Biography
Born on Corellia to Myri and Nejaa Raaf in 816 ABY, the newly born Taeli was immediately put up for adoption. Her parents, themselves newly married and still in school, loved her but they could barely support themselves, let alone a newborn baby girl. Taeli was adopted by a couple on Lorrd, Melarna and Jakon Rae, and it was there that she would grow up, never knowing about who her birth parents were. Her adopted parents concealed the locket Myri had made for her daughter, but otherwise, they gave the new girl all the love a parent could give.
Jakon was a professor of history at the University of Lorrd, so young Taeli grew up surrounded by books and a thirst for knowledge that her father encouraged. Her mother, a former Mandalorian that wanted a quieter life, taught her young daughter how to defend herself, constantly pushing Taeli to her limits. The result was a vivacious young girl that excelled in school, becoming the favorite of whoever her teachers were. As she got older, it was not uncommon for Taeli to spend her evenings at the various libraries around the capital city or carrying a stack of books home with her. By the time she began her tutelage at the university, she had read much of what was on offer.
Quiet and mature compared to her fellow classmates, Taeli made only a few close friends, never paying attention to those she felt were squandering their chance at education. However, she did partake of one physical activity, the noble art of fencing. On top of her reputation as a bookworm, she quickly gained attention for skill with a vibrosword, something her adopted Mandalorian mother had taught her and she was able to lead her school team to several sector championships. By the time she graduated in 838 ABY, Taeli had amassed three degrees in galactic history, linguistics, and political analysis and was preparing a trip to the University on Ralltir for her doctorate when fate intervened.
On the day of her departure, Taeli was attacked by three former classmates in an alley and it was during the assault, that her latent Force Sensitivity was unleashed. Until that point, her Force Sensitivity had only been on the edge of her curiosity. She knew there was something special to her, something else that made her different than her classmates. The boys that attacked her were brutally killed as she could not control her powers, letting her rage and hate guide her actions. The event caught the attention of a visiting Sith Lord, Darth Praelior, and Taeli was recruited as a new apprentice of the Sith and taken to Coruscant to begin her education in the ways of the Sith.
Her training under Praelior was brutal from the beginning, as the Zeltron Sith forced Taeli into multiple life or death situations to prove that she was indeed strong enough to warrant the Sith's attentions. Besides her own studies in the dark side and the trails her Master placed before her, Taeli also assisted the Zeltron in her work on several projects of Sith Alchemy, sparking an interest in the young woman for the more mystical arts of the Sith.
It was also during this early part of her training that Taeli obtained the company then known as Krayt Industries from Darth Banshee, a Sith that had betrayed the One Sith Empire. Through the running of Krayt, Taeli became acquainted with the woman Alexandra Feanor, a former student of Praelior's that had shifted towards the Gray Path.
Taeli swiftly was promoted to the rank of Sith Knight, and to show her devotion to the Sith, she redoubled her efforts in her studies and her support for the One Sith military excursions. During this time, Taeli recruited her first apprentice, a young Jedi Padawan named Sophie Gustav, turning the girl to the dark side and a loyal student to the young woman. Two more apprentices would follow, a young Chiss woman and a member of the same species as the legendary Jedi Master Yoda, all the while she continued to assist in the fight against the Republic.
Prior to the Battles of Kashyyyk and Prakith, Taeli was promoted to the ranks of the Sith Lords and Ladies, taking the name Darth Arcanix. It was during the Republic's counterattack on Prakith that Taeli, unknowingly, rescued her youngest sister, Melori, from a shipwreck on the planet's surface. Fate clearly had plans for the Sith Lady as not long after that incident, she traveled back to Lorrd to see her parents for the first time in several years. The resulting confrontation left both Raes dead, their house destroyed, and a very distraught Taeli discovering the locket Myri made for her. Rushing to Corellia to meet her birth parents, she arrived only in time to discover they had been assassinated by a bounty hunter searching for her sister Corvus. Corvus had discovered Taeli's existence and had traveled to Lorrd to only find the destroyed house, but the sisters were able to make contact and bond.
Upon her return to Coruscant, Taeli took Melori as a new apprentice and began the work of forming new alliances among both Sith and Jedi she could potentially turn to the dark side, such as the Jedi Master Connor Harrison. Encountering Harrison on Nar Shaddaa while she was questing for knowledge on Darth Zannah, the encounter would lead the Sith Lady and Jedi Master to meet consistently throughout the years, in a sort of on-again, off-again complicated relationship.
By 844 ABY, Taeli had grown to be a respected member of the One Sith and it was then the Netherworld Incident began. Taeli was among those dragged into the beyond, and not wanting to linger, she was able to escape from one of the various rifts opening across the galaxy. With the galaxy in turmoil, only the stability and order of the Sith could stop the chaos and she assisted them in numerous lightning expansions.
All this time, she had been meeting occasionally with Corvus, building the sisterly bond and trust that only remaining family could forge, even if they were on opposite sides of a war. Through these meetings, Taeli recognized her growing disillusionment with the One Sith emperor and his various schemes. It became apparent that all of the Sith, even those that were high ranking, were only pawns for the Voss Sith, and she endeavored to leave the Sith.
Through careful planning, she was able to move her power base out of One Sith space, in the process renaming her company Aurora Industries, and she joined Corvus among the Jedi of the Republic. Going through the Jedi's rehabilitation program, Taeli was able to prove she meant them no harm and she wanted to help, her sister being her biggest voice of support. Taeli was released, and she immediately began trying to right the wrongs she had perpetuated among the Sith. Fighting against her former compatriots and working to secure dangerous artifacts of the Sith, Taeli assisted the Republic and the Jedi as best she could.
However, following the attempted coup by Prime Minister Lasedri, and the continued losses against the One Sith, Taeli was among the Jedi Corvus would lead away from the Republic to the world of Lothal and the Galactic Alliance. Continuing the fight against the One Sith, now fighting alongside the New Jedi Order, Taeli would assist with the liberation of several worlds, including Coruscant. Unfortunately, it was during this time that both Corvus and Melori vanished with a trace, leaving her as the only member of the Raaf family in the galaxy as far as she knew.
Distraught over her sisters' disappearance, she threw herself into her duties in the Alliance, slowly becoming a trusted Jedi Master to the Grand Marshal, Omai Rhen. The One Sith might have collapsed, but new threats had emerged as the First Order rapidly grew and war erupted between the two neighboring powers, all the while the Sith were slowly regrouping, the shattered fragments moving to the Deep Core and Outer Rim.
Helping in operations against the First Order and the other enemies of the Alliance, such as the new Sith Empire that formed around Kaine Zambrano, Taeli would be among those that would travel to the world of Byss following a devastating attack on Thyferra. It was there that Omai Rhen met his end at her hands...
Her entire defection, from the time she went to join her sister in the Republic, had been an elaborate ruse, one known only to a very select few Sith. Taeli had developed a new technique for the flase light aura, adapting the Sith spell to such a degree that she was able to slip among the Jedi and rise to become one of their most prominent Masters. Having restored contact with Kaine Zambrano, Taeli began assisting the Dark Lord and his closest advisors, offering him information from within the Alliance and having adopted the moniker the Lady of Secrets to protect her identity.
With Rhen's death, Taeli assumed the role of acting Grand Marshal of the New Jedi Order, moving the Jedi of the Alliance onto a far more extreme path in their campaign against the dark side. With her leading the New Jedi Order until the position became permanent or a conclave elected a new Grand Marshal, Taeli began focusing on her next goal...
