Once, it was the home to the witches of Dathomir, otherwise known as the Nightsisters. Tucked away in from the rest of the galaxy in an isolated cluster, the Nightsisters were able to draw energy from the planet itself, and pursued a type of ritualistic magic. They ruled over the population of Zabrak—Nightbrothers—and used them as a warrior caste to serve their purposes.

Then, the Clone Wars. The Nightsisters were pulled into the conflict due to the machinations of Mother Talzin and her rival Darth Sidious. This ultimately led to the eradication of the Dathomirians and their settlements. The desolation was claimed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems after the last Nightsister fell.

Now, the planet known as Dathomir is a haunted skeleton of its former greatness. A perpetual crimson glow coats the planet. The bleak world has become an amalgamation of ruined forest, decrepit swamp lands, and withered mountains worn to the sands of time.

In the desolate swamps, faint echoes haunt the graves of the long-dead witches, infusing the green fog that spreads above the damp ground. Dreadful whispers rumoured to be lingering incantations defend the world from intruders. Tall tales and rumors of zombies and ritual sacrifice alluding to grisly flashes of imagery.

The trees, large and misshapen, promise misery to those who touch their tortured bark and open themselves to the memories of the place. Eerie as the voices over the wind, the water beneath the fog appears red and bubbling, as if the land itself were pockmarked in cauldrons of blood to keep the incantations alive.

Creatures unaffected by the purge of the Nightsisters still remain. Snakes, reptiles and insects of varying lethality wander the wasteland. Reports have even said that rancor still roam freely.

This is Dathomir.

Tassk and Raziel disembarked the Taliahad, and were immediately greeted by oppressive humidity, and the more underlying and pervasive Dark Side taint that covered the planet. The jury was out on which was worse, given that Tassk was covered in fur, and Raziel was functionally encased in metal.

“You called me out personally Knight,” Raziel said, creating some space between the two. “Care to explain why?”

Tassk made a noise somewhere between a purr and a grumble, all the while his eyes darted hither and yon, clearly taking in the wet ground, trees, and vines that existed all around their landing spot. “All the Jedi, and none of them are willing to give me the fight I need.”

“Right?” Raziel replied, easily setting his weight on his back foot while simultaneously adjusting his foot positioning. “For a bunch of people who talk about fear leading here and there, they’re too scared to act half the time.”

Tassk nodded, catching Raziel adjusting his footwork, and did the same. He was more balanced, and looked far more at ease. “It’s insulting. If I don’t risk death, I learn nothing.”

Raziel was the first to ignite his lightsaber, the icy blade’s light mixing with the crimson of the planet to create a lavender haze in the clearing. “Let’s tempt destiny then,”

“Yes, let’s,” Tassk replied, and steeled himself for the assault that would surely come from the Djem So master, and come that assault did. Immediately Raziel set into sweeping orbits, keeping his blade moving as he approached.

Each step should have squelched with mud, but the deep tread in Raziel’s boots kept his movements sure and deliberate. Tassk kept on his toes, and when the first dangerous strike from the onslaught was in range of connecting, he sidestepped and brought his own lightsaber up, the blade springing from the hilt while in motion.

The contact checked Raziel’s momentum, forcing him into a turn to follow the new trajectory and maintain the motion he was committed to. It was the opening Tassk needed to more fully put himself into a more advantageous position. Given his already prodigious height, he pretty much always had the high ground, but he augmented it by stepping up onto a large exposed tree root, giving himself a dozen and change more centimeters in height.

Raziel adjusted the best he could, shifting from middle orbits to higher in an effort to protect his head from the downward shot that Tassk was already lined up for. Again, there was quick contact, and again it forced a momentum change, just what Tassk wanted.

The moment Raziel’s blade cleared and was on its way backwards over his head, Tassk shot a foot out in a wicked, Force empowered punting kick, the motion seeming aimed to knock the Akk dog styled helmet off of his opponent’s head.

It would have, too, if not for the split-second feeling of danger Raziel felt creep up his spine. It gave him the heads-up he needed to lean his head backwards, turning a solid blow into more of a glance, but even that glance rang his bell, and pushed him back a half a meter.

Tassk followed up his attack by leaping into the air, his lightsaber in a one handed grip and coming down in a terminal arc. The attack couldn’t have been more telegraphed if he’d transmitted it via Holo-net, which let Raziel set himself for the attack by whipping his saber into a two-handed high horizontal guard.

The moment Tassk’s own lightsaber made impact with Raziel’s, his off-hand, which hadn’t been idle, went to work. In mid-flight he’d drawn his knife from its sheath on his left hip, and the moment his weight came fully down he dropped lower and raked his blade across Raziel’s abdomen in a strike that would have disemboweled a foe.

Instead of being covered in gore, however, the only sensory input was a harsh screeching sound the moment the well honed blade drug across the metal of Raziel’s armor. That attack was the opening Raziel was waiting on, and at the apex of Tassk’s reverse gripped knife swing, he put his shoulder into Tassk’s sternum and shoved, using leverage to defeat strength and send him skittering back in an effort to remain on his feet.

“Nice trick. I’ll make you a vibroknife to make up for wrecking that one,” Raziel quipped. “You’re letting Dathomir get to you though, push aside the taint here and keep in control.”