#zhorrid: get the FUCK out of my HOUSE stop fucking my DAD

[eorzeashan]

It's time for more Bride of Jadus headcanons! (i.e. a role I never elaborated on as much as I could've since it was a nickname that didn't carry as much authority as the Hand pre-Intelligence, and Eight hadn't tapped into its esotericism yet).

What is the Bride? Who are they?

Jadus' mysterious consort, alleged wife, and mother to Zhorrid, whom we never see and who is never mentioned once through the game despite the existence of Jadus' daughter. One would find it interesting that such a prominent figure in Darth Jadus' life would have little to no explanation to her conception, and given the Sith Empire's obsession with bloodlines, a daughter with no ties to her birth is hard to fathom-- so it became my headcanon that the public created a myth surrounding Jadus' nonexistent wife from the rumor mill that he had murdered Zhorrid's mother and disposed of her. Given Jadus' frightening reputation, the rumors got out of hand after a manic diplomat fled out of Jadus' compound claiming that he'd seen the bride of Jadus haunting the halls-- a veritable lady in black, weeping inconsolably at the loss of her life at the hand of her beloved, yet married eternally to the dark side which her husband sacrificed her to.

Whether this was a side-effect of exposure to Jadus' potent aura of fear still hasn't been debunked, but the urban myth has taken root in many a Dromund Kaasi citizen. Even those who staunchly disbelieve in ghosts...

Jadus himself has failed to comment, perhaps finding benefit in having little questions about his personal life and creating an extra layer of intimidation without much work.

Association with the new Hand

The conflation of the Bride with Eight began when he committed himself more to Jadus, especially when wearing a veil over his uniform as a sign of trust and a symbol of his loyalty to the Darth, leading some to mockingly call him so because of his similar appearance to a grieving widow covered head-to-toe in black mourning garb.

The mocking turned to respect, and then to fear as the new Hand's achievements grew deadlier by the cycle, as did his reputation, and soon enough began the continuation of the myth of Jadus' Bride-- reincarnated as a spirit of vengeance through a new vessel, returned from the dead to exact her revenge on Jadus' enemies. *It is noted this clashes with the original story that paints Jadus as her murderer, which lead some groups to argue over whether Jadus had her killed or Jadus' enemies did. What many agree on is that the new Hand appeared to play along with her role, down to the very part of being affectionate with the dark lord to the shock of his advisors.

Post-Zakuul Rise to Power

While the Bride remained an urban myth in the days of the Sith Empire, it was only after Jadus' reclusion and the fall of the Eternal Empire when the Bride became a more prominent role than the role of Hand for a Lord who seemed like he would never return.

To the surprise of the Dark Council, the Hand of Jadus had secretly been inside the Alliance the whole time, and it was its steady decline that saw them finally return to the Empire hale and whole. As if not a day had passed, they voiced Jadus' authority to reclaim his holdings and remnant power and promptly set about to maintaining it, though they expressed no desire to politick at the time. Moved by the return of the highest servant to their master, Jadus' remaining cultists resurged and gathered around the Hand, with the cult adopting him as their de facto leader and herald. Outside parties theorize that the cult believes him to actually be the Bride which they've semi-deified, and that his return was a miracle sent by their dark lord to lead them out of these dark times.

The Hand himself made no comment on recent cult activities, though his refusal to confirm or deny involvement furthered suspicions.

Cementation as Cult Figure (aka the part where admin tries to explain more character design development bc they can't draw)

As seen above, Eight wears a short veil that covers his eyes with his operative suit when he relies on the Force bond between him and Jadus to guide him where his physical eyes can't. While this was an effective and simple way to mimic the facelessness of his lord and represent him, more recent times would see his appearance slightly changed.

With the cult now following him and the role as Bride overtaking his role as Hand, an extra cathedral-length train was added to the veil which could be unpinned if needed. The extreme extension of the veil was meant to reflect being eternally wedded to Jadus/the darkside as a bridal veil, while retaining its double-meaning as widower's mourning garb. Though the former Hand expressed its ceremonial ornamentation and editing was a fashionable yet unnecessary gift from the cult, the aesthetic symbolism seemed to drive his cultists into an even greater religious fervour, with even the public calling him more Bride than Hand in present day.

[Admin notes: I tried to find the exact type of veil I was trying to convey but got lost in a myriad of google images. I imagine it's a hybrid between the veil pictured and a really REALLY long mantilla that is embroidered with even more gold and iconography of Jadus himself on the back, but I am not an art person.

Also got more into spooky month with extending the original ghost tale and mixing it with an agent's alias/urban myth, which I think shows how false cover stories and ghost stories can be the same. I've also noticed that most agents have an incredibly weak link to the Sith/darkside/the Force, so Eight's HoJ self is me testing out how much an agent can be involved in those things without being force-sensitive.]