STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- The Council of Taneshla

"I'm not sure that I like this..." she comments quietly to Tanic, following after them. "This is not what I expected to discover here."

What does she sense?

Tanic shrugs.

"Same here, but I see it as an opportunity," Tanic says. "We can make this work to our advantage."

As you walk, Geful starts sharing information.

"My predecessor was what you would call a Sith fetishist," Geful says. "She had a penchant for collecting their work, if she could find it. We're in a day and age when the Jedi have confiscated or destroyed most of what they made. Still, Yiu managed to collect some artifacts and scrolls. Only two thing were important, though. One is lost, the other I still have. Everything else I gifted to the Jedi Order when I took power. I wanted nothing to do with the stuff, and it put me in their good books, for the time being. Politics; even you Jedi play games."

"That would explain why the Order has largely left you alone, from what I know," Rianna says. She's a bit wary - yet slightly intrigued - by Sith artifacts, even though she knows such things shouldn't interest her. "What is it you have?"

"It is a staff," Geful says. The room he leads you into is his study, a wood-panneled room with thick shag carpetting that is lightly scented with spice, and a currenty dormant fireplace. He draws the blinds as a precaution.

"I am not sure what it is or what it does," he admits. "But it seemed... important."

He goes to his desk and presses a button underneath it. A small compartment opens on the wall behind it.

"Hmm...I must admit I know little of the Sith or their artifacts. It wasn't exactly something we were encouraged to study..." she says.

"Me neither," Tanic says. He appears uncomfortable as Lord Geful retrieves from the compartment a short segmented staff. At the top is a metal sphere, and each of the three segments is decorated with carvings. The entire thing is a dull golden color.

Lord Geful offers it to you.

What does Rianna sense?

She'll take it from him, somewhat nervously, holding it gingerly as she looks it over.

You almost drop it, it is so damn cold! It is also shaking subtley, pulsing and vibrating under your touch. It does not appear to move but it feels alive.

Rianna stares at the thing in shock, handing it back almost immediately. Whatever that thing is, she does not like it, and it frightens her.

"I don't know what it is, or what purpose it has...but I do not like it at all," she says, rubbing her hands together and trying to make the cold feeling go away. "That cold, though...it is definitely a thing of the Dark Side..."

"I am sure," Geful says. "Whatever it is, whatever it does, I am positive the Mecrossans want it. They have their foundings in Sith academia."

Rianna shudders slightly at the idea of Rand having that within her grasp. The memory of what he did last time he got his hands on a Sith artifact will never leave her.

"And of course, Rand would want it for his own uses..." she says, still staring at it.

"They shouldn't have it," Tanic says, weakly.

The staff scares you, whatever it is... but on some deeper level, you feel drawn to it. Those feelings don't diminish as Lord Geful places it back in its container.

"I have my own reasons for not wanting to part with it," Geful says. "It is a powerful bargaining tool against the Mecrossans. But if they are sending a Dark Jedi, maybe more, they might try to steal it."

"No...we cannot allow them to do that. Rand must not get his hands on this..." Rianna says quietly, not only scared of the staff, but also the fact that she can feel herself drawn to the thing for some reason.

"Thankfully I have my Jedi protectors here to stop them, hmm?" Geful says as he seals the compartment again.

At least this time we know where the thing we're trying to keep from him is, and don't have to fight anyone for it... Rianna thinks to herself.

"Yes," she simply replies, determined on this one.

"Oh, good, I thought you'd be against the idea," Geful says.

"No, this is exactly what we want," Tanic says. "They will have to play by our rules this time."

"He doesn't get to dictate the terms anymore..." she says. "We'll stop them."

"Stop them?" Tanic says. "We'll kill..."

"One tiny problem there," Geful says, interrupting

"What problem would that be?" Rianna asks. She's slightly uncomfortable with Tanic's insistence that they kill them, though deep down she'll never feel safe or comfortable until Rand is dead.

"This is a diplomatic setting," Geful says. "I cannot have you needlessly butchering envoys of the Mecrossa Order. It is for your good as well as mine."