Caelia Timarath
Scarlet Blade
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Add some flavour to the royalist Eldorai. Sub a unit for Caelia to work with and provide Vaena with some assets.
Image Credit: Here. Pic is from Salt.
Role: Special operations team, black ops. The Nemeses carry out assassinations and other clandestine operations. They are overseen by Vaena.
Permissions: They can use Firemane equipment because I own the company (Siobhan Kerrigan is my writer's account). Permission for all ArmaTech gear and all other subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and and here. Permission for Vanir items here.
Links: Kaeshana, Four of a Kind, Denouement, Casus Belli, Eldorai Exodus, Angelii, Firemane, House Cadalthor, The Past is the Past, Vashyada, Xioquo, Shadow Knights, Aspirants.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Nemesis Team XIII
Affiliation: Vaena Cadalthor, Eldorai Matriarchy, Caelia Timarath.
Classification: Black Ops
Description: Nemesis Team XIII is a deliberately misleading name, as it implies that there at least twelve others. Indeed, their handlers maintain data on various fictitious teams. This is supposed to confuse enemies by making them think the group the squad belongs to is larger and thus more dangerous than it actually is. The team is composed of twelve special operatives who serve the Eldorai Crown as spies, assassins and other deniable assets. The Nemeses operate within the framework of the Eldorai secret service, which means they are part of a larger group. The squad belongs to the Scarlet Blades, which are part of the Celestial Intervention Agency.
In Eldorai mythology, the Nemesis is a wrathful spirit that takes vengeance on those who break their oaths, succumb to hubris and defy the law of the Goddess. Officially, the Star Queen of the Eldorai is a theocratic as well as a temporal ruler. The devout regard her as the Goddess' viceroy in the material realm. This makes it a fitting name, even though the present administration has de-emphasised the theocratic element of the Eldorai Matriarchy. Similar to their namesake, the Nemeses is supposed to enact retribution against those who have wronged the Eldorai people in general and the royalists in particular.
Plausible deniability is an important characteristic of their operations. Neither their existence nor their missions are officially acknowledged by the Crown. Should they succeed, no one will hear of them. If they fail, they do not exist and thus cannot expect to be bailed out. They carry out assassinations to further the political goals of the Crown and intimidate its rivals. Their methods may include a speeder bomb, a sabotaged shuttle, a silenced shot from a sniper rifle, poison in a target's dinner, a knife thrust to the larynx or a garrot. They are obviouly not limited to any of this. However, Nemesis aims to accomplish its tasks stealthily and with minimal amount of fuss.
Nemesis does not operate in a vacuum, but works with a larger support team outside of the unit. The support personnel helps Nemesis find its target and monitors them. They also make use of informants. Headquarters supplies them with information on the whereabouts of their targets, contacts and safe houses. One hit squad cannot do everything on its own, after all. Righteous Way, an Eldorai televangelist media network, sometimes provides them with covers. Each execution is carefully planned. One of Nemesis' rules is that no members of a target's family are supposed to be killed unless they have been involved in actions against the Eldorai. Moreover, each operation has to receive official sanction, which makes the agents state-appointed executioners. This may seem like semantics to an outsider, but it is viewed as an important distinction between arbitrary terrorism and carrying out a legal mandate. Furthermore, Eldorai are legalists.
Political assassination has a long history at the Byzantine courts of Eldorai monarchs. However, the circumstances are quite different now. Once the Eldorai were united, but today they are scattered. Their homeworld Kaeshana has been reduced to an inhospitable, uninhabited tomb world. Chief among the group's targets are Imperials who committed atrocities against the Eldorai people, but also slavers, other criminal elements and Eldorai rebels. The Eldorai have become very factionalised and rogue groups such as the Shadow Knights and the Aspirants have become quite influential. The Nemeses do not aim to merely assassinate a target, but also make the circles behind said target frightened. The enemy is supposed to feel that they are being watched and can be eliminated at any moment. The operations are supposed to serve as a reminder that the Eldorai do not forgive or forget. For this reason, the Nemeses make a habit of always sending an anonymous condolence card to the family of a target shortly before the deed is done.
