Saga - PT Saga - OT [UDC IX] The Sisterhood of the Rose Evergreen (OCs)

Thanks so much, as always, everyone!

Thank you, so glad you enjoyed these! I really enjoyed this set because it just felt like such a good fit for the characters, especially Telfien and Shulma—but I wanted to be able to get Rika in there, too, since I haven’t done much with her in this series yet, so I’m glad you enjoyed that little touch, too.

Thanks! I’m not sure which YouTube video you mean; I don’t suppose it’s something related to HK-47 (the originator of the whole “meatbag” thing, as we know)? “Meatbag” of course is one of those slightly pejorative droid ways of referring to organic beings, though Rika means it mostly affectionately, really she does!

Thanks so much! I can’t entirely take credit for the notion that meditating in hyperspace opens one to perceiving possible futures—I got that from Zuckuss and 4-LOM’s story in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, though there too it wasn’t expanded on greatly, and the bit about it being both wonderful and terrifying is my own extrapolation. And indeed, Telfien would not have come to know that at all if she hadn’t left home—a blessing that’s come out of her exile, for sure, but also a sobering thought.

You got it in one! Yep, that was exactly the idea: that they all share that feeling of being lonely sometimes, missing the old dear ones while they’re around the new ones—and that’s nevertheless, perhaps paradoxically, one of the things that turns out to bind them together in friendship. (The memory corner below riffs on this idea a bit, too.)

Yes, that’s pretty much what’s happening; the light outside her window, which is being caught by the stone in her staff, is that cool, blue-white hyperspace glow rather than the warm brilliance of her homeworld’s sun. It makes for a very different sort of effect, so much so that it triggers some feelings of homesickness. But the Ashla always has its eye on her and is there in person, as it were, to offer reassurance.

That inscrutability is something that often comes up in descriptions of Gand characters (and other far-from-Human species), and It is indeed exactly the opposite of the more motile expressions that most mammalian have—and particularly Shulma, with her naturally expressive nature and her inability to hold a proper sabacc face. I have to say, it also makes for a challenge when writing Gand and similar characters, too, but hey, I guess challenges are good for one! It was interesting to explore that a bit in this drabble. But because Shulma’s a warm and caring sort herself, it doesn’t take her long to recognize those properties in others—even if Telfien’s external facial expressions are hard to read at first glance, Shulma does have the help of both the Ashla and her own empathy in getting to know those more internal truths.

Rika kind of ended up stealing the show in this one! Yes, even though she uses that infamous expression “meatbag,” it’s (at least mostly) meant in a good way. To her, they’re rather quaint and cute more than anything, even if she doesn’t always understand why they do these things they do with photos and memory corners. I like the idea that her little “bleep” of approval is her contribution to the memory corner—perhaps if those artifacts represent the ladies’ pasts, she embodies their present.

Once again, many thanks! I’m hoping to have the next set finished in not too long. Perhaps I can do this after all!

 

This set features a cameo appearance by Chirrut Îmwe. Once again, I thank @Raissa Baiard for beta reading.

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Week V
From the journal of Shulma Trilasha Orrelios

21. Temple
Arrived at NiJedha yesterday. Foggy and cold. Through my viewport I see the distant, needle-like spire of the Kyber Temple. Telfien and I will go there tomorrow while Glockel, Lua, and Rika meet with their contact.

How often have I read of this place, this humble moon where nevertheless the Ashla is as concentrated as the core of a star, focused by the million kyber crystals teeming underground! (Kyber being a relative of kreposkolite, it seems, so no wonder.) Far off I can already hear them ringing, calling…

Ah, an entire world that is the Ashla’s temple and focusing stone!

22. Sanctuary
“How the Force surges around you!” said our guide to us at the front gate— one of the Whills Guardians who tends the temple, a Human, not yet old, but blind and walking with a staff. He led us through hall upon hall, unfolding all the temple’s ancient history, till we came to the great central sanctuary.

Never have I seen such a place! The arches, the domes, the gigantic ancient statues standing guard! And all around the endless echoing ring of the crystals! I felt it in my head, in the pain behind my eyes.

Then our meditation began.

