Karrigan'Xalda
Daughter of the Karishzar
"The path of the light is dangerous and harsh.
Like the bridge over a chasm there is danger to all sides.
Yet, to one with the will to proceed there lies ahead a greater treasure than any earthly wealth.
The path of the Light is not easy, but no task is worth performing without struggle.
In struggle, in strength, we find the path to the Light."
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Xioquo, especially the Light Side ones. Sub the commander of the Banishers of the Night.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Commander of the Banishers of the Night. The Banishers are an order of Light Sided Xioquo paladins. Zixasa acts as their leader, answering to Queen Liavondra.
Links: Xioquo, Firemane, Twilight of the Goddess, Daughters of the Destroyer.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age: 95.
Force Sensitivity: Master.
Species: Xioquo.
Appearance: Zixasa is a Xioquo female who is still relatively young for her people. However, her life has been a harsh one. She was raised in a tough setting and her appearance shows it. This has also toughened her up. She has the build of a warrior. As is typical for her people, she has dark grey skin, red eyes and white hair. She keeps her hair cropped at a practical length, disdaining anything more frivolous that could get in the way or give an enemy something to grab. As a young slave, Zixasa was often abused and beaten.
Her back is marked with scars inflicted by a whip or an iron rod. When she was young, her right arm was branded by her mistress to make her as a slave, determine her classification and humiliate her. She has covered the brand with the symbol of the Seekers: a circle, half black, half white horizontally. A hand is reaching up from the black for the white.There is a very prominent scar that runs across her face. Her eyes have a piercing stare. As befitting her role as a paladin, she commonly wears a suit of armour. She sometimes adds a blue cloak to it. The armour is practical, but has been stylised with the symbols of her order. Some call her brazen for exposing herself like that. Zixasa counters with the argument that the Banishers are more than soldiers; they are symbols.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name: Naul'Zixasa. In the Xioquo language, clan name precedes given name. So Naul is in fact her surname.
Loyalties: Banishers of the Night, Seekers of the Sky, Liavondra, Xioquo, Naxi’Xiarda.
Wealth: Low-Moderate. Her people are not wealthy. Given her high position, she could probably live less frugally if she wanted, but she has embraced an ascetic life style out of choice. It is a deliberate contrast to the way the matriarchs and senior priestesses of the ancien régime lived.
Notable Possessions:
- Force Imbued Blade.
- Armour. Suit of armour has a helmet to protect her against chemicals and the like. It has an HUD, voice modulator and other standard systems.
- Pendant with the symbol of the Seekers.
- Meditation Band.
- Holdout Bolter.
- VT-RAM Disruptor (permission here).
- Sonic Wave Pistol (Firemane contract here).
- Seraph Shield
As is common among Xioquo Force-Users, she has an affinity for elemental Force abilities. In her case, this manifests in an affinity for cryomancy as well as elemental air abilities, which includes the power to summon elemental lightning. She gets very annoyed when it is equated to Sith Lightning. Moreover, she is skilled in Telekinesis, Force Stasis, using the Force to amplify her physical capabilities, Protection Bubble, Force Valour, Force Healing and Force Weapon. Her experience and strong affinity for the Light Side of the Force enable her to channel it into blasts of Force Light. Furthermore, she can use the Force to mask her aura. Her skill with ranged weapons lags behind her skills as a Force warrior, but she is still decent with a gun. Zixasa has some skill as a medic and has trained herself to be a competent smith. In addition, she is a good animal trainer.
Personality: Determined, committed, serious, principled, brave. Zixasa is something that until recently would have been considered to be virtually unthinkable, namely a Xioquo who walks the path of the Light. Once she was a slave, forced to serve a cruel mistress. She participated in a slave revolt, but the rebellion was suppressed. She and her surviving comrades fled into the deepest depths of the Underealm. There they had to scavenge to survive in the monster-infested catacombs. The continuous struggle for survival turned her into a hard, tough woman. She soon became the leader of the group, launching raids to obtain supplies or free other slaves. However, punitive expeditions of the ancien régime whittled down their numbers. She rejoined civilisation when the old order collapsed and Firemane forces occupied the Xioquo capital.
