Ring Realms Cosmos Master Glossary

T'Gor has a wife named Tigress who appeared to him in a (lucky?) pull of a Deck of Many Things.

T'Gor D'Shar fought for three years in the Arcturan Death Spectacles, learning the Dan Sadad from various blockmasters. He deliberately forfeited optional matches to maintain his contract but not dig himself into a hole where he could not win his way out.

When he felt he had learned everything of value, he began his push to win his way clear of the arena. Unfortunately, T'Gor had become rather popular and had a reputation for winning all the big fights. When it looked like T'Gor would get himself free. Meridian arranged to have him fight Beia.

The fight was vicious and Beia was more than challenged by this powerful draftee. However, her greater experience and wild animal power (plus a little rigging by Meridian) ensured that she defeated him. This being her six hundredth battle, Beia resented that Meridian had robbed her of a fair fight. She chose to take T'Gor's service rather than deprive him of his magic items.

It was during this service time that T'Gor and Beia Targallae got to know one another. Both of them were mutually angry at Meridian's rigs, T'Gor for being duped, and Beia for being robbed of an honorable challenge against a worthy opponent. It was during this time that T'Gor convinced Beia to try to leave the arenas. Years of conditioning and abuse had made her believe that it was not possible to overcome Meridian.

T'Gor believed different. His plan was to request a special challenge rematch and have Beia throw the fight. He would "kill" her and collect the body as his spoils. Of course, there was the little matter of winning six more fights. With Beia's additional training and coaching, T'Gor won the six fights and made the special challenge against Beia.

It was this "special challenge bout" that brought Beia to the attention of Aarlen Frielos. Unbenownst to Beia and T'Gor, the fight had been rigged so BOTH warriors would end up in a three way match and get defeated. This was known to the spectators but not the two warriors. It was Aarlen who made the gave the gift of Tariegron, the great battle blade to Beia right before the fight. The odds ranged from fifty to one to over a hundred-to-one against the two fighters surviving.

The battle was horrendous, invisible block masters, monsters and a host of trickery was turned against them. However, Meridian had not counted on Tariegron's vorpul edge nor the determination of the two. When the dust had settled they had defeated four Rhinotaurs, a half dozen hidden block masters, and several other fighters. Gasping for breath, facing Meridian's box the two of them looked up at him defiantly. While Beia stood their glaring at the evil mage, T'Gor stepped back and slammed Beia across the back of the head, knocking her unconscious and "defeating" her for the seventh time. T'Gor claimed her "body" as the spoils. Emotions from this titanic struggle were so high and audience involvement so great that Meridian was forced to release T'Gor who in turn pulled Beia from the arena.

After a brief stint with freedom and recovery, Beia and T'Gor would return to the arena to help others escape the rigged battles including Beia's younger sister Ess.

CREDIT: Don Allen's portrayal of the character across many years of roleplay is the inspiration of this character. He is portrayed with consent.

Algernon and T'Gor D'Shar frequently work together as scouts for the Protectorate. Algernon and Talorin Falor are known for their cooperative brute force tactics and teamwork. As such they have a reputation as meatheads preferring violence over more nuanced solutions.

Outside of the Protectorate and in a more civilian role, Algernon is awkward but diplomatic, and is surprisingly deferrential to his wife Angella.

CREDIT: Kaye Boardman's portrayal of the character across many years of roleplay is the inspiration of this character. He is portrayed with Kaye's consent.

Ess Targallae, the sister of Myrmigyne Queen, adopted Irodee and changed her lineage from Skyesteel to Ki'Targallae when she was early into her teens after the girl proved her bravery and commitment to the clan. As the protege of the Queen's sister, Irodee learned quickly and developed into a skilled warrior. In addition to being one of foremost warriors in the clan, Ess Targallae is the most educated. She tutored Irodee and eventually sent the girl to the best schools in Malan and Ivaneth. It was while in the schools that Irodee truly flourished. She became a favorite amongst the teachers, a gentle giant with a caring disposition and a thirst for knowledge. She graduated with honors from two universities, and holds advanced certificates in language and history. She speaks six languages fluently: Myrmigyne, common, sea trade, both the Elf High Tongue and Dykreeni, and Dwarven.

