Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Homestead for Elpsis.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Into Darkness, After Darkness, Tephrike, Unchained.
SETTING INFORMATION
Structure Name: Vesta's Hearth
Classification: Homestead.
Location: Arkas.
Affiliation: Elpsis.
Accessibility: Private access only. Access is restricted to Elpsis and people she invites. The island the homestead lies on is not unknown per se, but very remote. If Elpsis wants contact with civilisation, she has to hop on a boat or a shuttle and travel to a neighbouring island. The homestead's location or existence is not publicly advertised because Elpsis likes her privacy. Her close friends know about it though.
Description: Vesta's Hearth is a simple, humble place. Located on a tropical island called Mercy Isle, not far from from the island of Freedom Reach, where Tephriki refugees have built a settlement called Liberty. However, Mercy Isle harbours no population centres. Aside from Elpsis, and the part-time housekeeper who sometimes comes to look after the homestead when she is not there, the island's only inhabitants are animals. She prefers it that way. Vesta's Hearth has no holocrons, hidden Force artefacts or elaborate defence systems. Indeed, there is barely any technology in the homestead. The place is a stark contrast to the opulent Kerrigan-Alcori villa. This is a deliberate choice on Elpsis' part.
The homestead has been built close to the sea. Large trees rise into the air. The structure is small and unassuming. It has three rooms - a bedroom, a small kitchen/dining area and a bathroom. Technology is minimal. Elpsis has a few pots and pans, a hearth made of stone, a simple bed, few rugs and some simple tools needed to maintain the place. Besides, she is a pyromancer, so she can cook dinner without an oven.
In short, it lacks the luxurious amenities one would commonly associate with the abode of the daughter of two billionaires, but then that is the whole point. Elpsis, always uncomfortable with fame and with the expectations of her domineering mother, sees the place as a refuge. Here she can withdraw, meditate and enjoy nature without any feeling any of the weight associated with her name, or the ordeal she recently endured on Tephrike.
Moreover, it is not far from a town built by Tephriki refugees. Liberty is poor, and so it be extremely insensitive for her to build a villa next door. Furthermore, Elpsis has a strong love of nature and wants to maintain the island as unspoilt as possible, rather than exacting her will upon it. Vesta's Hearth provides the simple, enduring comfort of a quiet, peaceful home. This makes it one of Elpsis' prized possessions.
The island has a dense forest that she uses to meditate and commune with the Lifeweb. Elpsis maintains a small garden, using plant surge to help plants grow, and uses the sea to swim and bathe. Moreover, there is a beautiful underwater cave and an atoll not far from the island. The island has a clearing which allows Elpsis to land her freighter and take off with it if she needs to acquire suppplies or return to duty. There is also a ramp for a boat. With her unique senses snorkelling or scuba diving is pretty amazing for Elpsis over a coral reef because there will be so many life forms, from tiny coral to fish to turtles and bigger aquatic creatures. Mercy Isle has no sentient inhabitants save for Elpsis, but the wild life is bountiful. The island is the home of a number of Cylixes. Elpsis has been able to bond with them.
When it comes to getting rid of waste, Elpsis practices recycling and waste sorting. She is extremely scornful of people who claim to love nature and oppose 'The Man', but then leave plastic lying around in the woods. Here and there, Elpsis brings companions such as lovers or acolytes to the homestead, but never in big groups. The small structure would be unable to accommodate many people anyway. However, sometimes she is simply alone for extended durations.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Vesta's Hearth: A small, simple cabin located near the sea and nested between the green. There is a small porch and a pair of windows. Sometimes Elpsis lights a fire outside. The homestead has a small storage shed, allowing its inhabitants to store simple tools and necessities.
The Hearth itself has three small rooms - a bedroom, a dining area and a bathroom. Technology is minimal. Elpsis likes to provide light by lighting a fire in the hearth or using candles. It comes in handy that she is a pyromancer. Moreover, she uses the Force to see. Creature comforts are minimal. There is a basic bed and a dresser, along with some chairs in front of the hearth. Modern amenities are lacking. Elpsis keeps a couple personal weapons and a communicator in her bedroom. It only has one bed, but a mattress can be laid out if needed.
Ramp: A small, simple boat ramp that Elpsis can use to move her boat to and from the water. Other people can obviously do the same, though the ramp is small. There is an abundance of wild life in Arkas' waters, which makes them fun to explore and a good place for fishing. Elpsis tends to use the boat when she wants to go to Liberty to purchase supplies or help out in some form.
