OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Flesh out Eldorai lore and add some flavour.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Eldorai, To Hell and Back, Ashiranism, Kaeshana, Qadiri, Vashyada, Eldorai Exodus, Twin Exiles, Xioquo.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Organization Name: Blades of Reason.
Classification: Rebel movement and political party.
Affiliation: Shadow Knights, Court of the Shadows, Stylena, Yohara Taenasi, Cadera Naeyra, Asuran Star Combine.
Organization Symbol: Hexagon with each opposite line connected to represent their six key tenants.
Description: The Blades of Reason are an atheistic, areligious, antiaristocratic and anticlerical organisation that developed in Eldorai society in opposition to the influence of the Church of Ashira. It embraces members of all social classes, though it is dominated by soldiers and intellectuals. It propagates atheism, scientific advancement. Identifying religion as superstition utilised by the upper classes to keep the people in bondage, it seeks to impose its atheistic views on Eldorai society and culture and endorses a military citizens' republic as a form of government. Influenced by non-Eldorai viewpoints, they reject the idea that the Force is a Goddess-given gift. While well-organised, they are one of many groups among the Shadow Knights. Members are also known as Rationalists.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Headquarters: Part of the Shadow Knights' migrant fleet and based on the Defiance. Individual cells, recruiters and preachers can be found in various independent Eldorai settlements and starships. Have cells in several Eldorai population centres and settlements.
Domain: The Blades do not control any fixed planetary domains. They are part of the Shadow Knights' nomad fleet though, which means they have a strong presence on the Defiance. This worldship is essentially the Eldorai renegades' mobile 'capital'. One could liken it to a heavily militarised city on the move. The Blades are an active part of the community.
In Shadow Knight society, segments of society are organised into holistic bodies and integrated into the government. These bodies are called Courts. The Blades can be found in every Court. Given their focus on military strength, technological advancement and progress, they are particularly well-represented in the Court of War and the Court of the Mind. The former is responsible for soldiers, naval personnel and other military people; the latter is an organisation for scholars and researchers.
Yohara Taenasi, the leader of the Court of the Mind, is a member. Moreover, the Court of Providence is led by Stylena, a member of the Committee of Rationalist Security. Service guarentees citizenship in Shadow Knight society, so the group encourages its members to serve in a military capacity of some form. The Blades have a well-organised party machine and strive to be an active presence in the community of elf exiles, involving themselves in the daily lives of its people. Cadera Naeyra is a member of the Citizens' Council of the Shadow Knights. Moreover, several Rationalists work for the Asuran Star Combine.
Notable Assets: No large assets of note. The Blades are part of the Shadow Knights' nomad fleet. They have a presence in Asuran Star Combine facilities and own a number of cargo ships, modified C90 Corvettes and the like. They also control some minor charities via front companies.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Hierarchy: The group utilise a cell like structure. The leader of the group receives the title of High Illuminatrix (or Illuminatis, if it is a male). They preside over the meetings of the Committee of Rationalist Security: Or CRS for short. A council of nine who act as the group's leadership committee. The Blades have embraced radical republican principles to choose their leader. However, being Eldorai, they find direct democracy a tad suspect. So they have an electoral college where each cell is a single vote.
Police is made in the centre, and transmitted through a network of committees. This makes the hierarchy rather top-down. The Blades have a tradition of 'democratic centralism'. Broadly speaking, this means free and open discussion is allowed, but once the centre has made a decision, it is binding for all members. This principle has often been observed only in the breach, but is a powerful lever to create a network of disciplined administrators. However, politics in the group are still highly personalised. A lot rests on the personal charisma and organisational aptitude of the High Illuminatrix, creating the risk of a vacuum should something happen to her.
In order to facilitate the efficient allocation of workers and resources, the Blades have created subsidiary bodies that assist the CRC. One is the Organisational Bureau; the other is the Secretariat. Membership in all three bodies often overlaps. The Organisational Bureau oversees personnel, job assignments and related tasks. While the OB does not pick the next leader, it exercises a lot of influence on leadership succession since it is responsible for grooming potential next-generation leaders and building their personal portfolios by issuing recommendations to the central leadership.