It was then that her path crossed with Liavondra. Zixasa became a staunch ally of the dark queen of the light. In return for her support, Lia taught the warrior about the Light and completed her until then rather ad hoc Force training. Zixasa swore an oath of fealty and has served her faithfully ever since. The Xioquo paladin is a serious being and not known for cracking a smile or joking around a lot. She is a strict, but fair leader. She has a lot of empathy for victims of war and oppression. She still has to wrestle with her own anger, but strives to embodiment of the principles of her order, leading by example. Having grown up in a tough setting, she has no tolerance for laziness and dislikes people who were born to privilege.
Zixasa sees the Seekers as the authentic representation of Xioquo nationhood. In her view, they place the good of the people first instead of the desires of an uncaring dark goddess or the selfish whims of aristocrats. She does not tolerate the use of the Dark Side in her group. Due to her past, she is distrustful of members of the old elites who now profess loyalty to the new order. While strict, she is popular among the common folk. Unlike some members of her order, such as Naxi'Xiarda or her Queen, Zixasa is more sceptical of non-Xioquo Light Side groups, such as Jedi. She is not averse to cooperation per se, but believes the Xioquo themselves are best equipped to find solutions to Xioquo problems. The following quotation illustrates her beliefs well:
"The Jedi feel that with peace and kindness and negotiation all dangers can be solved. When these do not suffice they fall because they cannot understand how to change how they think. We must be different. We Xio are born in darkness and though we claw our way to the light we understand there are monsters which are implacable, which will not stop until they besmirch all life. These horrors must be fought, they must be defeated. In all things there is the right way, and the easy way. We must never allow ourselves to discard what is right for what is easy."
Her code of honour compels her to intervene if she sees an injustice take place. But she considers helping her people more important than crusading in foreign lands she knows nothing of. She would react poorly to attempts to pull her into a foreign quarrel in the name of Light Side solidarity. She is a strong supporter of Queen Lia, but favours an elective monarchy or oligarchy elected from those among the Xioquo who have shown they have left the past behind and contributed to the community. In short, obtaining authority and citizenship through service is her thing.
Zixasa is a very forthright woman and has little patience for court politics or intrigue. Her stubbornness can make her difficult to get along with. Having seen the destruction that can be caused by blind obedience, she believes that a servant of the Light has the duty to think rather than merely obey. In the old days, the military was misused as an instrument to oppress the common people, keep the slaves under the yoke and the matriarchs in power. Atrocities were committed to preserve the power of the few.
More than a few Xioquo officers who were put on trial for crimes justified their actions by claiming they had been bound by an oath and had just been following orders. This is the kind of attitude Zixasa despises. Thus she propagates a concept called 'citizen in armour'. To be a paladin, a Banisher has a duty to disobey unlawful or immoral orders - and to remove a superior officer who orders atrocities from command. She kills in hot blood, not cold blood. Zixasa dislikes the Daughters of the Destroyer and their martial arm, the Heralds. She views them as a throwback to dark times her people must move on from.
"If by Pacifism is meant the teaching that the use of force is never justifiable, then, however well meant, it is mistaken, and it is hurtful to the life of our country. And the Pacifism which takes the position that because war is evil, therefore all who engage in war, whether for offense or defense, are equally blameworthy, and to be condemned, is not only unreasonable, it is inexcusably unjust."
The Paladin resolutely rejects the idea that the followers of the Light must remain passive in the face of aggression. She and her followers are also opposed to the belief the Light Side is forbidden from striking first. Instead she believes in active defence. War should not be waged for the purpose self-aggrandisement or vainglorious ambitions, but it should not be avoided at all costs, for there are times where a great evil can only be averted through force of arms.
