Valora's Chosen Great Company, First Legion Angels of Wrath
Duty, Sacrifice, Fidelity, Sisterhood, Faith and Valour. These are the principles the Heavenly and Wrathful Angels of the Great Goddess Ashira, more commonly known as the Angelii for the sake of simplicity, swear by. They are not merely soldiers, but the avenging angels of the Supreme Goddess. They do whatever is necessary to protect the life of the Star Queen, who is Ashira's viceroy in this world, and defend the Eldorai Matriarchy. Their Sciiac talents are a gift from the Goddess and they call upon their elemental powers to smite her enemies. On any battlefield, they're the first in and the last out.
Those who fall in battle are honoured as martyrs, for they've made the supreme sacrifice and will ascend to become angels. At least that is the theory. Every Angelii unit is expected to embody these virtues and be the first line of defence of the Matriarchy. The Valora's Chosen Great Company of the Angels of Wrath Legion is particularly adamant about being the most elite Angelii unit.
Like most Angelii units, the Valora's Chosen boast an ancient, illustrious lineage, even though the modern-day unit probably has very little in common with its ancestors. However, they still remember their long-dead battle sisters and carry the old battle flags. To be precise, they claim descent from an Angelii Great Company that earned itself a place of honour in the annals of the order when they fought a numerically superior Kar'zun army at the pass of Thermiscyra. The Angelii were vastly outnumbered and outgunned, but fought to the last drop of blood until they'd been annihilated.
Only two Angelii survived the battle and lived to tell the tale to their brethren. Every Angelii who perished in battle was posthumously awarded the Star of Ashira and declared a martyr. The legendary Talon Jain Zar was credited with destroying half a dozen Kar'zun with her terramancy and Sarix before succumbing to her injuries. She was honoured as a Defender of the Faith. High Captain Alenia Yelvaris was canonised as a Living Saint and held up as an example of self-sacrificing patriotism.
Eldorai historians have used the Battle of Thermiscyra as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending its homeland. The performance of the defenders is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and the good use of terrain as force multipliers. When Ariane the Great led the Eldorai army against the hated foe, 'remember Thermiscyra' became a rallying cry.
However, modern, revisionist historians have cast doubt on the significance of the battle. While the Kar'zun suffered heavy casualties, they were not particularly impeded. Sharia Vamaris caused a storm of controversy when she called the battle a senseless sacrifice and attacked High Captain Yelvaris for needlessly squandering the lives of her battle sisters because of the Queen's infamous no retreat order. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between. Angelii command continues to stick with the traditional interpretation.
The Chosen were reconstituted after Thermiscyra and has been part of the Angels of Wrath (Legion I of the Angelii) since then. Its warriors participated in the Sacking of the Kar'zun, which broke the stone people and forever brought Kaeshana under the dominion of the Eldorai. For a long time after that, the unit was posted in former Kar'zun territory and participated in counterinsurgency operations to eliminate Kar'zun partisans and 'keep order' in the reservation zones. It must be admitted that although the resistance was real, to a significant extent COIN operations were merely cover for Ariane's genocidal war against the stone people. After centuries of warfare, she wanted to wipe the slate clean and claim Kaeshana for the Eldorai alone.
Villages were destroyed, Kar'zun massacred by the thousands. The lucky ones were broken up into groups and moved out of their mountainous habitats into the open, forced into alpine and tundra areas where the Eldorai did not live. So many had died in the war, and so few children were born that a population collapse of ninety percent occurred within just two hundred years. It was a shocking near-genocide that was probably only halted by Ariane's death. Her daughter was not as much of a zealot as her mother and preferred to keep the Kar'zun contained, though they continued to be tightly regulated. In modern times, Eldorai liberals are more than a little embarrassed about these events. The unit's history prefers to gloss over them, though Angelii commanders admit that 'excesses' took place, though Ariane is still venerated as her nation's saviour, since without her leadership the Eldorai would have been subjugated by the stone people. Like many Angelii units, the Angels of Wrath as a whole and the Chosen inn particular played an infamous role in palace intrigues and coups.
Chief Minister Aelynthi Cadalthor used them to become the Grey Eminence during the reign of the weak-willed Maelys II. Until the Angelii mutinied because she wasn't paying them enough and had removed a popular commander, which helped Tirathana V come to power and purge both Aelynthi and her supporters. Thereafter, the power of the Angelii was curtailed and though the Company was rewarded handsomely, it was stationed away from Santaissa for a while till the Queen felt safe in the saddle.