The Secretariat supervises the administrative and clerical apparatus. This apparatus consists of a myriad departments responsible for political education, propaganda, work among men, united front work, party discipline, finances and cadres. Overall, the leadership is characterised by a strong element of oligarchy. The oligarchs at the top of the movement are for the most part veterans of the prerevolutionary underground. They are powerful figures less prominent party members attach themselves to in order to obtain patronage. The views of retired party leaders are also important, as there are factions within the Blades.
Membership: Recruitment via cells. However, there's a good deal of screening. In principle, any patriotic Eldorai can join. The group does not discriminate between female and male Eldorai. However, only atheists are allowed. Every member must swear a solemn oath, disavowing belief in the Great Goddess Ashira or any other deities and vowing to defend the freedom of the Eldorai with her or his life if need be.
Reputation: Depends on who you ask. Overall, the group is not well-known outside of the orbit of the Shadow Knights, Firemane and the Eldorai. People outside the group tend to distrust or downright dislike them. The Blades are smart enough to make pragmatic alliances with other Shadow Knight groups. Their relationship with orthodox Ashirans is particularly bad.
Curios: Nothing fixed. They wear a coded item, which changes frequently. For instance, a silver ring on one particular finger, a particulalry coloured lapel pin etc. This is followed up by a coded message to ensure the cell members are real.
Rules: The Blades of Reason see themselves as warriors for progress and freedom. In that regard, they're more radical than many Shadow Knights. While all of the Shadows reject the authority of the Eldorai Crown, many of them still believe in the Eldorai deities, though their beliefs are generally unorthodox and considered heretical by the orthodox Church. However, the Blades reject religion. They believe it is not enough to do away with the temporal power of the clergy. If Ashira ever existed, she was a purely mortal woman, not a deity or a being with a divine and a mortal side. Some Rationalists have agnostic views, believing that the existence of the divine is unknowable. They regard the Netherworld Crisis as evidence that some form of afterlife exists, but there is no evidence to presume that is anything in common with what the Ashiran scriptures postulate. Some of them argue that there might be some form of prime mover, but that it does not intervene in mortal affairs.
Their slogan is 'to struggle against superstition is a struggle for liberty'. Thus they call for a policy of atheism to free the Eldorai from the grip of superstition. Rather than wait for nonexistent deities to save them, the Eldorai must take their fate into their own hands. The Blades are supportive of technological advancement, which is why they are more positive about using droids and cybernetics than conservative Eldorai. Above all, they stress the importance of self-reliance and endorse a republican form of government. The latter puts them in opposition to Eldorai monarchists. Being Eldorai, they are sceptical of direct democracy though. Some democracy is good, but the citizens' republic should not allow too much popular participation.
In addition, the Blades support equal male rights. Being Eldorai, they are still a bit patronising about it, despite claiming to be progressive. One of their spokeswomen once said: "We support males in most arms of the military, but there are some they are not physically or psychologically capable of serving in. That's basic biological science."
Their radical atheistic beliefs put them at odds with Ashiran, Arrynist and Illyrian Shadows. However, despite their heterodox views, the Blades are Eldorai patriots. They want the Eldorai to be able to decide their own fate and be free of foreign dominance. Thus they oppose foreign regimes that wield power over the Eldorai, which is why they regarded the First Order's occupation of Kaeshana as illegitimate. They also look very poorly on Eldorai who collaborate with slavers and sell out their own kind. Such Eldorai are regarded as traitors deserving of death.
In theory, the Blades allow members of the Eldorai's Tygaran cousins to join. However, only a few do because the Blades are quite Eldorai-centric. It does not help that their progressive ideology is culturalist. Many of the Tygaran natives who join tend to be Xioquo. This is understandable because Mystra, the Xioquo's 'Creator', turned out to be a genocidal mad goddess who did not care about her people and would have led them to their doom if she had not been thwarted by Firemane and their Eldorai allies. Likewise, Qadiri who have broken with the feudal power structures of their people and have found the traditional beliefs of their people are invalid can be found in their ranks.
Goals:
To 'liberate the Eldorai from mysticism and superstition and lead them to enlightenment'. To this end they want to spread atheism and attain progress through reason and science and eradicate the influence of nobles and clerics. The group promotes gender equality and social justice. To unite the Eldorai under the banner of a citizens' republic. To liberate those Eldorai who live under foreign dominance.