Nemesis recruits its operatives among soldiers who used to serve in Eldorai special forces units, the Angelii as well as the assassin temple. Any potential recruit is thoroughly vetted before being inducted as a full member. This is supposed to weed out unsuitable elements such as psychopaths, irresponsible cowboys or people who are joining under idealised assumptions and will likely to develop moral qualms once they are awakened to the harsh reality of their work.
Each agent has been hand-picked not only for their combat and infiltration skills, but also their mental stability. To this end, a mental evaluation is mandatory. As part of their training, they are also supposed to a battery of mental assaults and are conditioned to resist Force-based mental influences. Some operatives are Force-Sensitive, though not all of them. However, both must meet the same requirements. Nemesis looks for Force-Users who are capable of being team players and have their emotions in check. Flashy gloryhounds, mystics and would-be chosen ones who may have tremendous power, but lack self-control are unwelcome.
Nemesis has to be self-reliant, as the operatives will often have to operate in deep cover with little support for an extended period of time. They must also be knowledgeable about the customs of foreign planets and species. Broadly speaking, the group is divided into two assassins, two operatives who screen them and protect them from dangers, two operatives who are responsible for the logistics by providing cover identities, apartments, vehicles etc., four operatives who are responsible for shadowing targets, providing an escape route and so on, and finally two agents who handle communications and slicing. As a result, the team member who surveils a target will not be the same person as the one who kills it, which reduces the risk of discovery.
This means that each agent specialises in one aspect of an operation. However, their roles are not set in stone and each agent is expected to be able to shift to a different job as needed. For instance, every agent has skill in piloting a ground vehicle or small starship such as a shuttle and has received training in surveillance, weapons' use, first aid and so on. This ensures that the team is not left stranded if a specialist is killed or incapacitated. Moreover, every Nemesis received a suicide pill, which is to be used in the event of capture or torture is escape is deemed impossible. Nemesis is a tight-knit group, but the agents also understand that they are deniable operatives. If the worst comes to pass, they cannot expect the cavalry to come knocking to bail them out.
In keeping with the group's clandestine nature, Nemesis does not have flamboyant uniforms or emblems they wear on their clothes. Their line of work requires them to keep their allegiance secret. They may disguise themselves as civilians, mercenaries or, if feasible, the soldiers of the enemy in order to get close to a target. Azkari'Navar is the sole male member of the group and a Xioquo rather than an Eldorai. Both the Eldorai and their cousins are very matriarchal, which means that women have commandeered the top jobs. Gender roles are rather inverted. However, even by Eldorai standards the Xioquo are extreme.
Navar used to serve as an assassin for the oligarchic Council that ruled the Xioquo in the name of the 'dark goddess' Mystra, until it was overthrown as a result of the war with Firemane and its Eldorai allies. He was recruited to the Eldorai after the final battle, having warned them about a terrorist plot. This proved his loyalty. Navar was trained as a black widow type agent. He gets rightly annoyed when he is supposed to wear a tight outfit while the girls get practical ones.
Ilcaya Stavra is one of the Forsaken. This is the term used for Eldorai who were left behind on Kaeshana during the Exodus and had to survive in the blasted wasteland the planet became following an asteroid impact. This made her a hardened survivalist. She was among the Eldorai who were evacuated after the Battle of Kaeshana. She is still quite bitter about the abandonment of her people, but the pay is good.
Ilcaya is used to surviving in the wastes. She is great at tech stuff and has a healthy dose of disdain for non-elves, especially humans. She is one of the agents responsible for logistical details such as acquiring safehouses, escape vehicles, fake identities and so on. Maedra Tagalya is a former member of the Angelii, the Force using corps of shock troops and palace guards who serve the Star Queen. She is still quite young by Eldorai standards and has volunteered to serve queen and country. She is brave and skilled, but a bit idealistic compared to the rest.
Tyrai Venasa is an old hand at spycraft and wetwork. She was already part of Nemesis during the reign of Tirathana VI. Thus she was trained in the old ways. She and Caelia are old acquaintances. However, Tyrai was unthawed just before the Star Queen died, which means she was never refrozen. She served Silaqui III and then Tirathana VII as a spy and bodyguard. Now she has been brought in to direct the team. Tyrai has seen many regimes and handlers come and go. Parametres have changed, agents have been sacrificed and agencies purged, but the fundamental nature of her task has remained unchanged. She carries out her assignments with cool professionalism.
