#The Soranus Legacy

[zahryaofdawn]

✿*° ‘° ･

Soranus knew what it was to be a dawn elve. For Zahrya, the concept was new and he was still acclimating to it. But he was their Chancellor and would have to do so quickly. There wasn't time to waste. "Then we'll dedicate ourselves to the goal. Together," he promises, returning Soranus' smile. "They will need our help. Perhaps a meadow with aromatic air to invite the elves for a frolic or a fountain overflowing with my nectar to drink from. If we can show everyone that deep breedings are more pleasurable than the fluid encounters popularized by the Sun Court, then maybe all of Audulë will value legacy as we do."

The notion that there would be more of them, more of the children, more among the courts- truly nothing could have made Soranus more optimistic. He could practically hear Justice rampaging within but instead Soranus took the chancellor's hands in his own and smiled. It felt unnatural now, like his face had forgotten how after so many years of sorrow, but Zahrya had always had his heart in these matters. "You couldn't be more right, I helped with the births of countless fey over the years, I'll be with them as they bring in the next generation as well."

[motheatenscarf]

It is said the Sith have neither gods nor masters save, perhaps, Death itself.

Carved into the cliff-side of the dense and isolated Yavin jungles, the Sepulchers of the Soranus family are the final resting place for millennia of the family’s fallen assassins- and even some of their victims.

More a temple built in monument to death than any sort of place of remembrance, the massive compound is a winding and claustrophobic string of labyrinthine catacombs with offshoots of overgrown tombs and several hundred grave plots littered throughout. It’s reported that when the Sith ran out of room to honor their dead properly, the family simply left the bodies to gather into piles of bones, forgotten and unmourned.

With the grounds and the temple long since filled to the brim with the slain, the temple has been left to fall into ruin, forsaken as those trapped within, its foundation slowly crumbling into the abyss is teeters on. Although this seemingly abandoned site has made itself an appealing target to many would-be tomb robbers and hopeful archaeologists over time,no stolen goods have ever been successfully seen on the black markets and no museums have ever managed to claim any of the well guarded treasures. Whatever groups may have managed to maneuver through the temple’s natural defenses in the past, the many horrors of the dark side rumored to haunt its winding halls seem to have made certain they did not leave.

Today, only the head of the Soranus family is allowed onto this sacred ground, and only twice; once when they are tasked to entomb their predecessor as their final trial before ascension, and again when their descendant must do the same for them. 

With the family now in heirless ruin, it seems their millennia of dancing so closely with death has come to its only natural conclusion and this temple of the fallen will be all that remains of them in a generation’s time.

Despite this, however, some archaeologists in the Reclamation Service tasked to observe the temple and its collapse have noticed the comings and goings of a strange figure, and smoke rising out of the dense canopy surrounding the temple. Could this be a successful expedition or perhaps a simple case of seeing ghosts where there aren’t any? Or, perhaps, have the dead themselves begun to rise and reclaim their home?

Only time, or the bravest of souls who venture there, will tell.

Visit Eschatallia’s Temple of Darkness on the Star Forge Server today! 

If you dare...

[motheatenscarf]

Sayin goodbye to the login music we’ve had for almost 8 years now on all my space babes!

[motheatenscarf]

Killing time waiting for downloads, made some banners for my dummies.

[motheatenscarf]

The Swarm

During the 5 years his Mama spent in carbonite, Warbles was nearly lost in the chaos of the war, passing between his Mama’s old friends before ultimately ending up in the care of the mercenary Treek.

Taking Warbles with on her many hunts to use as a ferocious war mount, Treek would often end up having to spend more time hunting down the vagrant Warbles than she did her actually quarry when the mischievous varactyl would escape.

During several of these escape attempts, it was discovered that Warbles had in fact eloped with a wild varactyl. This would not have been an issue had it not been for the eggs Warbles laid in the months following.

Unsure what to do with the Grand-Lizards of her fallen Chief, Treek used the abandoned Broken Chain headquarters on Nar Shaddaa as a kind of varactyl sanctuary, letting the creatures have complete run of and ultimately trashing the place.

By the time Warbles’ mama was unfrozen and the two were reunited, Warbles had laid almost a dozen clutches of eggs, each having anywhere from three to seven healthy babies per nest.

Waking to find herself the owner of over sixty varactyls, Eschatallia Soranus could only comment that she was “A proud grandmother,” upon the discovery.

When asked how this revelation would affect how Warbles felt about being referred to as a boy, the newly anointed Alliance Commander replied with an annoyed and emphatic “He’s a lizard,” and continued to praise what a handsome boy he was and what a good mama he was to all his babies.

