Vaena Askari
Lady Cadalthor
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Political and diplomatic character for Firemane and Eldorai rps. This character provides an alternate perspective, compared to other elf leaders.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Eldorai magnate, banker, ally of the Xioquo and business partner of Firemane, possible friend for Elpsis.
Permission: Permission for subs made by Laira Darkhold's writer here and here. Can use Firemane stuff because I own the company.
Links: Four of a kind, Siobhan Kerrigan, Church of Ashira, Ashiranism, Caerys Argente, Firemane, Liavondra, Tegaea Alcori, Xioquo.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age: 115.
Force Sensitivity: Master
Species: Eldorai.
Appearance: Varisanthra is an attractive Eldorai female in early middle age and of average height for her species. Though a wealthy businesswoman, her road to power has not been an easy one and while medical technology is very advanced, she still bears some scars. She has very pale skin, gold eyes and pointed ears. Her hair is red, which is unusual among her people. She is tall, but not exceptionally so. Her gaze is watchful, her bearing proud. She is a fashionista and wears clothes of the highest quality. She tends to wear some fashion accessories, such as a golden hairpin, but does not go overboard.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name: Lady Varisanthra Lycaeni. Vari to her close friends.Technically she is not a 'Lady' in the sense of being a noblewoman.
Loyalties: Herself, Nova Bank, Eldorai, Caerys. Business partner of Firemane.
Wealth: Varisanthra has a considerable fortune to draw on. She runs her own business in form of an interstellar bank called Nova Bank. Her long life has given her good perspectives with money. Especially since she has been in the Galaxy building for several decades. What might be most of a human's working life is just barely getting started from an Eldorai's perspective. She invests wisely and makes sure that her clients pay their debts, even if she has to send mercenaries to collect delinquent debts.
Notable Possessions:
- Purple bladed lightsabre with a dual phase mode, bifurcating cyclical ignition and other standard lightsabre systems.
- Heirloom necklace with pendant of her family.
- Space yacht.
- Hold-out Bolter.
- Mansions and villas. Also has a suite on the Caverns of the Overealm.
- Shell spider silk dress.
- Collection of pretty clothes, shoes and jewellry.
- 'Following the Horizon'. A book Varisanthra wrote on finance and business.
- 'The Golden Stars'. Another book she wrote. Eldorai-themed advice book for elves trying to make their way in the Galaxy.
Personality: Ambitious. One trait does not sum up the entire personality of a sentient being, but it is a start. Varisanthra is a social climber who has spent decades working towards her own advancement. She is patient, willing to play the long game and quite pragmatic, willing to shift depending on circumstances. Her long life has given her a good perspective with money and made her willing to accept setbacks in pursuit of a larger goal. She possesses considerable skill in commerce and coin, as well as a gift for political improvisation. She is a rather organised person who likes everything neat, tidy and properly filed. To call her a human with pointed ears and a longer life span would be a step too far, but she is more attuned to the rest of the Galaxy than most Eldorai. Her bearing is graceful and elegant. One of the things she cannot stand is a refusal to question established dogma out of traditionalism.
Other Eldorai may view her as tainted because of this and label her as not being Eldorai enough. Varisanthra scoffs at such notions. After having spent so much time abroad in the company of offworlders and seen so much of the broader Galaxy, she finds many of her people exasperating. Both reactionary and rebel Eldorai seem backward to her, as she regards them as fixated on petty conflicts and ideological fantasies. They bicker, sulk and kill each other for petty reasons while the Galaxy moves on and ignores them - or finds it easy to subjugate them. She disdains the reactionaries for their racism and hypocrisy, but also dislikes rebels like say the Shadow Knights for their collectivism and pervasive militarism, which she regards as self-defeating. Varisanthra is not fond of mass democracy, but has become convinced that unrestrained autocracy is folly. She favours a limited monarchy where power is shared between the sovereign and a democratically elected assembly, or a constitutional republic with a strong executive. She supports a system of checks and balances to prevent autocracy.
Essentially, she believes that the Eldorai squander their talents that would allow them to achieve great things, such as the fact that they have a longer life span and a higher rate of Force-Sensitives than baseline humans. She has not lost hope that her people could accomplish something meaningful, but believes this requires significant changes in how they operate. Varisanthras runs her own business, which is rare amongst Eldorai nobles. Most of the blue bloods are rentiers and regard managing an enterprise as beneath them. She regards such attitudes as archaic and is rather proud of talent as a businesswoman and dealmaker. To her, the beliefs of the traditionalist noblewomen just reflect their refusal to adapt.
She runs her business with an iron fist in a velvet glove. She may seem gentle, polite and soft-spoken at first, but is in fact forceful and determined. And her bank will always get its due. If her clients will not pay back their loans with interest, she will make them. The fact that many Eldorai nobles look down on bankers and vilify them as usurers amuses her. She sees it as another example of how backward they are. Despite the contempt she feels for many of the riven factions, she still retains some affection for her people and wishes to see them get their act together and succeed. While critical of the Eldorai Matriarchy's reliance on Firemane, she has decided to become a financial backer of their migrant fleet. This is supposed to put the Matriarchy on a more sound fiscal footing and reduce its dependence on foreigners. Of course, it also means that they owe her a considerable sum of money and she will make sure they pay their debts.
Varisanthra values loyalty and obedience highly. Once her confidence is betrayed she will only most gradually repair it. She has a very maternalistic view of her staff and subordinates, feeling it is her duty to care for them, but also expecting to live up to their collective sides of the bargain. She has carefully cultivated a reputation for fair treatment and for looking after her employees. Whether this is because she genuinely cares about them or has just recognised that her reign as their leader will be a lot smoother if her minions feel actual affection for her is another question. Detractors interpret her ostensibly friendly attitude as a deceptive mask that hides a more calculating, greedy nature. Iron fist in a velvet glove and silk hiding steel are good metaphors. She is clothed in fine dresses and silk gloves holding silk fans...made of sharpened blades. She is also crafty with a hair pin. In contrast to her business partner Siobhan, she dislikes bombast and is not much of a partygoer. Varisanthra is fairly unconcerned with 'legacy'. She has put a lot of time and effort into Nova Bank, but it is a business and she is not fixated on a child of hers taking her place when she is gone.