The Heart: A quiet place for Elpsis to meditate, commune with the Force and the Lifeweb. Essentially, it is a shrine of sorts, though one devoid of altars, idols and the like. It is just her, the trees, the animals, the Force. The Force flows through every living being. They are all part of the Lifeweb. It is quiet, save for the wind brushed against her face and the chirping of birds. When Elpsis comes here to meditate, she removes her boots to let her bare feet touch the ground.
Free from distraction, she can perceive the web that binds all life together. From the little lizard that may crawl over her hand while she does this, to a Master of the Force, all are an element in a larger tapestry. The Heart is hidden in a thicket. There is a mass of tangled thorns that part for Elpsis - and only for her. This creates a heart of the forest only she can go to.
Clearing: A small clearing amidst the trees where a dropship or shuttle can land to drop off supplies or conversely take off. One path leads to the cabin, another deeper into the forest. A waterfall with a cave is lies not far from here.
SECURITY
Low. The homestead has no real defences save for its remote location and the fact that its sole inhabitant is a Master of the Force. The simple door is kept shuttered by a mechanical lock and key. Glasteel windows, a tin roof and strong walls protect the homestead from bad weather. This is pertinent since Arkas' weather can be quite stormy. But all in all it is a simple homestead. It has no hidden artefacts, traps, sensors, turrets or a shield generator. But then the place is of no strategic importance. The island is pretty untamed and its wild life can represent a hazard for intruders though. The island has a number of Cylixes. Elpsis is on good terms with the feline predators. They do not like intruders though, which makes them good guardians.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Vesta's Hearth story is a brief one. In her younger, more irresponsible days, Elpsis first set foot on Arkas to sell weapons to corsairs. Back then she was a smuggler. Not the type who made the Kessell run in less than twelve parsecs or one who really made waves. She was run-of-the-mill and mostly distinguished by her pyromancy powers. In a way, she was running away from herself. Regardless, the deal went south and she found herself fighting for her life - and alongside Firemane troops who had come to fight the corsairs and slavers. Thus began her long association with the megacorp. Eventually she was adopted by the ruling couple following the disappearance of her biological mother, Coryth Elaris. However, her relationship with her adoptive mothers, especially the legacy-obsessed Siobhan, was complicated. Elpsis experienced many highs and lows during this time. She made a name for herself as a Firemane soldier, facing dangerous foes such as the Witch-Necromancer Matsu Xiangu.
Things came to head during a Firemane expedition on Tephrike. There, she and a Firemane delegation were ambushed by extremist elements in the Dominion of Light, a Jedi-led theocracy Firemane had been trying to negotiate with. Elpsis, having received vague premonitions, had joined the delegation's security detail against orders. When the fighting broke out, she stayed behind to hold off the Dominion attackers and cover the retreat of her comrades. Captured by the Inquisition, she was brought to a black site, where she was subjected to torture and brainwashing.
For a while she succumbed and was reborn as 'Jedi Roxane', a brainwashed drone devoted to the Dominion. However, she was able to overcome her conditioning and slay the Grand Inquisitor. Her actions sparked a prison revolt. When she was reunited with the Firemane task force that had come to rescue, Elpsis had defeated her tormentors, but the ordeal had left her with deep physical and mental scars. The new Elpsis was more goal-orientated and focused, but also more grim and haunted by what she had endured and done while under the thumb of the Inquisition. It took a while until she had recovered physically and even longer until she was ready mentally to return to active service.
She built Vesta's Hearth during this time. At first it was simply a way for her to focus her mind, aside from training with Rhea, a fellow Tephrike survivor, and conversing with Diona, her jailer and rescuer. Work focused her mind. It was perhaps not the most healthy way of coping, but it was her way of doing so. She deliberately picked a remote island on Arkas. It was far from civilisation or any Firemane installations, but close to the Unchained. They were the political prisoners who had helped her escape and she felt a bond with them. A Cathar engineer called Lharra, who belonged to the Kerrigan-Alcori household, gave her pointers on construction. The homestead was built and set up by hand.
Thus it took a while to complete. Indeed, it was not finished by the time Elpsis returned to active duty. She was finally able to complete it following a mission against First Order Remnants. The time it took did not bother her. It was honest work, and she was building something instead of always fighting. The interior of the cabin was kept deliberately minimalistic because Elpsis did not come here to live a life of leisure and luxury.
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