Neyla

**Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Neyla Haijira Patalia of Thessia**, often shortened to **Empress Neyla,**or simply to just **Neyla**is the forth head of the Patalia Dynasty and leader of Taigawa. She is a traditionalist and Native supremist who believes it is the birthright of her people to uphold the Mantle of Responsibility. She is the only daughter of the nation's founder, former empress Nirrti Haijira Patalia, who died of old age in 2034 shortly after the discovery of the Forerunner archives beneath the city of Illium.

### Appearance

Neyla is unusually tall and imposing for a woman, being about seven feet tall. She is a purple, blue striped tigress with a long, bushy tail similar to those possessed by snow leopards. Neyla has bright, piercing green eyes, a slim frame and a young lady's biology due to her genetic manipulation in her somewhat failed quest to become immortal. In public appearances, Neyla wears a light yellow robe adorned with her family crest and various Oriental designs, held together by a sash baring similar imagery. When she must travel, Neyla wears Forerunner Combat Armor, either alone or under her robes.

### Background

Neyla was born June 6, 2014 to Nirrti Haijira Patalia and Haicheng, her consort. At this time, Thessia's civilizations had collectively achieved a level of technology similar to Modern Civilization at the beginning of the 21st century.  Society was stable, and with few exceptions, the various people of Thessia were at peace. This changed howerever after First Contact with Humanity, which despite sincere attempts at peace, resulted  in the Human Invasion of Thessia, during which Thessia cities were Bombarded from space and it's people massacred in an attempt by Humanity to eradicate Thessia's indigenous population and claim Thessia for their own.Neyla, who witnessed the event as it unfolded, developed an intense hatred of Humanity. Despite the efforts of the desperate militaries of Thessia's nations, they were no match in straight toward engagements due to the humans ability to call in orbital strikes, against which the thessian military at this time had no defense. This continued  until the civilian population abandoned the remaining cities, pushing Thessia's civilizations to the Brink of collapse. Finally, Nirrti decided to make a last stand at her palace, a fortress constructed by the Yulan Imperium. This battle began to fall apart in the same way that previous engagements had, until Nirrti's forces uncovered and activated a network of Heavy Forerunner weapons that destroyed the human fleet, trapping their ground forces on Thessia. Without orbital support, the remaining military forces on Thessia rallied behind Nirrti and soundly defeated the humans, allowing the civilian population to return to their homes. Neyla herself was forced to swear upon her honor not to destroy the rest of them, and upon Nirrti's death, segregated the race into enclaves within the major cities that had survived the war. Ironically, this ultimately led to Taigawa's rise as a superpower, since this nation had very few of it's cities destroyed, leaving it one of Thessia's few stable political entities. Neyla then began work trying to decipher the archives beneath Illium, which had just been discovered. Her studies eventually led to the technological advancement that proceeded the civilization's rise to dominance on the galactic stage.

### Personality

*"They must change their own gene-plan or replace their organic bodies with machines in order to equal us. We are physically, and in many cases technologically superior."* -Neyla on the nature of Humans

Neyla believes her kind are superior to humans, though she rarely says so outright. She is extremely headstrong and arrogant, partly fed by her civilization's technological ascendancy and partly by the fact that her race is faster, stronger, and more powerful then humans, outright remarking that that they have to rely on technology to achieve similar abilities. She is also predatory and occasionally hunts and eats humans, notably those who lead rebellions against her. While wearing Forerunner armor helps temper this, if provoked, she can and will still attack with the abilities her armor grants her, which are considerably powerful. However, Neyla is capable of compassion and kindness, and does have the capacity to forgive those who have wronged her if they ask. She is also a loving and protective mother, and possesses strong maternal instincts for her offspring. Neyla has been married three separate times, each time outliving her consorts.