The former Broken Chain headquarters has since been refurbished into an Alliance satellite base with many of the varactyls having been donated to zoos, sanctuaries and professional breeders. There are, however, still a handful of Warbles’ most recent clutch that can still be found wandering the base, frequently bathing and playing in the many fountains littered around the base.

[motheatenscarf]

Seraphina Actaeon

As brilliant as she was beautiful, Seraphina was a prodigy cut down in her prime.

Born to wealth and privilege, she was her mother’s sole apprentice and received a more thorough an education in Sith philosophy, alchemy, and history by the age of 15 than most of the sitting Dark Council members had received in their combined lifespans. 

A mind as keen and insightful as hers was not content to set itself upon the schemes and power-plays of her fellow Sith, however, as Seraphina examined the failing history of the Sith and began to question their supposed supremacy. This curiosity fed into her questions until a rebellious streak took shape, Seraphina no longer merely questioning but outright defying the many presumptions of what were expected of a Sith. 

Unfortunately for Seraphina, her power was not as quick to grow as her mind, and her defiance eventually cost her her life when she challenged her father and was struck down at the young age of 19. Her tragedy was avenged quickly when her father was killed moments later by her surviving sister, Eschatallia.

In spit of her short life, Seraphina’s bravery and defiance lived on in Eschatallia, whom she had shared all her doubts and convictions with. Those rebellious, heretical notions shared in hushed whispers in secret hiding places in their family’s estate were felt far and wide by the galaxy, becoming the foundation of Eschatallia’s views for reforming the Empire and eventually the moral standards by which The Alliance would conduct their operations.

Although she received no accolades in her life and had not even had the chance to set foot on Korriban to complete her trials before she was killed, Seraphina’s mother broke with tradition and gave her daughter a proper Sith burial regardless of her not having earned one in the eyes of the Sith she so loathed. 

She was buried in the Actaeon family tombs with her ancestors deep in the jungles of Dromund Kaas where she still resides over 12 years since her passing, receiving the occasional tribute from her mother and, when she can sneak home unnoticed, her still grieving sister.

[motheatenscarf]

Minerva “Minnie” Soranus

A gift to Rowan from the Zakuulan people to celebrate her birth and as a gesture toward cooperation with the Alliance, Minerva the nexu was one of many animals from the beast pens of the Eternal Dragon Palace left displaced after its destruction. 

While the gesture was purely symbolic (not even Indo Zal being eccentric enough to place a battle-hardened nexu in the care of an infant), Rowan became fascinated by the creature as she grew older, visiting her in the  sanctuary turned zoo where the old nexu lived in the Zakuulan gardens.

On her final visit to the nexu habitat when she was six, Rowan snuck away from her guardian and crawled down into the pens. Despite the overwhelming panic from the crowd as handlers scrambled to pursue her, the young girl was content and even delighted as Minerva approached her. When the predator curled around her and unhinged her fanged jaws, witnesses initially panicked until a low rumbling echoed throughout the enclosure. Realizing the only nefarious plans the creature had for the child were to clean her and purr contentedly as they cuddled, those who could feel the force immediately recognized the familial like bond between the pair.

Rowan would later explain that she only wanted to “visit her kitty,” a notion which had cemented in her mind years ago and which her still uncontrollable force abilities latched onto as well. The creature, it seemed, with no concept of the force interpreted this profound new bond as some kind of adoptive motherhood. With Minerva fully under Rowan’s unwitting spell, Rowan’s mother saw no reason to keep the nexu on Zakuul any longer and welcomed the aid of another ferocious predator to help protect her child.

Her name soon shortening to “Minnie” after a character from the popular “Hello Nexu” children’s holo-program, Minerva would spend the rest of her days with Rowan, still finding time to cuddle up with her girl and clean her of the blood from fallen enemies who’d dared threaten her strange new cub.

[motheatenscarf]

Lycaeon Soranus

The oldest son of Vespira Soranus and Eschaton Kallig, Lycaeon was raised with the expectation that he would one day take his mother’s place as head of the Soranus Assassins and Shadow Hand to their patron, Darth Vowrawn.

His ascension came much sooner than he’d anticipated, however, when he was forced to kill his parents to save his brother’s life.

Once able to choose his own path, the young Lord Soranus permitted his prodigal brother to continue to do as he pleased, though bearing the seed of resentment in his heart toward the twin he’d risked everything for while receiving nothing in return.

Twin daughters were soon born to Lycaeon and his wife, Echidna, with Echidna taking the younger Seraphina for her apprentice and Lycaeon raising the elder Eschatallia, named for the father he had slain.

