Aelain Tara

“My father’s leadership won you survival. Mine shall win you glory.”

-Aelain at the Crowning of 4E 25

Content

Name: Aelain Tara

Aliases, nicknames, and epithets: "One Who Walks With The Wind"

Role: Founder

Allegiance: Gar'leth Tirbal zu'aan

Gender: Female

Species: zu'aan

zu'aan Tribe: Gar'leth Tirbal zu'aan

Relatives:

Date of birth: 4E 1

Date of death: 4E 62

History

Life in Kran-Xtar

Aelain was born to Prince Duhain Tara and his wife, Lady Naila, in the first year of the Third Era. Her birth was a widely celebrated affair, drawing both congratulatory merchants and nobles to the Tara estate. Even the Emperor made an appearance at the ceremony, blessing Aelain in a manner sovereigns before he blessed newborn princes of the House of Tara.

“May you forever be vigilant in your duty to the Xerea Empire, little one. And may you carry in your heart the flame of your mighty ancestors so that the world may be ours once again!” -Emperor Verus IX at Aelain’s Naming Ceremony, 4E 01

From the very onset, it seemed that Aelain was a precocious child. At a mere five years, she would stand and watch her father drill the VIII Legion (The ‘Brave’ Eighth, a division traditionally commanded by the Taras and one of the few to survive the kin'toni Wars), ignoring the servants’ calls for meals or midday naps. In the journals of many soldiers, it is recorded that Aelain would march herself to the Eighth’s depot and begin giving out orders, much to the men’s amusement. These visits became so frequent that the Legion eventually fashioned a throne for the little princess and began referring to her as a queen; a title that they would officially bestow on her some twenty years later in the frozen north.

A young Princess Aelain was said to ‘torment’ the Emperor during her father’s visits to the Imperial Court. According to observers, she often hurled a flurry of questions at Verus IX, berating him for the inaction of the Xerea Empire against the kin'toni. Scandalously, she once claimed that Duhain would be better suited to wear the crown, going so far as to climb atop the Emperor’s lap and make to snatch his gold coronet away. Her father disciplined her on the spot. And though the courtiers laughed, many historians believe that this event was the start of a deeper resentment Aelain held towards the zu'aan monarch. fter Lady Naila’s death in 4E 10, Aelain was formally elevated to the position of Lady in the Tara household.

The appointment, commentators say, was to be more a distraction for the young princess than anything else, as she took her mother’s passing quite hard. Aelain, however, used the circumstances to shadow Duhain’s dealings with the VIII Legion. She assisted the Prince in strenuous training exercises meant to test the limits of the soldiers, joining them on runs (it is dubious as to her completion of the full 10-mile circuit), mock expeditions, marching parades, and in sparring practices. Such active participation would continue for some years, ending only when Prince Duhain fell out with Emperor Verus. It was between 4E 10 and 17 (most attribute it to 4E 16) that Aelain’s growing prowess caught the Crown’s attention.

At sixteen, even the most skilled warriors of the Brave Eighth acknowledged the princess’s swordsmanship and strategical and tactical sensibility. In a mock battle between the VIII and X Legions during the annual Martial Games, Aelain took her father’s place as a legionary general. This public spectacle marked her first use of the hybrid phalanx. Under the deafening roar of an appeased crowd, Aelain led Duhain’s legion to victory, pinning her foes using a frontal assault and enveloping their flanks. The more rigidly formed X could do little to maneuver against the fluid VIII and subsequently surrendered. Though most historians agree that the opposing commander, Lord Jaa’sha Hrost, employed simple tactics to benefit Aelain, even he did not suspect the Tara princess to formulate as advanced a plan as she did:

“Being a close acquaintance of Prince Duhain, I did not wish to see his daughter humiliated. But to completely discredit the girl would be a farce. I ordered Crad (Military records list a Goven Crad as a prominent legate of the X Legion) to advance to smash the VIII’s center in a single blow. I hoped that Aelain would learn dearly from the queer spacing her phalanx left between their ranks. The Princess, however, did not wait to be attacked. She sent her men forward to assault our center first, fighting with such ferocity that took us unawares. And while Crad held against the growing tide, neither of us called to attention the threat at both flanks…” -Lord Jaa’sha Hrost, 4E 16

That same year, Verus IX called on the Taras to undertake a strange request. Contrary to the Empire’s policy of inaction, the Emperor ordered that the VIII Legion should move against a roaming band of kin'toni that had strayed into the mountains near Kran-Xtar. This pleased Prince Duhain, as both he and his father ill-liked the stagnant Imperial Policy. However, before he could organize the expedition, a subsequent royal command was given. This new dispatch stated that Duhain was not to leave the capital, and, in his stead, Aelain was to set out with the VIII and dispose of the kin'toni. Despite vehement protests, Duhain could do little to not only sway the Emperor but his headstrong daughter as well. Aelain set out at once to complete the task.

Much of the documentation surrounding the ‘Great kin'toni Hunt’ of 4E 16 has been lost; destroyed on the orders of Verus IX following Duhain’s resignation as general and his self-imposed exile. Though from records passed down by the Gar’leth zu'aan, it is said that Aelain accomplished her goal with swift and deadly precision. Using guile, she lured the beasts from the mountain passes using a detachment of 20 men, herself included, using their kin'toni hunger to draw them out into the open. Once the kin'toni were loose, the remainder of the VIII Legion pounced on the former zu'aan, cutting them to pieces. Aelain returned to the capital a hero, pulling behind her a wagon teeming with kin'toni heads. The victory would be short-lived.

Instead of using the celebrated moment to strengthen the resolve of his subjects, Emperor Verus pushed a fearful agenda, claiming that isolation was the only safe certainty in the face of the kin'toni. An enraged Aelain stormed into the Imperial Palace following the proclamation. She forced her way into the throne room, where she confronted Verus much like how she had twelve years earlier. Her words echoed the sentiments of her father and grandfather, that now was the time to strike back against the kin'toni and reclaim the Empire’s lost territory. The Emperor dismissed Aelain with a terse wave, claiming that rashness would only lead them to be turned. Even with the arrival of Prince Duhain on the scene, Verus IX refused any notion concerning an offensive. The encounter would carry serious consequences.

At the very dawn of the 17th year of the Third Era, Prince Duhain Tara resigned as legion general. In Aelain’s own words, this action had been brewing for some time.

“Too many, it seemed like my father had simply gone mad. Why would a Prince of the House of Tara relinquish a legion command so abruptly? But those who knew him well understood his predicament. For too long he had pressed the coward Verus to take action against the kin'toni. And for too long the Emperor rejected these pleas. My father could stomach the languidness of it all no more, and so he took it as a personal failure…”

-From Aelain’s Journals, Dated 4E 18

Dishonor and the urge to take the fight to the kin'toni spurred the Prince’s second decision. He prepared to abdicate the Tara estate in favor of his daughter, also leaving her full command of the VIII Legion. But Aelain refused to dwell in Kran-Xtar under Verus’s thumb. The night before her father forced himself into exile, she addressed the men of the Brave Eighth, declaring that she intended on following the Prince wherever he chose to go and that they should choose from amongst their ranks an able general to lead them forthwith. The VIII’s loyalty to the House of Tara, however, was unquestionable. And so, when Duhain Tara left the capital under the cover of darkness, he ran headlong into Aelain, the VIII, and their families. Popular Kran-Xtar legend holds that the Prince only grunted, taking immediate command of his stubborn men for the journey onward. Others claim that a tearful Aelain stopped her father using force, fighting him in a duel until he finally agreed to take them with him. Both these stories are unsupported by written evidence.