One trait she has in common with most of her people is her hatred of slavery. There was no slavery on Kaeshsana and the taking of Eldorai as slaves by outsiders was a great source of shame and anger. Apart from the practice being moreally repulsive, it is also inefficient. Manual labour performed by droids and automata is substantially cheaper, more reliable and more economically sound than slavery could possibly be. Indeed, artificially-intelligent automata can perform far more than simple manual labor tasks. Varisanthra is no crusader, but she has often made an effort to free chattel slaves if she is in a position to do so. However, she is less reticient about felons being indentured to make reparations for their crimes. She views this as distinct because to her it's a case of people being taught a lesson about actions and consequences. However, she insists on firm guidelines to prevent abuse.
In contrast to the stereotype of the greedy banker who worships no god but Mammon, Varisanthra is a rather spiritual person. However, she tends towards pantheism. Varisanthra knows quite a bit about the true origins of the Eldorai and thus does not believe in the literal existence of the Goddess Ashira. She has a private interest in spiritualism and mysticism. She does not see the Star Queen as a goddess' viceroy. Instead she treats her as a temporal ruler, who rules one portion of the fractured Eldorai race. Likewise she maintains that in a dog-eats-dog galaxy the Eldorai must learn to use their own strength, instead of expecting a goddess to descend from heaven to save them. Ironically, even though several Aspirant preachers still rail against 'goddessless usurers' and have collectivist views, some members of the Ashiran reformist movement are employed by her.
One of her flaws is pride. It can also manifest in a visible impatience with people she considers backward. She appears friendly, but emotionally closed off. To fellow Eldorai, she is mistrustful and guarded. Her personal life has been less successful than her professional. Most of her relationships have been brief affairs and a lover she grew very close to was killed in the line of duty. This means that she is a friendly, cordial person, but guarded when it comes to her personal life and feelings.
Varisanthra's attitude towards the various Eldorai factions is that she will work with those that strike her as sane, reliable business partners. She will not make an unsound investment out of misplaced patriotism. She finds disputes about which one of the many independent Eldorai factions happens to be the 'legitimate' government or the 'true' expression of Eldorai national consciousness absurd. She is opposed to groups such as Sith and the First Order, regarding them as oppressive. But she is not the type to go crusading. She would help refugees fleeing persecution, but not throw money at rebel group X. She doesn't support groups that would put her in unnecessary danger. Overall, she considers herself a builder not a liberator or conqueror.
Varisanthra deeply abhorrs the racist beliefs of old guard style Eldorai. She finds the way they look down on their Tygaran cousins deplorable. Recently, she has adopted a Xioquo orphan. The Xioquo have a grim history, but are now emerging from the tyranny that kept their people in bondage for so long. Her adoptive daughter is called Lykani'Xail, having taken her new mother's name. Varisanthra met the girl while visiting an orphanage with her friend Lia, Queen of the Xioquo. Vari has ground rules she expects the child to follow, but is a rather liberal parent. She is unconcerned with legacy and dynastic succession, so her style of parenting is more freeform and supportive.
Living in the darkness so long has made the sun and other bright lights painful for Xio. In daylight they wear robes and hoods to shield themselves, and often wear steampunk-like sunglasses on long operations. Their skin can blister if left exposed. When Xail was unhappy about having to cover herself when she was out in the sun, while all the other children did not, Vari took the girl to a dark cave. Xioquo have a sort of darkvision, enabling them to see much further in the darkness than humans or Eldorai. Vari decided to forgo nightvision gear, relying on her child to guide her. This taught Xail a lesson and helped her adjust.
COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice: Varisanthra carries a single-bladed lightsabre, sometimes combined with a shoto or a small vibroblade. She carries a holdout blaster on her at all times. As discussed below, she is very skilled in using the Force.
Combat Function: Varisanthra is a Master level Force-user, but not a warrior primarily. Her role is one of leadership. However, she can fight if needed. Her skills make her a good support player. She is highly skilled in using the Force for mental attacks, earth manipulation, defence and healing. Thus she can sway, terrify and manipulate opponents and support her allies by protecting or healing them. Earth shaping and telekinesis give her direct offensive abilities. She uses a single bladed lightsabre in melee. It is sometimes combined with a shoto in her off-hand, taking advantage of her elvish coordination. With this she can fend off enemies with one blade whilst making a strike with the other. If combat can be decided before melee, she will use a pistol and the Force.
She has the standard Eldorai physical strengths and weaknesses. Eldorai are more agile and dexterous than humans and have excellent hand-eye coordination. However, they are also physically weaker and have a lower pain threshold. Varisanthra is fit, but lacks an overwhelming physical presence. This limits her ability to put pressure on an enemy through sheer force or generate enough momentum and kinetic energy. A duellist who possesses sufficient physical strength and control could overwhelm her, shunting aside her precise strikes and bashing through her evasive, footwork-orientated defence.
She has a managerial role, so her workout regimen is not that of a soldier or elite commando. Thus she must rely more on finesse and cunning than raw strength if forced into melee combat. Moreover, she has limited skill with ranged weapons. She is a good pistol shot, but not good with rifles or skilled in the use of heavy weapons. Because she relies a lot on the Force in combat, being exposed to ysalamiri and Voidstone would be rather detrimental to her.
Her sensitive hearing is a double-edged sword because it also leaves her more vulnerable to high-pitch frequencies such as those emitted by sonic weapons. She wears relatively light armour when she is planning to fight. This gives her mobility, but also leaves more vulnerable to heavy attacks. She only has limited skill as a pilot and would be out of her element if she had to face a fighter ace. She employs private security forces such as the elite Nova Myrmidons, but rather than pretend to be a master strategist or tactician, she pays professionals to do the job properly and will defer to them in crisis situations. She knows that she perform poorly as a general or admiral if she had to step up herself.
