Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Codify the Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana.
- Image Credit: Here. Found on newsnation.in.
- Links: Specific Event: Kaeshana Exodus. Supporting threads describing buildup and preparations for the exodus: First Contact, Avast and Belay, Do You Know What I Know, Moving the Sky, Diamonds and Guns, I Will Find You (Coryth Elaris has a vision of Tygara in post 71), Doomsday Clock, Apocalypse...Not Quite Yet, Starfall. It's all in the timing. Pertinent planet submissions: Kaeshana, Tygara, Arkas.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Event Name: Eldorai Exodus from Kaeashana.
- Participants:
Eldorai - Kar'zun
- Firemane Industries
- House Kerrigan-Alcori
- Order of the Silver Jedi
- Shadow Knights
- Archangel Research & Design
[*]Results: Kaeshana is devastated by a huge asteroid. The vast majority of the Eldorai is able to leave before the calamity, settling on Tygara. A small remnant population is left behind and forced to survive in a post-apocalyptic environment. Tygara is discovered and settled by the Eldorai and Firemane.
CHRONICLE INFORMATION
The Eldorai are a proud, isolationist and often xenophobic people. Their religion postulates that they are a chosen race, blessed by their Creator Goddess Ashira, and that they are superior to all other sentient life forms. Ever since their homeworld, Kaeshana, had been opened up to the rest of the Galaxy, they were forced to confront a reality the put these long-held truths into question. Foreigners possessed superior tech and Kaeshana became the target of raiders and slavers, so they modernised their army and reluctantly joined the Omega Protectorate. Later they formed an alliance with Firemane Industries, which helped them catch up to the galactic tech level.
However, at the close of the Netherworld Event, the Eldorai Crown received word of a threat they could not defeat by force of armies or the blessings of their Goddess. A huge asteroid was on collision course with Kaeshana. It would impact upon the planet in a year. The combined might of their warships would be insufficient to prevent cataclysm, even with the aid of Firemane.
The Star Queen of the Eldorai, Tirathana VII, known to her inner circle by her birth name [member="Anya Venari"], was forced to make hard choices to assure the survival of her people. Or at least the greatest number of them. One of the Eldorai Matriarchy's allies, a Rogue Jedi Master called [member="Coryth Elaris"], had a vision of a lost elf colony in the remote corner of Wild Space, Tygara. Firemane and the Eldorai discovered further evidence of this colony when they dispatched a task force to eliminate corsairs on Arkas, for the sentient chattle the slavers oppressed included beings that resembled Eldorai, but had a divergent language and culture.
While preparing an expedition to Tygara, the Star Queen approached Firemane Industries with a plea for aid. Siobhan Kerrigan and Tegaea Alcori agreed to devote their resources to ensuring the Eldorai's survival. This made it necessary to create a massive exodus fleet. Large enough to not only transport billions of people through space, but also accommodate and supply them. They also needed a destination where they could put down roots and rebuild their civilisation.
While Tegaea Alcori embarked on an expedition to Tygara, the Lady Kerrigan stayed on Kaeshana. At her insistence, the Eldorai were compelled to agree that the Kar'zun, long their foil and rival for control over Kaeshana, would also be given a place in the exodus fleet. After negotiations between Siobhan and Jedi Master [member="Coci Heavenshield"], the Silver Jedi Order agreed to support the exodus.
Meanwhile, a joint Eldorai and Firemane fleet appeared in the orbit of Tygara. There they destroyed a pirate fleet and freed slaves that had been abducted from the planet. Shortly thereafter the expedition's leaders made first contact with Shahbânu Semiramis, the ruler of the largest state on the planet. She was a Qadiri, a subrace of Eldorai, and unlike many of her people realised that the star people were not deities or demons, but mortals like her, just with access to superior tech. Realising that these outsiders could be useful to her, she agreed to an alliance. However, this also drew Firemane into the conflict between the Qadiri and the Xioquo, who both warred for dominance over the planet, as well as the internecine strife between Qadiri rulers. This would have significant repercussions, even after the Exodus.
Inevitably, word of the coming doom leaked out on Kaeshana. The result was bloodshed, terror and panic. The vaunted discipline and obedience of the Eldorai broke down, as all had one goal in mind: Survival. Even though the exodus fleet was huge, not everyone could be saved. The Crown was forced to prioritise those who could contribute the most to the exodus and the colonisation of Tygara. Needless to say it was also not inclined to save hardened revolutionaries and renegades. Obviously the decision to save the best and brightest above all caused a public outcry. Nobles were guaranteed a place because the Crown needed their wealth to fund the fleet.