The Journey Northward

Aelain took an active role in guiding the VIII to safety. Not long after they had departed the capital, Prince Duhain was stricken with illness; a high fever and bloody cough hampered his capability as a leader. And while the Brave Eighth’s three legates were more than capable of guiding the men and their families, it would be Aelain who ultimately took command. Initially, the Princess led them south, hoping to settle down in a warmer region with ample food sources. This move was to be denied by a vengeful Verus IX, however. Infuriated by the defection of an entire legion, the Emperor dispatched two of the VIII’s sisters to hunt her down (the V and III) and bring the stragglers to justice.

A bounty was placed on Duhain’s head, entailing an immediate rise to nobility for the man who gifted Verus the former general in chains. The news only angered Aelain, who was determined to defy the ‘Crowned Coward’ in any way she could. To confuse their pursuers, the Tara Princess swung her column of refugees back north. This put them on an opposite march with the V and III, and according to some of Aelain’s followers, this once put them at a stone’s throw from the Imperial forces: “Using the night as our veil, we slipped through the great forests surrounded by a thick blanket of shadow. Mere yards away we could see the torches dancing and hear the metallic shuffle of greaves pounding the sodden earth. Princess Aelain’s whispers reached as far back as I. With them came the order to be still…” -From the Journal of Legate Saraan Vistula, Dated 4E 17

Aelain successfully misled the pursuing legions for a time. She put considerable distance between the VIII and the Imperials before their generals realized what was transpiring. Unhampered by civilians, the V and III were able to force march their way north, placing themselves in striking distance of the slower column. Prince Duhain’s sickness persisted, and so the safety of the refugees once again fell into Aelain’s hands. Boldly, she decided to treat the situation like a strategic withdrawal. A third of her fighting men were allocated as a rear-guard, ordered to fight delaying actions wherever they could (It should be noted that there was little love between the Imperial Legions at this time, hence Verus’s orders being so sycophantically obeyed).

The farther Aelain brought the refugees, the less keen the Xerea Empire’s forces became in pursuit. Steadily, all three groups approached lands teeming with packs of fractured kin'toni clans. As commentators indicate, this was a deliberate move on Aelain’s part. She knew the ‘soft’ men of the V and III Legions would be wary about encroaching in kin'toniterritory. And so the hunt slowed, permitting Aelain to reintegrate her brave but decimated rear guard into the fleeing column. It would only be a matter of two days before the pursuit ground to a full halt. Numerous kin'toni clans had long-since claimed the vast stretch of lands between Kran-Xtar and the far north. Drawn by the scent of zu'aan, the kin'toni rapidly descended on Aelain’s weary band.

Though she had prepared her men for possible attacks, the first few raids wrought havoc on the VIII and their families. Within the first 40 miles, many fell prey to kin'toni fangs. Aelain herself was nearly bitten during one assault.

“…across the river was a defensible plateau. A rocky bastion ensconced high up in the cliffs and only accessible by a narrow causeway that wound up a series of jagged hills. I decided to cross even as night fell, well against the insistence of father’s legates. I sent Shord and two cohorts over the water first to secure the opposite bank. Then went the women and children, whose slow advance only served to further my dread. That is when the cursed beasts howled forth from the surrounding trees. They scrambled into the current, vying to snatch up the defenseless first. Without thinking, I drew my blade and stormed after them. But I would see no action. The foul demon that lunged at me materialized like a phantom from the void, gleaming snarl curling its hideous lips back.

It wrestled me beneath the surface, and all went dark. Coldwater rushed over my face, turning the screams and roars to echoes in the murky darkness. I felt the kin'toni’s claws rend the plated gorget from my neck. Its bulbous, golden eyes hovered sinisterly over mine. The end would have surely come had it not been for the VIII. My would-be killer died as a gladius found its heart, and a spear its mouth. I was whisked away by strong hands from the bloodied river. It pains me that I did not get to honor my savior. They say he was slain in the subsequent fighting.”

-From Aelain’s Journals, Dated 4E 17

The casualties would continue to mount as Aelain led the VIII onward. A boon in the form of Prince Duhain’s partial recovery was granted to them by fate. But even the skilled general could do little against the sheer number of savage kin'toni. Acting under orders from her father, Aelain directed the refugees east in hopes to avoid kin'toni packs and plunging temperatures. They had not travelled 30 miles before being turned north again, barely avoiding annihilation by a large kin'toni horde. Much of the two-month journey continued like this until Aelain finally led the refugees into Varaat. By then approximately 150 of the original 500 zu'aan remained, with most of the VIII Legion dead or turned.

Incomplete records pertaining to Aelain’s initial steps in the northern province exist. Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that she took the refugees directly to the central region. There, it is clear she had her first encounter with the scourge of the Gar’leth zu'aan, the cruel kin'toni Uron Drak. Though the details are vague, it is surmised that an Aelain-led VIII just managed to stave off Drak’s hunters. This clash effectively reduced the fighting strength of the Brave Eighth to less than 30% (Citation needed).

Arrival in Zypron and Duhain’s Rule

Following a pyrrhic victory over Uron Drak, Aelain was fully able to hand the reins of the column to her father. Two grueling months of fever, sores and incessant coughing had severely hampered Duhain Tara, but the Prince was eager to see his followers to safety. Aelain acted as his eyes, scouting ahead and using force to clear the way when necessary. She and her pitifully small vanguard (now consisting of some civilians due to a lack of soldiers) were the first to enter the ravines formed by Gar’s Fingers. Using the Jorangund River as a guide, Aelain marked the way through the canyon, sending a runner back to give her father the signal to advance. Accounts vary on how Aelain and the VIII reached Zypron.

Common theory (supported by a few journal entries) holds that the Tara Princess marched to the presently named Duhain’s Bay located on the Snow Beach. There she spied the former colony in a rather pitiful state. Popular folklore says that Aelain’s vanguard stumbled into a Zypronian hunting party led by none other than Gornal the Bastard. Failing to communicate adequately, the Princess nearly ordered her men to attack the man she would come to marry. A fight between the two zu'aan groups was only bypassed by the arrival of Uron Drak, who, using the mountain passes, sought to gain ground on Aelain and avenge his defeat at Mount Gar. Forced to unite, the Zypronians and VIII Legion stood against the kin'toni.

The subsequent battle was fierce, but the zu'aan held on long enough for Prince Duhain to arrive and fall upon the rear of the kin'toni. Drak is said to have wounded Aelain before retreating. Though the event itself is not documented in official sources, the Tara Princess does make mention of a ‘burning scar’ left by Drak’s ‘venomous claws’ in her early journals. Regardless, Aelain and her father arrived in Zypron nearing the end of 4E 17. Their reception was a welcome one. Having been terrorized by Uron Drak and other kin'toni bands for years, the Zypronians were on the verge of destruction. Aelain joined Prince Duhain in brokering a deal with the tribe’s aged chieftess, Katra Fire-eater.