While she is highly intelligent, Irodee is somewhat uncomfortable in letting it show. She prefers instead to play 'dumb' and often speaks in broken fragments like a barbarian. After marrying Laramis she confused many of her friends in the way she only showed her mastery of language to her husband. When not in his presence she lapses back to her fragmented speech patterns. Irodee is thirty summers old and has a five summer old daughter. Shortly after the birth of their daughter, Irodee accepted the ki'succorund (voluntary avatarism) for Ukko.

After an assassination attempt depicted in the Ethermancer: The Shapestealer Conspiracy, Araceli, her sisters and mother stage their deaths. They assume identities as Valkyr loyal to Idun, and become her avatars to avoid the suspicion of Kriar kayyars and insurgent elements on Fabrista Homeworld. In her new identity, she goes by Cici Skylark.

After an assassination attempt depicted in the Ethermancer: The Shapestealer Conspiracy, Eladrazelle and her daughters stage their deaths. They assume identities as Valkyr loyal to Idun, and become her avatars to avoid the suspicion of Kriar kayyars and insurgent elements on Fabrista Homeworld. In her new identity, she goes by Ladra Skylark.

After an assassination attempt depicted in the Ethermancer: The Shapestealer Conspiracy, Monique, her sisters and mother stage their deaths. They assume identities as > loyal to Idun, and become her avatars to avoid the suspicion of Kriar kayyars and insurgent elements on Fabrista Homeworld. In her new identity, she goes by Nomi Skylark.

Octavia and Marna Solaris team up to create the avatar for Gaea, one of the most sophisticated organic bodies ever created by the Kriar. Octavia also recreates Bannor's ascendant body when his is destroyed by a run-in with jikartandak.

After an assassination attempt depicted in the Ethermancer: The Shapestealer Conspiracy, Octavia, her sisters and mother stage their deaths. They assume identities as Valkyr loyal to Idun, and become her avatars to avoid the suspicion of Kriar kayyars and insurgent elements on Fabrista Homeworld. In her new identity, she goes by Violet Skylark or Vi.

After an assassination attempt depicted in the Ethermancer: The Shapestealer Conspiracy, Porsche, her sisters and mother stage their deaths. They assume identities as Valkyr loyal to Idun, and become her avatars to avoid the suspicion of Kriar kayyars and insurgent elements on Fabrista Homeworld. In her new identity, she goes by Rachel Skylark or Rache.

Even after the Jyril war, dasta Daergon had learned little from their mistakes and the people were suffering for it. Quasar felt that the 'sheep' that continued to allow themselves to be led by fools deserved their fate. Quasar resigned her active commission to work in the private sector. She did odd jobs as civilian transport pilot, as a detective, and spent some time in research and development working with Eladrazelle Delarn. Many of Quasar's sophisticated matrix enhancements are one-of-kind prototypes created by Eladrazelle.

Quasar's skills as a time diver and as an agent of the military internal affairs eventually pointed her in the direction of hiring out as temporal consultant, body guard, doing private investigation and bounty hunting. In her later years, her reputation and respect for life worsened and she became known also as an assassin for hire.

Quasar's relationship with Eclipse Shargris is nearly as long and complex as her relationship with the dastas. The two of them came up through the ranks together and were literally the last warriors standing in three major battles. The two of them have been witness to more Kriar deaths than all the other living Kriar officers currently serving the ruling dasta.

Obviously without some level of control two people would just knock each other senseless or the sensation would become so intense they simply couldn't maintain concentration to continue being so-linked. However, even momentary bursts of this reverb can make the coldest fish gasp with desire.