Although Lycaeon tried to raise his own children as he wished his parents had raised him, his love for his brother slowly eroded into resentment and jealousy as he realized how easily happiness and fulfillment found Alcander and his chosen family. 

His resentment reached its peak shortly after the Sacking of Coruscant, where Lycaeon had nearly died rescuing his brother from a pair of Jedi assailants. While Lycaeon recovered from the injuries that had nearly crippled him on their family’s estate, Alcander went behind his brother’s back to create a secret alliance with the Jedi to ensure his only daughter Aerasuni a place among their ranks.

Betrayed after a lifetime of sacrificing everything for his brother, Lycaeon fought Alcander despite his injuries and was defeated. Before Alcander could deliver the killing blow, however, Lycaeon’s eldest daughter Eschatallia rescued him with a force scream so powerful it knocked Alcander off his footing, his body slamming into a wall so forcefully it killed him instantly.

Torn emotionally between gratitude, remorse, and resentment, Lycaeon’s relationship with his children grew tense after that fateful night. Pushing Eschatallia to her breaking point in her training, Lycaeon vowed that his daughter would not repeat his mistakes and sought to forge her into a weapon with no room for love or pity or remorse. He would not see her dedication to her sister repaid with treachery as his own love for Alcander had been.

Lycaeon’s plans backfired when Seraphina rebelled against his tyranny, defending the sister he had tormented with his expectations. Acting on instinct, Lycaeon struck down his youngest daughter in the heat of battle, not even having time to regret the mistake before Eschatallia retaliated.

As he lay dying, Lycaeon thought only of his failures, not only as a father, but as a brother and son, and hoped against reason to be reunited with his fallen family in death.

Unfortunately, Lycaeon was not permitted to return to the Force. As a renowned alchemist and practiced re-animator, Echidna bound his fading spirit to his dying body with branded runes and suppressed his will to obey her own.

Walking the galaxy in a haze of his half-life over a decade later, Lycaeon has served as the Wraith in the shadows behind Echidna’s rise to power. Unable to die or resist her commandments, he has single-handedly hunted down and exterminated what remains of the Soranus family’s famed assassins, bringing their bodies to Echidna so she might recreate the same ritual which bound Lycaeon’s will to her own. 

As punishment for destroying Echidna’s legacy in stealing her prodigious daughter’s life away, Lycaeon has been forced to destroy his own family’s legacy, turning his once proud lineage into an army of revenants for the new Empress.

Although Echidna has yet to send Lycaeon after their surviving daughter who still believes him to be dead, the rising tension between Echidna’s Empire and Eschatallia’s Alliance could mean it is only a matter of time before Lycaeon is forced to kill both of his children...

[motheatenscarf]

The Broken Chain

The Broken Chain was the spiritual precursor to The Alliance, sharing many founding members and with the ambitious mission statement of reforming the Sith Empire, the Jedi and the Republic into entities that could coexist peacefully.

An underground society composed of some of the Galaxy’s most influential people, The Broken Chain’s feats included quelling the Revanite threat and even hunting the immortal Sith Emperor himself.

Primarily focusing on the reformation of the Sith Empire, the Broken Chain sponsored several insurgencies and slave uprisings in hopes of pressuring the Dark Council toward enacting change, supplying a steady stream of weapons, personnel, and of course, credits.

Several raids were also led to assassinate the Empire’s more cruel and unrelenting Darths, eliminating the Sith who would hamper the group’s progress while also rescuing any slaves or Imperials of conscience languishing under their former master’s boot. 

Focusing on the long-term, the organization additionally reached out to prospective members and helped to shepherd several dozen students off Korriban during their active years, taking advantage of the Academy’s high mortality rates to rescue students sent into the catacombs who would be presumed dead. These students were trained in secret in neutral space by a combination of reformed Jedi and Sith alike, bolstering their ranks for the inevitable conflict they were gearing up for in overthrowing the Sith’s stranglehold on politics as well as the military’s domineering presence over all remaining aspects of daily Imperial life.

The downfall of Imperial Intelligence allowed the organization room to grow and test their limits as the Empire’s resources were expended on the war, thriving for three years before the invasion of Zakuulan forces en masse. Zakuul’s ruthless pursuit of revenge for their fallen Emperor led the organization to shift its focus onto repelling the new threat. 

Unfortunatly, many members perished in the effort, with its surviving veterans scattering to the winds in the chaos. Although some continued the fight in their own way, most went into hiding, with many more left unaccounted for and disappearing entirely.