From her point of view, Light Siders are expected to exhaust other avenues before fighting and to fight proportionally to the circumstances. She believe that the Light is obtained through consensus, righteous action, knowledge and obeying of just laws. It is very Lawful Good, as opposed to many Jedi or Vash who would skirt to Neutral or even Chaotic Good. She has a well-earned reputation as a harsh teacher.
Some of her methods to determine a recruit's conviction and strength of will may be a little manipulative, but this is because she wants to weed out opportunists, double agents and fairweather friends. Given how Byzantine Xioquo politics still are and how many 'reformed darksiders' have tried to curry favour with the new order without changing their beliefs, these are all realistic concerns. Her harsh, unrelenting training methods are also supposed to ensure that those acolytes who remain know what they are getting into. The path of the Light is neither glamorous nor easy. Good does not mean nice or soft.
COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice: Force Imbued Blade | The Force | Sidearm.
Combat Function: Zixasa is a paladin, commander and a warrior of Light. She capable of leadership and participating in the fury of combat when necessary. She combines cunning, valour, physical skill, leadership ability and strength in the Force to see her through combat. The Banishers are a martial order and Zixasa's primary function is to lead them in battle. Despite her command role, she is more than willing to enter combat if need be. She also provides protection to Queen Lia, though the so-called 'White Queen' is a powerful Force-User in her own right. Zixasa survived for many years in the darkest depths of the Underealm, despite its manifold dangers. She did not do so by being rash. She is decisive on the battlefield and willing to sacrifice herself for the cause, but frowns on daredevil actions and has learned the value of prudence. However, her present level of experience makes her more of a tactical than a strategic leader.
As is typical for Xioquo Force-Users, Zixasa has elemental Force abilities. She is also skilled in the use of more typical Force powers such as Telekinesis, healing as well as protective Force abilities. She is an inspiring presence for her fellow paladins. Finally, her affinity for the Light Side of the Force is strong enough to manifest Force Light. This gives her a potent tool against Dark Force-Users, Sithspawn, dark spirits and apparitions. It allows her to theoretically purge or contain dark side manifestations or nexus points. However, summoning it obviously requires concentration and focus and thus cannot be performed on a whim. Zixasa has only limited experience with galactic technology and is not much of a pilot.
The Xioquo did not know of lightsabres until the coming of the 'sky people' and they are still incredibly rare among them. However, they have a tradition of imbuing their weapons with the Force and enhancing them with alchemy. Thus Zixasa carries a Force Imbued Blade and uses it with great skill. She is also a decent pistol shot. In contrast to traditionalist Jedi, the Banishers do not dismiss a good blaster as a 'crude and uncivilised'. They may be paladins, but they are practical ones. Thus she will usually carry a sidearm and sometimes a carbine or shotgun as a backup weapon.
Zixasa is a soldier, and so she will kill in combat. However, she does not kill in cold blood. She will not murder a helpless opponent, but that does not translate into letting heinous enemies go scots free. Prisoners will be treated decently, but with the appropriate rigorousness to ensure they do not become a threat. She does not believe in trying to talk enemies down or trying to convert Dark Force-Users in the middle of a fight. Her sword is a weapon of justice and she does not believe in waiting for an enemy to strike first.
She has the standard racial strengths and weaknesses of her people. Xioquo are perfectly adjusted to the darkness and see much further in it than say Eldorai or humans. They also have excellent reflexes. However, living in the darkness so long has made the sun and other bright lights painful for her kind. In daylight they wear robes and hoods to shield themselves, and often wear steampunk-like sunglasses on long operations. Their skins can blister in the sun if left exposed. As a result, she has to wear concealing attire when out in the sun. She tends to wear armour in combat.
Strengths:
- Force soldier. Zixasa is a Master of the Force, elementalist and a strong warrior. Thus she is a potent force on the battlefield. She is skilled in the use of a variety of ranged and melee weapons.
