[member="Abaigeal E'ron"]
Tylania smiled. “Of course…let me aid you.” She laid a hand on Abaigeal’s head, letting her power flow into the younger woman. Soon Abaigeal would sense how to use the Force to heal her wounds. Give her the right mental pathways.
“The Force is in all things. All you need is the indication on what the next step is…the how. With the Light it will come more naturally with time. As you train you will be able to do more in time…though you will never be able to stay death forever or heal fatal wounds. It will aid you though.”
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Chesna looked between them, finally understanding that there was no wriggling out of it. She nodded. “Well…okay,” she said, glaring over at Tylania. “Miss Nosey over there should have kept her mouth shut,” she grumbled.
“Well, my first memory was being brought out of my tank by the creators. They told me that I was to be the leader of the Eldorai, second only to my mother under their rule. The notion of being a slave queen did not appeal to me, but as you know with Eyrecae they had…ways…of making us do as we were told. Worse, they made it seem like we had a choice, and that there were no orders at all. Everything they said was reasonable and fair, leadership by enlightened council.”
“It was only after the War in Heaven when the skies burned and the faction opposed to the creators came to Kaeshana that we became free of their influence. The war had killed many of the Eldorai and ruined all the space capable ships on the planet, but Ashira and I were able to regain control. We still knew much of the creator’s technology and we began to plan for society after the crash.”
“Ashira wanted to move back to the skies, to find her lost children and reunite us all once more. Even the Kar’zun were to be her subjects, so she wanted to bring them in as well. I was her heir of course, but…what use is being an heir to an immortal? If one has no chance of advancement, what point is ambition?”
“The Goddess Ardarvia…well the ideal has been corrupted over time to party games and romps, but I started that cult. I was the Goddess of Law, Justice and Retribution. Every Paragon was a reflection of and for their children. Tylania is a kind and noble soul, Eyrecae an eternal warrior, Mystra an inquisitive type devoted to mysteries. Ardarvia, she was cold, commanding, superior, arrogant.”
Chesna stared at the ground, and had started to refer to Ardarvia as if she was another person.
“Ardarvia did not want to go to space…not yet. The Eldorai were her children and she decided it would be best if they stayed on Kaeshana to build their strength and numbers. There were still only a few million Eldorai at that point after all. And so she advised Ashira to spend time exploring, communicating with the Kar’zun whilst her envy and hatred grew. Once she had loved Ashira as a mother, but now came to resent her for her suffocating hold on power. What point is there being heir if the monarch never dies? And so whilst Ashira flittered around being worshipped as a goddess her daughter prepared.”
“Ardarvia changed her mind soon enough on exploration. She urged Ashira to go find their lost cousins. They needed the protection she could give form the chaos of the galaxy. Of course, her daughter would rule Kaeshana until she returned. Would rule it faithfully. Would rule it well. And so Ashira prepared her best scientists and repaired a creator ship and set off to the stars. Ardarvia had tricked her though, sabotaging the ship to explode as soon as the hyperdrive was used. And then she announced the impossible news; the Great Goddess was dead, lost in space. They had all seen the explosion from the ground. Now at last Ardarvia could be the true Queen the Eldorai needed.”
Chesna’s voice had started to become harder, losing her pleasant, sing-song quality. Her aura in the Force grew as she had spoken, now surrounding her with power that they had never seen in her before.
“Ardarvia was Queen now, she was powerful, and her people bowed to her. Soon, great projects were constructed, projects that would help her people forever. Necessity meant that harsh measures were needed. The Eldorai could not afford to be lax and lazy. There was work to do. More Eldorai were needed, order needed to be imposed to stop the idle being wasted. Ardarvia knew what was best for her children. The Kar’zun were confined to their mountains to mine and smelt for the true children of the Goddess. The males, well, they were barely needed. They were imperfect images of the Goddess. They were not worthy of command, only being commanded.”
“There were those though who still wished for the return of Ashira in their hearts. Some of them indeed resented Ardarvia’s commands. They did not understand that will and power only came from strength. Sedition, treason, Ardarvia could not allow these vipers to continue. Only those who truly followed the faith could be afforded the rewards the Goddess brought. Ardarvia convened courts to investigate these criminals, these miscreants, and found their faith wanting. Those who defied the Goddess were punished for daring to oppose her. Progress was all. Strength and power was needed.”
“But then, in great shock, there were great lights in the sky. Ashira had returned! She had not been slain by the sabotage, but merely flung off course to regions unknown. Ashira returned, unaware of the part her daughter had played, but she was most displeased by what she saw. Her vision for the future was one of harmony and peace and quiet consideration. It was unacceptable to Ardarvia. Progress could not be halted for harmony or such limp concerns over morality. Strength, power, control. Nothing else mattered.”
“The two argued strongly. Ashira had been away for twenty years, and Ardarvia had by then entrenched her power. Yet Ashira had many loyalists still, the dispossessed and angry, and they flocked to her cause, along with the Kar’zun. There was war. Ardarvia held the high ground, so to speak. She had the power of iron, but Ashira was strong too. She fought with arcane weapons and great command of the Sciia. The war was long and many died. Ardarvia showed no mercy. There could be no mercy for supporters of her weak and decadent mother. There would be no surrender.”
“And yet, the war would never end. For decades the battle went on. Ardarvia’s control began to slip as she saw conspiracies everywhere. Traitors. Spies. Infiltrators. No one could be trusted. The Eldorai would only be deserving if they won. If they lost they would lose everything as penalty for their failure. At last it seemed like Ashira was gaining the ascendency, but Ardarvia was not beaten. She launched a final attack at the stronghold of Ashira and faced her mother in battle. Mother and daughter fought for the future of the Eldorai.”
Chesna’s voice began to crack and her hands trembled.
“The final battle was atop the mountain of Salamhal and Ardarvia struck Ashira. She…she…her blade pierced her mother’s heart. Ashira forgave Ardarvia at the last, knowing that all her daughters were flawed with the sin of pride and envy.”
“Victory? There was no victory in death. Ardarvia at last understood what she had done. She looked down at the battlefield where so many were slain and at last knew the truth. This war had destroyed everything she had hoped for. Beneath the mountain of Salamhal is a great lake. Ardarvia could not reconcile what she had done, and so fell from the peak into the lake far below, having run herself through the heart. The Eldorai, they were broken. The days of the Goddess were over and the survivors struggled to understand and find relevance and life, descending into barbarism.”
Chesna bowed her head upon her hands. She did not look up at Siobhan, perhaps she couldn’t. Her aura receded again until she was reduced once more to being a simple Eldorai woman.
“She…I…killed Ashira. I wanted to die for what I had done. Yet I did not die. I washed up on the lake’s shore with no memory of this and lived, and lived, and lived. Rapidly they shunned me because I did not die, and I wandered Kaeshana unable to see what I was and had been. Not until much later did I remember what had happened.”
