Bankor

After the meeting, Lyseil headed out again to the shrine she had visited earlier for the monks' trials, this time bringing along some of her own personal stuff to give to the monks - like the 10 ration packs she kept in case of an emergency in her survival kit. The army saw to her needs here, and she was mostly proficient in foraging for food and water, so maybe they could use it more?

She approached with a sense of calm and respect for the place... perhaps because of her success in passing their trials earlier, she wondered, even if she knew a part of it was that she always tried to keep a respectful habit towards new people.

"Hello...?" Lyseil said softly, looking around for any monks still awake.

A trio of monks, a large rotund female Zabrak with a generous stomach and powerful muscles, a thin human male wearing only a loin cloth, and another woman a near-human with purple skin turn to the Panteer scion; the large Zabrak woman spoke, “Welcome outlander, enjoying the rain?”

The thin man added, “The gift that only ends when you need it most.”

"The rain is lovely," she said chipperly. Rain usually kept the worst of the bugs down! And it was very refreshing after weeks in the desert!

"I hope I'm not intruding? I wish to learn more of your people... your traditions...?" Lyseil asked, trying to keep a warm and friendly tone and hoping they wouldn't be insulted by such a question. "I brought some food, as I understand you don't have much here? It's... not a whole lot, but it's something!"

Enthusiasm. Yeah!

“You learn by doing, by living as anything does. The master shows you the Way, and you walk it, either you walk as the Master or you walk as you see fit. If you follow the Way you arrive at the same destination even if the journey was different,” the large woman responded.

“The trick is that the destination is a lie,” the thin man chortled.

“They say every baby knows the way, until they suffer the trauma of birth,” the last of the trio spouted in Huttese.

That was all very interesting, and some of it made sense! Some of, well, she needed to remember more about her philosophy-lessons.

"So, everyone can follow the Way? I understand that the Way for you is what others call the Force?"

“What is the Force?” one asked.

"Uh, well, from what I've heard of those who can feel it - the Force is this energy that binds all life together. It exists within all things alive." It was always such a difficult question for an academic who was not Force-sensitive, as they just had to go on the vague mumbo-jumbo of jedi and mystics.

“So the Force is like water? Or perhaps the Force is more like molecules of elements? The space between atoms?” the large woman said.

“No, no, no… the Force is more mystical,” the thin man said.

“The Force is nothing,” the final ascetic said.

All very good points! At least Lyseil was amused.

"Seems it holds different meanings for you? Your order encourages everyone to find their own meaning and understanding, yes-yes?"

“Yes and no,” the large woman replied joyfully.

“You cannot separate what you call Force from a person or thing, it simply is. Even if you cannot know it, it is there. All can know the Way, the Way is in all of us.”

“The Way is in all things, not all things are in the Way,” the thin man replied.

"I suppose that makes sense..." she nodded.

"... Do you mind if I look around your shrine more? Take pictures?"

“If that is your Way,” she said in reply.

Lyseil nodded. "It... kinda is? I mean, I'm a scholar - I try to understand and learn more, and hope others can learn from what I've learned."

They all laugh heartily and the thin man said, “To hope is to bleat like a child in the rain. Either your information is shared or it is ignored.”

Lyseil didn't frown, but her smile was considerably dimmed.

"I think we will respectfully disagree on the meaning of hope, honored one," she bowed her head. Hope is important!

"Do you not hope yourselves? Like, hoping to return to your temple?"

“No, it is a useless gesture performed by the weak when they have nothing else to sustain them,” the woman replied with a chuckle.

I vehemently disagree with that!

"Weakness in itself is not wrong though. Infants and children are weak because they haven't grown up yet to become stronger, after all."

"Should we treat you as an infant then, change your small clothes?" the thin man replied.

Lyseil chuckled at that. "Ah, no-no... I promise I've outgrown that."

"But just pointing out that weakness is different and not an inherently bad thing. It's just a starting point in many ways, right? A warrior once started out as weak before they learned how to fight. And we all become weak when we grow old."

"True, we all must find our Way from weakness to strength," she said in agreement.