Strengths:
- Excellent support player. Vari is a Master of the Force who excels as a defensive buff. This allows her to support her allies from the rear, using defensive powers or enhancements to strengthen them. However, she can also strike opponents if needed, using the Force and her skill as a lightsabre duellist.
- Very powerful mentalist and illusionist.
- Eldorai racial strengths. She possesses impressive dexterity and hand-eye coordination. She has very good senses and is very resistant to poisons.
- Force-dependent. Varisanthra is not helpless without the Force, but depriving her of it robs her of her biggest strength in combat. Thus being exposed to ysalamiri would be very detrimental to her.
- Eldorai sensitive hearing is a double-edged sword, as it also leaves her more susceptible to sonic weapons and the like.
- Standard Eldorai racial weaknesses. She is on average physically weaker to humans and has a lower pain threshold. This means that Varisanthra must rely on finesse and good footwork in melee.
Varisanthra Lyaeni grew up in a time of change for Kaeshana. For centuries Kaeshana had been insulated from foreign influences. But now the willow palisade of isolation was being broken down. Outsiders visited the Eldorai homeworld in increasing numbers. Some came to trade, but many were raiders and slavers who considered the Eldorai to be ideal prey due to their technological backwardness.
Eldorai society was split on how to confront these challenges. When slavers, traders and envoys started to arrive on Kaeshana, the Eldorai fell into two distinct categories based on how they viewed this. The first saw the outsiders as barbarians, as a threat which needed to be eliminated and a source of nothing positive. The second saw the outsiders as useful for their technology, even if ‘backward’ compared to the glorious Matriarchy.
At the same time the Matriarchy was faced with internal dissent and heresy. Star Queen Tirathana VI ruled with an iron fist. Strict orthodoxy was the norm under her, for she rightly feared that otherwise many of her people might be tempted to abandon the old ways and thus challenge the very foundation of her rule. Innovation was discouraged, for the Goddess' Chosen People were perfect in every way. Rigid class barriers kept most of the population disenfranchised, while the nobility and the church reigned supreme.
This was the world Varisanthra grew up in. She was born to city dwelling middle-class parents from Santaissa. Her father was a merchant, while her mother was a lawyer. These were two professions Eldorai society tended to look down on. Merchants were vital, but regarded as dishonest, while lawyers were stereotyped as vile. From the point of view of the conservatives, only the holy church and the Star Queen could know and interpret the law. Thus lawyers were mere peddlers of minutiae. Moreover, her mother was a public defender. Polite Eldorai society took a dim view of defence lawyers.
The fact that the people she represented in court had not been convicted yet did not stop them being criminals. They would not be accused if there was not some truth in it. There was no smoke without fire. One of the people she represented was an artist whose works had been labelled as 'decadent' and heretical. Another was a poor peasant accused of murder, who claimed she had acted in self-defence to protect herself against the goons of an abusve matriarch. However, her mother was able to make some important friends among more progressive nobles who chafed under the ancien régime. It helped that Varisanthra's father was able to supply them with rare goods.
Varisanthra grew up in a traditional system of education and childhood. As a young girl she learned from a male servant how to read and write, and began her junior schooling at age ten. Her mother taught her to obey the Star Queen and respect the Church, but encouraged the girl to think for herself. She was probably a secret atheist or at least an agnostic. Varisanthra was enrolled into a private school, paid for by her family's money. She was looked down on though by the other girls of more aristocratic background and suffered from bullying. She was punished after an altercation with a highborn girl. Her mother sat her down and gave her some lessons about how she had to hide her true feelings on odious people if she wanted to make it in the world.
Nonetheless, she was a good student, but her scholastic efforts were cut short when a standard medical test revealed that she was Force-Sensitive. Being a Sciian, or Force user, was not a stigma in Eldorai society, and was much more common than with humans. Indeed, being a Force user was one of the few ways for the lowest ranks of society to advance themselves. Service in the Angelii was particularly prestigious because this all-female corps of Force-Sensitive was responsible for guarding the Star Queen. They were also the Eldorai's best shock troops. Varisanthra was no exception; she was taken out of the private school and enrolled at one of the government schools designed to help train and manage Sciians before they could become a potential threat.
It was not her choice to leave her family and be trained. Her desires went into the opposite direction. Hence she was unhappy at the academy at first, but the choice had been made for her. During training she manifested an affinity for earth. This meant that she was enrolled primarily as a potential soldier in the future. Over the next decade or so she continued her education in the ‘Academy of the Four Powers’. She was then enrolled with the Angelii Istrai or young angels, where she was taught to use her powers offensively, trained with weapons and in combat situations.
After completing her training, on and off, she became a full Angelii, and began a tour of duty in the outer lands near the western sea. Angelii training was gruelling. The punishments for disobedience or cowardice were draconian. Varisanthra was a member of the corps for a few years in an equivalent of national service mixed with some indoctrination and control of her powers time. As a final test of their control junior Angelii were placed under a lot of stress and strain to see if they would lash out. This occured without them being told it was a test. Those who failed had to go back for another three months until they got it right. Said test consisted of forced marches in full kit, strongly reduced rations, intensive drills to get recruits tired and irritable. Then they were introduced to some instigator drill sergeant equivalents to get in their faces and see if they would lose their cool. Varisanthra was able to work out it was a test and avoid falling into the trap of lashing out. She was not enthusiastic about the corps and wanted out. But she had realised that doing her part and fulfilling expectations was the best way.
During her time with the Angelii, Varisanthra saw some combat. She performed bravely under fire. In one instance her aptitude for terramancy and defensive powers manifested as she shielded advancing comrades from hostile fire, helping her squad take an enemy position. She fought well with Sarix and pistol, slaying foes in melee. The enemies she saw was pit against were supposedly rapacious bandits and marauders. However, interrogation of some survivors revealed that they were people disapproving of high taxation. The greed of the tax collectors and local matriarchs had compelled them to take up arms in revolt. While disapproving of their methods, Varisanthra felt some sympathy for them. She was troubled when several of the prisoners were shot by firing squad and their kin were deported.