Kravasa is a Vashyada member of the group. The wood elves make ideal trackers and hunters, which is why she observes and shadows targets. She is used to watching and striking from afar. Kravas comes from a clan that found itself out of step when the Lady Tylania started unofficially directing the future of her people. Moreover, she is a Force-User who has felt the call of the Dark Side. This makes her less welcome among mainstream Vash, who revere the Light and exile darksiders.
Nemesis is overseen by Vaena Cadalthor, known to her close friends as Vaena Askari. She is the bastard daughter of a noblewoman and a former Angelii. She was ennobled after her cousin Tarissa Cadalthor, the ruling duchess, was executed for treason. Vaena has been put in charge of the newly-formed ministry of exploration and expansion. As part of that she has various agents working under her, and works with the intelligence bureaus as needed. Vaena is a former shock trooper, not a trained intelligence officer.
Her political and social views are very conservative, but she is a lot more loyal than her late cousin. Vaena is grateful to Firemane for the aid it has rendered the Eldorai people, such as saving them from extinction. However, she does not view them as benevolent saviours. To her, they are a self-interested party whose influence has reduced the Eldorai to a state of vassalage. She also believes that Eldorai traditions are at risk of being eroded by human values. In short, she wants her people to make their own path. They should work with the humans, but not replace the iron collar of the Imperials with the velvet choker of Firemane. Of course, she does not have free reign to do with the group as she sees fit. Nemesis is supposed to serve the state, after all, not a single Eldorai noblewoman - especially one whose family has a rather checkered past. However, the duchess obviously has a lot of pull.
Caelia Timarath works with Nemesis. Inducted into an assassin temple at a young age, Caelia served Tirathana VI as a Blade of the Star Queen. In the days of yore, all non-Eldorai were regarded as demons, ghosts or soulless abominations. That was the official version at least. However, Tirathana VI knew better, though she kept her people in ignorance. Caelia was one of those Eldorai who were trained to go off-world and deal with exiles or dissenters who might be smuggling in forbidden ideas or encouraging revolt.
Her superiors, mindful of 'foreign contamination' or betrayal, eventually instituted the practice of having agents frozen and then defrosted to send them on missions. After her last mission, Caelia returned to base and was put on ice. However, she was never thawed and thus slept through many of the cataclysmic events that defined her people. Now she has been found and reactivated. Detached, cold and adrift, she is many ways a fish out of temporal water, having woken up in a galaxy that is very different from the one she remembers. However, some things have remained consistent. There are still enemies of the state who needed to be traced and eliminated, though her new superiors are less brutal than her old ones.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Small
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Elite.
Equipment:
Armour:
- MN-B Infiltrator suit with an SH-N Projection Helmet. Generally paired with civilian clothes to make them appear non-threatening, while providing them with some protection.
- AE-A1 Ghostsuit
- ACS-004 Spectre Scout Suit
- VT-SI-19 Stealth Sniper Rifle
- ACS-205 Blackblade Modular Rifle
- DC-19 Stealth Carbine
- VT-Needle Disruptor
- Verpine Shatter Rifle
- VT-Particle SMG
- Model MGL-1. Often mounted on another rifle as an under-barrel attachment.
- Renegade Model 557
- A280 CFE
- Hold-Out Bolter
- SSK-5 Icon Blaster Pistol
- Sonic Stunner
- Verpine Shattergun
- Magnetic Revolver
Misc:
- Stealth Field Generator
- Taozin Amulet, Multispectrum Disguise Suite.
- Grenades, Explosive Briefcase, Detpack.
- Misc. surveillance tools like EAR-1, Electrobugs, Surveillance Kits, Audio
- Telescope, Snoop-Cam, Privavy-7 Audio Curtain.
- Misc. poisons such as Senflax, Zemex and Affide crystals.
Transport:
Combat Function: Nemesis is a group of assassins, spies and the like. They are a surgical instrument, not a broadsword or a battle axe. Rather than bring frontline combatants, its goal is to eliminate select targets, such as military and political leaders, terrorists and the like. As a result, they operate outside of the regular chain of command. They excel in skills such as infiltration, espionage, slicing, clandestine assassination, surveillance, sniping, and demolitions. Each member is trained to pilot ground vehicles and small starships. The group has twelve members, who each have a different specialisation. However, cross-training ensures that each member is able to do the job of the others. They will not be as good as the specialist, but proficient enough to ensure the group has not been left in a lurch.
