deercountry | Sept. Catch-All; I was dead when I woke up this morning/And I'll be dead before the day is done...

I. Knowledge Is Power

While Maul is a surly, grumpy, and altogether hard to be around, he honestly isn't all that bad when it comes to talking to people when it comes to the particular subject of getting them to talk about deep stuff. He's got a way of talking bluntly to a person even when they don't want to discuss heavy things and just wearing them down until they just give up trying to dance around the subject and start telling him what he's curious to know about them. (Just ask Obi-Wan how well this works.)

He waits for people to approach him instead of the other way around, not wanting to seem like a predatory animal on the hunt the way he so often does. He'll gesture for them to sit down at a nearby table. Once they do, he leans forward, staring at them intently with eyes that never seem to need to blink. "Let us get started, shall we? There's no other way around this but to begin." Then he leans back and waits for the other person to talk.

II. The Great Hunt

When Maul heard about the hunt for the monster known as the Bugge, he was very insistent about the beast being killed. Though he rarely told anyone about his past, he'd been deprived of food on a regular basis as a very young child as a punishment when under the control of his Nightbrother caretaker. It was a pattern that would continue for the rest of his life, first with Sidious as a way to control him and then later on when he tried to eke out a living on Lotho Minor, half-mad and never able to find enough to eat save when there was a person around he could kill so he could eat them.

"There's nothing left to do but kill it," he told whoever had come on the hunt with him. Sometimes he went out with other Hunters and sometimes on his own with just one or two other Sleepers with him. "I'm not going to budge on this. I won't see this place end up with all the people in it starving simply because a bunch of bleeding hearts don't have the strength to do what needs to be done. So if you're going to be squeamish about this, turn around and go home. I'll do this myself if I have to." Maul's face was full of resolve. He was going to kill this beast whether or not he had help.

Though help would definitely be most appreciated going after something as big and mean as this monster.

I. Growing Pains

Maul doesn't usually check in on the rose that represents his personal growth here in Trench, but seeing as how he's been here a year, he feels it's time to. It's growing at the edge of his property He's pleasantly surprised to find that that it is in much improved. Last year, it had been withered to the point of nearly being dead.

This year, it looks much, much better. It's still wrinkled, somewhat wilted, and a little sickly-looking, with the idea it needs a lot more TLC to really start thriving but it's no longer black and almost rotting. One can find Maul kneeling down next to it, touching the petals gently with his clawed fingers, a thoughtful expression on his face. Eventually, he pulls out a dagger, pricks his finger, and lets a few drops of blood fall on it. "Another year to grow on," Maul says softly, though his voice will carry on the breeze if there's anyone nearby to witness the event.

II. River of Regret

Maul looks around him with a resigned expression on his face when he's once again sucked up into a whirlwind of feathers and then deposited on the river. "Well, this was all sorts of fun last years, so I suppose our gracious hosts decided to put us through this again."

He looks over at the other person there with him in the boat with undisguised impatience, surliness, and anger in his eyes. "Let's get this over with as quickly as possible. I have many other places I'd rather be here than this." Maul trails his fingers in the water and looks towards the other person, pointedly avoiding the whole horde of corpses on the shore that represent the regrets Maul has. "Do you want to start or should I?"

III. Bloodsport

Maul was all too eager to start fighting again once the Bloodsport effects came upon him again. This year, he tried his best not to take out too much aggression against his fellow Sleepers. Still, that didn't mean he was going to be completely passive. If anyone stepped a foot onto his property during this month, they'd find themselves with Maul leaping out at them, ready with one of his weapons. There was an eager look in his eye that made it clear he was ready for battle. "Defend yourself," he said, gesturing to one of those nearby he'd deliberately left out if they didn't already possess ones themselves.

Otherwise, he could be found at the Gate, having far too much fun as he fought opponent after opponent. Being dramatic and flashy in his movements, the crowd loved watching Maul give a performance. That was essentially what it was too, for Maul found few opponents that could measure up to snuff for him. Most of the time, he simply toyed with a person until he was ready to take them out for good, but occasionally he'd find someone worth his while. Smiling with sharp teeth and gesturing to the crowd, he would say: "Let's give them what they want, shall we?"

I. Crabs

When Maul hears that there's giant crabs down on the shore, he decides to go off and fight them so he could get some meat. He and his brother can eat it, plus his Nightmare Steed is very fond of eating the meat from the crabs as well. It's been a while since he went up against the crabs but this time he's prepared. He grabs his two lightsabers and heads on down to the shore.

If there's anyone he thinks would like to participate in the fight as well, he'll call them up with an offer. "Would you like to go kill some monsters down by the seaside?" He'll ask as an offer, not even bothering to disguise the glee and eagerness in his voice.