One of the aspects of this telepathic mechanism is that the more closely in sync two people are, the better they are at doing it. Cassin and Annawen being twins sharing only one soul were the first to really popularize this mechanism for carnal purposes. They could make anyone into putty with what they called a "reverb sandwich". Getting in sync with one another, jump-starting a sensation, and trapping someone between them, and projecting the sensations through the "victim". The intensity of these sensations overwhelm gender biases, and almost all rational thought. It is because of this that reverbs are rationed because of their highly addictive nature. Too much, and that's all a pair of people would do until they expired from exhaustion (or their brains simply burned out).

After this harsh lesson, Tal's tactics and demeanor took on a darker tone, the bitterness over his loss one not quickly forgotten or left behind. He went back to active adventuring and campaigning now in a more serious vein. It was shortly after that he met up with members of the Band of the Crescent Moon, and learned more of the Death Spectacles run by Meridian Arcturan. He met Beia Targallae and T'Gor D'Shar and began assisting them in shutting down the arenas. It was during this time that Tal began adding to his fighting skills, learning to combat the arena pit fighters on their own ground. He began studying and mastering the harsh art of the Dan Sadad.

During the cycles that followed Tal would be involved in the recovery of the amulet of Tarkimaar, he would fight all manner of creatures from adamantium golems to skellar. He would take part in the revival of the Eternals slain by Garfang, and help organize many of the quests to recover the Shaladen swords. He himself would recover the shaladen blade Warstar. He would foray repeatedly in the cities of Dream Merchants and even fight the rogue elements belonging the deposed Kriar leader Daergon Surr.

Tal's hard heart would soften and their would be romantic interludes with Desiray Illkaren (then single) and Dominique Ariok. However, it was a fellow Shael Dal, Terra Karlin whom he often adventured with that eventually became the target for his affections. After a courtship of several seasons, they would become the second married couple in the Shael Dal (T'Gor and Tigress being the first).

Tal's adventures would continue. He became a key figure in the Shael Dal, the indomitable spirit to succeed against all odds. He would prove instrumental in several missions including a special cooperative mission with the Fabrista Kriar to Karanganoi home-world, where they would learn of the Baronians and their mysterious 'masters'.

Tal remains active in the Shael Dal and few would dispute his being their spiritual core. He and his wife Terra continue their efforts to remove all traces of the Arcturan death spectacles. Tal created several schools for adventurers, that serve as sources of income as well as recruiters for the various causes that he takes part in.

CREDIT: Brad Trusso's portrayal of the character across many years of roleplay is the inspiration of this character. He is portrayed with Brad's consent.

Born with the name Baerwin, Terra was something of a rogue and a wanderer her entire life. As a member of Sphinx-kind she was sworn into a guardian contract when still young. She completed that duty after a hundred cycles and was free to wander the planes. She took a mate (Jhalon Malad) who was a member of one of the highest houses of Sphinx nobility. After a few decades she bore him a son and daughter, who she brought up as somewhat rebellious youth of their kind. Some century later, Jhalon died in the completion of guardian contract. Her children grown, and not particularly popular with the royal family, Terra returned to wandering the planes. In her many jaunts through the inner spheres and courts of the pantheon lords, she became aware of the group of magicians that called themselves the Dream Merchants. This powerful coven of wizards were the purveyors of "desire" able to make wishes into reality (or so they claimed) as long as the recipient had sufficient gold. She was so fascinated by their operation that she set about getting a position working for them.

The Dream Merchants were more than willing to sign on a plane-savvy member of the Sphinx race. She was quickly assigned a guardian and advisor for negotiations. For many cycles, Terra was satisfied to visit the worlds and places where the dream merchants did commerse. She, and this was her main goal, spent time learning secrets of the merchant's powerful magics. It was through the dream merchants that Terra learned of the Kriar and the huge legacy of artifacts that their race had left untenanted in Realms. The Protectorate war had killed the first wave of Kriar that had been exploring the realms. After their loss at the hands of the Eternals and the rogue Garfang, the system of Kriar time portals and dimensional gateways were left unguarded and open to abuse by any who had the magic and ingenuity to missuse them.