In exchange for community membership, the two and their ragged legion would assist with the defense of Zypron. Some opposed such a hasty agreement, but joint words from both Katra and Aelain silenced any dissenters. Mother’s tongue struck hard and swift. Dir and Sordu fell quiet the moment her eyes flashed with anger. But it was the Cronoshi (city) woman who sealed the pact.

‘Now is not the time to fight amongst ourselves,’ said she. ‘Like you, we have left the Empire behind us. And like you, the kin'toni are our foes. Only together can we hope to rid this world of their filth.’

Difficult as it was to, I agreed.”

-Gornal the Bastard, 4E 17

By 4E 18, Prince Duhain was in command of all Zypron’s forces. Aelain too found herself in a prominent role. Due to the untimely demise of Legate Vistula, she was formally granted the dead legionary’s title, and charged with the organization of local defense. The suggestion to fill the VIII’s depleted ranks with Zypronian tribesmen was Aelain’s. And though it would take a significant time to generate any cohesion between the city and tribal men, the Princess succeeded in bringing the Brave Eight back up to acceptable fighting strength. She also began preliminary planning to for the creation of another legion. Though, manpower was far too low to see such a measure taken. The years Aelain spend as her father’s second are counted among the finest of her life.

Duhain actively employed her in various scenarios in the first year of their arrival, most of which saw her combating the forces of Uron Drak. The kin'toni wasted little time in attempting to wipe out Zypron once and for all and launched a series of constant raids throughout 4E 18, 19 and 20. Aelain fought major engagements in all three years, defeating Drak in the Battles of the Haunted Gallows, Hreth Cliffs and Frozen Shore. Her reputation among the Zypronians and even other Varaati tribes grew exponentially, and because of it, the VIII Legion (renamed the Zypron Legion, and later the Gar’leth Legion) never underwent a shortage of recruits. It was around 4E 20 that Chieftess Katra passed in her sleep.

With no immediate relatives (Gornal was overlooked due to his illegitimate birth) to succeed her, many Zypronians rallied around Prince Duhain, urging him to lead the tribe. Aelain too encouraged this move, and it was only by her insistence that her father reluctantly took on the role of chief. Many dissenters voiced their displeasure at the decision. They were, however, quieted by visits from Aelain and the Zypron Legion’s most renowned warriors. Shortly after Duhain’s ascension, Aelain proposed the construction of a great palisade around Zypron and the Jorangund Bay. Though the project would be delayed for months due to more incursions by Drak’s kin'toni, it eventually commenced in the dying months of 4E 20.

Aelain, promoted to legion general by her father, oversaw its formation. During the building, Zypron was attacked by a coalition of hostile tribes led by the fearsome Kaalur. Many workmen were killed before Aelain could organize the Legion and mount a counteroffensive. Even then, the fighting devolved into a bloody melee that saw the Princess and Gornal entrapped by a swarm of foes. According to Aelain, it was only through Gornal’s ‘brave ferocity’ that they escaped and drove the invading tribes out of the valley. Between 4E 21 and 4E 23, Aelain launched a series of campaigns to cripple Uron Drak and Varaat’s kin'toni. She commanded the Zypron Legion in four separate major skirmishes, defeating the kin'toni and securing the frontiers of the Snowy Beach. Gornal served as her bodyguard

throughout these excursions, and it was during this time Aelain grew close to the former chieftess’s son. Together they would face Drak twice on the field, narrowly besting the kin'toni and forcing him to withdraw. Eventually a budding infatuation turned to romance, and In the spring of 4E 23, Aelain and Gornal married. Prince Haldain was born later as the 23rd year came to a close.

The Crowning and Unification Wars

4E 24 saw a lull in hostilities across all of Varaat. It was during this mutual armistice that Aelain began developing plans for the unification of the province’s tribal zu'aan. Records indicate that she proposed this campaign to her father as early as 4E 22, but Duhain rejected it because Zypron lacked the manpower to wage an inevitably long-term conflict. As Aelain and the Zypronians settled in for the harsh winter of 4E 24, disaster struck. Beaten but not defeated, Uron Drak launched a desperate attack on weakened tribes, desperate to bolster the ranks of his dwindling kin'toni. The Snowy Beach’s afflicted clans sought assistance from Prince Duhain, imploring him to send the Zypron Legion as aid against the kin'toni.

Aelain volunteered to go in his place, a proposal quickly denied by the Prince and Gornal, who reiterated young Haldain’s need for maternal care. As many historians agree, the choice to hold back the militarily-skilled Aelain was the correct choice. Shortly after departing with the Legion, Prince Duhain Tara fell in battle, personally slain by Uron Drak.

“Aeli stood over the covered wagon, calm face betraying no emotion.

‘Uncover him,” said she to Legate Sordu.

‘Aelain…’ Sordu looked from her to me. I shook my head. If the rumors were true, then Drak had no intention of turning Lord Duhain.

‘Uncover him,” she repeated sternly, the iced rage crisp in her voice.

Sordu sighed and obeyed. His gauntleted hands took hold of the bloodied rags veiling the deceased prince. Even beneath this mocking drapery, I could discern the contours of Lord Duhain’s stark face. My heart sank with tremendous weight.

‘You do not have to see this, Aeli,’ said I to my wife before Sordu could move. ‘Let me handle father’s burial.’

I have brushed away, and Sordu shoved aside. Then, with all the nobility of her ancestors, Aelain uncovered the Prince. The Gods curse Uron Drak and his wretched kin. They had taken his eyes, tongue and fingers as war trophies. His armor had been greedily stripped away, the flesh carved to the bone to reveal the innards within. They wanted his heart. But the brave men of the Legion retrieved their general’s corpse before the beasts could pry it out…”

-Gornal the Bastard, 4E 24

Aelain grieved in isolation for three days. When she emerged, a scared Zypronian tribe eagerly awaited her words. By hereditary tradition, she was their chieftess, and her first order was to call a council of all the tribe’s leaders. The meeting saw Aelain dictate an immediate course of action. Uron Drak and his kin'toni were a threat not only to Zypron, but to every tribe across Varaat. The new Chieftess decided the time had come for the zu'aan of the far north to stand united against the kin'toni. And the one to lead them would be her. Aelain was proclaimed Zypron’s Queen in the early days of 4E 25 amidst a grand event known as the Crowning. Her military campaign would begin a mere three weeks after.

The Unification Wars of 4E 25-29 are counted as Aelain Tara’s greatest achievement. It was during this conflict that her martial genius became near legendary in the eyes of all Varaat. From the onset, her proposed confederation was rejected by many Gar’leth tribes scattered throughout the Snowy beach. Though, It is argued by some Imperial scholars that Aelain’s attempts at diplomacy were megre and half-hearted, aimed more at inciting war than obtaining peaceful vassalization. As many tribal leaders would go on to indicate, the Zypronian Queen sent them military envoys in place of statesmen, who would aggressively push for their cooperation as just payment for the aid Prince Duhain had lent them. Regardless, conflict broke out as Zypron declared open hostility against the many tribes who opposed them.