Some Eldorai would have to stay behind. The deep fissures in Eldorai society became apparent, as riots and rebellions broke out. A militant Eldorai cult, the Children of the Silver Star, proclaimed that the cataclysm was Ashira's punishment. For the Eldorai had lost their way by abandoning the teachings of their foremothers and consorting with foreigners, who were derided as demons and 'human monkeighs'. In order to regain Ashira's favour, they would have to purge the foreigners and 'race traitors'. To put their beliefs into action, they launched violent pogroms. Other Eldorai cultists, driven mad by the disaster, welcomed the apocalypse, believing that Ashira would take the faithful to heaven. Most foreigners left Kaeshana at this stage, rightly fearing for their safety. However, Firemane forces remained, aiding Eldorai troops in providing security. Siobhan Kerrigan herself was the target of an assassination attempt by a cabal of conspirators in the Eldorai aristocracy, one of them being an aunt of the Queen. Though wounded, she survived, and the conspirators were punished.
The Queen and the royal family left the planet aboard the Tirathana Skyport, along with several hundred thousand Eldorai, in order to organise the colonisation efforts. These represented the initial first wave. Further waves followed. The richest citizens and nobles had been offered a chance to ‘contribute’ to the exodus by supplying money, and in doing so be the first ones evacuated. Next all the art, weapons, equipment and food which could be spared was taken off-world and moved across the galaxy to their new home on Tygara. Then the turn came for all people of Kaeshana. A lottery system combined with a pick of the best scientists and vital trades had been set aside to be evacuated. The rest would have to try and get aboard any ships if they could. Understandaly, order collapsed. Ships that landed without protection were often stormed by desperate refugees. Outsiders who had not already left were lynched. Cities became battlegrounds between those who had been slated to be saved and those who sought to find a way to escape the doomed planet.
While Lady Kerrigan led a campaign on Tygara to subdue Xioquo raiders that had been menacing the settlements, Firemane and Eldorai forces on Kaeshana tried to keep the peace and ensure an orderly evacuation. Santaissa, the Eldorai's capital and sole spaceport, descended into chaos and the soldiers found themselves under fire. Some Eldorai soldiers, disenchanted with their government, turned on them, either because they believed the religious zealots or regarded the Crown's policy as a betrayal. Violence begot violence. The fighting was brutal on both sides and collateral damage was significant, especially when panicked civilians tried to storm the spaceport and shots were fired from among the crowd. Angelii soldiers commanded by Seraph Kaida Taldir fired into the mob and mounted a punitive operation to eliminate armed rebels, backed up by Firemane troops led by Major Tempest. However, there were also rogue Eldorai soldiers whose a different path. They joined a new group, the Shadow Knights, a coalition of renegade Eldorai that had two goals: Helping more of their people flee the doomed planet, no matter the cost, and be there for the survivors of the cataclysm.
And of course, other parties sought to take advantage of the Eldorai's misery. One prominent example was Archangel Research Design, a genocidal machine cult masquerading as a legitimate droidmaker. Its members posed as genuine aid workers who wanted to help the Eldorai escape. When the natives saw through the charade, the droids used force to abduct elves, whom they intended to process into droids. The Eldorai troops and Firemane sought to combat such actions, but were stretched thin.
Meanwhile, Firemane tried to mitigate the damage the asteroid would cause - and thus ensure that the Eldorai who had to be left behind were not wiped out - by a powerful warship, the Barsen'thor. The original asteroid was about 20km wide, but through the efforts of the Firemane war fleet, this was reduced by a considerable degree. However, the impact would still be disastrous. Finally, nemesis came to Kaeshana. Many Eldorai had been evacuated aboard the exodus fleet. Shortly before the impact, Siobhan Kerrigan had to return to the planet to rescue her daughter, Natoline Kerrigan, from the grip of a dark Eldorai cult. The pair were fortunate enough to escape the surface and reach the Barsen'thor before the asteroid impact. By then the last soldiers had left the planet. Due to Firemane's efforts, the body was now only 4.9. km in size, rather than the original 20km.
But this was small comfort for those affected by it. The impact in the Inner Sea caused cataclysmic damage. First, the huge impact caused a tidal wave to sweep all the shores clean of buildings and people. Second, the immense pressure wave caused incredible atmospheric disturbance enough to ignite inflammable objects hundreds of kilometres away, turning forests and fields into infernos. Third, the impact was enough to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on the already unstable geology of Kaeshana. Fourth, the release of dust into the air caused a build-up of particles in the air which obscured the sun and fell as acid rain, killing more crops and contaminating drinking water. Finally, the long-term effects were one of temperature change, first cooling and then warming. Those Eldorai not immediately killed by the impact soon found themselves in close succession with many other desperate members of their kin. Violence became endemic and gangs soon appeared trying to steal away resources. Pirates and slavers took notice, seeing an easy target. Resentment towards the Eldorai who escaped became widespread.
As mainly the wealthiest and most skilled were able to earn or purchase a berth, the class based tension coupled with religious instability caused by the failure of the Goddess Ashira to save the planet, became widespread. When rescue parties landed after the impact many of them were attacked, or the survivors hid from them. The survivors of Kaeshana called themselves the Forsaken. Generally, those on the outer edges of the continent managed better. The immediate effects took longer to arrive, and the more sparse population meant that those in the outer reaches were less likely to be attacked. Santaissa, the once proud Eldorai capital, had been devastated due to being closest to ground zero. The few survivors abandoned its ruins, leaving it a ghost town. The only group to be relatively unhurt by the process were the 10,000 or so Kar’zun who'd refused the call to leave Kaeshana. Travelling back to their ancestral homes in the mountains they were unaffected by the change in temperature, and since their species ate rocks they were in no danger of starving. Even the quakes had little effect due to the distance from their homes.
However, forces soon arose to wrest some order from the chaos. The most prominent and well-organised group were the Shadow Knights, who made it their mission to protect the Forsaken communities and try to rebuild Kaeshana. They were composed of former soldiers, renegades and revolutionaries. Many of them followed divergent ideologies, but had found common cause. However, though they were dedicated, their mission was hampered by internecine strife among the Eldorai, scarcity of resources and slaver raids.
Meanwhile, the Exodites rebuit their civilisation on Tygara. Fortunately, the bulk of the Eldorai population had been able to escape the calamity. Soon work began on a new capital, New Santaissa. However, the exodus had left scars on Eldorai society. Faith in Ashira was undermined, for inevitably the theodicy question came up. While many Eldorai remained believers, several turned to atheism or embraced fringe cults, such as the Illyrian Heresy or the Aspirants, the latter being an austere Ashiran sect that believed the mainstream church had deviated from the way of their foremothers.
There were calls to mount a relief expedition to aid the Forsaken. Some Eldorai leaders declared that such efforts would be for naught. Some did so for practical reasons, but others regarded the Forsaken as the 'wrong sort of people', namely renegades and malcontents. The Queen herself was deeply troubled by the plight of the Eldorai's lost kin, but the colonisation efforts on Tygara were a monumental effort. Furthermore, the settlers soon found themselves embroiled in Tygaran politics and at war with the Xioquo. Moreover, the Crown had fallen into debt. Time was needed to fill the treasury's coffers. Not wanting to be caught in a situation like on Kaeshana again, the Crown commissioned Firemane to construct worldships that could transport large numbers of people, should the need arise once more. While Firemane had been compensated for its aid efforts, the exodus had also been a great burden for the corporation, especially since it had to launch this undertaking shortly after the Netherworld Event had caused such damage to galactic governments and the economy. Furthermore, aid convoys and evacuation ships risked being attacked by local warlords on Kaeshana. Thus while further evacuation efforts took place, they were more limited in scope.
The exodus also changed the relationship between Firemane and the Eldorai Matriarchy. In the past they had approached each other on relatively equal terms. However, the event made the gross disparity in terms of resources and power apparent. The Eldorai had survived because of Firemane's aid. In some circle this fostered gratitude, but in others resentment. At the same time, Firemane's leader, Siobhan Kerrigan, came to expect a degree of pliability that a number of Eldorai considered to be an attack on their independence and racial pride. This put the Star Queen in an awkward position, for she understood how dependent her people were on Firemane support, but also had to take the interests of her constituents into account. Otherwise she would jeopardise her throne and the progressive reforms she had implemented since being crowned. The alliance remained strong, but there was tension bubbling beneath the surface.
Thus time would pass before the Tygaran Alliance, as the confederation between the Eldorai Matriarchy, Firemane and the native Tygaran races called itself, launched a massive fleet to provide aid the Forsaken and evacuate those who wished to leave the planet. This mission was backed by the Galactic Alliance. However, they would clash with forces of the First Order, who had arrived on the planet at about the same time. The conflict that ensued would become known as the Kaeshana Rebellion.
Ironically, Tygara would not be the final home of the Eldorai. Several years after the destruction of Kaeshana, the elves and their native 'cousins' abandoned the planet in favour of a nomadic way of life aboard worldships and space habitats. This event would be recorded as the Great Scattering.