Terra set out to learn how to utilize these ancient artifacts, and after many decades was using them to jaunt all across the Ring Realms. It was during this period of time that Terra became aware that she was not the only one taking advantage of these ancient relics. An evil wizard named Meridian Arcturus, was using them to transport men and supplies to outposts throughout the realms. He was building fortifications above many of the gateway access portals and gaining immense power. Not particularly wanting to share, she began a campaign to limit and control the use of the Kriar gate technology. She discovered a way to activate the gate guardians and then set about the process of going from world to world through the realms locking down the gates to prevent the further spread of Meridian's Death Spectacles.

Terra had been taking a rest from her long campaign of locking the gates when she came into contact the Band of the Crescent Moon. When she learned of their current quest to assemble the amulet of Tarkimaar and challenge the timelord Hellzan she decided to help.

Never knowing that she was not human, the band accepted Terra as they did many of their other fellows, with open arms and comradery. She became close friends with Algernon, T'Gor, Beia and Damrosil. T'Gor and Beia, she learned, she had something in common with, they too were fighting Meridian.

This being her first time to have a relatively close relationship with people, Terra stayed in contact with the band after the successful completion of their battle and subsequent defeat of Hellzan.

She would later assist Damrosil in some of her quests to undermine the dream merchants (Terra's former employer). Through Damrosil, Terra would eventually meet Tal Falor. The burly warrior took a shine to her, and began a campaign to court her attentions. It was never really in question, but being cattish, she drew it out as long as possible... Her final test was to reveal to him her true nature. Instead of being run off, Tal accepted that she was not human. At her behest they decided to be trial partners for a few cycles to see how it worked out. After five cycles they were married. Tal and Terra have been steadfast partners ever since.

Though law and rules are not the kind of thing Annawen would normally like, she finds the idea of twisting rules to her own ends intriguing. Her creative and exhibitionist nature are extremely well suited to both a courtroom and the stage. She would be perfectly suited to them except for the fact that she does not speak aloud. This of course, keeps her out of trial law in all but the most sophisticated territories where telepathy is tolerated as a means of communication. She does on occasion call on Cassin to be her 'voice' as she is in most of their everyday life. Cassin typically refuses most of her sister's requests because she feels Annawen should 'find her own voice'. Being the eldest, they are the big sisters to all the Felspar family children. They are often bailing their brothers and sisters out of trouble. Annawen's interest in law is quite valuable for resolving many of the situations that arise.

Annawen feels that Cassin is an errant part of her that has run away. The fact that she cannot function overlong without her troubles her. She harbors a secret (not so secret to her sister) desire for them to unify into one person. Cassin is extremely bothered by this desire in her sister, likening it to being 'consumed'. Despite their opposing natures, they are as close as two sisters can be and NOT be one person. Becoming married to Sindra and Drucilla Frielos has been an extremely satisfying experience for Annawen. Her pairing with Drucilla provides a balance in her life that Cassin was unable to provide.

The Frielos twins are specialists too, but it is not along the right-brain left-brain aspects. Drucilla represents the passive aspect of their pairing (to Sindra's aggressive) which is well suited to Annawen's personality and tendencies. Cassin and Annawen are extremely active and well traveled. They are adored on Homeworld. Elsewhere they are regarded with respect, and in many cases with fear and suspicion.

Elsbeth Crowninshield considers the twins, and Annawen in particular, two of the greatest threats to the integrity of magic. Despite herself, Elsbeth has been unable to view these two as enemies though they embody the very essence of what she fears (the merger of magic and technology). Whether by luck, or through their empathy, the twins knew it was essential to make sure they became close to this elder elite. A campaign several years in the making got them into the good graces of the red-haired woman buying them safety from her war on technology.

After an encounter with Corim Vale, and his metapathic talent, Annawen has become rather fixated on the handsome man. The fact that he's in love with Dulcere Starbinder is not at all troubling to her. She knows she'll get her way eventually... she always has in the past...

Caldorian is currently married to Bronawyn Shadowstalker and has two daughters: Cassopia and DonaRae.

After the adoption of Cassandra Kel'Ishtauri by house Techstar, it became a fashion among the Kriar nobility to start interacting with the humanity and skilled mages in particular. The ability of magic to overcome something Kriar science could not opened many eyes, and sparked intense interest in learning the secrets of magic. Also, humans being young and impressionable, made them excellent proteges. The Kriar being empaths, derive a great deal of satisfaction being around creatures who still experience excitement and passion. They can feel 'vicariously' through their empathy, emotions and sensations that they themselves have become numb to due to hundreds of millennia of life.

The Techstar family has profited enormously by Cassandra's addition to their ranks, as the mage's 'star status' among Kriar is worth a great deal in favors, media deals, and other 'celebrity status' benefits. This, of course, certainly hasn't hurt Cassandra's popularity among the members of her adoptive family.

CREDIT: Kaye Boardman's portrayal of the character across many years of roleplay is the inspiration of this character. She is portrayed with Kaye's consent.

There are other foathrings in the Felspar family, but Cassin and Annawen were the first. Initially, Cassandra thought she could deal with her husband-to-be having become female, but later found she couldn't handle it. Gondor also had problems having thought like a male for 50 odd years, now being a female and (via hormones) beginning to think like a female. The two of them grew apart but raised Cassin and Annawen as a family. Cassin married Sindra by 'default'. She thought the pairing with the Frielos twins was a bad and unsafe endeavor. Only later did she come to really appreciate the benefits of being spoiled by an elder. Now, many years into the marriage, she has fully embraced their relationship and enjoys all of its benefits. Cassin plays the passive role to Sindra's aggressive one, and is content to satisfy the needs of her sometimes demanding mate.

Cassin is much more involved in technology and more technically savvy than her sister. In that aspect, she complements her sister well, who is extremely magic savvy. Working together the twins can excel in practically any culture.

Despite his rival's jealous claims to his "sleeping his way to the top" Darin'Kel is in fact an exceptionally gifted and talented individual. Having his mother Desiray's incredible physique and Dorian's keen intellect, there is little this young man cannot do once he sets his mind to it. As a cleric of Isis the dogma of the worship was stifling to him. However, he became a cleric as something of a defiance to his mother Dorian who wanted him to learn the magical arts (actually, it was more of Everia's defiance than his, but Darin generally follows the will of his sister). It was not until Darin entered the ranks of the Sovereign that he truly began to flourish (the soveriegns are mages with priest training who serve Isis).

Both Darin'Kel and Everia feel a certain amount of resentment and rebellion against their mother Dorian. Most of their clash is rooted in a mother-daughter tug of war for identity and freedom. Ironically, Dorian's persuasive and manipulative ways work on everybody except her children. Darin's heart is considerably softer than Everia's when it comes to Dorian, and when not toeing-the-line laid down by his sister he and his mother are very close. Desiray experiences none of the hostility that Dorian is privy to. She was the "fun" parent and had no part in the law laid down by Dorian which is in part the reason for the mage's unpopularity with these two children.

Darin'Kel later marries a cleric by the name of Gwynned, and later still they have two sons: Xandar and Tristham.

Desiray was the personal patron of Sireth, who in turn was the patron of Liandra Kergatha. Desiray and Liandra initially share a mutual enmity toward one another that almost ends in them killing each other. Later, they grow closer and Desiray takes on a role as Wren's surrogate mother. In an attempt to shield both Desiray and Liandra, Gaea alters Desiray so that she can become Liandra's tao beta (meaning that they can join to become a single far more powerful being). In this form, Desiray and Liandra proved a reasonable match for even elder elite like the D'klace sisters Sindra and Drucilla.

CREDIT: Kaye Boardman's portrayal of the character across many years of roleplay is the inspiration of this character. She is portrayed with Kaye's consent.