Due to the size of her Legion, Aelain personally commanded most, if not all of their expeditions. She claimed her first victories against the Snowy Beach’s smaller clans in 4E 25, defeating the Vorsha and Yuust in two seperate battles. While vastly superior to these foes in every aspect, Aelain demonstrated the effectiveness of a highly mobile army. When word reached her that the allied tribes had splintered their forces, she rushed to destroy them individually. The Zypron Legion marched quickly from Duhain’s Bay and met the Yuust headon, routing them in a battle that lasted mere minutes. Aelain then spirited her men from one mountain valley to the next, where she struck the camping Vorsha and forced them to surrender. With their fighting capability so quickly decimated, both tribes swore fealty to Aelain.

The Queen spent much of 4E 26 securing the valleys of Gar’s Fingers. In addition to subduing the piecemeal tribes, she ordered Zypron’s expansion, extending the village farther up the Jorangund River. It was around this period that she renamed the tribe’s homestead from Zypron to Lakon. And to foster a sense of unity amongst the conquered tribals, she proclaimed that they were all one clan:

“There is no Yuust. No Vorsha. No Garor or Kaalur. The days of the Jotun, Morg and Borya are no more. But hear me well, Brothers and Sisters. Do not think I strip away your heritage only to force you to wear the cloak of your ancient foes. No, for even Zypron is but a fleeting memory. We are one family. One Tribe. We are the Gar’leth. And together we shall drive the kin'toni from this land!” -Aelain Tara, 4E 26

A newly-dubbed Gar’leth Legion set out in 4E 27-28 to yoke what remained of the Snowy Beach’s quarrelling tribes. Aelain once more deployed them with ruthless speed and precision, isolating and destroying the armies of the Droft, Hedleg, Gorne and Crowl tribes. She slew two chieftains, most notably Gorros Gorne during the Battle of the Hreth Cliffs. The fight with Chieftain Gorros very nearly cost the Queen her life, as the fearsome zu'aan all but bested her.Rather than finish the job, however, Gorros infamously chose to monologue and allowed Aelain to kill him with a dagger to the throat. In the following year, Queen Aelain handed over operations to her Legates. A difficult pregnancy spurred Gornal to force her away from the front.

Annoyed, she retired to Lakon where she would eventually give birth to her second child, Princess Nailia Tara (Born 4E 29). But even confined to domesticity Aelain busied herself with maps and military reports. She dictated her orders through written messages, overseeing the final conflicts of the Unification Wars from the safety of a chieftain's lodge.

Fighting the kin'toni

Aelain’s plans for a province-wide confederation were cut short by the reemergence of Uron Drak. As early as 4E 26, Drak and his kin'toni horde had launched their crusade against Varaat’s zu'aan.

“…it is moments like this, when war melts away and a zu'aan’s thirst for battle subsides, that I can full appreciate Aeli’s (Aelain’s) beauty. Despite having just borne our second child, the queen remains as active as ever. She ponders over maps and the scouts’ reports, clothed in nothing save the furs of our bed. Even now, I can see the strength bristling beneath her smooth skin, devoid of its battle-scarred hardness…” -4E 29

After the birth of Princess Nailia, Aelain sent emissaries to the tribes living in the shadow of Mount Gar. The few that returned brought news of Drak’s onslaught, warning the Queen that many clans had already been turned. Eager to avenge her father, she immediately began preparations for a new campaign against the kin'toni. She bid the Gar’leth Legion to increase their recruitment drive; young males of fighting age were thus required to fulfil two years of mandatory service. After assembling a satisfactory host, Aelain sent them up the Jorangund River to secure a foothold near Mount Gar. She would join them when partially recovered from the complications of her pregnancy. 4E 30 saw the commencement of Aelain’s blood feud with Uron Drak.

The kin'toni struck the first blows with a victory over a Legion vanguard on Mount Gar’s jagged precipices, and again on the banks of the Jorngund, driving the Gar’leth back. Queen Aelain, her presence delayed due to sickness, arrived in time to reorganize the withdrawing soldiers. She turned them around and ordered an assault on Drak’s undisciplined rabble, who were now thrown into a frenzy over the gore they had spilled. The counterattack quickly broke the kin'toni, and Aelain marched her Legion forward to re-establish an offensive front. The conflict would prove to be a cruel affair. Queen Aelain hurled herself into the fray where she could, commanding the Legion vanguard and newly-formed pathfinders (scouting specialists tasked with taking on their kin'toni equivalents) on arduous missions. A

Among these daunting expeditions were the Legion’s foray into the depths of Varaat’s central mountain. Planned and ordered by Aelain, they would become one of her deepest regrets despite relative success. Many legionnaires fell to the kin'toni within the tunnels of Mount Gar. A stark toll that haunted the Gar’leth Queen.

“Even now, so many years after it wounded me, the horrors beneath the mountain still haunt my dreams. I can still see the faces of the soldiers in the dark. Older faces. Veterans of the VIII who had so loyally served my father. I can hear their voices, their screams, listen to the cry of iron as it cut hopelessly through empty shadows. I can smell the death. Their own, and many, many more young and old. I went in there with 100 swords. I came out with 7…” -Aelain Tara, 4E 70

For the next five years, Aelain would travel between Lakon and Mount Gar. She struggled to balance her duties as queen, general, wife and mother, often falling into bouts of deep melancholy where she would hardly speak. On the warfront, she busied herself with hunting down Uron Drak. At home, she pondered over maps, old battleplans, scouting reports and the myriad duties that accompanied her position. In 4E 33, she gave birth to her third child. The sickly infant, a son she named Duhain, only lived a few short hours before dying. Stone-faced in her grief, Aelain returned to the mountain warzone, where she would scour every rock for kin'toni. The decisive Battles of Ice Peak and Gormleth’s Hill were fought in that mournful year. Aelain is credited with slaying at least 70 kin'toni.

By 4E 35, the ranks of the Gar’leth Legion had thinned dangerously. Although Aelain had secured victory after victory, there seemed no end to the kin'toni’s ever-rising numbers. The Queen prepared her strategic contingencies. She was more than ready to withdraw her Legion from Mount Gar, pulling them back into the defensible valleys of Gar’s Fingers where they could hold against the vampyric tide. However, an organized retreat would not be necessary. In a rare act of diplomacy, Uron Drak called for a general armistice. Aelain was suspicious at first that her father’s killer truly wished an end to all hostilities. Though, she eventually agreed when a captive legionnaire was returned to them bearing news that the kin'toni faced an internal problem so dire that they could no longer fight the Gar’leth.

(it is surmised by scholars that Drak faced revolts from two high-ranking kin'toni in his horde, each vying to usurp command from him). The Queen accepted the proposal with cautious reserve. She withdrew her Legion down the Jorangund, but ordered fortifications to be constructed and manned in each of the valleys of Gar’s Fingers.