MEMBERS
Yohara Taenasi:
"Watch this one, we have seen her ambition plain. Of progress and prosperity she speaks, but for herself or her sisters is the true target?" - Brak'Vrasz.
Chief scientist of the Defiance and head of the Court of the Mind, the official association of scholars, scientists and researchers. Yohara is the inventor of the modern soul gems and the Sciiac Guardians. She is a radical iconoclast and a passionate technophile dedicated to what she terms the cause of progress and the advancement of prosperity. Her experiences in the Matriarchy have left her with a strong disdain for the ancien régime and conservative Eldorai forces.
The time she spent in the Netherworld after being raptured by Akala has left her with a bit of an obsession for the realm. She is sensitive to the Force, but her affinity is too low to merit training. This frustrates her, but has also given her a superiority complex. She has dedicated many years to studying the Force from a scientific perspective. Yohara is very good at her job and no coward, but pompous and extremely ambitious. It has become a bit of a meme among Shadow Knights that Yohara is always right. Anytime something incredibly unpredictable or lucky/unlucky happens a Shadow Knight will say 'Yohara predicted it' or 'Yohara said it'd happen' in a joking way.
Her relationship with the group is not straightforward though. On the one hand, her designs have been a great benefit to the nomad fleet. They also validate the Rationalists' belief in progress through scientific and technological advancement. Moreover, she leads an important Court. However, she is also in love with her own voice and poor at sharing the limelight. Her background is also different, as she is not a professional revolutionary.
Stylena:
“This one believed once, now they believe in nothing but progress. Efficiency and progress are hard masters, and might she not be consumed by the machine she has created?” - Brak'Vrasz.
A former bandit, Dark Eldorai insurgent, revolutionary understudy and lethal bureaucrat. She was meant for the Ashiran clergy in her youth, but took a hard turn to the revolutionary left and became a radical agitator. Stylena is a prominent member of the Rationalist faction and heads the Court of Providence. This puts her in charge of manufacturing and farming, making her responsible for the Forge of Prosperity. She divides her time between the Defiance and handling projects in other areas of the nomad fleet. While not not a good orator, Stylena excels in the spheres of management and personnel. She is a skilled organiser of supplies, but also coarse, ambitious and ruthless. She is the type of energic trouble-shooter who gets things done, but can be rather intimidating.
Stylena is an atheist, having replaced Ashira with a strong belief in the cause of Rationalism. She is not an impassioned, charismatic speaker. However, she has cultivated a sort of gentleness and a sort of quietness, a lack of showiness which people trust. When she wants, she can be charming. One of her acquaintances has described her as half subtle scholar, half thug, and she plays either of these two halves whenever she needs them.
While her coarse mannerisms might suggest otherwise, she is a voracious bookworm who has amassed an enormous library. As someone who was trained to become a priestess, she takes reading and learning very seriously. Stylena can be a rather attentive boss. She has a habit of going to the apartment of every senior subordinate. She comes bearing gifts, checks the heating and reads bedtime stories to their children. But she is also vindictive and blunt about the fact that a revolution goes hand in hand with bloodshed.
Cadera Naeyra:
"When violence is exercised by the smallfolk, by the mass of exploited against the exploiters — then we are for it."
"Only powerful people have liberty." - Caerys Naeyra
The High Illumatrix of the Rationalists and thus Chairman of the Committee of Rationalist Security. Cadera is the leader of the Blades. Followers call her the 'mountain eagle' of the party. She has a strong sense of mission, but also an acute understanding of power dynamics. She is genial and her laughter is infectious, but her life is ruled by her fanatical dedication to the revolution. She combines intellectual force with total practicality. Crafty and pragmatic, she knows when to make tactical retreats and adjust, but never loses sight of her goals. In spite of her radical views, she comes from a privileged family.
Her mother had a good job in the education system. Indeed, she was a minor noble. However, Cadera rebelled against the system that had privileged her. The catalyst was the execution of her sister for plotting to assassinate Star Queen Tirathana VI, an iron-fisted autocrat. Cadera became a lawyer, and then a revolutionary. Time spent in exile revealed to her how the rest of the Galaxy had progressed while Kaeshana stagnated. She firmly believes in the righteousness of her cause and her own talent as a leader. Cadera can display kindness, especially to children, but is moody, emotional and volatile. Indeed she can be venomous in her critique of others, exhibiting a propensity for mockery, ridicule, and ad hominem attacks on those who disagree with her.
