Private Among the Faithful, a Lie

[Qyssiyana]

Location: Arbitration Forum, Meridian - Jhaessa Prime
Notable Equipment and Personal Effects: Red Dress
Objective:

• Attend the interfaith conference.
  
  • Investigate the various religions and belief systems of the galaxy.
  • Find exploitable populations.

Tag: Jael Amnen

Qyssiyana was a novice in the delicate art of playing pretend. Even with her psionic gifts, the Elryssia nearly felt out of her depth. If not for her months of preparation, study, and training for this specific mission (and perhaps future ones like it), she might have fallen into a panic, at what was sure to be the worst possible time.

Fortunately, she had mostly taken care of said panic while inside her hotel room.

An interfaith conference. From her training, Qyssiyana knew that this was a relatively basic infiltration, a gentle entry point into the world of espionage. After all, there were quite literally millions of religions across the galaxy. Her handlers in the Dark Court could have simply made up a religion for her to pose as an adherent to. However, they had instead opted to have her infiltrate as a member of a little known pyrolatry cult known as the Order of the Eternal Flame. Her preparation had involved a deep study of their traditions, rituals, teachings. She had even attended one of their fire ceremonies in a village on Phenex while disguising herself as a Twi’lek, feeling the heat of their devotion against her skin.

This time, she arrived almost entirely as herself.

Qyssiyana. No new name or alias. She was an adherent of the Order of the Eternal Flame—a traditional healer and ritual dancer from the Order, a performer trained in the sacred art of fire.

Stepping into the meeting forum, Qyssiyana paused to take stock of the vibrant tapestry of faith woven into the main foyer. She caught sight of a pair of nuns from the Celestial Luminarium, a medallion featuring the Six Petal Rosette worn over their dark habits. A voodoo witch clad in a dark dress exchanged quiet words with a witch from the Blue Coral Divers Clan. In her periphery, a wizened Elder of the Jedite Church shared a drink with a hulking Wookiee Matukai, their laughter a low rumble amidst the polite murmur.

However, amongst them all, one figure among them caught more than just a cursory glance: a woman with rich, deep brown skin and silver-shaded hair that presented a striking contrast to her hue.

A moonlit river set against a dark horizon.

Qyssiyana had a mission: finding exploitable populations and analyzing their belief systems, so that they could be infiltrated and thereafter, exploited by the Dark Court. And perhaps, this woman was a perfect place for her work to begin.

 

[Jael Amnen]

Jael Amnen’s preparations were a ritual of their own. Thin silks, pale as mist, settled against her skin as if the fabric belonged there. She pinned the cascade of silver-white braids to one side, letting the polished beads catch the lantern-light in small, deliberate sparks. A crescent of silver rested against her chest, a quiet emblem of the goddess she bore with her into every gathering. She had no need for excess adornment. She was adornment.

When she stepped into the forum, she did not seize the room so much as allow it to arrange itself around her. Priests paused mid-discussion. Eyes lingered longer than they ought. She moved among them not with hauteur, but with a patient grace that suggested she was accustomed to the gravity of attention. A soft word here, a hand upon a bowed head there. The way her lips curved in polite acknowledgment left one unsure whether they had received blessing or dismissal.

The interfaith conference was a cacophony of voices, and emblems of faith. Yet as Jael’s eyes traveled, silver-shadowed and searching, they found the flame-bearer who stood apart. The woman’s presence was a bright thing, and in its brightness, unfamiliar. Jael allowed the moment to linger. She could feel that the non-human watched and weighed her. So, she moved with unhurried purpose across the floor.

When she drew near, the air seemed to shift with her. Jael inclined her head, the crescent pendant glinting as it caught the light between them.

“The Eternal Flame,” she said, her voice low, melodic, “a dangerous yet beautiful promise.”

Her gaze lingered, soft but insistent, as if she sought not the surface but the marrow beneath.

“Tell me, sister…what makes a flame...eternal?”

Qyssiyana​

 

[Qyssiyana]

Location: Arbitration Forum, Meridian - Jhaessa Prime
Notable Equipment and Personal Effects: Red Dress
Objective:

• Attend the interfaith conference.
  
  • Investigate the various religions and belief systems of the galaxy.
  • Find exploitable populations.

Tag: Jael Amnen

Qyssiyana’s triocular gaze lifted as the dark-skinned woman approached, each eye capturing a different facet of her presence: the elegant cascade of silver-white braids, the subtle sway of her steps, the crescent-shaped pendant that rested like a sliver of captured moonlight against her chest. All the while, the hem of Qyssiyana’s own crimson dress whispered against the polished floor, a soft sigh of silk as a smile touched the corners of her cyan-painted lips. Her eyes caught and held the shifting light within the forum, reflecting its dance with a subtle glow.

“The Eternal Flame,” she said, her voice low, melodic, “a dangerous yet beautiful promise.”

Qyssiyana’s response came as a mellifluous murmur, head tilting in a gesture of curiosity. "Perhaps, but is it not true that all promises of life carry danger? Is a star not dangerous? Is love not dangerous? The ion engines that carry us through the void, are those not dangerous?”

Her gaze lingered, soft but insistent, as if she sought not the surface but the marrow beneath.

“Tell me, sister…what makes a flame...eternal?”

A serene, knowing expression settled on Qyssiyana’s features, hands moving in graceful, illustrative arcs as she spoke. “An outsider sees a flame and thinks only of fuel and air. They see a thing that consumes and thus, must one day be consumed in turn. They see an end.” Her voice took on a reverent tone. She paused, considering the gravity of her next words if only for the fact that they represented sacred teachings. “The Red Priestesses understand that flame is a transformation. It is a process where matter becomes energy, where a solid becomes light and warmth. It does not die; it changes. The log is not destroyed; it is released. Its energy joins the air, warming us, fueling life, driving motion. Is the log gone? Or has it simply become one with all things?"

Qyssiyana opened her palms, as if cradling an invisible spark.

"The Mother Flame is the First Spark. The moment of creation. It is the energy that became the Force that became all life. The flame is eternal not because it is actively stoked, but because we are its eternal vessels. We pass it from temple to temple, from heart to heart, keeping it alive through faith and deeds. It is fed by every healing touch, every protected child, every selfless work made manifest. These acts are the true fuel.”

She looked directly at the Shirayan priestess, gaze unwavering and intense.

“Darkness may threaten to smother it, but the unwavering will of life to persevere will always rise to meet it. Purity, balance, devotion—these are the qualities that give the flame the oxygen which allows it to breathe."

By that point, it was all Qyssyana could do to stop the smile from tugging too hard at her features!