Anya Venari
Star Queen Tirathana VII
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To update a previous version of Lia submitted several years ago. Since so much has changed in her story a reposting makes sense. However, some sections of that submission are included here.
Image Credit: Here. By demonui on Deviantart.
Role: Lia is the installed queen of the Xioquo people. She is not a warrior primarily – though she can certainly fight – but has taken the mantle of ruling her fractured kin. She is also something of a beacon of hope for the Xioquo as she was the first true Light Side practitioner of her people in centuries, possibly millennia. Her role is therefore one more of leadership and inspiration than combat.
Links: Force-Imbued Blade,
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age: 70 years old
Force Sensitivity: Yes, Master.
Species: Xioquo.
Appearance: Lia is still relatively young for her people, being just 70 years old. In human terms this would equate only to the early-mid 20s. Her skin is a dark grey like all her people and her hair is white. This hair is usually tied back into a rather plain ponytail, rather than anything more elaborate. She is of average height and build for Xioquo. Across her right cheek is a sword scar from a duel earlier in her life. Lia’s eyes has a very piercing stare.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name: Queen Liavondra or simply Lia. More properly Vondra’Lia, as their clan name comes first.
Loyalties: The Xioquo people, vassal of Firemane Industries & Technology.
Wealth: Low-Moderate. Despite being a queen, her people are not wealthy and furthermore have been forced to seek shelter on the ark ships of outsiders. Even were she wealthy though she is not the sort to flaunt it.
Notable Possessions: Cortosis weave robes, Force Imbued Blade, family ring belonging to her mother.
Skills: Lia is highly skilled in the agile form of melee combat favoured by her people. She is especially proficient with two blades; one long and one short. Lia has learned quickly the weapons of the galaxy and is now a good shot with a blaster pistol or rifle.
Lia is also skilled in the use of Light Side abilities such as healing, Valour, Stun and more neutral abilities like Telekinesis, Speed and concealing her Force Aura. She has also learned Malacia and Morichro along with Force Cloak. She is also learning how to channel the energies of Force Light.
Lia is proficient in the use of cryomancy.
She does not have any Dark Side abilities.
Personality:
Lia is a quite serious young woman, especially now she has the weight of her people, and the duty of guiding them out of the darkness – literally and figuratively. Though she is not without a sense of humour, Lia prefers to be serious and discuss matters rationally. She is very careful with her words, a product of growing up in a situation where the wrong word could invite serious danger.
If ever the phrase ‘good is not nice’ could ever be applied, it is to Lia. Growing up as the only Light adept in her entire race (that she knew of) she became bitter, resolved and learned that she had to harden up or else she’d never survive. Thus, the phrase ‘good is not soft’ also applies.
To strangers Lia is often downright arrogant, mistrustful and caustic. To those who know her better (usually slaves she had under her protection) she is still stern and distant.
The path of personal morality has taken its toll on Liavondra. Deep inside she has concerns and doubts about her choices. Is respecting and caring for others the right thing to do? Early on, with no guidance from others of her people, and only slaves to teach her of the other path she is deeply conflicted. If she relented and just did as her mother wished she would be spared all her pain. Needless to say that Lia has some issues with self-image, and a sometimes masochistic desire to suffer to show that she is not weak.
Since the downfall of the old order though, Lia has sought and found other adepts of the Light. She has indeed started training a small group of Xioquo in the Light Side. The process is slow, but she has had help. All of this has broadened her mind as to what can be achieved with the Light and made her a little more certain of herself.
COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice: Lia carries a Xioquo Force-Imbued Blade and a smaller vibroblade. As discussed above she is also skilled in melee combat, blasters and some Force abilities. She carries a hold-out blaster on her at all times.
Combat Function: Lia is skilled at deception and is fast on her feet. Her best skills are with a sword with a dagger in the other hand. With this she can fend off enemies with one blade whilst making a strike with the other. If combat can be decided before melee, Lia will use ranged weapons and the Force to drive enemies back or disable them from a distance.
Lia will not strike to kill, choosing rather to wound or stun except in the most dire cases. She will always give an enemy a chance to surrender first.
Lia is highly skilled in using the Force to disable an opponent. Depending on her enemy’s strengths she will use either physical or mental abilities on them to gain the advantage.
When all is said and done though Lia is not a great duellist, especially against enemies from beyond her experience. Her weapons lack the bite or weightlessness of lightsabres and she wears relatively light armour when she is planning to fight.
As a keen servant of the Light she also lacks the heavy offensive spells of the Dark which can destroy enemies very swiftly.
Finally, as a Xio she is still hypersensitive to bright lights and heat. In situations like this she will find it very hard to fight.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
There is always one. One person who bucks a trend, one person out of many who proves themselves different from all others. In the case of the Xioquo, a race almost entirely Dark Side in their outlook and abilities, Lady Vondra’Lia is one of the only known adepts of the Light ever to be produced by that race. Mostly those with views which run so counter to the general cultural theme are quickly disposed of or driven out by their fellows. Xioquo society is tough and those with morals rarely survive long.