23. Shrine
My Storm-Dreamer, here in my shrine! My Storm-Dreamer, you who are my shrine!

Your beautiful focusing stone sparkles in your staff before you. My power courses through you, blazes within you as you open to me, listening for what the song of the crystals may prophesy. But oh, I weep to tell you that prophecy: this moon’s sun will be darkened, that darkness will turn all my crystals against me in white-hot death. This my temple, this my city will vanish in a plume of smoke, and the song will end—

That was when I screamed, and pain vanquished me.

24. Monastery
Afterward we retired to the guest wing of the Guardians’ monastery. I needed to rest; my head still ached and my currents still raged. Telfien brewed me a pot of spikemint tea. Guardian Îmwe, our guide from earlier, came to visit and very kindly asked how I was. He too noted the unsettled state of my currents, saying such reactions were not uncommon in more sensitive visitors to the temple— especially as the result of very intense visions. “But you need tell me no details if you prefer,” he added hastily.

Shall I tell him? I still do not know.

25. Pilgrimage
We returned to NiJedha, and it is gone. Yes: the magnificent temple, the markets, the squares, the Whills Guardians, Glockel’s contact, kind Guardian Îmwe, all vanished. There is only a vast, barren crater and eerie silence where the crystals once sang.

(So it was true! Ai Ashla, why did I not tell him of it then…!)

I had Glockel let me out in the crater’s center so I could make one last pilgrimage to the Ashla’s holy place. I stood there I know not how long, my staff before me—

—and finally I heard a tiny ring, a tiny call.

 

Thank you all! Sorry for taking so long to reply to these; RL and projects have been piling up and doing quite the number on me. But I don’t want anyone to think I’m unappreciative of their readership and comments!

Thank you so much! Bringing the ladies to Jedha—and a Shulma perspective—just seemed the perfect fit for this set.

Thank you so much, too! Again, it seemed a pretty clear fit. A place like this can’t help but have a strong effect on those like herself and Telfien with strong Force connections

I really enjoyed Chirrut and his unique brand of Force perception in Rogue One—I loved that we finally got an angle on the Force from someone who’s not a Jedi in the strict sense, so it was particularly fun bringing him into contact with some of my own non-Jedi Force users. And yep, I’m pretty sure your guess about the narrator of “Shrine” is right! I guess writing from the Force’s viewpoint has become a bit of a standard of mine—I’ll take it! She could not have known at that moment just how true her foreboding would become, or even that it really was a case of true foreboding and not just some kind of storm-vision of the type she’s prone to. But you’re right, someone as caring and sensitive as Shulma is would certainly take that hard.

Thanks! I really enjoyed writing that bit, too. A place that concentrated in the Force is bound to have an effect, and Chirrut has probably seen a lot of different reactions to it in his time as a Guardian. And I like to think that he has shown the same care and concern to each of those other reactions, too!

I imagine that the empty crater where NiJedha used to be must not just look but also feel like a very different place to someone with Force sensitivity who got to see it at its peak. All those swirling, sparkling currents just completely gone! But she has her memories, plus the fact that the Force is never really completely absent from anywhere. Even though the big luminous swirl is gone, it’s still present there in a “still small voice.” Thanks so much once again for reading and reviewing—always love your comments!

Thank you! Well... I’m kind of embarrassed that it’s now been considerably more than a week since I’ve posted this, and that I still don’t really know what my plans are for the next group of prompts, because a project for another challenge has taken over my brain. So the answer is pretty much that I don’t know. Again, . But that little ping, once again, is a reminder that the Force is still there and is still everywhere, even in the wake of destruction. One just has to listen, so to speak. Thanks again for commenting, and I hope that whatever I do with set 6 will be to your liking, too!

Thank you so much, and so good to see you here! Glad you are enjoying these OCs and their reflections—yes, I too have a soft spot for non-Human protagonists! And you’re right, this is the same Telfien as the one that appears in The Book of Gand and its related stories, now that she has left her homeworld and traveling the galaxy. I don’t know the Dark Times comics, but I really like the sound of it from the way you describe it. This drabble thread kind of is the anthology I had in mind, or ended up that way, at least, though there will certainly be other stories in other formats about this group. (There are a few already; see the “related stories” spoiler cuts in the OP.) Thanks so much once again for coming by to read!

 

Thanks so much, as always, for reading and commenting! Your comments always are a joy to receive and read.