Nemesis foregoes tanky armour in favour of more lightweight, stealthy suits that give them flexibility and allow them to evade detection. Due to the nature of their work, they have been trained to be very resistant to mind tricks and other Force-based means of mental manipulation. Nemesis includes both Force-Users and Non-Force-Users among its ranks. The latter represent the majority of the group. In keeping with their mission, the Force-Users tend to focus on cerebral skills rather than flashy powers that could draw attention.
Force-Using operatives usually specialise in Force Cloak and Force Stealth, allowing them to turn invisible and to conceal their Force presence or alignment from other adepts, Telekinesis, elemental fire shaping, Force Stasis, Memory Rub, and standard physical enhancement powers to say augment their speed and reflexes and leap huge distances. Their Sense abilities are well-honed.
Strengths:
- Elite team of black ops operators and assassins.
- Versatile due to mix of Force-Users and Non-Force-Users.
- Extremely small unit. They have a dozen operators at most. Thus they are easily outnumbered. They may be very skilled, but at a certain point quantity has a quality of its own.
- Specialists, not assault troops. They are spies and assassins and thus not a unit for frontline combat. They are lightly armoured and lack heavy weapons. Going up against tanks and the like is bad idea.
Eldorai love political intrigue as much as any species in the galaxy. Byzantine machinations have long been a staple of life at the royal court. Officially, the Star Queen is the viceroy and emissary of the Great Goddess Ashira in the material realm. Ashira is regarded as the creator of the Eldorai species, which is why she is also called the Heavenly Mother. This means that every Eldorai owes fealty to the Queen, her chosen representative. Treason is not just a high crime, it is heresy. However, the Eldorai are no monolith. Time and again, there have been rebellions, palace coups, revolutions and civil wars. The machinations at cost often have real personal costs.
It is only fitting that successive Star Queens have maintained cadres of assassins in order to eliminate their political rivals, heretics and malcontents. Now that the Eldorai have been thrust onto a galactic stage a lot bigger than they thought, the need for such agents seems even more pressing, for they find themselves divided, outgunned and outnumbered in a hostile galaxy. The Nemeses have a long history. The exact date of their foundation is in dispute, as the group has probably been purged, dissolved and refounded many times. However, they were definitely active during the Kar'zun wars and the Time of Troubles.
Originally, the Nemeses were linked to the Investigators of Ashira's Truth, the dreaded secret police that prosecuted 'internal enemies' and 'heretics'. The Investigators were established by Anais I, who was known as the Zealous. It was she who gave the Matriarchy the theocratic character. Hitherto the Queens had mostly been secular rulers with a religious veneer, but from her reign onward the Queen was endowed with a sacral aura. She also opened the infamous ‘Island of Fallen Angels’ to house political prisoners.
While the Investigators carried out a full-fledged inquisition to root out heretics, the Nemeses eliminated those enemies of the Crown and the Faith - for the two were one - who lurked in the shadows. They were also deployed if openly prosecuting a suspected traitor would be politically inconvenient. For a while they were based on the Island of Fallen Angels, a secret prison camp located on a remote island. Political prisoners were interned here without trial and often subjected to torture. The Nemeses trained here. Anais' daughter Anais II continued her mother's policies, becoming the greatest conqueror of all Eldorai queens save Ariane. However, such conquests and impositions of central authority created enemies. This meant new prisoners for the Island of Fallen Angels and new targets for the Nemeses.
However, one dangerous aspect of shadowy operatives and assassins is that they are often difficult to control unless one has a firm leash. The fact that they are supposed to spy on influential figures and do the government's dirty work also means they know all manners of secrets. When central authority collapsed during the Time of Troubles and several Eldorai claimants vied for the throne, the Nemeses went rogue. The agents sold their services to the highest bidder, using their knowledge and capabilities to play queenmaker. They might help a claimant gain the throne, then assassinate her when she proved inconvenient. For a while they were part of a 'league of assassins'. However, rivalries within the sect led to infighting, enabling claimants to exploit the rivalry.