- Capable battlefield commander. She is tenacious, exudes authority and is an inspirational presence for her fellow paladins.
- While she trains extensively with conventional weapons and in hand-to-hand combat, losing the Force means losing her greatest advantage. This can put her at a disadvantage against enemies who use ysalamiri or Voidstone tech.
- Limited skill with galactic technology or piloting. Not trained in the use of a lightsabre.
For centuries Xioquo society was defined by tyranny, the Dark Side and slavery. Theirs is a bloody, tragic history. A small clique of noble families used terror and propaganda to keep the under classes in line. Comparisons can be drawn between them and the ancient empires of the Sith Purebloods. Many Xioquo were kept as slaves. Xioquo society had always been steeped in the Dark Side. For centuries, the drows were governed by a ruthless mageocracy where only those who pursued the path of Darkness ended up on the top. Thousands laboured as slaves to serve the whims of the mistresses who sat on the top of the pyramid. The disobedient were brutally punished and often sacrificed in ghastly rituals to power war machines or be turned into abominations.
Generations of Xioquo were raised to worship and fear Mystra or, as the Xio knew her, Myrou. She was (correctly) regarded as the mother of their race. Once she had led them on a campaign of conquest to subjugate the planet. Her armies were halted when the dark one was severely wounded by her sister Tylania, Paragon of the Vashyada. Wounded by the power of the Light, she led the Xiqouo to the Underealm. There she entered a tomb and was not seen again for millennia.
Though the dark goddess slept, it was believed that she would one day awaken to lead them to conquer Tygara...and judge her children. The Xioquo awaited this day with a mixture of anticipation and dread. They performed blood sacrifices to sustain their goddess - and ensure that she did not awaken too soon. Believing that Tygara was theirs by right, the Xioquo warred against their neighbours and rivals, the Qadiri and Vashyada. While the technologically most advanced of Tygara's natives, their low population, incessant power struggles and the constant need to be on their guard against slave revolts kept them from fulfilling their potential.
However, there are always renegades who buck the trend, no matter how monolithic a species may seem. Just as there are Wookiee slavers, honest Neimoidians and Eldorai who are not misandrist racists or religious zealots, there are Xioquo who have rejected the Dark Side and embraced the Light. In the old days, this was extremely dangerous, for they were branded as heretics and persecuted by the state. Under the totalitarian theocracy that used to hold sway over the Xioquo people, those with views that ran counter to the general cultural theme tended to be quickly disposed of or were driven underground by their fellows.
Xioquo society was tough and those who defied the social norms tended not to survive long. At the same time, this made those who stayed true to their nonconformist beliefs just all the more fervent. Naul'Zixasa is one of them. She has come a long way from slave, exile and renegade to commander of the Xioquo paladins. She was born several decades before Siobhan Kerrigan and her allies conquered the Underealm and put an end to the ancien régime. In contrast to the nobles who ruled over the Xioquo, Zixasa was not raised in the lap of luxury, for she grew up as a slave. Ill-defined crimes 'against the state and the goddess' had caused her ancestors to lose what freedom they had had and their status was inherited by her, for her blood was considered tainted.
For the Xioquo, so obsessed with survival, power and the influence of the Dark Side, slavery was the defining aspect of their society. Slavery provided the labour which allowed mobilisation of their forces for war, kept the population subdued and prevented population explosion. Zixasa seldom speaks of her childhood, but it is clear she suffered severe mental and physical abuse. She was raised in a labour camp and put to work once she was old enough. Her home was a rough-walled cave with a dirt floor is all they might have. It was damp and cold. She was put to work in the mines and on construction projects. The methods utilised were primitive and attrition was high. The mistresses did not care, as they had a large surplus of slaves.