II. Absolute Immersion Memshare

As for Maul, he was a bookworm at at heart, and reading was something he did on a regular basis. He grew curious about the books being offered from the Archaic Archives and went off to see what sort of texts were being offered. He would sit down with the books and start to read, never aware that he was reading someone's actual memories until it was far too late to stop and he got sucked into the books. He would do his best to seek out whoever the memory belonged to in order to talk to them later on about what he'd seen.

If someone came across one of his own memories, it wouldn't be hard to tell that this belonged to Maul. He'd been put into so many dangerous situations in his life that threatened life and limb that it was small wonder there was a myriad for people to read about and get sucked into.

He wouldn't be happy about this turn of events but neither would he take out any anger on those who had seen them so long as they neither mocked or threatened to use the memories against him. Maul was well-aware of Trench's tendency to force people to interact with one another and be vulnerable to them. After the initial anger, he would calm down and be ready to talk more with whoever about what they had seen.

[OOC: If you'd like a personal prompt for Maul's memories or him to view a specific one of your character's, let me know at

Light_shade or Lightshade#4738 on Discord so we can work something out!]

I. Spiky Cat

Maul was feeling a lot more cuddly than he was normally warranted to be thanks to the blood effects going on with Vilebloods this month. Most of the time, he was like an aloof spiky cat, only willing to have physical contact with a few select people and swiping his claws at anyone else who got close. But right now? He was willing to shower anyone he liked even a little bit with lots of affection both physical and mental. Honestly, it wasn't one of the worst things Trench had ever done to him, and it was nice to have his walls come down a bit for once.

For those he didn't like at all, he'd hang about most reluctantly, but still unwilling to leave them until his urge for companionship had been satisfied. With these people, he'd be more standoffish but still willing to shower a person with affection until they either left of their own accord or he finally got tired of doing so himself. On the plus side, at least everyone he was hanging around with felt much better mentally afterwards.

II. Taming The Mankey

Maul is out in the middle of his rather large yard with one of his Pokémon: Cranky the Mankey. He's got his Omni out and is looking through the Trench wiki version of "Bulbapedia". He's been meaning to get to know his little critter better for some time now. He's carefully going through all the attacks he might now. "Alright, let's start from low to high. Can you do Scratch?" Cranky obediently goes over to a tree and starts swiping at the bark, leaving several long gouges in it. "Very good. Have a banana." Maul tosses him half of one and lets Cranky start gnawing on it.

He runs through several more attacks, Cranky demonstrating each one for him willingly. Then they get past the level one attacks. "What about Fury Swipes?" Cranky thinks about this for a moment, looking confused as he screeches at him and bounces all around, now looking quite annoyed. "Well, excuse me, it's not like I'm an expert on this. Shouldn't you be able to figure this all out by instinct anyway?"

It's not really clear if Maul actually understands the screeching little Pokémon or if he just ascribes his own thoughts to the beast. Whoever comes up will find Maul still talking to the pig-monkey. When he sees someone coming near, he waves them on over. "Cranky, would you like to show off to our new guest?" Since the Mankey pretty much is Maul in Pokémon form, it's definitely not above showing off flashy moves to impress people.

Edited 2022-09-24 02:23 (UTC)

Johnny hadn't come for one of the dumb bracelets. He also wasn't a huge fan of nerd shit like libraries but it had what he needed. His hood was up and he was ready to make a break for it, but then he sees Maul sitting there and there is moment where he just looks absolutely dumbfounded.

he takes a few steps forward and lowers his sun glasses to make sure his eyes aren't deceiving him, but then he realizes that he's been noticed and he decides to sit down. His copy of "Mending relationships with teenager for dummies" gets set down on the table between them.

"Seriously? I didn't figure you were the type to do all this getting to know you
shit."

[ obi-wan blinks. ]

And hello to you too. What's this all about?

"I do when there is ultimately a reward for me at the end of it all," Maul says. He's not one to hide the fact that, much like a young child, he ultimately does things because they will benefit him in some fashion. Sometimes growing up, the reward was as simple as avoiding punishment from his master, and sometimes as an adult it's just the satisfaction of getting what he wants.

Maul glances at the title of the book and smirks. "I didn't know someone wrote a book specifically with you in mind."

A reward is being offered to those who open up to one another.

[He gives Obi-Wan the once over, checking him out up and down.]

And where have you been? I would have thought you had gone back to the sea but I could still sense you here in the city.

[ obi-wan raises an eyebrow. ]

It must be quite the reward. And as you can see, I'm quite all right.

[ albeit, ten years older. ]

It provides an item that can rid a patch of ground completely of corruption. A very useful thing to have.

[He considers Obi-Wan's appearance.]

You seem......different.

[He's not just talking about the physical differences of the lines around his eyes and different hair. There's something Maul can sense in the Force around Obi-Wan that's a bit lighter and less coiled than it has been in months.]

[ obi-wan huffs lightly. ]

I suppose I have garnered some overdue closure.

[Maul considers that. Some might be willing to let Obi-Wan's vague words go at just that but not his old foe.]