This chapter in their history ended with the ascent of Vaenia the Restorer. She responded to the problem by purging the rogue assassin temple, rebuilding it with her own temple and imposing stricter controls. The Nemeses and their assassin sistren were heavily involved in the Kar'zun war, assassinating key Kar'zun commanders and shamans as well as rogue Eldorai. They were also involved in a part of history that is virtually unknown. It concerned the fate of Silaqui II, Ariane the Great's predecessor.
Sources claim that she was possessed, a Kar'zun puppet or brainwashed. Ariane deposed her to become queen and defeat the Kar'zun, who at the time were on the brink of conquering all of Kaeshana. Supposedly Silaqui II overcame her conditioning and helped defeat her tormentor but was slain in the battle. However, a deposed Star Queen, no matter how blameless, could never be allowed to go free. So the Nemeses abducted her, switching her with the corpse of another Eldorai. The ruse would fool the Eldorai public into thinking Silaqui had died a martyr. The assassins had the real Silaqui imprisoned inside an underground cell.
Ariane eventually decided that she was too dangerous to be kept alive. A trusted assassin did the deed. An Ashiran temple was later built over the cell. Those who questioned the official narrative were silenced. Celestyne Cadalthor, the ambitious head of House Cadalthor, was also a target. House Cadalthor had grown strong during the Time of Troubles and played an important role at the final battle against the Kar'zun. The family added vast tracts of land in former Kar'zun territory to their domain, becoming one of the biggest landowners in Kaeshana. Shortly after Ariane's death, Celestyne was poisoned by a Nemesis during an inspection tour. The assassin made it look like she had suddenly fallen sick. During the suspicious years of Maerys II, they dug up dirt on the noble house of Tarai, who were accused of plotting.
When foreigners started coming to Kaeshana in increasing numbers, the Nemeses received the task of eliminating saboteurs and Eldorai dissidents who had succumbed to 'heretical' ideas. Before carbon freezing was available, their handlers used Force methods to keep the agents contained between missions. This was a precaution to ensure they could not go rogue. It became particularly pertinent when some agents started being dispatched on missions beyond Kaeshana.
Tirathana VI launched an aggressive campaign of political assassination to maintain her rule. The Nemeses collaborated with another squad to carry out the chain murders, a series of assassinations that resulted in the deaths of more than eighty Eldorai poets, political activists, reformist clerics, translators and ordinary citizens. The assassins' methods included speeder crashed, stabbings, staged muggings, and poisonings.
One of the Nemeses' victims was a Kar'zun healer called Azar'razak. Despite the centuries of enmity between both people, which culminated in the Kar'zun being driven to the brink of extinction and confined to reservations by the elves, she applied herself to Kar'zun and Eldorai alike on Kaeshana. But Tirathana VI grew concerned about her popularity and unifying message, and there was a 'tragic accident'. The Nemeses were one of many hit squads that existed under her reign. The Queen encouraged rivalry between the different spy groups in order to make sure that no single department could grow strong enough to become a threat.
But changes occured under her daughter and eventual successor Tirathana VII, who ushered in a period of relative liberalisation. Heretic burnings and assassination of nonconformists were not just immoral, but an inefficient way to keep the Matriarchy safe. She also had several groups merged into one cohesive secret service. Not all Nemeses agreed with the new course. Two of them participated in an attempted reactionary coup against the Queen. A third defected to Eldorai rebels and eventually became a Shadow Knight.
Reforms were carried out to make the operatives more accountable to the law as well as do away with cruel practices such as freezing them in between missions. Nemesis was integrated into the Scarlet Blades, a group that had hitherto been tasked with carrying out off-world operations. This was part of a move to bring various spy groups under one umbrella and ensure that they did not operate at cross-purposes. Vaena Cadalthor was made responsible for overseeing them. As of late, the Nemeses were tasked with eliminating Imperials involved in atrocities against the Eldorai, such as Sithspawn experimentation and crucifixions. This has been termed Operation Wrath of the Goddess. Moreover, they still hunt down Dark Eldorai rebels, traitorous aristocrats and the like. Caelia Timarath, who was recently thawed, has been assigned to work with the group.
Last edited:
