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Vel'Sharen Clan
Sharen clan symbol
The ruling clan of Chel'el'sussoloth and one of the city-empire's oldest existing clans, claiming direct descent from Sharess through Diva'ratrika, who is both the Ill'haress of the clan and the overall Empress or "Val'Sharess" of the city-empire. The Sharen are a powerful clan both in size and power; although this status has dwindled somewhat after the Nidraa'chal War, a war which resulted in heavy losses for the clan and its power base in Chel. They were the first of the four "Great Clans" (note ) to rise to power and Diva'ratrika herself was the one responsible for forming the Council of Nine to oversee the city-empire's affairs. Power in the clan is determined by both rank and relation to the Imperial Family; four of Diva'ratrika's five daughters head their own families, also called bloodlines, and each daughter has their own unique role in the administration of both the clan and the city-empire. For example, Sarv'swati, Diva'ratrika's second eldest daughter is the leader of the Sharen army, whereas Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta (note ) held the position of policing the city-empire.
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General
- Ambadassador: This essentially seems to be the function of the Imperial Overseers, who visit clans on behalf of the Empress, and all are armed and armored in case they have to fight.
- Angsty Surviving Twin: One consequence of the protector twin system is that most adult Sharen no longer have their twins, having either killed them out of a desire to be alone or because the twin tried to kill them first, which might explain some of their more dysfunctional behavior.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: There is a reason the Sharen have ruled Chel for so long. They possess the strongest mounts, powerful summons, the average Sharen soldier is many times stronger than the average Sarghress soldier, and though nether summoning is a double edged sword in the long run, it is a significant distraction for the rebel clans. The only reason they aren't winning the District War is because they have made so many people hate them, that they are massively outnumbered.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: What they did to the Sullisin'rune in the Sharen-Sullisin'rune War and according to the Orthobbae wiki, one of their own sub-houses, the Xyrrai'zestu. When the Dev'ess of the Xyrrai'zestu built a tower for her house that was even higher than the one for the Val'Sharess, the noble house retaliated by having the Dev'ess and most of her followers all killed.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Nau'kheol asserts that Sharen don't fight Sharen, but that really isn't the case. The twin protector system almost always ends with the adopted twin dead. And the minor houses have significant amounts of infighting between one another. 3 of the Sharen sisters wiped out Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta's families to make it easier to murder their own mother. Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta's surviving children want revenge. Zala'ess rigs a duel between Sarv'swati and Quain'tana to kill Sarv, both to stop Sarv from getting in the way of her alliance with the Sarghress and to eliminate a rival for power. Snadhya'rune's resentment towards her mother leads her to set up a plot to wipe out her entire family in a horrific way.
- Blue Blood: Depending on how canon Daydream is, they might be descended from the first empress, and they are definitely related to Sharess, which they claim gives them their hereditary right to rule. Naturally, this is the biggest source of strife between them and the upstart Sarghress clan, which seeks to eliminate the importance of nobility and make way for the commoners' rise to power.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Ariel mentions that Quain'tana has told her that Sharen backstabbings run in cycles
, suggesting that the current strife is only one of a long line of similar incidents. Given what we know about how most protector twin relationships end this isn't especially surprising. - Color-Coded Characters: Though there are exceptions, many members of the same sisters' bloodline will wear similar colors, and it can generally be broken down as:
- Snadhya'rune: Purple.
- Sarv'swati: Dark purple and dark blue/black.
- Sil'lice: Lighter blues.
- Nishi'katana: Reds and oranges.
- Zala'ess: Teal and black.
- Cool Crown: Seemingly standard issue among the higher ranking females. Diva'ratrika and her mother both had a 9-eyed crown, while
Word of God is that the Ill'haress (but not Val'Sharess) wears a 7-eyed crown which is eventually worn by Zala'ess when she declares herself Empress and Diva'ratrika's daughters have 5-eyed crowns. In turn their daughters wear 3-eyed crowns once they reach a certain age, and 1-eyed crowns as children. Whether or not protector twins wear crowns seems to depend on the pair, since while Khaless and Yaeminira have been shown in crowns Shinae does not wear one. Male Sharen also don't seem to wear crowns, though Ashu'athama does have a silver circlet that he wears. - The Coup: 3 of Diva'ratrika's own daughters murdered her to accomplish this.
- Decadent Court
- The Dog Bites Back: The sisters, particularly Sarv'swati, wind up on the receiving end of quite a few of these after the timeskip from Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta's surviving bloodline members.
- Dysfunction Junction: Their pride in their bloodline (see below) and their hesitation to mix with others they deem "commoners" has led to major competition between members. In the "Longest Wait" Diva'ratrika notes that one of the ways her own mother tried to combat this was by implementing the current "twin system" and by having spies everywhere in the clan, which she herself then decided to continue in order to maintain balance.
- El Cid Ploy: What the Imperial daughters have been doing since the Nidraa'chal War.
- Enemy Civil War: Post-timeskip, the biggest threat to the Sharen isn't the Sarghress fighting them over Chel, it's each other.
- Famous Ancestor: Their claim to nobility above the other Val clans is based on the fact that they trace their lineage, albeit through one of her sisters, from the drow goddess Sharess herself. (note ) This is why the leader of their clan is referred to as the "Val'Sharess" as she supposedly speaks with authority from Sharess. Quain, being Quain, calls them "shameless bitches" for turning one of their own into a goddess.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble
- Sanguine: Snadhya'rune
- Choleric: Sil'lice
- Melancholic: Sarv'swati
- Phlegmatic: Nishi'kanta
- Leukine: Zala'ess
- Gambit Pileup: After the timeskip, Kyo'nne lays out how all five sisters have their own plans, most of which involve screwing each other over.
- Heroic Lineage: From the former Queens on the surface and Sharess herself, albeit indirectly since Sharess was Diva'ratrika's great aunt and Sharess herself has no known direct descendants.
- Horse of a Different Color: The Sharen's dragons, which are also their clan symbol, crossing over with Dragon Rider. An interesting note is that the dragons are actually elves who were transformed into their current state, though enough generations have passed that they've lost their wings (except for vestigial stubs on some) and most of their intelligence as they are not as humanoid as they once were.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Both Sil'lice and Quain'tana muse on this. Sil'lice criticizes her own clan for letting its pride blind them to its failings and betrayals. Quain'tana discusses how the Sharen are being brought down by the very commoners they so despised and looked down upon.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Judging by Yaeminira's reaction, most of the clan doesn't know that their own kin were behind the Nidraa'chal War and those that did find out defected to be with Sil'lice.
- Losing the Team Spirit: The Sarghress know that the real Diva'ratrika died during the Nidraa'chal war, but in spite of the rumors and Zala'ess's own admittance, she officially remains alive. In order to destroy Sharen morale, they successfully assassinate one of the impostors. While the Sharen claim the victim was just a golem Body Double and that the real Empress is safe, it does greatly raise doubts among the Imperial Guard.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Everyone in the Sharen has an absurd amount of relatives, but Zala'ess' line is acknowledged as having the most. Sil'lice wasn't kidding when she said that Zala had made "an army out of her womb"◊.
- Meaningful Rename (started referring to themselves as the Vel'Sharen rather than the Val'Sharen after tainting became mandatory in the clan following the War. It's also one way to tell who was in on the Nidraa'chal coup, since Sil'lice and her family still used Val for themselves.
- Nepotism: A major problem the Sharen have compared to the meritocracy of the Sarghress, especially characters like Nihi'liir and Kio'nel who are implied to have gotten their positions mainly because of their family connections. Unsurprisingly both get taken by surprise in a big way.
- Pride: Their major flaw, and as Quain oh so eloquently puts it, it makes them blind to the potential of the people they oppress.
- The Purge
- Diva'ratrika had much of the Xyrrai'zestu sub-house purged for daring to build a separate fortress for themselves.
- During the Nidraa'chal war and its aftermath, the traitors who arranged it slaughtered Nishi'kanta and Sil'lice's lines as well as the Dutan'vir clan to eliminate Diva'ratrika's loyalists and secure their own power.
- Purple Is Powerful: A signature color of the Sharen is purple which follows the Real Life precedent where formerly only members of royalty were allowed to wear purple clothing.
