Anya Venari
Star Queen Tirathana VII
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create and note down one of the key characters on Tygara. Tylania is the first and strongest of the Vashyada, so defining her skills and history are key for my future use.
- Image Credit: Here. Galadriel from Lord of the Rings.
- Role: Tylania is the de-facto leader of her people and also a powerful Force user of the Light Side. She provides a useful advisor to Firemane for interactions with the Tygaran natives, and also for training healers and others. Her knowledge of ancient technology is also highly sought after.
- Links: Tygara,
- Age: 216
- Force Sensitivity: Master.
- Species: Vashyada.
- Appearance: Tylania is a Vashyada female of above average height and typically looks very frail and slender. She has long fair hair usually gathered only loosely behind her head. As a result of her unusual heritage she shows no sign of age. Indeed, it is not clear what her maximum lifespan is but is certainly much more than any other Vashyada.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Name: Tylania. She does not seem to have a last name, and she claims no title other than ‘Lady’.
- Loyalties: Works with Firemane, but is not beholden to them. Her primary concern is the Vashyada and she will always put their interests first. However, where they do not conflict with that she is more than willing to aid any of goodwill.
- Wealth: Tylania values wealth very little. She has access to loans and assets for her people, but spends very little on herself. Rather, she puts all money towards the cause of advancing her own people.
- Notable Possessions: Force imbued wooden staff, white dress similar in strength and composition to Alkahest Robes. She is also in possession of a curious ring with an emerald setting. This ring does not appear to have any specific powers other than it is alchemised to resist harm. Her only symbol of rank is a simple alchemised silver circlet on her head made to look like branching leaves.
- Skills:
Tylania is exceptionally skilled in the Light Side. She is extremely proficient in Force Light, healing, stun, valour, telekinesis with its various sub applications. - Tylania also has very potent terramancy abilities, especially magnetism and plant surge
- She is very strong with Destroy Droid and Force Imbuement.
- Is able to use Battle Meditation.
- Average to poor knowledge of modern technology.
- Advanced knowledge on the Rakata and their technology, though obviously unable to recreate any of it.
- Average skills with her staff in melee, for defence only.
- Avid gardener, also interested in philosophy and science.
[*]Personality: Tylania is, almost to a fault, friendly and helpful in almost all interactions. She has a serene warmth and enthusiasm, a charisma for making the person she is talking to feel like they have their undivided attention. She is also an excellent listener and is happy to talk and assist those she cares for whilst asking little in return. She is also incredibly honourable and will not break her word or go against a friend unless they have clearly betrayed her first.
As one so strong in the Light though her attitude to some Dark Siders is curious. She does not automatically shun or dismiss those of the Dark, but seeks to counsel and advise them. Though the Dark depends on negative energies and emotions she does not feel this makes them inherently evil. If anyone, no matter their alignment, commits a reprehensible act she will take action against them. Otherwise, a ‘live and let live’ attitude sums up her personality.
For one who is strong in the Light and has a generally serene personality, she can react with deadly earnest if required. The wanton destruction of life and the senseless suffering and torment of evil will make her take ferocious action against the perpetrators. Slavery, torture, sexual assault and betrayal are all acts are things she will bring justice for. Though she will not kill the guilty she will see them put to work to repay the victims. She will also use her mental powers to make them experience some of the suffering of their victims so they understand what they have done.
Tylania is incredibly open-minded on most matters. Race, species, gender or religion does not decide how she treats another, but rather the content of their character. She is enthusiastic about other cultures and especially fond of art. Even the Xio and Qadiri who raided and enslaved her people for centuries she holds no grudge for, instead blaming their leaders for inciting them to such a cause.
There is a downside to her open personality. The fate and fall of her sisters and her own trouble origins have made her wary of holding any power or authority, afraid she will take too much. This fear in many ways limits her ability
COMBAT INFORMATION
- Weapon of Choice: Tylania is the Lady of Light and carries no traditional weapons. Though not a pacifist she does not use traditional melee or ranged weapons at all, and will not even touch them. She carries a Force imbued staff however which is capable of resisting lightsabres. This is for defence however, and any offensive action she uses through the Force.
- Combat Function: Tylania is the epitome of a support character. She is an exceptional healer and is proficient against spirits and apparitions. She is also well versed in the Light’s more protective and enhancement abilities for herself and her allies.
For allies she will improve their coordination, physical and mental defences and make them move and react faster. This is where she really shines.
Strengths:
- Paragon. Tylania is an extremely powerful wielder of the Light Side. She also knows many unusual or obscure abilities, as befits her age and origin. She is an exceptional healer and is very talented in battling Dark Side spirits.
- Ally. In combat Tylania supports allies, using defensive skills or enhancements to strengthen them. However, she is not incapable of striking her foes with the Force if required.
- Honourable. In all things Tylania is honourable, trustworthy and honest. She is a virtuous and diplomatic, making her an ideal friend or companion.
- Wisdom. Of such age and origin Tylania knows many obscure and unusual things, and further has experimented with many strange areas of the Force. Her guidance is rightly sought in batters both with and without the Force.
- Combat. Tylania is not a mighty warrior, she is a Lady of peace. Though capable of defending herself she wears only alchemised robes and carries no weapon aside from a staff. She is not a great warrior.
- Force Dependant. Almost everything Tylania does relies on the Force. If trapped by a Ysalimiri she would be reduced to an ordinary, rather frail Vashyada woman. As she carries no weapons other than a staff and wears no armour she would be easy prey in such cases.
- Shadowed. For all her power in the Light there is a dark shadow in Tylania’s past. The effects of this, and the fate of her sisters, have made her extremely reluctant to hold power or control, and also a deep fear of abusing her power. This may make her somewhat indecisive or slow to take prompt action.
- Technology. After over 20,000 years with only the Vashyada to keep her company, her knowledge of technology has atrophied to nearly nothing. Ironically she knows a lot about the ancient and arcane technology of the past whilst very little of the present, the exact inverse of what is common in modern times.
Extracts from biographical interview between Jedi Master Phylis Alince (PA) and Lady Tylania (LT) recorded by droid designate ERP69.
[The two enter and exchange bows. They sit opposite each other over a table.]
PA: Thank you for granting my interview, Lady Tylania. I’m, hmm, fascinated by you and your people.
LT: Why thank you, Master Alince. It is a title I am still not fully used to. [She chuckles.] I assume that this information will be handled with the discretion it requires?
PA: Of course, you have my word. This is not for a publication, but more for my own information. The true nature of the Eldorai and their ‘cousins’ is still not common knowledge.
LT: As it should remain for a while longer, I feel. So, where should we begin?
[PA adjusts her notes after spilling some.]
PA: Well, let’s start at the beginning. You are one of the five ‘Paragons’ which were created by the Rakata, correct?
LT: That is correct. From what I understand, the idea was to create a race of near-humans with increased Force sensitivity which could serve as pliable minions and soldiers for the Rakata. My first memories were of a laboratory deep in what is considered Wild Space now. We were experiments, you might say.
PA: How long ago was this?
LT: It’s difficult to say due to the fact the conventional date markers used today were not yet in use. When I was later placed on Tygara I was able to keep a reckoning of sorts based on the age of the technology I was with. That is, I don’t know exactly, but somewhere around 25,000 years.
PA: Does that mean you are 25,000 years old?!
LT: Yes and no. As you’ll see I spent the vast majority of that time in cryogenic suspension. Even without that I believe my true age in actual terms is somewhere over 200 standard galactic years, but it’s impossible for me to tell.
PA: I see. Well it seems your sister Chesna was awake longer than you.
LT: Yes…though I’m not sure how long. You will have to speak to her about that because her memories seem confused and conflated. Regardless, I was not conscious all this time, which is perhaps for the best.
PA: Yes, so what can you tell me about your early life? What were the Rakata like?
[LT tilts her head to the side.]
LT: Unpleasant. We were cattle to them, creatures to be used and sent into battle. My sisters and I had a hard time because we had the unenviable job of being the go-betweens between our people and the Masters. You could say we all reacted to it in different ways.
PA: Was there already the differentiation between the different ‘cousin species’?
LT: Not at all. There were separate legions based and cloned off our DNA. Each of us had been created in a specific mould, always seeking the best possible option. Eyrecae was created to be the perfect warrior using nanotechnology that not even the Rakata fully understood. Ardarvia [Note: now named Chesna] was created to impose her will on others, a mentalist without peer. Mystra was created to embody the power of the Force as much as one could. Ashira was to be the leader, using the Force to inspire and guide…and obey.
PA: And you?
[LT looks slightly uncomfortable.]
LT: I was designed to kill. Efficiently, from the shadows, with the Force or any weapon I took up.
PA: Oh.
LT: Yes. The irony is not lost on me, and is intentional that the one of our dysfunctional family most intended to master the sword is the one who now rejects it. As I said, we’ll come back to that.
PA: I am surprised, I admit. I now see you as a powerful adept of the Light Side, but that does not mean you always were.
LT: No. Redemption is something I have never forgotten. The Rakata had no use for the Light Side. We were warriors, and soon enough we were fighting their wars for them.
PA: Who were you fighting?
LT: Anyone who resisted. The Infinite Empire had many enemies, and we were created at a time of decline and infighting. Factions within the Empire were actively fighting each other, but there were many rebels to be dealt with as well. You know of Belsavis?
PA: The prison planet?
LT: Yes, used by our masters to imprison those they hated or feared. Many times I was taken there with our captives. It was a warning for us if we were ever to rebel what would be our fate.
PA: Did you ever visit the Star Forge?
LT: Ah yes, I did. Then I found it an intoxicating power, the strength of the Dark Side filled me. However, I perceived later that their greatest creation was also their undoing.
PA: It seems though that creating a race of Force sensitive warriors would be a risk for them.
LT: It was concealed from us at the time, but the Rakata were suffering a terrible plague which killed many but deprived the others of the Force. They needed warriors who could feel the Force. To control us, they used what you might call control chips or implants, but more than that there was a deep indoctrination. We could not resist them…not at first anyway.
PA: You rebelled?
LT: In time. I wish I could claim we had a part in the plague or the rebellions, but we were a consequence of them, not the cause. Our creator, Raikaro, was building his powerbase, and moved us to Kaeshana. This was a world they shaped by raising many mountains from the sea on an otherwise watery world. They also moved three of us and our people to Tygara. There they had already been at work adapting the environment. Some of their monuments are still there, some more visible than others.
PA: I see. Now when you said you all reacted differently, what did you mean?
LT: One always reacts different to stress than others. I guess we just followed the logical progression of our personalities. Dealing with the control I started to question what I was doing, and why I was doing it. Ashira took it upon herself to try and protect us all, hence why she is the ‘mother’ or the Queen. Ardarvia meanwhile became resentful at control of any type, seeking to overcome it and become her own person. Mystra sought the Force’s greater mysteries, seeking the power of the Dark to become free. Eyrecae focused on work and martial excellence, though she in the end became a bit too crazy with battle and was taken in for reconditioning. She would miss what happened next.
[There is a pause as beverages are poured and PA prepares new notes.]
PA: So a lot has been made of the ‘War in Heaven’. What can you tell me about that?
LT: To be honest, almost nothing. See, Tygara was considered the ‘Site B’ for the Master’s experiments. I only found out for certain just recently what happened above Kaeshana. In my experience we simply found that one day there were no Rakata. Their monuments were sealed and their ships and warriors gone. At first we wondered what was happening, if this was some ploy to trick us into showing independence. As the weeks turned to months and then to a year we realised they weren’t coming back. I felt through the Force the tumult of war…somewhere…but I knew not where.
PA: So you were left stranded on Tygara with Mystra, your peoples and the Qadiri?
LT: Yes. Inevitably it turned to war.
PA: Inevitably?
LT: You have to understand that the Qadiri were leaderless. Mystra coveted them as subjects…and so did I. I admit I…thought differently then. I felt the desire to control and rule as much as she did. I told myself that it was for their own good and that they needed a strong, guiding hand, that I was destined to rule them. I know now that was just ambition talking and the insidious descent to the darkness.
PA: It is something we have all experienced. So what happened?
LT: It became a competition to muster supporters and pull defectors over from the other side. Soon it came to fighting between us. I won’t trouble you with a list of campaigns, but just know that it probably destroyed our chance of ever keeping and staying with the galactic technology. Many people died, but worse than that was the breakdown of the technological heritage we had. I was too short sighted then to recognise the harm we were doing…though even if I had I would have tried to stop my sister.
PA: The tragedy of civil wars is that neither side is strengthened since there is a limited amount of strength and by fighting itself, that is what’s exhausted.
LT: Exactly. Anyway it came down to a final battle in dramatic circumstances. By this time the Dark Side had already begun affecting the Xioquo greatly and so they marched under a great blanketing cloud. It was going to be a bloody battle as neither side would yield. Already the technology we had was being replaced by the more primitive arms of what could be easily made. As most dramatic tales do, it came down to a big final battle. I was on one side, Mystra on the other.
PA: I heard tell of this, the Vash recounted and tell of this battle even now.
[LT chuckles]
LT: I’m sure. Since we are in the spirit of full disclosure though, the details have likely been enhanced over time. It is true that I broke the clouds during the battle though and shone the sun upon the Xio at the right moment. Not so much wizardry on my part as some constructive use of technology. Still, it was effective.
PA: What happened?
LT: Battle. It’s not really for me to go into great details over it. Suffice to say that it was a struggle lasting much of the day until at last I broke the clouds and then engaged Mystra directly. I…made some realisations at that point. Some important ones. I saw how the Dark Side had corrupted my sister and I saw that in myself. Despite what the legends…and I…have said, this was not a battle between Light and Dark, good and evil…but a battle for dominion of the world.
PA: Oh….
LT: You wanted me to be truthful. It was only after that I realised that I could not follow through on what I had done. I could have taken over the world and ruled it as their queen. I don’t know how long I might of lasted, but since Ardarvia still lives it’s possible that I could have lived for centuries between rejuvenation. I saw where that would lead though. Plus, though I dealt a fatal wound to Mystra, I myself was badly hurt. So I headed south, leaving the Qadiri to their own devices after appointing one of them as Queen.
PA: Did it affect you that much?
LT: Yes. Imagine that everything you’ve ever believed is now suddenly meaningless and what you’ve been doing for all this time is actually harming rather than helping.
PA: A feeling I’ve had more often than I’d like.
LT: But I had a whole race to be responsible for. I had a choice as I headed south to Yarkul; to use my power to make the Vash strong, to rule them like a queen and possibly to eventually leave Tygara. Or I could let them develop at their own pace and help but not control them. I made my choice.
PA: Do you regret the choice?
LT: Sometimes. When I see how unprepared the Vash are for the galaxy of today of course I thought about making it different. If the Vash had followed my lead and become spacefarers…what might have happened? I let my fear guide me, and I chose to act in a way which indirectly would keep them limited to Yarkul. I still don’t know if that’s the right decision…but it’s one long since passed.
PA: What about you personally?
LT: I had much to consider, and the wound Mystra dealt me had been serious enough that it threatened my life. After a year I knew I had to return to my pod – we all had them – as that would be the only cure. So my decision was made for me. I told the Vash to awaken me only in times of great need.
PA: Was it a stasis pod?
LT: Yes, and because healing in stasis is incredibly slow I wasn’t sure when I would awaken again. It was only when it started though that I realised that stasis did not mean a complete neural shutdown. Much like a dream…or perhaps that state of half wakefulness on the corner of sleep I had much time to think. As it turned out nearly a century before I was awakened. They requested my aid as the couple I had assigned to rule had died and had no children. I helped them select a wise and capable pair, and it’s said from them all the future High Kings and Queens descend.
PA: Is that true?
LT: Because of the way genetics work over 20,000 years…probably. In the end it didn’t really matter. I awakened only 8 more times from then until now. At first it was with semi-regularity. When a great earthquake and tsunami struck Yarkul I helped to push back the water. On another time when an ancient device left by the Rakata started to make people sick I helped put it down. Over time though I became revered as a Goddess, but at the same time they forgot I was a real person too. Between the eighth and final time a period of 12,000 galactic years passed. Imagine that.
PA: I can, mainly because I’ve met several people who cheated…or perhaps held off death…by such methods.
LT: Indeed. On the third awakening I sensed something had happened in the wider galaxy. I sensed Ashira was gone, Ardarvia’s trace was faint and dark. I believed I was the only one left, and I felt we probably had deserved it. My wound healed over time, but my spirit never really recovered a desire to rule. I saw the Vash descend into a dark age, and I did what I could, but I failed to properly help them. I stayed awake longer the eighth time, becoming almost a hermit as I strove to learn more of my abilities and control them. When I returned to the pod it was after nearly twenty years awake. Mainly I did so because I felt I had done enough to guide them for now. I wanted to awaken sooner…but best laid plans.
[There is a pause as PA makes notes, LT is silent.]
PA: The ninth awakening was…Netherworld?
LT: Yes. Even in my trance I felt the discord rising. I think the Vash were at such a wit’s end that they sought me out mainly as a last resort. When I awoke I found it was not just Vash, but an unusual person was there. However, they requested I not share details. Anyway, I found myself facing what everyone in the galaxy was dealing with. I…assisted. But I found that the galaxy had changed. In the Nether I found beings of all species and types, and I found at last some of my lost cousins from Kaeshana. When I guided them to their homes I knew that this was my time. There was great danger, for the Dark Side was growing in power and I decided to take a direct hand.
PA: I heard of your efforts. It was a difficult time. So many people lost…so many never returned.
LT: And those that did were never the same, yes. So I began the process of unifying and advancing the Vash. My earlier reluctance was replaced by a desire for all the people of Tygara to be ready, step by step. Alas I was not quite quick enough. Still, it proved to be useful because it allowed me to be in firm command of the situation when Firemane and the people from the sky came.
PA: And what now? You work with Firemane?
LT: Where necessary, yes. My first priority is to the Vash, second to those from Tygara, but I do not want dominion over them. That is where my understanding has shifted, I do not want to rule them, I want to help and advise them. People can be stubborn, stupid even, but it is their decision to make. I might have been created to rule, but we are not controlled by our ‘destiny’.
PA: Excellent, that brings us to the present. Thank you for your help.
LT: My pleasure. It feels…strange…to finally speak of all this. Yet, liberating too.
[LT rises.]
PA: Oh…one last thing. Have you had a chance to look at the work I gave you?
[LT smiles and produces a datapad from her bag.]
LT: Ah yes, ‘Levitation in the Pre-Tythonian Era’. An interesting work to be sure. I’m surprised at how accurate it is, considering you are working from such old records, legends and archaeology. I have put my notes on this device. Of course, I am a good subject for levitation.
[LT levitates slightly off the ground and smiles.]
LT: Anything else?
PA: Not for now. Thank you so much for your help!
Extract ends.
