Jedi Academy

Eir was cranky as a three-year-old who refused a nap, she had the hood of her new armour pulled up, the scarf wound over her nose and mouth, and her thermal cloak wrapped tightly around her. The only reason her arms were in her sleeves, instead of pulled in next to her body was that if she needed to use her hands, putting them in cold sleeves would be objectively worse. Still, she'd made the trek out to see the Jedi Temple, through the howling winds and snow. It was cold and it was wet and it nothing like the ocean on Auratera.

Reaching the Temple, she stamped the worst of the snow off her boots before entered.

Two hooded, masked, armed, and armored Jedi had guarded the entrance. They were humorless, and barely spoke. Once Eir had been established as a Jedi, though, they let her in.

It was a short path from here to the main chamber. There didn't seem to be anyone else coming and going at the moment, and it was surprisingly quiet for an inhabited place, even one inhabited by Jedi.

Eir wandered into the main chamber, she had mainly come to see the kyber crysal and the statues.

If Eir had come to see an enormous kyber crystal and statues, she would not be disappointed.

Even hundreds of meters up, the crystal looked enormous, like a crystal sun. It sparkled in the sunlight, sending diffuse beams throughout the whole chamber. The statues, too, were enormous, even by the standards of someone living on Coruscant. Although they were all hooded and armed with lightsabers, little difference could be seen in their poses and their builds; clearly they were modeled after different people.

Eir wasn't so disrespectful as to take photos inside a Temple that was still inhabited, and no mere image could capture the enormity of her surroundings anyway. She felt very, very small looking up at the people of stone and wondering what each of them had been honoured for. Maybe she'd look it up later, that information might should still be around. Perhaps it was the size of the place, but she felt insignificant and lost.

After a time, the sight of the kyber crystal burned indelibly into her memory, she began to look for a meditation room.

The temple was large indeed. At the back of the main hallway, a door led into the inhabited part of the temple; that much was obvious.

From there, it was a bit less obvious. The corridor darkened further ahead; down quite a ways, she could see what looked like an ice-covered door, and two more guardian Jedi. On the other hand, there was also a flight of stairs leading both down and up.

There were also occasional passing Jedi now if she wanted to ask directions. They seemed surprisingly incurious about Eir. Perhaps they got visitors all the time? That seemed unlikely.

Judging by the guards at the entrance, Eir assumed that only Jedi were permitted in the temple and, seeing as each trainee visited Ilum to construct their lightsaber, that it wasn't exactly unusual for the inhabitants to see strangers about once in a while. She didn't want to disturb anyone, and the low light wasn't a hindrance to her, so she wandered along the halls, poking her head into rooms that were open. She'd stumble across a meditation chamber sooner or later, and she might see something interesting along the way.

There wasn't much on this floor. The floor up had the useful sorts of rooms for a temple. Training room, mess hall, that sort of thing. Up from there was private rooms. Still no sign of meditation rooms.

Not until she went up...

and up...

and up...

It was at the top of an enormous flight of stairs, bringing her, she'd guess, about half the height of the main chamber. The meditation chamber was made entirely out of transparisteel. Half of the foundation beyond that seemed to be rock, the other half, back towards the main chamber, permanently frozen ice, thick enough that not a trace of outside light was visible.

There were a few Jedi here and there, all facing the wall of ice, and the scent of incense was in the air.

As quietly as she could, she looked for a place to join the other Jedi meditating.

There was plenty of space, and none of it seemed assigned. Eir could take a spot as near or as far to other Jedi as she wished.

Eir looked to the other Jedi for guidance, and sat a little further away than they did to each other, she was a stranger after all. She arranged herself in the lotus position, folding her arms and tucking in her cold hands. For a time, she simply breathed, her heart and breathing rate slowing.

The chill was not especially conducive to meditation... but it was not so cold as to prevent it, either. And the light and the incense were both providing an appropriate sort of atmosphere.

Except for the barely audible breathing of nearby Jedi, it was silent.

Her thermal cloak kept the worst of the chill at bay, but Eir was certain that her rear would go numb if she ended up sitting here too long. Gazing at the wall of ice, she thought about Auratera, about being warm. In fact, if she really thought about it, the breathing of the other Jedi almost sounded like ocean waves rolling in and out.

In fact, it was more than just quiet. It was tranquil.

Even without trying to sense them, the peacefulness of the nearby meditating Jedi was almost a tangible thing. Like a clear pool of pure water, untouched, undisturbed. A stone could be thrown into that water, and it would ripple, react, but the pool would remain unchanged.

Eir let the tranquility wash over her. It was a strange experience. She’d been cooped up in her own head between Auratera and Ilum, spending too much time with her thoughts. Yet, the peace of the meditation chamber seemed to quiet those thoughts. She realised she had been afraid, afraid to draw on the Force, afraid there was something wrong with her, afraid of the call of the Dark waiting in the wings.

The coordinated spirituality of the Jedi was a steady thing indeed. Even as one rose, silently bowing to the others, and left, there was no change in the feeling of tranquility.