immortal. Nothing could touch him, everything and everyone would bow at his feet as he walked unharmed through the battlefield, showing everyone what true power looked like.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:04 pm
20
He was there again when the doors opened, and immediately began poring over the technique. It seemed that his grasp of the science, as elementary as it was, was close to the mark, and he spent the rest of the day combing through an entire book dedicated to the idea of Tutaminis. Methods, tricks and advice on how and when to employ it. It was taught not as a frontline defense, but rather something to fall back on in times of crisis. It was very explicitly stated that it was to be used as a backup measure, not as a first resort, and this is mentioned over and over again. Only those who have gained incredible mastery should ever use it as a first resort, and even then it was ill-advised.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:08 pm
21
Vyrtem wanted to try it. But he tempered his excitement with patience. Darth Trax had a training regimen for the Sith who wanted to practice Tutaminis. It was certainly nothing the Jedi would put their students through, but it was, again, not meant for Jedi. The training placed great strain on the body and brought the Sith into their native ground; pain and strife. Struggle and passion instead of order and peace. Vyrtem studied the regimen until he had memorized it and only then replaced the books on the shelf.
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