The overseer's whip was her constant companion, especially since she had a particularly brutal supervisor who enjoyed the power she had over the slaves. 'Uppity' slaves were punished with exceptional brutality as a warning to the rest. One of her friends was ripped apart by spiders. Her food was often insufficient and so she had to steal to survive. This earned her beatings. To make sure she never forgot her place, she was branded. Disease and malnutrition were constant threats. When a plague broke out, she fell very sick. Indeed, she came close to death and was labelled a 'superfluous eater'. Unlike many of the members of her work crew, she survived. Perhaps this was an early manifestation of her Force abilities, allowing her to live through what killed many of her fellows. Still, there was no time for her to rest. She might have perished as one of the many slave labourers, if her Force Sensitivity had not been revealed to her mistresses.
The Xio had methods for determining Force sensitivity and had no qualms about torturing potential slave-soldiers to goad it out of them. If the slaves perished...they were just slaves anyway, so it was not much of a loss. Perhaps the fact that she survived a plague when so many other slaves did not that caused her mistresses to cast their eyes on Zixasa as a potential 'recruit'. Force sensitivity tends to come out at stressful or emotionally fraught moments. So the mistresses engineered such situations. Stage one consisted of making her toil and work harder, while reducing her rations even further. At the same time, she was given opportunity to steal, but was beaten if she was caught. Stage two consisted of severe beating. She was whipped, beaten with iron rods and threatened with death. Finally, they threatened to send her mother to the bloodforges.
Zixasa lashed out with her anger, smiting one of the guards with a blast of lightning. Her fury gave her strength and she unleashed it upon her captors. However, she had been starved and beaten, so she was overpowered in the end. Her overseers were pleased with their success. Zixasa was one of the 'lucky' ones, for a batch of failed potentials were sent to the bloodforges or used as torture victims to train inquisitors. Instead, she was inducted into a janissary corps of slave-soldiers. Her training was brutal. Physical and mental abuse was par for the course in it. Slave-soldiers like her were exposed to mental attacks to condition them into obedient drones. Ample use was made of the whip to keep them in line. Once she was hung out in the sun for being 'uppity', leaving her with nasty burns. She was left to burn until she begged to be allowed to return to the corps.
She and a bunch of other prospective slave-soldiers were thrown into the lowest levels of the Underealm, where exiles were commonly sent to die. Here, abominations dwelt, many of them failed or uncontrollable creations of Xioquo alchemists. Given the task to cleanse one of the levels, natural selection thinned the ranks of the slaves, while they were hounded by beasts. Driven by a need to survive, Xixasa endured, refusing to die like so many others. While inexperienced, she displayed leadership qualities, helping organise the slaves so that they could survive as a team. Still, natural selection diluted their numbers. Though badly injured and bleeding, she managed to make it out of the pit. The surviving slave-soldiers learned how to harness the Force as a weapon, apply military tactics, use muskets, bolt action rifles, swords, bows and arrows.
Her anger only increased when she learned her mother had died. The moment came for her final test. Zixasa and others were ordered to execute failed janissaries. Every instinct commanded her to obey. It was a matter of survival. Yet she refused to murder a helpless comrade. Her superior struck her, draining her life. Driven into a fury, she fought back. Perhaps it was the sight of one of their own standing up against the oppressors. Maybe they had simply been pushed too far. Or a combination of factors. Whatever the case may be, a number of her fellow slave-soldiers joined in, turning on their tormentors. This sparked a slave revolt in the camp. The guards were better armed and trained, but the slaves were more numerous, and their fear, anger and desperation fuelled their strength in the Force.
Word soon spread, and the noble house the camp belonged to dispatched soldiers. Left with no other choice, the fugitive janissaries went underground. Many perished along the way, hounded by Xioquo soldiers and alchemised beasts. Zixasa emerged as a leader during the great escape, guiding a cadre of fugitives through the tunnels. She distinguished herself in battle with their pursuers, earning her the respect of her comrades. But being on the run was not easy. Food was scarce in the lower levels and danger ever present. They had to forage, raid and steal to survive. They found refuge among a secret commune of Xioquo fugitives. Some were escaped slaves like them, others priestesses who had rejected the Dark Side beliefs for more wholesome practices.