The First Decade of Peace- Aelain’s Reforms

For almost 15 consecutive years, Aelain had been at war. With the Snowy beach under Gar’leth control and the kin'toni rendered docile, she could finally direct her full attention to her new realm. The manifold tribes were still scattered across Varaat’s western coastline. This posed a problem to communication and trade, both deemed integral to the Gar’leth’s survival. The Queen wished for all clans to concentrate in the general area around Gar’s Fingers. Each tribal village, she ordained, would be linked through a series of ‘forts’- longhouses and watchtowers manned by non-Legion auxiliary militia. Lakon remained her base of operations, housing the Legion, its commanders and recruits.

Aelain also officially legalized it as her capital, and ordered the construction of a ‘Council Lodge’ separate from her own abode. This building would provide chambers where the subsequently formed Gar’leth High Council amassed to discuss various issues. In order to promulgate loyalty to her, Aelain dissolved the hereditary leadership structure of the tribes. Only the crown would pass from parent to child, whereas control over individual villages was to be chosen by their powerful families. An elected chief or chieftess, the Queen mandated, would hold that position for life. These changes were met with hostility by many tribes. The Yuust, Gorne and Crowl threatened open rebellion; predominately the Gorne, whose chieftain, Grom, son of the slain Gorros, who went so far as to challenge Aelain to a duel for sovereignty over the Gar’leth.

In Lakon’s Council Lodge at the time, the Queen responded by ordering the council chamber to be flooded with legionnaires in a show of strength.

“Her fearsome warriors thundered into the room from both doors. The dark iron encasing their thews raged with reflected firelight, white furs bristling as the outside wind howled after them. They surrounded the table in organized, deadly silence, and with a nod from the Queen, lowered their spears.

Gorm Gorrosson reddened, teeth and fists clenched. He retook his seat quietly. The killers around us were not only sons of Zypron, but of Droft, Crowl, Hedleg, Yuust, Vorsha and even brutish Gorne. In their years of service in the Legion, they had been whipped to undying obedience to one zu'aan and one zu'aan alone.

‘You will fight me, Gorm son of Gorros?’ said the Queen, whose regal figure towered over the council. ‘You and what army?’” -From the Journals of Mors Vecht, Chieftain of the Tragast tribe

Supplementary to stripping the clans of their blood rights, Aelain forbade them from possessing an organized military. Able-bodied males who wished a career in soldiery were to enlist with the Gar’leth Legion; an additional stipulation to the mandatory 2 years of service. The Queen wished to keep both civil and military power highly centralized. A move she deemed necessary to counter the omnipresent kin'toni menace. Lacking a suitable amount of warriors, the disgruntled tribes could do no more than grumble and issue hollow threats, most of which Aelain parried with visits from her Legion. In 4E 39, Aelain introduced a monetary system to replace Varaat’s bartering economy. Influenced by the Empire’s method of coinage, the Queen minted (roughly) her own currency the Gar’leth entitled ‘Iron Taras’.

Though, it would not be for another 25 years that the coins saw widespread usage. Other systems Aelain reformed during this period include Gar’leth judiciary practices. Using Legion code as a backbone, she created an official legal system to replace unsavoury tribal law. Disputes, as mandated by the Queen, would be handled by Legion officers serving as liaisons to village chiefs. Due to the cosmopolitan nature of Varaat’s religion, Aelain did not infringe too much on the tribes’ theological beliefs. She permitted each clan to worship whatever patron God of the North they so chose. Though, men serving in the Legion were subject to Imperial practices, being forced to follow the old VIII’s religion for the tenure of their service.

The years of 4E 40-45 ushered in a deep lull in activity for Aelain. While she constantly oversaw Lakon and its surrounding villages’ operations, she spent her luxury time bonding with her two children. To Prince Haldain, now come of age, she parted whatever wisdom she could afford, both martial and diplomatic. He would often accompany her on her queenly affairs, and eventually was granted a seat on the High Council for the purpose of ‘exposing the heir to civil matters’. Princess Naila too partook in her brother’s training. However, the younger child displayed no interest toward anything Aelain showed her (much, as Gornal would write, to the dismay of her mother).

The Return of Uron Drak

Aelain long predicted that her kin'toni nemesis would strike in the coming years. She took every precaution, garrisoning frontier defenses, training young legionnaires, bolstering Lakon’s fortifications and ensuring every one of her subjects were prepared for a looming conflict with the kin'toni. The first signs manifested in early 4E 46. Two Legion scouts patrolling Mount Gar disappeared, and Aelain immediately suspected Drak’s forces. Her assumption proved to be correct. Three days later a kin'toni band attacked the frontier defenses along the upper Jorangund, taking the garrison by surprise and inflicting many casualties. The Queen’s response was instantaneous. She ordered the immediate mobilization of the Gar’leth Legion and marched them straight for the central mountain.

She personally commanded the vanguard, which arrived at Mount Gar shortly after the Legion pathfinders. But aside from a few minor skirmishes, no major engagement took place. It would not be until a month following the commencement of hostilities that the kin'toni would strike in force. Aelain fought two consecutive battles in the mountain’s shadow; the Battles of Gunder’s Defile and High Sardnot. And while they yielded strategic victories, face value results proved indecisive. On both occasions the illusive Uron Drak slipped from the Queen’s grasp, being cornered by her legionnaires only to be saved by some divine stroke of luck. This frustrated the Gar’leth sovereign to no end.

Her plans revolved around forcing battle while Legion strength was high, attempting to either slay or capture the kin'toni leader. Without Drak, Aelain knew, his volatile horde would turn on each other. The Queen pushed aggressively for confrontation. 4E 47 brought many skirmishes and smaller battles, each masterfully orchestrated to cripple the kin'toni. However, such a bellicose strategy would eventually bite back. Late in the 47th year, Aelain’s pathfinders informed her of a Drak-led kin'toni host camping out in an exposed mountain ravine known as the Bordeth Pass. Wishing to crush them while they waited, Aelain acted swiftly. She split the Legion into two parts, a smaller, frontal force commanded by Gornal, and a larger flanking army overseen by her, and marched them to the Bordeth.

Her husband struck the kin'toni first, leading a fearless attack on the unaware kin'toni through the wider mouth of the pass. While this occured, Aelain swung her legionnaires around surrounding cliffs, easily overcoming Drak’s rear guards and falling upon his exposed flank. Penultimate victory was once again within the Queen’s reach. But once more Uron Drak would prove himself a cunning, worthy foe. The kin'toni counter attacked hard against Gornal’s smaller force, ferociously cutting a route to freedom through the reeling legionnaires. Aelain could only watch in horror then, as Drak confronted her husband and butchered the king-consort, choosing to cruelly take his head as a prize. A pursuit was launched after the fleeing monsters, headed by the enraged Gar’leth Queen.

The results yielded nothing, and Uron Drak escaped into Mount Gar.

“We followed the creatures through the snow, over rock and boulder, lashed in ice and moonlight. Many we felled with spear throw. Others, burned by the iron of our weapons, collapsed and were swept away by the advancing tide. But in the end, the Legion’s fury would be for naught.

The devil Uron Drak clambered high above us, well out of hurling range. He grinned venomously, holding high King Gornal’s head for all to see. For the Queen to see.