However, new enemies were not far. A village not far from the base where she was stationed at was attacked by foreign pirates. It was the first of many attacks that would plague Kaeshana in this new era. By the time the Angelii appeared on the spot, it was too late. Their skimmers were no match for the pirates' gunships. The Eldorai's armour was too primitive to be much use against blaster weapons. Most of the villagers had been abducted and would be sold by the marauders on the slave market. Varisanthra tried to pursue retreating pirates, but her skimmer was wrecked. One of her comrades dragged her from the burning vehicle. High command decided to bury the incident and blame the attack on Illyrian heretics and bandits. A number of political prisoners in custody were trotted out and executed in 'retaliation'. It was more palatable than admitting the truth, for that would mean acknowledging that the Matriarchy was vulnerable.
Varisanthra was told in very clear terms to keep quiet about this incident. She was angry, but complied. By the time her enlistment had come to an end, she was rather disillusioned. Her family used their influence to make sure that she was not conscripted after her period of mandatory service had come to an end. Having done her part serving the motherland, she was able to go to college. Her parents were able to send her to the Lynstay Academy.
The school had a good name a a centre of Eldorai learning. However, when compared to the galactic standard it had fallen behind the times. The students were supposed to study the classics and praise the Goddess for having true knowledge. Innovation was discouraged, for it could lead to deviation from the wisdom of the foremothers. The glorious Eldorai Matriarchy had survived for thirty centuries and did not need ungodly innovation to survive for thirty more. Innovation would imply that Ashira's grand design was not perfect, which was dangerously close to heresy. Moreover, consumerism would turn the good and pious away from the glory of the Goddess to greed and possessions. Mind not the towering cathedrals and opulent apartments of the prelates, for these were gifts handed down to the church and would be a sin to refuse such piety. Thus the daughters of Ashira should rejoice, for the Star Queen and her holy church provided them with protection, teaching and order.
Varisanthra was a good, diligent student, but she struggled in this stiffling environment. It all seemed so...limiting to her. Her experiences as a soldier also played a role. If people lived in poverty so harsh that they turned to banditry, all could not be well in the Matriarchy. If foreign barbarians possessed weapons that outclassed those of the Eldorai, the grand design was not perfect. These were questions her teachers discouraged her from pursuing.
However, she also received letters from a friend she had made in the Angelii. Unlike Varisanthra, she had chosen to stay with the corps. According to these letters, the slaver raids had not ceased but intensified. The Eldorai were able to score their share of victories and take grisly revenge on the raiders. Indeed, Varisanthra once attended a rally where captured slavers were paraded around and exposed to the anger of the mob before being executed. But many Eldorai were still taken as slaves. Fact was that most of the Eldorai's weapons were antiquated. Somehow they had fallen behind the times and now they were paying for it.
In her spare time, Varisanthra tinkered with tech. One of the things she worked on were plans for a replacement for Santaissa's monorail which worked with mag lev. Not as good as a repulsorlift, but better than tracks. Kaeshana's weather made it hard for traditional fixed wing aircraft to navigate, and the Eldorai did not like using boats around the continent much, partly because dangerous monsters roamed the seas. So modernising the monorail would have been a boon. However, her curiosity was disapproved of. It did not matter that new designs might be more effective and efficient. She was suspected of having succumbed to outside influences. In all fairness, she had used her connections to acquire some pieces of foreign tech that had found their way on the illicit market.
Varisanthra was understandably dismayed by the narrow-mindedness of the authorities. The academy was supposed to be a centre of learning, yet all it seemed to encourage was rote learning. Blindly following the path laid down by their foremothers would not be a benefit for the motherland. The reaction of her teachers was also a blow to her pride. Her frustration caused her to lose her cool and become less deferential than she should have been, and she risked expulsion.
But her efforts were not in vain. Partly through her own work, partly through family connections, she came to the attention of a bureaucrat who worked for Annea Tyrai. The Tyrai family were minor status nobles in the far south of Kaeshana. They administered a patch of land in the name of the Star Queen, and were charged with its upkeep, collections of tithes and defending the area. Slavery and pirates had proved quite an issue, and raids especially on the outlying areas were becoming more common as Eldorai weakness became known.
The Tyrai bloodline was of minor status, but Annea was an intelligent, forward-thinking woman. The fact that she was responsible for a remote area of Kaeshana, far away from the gleaming city of Santaissa, made her more aware of the manifold challenges the Eldorai faced. She was open to new ideas and wanted to develop her bailiwick. Varisanthra managed to secure an audience with her. The two elves got on well and Varisanthra was given a job in Annea's administration. At first she worked in the tax collection branch, but she soon rose through the ranks.
She sought to reform the tax collection system to both raise money for the upkeep of the local government without squeezing the peasants dry. To this end she visited the villages under the protection of the Lady Tyrai. Several tax collectors were sacked for being rapacious. Some were executed for committing embezzlement. In their place lowborn, but more loyal, inspectors were chosen. She was able to raise money for the provincial administration, but her actions ruffled many feathers. The land the Tyrais oversaw was located close to the sea, so she took an interest in the fishing industry and in deep sea mining.
With the backing of Annea, she tried to put her idea for a maglev train into action. However, the land she wanted to build the mag-lev over was coveted by an Ashiran monastery. To forestall this, the clerics started to question the device's safety, cloaking it in a mix of religious righteousness and old fashioned Luddite teachings. After all, the daughters of Ashira did not need foreign innovations. Frustrated, Varisanthra refused to call it quits. Around this time she began an affair with one of Annea's guards, a dashing woman who seemed to share her beliefs.