However, Zixasa was not content with hiding in the Underealm. She felt a strong desire for justice and retribution. Against the advice of the natives, she led several raids. She attacked labour camps to free slaves, raided convoys and the mansions of aristocrats. This made her a bit of a folk heroine to the downtrodden, some of whom protected her or provided her with information. She got her revenge on her mistress when she snuck into her mansion during a festival and murdered her, then set the place ablaze. But this victory was not without consequences, for her actions provoked harsh reprisals. If there was one thing the Xioquo state could not tolerate, it was dissent. A punitive expedition was launched. Zixasa was able to escape with her life, but their hideout was betrayed.
The rebels had to flee. Many of her comrades and, even worse, the fugitives who had provided her with sanctuary were murdered. An attempt to free captives failed. Left with no option, she had to run. Her actions had brought down the wrath of the state and earned her the ire of the fugitives, who blamed her for the deaths. Zixasa was wracked with guilt over what her actions had caused. To free the oppressed and fight the oppressed was a just cause, but she had endangered innocents through her recklessness. Zixasa claims that she had an epiphany during a trek into the darkest corners of the Underealm. According to her, she had a vision when she was hiding in a cave. In it she saw an apparition of herself. She saw herself as mighty, powerful and free.
The apparition basked in the power of the Dark Side, having triumphed over her enemies and sacrificed her friends. Zixasa was tempted, but then resisted. When the apparition tried to merge with her, she turned away, rejecting the power it offered. She made the decision to atone for what her actions had wrought by protecting the fugitives. She could not bring back the dead, but she could become a protector of the people. It went all against all she had been taught, but she would no longer be chained by her mistresses and let them define her. Zixasa did not define it as such at the time, but she was making her first steps into the Light.
The fugitives were wary of her - understandably. Nonetheless, she protected them, putting her life on the line when they were targeted by government soldiers, raiders or beasts. When they were ambushed by alchemised beasts during their trek, she led a rear guard action. She was severely injured fighting an enormous alchemised spider, but used her cryomancy to freeze some of its legs before blasting it with lightning. Poisoned by its venom, she rammed her blade into its brain. One of her comrades recovered her injured body, ensuring she did not die from her injuries. A renegade priestess nursed her back to health. Her name was Xio'Tarkuz. Once she had been part of a coven that venerated Myrou, before she and some of her fellow witches turned away from the dark goddess and fled. She went a little crazy during her isolation, communing with the spirits via some mushrooms found in the caves. As a result, she is more than a little eccentric, forming a strong contrast to the more taciturn Zixasa. Still, they struck up a friendship.
Zixasa was more of a combatant, but Tarkuz was more educated. Until now, Zixasa had been illiterate. Now, in between daily struggles to survive, she got the chance to brush up on her education a bit. The priestesses who were part of the group were more Grey than Light, but they showed Zixasa a different path. Once she was able to read and had earned their trust, they let them read one of the heretical texts they had saved from the Inquisition. Still, it was a hard life. The fugitives had to forage, hunt and raid to survive. Zixasa still carried out raids, but was a lot more cautious than in the past.
Her trials had taught her that she could not be reckless or wasteful with others' lives. There they had to scavenge to survive in the monster-infested catacombs. The continuous struggle for survival turned her into a hard, tough woman, but also a leader. One of the downsides of living deep in the catacombs was that it was extremely difficult to learn about events on Tygara. Thus the profound changes her homeworld experienced passed by her at first. But she eventually learned of the arrival of the sky people. Deserters and escaped slaves as well as captured loyalists told her that an army had descended from the stars in metal sky-ships. They had weapons of tremendous power and were led by a woman the Xioquo called the Karishzar, which was their word for Destroyer. The stories claimed that she had personally slain a kraken. At first she dismissed these stories as tall tales. But they kept spreading likd wild fire. Some claimed the Karishzar was a demon summoned by the Qadiri to exterminate the Xioquo, others hailed her as a liberator who had come to free them from their oppressors.