- Questionable Consent: Theoretically any Sharen can refuse to get tainted, and several have refused, but they are heavily pressured to get tainted, and Yami'ni is implied to have not been entirely willing.
- Royally Screwed Up: Even though they're (now formerly) one of the most powerful clans out there, like any ruling family, all members suffer from Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. Three Sharens murdered their own mother out of ambition and greed. And at least one Sharen was implied to be born with sociopathic narcissism.
- Running Both Sides: It's not publicly known, but the Nidraa'chal not only contain members that are Sharen, but it was founded by Sharen as well, specifically Snadhya'rune.
- Slave Mooks: As the war in Chel grows increasingly desperate, the Sharen begin to force conscripts into slave armies to fight the Sarghress. A Sarghress operation in Chapter 40 is specifically designed to keep one of these armies from ever getting on the field.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: Very much on the snobbish end of the scale. The Sharen believe that their bloodline is superior to everyone elses and this is part of the reason why they are highly disliked by the rest of Chel. Many are loathe to associate with those they see as commoners and thus "beneath" them.
- Squishy Wizard: Despite the below Super Power Lottery, (with the notable exception of Sarv'swati's one-on-one fight against Farasank) most Sharen that we've seen get beaten and/or killed on panel have been so in close quarters, which makes sense given that most Sharen seem to prefer fighting via summoning or from dragon back than being "down in the dirt" and hand-to-hand. Also serves to emphasize the Slobs Versus Snobs trope since they may view close quarters techniques as being "beneath" them. Perhaps because of this most Sharen are heavily armored, but in the cases where they do lose this is shown to not have done much good.
- One reason the Nidraa'chal War was so devastating to their forces was because the Nidraa'chal specifically played off the Sharen's weaknesses, either remotely tainting those who weren't already tainted, moving into buildings and forcing the Sharen to go after them on foot, setting up an ambush, siccing armies of demons on them who overwhelmed them or tainting their dragons.
- The Sarghress War Meat squadron is also in part specifically designed to help combat the Sharen's usual style of combat, since being made of up non-fae summoning doesn't affect them and they can simply Zerg Rush the Sharen warriors and kill the summoners before the regular Sarghress troops move in to finish the job.
- Sterility Plague: The variant of the taint that Snadhya'rune inflicts on Zala'ess's line is specifically chosen to do this, to amuse herself with the irony of making Zala'ess's fertile line go sterile.
- Succession Crisis: Though Diva'ratrika has officially remained alive, she is in truth deceased and her daughters have squabbled to assert their own authority. Nishi'kanta has been broken by the taint and the loss of her family, and is thus considered out of the running, but she has disappeared and her plans are unknown, making her a potential Wild Card. As the only unbroken, loyal daughter, Sil'lice is the favorite of what little remains of both Diva herself and those who were still loyal to her like Sker, but she was framed for treason and has few followers left alive. Snadhya'rune, the would be favorite, has pretended to have no interest in ruling, and she certainly has no interest in ruling the Sharen, just the empire. The biggest contenders for the Sharen throne are Sarv'swati and Zala'ess. Sarv'swati continues to control the empire through an impostor Puppet Queen, but Zala'ess has the largest family and amassed the great clans of Nuqra'shareh to back her claim. Ultimately, Sarv'swati squanders her followers against the Sarghress hordes and is killed in a rigged duel, while Zala'ess expands her alliance to include the Sarghress, effectively ending this in Zala'ess's favor.
- Super Power Lottery: One of the reasons the Sharen are such a powerful clan is because members of their bloodline often have access to a variety of abilities. This is best shown by Diva'ratrika, herself a massively powerful dark elf, and her daughters, the latter of which have their own bloodlines all with specialised abilities. The clan also has access to ancient summons that are extremely rare and powerful, as Snadhya'rune aptly demonstrates
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With the Black Sun after the timeskip, to the point that several Sharen openly resent working with them, and apparently Black Sun getting tossed into cells with rowdy Sarghress prisoners by Sharen is a regular enough occurrence to not arouse suspicion. Or at least only token suspicion as a shape-shifted Ariel was questioned in "Black Sun" by the prison guard before being freed.
- Tiger Versus Dragon / Wolf Versus Dragon: The Sharen's first major opponents in the underworld were the Sullisin'rune, but they were eventually defeated and subdued. Currently, the major opponents (at least publically) of the Sharen are now the Sarghress. The Sharen see the Sarghress as an upstart clan and the Sarghress see the Sharen as status-obsessed tyrants. The feud between the two clans is particularly bitter.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: According to this page, the full title of the Vels of Sharen is "Imperial Family of Chel'el'sussoloth, Descendants of the Val'Sharess, Voice of the Goddess, Savior of the Nine Nations, Leaders of the Lath and Ssu People, Keepers of Dragons, Defenders of Felde, Sha'shi, Dariya'ko and all the Deep Territories."
- Vestigial Empire: Doubly so. The Chel'el'sussoloth Empire is the remnant of the Dark Elf kingdoms that existed before they contaminated the surface world with demons. As for Chel'el'sussoloth itself, the Sharen used to be it's undisputed rulers, but as of the Timeskip, they have had so much self destructive infighting, made so many enemies, and built up such a bad reputation, that half of the great clans have claimed much of their former territory and are set to wipe them out. Though that looks set to change again soon since Zala'ess is returning to Chel with an overwhelming army of allies hungry for conquest.
- Villainous Valour: most of the Sharen outside of the three sisters display this, though they're only "villains" in relation to the Sarghress)
- Your Days Are Numbered: Word of God confirms that nearly the entire clan has the faulty seeds that will eventually kill them.
- 0% Approval Rating: Though the Nidraa'chal War did a lot of damage on its own, after the timeskip, the Sharen's public image has deteriorated significantly, and Sarv'swati's actions, in particular forcing civilians into her slave army or the Penal Colony and her alliance with the Black Sun, have turned most of Chel's commoners against them.
Diva'ratrika
Diva'ratrika Val'Sharen
The Val'Sharess or Empress of Chel'el'sussoloth, a dark elf from the time of Sharess and ruler of the Vel'Sharen clan. Although it is not public knowledge, she has been dead for sixteen years due to her daughters' betrayal.For tropes pertaining to Liriel, her incomplete fusion, and Diva, her final reincarnated form see their entry on the Val'Sarghress character sheet.
- Abusive Parent: It is shown in flashback that Diva was very emotionally abusive towards Snadhya for being born a drow. However, she does come to regret how her treatment shaped her daughter. Sil'lice for her part believes that Snadhya'rune and Sarv'swati would have commited Matricide for power even if she had been a good parent, but things might have still turned out better for Zala'ess.
- Arch-Enemy: Both Quain'tana and Ash'waren perceive her as this, particularly in Ash'waren's case since Diva's mother and extended Sharen family was responsible for wiping out most of Ash'waren's clan and forcing them to become Sharen protectorates.
- The Atoner: Post timeskip as Diva, she seems to be heading down this path, with the guilt of her actions including her disillusionment and indifference as Empress, her inaction with the tainting Nidraa'chal War, and her unwillingness to kill her daughters when they rebelled against her hitting her over the years. In chapter 50 she plans to make Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta her official heirs and raise them differently so she wouldn't have a repeat of what happened with Snadhya.
- Batman Gambit: In the penultimate chapter, she goes and faces Snad, alone, knowing the latter would full well try to straight up murder her, first chance she gets. Snad does and Diva's soul flies right into Sharess's empty body, waiting and ready for a host.
- Break the Haughty: The year spent trapped in her own throne room with only one slave for company was not kind to her.
- Control Freak: Snadhya claims this of her in regards to her daughters, and Diva's own narration considering that she more or less kept control for six hundred years, also suggests it.
- Curtains Match the Window: Had purple hair along with purple eyes. Her appearance post-Fusion Dance with Ragini as Diva had this, too.
- Dead All Along: People believed that she was alive, albeit in self-inflicted isolation, for several years. So when her mummified body was discovered in Chapter 45, things go downhill especially for the Sharens after her death was made public. Interestingly, while Diva'ratrika's body is dead, her aura (i.e. a soul) is not; Diva was the result of fusing her aura with her drow slave Ragini via the use of an ancient aura fusion ritual.
- A Fate Worse Than Death: Sure, Snadhya, Sarv, and Zala could have just killed her, but decided that leaving her to die in her throne room was a better option.
- Dying Alone: The Fate Worse than Death mentioned above her daughters tried to inflict on her. Notably she does technically die alone after sending Ragini out, but invokes Death Is Cheap via the Fusion Dance.
- Finally Found the Body: Diva'ratrika was murdered by her own daughters long ago. But her daughters chose to fake her survival for use as a figurehead. When the Sarghress finally conquer Chel, they manage to dig their way into the throne room and they uncover her mummified corpse, finally offering solid proof of her demise.
- Fusion Dance: With Ragini.
- The High Queen / God Save Us from the Queen!: She's not known to be particularly nice, though compared to her daughters she looks like a saint; characters' opinions on her largely stem from whose side they're on.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: She only barely managed to avert this thanks to Ragini, but she was beginning to lose it by the time she separated her aura from her body.
- Hikikomori: Technically speaking, she's this, since she didn't leave her tower for years even before the Nidraa'chal War and her daughter's betrayal, which was why their ruse worked so well. She later says in her new body that she was more or less forced into this as leaving the tower meant running the risk of entering a less populated area, which due to her advanced age would lead to mana deprivation.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: After being stabbed by a nid agent, who doesn't recognize her, she prepares the transfer ritual into Sharess's body but stops before killing herself, unable to bring herself to do it. So she lets Snad do it for her.
- I Hate Past Me: While visiting the corpse of her former self, she has a self-monologue where she regrets the many, many bad decisions she's made that led to this point.
- Immortality Seeker: What Snad accuses her of, though there's arguably a massive amount of Psychological Projection involved.
- I Want Grandkids: A variation, in that she does have grandkids, in fact she has hundreds by her other daughters, but Snadhya'rune, the one daughter she wants to have children pointedly won't seemingly to spite her. Subverted by the existence of Kalki, not that Diva knew it, and considering who Kalki is it's unlikely Diva would be thrilled if she knew, to say the least.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Diva could be a hard to please(and even emotionally abusive parent), she was right to chew out Snad's conquest of Felde, especially since she went against her orders to not take over the city and did it in a cutthroat manner.
- Large Ham: She ain't "Diva" for nothing! Especially notable in this scene when she has a Freak Out over her situation.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Besides the larger issue of the Nidraa'chal War she was intentionally kept in the dark about Kalki, and it's implied that all of her daughters, or at least Sarv'swati and Sil'lice, knew.
- Maternally Challenged: While Snadhya'rune's betrayal might have been unavoidable, Zala'ess makes it clear that Diva'ratrika wasn't a good mother. And when she gets stuck babysitting one of her great grandchildren, she doesn't even seem to be clear on how to hold her and calls out for her grandson to come back.
- Meaningful Name: Her shortened name refers to a temperamental and/or haughty woman, which she was in her former life as Empress before her "death" and Fusion Dance with Ragini.
- Mirror Character: With Quain'tana. Both are obsessed with continuing their bloodlines and pressure their daughters to have children, both are Control Freaks, both of their children wind up hating them, and they both share a descendant in Kalki.
- Mysterious Veil: A lower-face-obscuring veil is part of all of her outfits except when she was a small child, and worn by her Overseers as well.
- Offing the Offspring: Subverted, since while she was extremely angry at Snadhya, Sarv and Zala for tainting themselves, she couldn't bring herself to kill them. In retrospect, she probably should have.
- Older Is Better: Essentially the basis of her power, and Word of God is that Diva would prefer if she could be a queen like Sharess was and never fully adapted to the system her own rule (as well as her mother's) promoted.
- Parental Favoritism: Towards Snadhya'rune, her eldest daughter, despite her frustrations with Snadhya's refusal to go along with that she wanted. This came to bite her in the ass later, when said daughter and two other daughters betray her. Possibly subverted, given Zhor's belief that Diva knew that there was something deeply wrong with Snadhya.