Everia marries the Baronian warmage Luthice in 1114 N.I.S.

Loric is one of the last generation of Numanor, an elder race that eventually destroyed itself in pursuit of the ultimate power of entropy once possessed by the first ones.

Loric was born approximately 90,000 cycles prior to the events chronicled in most of the stories taking place in the Ring Realms. He by far pre-dates the lives of Aarlen Frielos and Elsbeth Crowninshield. Being one of the few remaining creatures possessing "true-magic" he felt that he should have a say in the development or the corruption of magic and how it was being distributed by the pantheon lords. This led Loric down a path where he began trying to police the ancient lore once controlled by the Numanorians and the first ones. He developed powerful magicks and trained allies to help him in this venture. Despite their limited number and resources Loric and his followers became a growing irritation to many of the pantheon lords, as he "kept them in line" policing not only the spread of magic, but enforcing a certain amount of separation between the lords and their sources of demiurge. The hit-and-run gorilla tactics of the Krill warriors finally escalated into full fledged war and Loric and his followers were forced into hiding. He and his followers would go into seclusion for centuries at a time, spending the "cooling off" cycles in specially designed stasis chambers that Loric had secreted throughout the worlds of the Ring Realms. There were occasions when he spent as long as five millennia in stasis, the exact reasons for these extended submergences are unknown but there are at least four known periods when he went "underground" for several thousand cycles. It's been speculated that he was in actuality sleeping off massive injuries to his body and spirit, but there is no evidence to support this theory. Upon each new emergence, he was stronger and more persistent in his desire to "clean up" the tyrannical dominion of the pantheon lords. Over the course of the millennia, the original desire to merely shepherd magic transformed into a one-man vendetta against the lords. It was in the latter portion of this war that Loric met and befriended Damay Alostar one of the great Kel'Varans. They undertook several quests to protect various members of the savant race scattered throughout the Realms. It was Loric's eventual plan to gather up all the savants and turn them against the pantheon lords. In the middle of this plan, Damay soured on the idea fearing that they would in fact cause the destruction of savant kind rather than their preservation. This fundamental difference eventually resulted in their going their separate ways. In the interim, Loric had learned a great deal from the individual savants he had met, and had discovered intrinsic properties in the foundating power of Eternity. These new discoveries were integrated into the Krillar weaponry and the power turned against the pantheon lords in a renewed onslaught in order to force the lords to give up their possession of the "material plane" and constrain their activities to the outer dimensions. The conflict escalated quickly, and several lords were slain permanently by Loric's new powers. The threat posed by the Numanorian created a situation where the pantheon lords would be forced to either comply and give up their possession of the core worlds, or cooperate and dismiss Loric from existence once and for all. The lords chose the latter, and in a massive battle the pantheon lords came together and in final battle corralled Loric and his followers and destroyed them all in a single entropic blast of demiurge.

In the aftermath of the conflict, it was a general consensus of the pantheon lords that they would all withdraw their primary influence to the outer planes, in order to prevent any further such conflicts. This was not only a direct result of Loric's efforts but an increasing pressure from a number of other sources.

Unknown to the lords, Loric had invested his essence into a secluded location, placing it within one of the five great krillglobes of his creation. Several millennia later, Cassandra Kel'Ishtauri found the globe and discovered the great mage's essence within. The lady mage used her powerful magics to recreate a body for Loric and place his essence within the shell, restoring the ancient Numanorian to life. This last violently forceful vacation had taken most of the fight out of the great mage, with the pantheon lords having withdrawn to the outer planes there really wasn't much left to fight about. Loric spent a great deal of time in seclusion, healing, and regenerating his lost powers. In the meantime, Cassandra was fascinated by this powerful man, both by the possibility of gaining his lore, and learning from him, and the romantic idea of associating with this legendary figure. Loric was, of course, alone and lonely, Cassandra was hungry and enticing. Eventually, the youngster wore down the elder's resistance and the two of them developed a more intimate relationship. They were finally engaged in 1074 N.I.S. after five years of persistence. They were finally married in 1079.