Emboldened, Zixasa launched a few raids to free slaves. Morale was low in the Xioquo army, but the Council was determined to fight to the death. Nemesis came to the Underealm when a combined force of Firemane, Eldorai and Qadiri soldiers invaded them. Their leader was Siobhan Kerrigan, whom the Xioquo called the Destroyer. Despite the technological superiority of the outsiders, the fighting was brutal. In desperation, the Council awakened Myrou from her slumber bloody sacrifices, but slain by Siobhan Kerrigan and her allies. 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. Once a noblewoman, she had turned against the ancien régime and embraced the Light. The sky people saved her from execution and now put her on the throne. Some, maybe a majority, hated what they saw as a traitor who had been placed over them as their overmistress by the invaders. Determined to lead her people into a better future and regain their freedom, the young queen initiated a bold reform programme to break up the old caste system and patronage networks.
However, the collapse of the old order left a spiritual vacuum. This caused a proliferation of cults. One of them were the Daughters of the Destroyer, who worshipped Siobhan and her power. To provide a different path for the Xioquo, Lia founded the Seekers of the Sky, a sect devoted to the Light. Zixasa and her comrades decided to rejoin civilisation after they received word of Myrou's fall. She became one of Lia's acolytes. Zixasa had been vilified by the ancien régime as a traitor, terrorist and heretic. She had been a heroine to rebels and slaves though. Now she was received by the queen. The two women, so different in upbringing yet in many ways alike, had a long, private conversation. Zixasa questioned her about her plans, making no bones about her wariness of the outsiders and on bowing to another ruler. Perhaps to her surprise, Lia did not take offence, but instead outlined her vision.
The Xioquo needed peace, education and bread, but they also needed to see that the Light was strong enough to protect them. It had to offer tangible benefits to them. To be sure, the drows were now under the protection of Firemane, which shielded them from the revanchist ambitions of the Qadiri. However, though a vassal queen, Liavondra wanted her people to be able to walk into the future with their heads held high instead of being dependent on the generosity of the sky people. Thus the decision was made to create a group of righteous protectors. It would be their duty to inspire the people, protect the innocent and fight the wicked. They would be a shield against the enemies of the Xioquo. They were called the Banishers of the Night. Zixasa agreed to become of their first paladins and swore an oath of fealty to the queen.
Getting the order up and running was not an easy task. Some who tried to join the group were opportunists who believed membership could raise their status. Others were infiltrators. Thus stringent trials were instituted to separate the committed from the unsuitable. After millennia of indoctrination, it was difficult for many to accept the Light. The Banishers turned to those who had been the victims of the ancien régime, the poor and the slaves. The order recruited several former slave-soldiers. One of the recruits was Naxi’Xiarda, who became a personal student to Lia and later Zixasa. Zixasa was able to bring Tarkuz and her friends into the fold. The witches founded a sect called the Defenders of the Sunstar Realm, a group of Xioquo mystics who spread the teachings of the Light and supported the Banishers.
Die-hard fanatics targeted the Banishers, branding them as race traitors. The new queen also had to survive several assassination attempts. Zixasa helped the queen survive an attempt on her life, subduing a would-be assassin and besting treasonous guards. Lia refused to kill, but also would not forgive. The Light was justice, truth and virtue; nowhere did Lia or Zixasa believe that to mean they 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. Relations with the Daughters of the Destroyer were frosty. Zixasa did not like or trust them. It did not help that the leader of their martial arm, Arqui'Taxlsa, had been one of the commanders of the punitive expedition that cost the lives of many of her friends.