‘Look now, Gar’leth whore!’ said he. ‘You came to take my life, yet it is I who have taken something from you! May your sleep be cursed with terror, cur! Horrible visions of the reality that shall come of this day! Wallow in pity, for I swear to you that from henceforth I shall drink blood out the skull of your beloved!’

He vanished into the darkness, laughter silencing even the mountain gales. Queen Aelain fell to her knees then, cursing. Crying. I ordered the Legion to turn and cover their ears. The sight and sound of their general’s heart-rending sobs was too damaging to morale…”''

-Legate Sordu, 4E 47

For the next two years, Aelain’s wrath would be felt across Varaat. She levied the Gar’leth tribes for every elligible male, forcing them into military service. The Legion, extended to operational capacity like never before, scoured every crevice, cave and valley for kin'toni. Their death march even took them west, past central Mount Gar and into the icy plains where no tribal had set foot since the waning of the first era. There Aelain found a number of neutral kin'toni clans, and slaughtered them all to a man. She could not, however, find the source of her rage. A bounty was placed on Drak, with the Queen promising ‘untold riches’ to any zu'aan who eliminated him. The palisade guardian Lakon would become studded with severed kin'toni heads between 4E 48-50. Many were said to be taken by Aelain herself.

By 4E 51, many of the chieftains had grown weary of their Queen’s tireless crusade. None dared to approach her, for the rage she harboured grew unchecked as the campaign continued. The few that did were harshly rebuked and declared traitors, earning them a place in the dungeons of Lakon. It was not until Prince Haldain, now married with children, confronted her did she finally see the futility of her war. Uron Drak had not resurfaced since killing Gornal. And day by day the number of kin'toni in the field had dwindled; a fact owing more to their own withdrawal than Aelain’s persistence on slaying them. Begrudgingly coming to peace with her ‘failure’ (though she had not been defeated in battle, Aelain would write that the campaign ended in disaster), she ordered the Legion back from Mount Gar.

Following this, the Queen retired from public life, leaving most governing duties to her son.

The Second Decade of Peace- Isolation

The years of 4E 51-61 are an uneventful period of Aelain’s life. She spent her time at home or wandering the Snowy Beach with her adventurous grandson, Edain Tara (her favourite amongst the eight Haldain and Naila would give her, as according to observers, the princeling resembled Prince Duhain). The council sessions she partook in were few and far between. She rarely spoke to her subjects, limiting her words to approval or denial of proposed actions. Her health became increasingly worse during the decade, with ailments such as fevers, muscle pain and splitting headaches all too common. Many theorize that these afflictions stemmed from a poor psyche, as Princess Naila wrote “Mother is sad. Despite being surrounded by her family, she feels terribly alone.” (4E 55)

Some time in 4E 57, the Queen left her lodge and took up residence in the Legion garrison. There she pondered over maps and old battleplans, composing volumes relating to warfare and swordplay. Her attendants remarked that she spent a copious amount of time reviewing the Battle of the Bordeth Pass. Years after her passing, Haldain would find hundreds of documents detailing alternate courses to how the battle could have been fought; or as he called them ‘a hundred different ways mother thought she could save father.’

Final Vengeance and Death

Aelain had all but abdicated to her son. She had diminished her role in Gar’leth society to the point where her sole duty was to officially approve the Prince’s decisions. Even Legion affairs were of little interest to her. Though she read and wrote military dispatches and issued her orders though letters, the Queen left military governance to Haldain as well. However, in early 4E 62 a poorly scrawled note was hand delivered to her by a pathfinder. The soldier claimed to have been confronted by a tall, fearsome kin'toni who asked for the Queen by name. Though the message itself was lost, Gar’leth historians have documented its contents.

“The wind has told me that you are sick and dying. Nothing brings me more joy than to hear these whispers. But for all its sweet revelation, I cannot stomach the reality of time taking you rather than my own hand. Come then, Tara whore, our final confrontation is long overdue. Allow me to reunite you with your bastard father and that barbarian you called husband. Or better yet, face me so that I may turn you into one of the ‘creatures’ your Legion has hunted for years. It does not matter which path you walk. The end draws near. The life of you and your tribe belongs to me!”

-Uron Drak to Queen Aelain, 4E 62

Ignoring the pleas of her children and advisors, Aelain called on the Gar’leth Legion, bidding them to march with her to Mount Gar one last time. Late in the 62nd year, she set out. With her soldiers in tow the Queen headed up the Jorangund. Past the frontier defenses, she encountered roving bands of kin'toni that were dealt with ruthlessly. Every kin'toni was put to the sword and their corpses staked along the riverbed. Once under the deeper shadows of the central mountain, Aelain would await her nemesis. Drak did not manifest at first. Instead, the cunning kin'toni had laid out an ambush for the Queen. His horde, rejuvenized from years of preying on zu'aan to the south, attacked the Legion from multiple directions.

But even past her prime, Aelain was not ready to forget old principles. She had expected trickery, and thus chose highly defensible terrain on which to counter the kin'toni numbers. The plateau upon which she stood, a rocky outcrop accessible only through a set of four narrow passes, is known to the Gar’leth today as ‘Queen’s Heights’. The Battle of the Heights is one of the bloodiest in Varaati history. Aelain’s role as general and soldier throughout the engagement is oft praised by poets and experts alike. She formed the Legion in phalanxes in the passes leading up to the plateau, jumping between each to participate in the fighting. The kin'toni could do little to break the disciplined cohesion of the Queen’s warriors.

Inspired by her presence, the Gar’leth Legion held against wave after wave of Drak’s maddened horde. When a flank would begin to give ground, Aelain would rally them, pushing herself to the forefront to drive the kin'toni back.

“Cron fell. Then Talom. Slowly, the beasts forced us to our heels with their sheer numbers. But just as despair began to settle in our hearts, the Queen would appear, spear and shield blazing. She called for us to follow her, and we did. There was not a zu'aan present that would question his unwavering loyalty to Aelain Tara. Nor would any dare leave the pass without saying he fought beside her…”

-From the Journals of Legate Thrugbor, 4E 62

Casualties mounting, the kin'toni were eventually forced to retreat. Many became trapped in the chaos, barred from escape by the dead clogging the passess. Aelain ordered her Legion forward to pursue and destroy as many kin'toni as they could. And it was during this furious slaughter that she finally managed to effectively corner the monster’s slippery leader. Uron Drak was cut off from any means of freedom. The Queen challenged him to a duel that is forever immortalized in Gar’leth history.

“...and so came the beast, slayer of father and husband, with bloody teeth bared to the moon. His sword did he discard, and claws did he unfurl to strike down wife and queen. But the mother of the Gar’leth, whose vengeance fanned Hell’s flames, called on her ancestor’s wrath to smite this demon of flesh and bone. Her iron sang a tune so sweet to mine ears. A song tinged in the heart’s sorrow and forged in the mind’s pain. The blade in her hands would not dare to miss its prey now that the stars had aligned and the weavings of celestial fate had been spun to complete Varaat’s tapestry. On it lay the embroidered truth. The death of a monster. The vengeance of a zu'aan scorned.”