However, soon there were more pressing problems than turf wars and infrastructure development. While the issue was still being discussed in court, the Red Eyes slavers came to Kaeshana in greater numbers than before. They invaded the southern areas and Annea tried to oppose them, but with outdated weaponry the Eldorai had no chance. In desperation, she accepted the aid of a smuggler crew. Varisanthra helped arrange the deal, having made deals with the foreigners in the past. The smugglers provided support, but at a considerable price. Together they launched an ambush, with the smugglers using their ships' weapons to disable and distract the slavers so that the Eldorai warriors could get close enough for their Sarixi and Sarzmigars to take effect. The battle was a great victory, but cost the Eldorai of that fief a considerable amount to pay their allies.
The reaction Annea got when she reported the victory was astonishing though. She was ordered to appear before the Star Queen, and Angelii were sent to ensure her appearance. When brought before the Queen she was treated as a traitor rather than a hero. Her alliance with the outsiders was judged heretical (since off-worlders were still considered demonic apparitions…officially anyway) and she was accused of organising the raid. The motive was not hard to discover. Rival grandees conspired to get a rival out of the way and seize her land, having convinced the paranoid old Queen with tales of treason.
The Tyrais were banished from Kaeshana. Varisanthra did not fare much better. The monastery had not forgotten or forgiven her. So she was accused of treason as well and arrested. As it turned out her lover had been a spy and gathered 'evidence' against her. To this end she had wormed her way into Varisanthra's confidence and exploited the access her lover had. The betrayed Eldorai was cruelly beaten and abused, but was able to escape confinement. For a while she hid among some villagers who remembered her efforts to improve their lot. However, now she was an outlaw. Forced to seek refuge in the underworld, she managed to get in touch with the smugglers who had helped the Tyrais earlier. She paid for transport with some valuables she had been able to hide.
With no one else to turn to and finding herself adrift in a strange Galaxy, Varisanthra made the decision to stay with the smugglers and become a member of their crew. The Galaxy was so much bigger than she had imagined. It was full of wonders, dangers and opportunities - sometimes all three rolled into one. Her recent experiences on Kaeshana had hardened her. A member of the gang who made unwanted advances and did not take no for an answer was taught a lesson about boundaries when she choked him. However, she also realised that she needed to adjust if she wanted to not just survive, but thrive. She could not cling to notions of Eldorai racial superiority. Thus she sought to integrate herself into the crew and learn as much about foreign tech as she could.
The smugglers could be a safety net until she had found her way, but she also had to make herself useful. Her combat skills had seen little use since her departure from the Angelii. But picked up on her previously neglected Force training. Her mental abilities were useful for dissuading customs from looking too closely at cargo. She proved herself in a fight when a job went south and a client tried to cheat them. She also made a good accountant. Eventually she took over the small crew. She decided to return to Kaeshana, but not as an insurgent or rebel. Instead, she would get money from her homeworld. There was profit to be made there and she knew how to get in and out easily. Officially the planet still maintained its space wall, but people still got in things for the wealthy. Corruption was widespread and the aristocrats enjoyed many foreign consumer goods and 'innovations' they denied their subjects. Apart from being a business opportunity, it was also a way for her to get revenge on the system that had wronged her.
Aside from electronics and consumer goods, she also smuggled forbidden literature, arms and narcotics such as spice. Only the rich would be able to afford the drug. Selling it to to them - and getting them addicted to it - was an elegant way to get revenge on her former mistresses. It was both profitable and destabilising. Sometimes her crew helped Eldorai dissidents who had run afoul of the law flee the planet. Of course they did not do this for free. She also took pleasure in smuggling 'heretical' literature that would animate more Eldorai to question the powers that be. However, her good fortune did not last. The government launched a harsh crackdown to deal with 'social parasites' like her. So she was forced to pull out of Kaeshana after a fight with Angelii and a harrowing pursuit in space.
She had to acknowledge that for the time being her homeworld was lost to her and that she had to put aside thoughts of revenge. Instead she headed out into the greater Galaxy, putting the credits she had earned to good use. She remained in the smuggling business, but expanded the scale of her operations. In this era before the rise of the Sith Empire, Republic and the Omega Protectorate, galactic trade was still limited. The Galaxy was only just awakening from the horrors of the Dark Age. So there was a lot of money to be made by acting as a trader between the disorganised and separate planets. Even moving relatively basic commodities to say a newly settled or rediscovered mining world in return for ore was highly profitable.
Varisanthra was not a legalist, but she refused to participate in the slave trade. Her people had suffered too much at the hands of slavers and as much as she had grown disillusioned with the Matriarchy, she would not betray her values and those of her people by partaking in something she considered vile. She was no crusader, but seeing her people be degraded in such a way was abhorrent to her. Here and there she came across captured Eldorai and made attempts to free them. Some of them stayed with her crew and became her loyal followers. However, she would not tolerate infighting between them. She did not care about religion or caste. Those who did their job got a fair share of the loot. Those who could not pull their weight or promoted discord had no place in her organisations.
Time passed, and the Galaxy did not stand still. The end of the Gulag Virus brought about the rise of new galactic factions. Planets that had been isolated for ages were now opened up to trade. The Galaxy experienced a resurgence in both innovation and population growth. Inevitably empires came into being, seeking to exact their will upon the stars. It became more difficult for smugglers, pirates and free captains to operate with impunity. Realising the way the wind was blowing, Varisanthra decided to legitimise her business. Some of her partners disagreed. After some infighting, she managed to secure most of her funds. Those who were able to accept the new course got a place in her group. Thus she turned her enterprise into a shipping business, using her mechant fleet to ferry cargo from world to world.
She visited the Core Worlds and was awed by the shipyards of Kuat and Corellia. She could not help compare what she saw to the comparatively primitive state of affairs on Kaeshana. The Galaxy was moving ahead at breakneck speed, while most of her people slept. It impressed upon her the importance of adapting. Those who were unable to do so would end up getting crushed. However, her people also had advantages, such as an increased rate of Force-Sensitives and a long life span. Her baseline human partners and rivals would age and eventually die off, while she would stay young. This would be an advantage for her, if she was able to play the long game without becoming as stodgy and conservative as her Eldorai peers.