With this group, given that it includes not one but two (2) mystical sorts, there were all sorts of ways this set of prompts could have gone! Telfien and Shulma both have much experience with sacred spaces from their own homeworlds—though of course that unfortunately doesn't quite fit the Rose Evergreen timeframe (unless I were to have gone the route of flashbacks, which I considered doing). So barring that, NiJedha and the Kyber Temple seemed like a good fit—such a Force-infused place where they both would be able to experience something of that mystical power, even being from two different traditions themselves. (Though also a bit sad to write about, too, given what ends up happening!)

Thanks! That seems to be pretty much what Force nexuses are—though the Force is everywhere, there are places where it's particularly highly focused, just as a prism focuses light.

It was fun to write Chirrut! I liked him a lot in Rogue One, partly because it was so neat to meet yet another kind of non-Jedi Force adept, and partly because he reminded me a bit of my 7th grade English teacher. He seemed like the perfect person to guide Shulma and Telfien through the temple, and of course with Force senses as attuned as his he can tell that these two guests are the real thing. Right on target about the inspiration for the Ashla's words, too—thanks!

Good question. She might have been; the thing is that Gand have that ability to "store sleep," one of whose corollaries is that they can keep from losing consciousness under conditions when some other beings would. But even if she didn't react in the same way as the mammalian, oxy-breathing Shulma, I could see Telfien also being affected by such a portentous presence and revelation—and I could just as easily see her telling no one about it, being the secretive type that she is.

Right, exactly, and it would be especially hard to say that to someone who lived and worked there the way Chirrut does—that would almost feel like ingratitude, on top of everything else.

Ah, now you're making me think about what it will be like when she eventually finds out what happened to him! I say when and not if, because she does hear about the Rogue One expedition in Shaman, Traveler, Oracle (namely, that Pao perished in it), and it wouldn't take much more for her to learn the names of the other fallen—and to see that one of them was the good Guardian Îmwe who showed her such kindness.

Yes! Even after all that has happened, all that has been destroyed, he Force is still out there, audible in a "still, small voice" to those who listen very, very hard. Continuing the motif from earlier, its new temple is indeed the hearts of beings like Shulma, Telfien, Kanan, Ezra, Luke... and more to be born.

Thanks so much, as always, for all your help and support!

 

*cracks knuckles* My dear goodness, but I have fallen quite behind without meaning to - for which I do feel quite sheepish and have to extend a sincere apology! I have to remedy my silence now, because this collection has been just top shelf awesome. I've enjoyed catching up on every word.

Ha! I enjoyed the surface disparity of this situation - with Glockel trying to do Top Secret Things while Lua just starts being an eccentric, unassuming little old lady. (And I LOVED seeing this set come full circle as much as I did seeing the crew of the Rose Evergreen back in action again!)

Oh, Hondo. He's just too incorrigible for words.

!! Oh poor Shulma. I can just imagine her much put upon expression here!

Yep. Epic punch line is epic!

Oh such a beautiful dedication! Touching and heartrending all at once.

Such a difference in beloved here. But this was such a beautiful description of how she sees the Mists - so different and yet similar to Shulma's connection to the Ashla. Again, I really do appreciate and enjoy seeing different avenues of experiencing and channelling the Force as portrayed in your work!

Aw, I loved this! I am completely of the opinion that anyone who can make a neat stitch is a genius, as any form of sewing is a skill I struggle with myself. We each have our gifts, and one is not greater than the other. Just different! And they all compliment each other in the end.

Just gorgeous! This prompt was seemingly MADE for Telfein.

Oh! I love how this 'she' applied to every lady aboard the Rose Evergreen, even dear Rika!

I can't tell you how much this drabble struck a chord with me. I think it's my favorite yet!

!

I loved this characterization from Shulma's POV! Beautiful.

Oh Rika! I love how she added onto this beautiful memorial in her own way. It's great how meatbag has such an affectionate tone coming from her, too.

I DON'T KNOW HOW I DIDN'T PUT THIS TOGETHER BEFORE, BUT THIS FANON IS PERFECT!!

Oh oh OH! You have such a way, writing from the Force's POV. Such might and majesty and life and death and splendor all at once. It's not an easy thing, or I wouldn't even know to begin with such an undertaking myself, but you manage it with such grace and aplomb!

This entire set was just FANTASTIC, but I loved, in particular, the idea of something more surviving here. Whether it be a someone or a someones we all know or love, or some strain of kyber or the Force itself just seeing new life after lose. It's a beautiful set, and a wonderful expansion of the lore of R1!