-Princess Naila Tara, The Song of the Iron Queen, 4E 87

Aelain Tara slew Uron Drak in the deepest hours of the night in the 62nd year of the Third Era. Accounts differ as to how she felled the kin'toni. Some legionnaires present hold that Aelain decapitated Drak following a close duel that could have gone either way. Alternate accounts say the Queen was beaten, on her knees and bloodied, but took advantage of Drak’s hubris much like how she did Chieftain Gorros. No matter the tale, her defeat of the kin'toni set his horde in complete disarray. They scattered into Mount Gar, where they would fight amongst each other until a new leader rose among them to terrorize the Tara Kings years later. Though victorious, the Queen had been badly wounded. Her final orders to pursue the kin'toni were disobeyed by her concerned legates.

Against Aelain’s will, they commanded all legionnaires to withdraw from Mount Gar, and ferried the Queen as swiftly as they could down the Jorungund River to Lakon where she could receive adequate treatment. However, it would prove to be too late. With her already fragile health in decline since 4E 56, Aelain was quickly succumbing to blood loss and burning fever that rendered her partially blind (some believe that Drak had known the battle would be his last, and so poisoned his claws). Having accepted the end, she summoned her family to her deathbed.

“Her hands were terribly cold, and though Dehala (the Gar’leth healer at the time) did everything she could to ease the pain, the reality was clear to all. Mother was dying. We sent away the servants and guards, seeking to spend those final moments with her alone. I held tightly to one hand", Naila the other, as she whispered her last words.

‘I am coming home, father,’ said she. ‘I am coming home, Gornal, my love. I am coming home…’

She passed into the next world with a warm smile on her lips.”

-King Haldain Tara, 4E 62

Queen Aelain Tara died in the waning months of 4E 62, having ruled for 37 years. Following a grand funeral conducted by the Legion, she was buried next to her father in a plot of land by the shore of Duhain’s Bay. Her body would later be moved to the Tara Masaouleam during the reign of her great-granddaughter, Queen Aelain II. #

Personality

For the first 15 years of her life, Aelain was raised in the luxuries of Kran-Xtar. However, being a Tara still meant something in the post-cataclysmic zu'aan capital. They were princes of the Xerea Empire, a family with a long and illustrious military history. Aelain’s upbringing reflected this. Like her father and forefathers, the Princess of the House of Tara carried a noble disposition. She was described as being calm and collected, dignified, with a revulsion for the decadence that plagued many other aristocratic families. She also carried with her the Tara clan’s great shame; the humiliation of having the old Imperial Legions crumble under the weight of the kin'toni horde.

As a result, Aelain vehemently despised the kin'toni, swearing to destroy the beasts wherever she found them. Martial qualities are also reflected in records of Aelain’s character. Those having served under her pen her down as harsh but fair commander. A perfectionist to the core, she meticulously compiled orders and ordained that they were to be followed to the letter. This did not mean she reprimanded her subordinates for taking alternate courses, however. In fact, Aelain applauded initiative, and encouraged her men to deviate from the norm if necessary. Though, it was common for glory hounds to face Aelain’s wrath if their intuitiveness wrought undesirable casualties, even if it found them victory.

From the memoirs of her husband Gornal, a gentler side to Aelain can be discerned. He documents that she was quite fond of romantic gestures, saying that ‘her face would blush starkly at his gifts.’ He also claims that she had a singing voice that could ‘cool fire’, but this is contested by Aelain’s personal accounts in which she decries any form of melody as a nuisance (It is interesting to note that Haldain’s journals attest to his mother’s singing ability, citing that he not only fell in love with his wife’s physical and mental beauty, but also her melodious voice which he said ‘reminds me very much of mother’s own’).

Later in life Aelain enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren, particularly Prince Edain, with whom she would explore the Snow Beach with.

“Edain has gone out with the Queen again. Though I have no qualms in allowing mother to enjoy her time with my eldest, there seems to be more play than work involved in these outings. Yesterday, while I was teaching him his letters, Edain could barely hold attention for want of interest. His mind constantly wanders. And when I asked him to where it goes, he replied ‘to grandmother and the great outdoors’.”

-Hildegun Tara, Wife of Prince Haldain, 4E 58

Appearance

As a blood member of House Tara, Aelain’s phenotype is consistent with Imperial records of her princely ancestors. According to the Gar’leth zu'aan, she stood at around 6’3 and weighed close to 160 pounds, the average height and weight of a Tara princess. Her features are well documented:

“The sun had fallen well beneath the zenith of the mountain when we retired to our tents. As the most skilled warrior of the tribe, Lord Duhain requested that I watch over his daughter; a fate that inevitably bound me to the same residence as her. Ever since besting the Cronoshi (City) woman in a duel, we had not spoken out of sheer hatred. Under the cramped leather hides of the tent, however, it was difficult to maintain that silence. We sat opposite each other, separated by a fierce line cast by the blaze of an exterior campfire.

It was Aelain who spoke first. Her voice was like ice in the dark, crystal clear yet shrouded in mystery.

‘You fought well today, Gornal,’ said she.

My response was slow to materialize. Though my mind cried for me to hate Aelain Tara, my heart told me otherwise. I watched her carefully. Not a single woman of Zypron could match Lord Duhain’s daughter in beauty. In the tent’s half-shadows, I could see the royalty beneath the warrior carapace. Her skin was the color eya’gost sap, a light, sweet brown marred not by blemishes. The white-gold strands of her hair she kept short, cropping it so its lower ends aligned with her chin. She spoke again, and I observed as the words rolled smoothly from pursed lips. Harsh words. Stark like the sharp contours of her jaw and cheeks. In the end she brought herself closer, glaring at me with eyes of haunting green flame…”

-Gornal the Bastard, 4E 20

A stringent martial upbringing, complete with intensive physical training, contributed to Aelain’s athletic characteristics. Records of her physique often cite the Tara princess as ‘lithe and decently muscled’. Gornal the Bastard describes his wife in a more flowery way, claiming that ‘Aelain possessed a chorded layer of acrobat muscles that allowed her to dance around opponents both zu'aan and beast.’ However, converse statements from Gornal seem to indicate that Aelain built up her physique in preparation for campaigns, and subsequently toned it down during times of peace. He says more intimately:

“…it is moments like this, when war melts away and a zu'aan’s thirst for battle subsides, that I can full appreciate Aeli’s (Aelain’s) beauty. Despite having just borne our second child, the queen remains as active as ever. She ponders over maps and the scouts’ reports, clothed in nothing save the furs of our bed. Even now, I can see the strength bristling beneath her smooth skin, devoid of its battle-scarred hardness…”

-4E 29

Abilities and Traits

There has been no better commander in Gar’leth zu'aan history than Aelain Tara. Her military record is unblemished; a feat not even her father, revered by Imperial historians despite his self-imposed exile, can boast. She is famously noted to have been a brilliant strategist, planning her unification of Varaat’s few tribes months in advance. The master documents detailing this conquest still exist to current date. They highlight Aelain’s grasp of the fundamentals behind a long-term campaign, centered around effective troop movement and safeguarded lines of communication. She placed a dire emphasis on speed, claiming that an army, no matter how large or small, capable of outmarching its opponent has already secured victory.