After nearly five years of separation, several members of The Broken Chain returned from licking their wounds to help lay the foundations for The Alliance as investors, advisors and even leaders.

Although the organization has been officially disbanded and what little of its resources remained were absorbed into the Alliance in the fight against Zakuul, The Broken Chain’s initial purpose has remained in tact, and those who remain will not rest until oppression is rooted out from every corner of the galaxy.

[motheatenscarf]

The Soranus Legacy Faceclaim Masterpost

[motheatenscarf]

The Soranus Family

A  line spanning back to the first Dark Jedi who landed on Korriban and with the charts to prove it, the Soranus name was long and widely regarded in the Empire despite none of its members achieving any particularly great fear or conquest. 

Until recently, the family was  perhaps most recognizably known for the assassins it produced. Many a Dark Lord through the centuries has coveted the family’s services, as their Shadow Hands have long been considered second-to-none. However, any Darth who has sponsored or sought the family’s talents knew that with the great rewards offered by their services came an equally great risk. 

While the family only ever pledged itself to one Lord’s influence at a time, history proved time and again they would all too eagerly shift their loyalties if it seemed like their patron was to fall out of favor with either the Emperor or the Dark Council. Many former patrons tried to annihilate the assassins for their perceived betrayals, but the family’s strength had always lied in its unified front and apolitical creed. Without traitors or overly-ambitious Sith among their ranks to weaken them from within, the Soranus family would simply ally themselves with a former patron’s rival and find revenge through the machinations of their new master.

This savvy and opportunistic, even parasitic nature, however, should perhaps have been the Soranus family’s most well recognized trait. In their refusal to partake in the petty feuds and Kaggaths of their fellow Sith, the family had shied away from the power-grabs that led to albeit more prominent, but ultimately shorter lived dynasties. Yet it was perhaps because of this uncharacteristic lack of ambition that the Sith line survived as long and as well as it did.

Ancient and well-established, many up-and-coming Sith lords or Imperials hoping for Sith children sought to marry into the family as a stepping stone toward legitimacy among the ranks of the pedigree-ruled elite. Taking advantage of their unique position as one of the few stable Sith blooded families, the head of each generation saw to the bartering of the family’s youth in marriage, exchanging extravagant favors, dowries, and political alliances for the opportunity to partake of the family’s well earned reputation. As a result, the family became one of the widest-spanning and most well-connected Sith dynasties in the Empire.

Inevitably, however, the family was going to eventually marry into the wrong alliance, or spread itself too wide and too thin to protect from betrayal. The family’s decline began in the years leading up to the Treaty of Coruscant. With fewer assassins or bodyguards than ever before after nearly two-decades of constant warring with the Republic, the family was left vulnerable to betrayal, which the contemporary patriarch’s own brother was all too eager to take advantage of.

Believed to have started over a feud of inheritance, the now reviled Alcander Soranus used his charm and pull among the family’s surviving ranks to lead them to defect to the only true enemy the Soranus family had left- the Jedi. Unable to forgive such heresies, Alcander and his band of traitors were summarily executed, but not before irrevocably shattering the foundations of all that the family had built over the millennia.

With their reputation for stability and level-headed devotion to the Empire as a whole shattered by Alcander’s betrayal, the family might have recovered in a few decades’ time had the commotion and chaos of the betrayal not resulted in the death of their patron’s only heirs. Although their Lord, Darth Vowrawn, would ultimately not hold the remaining loyal Soranuses responsible, it was a distinction few other Sith would appreciate. 

Having failed in their most basic responsibilities, the surviving loyalists who were not killed outright on mere suspicion of treachery were scattered and exiled, many of them disappearing altogether over the next decade. When the family’s patriarch was killed nearly a decade later, the family was left heirless, as Lycaeon’s only child refused to take her father’s mantle for reason’s unknown. Though she would rise to great power on her own, she never saw fit to carry her family to the heights she rose to when she was eventually named as The Emperor’s Wrath.

This was, perhaps, for the best, as the family was largely permitted to fizzle out of relevance with a whimper before the Wrath’s ultimate betrayal. In true Soranus fashion, the Wrath eventually saw the tides turning against her master, the Emperor, and without any rival or equal to ally with, appointed herself as his nemesis. Building the Alliance to ruin her former master and all his schemes, she eventually turned on the Empire itself and forever severed the Soranus family’s association with the Sith and their ranks.

Ironically, the family has ended precisely where it began so many thousands of years ago, with the former Wrath-turned-Commander’s child having taken an interest in Jedi studies. Whether this development will send thousands of wailing Sith spirits rolling over in their graves beneath Dromund Kaas and Korriban, only time will tell.