- In chapter 50, she loses all familial love towards Snadhya as she finally recognizes her as the evil, manipulative bitch she is, and switches her favoritism to Sil'lice and Nishi'kanta (especially Sil'lice). She even prays for them to come back safely with Snadhya's head when they spearhead a search for her.
- And then in the same chapter, Sil'lice may have taken herself out of the running again with her slaughter at Orthobbae and especially her rash killing of Sha'sana, Diva's oldest and dearest friend that she hadn't been able to see in decades. Diva's reaction to Sil waking up post-tainting is noticeably chilly. Nishi'kanta may be the only one who hasn't screwed up by now.
- Pimped-Out Dress: What with being an empress. She wears plainer clothes as "Diva".
- Reluctant Ruler: Her dialogue in Longest Wait indicates this.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: As Phani'lath Vel'Sharen relates, during the last Council Diva'ratrika actually left in the middle of it even though she was the one who called it, and things went downhill from there. Some fifteen years later, many other clans have come to view Diva'ratrika as being indifferent to the affairs of the Empire, since after that incident she stopped appearing publicly for 15 years which technically wasn't her fault since she was either imprisoned or dead at that point, and the "Diva" who holds a parade is really a double.
- Shadow Dictator: Played straight by the fact that she's actually dead and subverted. Though the reason she stopped appearing was because of the bickering clans and general disillusionment. The fact that she had become so solitary was one reason her daughters managed to keep up the illusion that she was still alive for so long.
- Shoot the Dog: She seems to view her possession of Ragini as this, since it evidently ended Ragini's life.
- Spanner in the Works: The two things her daughters didn't predict was a.) a slave surviving their massacre and getting into the throne room via the air ducts, and b.) that Diva would use said slave to escape, albeit in a roundabout fashion.
- Statuesque Stunner: As a Dark Elf she's taller than most drow, and art of her back-to-back with Snadhya'rune shows that she's taller than her daughter, and about the same height as Mel'arnach.
- Supernaturally Young Parent: Would you believe that she's as old as she is and a great(times x) grandmother?
- Weak, but Skilled: When she confronts Snadhya'rune in a much younger body, Snadhya'rune describes her this way, saying she has the knowledge but not the body to make use of it.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: One of the downsides of being as old as she was was that she more or less couldn't leave her tower without running the risk of mana deprivation, since she needed to much mana to keep living.
Snadhya'rune and her bloodline
Sarv'swati and her bloodline
Sil'lice and her bloodline
Nishi'kanta and her bloodline
Zala'ess and her bloodline
Xyrrai'zestu Sub-house
The Xyrrai'zestu Sharen
The Xyrrai'zestu are a sub-house of the Sharen clan and make up a large portion of the Imperial Army. The founder of the house commissioned her own building to house her family, and the Sharen retaliated by having her and most of her followers killed through a series of assassinations and "accidents."
- All There in the Manual: The house's history in the forum written by the co-creator of the house.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: When the Xyrrai'zestu Dev'ess built a tower for herself and her followers outside of the main Sharen fortress, the main family retaliated by killing the Dev'ess and most of her followers. Only the Dev'ess' daughter (who was in Orthorbbae at the time) and minor members of the house were spared.
- Epic Fail / Tall Poppy Syndrome: The Xyrrai'zestu Dev'ess' decision to build her own tower can be seen as this. By doing this she seemed to be declaring herself and her house as more powerful than the Imperial family and perhaps even as a rival. The same Imperial family that had proved many times beforehand to be controlling, dislike rebellion and utterly ruthless to those they perceive as threats. Things of course went exactly as you'd expect.
- Red Shirt Army: After the stunt pulled by the original Dev'ess, the house essentially became synonymous with "meatshield".
- Too Dumb to Live: Possibly the original Dev'ess. One wonders exactly what she was expecting given what we know of the Sharen's dislike of any sort of rebellion.
- The Unpronouncable: Even the house's creators aren't entirely sure how it's pronounced, and usually settle for something close to "Zee-ree-zess-tu".