“Warfare is more than the clashing of iron and bronze. It is a logistical game, one where each piece may be a hundred or a thousand. It is the moving hand’s duty to ensure these pieces move to their allotted squares in a quick and timely manner, to take stock of his opponent’s movements and to remain ever vigilant of the entire campaign front. For this how the game is won. An organized troop column marching at a swift pace is more terrifying than a million kin'toni.”

-Aelain Tara, The Fundamentals of War, 4E 60

In conjunction with careful strategic thinking, Aelain was a dynamic tactician. Though she greatly appreciated post-cataclysm Imperial tactics, her wisdom led her to redefine the strict doctrine upheld by Duhain Tara. There was a need to implement tribal military techniques into legion customs, and she accomplished this through adding a series of well-conceived measures. Most notable was the Garl’eth Phalanx. This tactical formation, based on the existing Imperial phalanx, sought to inject fluidity into the standardly rigid line. It increased spacing between troops, and though group integrity was still its cornerstone, a greater importance was placed on individual skill. According to Aelain, each soldier had to be capable of thinking for himself without relying too heavily on his neighbors for support.

Though a commander, Aelain was a soldier at heart. Like her father, she often found a place in the thick of combat, taking up position at a phalanx’s head. Possessing swordsmanship a degree better than most, Aelain preferred this riskier location to a general’s rear overlook. She would often leave the pedantic command of the Gar’leth army to her trusted lieutenants, and later her eldest son and heir, Haldain Tara. The Aelir style of sword fighting was her own development, a hybrid offense-defense technique that employed both blade and shield as weaponry.

“I was stronger than her (Aelain), that I knew to be the truth. But when I faced down this Cronoshi woman within the copses of the Haunted Gallows, I learned there was more to combat than sheer might.

It was I who swung first, roaring for the great ancestors to witness as I brought Imperial blood to Varaat’s snows once more. My axe did not touch her. Not her shield. Not her skin. And before my heart could settle, I was on my knees, legs soaked in my own lifeblood.

‘Yield,’ was her one command.

I did. And pledged the Kaalur’s eternal fealty to the One Who Walks With The Wind.”

-Chieftain Durg of the Kaalur tribe, 4E 26

Allies

Aelain counted her father as her closest ally. Prince Duhain was three parts equal parent, friend and mentor, spending whatever free time he could with Aelain. The founder of the Gar’leth zu'aan clan attributed all her success to Duhain, claiming that without his tutelage she would never have grown to become the woman she did. Historical commentators agree with this sentiment. As many state, Duhain was the vital link between a hundred generations’ worth of martial knowledge and a figure whose northern clan would need every ounce of information to survive. So integral was his role in saving the Gar’leth zu'aan that Aelain renamed Zypron’s surrounding landscape to ‘Duhain’s Bay’.

Equally important in Aelain’s life was the presence of her husband. Though initially hostile, she would come to love Gornal deeply, respecting him as both a man and soldier. Assigned by Prince Duhain to be his daughter’s bodyguard, Gornal the Bastard was an able fighter, deemed by his clan their finest warrior. Even Aelain, skilled as she was, could not match the Zypronian in matters of the sword. However, Gornal’s mind focused merely on combat’s violent aspects. He had no interest in the strategical arts, grumbling whenever Aelain sought to ‘refine’ him. This would be a rather humorous strain on their marriage, as observers would point out.

“Mother and father were at it again today. He laughed contemptuously as she growled words like ‘flanks’ and ‘organized withdrawal’. This is the fourth time I have heard them argue on the same subject. Mother tries to get father to sit and listen. He does, but I suspect he does it only to anger her with his defiant listening and snide quips. Today was especially bad.

‘The only flank I need to watch is yours,” said Father.

Mother was far from pleased…”

-From the memoirs of Princess Naila Tara, 4E 44

Yet Aelain found an able protégé in her and Gornal’s firstborn. For years following maturity, Prince Haldain Tara would serve as his mother’s right hand. Taking after Aelain, the second ruler of the Gar’leth zu'aan was a dignified individual, carrying an air of nobility. Aelain often described her son as a reincarnation of Duhain, as she could not procure a more eager student with an aptitude for the stratagems of war. His emergence as a battlefield commander allowed her to position herself where she served best: at the army’s head, fighting where the combat was thickest.

Enemies

Despite her resentment of Emperor Verus IX, Aelain did not count the sovereign as a foe. She reserved her hatred for the kin'toni that plagued Terael , and as a result considered them her staunch enemies. None of the fiends, however, were a target of this fervent disgust more than Uron Drak. The cunning kin'toni would time and time again prove to be a worthy opponent, terrorizing Zypron and the Gar’leth zu'aan for years before finally being slain. He is most notable for taking the life of both Duhain Tara and Gornal the Bastard; deeds that have earned him infamy even among the present day tribals of the Varaat Snowy Beach.

“Who was Uron Drak? The question, seemingly a simple one, often troubles even the most apt scholars. Drak was a kin'toni of impressive stature, often described as a ‘giant among giants’, heavily muscled and extremely agile. He was, however, also terribly hideous. Gar’leth records indicate that he possessed ‘bulbous green eyes and a gaping jaw perpetually locked in a grin’. His skin was like leather, tinted a grey so dark that ‘when night fell its hue turned to black’. The talons upon his ‘gnarled’ hands were uncommonly long, even for a kin'toni, and those who had the misfortune of meeting him in battle swore a ‘noxious venom dripped from each claw’.

But who was Uron Drak? A cunning, worthy adversary for the Gar’leth zu'aan’s legendary matriarch. A kin'toni hellbent on scouring every warm-blooded creature from Varaat. Aside from tribal history that scorns him, there is but anecdotal evidence of his personal history. His clan is not named, nor is the horde he assembled to fight the Gar’leth. No one can truly say for certain where he came from or when he was turned. There exist theories, of course. Many claim that the kin'toni lord was one of the many Legion soldiers lost to the outbreak. Some hold he was the foolish merchant known as Halech, whose famously documented travels around Terael ended so abruptly on his journey north.

Others offer a darker, more harrowing tale. That the savage kin'toni was a Legion general of the Xerea Empire, bitten and forced into seclusion beneath Mount Gar. A Commander of the VIII. A member of a certain princely house with strong ties to the Imperial Military…”

-Zaya Zoran, ‘Black Crowns: On kin'toni Lords, Kings and Chiefs’, 4E 163

Aelain did not make many enemies among the Varaati natives. Those that did oppose her often met their end in battle or were swayed by her warrior charisma. A few chieftains bore the title of nemesis, most prominently Chieftain Gorros of the Gorne tribe. Described as a slobbering brute, Gorros was a savage fighter with a penchant for bloodshed. So great was his strength that he very nearly slew Aelain during the Battle of the Hreth Cliffs. Even after his demise and tribe’s subsequent surrender to the Queen, the Gornes would continue to actively voice their discontent at her rule. It would not be until Queen Aelain II took a Gorne as her husband did they finally quiet down.