Caerys spent many years in exile, visiting developed such as Fondor. She could not help compare conditions abroad with those on Kaeshana. It all led her back to one question: Why had the Eldorai been unable to accomplish this? Why were they so often victimised? Why were they dependent on foreign patrons like the Protectorate and Firemane? To Cadera the answer was clear: Backwardness. Her evaluation of Eldorai society is pessimistic. Per her analysis, it is defined by superstition, backwardness, classism and ignorance. The Matriarchy is dependent on foreign aid and might as well be considered a client state. They continue to maintain a quasi-feudalist power structure, with economic and political power being concentrated in the hands of a small elite chosen from birth.
Too many Eldorai still subject themselves to the 'tyranny of superstition'. This is the opium of the people, for it gives monarchs, aristocrats and clerics power over the masses. The Blades of Reason must become the motor of progress, acting as a vanguard of dedicated revolutionaries to spread Rationalist ideas among the common people. Cadera is married, but cares little for romance or the arts. Her husband is more a secretary and assistant, though this has not stopped Cadera from having passionate affairs.
Xhar'Invaq:
"They should not think of comrades as male or female, Qadiri, Xio or any other 'race'. Race is a construct of the slavers to isolate us. Only by judging each by their merit rather than their body will true progress result."
"Class instinct - whatever the League says - always shows itself to be more powerful than the noble enthusiasm of 'above-class' politics'. So long as the highborn men and their lowborn 'younger brothers' are equal in their inequality, the former can, with complete sincerity, make great efforts to defend the general interests of men. But once the barrier is down and the highborn men have received access to political power, the recent defenders of the 'rights of all men' become enthusiastic defenders of the privileges of their station, content to leave their younger brothers with no rights at all."
Xhar'invaq differs from many of his party comrades due to being both male and a Xioquo. Xioquo society has traditionally been deeply misandrist, even more so than Eldorai one, which says something. Things have improved since liberation, but Invaq grew up during the ancien régime. This has informed his outlook on things. He was someone who grew up at the ground level of oppression. He worked as a slave scribe. Invaq gravitated to the Rationalists due to their radical message of rising against the oppressors and breaking the chains of false deities that were used to enslave the common people.
Many probably just expected his role to be a token one to show the Rationalists are open to Tygarans and males. However, he has become something of a party theoretician, publishing articles in Xio and Eldarai on Rationalist ideology, gender and race. He has an analytical bent and an interest in history and economics. He belongs to the left wing of the movement. He deeply dislikes old guard Xio who have tried to worm their way into the Shadow Knights.
Invaq promotes the cause of male liberation, but firmly believes that it can only take place as the result of the victory of a new social order and a different economic system. He is critical of upper class male rights activists who focus on suffrage and the rights of males to inherit property and titles, but do little to address the immediate concerns of working class males. In his view, their bourgeois aspirations are objectively reactionary, displaying a desire to join or supplant the ancien régime that exploits their comrades rather than build a better world for everyone.
Trokana:
Cadera might dominate the Committee of Rationalist Security, which is the Blades' leadership group. However, she is not an absolute leader, but relies heavily on two faithful acolytes, Trokana and Stylena. Sadly, both despise each other. Their squabbling plays into Cadera's hands, but also often irritates her. She sees herself as superior to both, but also depends on them.
Trokana is an accomplished, eloquent orator and glamorous military commander, but also shamelessly vain She is light-years ahead of her rival in oratory and eloquence and a superior soldier, but an inferior politician. She is also Force-Sensitive, which fuels Stylena's jealousy. Trokana comes from a family of emigres, but became a revolutionary at an early age. She is an undoubtedly gifted woman, but also enjoys being in the limelight and demands deference from those around her. Her gifts flourish in the spotlight. She is gifted with a pen, a rapier and in command of a warship, but dismissive of comrades she considers less intellectually accomplished than herself. She is a proponent of iron discipline in the military.