Lia was born into the family of the matriarch of Clan Vondra, one of the most powerful clans in all Xioquo society. She was recognised as the daughter of the Matriarch Artaxa, though she was not the biological daughter of her. Rather, she is the biological daughter of the Matriarch’s mate and a servant woman, a common practice by the more traditional Xioquo who prefer not to interact with males at all.
The Matriarch’s four daughters were born to three mothers, with Lia being the youngest, born after her mother had ascended to the treasured Council of Ten position. Growing up in such a world was both dangerous and intimidating. Whilst the clan had many allies and great wealth they could not trust anyone fully. Even within the clan there were those who conspired to advance themselves either with deceit or murder.
With her hands full dealing with such matters, and her three sisters beginning their own rises to power, Lia’s raising was left to servants and slaves with the occasional tutor appointed to bring her up to speed in necessary fields. As the fourth daughter though she was not expected to fulfil any major role, and indeed it was considered unwise to give her too much training in case she conspired against her family. As such Lia was left to grow up out of the spotlight.
Lia’s life really took its unusual turn though when she was twenty, about eight in human terms, when she was appointed a Vashyada slave named Ravoya as a tutor. This slave, captured on a raid, taught the child as requested, but also secretly taught Lia about her home and about other places far away from the Underealm. She even revealed that Ravoya had some Force abilities, but not the sort which the Xioquo usually exhibited. For several years Lia curiously learned all she could, but in doing so she alerted her next oldest sister Zaria. Zaria had Ravoya removed from her position and murdered whilst Lia watched.
Concerned that her daughter might need correction, Artaxa brought in a staunch conservative tutor named Cioquos who attempted to instil Xioquo values into Lia, mainly by sadistic punishments. Lia, still young, found herself rebelling against the harshness imposed on her, and desiring to learn more about the ways of her former teacher. Swiftly though she learned to keep such opposition secret, as Ciquos found her reading forbidden manuscripts and burnt Lia’s hands with hot irons as punishment.
Lia’s resentment built, as it was supposed to, for only then could a Xioquo gain their full induction into the Dark Side. However Lia channelled her frustrations elsewhere, hiding her real feelings and studying combat, her lessons and everything else asked of her. Most of all she learned to be cunning and keep her true thoughts hidden behind a mask of casual indifference.
Satisfied that her daughter was finally showing ‘true breeding’, Artaxa and her sisters went back to ignoring Lia. When Lia offered to help supervise the household’s slaves she was indulged as none of the others wished for such a menial task. Lia talked with the slaves, and whilst she was still as arrogant and forceful as any other, she learned everything she could from her slaves. Any who tried to use this to their advantage though swiftly suffered punishment from Lia however.
Lia did not begin to force a unified, collective moral code until after she was forty, when two things happened. Firstly, her latent Force sensitivity began to emerge, triggered by a brutal duel she had become involved with as part of her training. Secondly, she found her first love, a Qadiri priestess named Jamardi. Coming upon the slave in the markets she instantly bought her and took her home. At first she probably intended only to learn from Jarmardi and to probably indulge some teen hormones with her pet. However, she found that Jarmardi was remarkably knowledgeable and was able to help Lia answer many questions she had. Most importantly, she revealed that she had abilities in the Light rather than the Dark like the other Xioquo, but that she was able to conceal her abilities. This talent was the first thing she taught Lia, and it allowed the young Xioquo to hide the strength of her abilities so she would not attract much attention. Jarmardi spoke of the Light and the Dark and offered a perspective alien to a Xioquo, where people were treated with at least some decency, and how there was a path other than that of deceit and death.
The two were very careful to conceal their activities for a number of years, making all around them believe that she was using the slave for her own personal ends. However, when she was forty-six, Lia’s second eldest sister was killed in a raid on a Qadiri settlement. As Zaria had been made a priestess, Lia was forced into greater communion with her mother and eldest sister Quios. Under this new scrutiny, Lia and Jarmardi were not able to continue forever. Quios coerced some of Lia’s slaves into spying on the pair, and then exposed it to their mother.
Artaxa, unable to understand this daughter who was so ‘soft’, decided to test Lia. She brought Lia to the dungeons where Jarmardi was awaiting execution. She ordered Lia to deliver the killing blow, but Lia would not do so and defied her mother. Enraged, Artaxa had her own daughter seized and beaten whilst Jarmardi was killed in front of her, the second of her mentors to be disposed of in this way.
Unsure what to do with this waste of a daughter, but possessed of enough maternal instinct to not kill Lia – mainly because it would be an admission of her clan’s weakness – she sent her youngest daughter off to the clan’s military.