The Chosen had to adapt to a changing environment and new threats when Outsiders made contact with Kaeshana. The first to arrive on its shores were pirates and slavers, who considered the Eldorai easy prey. They came not only for gems and gold, but to seize young Eldorai, especially females, and sell them as slaves. They were emboldened by the technological backwardness of the Eldorai, who lacked blasters and other modern weapons. The first encounter with corsairs was a sobering experience, since their superior weaponry caused high casualties, though the Angelii fought valiantly and slew many human and Trandoshan slavers. Ironically, the Great Company's commander ended up being purged for suggesting that Eldorai tech might be inferior, since that would mean conceding that Ashira was weaker than the foreign demons. At this point in time, the Eldorai believed they were the only intelligent race in the universe. All non-Eldorai were branded as the demonic spawn of the the goddess Illyria, who'd rebelled against Ashira and been cast into the pit of hell. At the same time, some foreigners began to settle on Kaeshana and trade with the Eldorai, though they were confined to a ghetto in Santaissa and tightly regulated.
The Company suffered a blow to its prestige when two of its promising battle sisters, Host Leader Lavina Taldir and her sister Wing Leader Kaida Taldir, were accused of treason and fled Kaeshana. This is not the place to discuss this rather convoluted series of events, but suffice to say both discovered the secrets the Eldorai monarchy had kept buried and ended up joining Omega Pyre after Jedi Master Phylis Alince and Colonel Siobhan Kerrigan visited the Eldorai.
This caused a lot of bad blood since the Company was harshly punished. Thus it should be no surprise that many members of the Great Company sided with Nalia Venari when she launched her palace coup after Tirathana VI's death. The Queen's niece was popular with the army and promised them a return to the old days and victory over the outsiders. The rupture was like a raw wound in the unit and it took many years to heal.
However, times were changing. Nalia died and Silaqui III ascended the throne. Under her reign, Kaeshana became a member world of the Omega Protectorate, though it retained internal autonomy and, in deference to the Eldorai's distrust of foreigners, no ODF garrison was stationed on the planet. Surprisingly, the Great Company was not decimated, which is probably due to the liberalising influence of Crown Princess Anya Venari. Its commanders were replaced and the unit was reorganised. Military advisers from Omega Pyre began to instruct the Angelii on how to use modern weapons and tactics. The fact that OP's commander, Siobhan Kerrigan, was an open Eldorai lover who admired the elves' culture probably helped smooth the transition. Pirates and slavers were driven back and defeated, which boosted morale.
When the revolutionary Righteous Army launched a coup against Silaqui and murdered her, the unit sided with the Crown Princess Anya, who went on to become Queen Tirathana VII and ushered in the Venari Restoration. This was the time for a new generation of Angelii to rise. Traditionally, promotion in the Eldorai military takes a long time and has more to do with connections and seniority than merit. This is also because elves live rather long lives, but a new age demanded new ways of thinking. This was the time of young but more open-minded Angelii such as Vaena Askari, secretly the bastard daughter of a Cadalthor matriarch, and Kaida Taldir. The latter was first made a Host Leader, and then eventually took command of the Valora's Chosen after being promoted to Captain. Cold, dour and uncharismatic, Taldir has never been the type of commander the soldiers love. Especially because many still remembered her as a “monkeigh lover” and though she followed regulations to the letter and attended every church ceremony, she was known to be an atheist.
However, though never loved, she won her soldiers' respect through her Spartan life style, courage and unflinching dedication to duty. The Angelii were introduced to new weapons such as bolters and blasters, which augmented their arsenal, though they held on to traditional Angelii ones such as the sarix and the sarzmigar. What emerged was a hybrid form of combat that combined the Angelii phalanx with modern weaponry. The Valora's Chosen new tactics to the test on the killing fields of Gehenna and, in a remarkable turn of events, fought alongside its former Kar'zun foes when the Lost Kar'zun invaded Kaeshana. It was on the frontlines of the Troubles on Kaeshana during the Rapture and the Liberation of Sullust when Angelii rescued the Prophetess Coryth Elaris from a horde of Klaxxi.
Where the Protectorate failed, the Eldorai succeeded. Disillusionment with the galactic conglomerate, which was now incapable of protecting its own people, soared. The Great Company spearheaded the purgation of Arkas, discovering the lost elves, and the expedition to Tygara. They faced corsairs and slaughtered them, then provided protection for the Levantine Sanctum and Firemane emissaries when they initiated first contact with the Qadiri and Shâhbanu Semiramis. But the darkest period in the Company's history was soon to follow when the Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana began.
