Okay--so Firan and Jonas will accompany Maya, then? Or are we all going together?

Either way, since I'm not much of a wilderness type, I guess I'll make the first Survival roll. I have the Survival kit I rescued from the ship, and Kovin and Seifer are with me (?), so that's two boost die:

Survival: 2eA+2eB+1eD+1eC 3 successes

I thought we were ignoring the ship and not splitting the party.....

That was what Maya suggestion. She backed out of her original plan and followed Kovin's advice of heading towards the temple and letting him cover our tracks as we went.

I wasn't sure which we were doing, but if we're all together then I would have made the same check. The boost die bonus doesn't stack for having both Kovin and Maya I assume, so the roll remains the same.

As the party set out together, Xan decided to take the lead; he was hardly an expert on wilderness survival, but he figured he'd rely on Kovin or Maya later when the going got tougher.

"I learned a few things about orienteering from some old friends of mind, Vodo and Orielle," he says to the others. "Based on what Kovin told me, I think we should set out this way--it's more lightly forested, and provides less opportunities for a Flesh Raider ambush."

Xan also shares rations from the Survival kit if needed.

Survival: 2eA+2eB+1eD+1eC 3 successes

The way forward was easy. Given that the newly-formed band had food for the day, the decided to put some good distance between them and their likely pursuers. They travelled all day, stopping only to eat, and Maya was much help in finding paths through Tython's lush growth.

They finally stopped for the night just as the sun was going down. There was a thick copse of trees that formed a natural shelter, which stood by a peaceful river. The heroes made use of the last of their rations as they made their bedding for the night in the cooling, but still warm, jungle air.

As they reach the campsite at which they are stopping, Kovin speaks up. "We might have to slow down and do some hunting tomorrow," he says. "I hope your lightsabers are up to that!" he grins broadly.

Maya spent the first leg of the journey keeping to herself. She helped whenever she was asked, but she hardly seemed to interact with anyone beyond what was needed. By the end of the day, she was sure that none of the survivors were trying to kill her or Kovin. They had plenty of opportunities to throughout the day. But she couldn't shake the dark feeling she was having.

When it came time to settle in for the night, she found a spot nearby the fire. She longed to get lost in the hypnotic dance of the fire light, but Kovin's first lesson was to never stare directly into the fire at night. Doing so blinds you to whatever may be lurking in the darkness.

Kovin is more jovial than ever today. He's never had so many people around him, especially those of such alien species as Zabrak or Humans. He is wrapped up in talking to them, and quite unconsciously finds himself effectively neglecting Maya. Where normally he would check on her, he is too obsessed with asking questions about the Jedi to think of her.

That being said, he again keeps everyone up with questions for a long time!

Firan sits down on the opposite side of the fire from Maya, his helmet down on the ground at his side. He doesn't attempt to make conversation, just enjoys the quiet crackle of the flames.

Maya's attention drifted to the human soldier now sitting near her. She looked from his tell-tale helmet to his rough demeanor. She sensed nothing of the Force within him. "Your armor. Are you really a Mandelorian? Or did you kill one and take his stuff?"

"That's a more and more common occurrence in this day and age," Firan begins, "But no, I am legitimate. Born on Concord Dawn, a few stops away from Mandalore on the Perlemian Trade Route."

Maya's own gaze traveled to the others, Kovin and the rest of the Jedi. "But you travel with Jedi. I thought your people hated Jedi AND the Republic."

"We have a mutual enemy now, the Sith," Xan tells her. "Their leader, Revan, betrayed both the Jedi and the Mandalorians. We fight to free ourselves from his grasp."

Xan sighs, and adds, "The time will come when all must choose sides, to either stand with or against his Sith. We have chosen our side."

Maya furrowed her brow at Xan's words. "What did the Sith do? The Jedi opress them. Whenever they make themselves known in the Galaxy, it's the Jedi who wipe them out."

"The Jedi oppress them?" Xan said incredulously. "Throughout history, the Sith have, time and time again, attacked the Republic, bent on conquest. Their whole philosophy, their Sith Code, states that, "peace is a lie," and they live in constant conflict in their never-ending quest for personal power. The Jedi oppose them because we believe that with power comes responsibility, that all living creatures possess inherent rights that should not depend upon personal strength to receive. This is why the Sith hate us, and why they recently wiped out most of the Jedi, including my teachers and many of my friends."

"Furthermore, the Sith do not tolerate the notions of liberty or democracy; either you bend knee to them, or be crushed. As a Force user, you will have it worse still- you will either join them and serve them utterly, with no consideration given to your personal desires or sense of right and wrong, or you will be destroyed."

"Who on earth told you Jedi oppress the Sith? Only the Sith themselves spread such deceit."

Firan chuckles to himself a bit and smiles.

"The problem with that line of thinking is that you assume our conflict came about because of hatred. I was too young to fight in the war, but my family heeded the call, and it was not because of any sort of hatred for the Republic or Jedi, but because of duty. To Ara'nov, to Mand'alore. The Ultimate called them to war and they answered because that is the way of my people. Now Mandalore's feelings towards the Republic I do not know, but I'm under the impression it had more to do with a desire to expand his influence more so than a matter of personal beliefs."

He looks into the glowing flames, his face sunken, less amused.

"However you are right, at least on some level. At some point in time I would have gladly admitted to hating the Jedi and their precious Republic. Maybe I still do... But I hate what has taken their place even more. Really I see very little difference between the Jedi and the Sith. The ones called Sith now were calling themselves Jedi just a few decades ago. But it's kind of like what Xan said, we have a common enemy. I hate the Jedi that now call themselves Sith, I've found no reason yet to hate those that fight alongside the Resistance."

"It's funny Xan," Firan says, looking to him and chuckling again, "That Sith code sounds like something my people could relate with!"

Slightly removed from the group, Seifer removes his cloak, spreads it on the ground and retrieves his tool kit.

"Kovin, if your interested, I could teach you some more about the ways of the Jedi and lightsabers."

Seifer sits down on his cloak cross-legged and begins some to check over his lightsaber after it's rough treatment in it's last fight. After insuring everything is in working order. Seifer places his elbows on his knees with the lightsaber resting in his palms. He closes his eyes and begins to meditate, reaching out with with his senses focusing on the crystal that lay at the heart of the blade. He allowed the Force to flow through him into the crystal and back, strengthening the connection between the blade and it's weilder.

Adding Delection (first mod) to my Lorrdian Crystal: 2eA+2eP+1eD+1eF 3 successes, 3 advantage, 2 Dark Side

At the fire, Kovin offers his input: "The Sith put their own power before anything else? That sounds wrong. If you have power you should be like the Jedi, and use it to protect others. The greatest virtue is to have compassion for others, to care for them in times of need. And the Sith oppose that."

Moving away from the fire, he approaches Seifer. "Of course I'd like to know more! It's a fascinating weapon. I imagine it's a very different fighting style to my staff. You know, I once found an odd thing - a cube, sat in a cave, that gave out a hologram. That hologram was broken almost beyond use, but it knew enough to teach me a few basics from an old fighting style - I think it was called Shien. But the weapons used in the holo, the more I think about it, look a lot like your lightsabers."

"Shien, or the Fifth Form, is one of the forms of lightsaber combat," Jonas explains, joining the conversation. "There are quite a few of them, each one more or less focusing on a different aspect of offense and defense. Some are more effective against foes armed with blasters while others fare better against enemies wielding close combat weapons, for instance." He pauses for a moment as his mind travels back to the time when he was an apprentice, when the Jedi Order was still in existence.

"The one you mention, for example, is supposed to be quite effective at blocking blaster fire, though there is a variant that is more dedicated to fighting against opponents wielding lightsabers. It revolves around defending mostly so you can counterattack immediately rather than simply remaining on the defensive." He looks at Seifer. "Soresu, another form, the Third, is a bit more... patient in that regard."

"Well that about tallies with what I was taught. Perhaps you could teach me more about the other forms?"

I'm happy to move on to the next day unless anyone has any IC conversation to make.

Maya drank in Firan's words and considered his point of view. She saw a bit of pragmatism in his reasoning, and she had a measure of respect for that. But Xan's own explanation seemed wrong. To her, Xan was viewing things from a scope too narrow to get a complete picture.

When he asked her who had told her lies about the Sith, she merely shrugged. "Just something I heard."