Loric is the patriarch of the clan. The gods tolerate his new existence but remain wary that he might start his old tricks again. He has three boys by Cassandra (born as triplets) Loric II, Radian, and Celek. He has a single son by Desiray (his second wife) named Farveth.

During her rise to power she made many enemies which include Elsbeth Crowninshield, Vulcindra Skybane, and the Trackazoid and Eddorian empires. During her thousands of cycles of life, Aarlen has begotten children for purposes of having agents under her direct control. She has thirteen acknowledged children still living. The Frielos family has some 12 recognized generations of relatives that number close to 75,000 members. Though it seems hard to believe, with a life that spans over 1000 generations, Aarlen's distant relations likely number in the hundreds of millions.

CREDIT: Kaye Boardman's is the inspiration of this character, she was an antagonist introduced in a campaign that Kaye ran.

Something to note about Drucilla and her sister is the fact that while they are to a certain extent evil, and definitely self serving, these two never became the irredeemable black that many of Aarlen's creations became. This seems to be a deliberate happenstance on Aarlen's part, presumably so that they would be more effective as spies and seductresses.

Drucilla is married to Annawen Kel'Ishtauri Felspar. The elder woman has been teaching Annawen the etiquette and protocols of the 4th alliance high court, as Annawen seeks to conduct law there.

While Aarlen had always been the epitome of hate and fury scouring the stars of creatures that resisted her, Grohden has never been anything other than the cold calculating sociopath devoid of all emotion. Of all her children, Grohden was the least controlled or chained. Perhaps because of this, the man's psychosis runs that much more deeply. Where Aarlen derided the value of life, Grohden is intensely interested in the human condition-- in the way creatures deal with hardship, in how they seek out diversion, and hide from reality inside of delusions and drugs. Humans and living things in general are curiosities to be dispassionately studied and understood. In a many ways, Grohden was worse than his mother because humans evoked little emotion in him one way or the other.

When Aarlen was turned from the darkness by the eternals, Grohden was uncertain how to react. After all the millennia, he was ambivalent at best toward his "mother". He was never treated like a son, and had always been little more than a tool to her. However, in the depths of his deeply submerged heart he experienced a certain sense of satisfaction at her downfall. In his studies of humans, and human kind, he had long developed a theory of bad karma being eventual end of all evil. Not that he was sinless, there was blood aplenty on his hands, but it was never shed in anger, only in pursuit of survival-- survival that was often predicated by his doing as Aarlen bid. Now, the despot leader of the 4th Alliance was no more... no longer free to smash everything as was her will. Now, she had a conscience.

Since the great changes in Aarlen, Grohden has made only a few appearances. He confronted Beia Targallae briefly, and during the encounter Grohden determined that she was no threat to him or any of his plans. When Aarlen began purifying members of her family, Grohden slipped into the darkness not to be found.

This powerful elder elite remains at large, his plans and status largely unknown.

Something to note about Sindra and her sister is the fact that while they are to a certain extent evil, and definitely self serving, these two never became the irredeemable black that many of Aarlen's creations became. This seems to be a deliberate happenstance on Aarlen's part, presumably so that they would be more effective as spies and seductresses.

Sindra is married to Cassin Kel'Ishtauri Felspar. Being the "voices" of the two sets of twins its not uncommon to see them paired with the other twin. Why they didn't simply marry that way is still something of a mystery...

Since the change in Aarlen, Thanos has become more accepted. Beia Targallae and Thanos share an uneasy truce, as he does not trust the Myrmigyne, and feels a certain amount of anger toward her over the pain his mother has had to endure. Why he chose Beia as the target for this upset is unknown, as she had nothing to do with Aarlen's capture by the eternals. Some of it may be jealousy because when Aarlen was finally able to show affection to someone, it was to a stranger, and not one of her children.