Many Angelii from the Angels of Wrath Legion rebelled, some joining the Cult of the Silver Star, which believed the asteroid could be stopped if they repented for welcoming outsiders. Others mutinied because many of the poor were being left behind by the Exodus fleet. What came to pass was civil war in the streets of Santaissa as chaos broke out. Seraph Taldir's decisive but brutal leadership won her few friends. Panicking and rioting civilians were gunned down to keep order, traitorous Angelii were executed without mercy.
However, it got the job done and, by and large, the unit remained loyal the Crown. Nonetheless, casualties were significant. After transferring to Tygara, the unit was kept in reserve for a while since it needed new blood to replenish its numbers. Since so many Sciians had died, it was forced to conscript recruits who'd normally be rejected due to low Sciia potential.
But the unit soon returned to the frontlines and was stationed on the border to the Xioquo. Here the Valora's Chosen maintained their own fort, holding the line against the dark elves. A Xioquo assault on the fortress was used as a casus belli for the Eldorai's assault on the Underealm, though it's likely they would have attacked anyway. Despite being outnumbered and attacked by Xioquo war engines after being lured into a trap, the Angelii prevailed. When Alliance forces attacked the Underrealm, the unit distinguished itself by seizing one of their fortresses, battling not only the Xioquo's janissaries but also their war beasts.
After moving deep into the seemingly endless tunnels of the Underrealm and seizing the Xioquo's beast pens, elements of the unit aided Lady Kerrigan, Captain Tempest and Jedi E'ron in slaying Mystra, the drows' so called goddess. Every Angelii who was involved in fighting her received an award after the action, though many of these were posthumous. Of note is the unit's strict observance of the Angelii's ROE. Xioquo soldiers who surrendered were taken into captivity and treated with decency. Thus many drows, especially child soldiers forced into service, surrendered rather than face certain death when it became clear that their cause was lost. Things calmed down for the unit after the grand battle.
The Angels of Wrath Legion is presently stationed in Xioquo territory and serves as an occupation force. Tight regulations govern its behaviour to prevent a return to the excesses of post-Kar'zun war era. While it is on long-term assignment in Xioquo territory, the unit rotates being posted in the land of the drows and the Eldorai capital, New Santaissa, since an Angelii's primary duty is to protect the Star Queen.
Duty, Sacrifice, Fidelity, Sisterhood, Faith and Valour. These are the principles the Heavenly and Wrathful Angels of the Great Goddess Ashira, more commonly known as the Angelii for the sake of simplicity, swear by. They are not merely soldiers, but the avenging angels of the Supreme Goddess. They do whatever is necessary to protect the life of the Star Queen, who is Ashira's viceroy in this world, and defend the Eldorai Matriarchy. Their Sciiac talents are a gift from the Goddess and they call upon their elemental powers to smite her enemies. On any battlefield, they're the first in and the last out.
Those who fall in battle are honoured as martyrs, for they've made the supreme sacrifice and will ascend to become angels. At least that is the theory. Every Angelii unit is expected to embody these virtues and be the first line of defence of the Matriarchy. The Valora's Chosen Great Company of the Angels of Wrath Legion is particularly adamant about being the most elite Angelii unit.
Like most Angelii units, the Valora's Chosen boast an ancient, illustrious lineage, even though the modern-day unit probably has very little in common with its ancestors. However, they still remember their long-dead battle sisters and carry the old battle flags. To be precise, they claim descent from an Angelii Great Company that earned itself a place of honour in the annals of the order when they fought a numerically superior Kar'zun army at the pass of Thermiscyra. The Angelii were vastly outnumbered and outgunned, but fought to the last drop of blood until they'd been annihilated.
Only two Angelii survived the battle and lived to tell the tale to their brethren. Every Angelii who perished in battle was posthumously awarded the Star of Ashira and declared a martyr. The legendary Talon Jain Zar was credited with destroying half a dozen Kar'zun with her terramancy and Sarix before succumbing to her injuries. She was honoured as a Defender of the Faith. High Captain Alenia Yelvaris was canonised as a Living Saint and held up as an example of self-sacrificing patriotism.
Eldorai historians have used the Battle of Thermiscyra as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending its homeland. The performance of the defenders is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and the good use of terrain as force multipliers. When Ariane the Great led the Eldorai army against the hated foe, 'remember Thermiscyra' became a rallying cry.