Finding good teachers was also a challenge. The paladins reached out to non-Tygaran Light Side groups to get their opinion on teaching methods and just war. However, their success was varied. In one instance, Zixasa and Xiarda happened upon Jedi who were fanatical, pacifist, lifeist hippies. One of the Jedi denounced Zixasa as a darksider for using elemental lightning. Later the Xioquo warrior learned that the supposed guardian of righteousness was in a relationship with an evil Sith. After this episode, the Banishers became determined to follow their own course. They would accept advice, from other sources, but only adapt ideas that were suited for Xioquo problems and conditions. Some of Firemane's more Light leaning or neutral teachers provided assistance. One of them was Colonel Leonina Varkathras, a former Jedi Knight and veteran of the Republic-One Sith War. Kaylah Danton, Firemane's resident, was sympathetic. Although a Non-Force-User with little time for mystical hocuspocus, she appreciated the orderliness and sanity of the Banishers and disliked the, in her eyes, troublesome Daughters of the Destroyer. So she helped them get some funding so that they could procure more advanced equipment and better compensate their members.
The Banishers saw action against die-hard Myrou fanatics and insurgents. Intense battles were fought in the dark catacombs of the Underealm, where some unreformed servants of the ancien régime had retreated, using their sorcery to create monsters. The paladins proved their patriotism against terrorist groups that sought to overthrow the new order and reinstall the ancien régime. They cooperated with Firemane troops on these missions.
She led the Banishers when the Blood Wraiths, a sect of necromancers, released a deadly plague and raised the dead. The dark cultists sought to use all the deaths that had taken place to revive Myrou again and bring about the 'eternal night'. Much to her irritation, the mission forced her to cooperate with the Daughters. The paladins stood against the dark horde. Dark witches used mentalism and summoned illusions to confuse and torment them. Zixasa was pulled into an illusionary world, facing her former comrades and those she had failed again. Once more, she felt the whip of her oppressors. Illusionary horrors in the shape of demons manifested to assail the loyalists. But she was able to overcome her fear and break out. She channelled her zeal into a withering blast of Force Light, banishing the illusions and ending the existence of many hellspawn. She worked with a Firemane soldier called Sergeant Hikari Saito, who specialised in suppressing the powers of other adepts, to break the spell, while the Daughters drew upon darkness to smite their enemies. At the of the end battle, the insurgents had been defeated, though at a cost. Zixasa had earned the title of Mistress.
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. The Xio had suffered great trauma, but with time that could heal and make them productive. Zixasa led the paladins in breaking up slaver rings and hunting alchemised monstrosities that had been created by dark Xioquo alchemists in the old days and in some cases had escaped into the catacombs, threatening innocents. To enhance cohesion and team-building, she had her soldiers often work alongside the militia and regular army. This was supposed to build trust in the order. Moreover, it also served the purpose of ensuring that they were integrated into the community, instead of standing outside of society.
Alas, peace and quiet was not to last. With the fall of many factions in the galaxy, Tygara became quickly isolated and threatened. Firemane hosted a conference of elf rulers aboard the imposing Arx Aternae space station. There it was decided that the elves would move into the stars and build colonies, with Firemane providing technical support, transportation and guidance. The Xioquo had little to offer, for they were poor and few in number. However, they were very tech-savvy and swiftly learning to utilise modern technology.
The decision did not need with unanimous support. Even Zixasa was sceptical. But it was carried out in the end. In doing so, the Xioquo symbolically cut their ties with the old in order to build the new. Some of the more extreme darksiders left the main colonisation fleet. To keep her habitats free of troublemakers, Siobhan sold ships to any groups that could pay and might otherwise cause discord. This made Zixasa's job a bit easier. The paladin accompanied her queen on the Xioquo's first expedition into space. The Seekers sought to discover new worlds to settle on and establish contact with friendly Light Side groups. The paladins established a presence on the starship that Firemane had given the Seekers to serve as a mobile base of operations.