How so?

"No, I agree with you," Shen Yuan says quickly. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't." He'd seen the video of Deku's attempt at healing one of the creatures, and even if he'd agreed with the kid that kind of social fallout was way more trouble than it was worth. On the other hand, being known as a Bugge hunter would surely only do good things for his reputionation...Not to mention that his Omen had been chomping at the bit to go on a proper night hunt for weeks now, ever since he'd started seriously working on his cultivation.

But mostly, on a level of honesty so cringey that he could barely admit to it to himself let alone anyone else, he just really wanted to see Darth Maul in action. He was the best part of the prequels, okay?? Who cared that he was a lot more talkative in real life than he'd been in the movies, Shen Yuan just really wanted to see him fight something. He'd hold up his own part of the fight as well, of course! But he couldn't pass up the chance to see Darth Maul do his thing.

"How do you want to do this?" he asks, tucking his hands into his wide sleeves. "I'm a decent close-range fighter, but I can also use magic to throw debris at the creature to distract and blind it."

Luke had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to get back at Maul (not get revenge! Jedi don't do that!) for his comments earlier in the month. He had tried to be patient, tried to take his time and plan, but the urge to just fight became harder and harder to ignore, until he finally couldn't anymore. Even walking the whole way to Maul's place from where he was currently at did little to satiate that desire, only taking the edge off. It was to the point that by the time he could sense Maul hanging around the front gate to his home, also eager for a fight, every bit of him was tingling, anxious for what was about to come.

He took his own lightsaber in hand, but he kept his pace, if only out of hopes that it would frustrate Maul, taking his sweet time for the inevitable. And he meant business too, the fact that Vader's lightsaber was also on his belt, instead of tucked away in its usual hiding spot, spoke volumes to that. He didn't even ignite the saber he was carrying until he was just in sight of the gate, his arm feeling like it became an extension of the weapon, tingling with the same energy as the blade.

Luke was there for a fight, and Maul had better be ready for what was coming to him.

I confronted the Empire.

And the people who still fight.

It appears it restored something in you.

[Maul pauses for a moment as he figures out just what that is.]

Hope.

[ his expression softens. ]

I always had hope. But I learned that I don't need to grasp it for myself.

In life, there's people you can look at and know you shouldn't engage. Appearances are one thing, and then there's the aura, how they hold themselves that can tell you, this is above your pay grade.

Or maybe, really, Robby is really judging a book by its cover. He's not going to blame himself for it -- look at that guy(???), sitting there at that table, where Robby notices them while coming to the end of an aisle. In his world, that's a person designed to look like trouble, and he isn't unresponsive to such influences. But it's also their sitting at that table in the Archives, without a book, which is exactly what makes him pause and think. He's done it himself - even had something written so people would bother him, when he was reading. A meaningless get to know you for a mutual desired reward. End of, and that's that.

Robby makes his decision after a few seconds, where he's figuring the worst that can be done is that he'll be told to buzz off. Stopping at the end of the table, asking first, "The bracelet?", and he'll accept the direction to sit.

And he's not not unnerved by what he's met with. Meeting that intensity, blinking himself; but Robby holds something neutral, not forced, yet an expression that can't mask that he's thinking, assessing this. Evaluating. Cautious.

Let's get this started. He's aware who has to do that, and so:

"Robby Keene," he offers first. "I got here this month. Don't come from a world where everyone's carrying weapons, magic's make-believe, and the only beasts you've got to worry about are the ones going through the trash. You're more likely to be killed by another person than a crab. I wanted to be a pro skater as a kid. Today, my dream's not dying getting stuck in some alternate hallway dimension. Or anywhere else."

He speaks plainly, even for the parts that may be humorous. Throwing out something, and now seeing what he gets back, reaction and all.

And how long did it take for you to learn that lesson?

[He's trying to figure out at what point it is between when the Clone Wars ended and when Maul lasts sees Obi-Wan when they're old men. Somewhere in the middle there he supposes, though Obi-Wan has aged quite well....for now at least.]

[ he hums. ]

Ten years, I suppose?

[Maul considers that. It was quite the length of time. He wonders what he was doing in the galaxy at that point. The memories he has of the future start when he's on Malachor and that is still far off. There's a number of things he can say but what ends up coming out of his mouth is:]

You certainly aged well.

[Look, he's married, not blind.]

For the moment anyway.

Thank you. Though I don't think aging well is high on my priorities.

[Maul snorts in amusement.]

Enjoy it while you can. It'll catch up to you eventually.

Even if it does, why would it matter?

That is what is called a flippant remark, Kenobi. I think you would be familiar with them by now.

[Given how often he uses them himself.]

Sept. Catch-All; I was dead when I woke up this morning/And I'll be dead before the day is done...

Event Prompts

Event Prompts: 2021 Re-run Edition

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Knoweldge is power

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II. The Great Hunt

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