Trokana is a brilliant Rationalist theorist and capable naval commander. In that capacity, she serves in what amounts to the Shadow Knights' 'fleet'. A colourful character, she is good at motivating her soldiers. Trokana's biggest obstacle are her poor personal skills. She is an ideologue who is stubbornly determined to have her own way. Thus while she is winning laurels on the battlefield, her social ineptitude makes her poor at forging lasting political coalitions.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
In the beginning, Ashira was created by the sun, the moon and the stars to create a chosen race which would one day inherit the universe. She in turn created the pantheon, infusing part of her knowledge into each, and together they formed the Eldorai to be perfect creatures in her image. One of Ashira's daughters, the Death Goddess Illyria rebelled against the Creator out of jealousy, spawned demons and was banished to hell. This is what Eldorai ought to believe in. Made in Ashira's image, they are perfect - excluding the manlings, the poor, the disobedient, the heretics and so on and so forth. The Star Queen is Ashira's viceroy on earth and so all Eldorai owe her fealty. When an Eldorai dies, she is brought before the divine tribunal and judged for her deeds. The righteous are granted entrance into paradise, are reunited with their loved ones and bask in the presence of the Great Goddess. The wicked are cast into the pit of hell, a place of punishment and suffering.
Alas, a number of Eldorai do not believe or have found good cause to doubt the orthodox teachings. Exposure to the outside world, foreign invasions, planetary cataclysms and so on have undermined the old beliefs. It has become rather difficult to claim that the Eldorai are superior beings and the only intelligent race in the Galaxy...since many foreigners have more advanced tech and a foreign power rules the Eldorai homeworld, Kaeshana. As a result, many Eldorai leaders have tried to enact reforms, seeking to preserve the independence of their people by adapting. The current Star Queen, Tirathana the Seventh, pursues a policy of religious tolerance and enlightened despotism.
For some this does not go far enough. The Blades of Reason are one such group. They rebel against the tripartite alliance of crown, temple and nobility that has been the bedrock of Eldorai society for centuries. Even among the Shadow Knights, a group of militant survivalists and renegades who strive to lead the Eldorai exiles, they're a radical fringe movement. Like many other Eldorai revolutionary societies, the Blades have their origins in secret societies.
Unlike populist movements such as the Green Ribbons, the Blades originated from amongst the middle class. Many of their early members were merchants, intellectuals and officers. This is only natural because they were influenced by ideas from outside Kaeshana and these were the classes most likely to get into contact with offworlders. This applied to merchants in particular, who tended to be looked down upon by mainstream society. Initially, the Blades were a reformist club that sought to achieve change through peaceful means. Regarding themselves as Young Eldorai, they strove to preserve the Eldorai Matriarchy by modernising it. Some even proposed constitutional government and a separation of church and state. However, over time they radicalised.
Repression during the paranoid, reactionary reign of Tirathana the Sixth, the present Queen's mother, drove many club members to radical political agitation. A number of members were interned in the Island of Fallen Angels, the Angelii's ghost prison, for espousing heretical ideas, such as that Ashira was a mortal woman and humans and Eldorai shared a common origin. Some were put to the torch to make an example. The Blades carried out terrorist actions, focusing a lot of their murderous attention on members of the clergy and other 'outposts of reaction'. One of their victims was the head cleric of the Cathedral of Ardarvia, who'd proclaimed that to not believe in the Goddess was to be soulless. The group espoused a strategy of insurrectionary action and propaganda of the deed, carrying out several politically motivated assassinations and terrorist actions.
One of the young radicals was a legal scholar called Cadera Naeyra. She came from privileged circumstances, but turned against the system. Her sister had been executed for plotting against the Crown. Moreover, Cadera had experienced the corruption in the legal profession first-hand when a merchant in her home town was framed for blasphemy. She became enamoured with the pro-revolutionary novel 'What is to be done?'. It should be noted that Cadera had no qualms about living off the estate's income.
Travelling to Santaissa despite being prohibited from entering the capital, she got involved with a revolutionary cell, which demanded radical change in Eldorai society and government. Their programme included the abolition of Church tithes and of the religious courts, constitutional government and the creation of an elected assembly...though only 'worthy' Eldorai would get a vote. It was not radical enough for Cadera. The Investigators were notorious for infiltrating subversive organisations with police spies, and so the young radicals were soon unmasked. Cadera, who had grown frustrated with the cell's lack of drive, had brought matters to head by organising a demonstration that turned violent. She managed to evade capture when the Investigators cracked down on the radicals. While many of her comrades were forced to confess real and imagined crimes against the state, Cadera went underground, living under a pseudonym.