However, modern, revisionist historians have cast doubt on the significance of the battle. While the Kar'zun suffered heavy casualties, they were not particularly impeded. Sharia Vamaris caused a storm of controversy when she called the battle a senseless sacrifice and attacked High Captain Yelvaris for needlessly squandering the lives of her battle sisters because of the Queen's infamous no retreat order. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between. Angelii command continues to stick with the traditional interpretation.
The Chosen were reconstituted after Thermiscyra and has been part of the Angels of Wrath (Legion I of the Angelii) since then. Its warriors participated in the Sacking of the Kar'zun, which broke the stone people and forever brought Kaeshana under the dominion of the Eldorai. For a long time after that, the unit was posted in former Kar'zun territory and participated in counterinsurgency operations to eliminate Kar'zun partisans and 'keep order' in the reservation zones. It must be admitted that although the resistance was real, to a significant extent COIN operations were merely cover for Ariane's genocidal war against the stone people. After centuries of warfare, she wanted to wipe the slate clean and claim Kaeshana for the Eldorai alone.
Villages were destroyed, Kar'zun massacred by the thousands. The lucky ones were broken up into groups and moved out of their mountainous habitats into the open, forced into alpine and tundra areas where the Eldorai did not live. So many had died in the war, and so few children were born that a population collapse of ninety percent occurred within just two hundred years. It was a shocking near-genocide that was probably only halted by Ariane's death. Her daughter was not as much of a zealot as her mother and preferred to keep the Kar'zun contained, though they continued to be tightly regulated. In modern times, Eldorai liberals are more than a little embarrassed about these events. The unit's history prefers to gloss over them, though Angelii commanders admit that 'excesses' took place, though Ariane is still venerated as her nation's saviour, since without her leadership the Eldorai would have been subjugated by the stone people. Like many Angelii units, the Angels of Wrath as a whole and the Chosen inn particular played an infamous role in palace intrigues and coups.
Chief Minister Aelynthi Cadalthor used them to become the Grey Eminence during the reign of the weak-willed Maelys II. Until the Angelii mutinied because she wasn't paying them enough and had removed a popular commander, which helped Tirathana V come to power and purge both Aelynthi and her supporters. Thereafter, the power of the Angelii was curtailed and though the Company was rewarded handsomely, it was stationed away from Santaissa for a while till the Queen felt safe in the saddle.
The Chosen had to adapt to a changing environment and new threats when Outsiders made contact with Kaeshana. The first to arrive on its shores were pirates and slavers, who considered the Eldorai easy prey. They came not only for gems and gold, but to seize young Eldorai, especially females, and sell them as slaves. They were emboldened by the technological backwardness of the Eldorai, who lacked blasters and other modern weapons. The first encounter with corsairs was a sobering experience, since their superior weaponry caused high casualties, though the Angelii fought valiantly and slew many human and Trandoshan slavers. Ironically, the Great Company's commander ended up being purged for suggesting that Eldorai tech might be inferior, since that would mean conceding that Ashira was weaker than the foreign demons. At this point in time, the Eldorai believed they were the only intelligent race in the universe. All non-Eldorai were branded as the demonic spawn of the the goddess Illyria, who'd rebelled against Ashira and been cast into the pit of hell. At the same time, some foreigners began to settle on Kaeshana and trade with the Eldorai, though they were confined to a ghetto in Santaissa and tightly regulated.
The Company suffered a blow to its prestige when two of its promising battle sisters, Host Leader Lavina Taldir and her sister Wing Leader Kaida Taldir, were accused of treason and fled Kaeshana. This is not the place to discuss this rather convoluted series of events, but suffice to say both discovered the secrets the Eldorai monarchy had kept buried and ended up joining Omega Pyre after Jedi Master Phylis Alince and Colonel Siobhan Kerrigan visited the Eldorai.
This caused a lot of bad blood since the Company was harshly punished. Thus it should be no surprise that many members of the Great Company sided with Nalia Venari when she launched her palace coup after Tirathana VI's death. The Queen's niece was popular with the army and promised them a return to the old days and victory over the outsiders. The rupture was like a raw wound in the unit and it took many years to heal.
However, times were changing. Nalia died and Silaqui III ascended the throne. Under her reign, Kaeshana became a member world of the Omega Protectorate, though it retained internal autonomy and, in deference to the Eldorai's distrust of foreigners, no ODF garrison was stationed on the planet. Surprisingly, the Great Company was not decimated, which is probably due to the liberalising influence of Crown Princess Anya Venari. Its commanders were replaced and the unit was reorganised. Military advisers from Omega Pyre began to instruct the Angelii on how to use modern weapons and tactics. The fact that OP's commander, Siobhan Kerrigan, was an open Eldorai lover who admired the elves' culture probably helped smooth the transition. Pirates and slavers were driven back and defeated, which boosted morale.