This has been such a wonderful collection, again, and I can't wait to see where your muse takes you next!

 

Thank you both so much for reading and commenting.

Always so glad to have you here, and very honored indeed that you've been enjoying this!

Thanks so much, that is a compliment I appreciate very much! I admit I may have been trying to be too clever by half in "Lonely," but I'm glad that it was clear who was who and that that approach worked as a way of showing how alike these five are, even in their differences.

Yes, he sure does! As soon as I saw the "Pirate" prompt, I thought of him. And thanks, I'm so glad I managed to get his voice right--sometimes I find characters like that hard to write, so it was a good exercise.

Oh, yeah, certainly--I imagine this being a very natural thing for spiritually skilled people to feel sometimes! And of course in this character's case, there's a particularly bittersweet underlying feeling here, in that none of the spiritual skills she had spent so long studying ended up being enough to save her homeworld from Imperial invasion.

Thanks! The game that inspired this whole thing is actually mahjong, though the principle is similar to a lot of card games, of course. I'm one of those people who finds it impossible to maintain a poker face, myself, so I would be just as terrible at this game as Shulma is!

Oh yes, that is a very nice idea, and definitely the same sort of principle! And, as you point out, in the case of these characters, yet another way of showing their commonalities amid all their differences.

Yes, exactly! I've always loved the image of the "still small voice" (see, e.g., the way it is portrayed in Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah, in the chorus no. 34, "Behold, God the Lord passed by"). Even if all the kyber crystals have been stripped away from Jedha, the Force itself can never be destroyed, and is still there to be perceived by anyone who takes the time to do so.

Thank you so much, once again! I've enjoyed writing them, too, and I too hope I'll be able to continue; besides the fact that RL stresses have been hampering my writing lately, I'm also working on "Our Big Fat Lasat Wedding" at the same time, and it can be very hard for me to switch gears between in-progress projects. But I do intend to come back to them and hopefully eventually finish all twenty sets of prompts! Again, many thanks for being here, as always.

No worries at all, it brightens my day to see you whenever you're able, and I know RL has been rough on all of us these days, so I sympathize entirely! <3

And no one realizes yet that Lua is actually helping with those Top-Secret Things in her own unassuming way!

Isn't he, though? It was kind of fun to have my OC take him down a notch, even if just for a moment!

I imagine her being very good at that put-upon expression, after all the time she's spent with those brothers of hers, mischievous friends like Yhazi, and of course her Zeblove!

Thanks! I thought so too, if I do say so myself!

Thanks! Both the content and that dedication make it one of Shulma's favorite books. It's a comfort to her to still have it after losing everything of her homeworld, but bittersweet too, of course.

Thanks--I've really enjoyed exploring those similarities and difference in these two characters, too. The drabble form has really turned out to be a good vehicle for that.

Oh gosh, yes, same here--I have so much respect for anyone who can sew, knit, crochet, embroider, etc. And it's so true, we all have different gifts, and they all can come in useful at different times for different things. But sometimes they can be bittersweet reminders of the past, too, as for Telfien here.

It was, I agree! This whole set was such an amazing fit for this ensemble. And you're the one I have to thank for that, because it was one of your sets, as I recall!

Thanks! Yep, you got it! Lonely, to be sure, but together at the same time.

Oh, thank you, I'm so gad it resonated with you! I was very pleased with how this one turned out, as well.

here, too! Lasan is truly wherever she goes, because it's her. <3

Thank you! That's another spot I feel particularly proud of, if I do say so myself.

Thanks! I knew from the start I wanted her to be one of those droids who says/thinks "meatbag," though it turned out to be very different from the "meatbags" uttered by HK-47, and I'm totally cool with that. Again, if the organic ladies' pasts are enshrined in that corner, Rika is emblematic of their present.

Thanks so much--I confess this was the first time I put it together, myself!

Thanks--I guess it's gotten to be a little "thing" of mine, kind of! It's an interesting and challenging exercise each time, and I'm so glad you have found it effective.

Thanks! It's pretty much all of those things you say, and most of all the Force itself persisting against all odds. The "still small voice" is still there, we have but to listen for it! <3

Once again thank you so much for such an awesome review--I'm so glad you've been enjoying this, and I do look forward to returning to it again once some RL dust settles a bit. It always brings me joy to write this group of characters, and I'm glad they can bring joy to others as well!