The revolutionary underground had become her life and she was drawn to like-minded radicals, who founded a secret society called the Blades of Reason. They rejected the authority of the Crown, aristocracy, clergy and the existence of divinity of Ashira and the other Eldorai deities. Cadera raised money for the illegal publication of a holonewspaper that would spread their message. Displaying organisational skills, she became the holonewspaper's editor. Her pen produced articles characterised by inflammatory rhetoric and dry wit. Dismissing those who believed in peaceful change and reform, she endorsed the use of political violence and armed insurrection.
She also tried to build connections with the community of Eldorai émigres and exiles that had emigrated from Kaeshana or been banished by the Crown. However, she found the emigres to be a fractious bunch cut off from the realities on Kaeshana. It did not take long for the Blades to embrace propaganda of the deed and direct action - in other words, terrorism.
For a while, the rebels managed to take control over some remote territories. However, their regime was unstable and characterised by erratic outbursts of violence that helped turn many of the people they professed to free against them. With the benefit of hindsight, even Cadera admitted that they had been like children who believed they loved freedom, but in reality loved the sound of their own voice more. Thus her brief time as an administrator in a rebel-held town was an unsuccessful one. Trade collapsed and the rebels failed to keep essential services running.
Eventually the insurgency was crushed. Cadera herself was captured by government forces. It is likely that she was tortured. Detractors claim that she signed a confession which implicated comrades, though this cannot be verified. She established herself as a leader among prisoners, but was separated from them and put in isolation once the guards took notice. Meanwhile, life outside the prison moved on. Tirathana VI died and was succeeded by her daughter Silaqui III after a brief succession crisis.
The new monarch sought the backing of the Omega Protectorate and agreed to some liberal concessions to win their support. Repression was eased and many political prisoners were granted an amnesty, provided they swore an oath to never again take up arms against the Crown. Cadera was not one of them. She was but was able to escape during the brief period of chaos after Silaqui was assassinated by treasonous Angelii. The renegades were part of a reactionary putsch that sought to turn the clock back to the old days of the Matriarchy. However, it was put down by loyalist forces and Firemane mercenaries. In Silaqui's stead, her reformist sister, Anya Venari, ascended the throne, assuming the regnal name Tirathana VII. The new Queen was determined to liberalise Eldorai society and push them towards modernity.
Cadera resurfaced in a remote settlement far away from the capital city. There she lived under an assumed name and even managed to secure a position as a schoolteacher. While subtly influencing young pupils, some of them became dedicated acolytes, she tried to rebuild her old contacts. However, several of the surviving Blades believed that the time for violence had passed. A group of them argued that they should disavow violence as a means of achieving political change. They were encouraged when the new Queen promulgated freedom of religion. While still a despot, she was determined to be a benevolent despot and push Eldorai society towards modernity. Such notions were anathema to Cadera, but she was isolated. While she was busy building up her own cadre, her past caught up with her. Tipped off, Cadera went into exile. At the same time, her stay abroad also enlightened Cadera to the manifold threats the Eldorai they might face - far bigger than the pirates and slavers who had assailed them so often. It also taught her about how backward the Eldorai were.
She continued to hold the Revisionists in contempt, but was forced to confront some hard truths and realise that it was better to gather other dissidents to her and form a genuine alternative to the ancien régime. Cadera's acolytes were surprised when she gave them her orders. Several had expected her to order them to prepare an insurrection against the monarchy. Instead she told them to learn as much as possible about the technology of the outsiders. To this end they were supposed to educate themselves and seek positions that would enable them to expand their knowledge. Some of her followers deserted her, for this plan seemed dull and lacking in adventure. Cadera dismissed them as ignoramuses. Several of them joined a splinter group that tried to launch an amateurish coup attempt back home. It was foiled by the Border Police and the Royal Customs Service. Her remaining acolytes were organised into a tight-knit network
Meanwhile, the next generation of Rationalists had radicalised on Kaeshana. The new cadre was less composed of intellectuals and more of soldiers who'd served abroad and realised how much more there was to the Galaxy than Kaeshana. One of them was Aravae Elsatra, a junior officer who'd studied at the Omega Protectorate's Military Academy on Fondor and fought at the Battle of Gehenna. She got in touch with Cadera, whose network could be useful to her. Afer giving the matter some thought, Cadera agreed to help her. Not because she expected Elsatra to succeed. Far from it, she was certain the 'hothead' would fail.