There, finally given something to do outside the Byzantine politics of family, Lia trained her already proficient skills. However, her reputation had unfortunately proceeded her, and so when a fellow member of the clan tried to intimidate and bully her, Lia beat her, though did not inflict permanent damage.
Here her ideas came to form her new and enduring beliefs; she would defend herself ruthlessly, but would not kill or maim another. She would fight in battle, but would not participate in slaughter. She would continue to serve her family, but would not be bullied by them.
In her first campaign Lia was the youngest warrior, and many expected her to perish. Indeed, her mother probably intended for her to as that would be an acceptable end for an unacceptable daughter. However, despite being a child still, Lia survived and thrived. Here there was less moral constraints, and her undoubted bravery could be given free reign with almost suicidal heroism. Very soon, in skirmishes and raids on the Qadiri she started to make a name for herself.
Whilst she would not kill an opponent, she did not stop those under her command doing it to combatants. This was war after all. However, she strictly prevented murder of civilians, and preferred enslavement. No one on Tygara was an abolitionist after all, slavery was part of every culture.
After six years of annual campaigns she finally returned home an adult and with a strong reputation. This reputation was enhanced when her cousin Valrix challenged her to a duel for imagined slights. Lia attempted to prevent the fight, but defended herself capably, disarming her opponent. Valtrix drew a knife and slashed Lia across the face, to which Lia gave her opponent a severe beating. Standing over her with her sword she barely controlled the impulse to kill her, but instead ordered her banished. Though she did not know it, Lia’s mother had been watching the fight and regained a small measure of respect for her wayward daughter. If Lia would not kill then she would leave her in the army where she was at least being useful.
These years were probably the happiest of Lia’s life as she spent four more years leading raids against the Qadiri. Battle and discipline kept her from being part of politics, and her soldiers came to respect her. She was fair in her judgements, but ruthless in the exact enforcement of discipline. She was also not above using corporal punishment to punish those who broke her rules. Her morality here, as ever, was on a generally good alignment, but she was by no means weak. She was her own moral compass, and through the lens of her own people she was pretty much a paragon.
Matters changed just a year before the current day when the fleet returned from another raid to find the situation had changed. Artaxa, Lia’s mother, was dead. Rumours that Quios had poisoned her abounded, and Quios did nothing to dispel them. She also had no time for her youngest sister, or indulge her in her pacifist fantasies. She gave her an ultimatum at a religious service; perform a sacrifice of a slave or else.
Lia refused, so her sister had her stripped of all her rank and titles and imprisoned for treason.
Though tempted to simply take the martyr’s way out, Lia decided that she would seek her own destiny. Fortunately, her sister had rapidly alienated many clients and allies and several of those were imprisoned with Lia. Working quickly with some friendly slaves she managed to coordinate a breakout with the aid of her priestess sister Zaria who had also fallen afoul of Quios.
The plan went off well, with the prisoners being freed and the guards in the Vondra clan defecting to the younger sisters. Zaria had her older sister murdered and took her place in charge. In order to secure Lia’s assistance she had befriended her younger sister, but in the moment of victory she turned on Lia as a threat. When her women tried to kill Lia she fought back, disabling each in turn before facing off against Zaria. In the ensuing melee Zaria’s potent Dark Side powers almost overcame Lia until she showed the power of the Light to counter, and disarmed her sister. However, Zaria attempted to stab her in the back, and Lia was saved from death by her armour, but her return blow killed her last remaining sister – the only intentional death she ever caused.
For Lia this betrayal was too much, and she decided that she would seek her own fate, so in the confusion as her nieces began to squabble for power in the clan, she escaped and began a long trek across the seas and overland, finally coming to a Xioquo fortress. There she claimed that she was the survivor of a shipwreck, and since she was known there she was aided by the garrison. Just hours before the Coalition attack though word arrived from the Underealm of what had happened and Lia was imprisoned, slated to be sent back for ritual execution.
It was at this moment that fate intervened. The Black Citadel was stormed and the garrison destroyed by a Coalition force mostly composed of Firemane troops. Lia found herself facing the off-worlders whom she had heard much of but never seen. The experience was frightening to say the least, especially as these off-worlders wore armour and carried weapons far beyond those of the Xioquo or their usual Qadiri enemies. Still, Lia did not lose her cool and respectfully asked to see the commander of the invading force.
Taken before Siobhan Kerrigan the two could see that the other was both similar and yet very different from the other. Lia followed her version of the Light and was technologically primitive, yet she had a steely resolve and reliability of character which made Siobhan at least respect her. Further, Siobhan recognised the uses of a Xio who was not a murderous Dark Sider; as puppet she could be a useful pawn to control the Xio once their threat had been dealt with. For her part Lia recognised what Siobhan wanted with her and did not argue against it. She knew in her heart that the Xio could not face this enemy and that the old, bloody ways had to be broken if her people were ever to survive and move on. Thus a deal was made; Lia would advise on the Xioquo defences and capabilities and would be their puppet, and in return she would rule them afterwards.
