"Ssssoooo what do you think it is?"

She barely glances up. "I think that sometime shortly before or during the Great Hyperspace War, this planet was discovered independently by the Sith and Jedi, and visited by both. And at that time, there was only a single sentient species present."

"—and now there are two because...?"

"This species was unusually attuned to the Force, and very sensitive to its...mm, call it texture. When the Sith and Jedi began introducing foreign concepts and more abstract ways of thinking about the Force, this sparked a sort of schism. On one side, those who wished to embrace the outsiders, and on the other, those who did not. Not that either side would have been wholly unified, and of course the Sith and Jedi kept on meddling. Sel-Makor was the embodiment of this split, full of the hatred and rage and distrust of outsiders it spawned. Perhaps the result of a ritual gone awry, maybe one the Jedi intended to heal the division. I imagine its appearance put an end to the presence of offworlders. And so those who followed the outsiders' teachings retreated to a mountaintop city, and in time forgot or chose to forget their origins, retaining only the insularity they learned from being persecuted by their one-time kinsmen."

"And the ones who didn't retreat... developed their own philosophy?"

"In that they rejected the notion a philosophy was necessary at all. I believe that over time, that developed into a general fear of those who can use the Force actively. Recall that the shaman we met said that the king was hunting his people."

"So... what to the Gormak actually do?"

"In what sense?"

"The shamans, I mean, if they don't—have a philosophy, or don't actively use the Force."

"They do use the Force; that's why they're being hunted. The impression I got was that they were much more... instinctual, than Sith or Jedi. They don't introspect, ask why. They just do."

"—ah. Huh."

"Naturally, I'm basing this on very little information."

"We have a Gormak on ship, we can ask them."

"Yes, I suppose we can."

More research?

Just a bit more. Then Occlus pronounces herself satisfied, and they can leave.

And when they're far enough from prying ears, "Conclusions?"

"I think I am essentially correct. There are traces of Jedi and Sith influence in Voss rituals, and the ways the histories don't talk about certain things is suggestive. And there are similarities between the Force presence of the shaman and that of the Mystics here. Add to that the inscriptions we found in the ruins, and it comes together."

She nods. "That makes sense. I'm—curious—but I think less interested, now."

"Curious about what?"

"Curious about what their perspective is, I mean, I still want to ask that Gormak, but if it's as you say... it does not sound like I'd be suited for that either."

"No, I don't think you would be."

She looks about to say something but apparently thinks better of it and remains silent.

Then back to the ship and away.

...she thinks she needs to sleep. It has been a long... stretch of time.