But she could kill two birds with one stone by getting rid of the Revisionists and putting herself in a position where she could either take over or exert influence. Taking control over the Blades' leadership committee in what can only been described as a coup after exposing her predecessor as a government spy, Elsatra pushed them towards a radical direction. Ironically, her evidence was provided by agents of Tarissa Cadalthor. The Cadalthors were an extremely reactionary noble house, which was disenchanted with the Queen's liberal reforms and wanted to turn the clock back. Fanning the flames and then presenting yourself as the group best equipped to put them out seemed like a good idea to them.
During the Netherworld Crisis, Kaeshana exploded in paroxysms of violence. Countless people vanished, religious fanatics declared that the end of days was at hand and that therefore the only way to avert hellfire was to regain Ashira's favour by purging the unbelievers and 'human monkeighs'. Nonbelievers were targeted by militants. At the same time, Elsatra instigated an uprising. The security forcess were caught in the middle, trying to impose order and keep the Matriarchy from descending into chaos. Elsatra was killed during the fighting.
It was then that Cadera returned to take control, using an assumed name. Indeed, she disguised herself as a male. She forged an alliance with Stylena, a bank robber, revolutionary agitator and lethal backroom manager. The two formed a lethal duo. The much reduced leadership committe was persuaded to elect Cadera as the new High Illuminatrix. She immediately proceeded to press her views upon the group. There would be no more insurrections. The group would focus on providing a genuine alternative to the Eldorai, rather than playing into the hands of reactionaries and foreign enemies.
Some Eldorai who had been teleported into the Netherworld returned to Kaeshana with their faith reaffirmed. Others concluded that the church's teachings were a lie. There was no heaven, no goddess, no divine wrath. Driven into the underground by the crackdown, the Blades reconstituted themselves. They continued to agitate on Kaeshana, spreading propaganda among the disgruntled, though this limited them to the urban classes as they failed to reach the rural folk. However, their activity shifted from violent action towards political work and propaganda. Some Blades dreamed of one day launching a revolution to topple the monarchy, others reasoned that it made more sense to seek a new home for 'enlightened' Eldorai. The second option was moot since the overwhelming majority of Eldorai lived on Kaeshana.
Until the Great Cataclysm. A huge asteroid devastated the planet. Three billion Eldorai managed to escape, but many had to be left behind. The Shadow Knights arose out of the ashes, dedicated to protecting the 'Forsaken'. Feeling embittered towards the exodites, they reached out towards rebel groups such as the Blades. Thus the Blades became part of the revolutionary bloc the Shadows strove to build. Members of the group took up arms as soldiers of the Shadows during the failed Kaeshana Rebellion.
They have been part of the Shadows' nomadic fleet ever since the rebels had to evacuate Kaeshana following the First Order's annexation of the planet. They are an influential voice and one of those most vocal when it comes to casting aside the old traditions of the Matriarchy. A number of Blades have joined the Shadow Knights' council and they are devoting a lot of their efforts towards educating the next generation of Eldorai. They are well-organised, have a professional propaganda apparatus and invest a lot in training cadres. Detractors accuse them of intolerance and have given them the derogatory name 'Cult of Reason', accusing them of being just as stiffling as the Church of Ashira they despise with such vehemence. Their leaders dismiss such claims, insisting that her group offers genuine liberty rather than pleading for succour from false idols.
Kaida is close to them, as she shares their radical atheistic beliefs and belief that faith in the 'false deities' must be stamped out. She sympathised with their beliefs during her time as an exile and Omega Pyre soldier after losing faith in Ashira. However, their violent actions turned her against them, especially after her own exile was lifted and she became an Angelii officer. After turning her back on the Crown for good and joining the Shadows, the Blades tried to recruit her.
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