Zhae Ashva

**Zhae Ashva** was a female Praeliorian who declared herself the Queen of Rahonavis. She was a former Praeliorian Elite who once served the Praeliorian Empire as a Dremirian hunter. She crash-landed on the planet Zajac during a hunt after two Dremirians, Cyllene and Martias. Her life was saved and manipulated by the Deceiver, who led her into starting a massive, cult-like following comprised of Drazarian pirates.

## Biography

### Early Life

In 5820 ASA, Zhae Ashva was born on the planet Praelior, the barren, sparkling capital of the Praeliorian Empire. Raised as an imperial girl, Zhae worked through the ranks of the imperial hierarchy and eventually became an elite officer, tasked with the intense job of hunting down Dremirians.

### A Failed Hunt

Sometime around the year 5850 ASA, two Dremirians named Cyllene and Martias took a trip off-world from their home planet of Kosmima in the Dreamer Worlds. A hunting party led by Zhae managed to track down the two Dremirians' spacecraft. The chase had Cyllene and Martias' vessel crash down onto the planet Zajac, with the Praeliorian hunting party following suit.

Zajac's ferocious wildlife killed off the remaining Praeliorian soldiers who survived the crash, whereas Cyllene and Martias were rescued and taken in by the native Zajacines. Zhae Ashva was believed to be one of the Praeliorians that were killed by the planet's fauna, but in reality she barely survived, clinging onto life after a wild animal was done attacking her.

### The Path of God

Zhae bled out on the grass floor of Zajac, alone in the woodlands as one of the only members of her hunting party still alive. But just as all seemed hopeless to the elite, a voice spoke to her. She initially believed the voice to be of the Sovereigns of Old, but she eventually came to the conclusion that it was the voice of God. This god turned out to be the Deceiver, who manipulated Zhae into using dark magic to absorb the lifeforce of one of her barely surviving soldiers to supplement her own. Zhae found safety in the guidance of the Deceiver, who she firmly believed to be the one and only God.

Now revitalized and recovered, the Deceiver showed Zhae the way to a planet called Rahonavis, which was a colony of Drazarians who lived in extreme poverty and without the protection or the guidance from the Drazarian Empire, abandoned by them many years prior. Zhae promised the abandoned Drazarians a path to greatness, ensuring that one day, they would become powerful again. Over the course of a hundred years, Zhae Ashva made herself the Queen of Rahonavis, with many of the planet's inhabitants following under her reign. To prolong her lifespan over these hundred years, Zhae absorbed the lifeforce of devoted Drazarians who were honored to be sacrificed for their queen, just as she did when she crash-landed on Zajac.

### Conquest on Zajac

In 5957 ASA, Ashva began her first conquest off-world, establishing a small presence on the planet Zajac in the Dreamer Worlds. Within just a few weeks, Ashva and her band of Drazarian pirates attacked any villagers who attempted to forage in the woodlands and wetlands surrounding their main settlement.

Soon after, the United Cassiopeian Republic arrived onto the planet in hopes of annexing the world into their commonwealth. Refusing help from the UCR, the native Zajacine people sought out help from elsewhere. Doctor Zean Augen of the UCR hired the crew of the *Glass Comet* to deal with Zhae and her pirates. These *Glass Comet* privateers were led by Linh Malina, and consisted of members Lydia Jezda, Alwyn Nimbus, and Mysolus Pravo. Unbeknownst to Zhae until later, the *Glass Comet* crew was assisted by three natives: a human named Ottak Zyos and the two Dremirians she nearly lost her life to from hunting, Cyllene and Martias.

#### The Reunion

Zhae's Drazarian pirates managed to ambush the privateers and their Zajacine allies with cannisters of sleep-inducing gas. Knocking out the six of them, Zhae's forces took them back to their base where they were imprisoned in metal cages. When they woke up, Zhae paid them a personal visit. Once Zhae unmasked herself, she enjoyed seeing the astonished faces of Cyllene and Martias, who in that instant discovered that Zhae survived her initial crash a hundred years ago.

After the initial shock, Zhae went onto great lengths describing the pain she endured during her supposed death, and how the Deceiver, who she revered as God, gave her another chance at life. She proudly described her personal journey for conquest, and how she rallied up forces on Rahonavis that were devoted to her and her alone. Most disturbingly to the privateers and their allies, Zhae also described the dark magic taught to her by the voice in her head that she used to absorb the lifeforce of her ever-willing followers to supplement her own. She considered this an honorable act, believing that any of her subjects would graciously accept the offer to become one with her through this magic practice.

### Demise

When the privateers and their allies ultimately escaped with the help of fellow privateer Alwyn Nimbus, Zhae used the opportunity to demonstrate her life absorption capabilities for all to witness. As the onlookers remained horrified and disturbed, Zhae returned back to her youthful appearance from the days before she crash-landed on Zajac.

As warlord queen clashed with her enemies, she was ultimately impaled by a spear thrown by Zajacine villager Ottak Zyos. With the spear still lodged at her side, Alwyn Nimbus fired a shot through Zhae's heart before she was able to salvage any life remaining within herself. Falling to the wetland floor, Zhae's body emitted the same green smoke that she was met with during her first encounter with the Deceiver. The life faded from her already soulless eyes. She managed to let out a few last words, with her weak, final breaths. She weakly asked the Deceiver why he abandoned her, before she succumbed.

The green smoke cleared out as quickly as it came. All that remained of Zhae was a skeleton.

## Personality and Traits

Zhae was a Praeliorian woman and, as such, had white skin, white hair, and completely white eyes devoid of visible pupils and irises. Her blood took on a lavender color, which was reflected in her face paint as an elite imperial officer.

Before her near-death experience, Zhae was like any other elite imperial officer of the Praeliorian Empire. Devoted to her job, Zhae stopped at nothing to hunt down Dremirians in the name of the empire. After she crash-landed on Zajac and was maimed by its wildlife, Zhae lost faith in her empire and lost sight of her way. When confronted by the Deceiver, Zhae took great faith in the divine voice and followed his every word. She was manipulated by the Deceiver and became power-hungry and resentful as a result of all the pain she endured after nearly being killed.

## Skills and Abilities

As well as having the combat training provided to her as an imperial elite officer, Zhae was taught darker forms of magic by the Deceiver. She had the ability to absorb one's lifeforce to keep herself young and healthy.