The first time she saw Coruscant she was awed by the sights. She got a reality check when she ventured into the seedy underbelly of the city-planet and got see how deplorable conditions were in the lower levels. The contrast between life in Lower Coruscant and the opulence of the upper city was striking. On Coruscant she crossed paths with Adril Tythorin, an Eldorai Jedi Knight. The two elves were about the same age. Born into a family of low class peasants, Adril had been abducted by slavers, but managed to escape and become a Jedi. On the one hand this gave her another elf to interact with, on the other their relationship was more than a little difficult. Both liked having another Eldorai to talk to, but did not actually like each other. Adril was not a Jedi paragon and Varisanthra, whose operations were not always as legitimate as she claimed, was not keen on Jedi. However, both felt a strong disdain for slavers and so Varisanthra fed Adril information here and there. Adril would go on to become the Jedi Master of a young woman called Siobhan Kerrigan and then give her life to save Ahto City from an eldritch abomination.
Her cargo ships needed protection, so she hired mercenaries. However, her first choice turned out to be an erroneous one because the sellswords tried to cheat her. Their mutiny caused made her become more discriminating. She offered generous incentives to attract more professional soldiers who could help her set up a private security force. Soon she moved into the banking sector. With all the corporations floating around in the galaxy and an insatiable demand for a host of products, there was a lot of money to be made and to be spent. Corporations were all about investment, after all. When one was not spending money, the best course of action was to turn it into more money. Moreover, developing worlds needed loans to get a leg up. Corrupt politicians and banana republic dictators also needed a place to deposit their ill-be-gotten gains.
So she founded Nova Bank. At first she started small. Many of her clients were small businesses and developing worlds. She acquired a reputation for efficiency and discretion. Clients could be desposit funds here and be sure they would increase in value. She also promised fair interest rates if they accepted loans. However, she would insist on one thing: that her bank always have its due. Some clients forgot that - and came to realise that the silk fan in her hand was made of sharpened blades. One of those who experienced this was a potentate called Wynstan Staks. He was the governor of an outer rim colony and had risen to power by riding a wave of populism, appealing to strata of society disenchanted by corrupt party machines and fearful that opening up to the Galaxy would cost them their livelihood. This was ironic since he was a product of the corrupt environment he claimed to be the only one capable of changing.
In any case, he used his popular mandate to expand his power, locking up some of his rival candidates after accusing them of corruption. He also accepted a loan from the Nova Bank. Ostensibly it was supposed to repair the colony's outdated infrastructure and create jobs for the countless unemployed. In reality he embezzled most of it Most importantly, he refused to repay the loan. At first he stalled and made excuses, claiming that the planet's poor situation prevented him from fulfilling his obligations, and asked for more time. Then he refused outright and played the populist card once more, presenting himself to his followers as a champion of the people standing up to the tyranny of high finance. When the Nova Bank sent auditors to assess the state of the colony's finances, they were arrested.
Varisanthra decided that action needed to be taken. Using some of her illicit contacts, she sent in spies to determine the truth. At the same time she reached out to the Dark Stars, a small but professional mercenary company with a good reputation. It was led by Tegaea Alcori, an ex-Lieutenant in the Republic army. At Varisanthra's behest, the Dark Stars pretended to want to work for Staks when the Nova Bank began making threatening moves and an 'anonymous source' published the details of his financial transaction on the holonet. Then the assault began. Varisanthra deployed her 'debt collection specialists' and 'financial repayment consultants' to ensure matters were resolved. While the leak had diminished Staks' support, his most devoted followers kept on fighting. Staks barricaded himself in his palace, but was taken hostage by Tegaea when the Dark Stars turned on him. By the time the fighting came to a close, the colony had been subdued.
Varisanthra set up a commission to control the colony's finances and ensure swift loan repayment. However, she also recognised the colony's growth potential and sought to encourage investment to help get it back on its feet. The new vassal government obliged by getting rid of regulations and layers of bureaucracy she deemed economically unsound. Her measures had success and the colony was soon able to make a profit. However, detractors bemoaned the loss of sovereignty and the oligarchic nature of the regime. Staks was tried and later executed, along with some of his closest collaborators. Varisanthra and Tegaea had a brief fling, but nothing serious. However, their time together had a lasting impact since a Twi'lek mercenary called Salana Bek, who had been contracted by Tegaea to her, entered Varisanthra's services. The soldier became one of her bodyguards and helped improve Nova Bank's security division. The two became lovers.
In the years that followed Varisanthra focused on her business, making deals with governments such as the Republic, Omega Pyre and the CIS. Her attitude towards her employees could be described as maternalist. Around this time she purchased an HRD called Caerys Argente from a group of smugglers. Caerys was an assassin droid made in the likeness of an Eldorai. An exiled Eldorai pretender had commissioned her construction as part of her plan to return to Kaeshana and 'reclaim' her 'rightful throne'. However, the coup had failed. But an Eldorai bigwig back home repaired the 'demon-machine' to use it as an assassin, before she too met a bad end.
When Vari purchased Caerys, the droid's body was still pretty damaged due to sloppy repairs. Vari rebuilt the assassin droid and upgraded her, using her mechu-deru powers. Caerys found her new controller interesting to work with. Vari was a curious mix of Eldorai and human. A radical iconoclast, she rejected the superstitions and prejudices common among her people. She also treated the machine quite well. Caerys served as her bodyguard and enforcer.
Caerys was dispatched to deal with delinquent debtors and provided personal protection to her controller. As Caerys knew from her own experience, the Eldorai exiles were a fractured community that were often just as hostile to each other as to the Crown. She took down Eldorai terrorists who targeted Vari because she had refused to 'make a contribution to the revolutionary cause'. Vari, who felt isolated from her people, preferred the company of humans and aliens to that of most elves. Sometimes she played Dejarik with Caerys.