When the revolutionary Righteous Army launched a coup against Silaqui and murdered her, the unit sided with the Crown Princess Anya, who went on to become Queen Tirathana VII and ushered in the Venari Restoration. This was the time for a new generation of Angelii to rise. Traditionally, promotion in the Eldorai military takes a long time and has more to do with connections and seniority than merit. This is also because elves live rather long lives, but a new age demanded new ways of thinking. This was the time of young but more open-minded Angelii such as Vaena Askari, secretly the bastard daughter of a Cadalthor matriarch, and Kaida Taldir. The latter was first made a Host Leader, and then eventually took command of the Valora's Chosen after being promoted to Captain. Cold, dour and uncharismatic, Taldir has never been the type of commander the soldiers love. Especially because many still remembered her as a “monkeigh lover” and though she followed regulations to the letter and attended every church ceremony, she was known to be an atheist.
However, though never loved, she won her soldiers' respect through her Spartan life style, courage and unflinching dedication to duty. The Angelii were introduced to new weapons such as bolters and blasters, which augmented their arsenal, though they held on to traditional Angelii ones such as the sarix and the sarzmigar. What emerged was a hybrid form of combat that combined the Angelii phalanx with modern weaponry. The Valora's Chosen new tactics to the test on the killing fields of Gehenna and, in a remarkable turn of events, fought alongside its former Kar'zun foes when the Lost Kar'zun invaded Kaeshana. It was on the frontlines of the Troubles on Kaeshana during the Rapture and the Liberation of Sullust when Angelii rescued the Prophetess Coryth Elaris from a horde of Klaxxi.
Where the Protectorate failed, the Eldorai succeeded. Disillusionment with the galactic conglomerate, which was now incapable of protecting its own people, soared. The Great Company spearheaded the purgation of Arkas, discovering the lost elves, and the expedition to Tygara. They faced corsairs and slaughtered them, then provided protection for the Levantine Sanctum and Firemane emissaries when they initiated first contact with the Qadiri and Shâhbanu Semiramis. But the darkest period in the Company's history was soon to follow when the Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana began.
Many Angelii from the Angels of Wrath Legion rebelled, some joining the Cult of the Silver Star, which believed the asteroid could be stopped if they repented for welcoming outsiders. Others mutinied because many of the poor were being left behind by the Exodus fleet. What came to pass was civil war in the streets of Santaissa as chaos broke out. Seraph Taldir's decisive but brutal leadership won her few friends. Panicking and rioting civilians were gunned down to keep order, traitorous Angelii were executed without mercy.
However, it got the job done and, by and large, the unit remained loyal the Crown. Nonetheless, casualties were significant. After transferring to Tygara, the unit was kept in reserve for a while since it needed new blood to replenish its numbers. Since so many Sciians had died, it was forced to conscript recruits who'd normally be rejected due to low Sciia potential.
But the unit soon returned to the frontlines and was stationed on the border to the Xioquo. Here the Valora's Chosen maintained their own fort, holding the line against the dark elves. A Xioquo assault on the fortress was used as a casus belli for the Eldorai's assault on the Underealm, though it's likely they would have attacked anyway. Despite being outnumbered and attacked by Xioquo war engines after being lured into a trap, the Angelii prevailed. When Alliance forces attacked the Underrealm, the unit distinguished itself by seizing one of their fortresses, battling not only the Xioquo's janissaries but also their war beasts.
After moving deep into the seemingly endless tunnels of the Underrealm and seizing the Xioquo's beast pens, elements of the unit aided Lady Kerrigan, Captain Tempest and Jedi E'ron in slaying Mystra, the drows' so called goddess. Every Angelii who was involved in fighting her received an award after the action, though many of these were posthumous. Of note is the unit's strict observance of the Angelii's ROE. Xioquo soldiers who surrendered were taken into captivity and treated with decency. Thus many drows, especially child soldiers forced into service, surrendered rather than face certain death when it became clear that their cause was lost. Things calmed down for the unit after the grand battle.
The Angels of Wrath Legion is presently stationed in Xioquo territory and serves as an occupation force. Tight regulations govern its behaviour to prevent a return to the excesses of post-Kar'zun war era. While it is on long-term assignment in Xioquo territory, the unit rotates being posted in the land of the drows and the Eldorai capital, New Santaissa, since an Angelii's primary duty is to protect the Star Queen.