The campaign against the Underealm was a bloody affair, even with the technology of the off-worlders and the numbers of their allies. Lia had little part to play in this beyond providing intelligence, for only a very few of her people joined the campaign to rise up against their mistresses. Still, she was present to witness the cataclysmic rebirth of Myrou and the final battle where the reborn goddess was slain by Siobhan and her allies. Lia heard the whispers in her head, the call to fulfil her duty and turn on the invaders, but she resisted.
In the aftermath of the final campaign the Xio were shattered. Many were dead, maimed or lost. Many were unredeemed followers of the old order. Many resented the fact their people had been defeated by invaders. Into this volatile mix was inserted Lia, as she was crowned as queen – a title no Xioquo save Myrou had ever had. Some, maybe a majority, hated what they saw as a traitor who had been placed over them as their overmistress by the invaders.
It was here that Lia showed that she had learned much both from her people and from the outsiders. Swiftly, and with the blessing of Firemane, she removed all remnants of slavery and bonded servitude. She then turned to the people utterly disenfranchised by the old order; the lower classes and the servile groups. These people had no loyalty for their old mistresses, and so flocked to her willingly as she implemented nothing less than a total reorganisation of society. The old houses were broken up, the client and patron networks shattered, and the redistribution of assets by all those who had fought the invasion gained her an immediate and loyal following. Further, many mistresses saw the way the wind was blowing and pledged their loyalty to her, knowing open resistance was doomed.
Yet, it was far from easy or smooth. Despite being defeated many Xioquo were not willing to put aside their pride or old ways easily. Rebellions were common and Lia had to survive no less than 4 assassination attempts. The last of these was caused by treachery on the part of her bodyguards which allowed an assassin in to strike at her. However, forewarned by a loyal servant, she was able to capture the assassins. Always her message was the same; work with me and prosper or fight me and be destroyed. She would not kill, even the assassin who had come close to stabbing her, but nor would she forgive them. The Light was justice, truth and virtue; nowhere did Lia believe that to mean she had to be naïve or ‘nice’. Thus her enemies were sent to exile in remote lands as servants or made to work rebuilding the Underealm.
A further complication was a profusion of cults and groups brought about by the end of the old order. Groups which saw Siobhan Kerrigan as the Karishzar, or Destroyer, and worshipped her power. Cults like the Daughters of the Destroyer were a double edged sword; on the one hand they were skilled and loyal warriors, but on the other they were difficult to control and Dark Side in leaning. To counter this she started forming her own group of Xioquo she could impart her teachings of the Light to, named the Seekers of the Sky. One of them, Naxi’Xiarda became a personal student of Lia for a while and the two got on well.
With help from Firemane she was able to meet other Light adepts and learn greatly from them, though she found some of them to be very odd. The Jedi for instance had many tenants and beliefs she could not reconcile with what she felt the Light was. She would forge her own way, incorporating elements from others certainly, but making it unique for the Xio. During this time Lia also expanded with her own skills with the help of skilled Firemane adepts such as Leonina Varkathras and teachers unaffiliated with the company, boosting her skills closer to her true potential. In just over a decade of hard work and study she was able to claim the title of Mistress fairly.
Years passed and the Xioquo finally began to settle down. Those who were deeply opposed to her had mostly died, fled or been forced to bide their time. Lia worked with Firemane’s chief observer in the Underealm, Kaylah Danton, forming a close working relationship. Though poles apart in upbringing, the two appreciated the need for order tempered with understanding. The Xio had suffered great trauma, but with time that could heal and make them productive.
Alas it was not to last. With the fall of many factions in the galaxy, Tygara became quickly isolated and threatened. Not wanting to lose another world or leave behind a captive population, Firemane called together the races of Tygara for a conference on what was to be done. Lia entered space for the second time, finding it just as unnerving as before, but she persevered as to do any less would be to let her people down. At the conference it was decided to abandon the planet and move the populations onto giant spaceborne ark ships. The Xioquo had little to offer, being both few in number and having more destructive Force users. However, the Xio were swiftly learning to accommodate with modern technology and so could offer that service.
The results of this summit were unpopular. Many did not wish to leave and vanished into the innumerable tunnels and fissures of the Underealm. Though many were retrieved, some were lost there. Lia bore this trepidation as well as she could, for she knew her people’s only chance was to push past fears of the past and look to the future. As Tygara, and everything Lia ever knew slipped away in space she knew it was symbolic of the way her people were cutting ties with the old for a new future.
What would that future hold? Lia was determined to lead her people out of the darkness both literally and figuratively and so remains Queen, guiding the Xioquo to a new and hopefully more prosperous future in the depths of space.