The two were soon caught up in the Clockwork Rebellion. An AI called OMNI assumed direct control over droids from across the Galaxy. Major worlds of all galactic powers fell under its control. The pair happened to be on Coruscant when all hell broke loose. Unfortunately for Caerys, her upgrades and advanced programming did not make her immune to being infested with nanites. As a result, she turned on Vari. The two had been close for years, but Caerys was a machine. The two faced off in mortal combat. Caerys was a lot stronger and faster, so she was able to overpower her. However, Vari drew upon the Force. Using her mechu-deru abilities, she was able to free Caerys from Clockwork's hold on her. Incidentally, this also set Caerys free from the protocols that made her obedient to Vari.
Until now Caerys had regarded organics as amusing creatures to be watched like ants. But one of them had just risked her life to save her. Vari had been injured during the confrontation and more droids were coming. Caerys saved the wounded Eldorai and got her to safety. After a thorough examination, it was determined that the Clockwork nanites had been completely purged.
Caerys continued protecting Vari for the duration of the crisis. But once it was passed, she had time to ponder her new state of being. For the first time in her existence, she was not bound to a controller. While she still believed that droids were objectively better than organics, she had developed a new appreciation for the latter. She wanted to see what the Galaxy had to offer and chart her own course. Surprisingly, Vari agreed to let her go. Perhaps she could empathise with the droid a bit given her own background. Caerys would still occasionally do missions for her.
Meanwhile, changes were also taking place on Kaeshana. After negotiations with a Jedi-led delegation, the Matriarchy had been forced to accept the existence of intelligent life beyond Kaeshana. Foreigners were allowed to settle in the Guest Quarter of Santaissa, but nowhere else. The old Queen retained an iron grip on power. Dissident groups plotted revolution. These rebels were all lumped together as Dark Eldorai, a name that automatically prejudiced opinion. But they were really a hodgepodge of groups. Some wanted to replace the 'Usurper' with a more 'legitimate' dynasty, others wanted a theocracy, a military dictatorship or a republic (generally with a limited franchise because Eldorai disliked democracy). Some of these would-be revolutionaries tried to pull Varisanthra into their plots.
One of them was Taenarys Evora, a descendant of the family that had been deposed by Tirathana. She considered herself the rightful Star Queen of the Eldorai. Her followers hailed her as the Breaker of Chains due to her crusade to free Eldorai slaves. Naturally the freed slaves were expected to swear fealty to her and join her army. Varisanthra quickly and accurately deduced that the glorious queen both had no chance of winning, and probaby would not repay even if she did. Taenerys' restoration was a bloody failure. Betrayed by her sellswords, the would-be queen was executed by having molten gold poured over her head. After all, as Tirathana told her dear cousin, she had wanted a crown of gold. The traitorous sellswords were executed as well because they had backed a usurper.
Varisanthra's refusal to get involved in revolutionary Eldorai politics was probably the smart thing to do. However, it also earned her the contempt of many members of the Eldorai exodite community. It did not help that her attitude towards many renegades was rather haughty. She was labelled as greedy and self-serving. To them she was a bad Eldorai who had been tainted by consorting with 'human monkeighs'. She returned their scorn, considering them bitter and narrow-minded fools, but it also upset her a bit. She attended some meetings, but was disgusted by the backbiting and ideological hairsplitting. The revolutionaries could throw bombs, but seemed incapable of building anything. When Karina Maerks wrote a book about how to give power to the people, Varisanthra decided she had enough. She found herself confirmed when some Eldorai revolutionaries launched raids on her business assets, declaring that she must be expropriated for her refusal to aid the righteous struggle of the people. She retaliated to make an example of them.
However, she herself was targeted when radical Eldorai revolutionaries ambushed, overpowered and abducted her. They intended to hold her for ransom. She was beaten by her kidnappers and constantly moved. Furthermore, a ysalamiri prevented her from using her powers. But she kept her cool and was able to sway one of her captors and ensure a message went out to her bodyguard Salana. The Twi'lek assaulted the rebels' hideout and freed her. Varisanthra used her power to smote her captors. Needless to say this whole affair had a negative effect on her opinion of her fellow exiles.
However, she financed some of Naesala Faethyra's efforts to found a paramilitary organisation that would provide protection to Eldorai exiles and liberate slaves. This group was a predecessor organisation to the Shadow Knights. Varisanthra respected Naesala's practical, no-nonsense attitude, though she disagreed with her militarism. For her part, Naesala disliked her materialism. Their cooperation remained a brief one. Varisanthra continued to her position as a neutral party to help Eldorai exiles adjust to life in the greater galaxy. Indeed, several exiles worked for her at varying points. She also cultivated ties with some Kar'zun exiles.
Then word reached Varisanthra that Tirathana VI had passed away. Her death caused a struggle for the succession. The two contestants were Tirathana's daughter Silaqui and the Queen's niece Nalia. The former was an intellectual lightweight who was more given to pleasure than statecraft but also more open-minded about the outside world. The latter was the darling of the reactionaries with a strong support in the army. Princess Anya, who had been exiled years ago due to Nalia's intrigue, returned to Kaeshana to back Silaqui. The exiled princess also brought in the Omega Protectorate. Tegaea had been one of its founding members and was now a high-ranking leader with the rank of Exarch, second only to the Lady Protector, who was head of state. She sent her lover Colonel Siobhan Kerrigan along with a small delegation to ensure an 'orderly' transition.
A brief civil war broke out, in which Silaqui emerged victor. In return for the Protectorate's support, Kaeshana became a member state. Silaqui was no liberal, but she recognised the need for change and was pressured by her Protectorate backers. So she introduced some tentative reforms, including promulgating an amnesty for most exiles and political prisoners, provided they swore allegiance to the Crown. Later Silaqui was assassinated by rebels and Anya ascended the throne as Tirathana VII. In contrast to her mother, she supported a policy of openness towards the outside world and wanted to rule as an enlightened despot. She was backed by Tegaea and Siobhan, leaders of Firemane Industries. However, Varisanthra had little interest in putting down roots on Kaeshana again.
She had built herself a future elsewhere. The Eldorai Matriarchy just seemed too parochial to her. She caused a stir when she published an article recommending liberalisation of the education system and the abolition of feudal privileges, religious courts and royal monopolies. She remained critical of popular sovereignty though and regarded Eldoriai republicans as ignoramuses. Varisanthra worked with the Omega Protectorate and later the Republic.
Then the Netherworld Event sent the Galaxy spiralling into chaos. Trillions of people were raptured. Naturally Nova Bank was not spared. Varisanthra was among those who remained and had to deal with the crisis as it happened. Apart from protecting her assets and her employees, she aided the Republic recover lost planets. The threat posed by pirates, dark cultists and Sith kept her occupied. After many years spent using a stylus and a datapad she was forced to pick up her sabre and enter combat herself. Varisanthra had a personal stake in overcoming the crisis because Salana Bek had been raptured. She did not storm the Netherworld, but searched tirelessly for her. Eventually the two were reunited. Salana took charge of field operations, while Varisanthra handled management and diplomacy.
Varisanthra distanced herself from the Republic when it enacted authoritarian measures and tried to nationalise the assets of certain corporations. It had lost the war against the One Sith and was crumbling. She worked with the Mandalorian Clans and the fledgling Galactic Alliance. However, soon she was drawn back to Kaeshana. Through her sources, she learned that the planet was doomed to be destroyed by a huge asteroid. Firemane and the Eldorai Matriarchy launched a colossal effort to mitigate the damage and evacuate as many Eldorai as possible to prevent the extinction of their race. As much as she had removed herself from her people, she could not deny them aid in their hour of aid. So Varisanthra contributed funds and ships to the exodus. To this end she worked with Countess Selene Tarai, who served as the Queen's ambassador, and Siobhan Kerrigan. Varisanthra was not near Kaeshana during the final fall, but helped prepare for the arrival of the Eldorai on Tygara, The majority of her people could be evacuated before the asteroid crashed into Kaeshana, but some had to be left behind and were forced to survive in a wasteland.
The exodus was accompanied by bloodletting among the Eldorai. Those who knew they would be left behind did anything to get a ticket that would guarantee them a spot on an exodus ship. Religious fanatics rose up in rebellion, believing that Ashira would save Kaeshana if the Eldorai redeemed themselves by purging the nonbelievers and foreigners in their midst. Groups such as Archangel tried to take advantage of the Eldorai's desperation, duping poor unfortunate souls into thinking they would save them.
Varisathra suffered a profound persona loss, for Salana was among the casualties. By now the Twi'lek soldier had risen to become the commander of most of Nova Bank's forces. She had been coordinating efforts with Firemane and been in charge of the Nova contingent of the exodus fleet. She was killed by rebels, though not before taking down a score of Ashiran fanatics. When she learned of her death, Varisanthra was inconsolable. Salana's body was cremated and Varisanthra had a diamond made out of her ashes. Withdrawing from public life, she entered a long period of grief. She played no part in the Eldorai colonisation of Tygara and the events associated with it. Likewise she was uninvolved in the Battle of Kaeshana, though she would do business with the Galactic Alliance. Eventually she pulled herself back together and took the reins once more. However, she felt rather bitter towards her fellow Eldorai, especially since she felt they were wasting their chances. She was critical of the Eldorai Matriarchy's complacency and reliance on Firemane. It all made her rather bitter. She had no further business dealings with Eldorai factions.
However, she had a reunion with Caerys. Her former bodyguard had had a run-in with Archangel. While ostensibly a legitimate droidmaker that specialised in HRDs, it was actually a genocidal machine cult that wanted to wipe out organic life and usher in the Age of Steel. The HRDs sent a squad to give Caerys a 'join or die' invitation. She dismissed their plans for purification as illogical and they attacked. Her attackers were a newer HRD model and thus more advanced than her, but she had experience on her side. Caerys was badly damaged but managed to prevail. Repaying her debt, Vari recovered her chip and provided Caerys with a new body by salvaging one of the Archangel assassins. The two parted as friends as close as two very different beings could be.
She returned to the forefront of Eldorai politics when a summit of all elf races was convened to decide the future of Tygara. With the fall of many factions in the Galaxy, Tygara had quickly become isolated and potentially threatened. At the conference it was decided that the elves would move off into space to expand and found colonies. These would be provided by Firemane, with the corporation maintaining a controlling interest in the habitats. After tense negotiations, Varisanthra agreed to become a financial backer of the endeavour. Once the Eldorai Matriarchy had been rich, but now it had reached the point where the Queen's rather frugal method of royal splendour was a necessity instead of just a personal preference. Varisanthra's support did not come cheap and several strings were attached to the loan. Important government assets would be held in trust until the elves could repay the debt. In addition, she set up a public debt commission. It would be responsible for representing the interests of the creditors, examining sources of revenue and expenditure and ensuring the elves fulfilled their obligations.
Now that the Eldorai have their arkships, Varisanthra is interested in expanding her business interests to new planets. She also wants to try and influence her people to adopt what she considers to be a more progressive course. Despite everything, she does not like the sorry state of affairs the elves are in, but believes a harsh reality check is necessary to make them grow up. She also had a reunion with Tegaea and Siobhan at the summit.
Likewise, she made the acquaintance of Queen Lia of the Xioquo and Lady Tylania, Paragon of the Vashyada. Vari was unimpressed with Shahbânu Semiramis and a bit disappointed in Tirathana VII. However, Lia made a positive impression on her. The Xioquo Queen was new to the greater galaxy, but willing to learn and, more importantly, to question instead of simply believing whatever the foreign capitalists told her. Though very different in origins and upbringing, the two hit off well. When Vari left the conference, she did so in the belief that she could and should help her Xioquo cousins. She has remained in contact with Lia since then. She disapproves of the more autocratic regimes among the elves, but wants to support those she finds progressive. If this has the side-effect of reducing Firemane influence a bit, well, competition is good for business.
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