Oil'loss'lin Xyrrai'zestu Sharen*note
The daughter of the former Xyrrai'zestu de'vess and a general in the Imperial Army. Oil'loss'lin and the Xyrrai'zestu Sharen were invented by fans of the comic turned staff writers and before the entire comic was remade in 2007, her character was a major part of the storyline. She makes a cameo appearance in the Prologue during the Nidraa'chal War where she slays her tainted dragon, only to become tainted herself. She is also noted as one of the few Sharen to have remained friends with her protector twin well into adulthood. More information on Oil'loss'lin can be found here.- Angsty Surviving Twin: She lost her protector twin in battle, and this was stated in background information to have broken her. She and her twin even shared the same lover and both had children by him. After her twin's death she adopted the latter's daughter as her own alongside her biological daughter.
- BFS: Her sword isn't the most prominent example in the comic but it's still large enough to qualify.
- Mama Bear: Arrives in Chapter 40 to rescue her daughter. Her being the best mom evernote is something of a running joke among players of the roleplay.
- Only Sane Man: Bluntly tells Feli'cia that attempting to fight Quain will only get her killed.
- Parental Substitute: For the daughter of her protector twin.
- Pregnant Badass: Apparently she's three months pregnant and still an active soldier.
- Put on a Bus: Hasn't been seen since the Prologue, though her creator continues to roleplay her, indicating that she survived.
- She comes back in Chapter 40, as seen with this cameo sheet, and what an entrance!
- She comes back in Chapter 40, as seen with this cameo sheet
- Scars Are Forever: Three claws over her right eye. May be from the above dragon slaying.
Ran'diirk Xyrrai'zestu Sharen*note
An Imperial Guard and member of the Xyrrai'zestu Sharen subhouse, first seen in Chapter 39. Heavily tainted, he is so desensitized to pain that a head injury caused by a Sarghress' war hammer doesn't even faze him. He reappears at Snadhya'rune's gathering in Felde, during Chapter 44. His concept art can be found here
◊ and here
◊.- Death Seeker: Implied. Having lost his Queen, his dragon, and his mate... he threw himself at Snadhya'rune, knowing full well his chances of succeeding were slim.
- Ironic Hell: Despite his loyalty to Diva'ratrika, he ends up a summon of the very woman who killed her with no free will of his own.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Like most of the Imperial Guards, has no idea that the real Diva'ratrika was killed in a coup led by her own daughters, though by Chapter 44 he seems to have put the pieces together and goes after Snadhya'rune directly, saying that he knows what she did or that in all likelihood he is slowly dying from his taint.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Played with. Both he and his colleagues are deeply shocked that he doesn't even feel the pain from his head injury, despite there being copious amounts of blood. Heavily implied to be the result of his faulty taint.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Just as surprised as his colleague that the so-called Empress they were supposed to be protecting was actually a golem, but even with this fact, is determined to fight for the Sharen cause.
- However when we next see him it is at the Felde peace gathering in Chapter 44, where he intends to assassinate Snadhya'rune for her role in the real Diva's death.
- Non Standard Armor: Wears a prominent emblem of the Xyrrai'zestu subhouse on his uniform against regulations. His character info outright states that Diva'ratrika would have kicked his ass for that.
- No-Sell: Averted. He continues to fight through his head wound, but it is clear that it deeply injured him.
- Revenge: Realizing that he will probably die from the taint, he commits himself to avenging Diva'ratrika's murder. He puzzles out Snadhya'rune's role in it and spends his final moments trying to kill her.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Instead of accepting Snadhya'rune's offer of mercy, he makes a suicidal last ditch attempt to kill her with an overcharged golem core. A weapon fae can easily defend against. Snadhya'rune protects herself with little effort and regards the assassination attempt with contempt.
- Taking You with Me: Attempts this on Snadhya'rune.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: Gets turned into a summon by Snadhya'rune after his failed assassination attempt.
Kery'awa Xyrrai'zestu Sharen*note
Oil'loss'lin's daughter, she is one of the few untainted Sharen in the entire clan, having been spirited away by her mother to the city of Val'Raveran to spare her from the clan's mandatory tainting. First appears in Chapter 40, during the height of the District War. Her concept art can be found here.
◊- Casting a Shadow: Capable of using shadow sorcery inherited from her Beldrobbaen father and does so in an attempt to evade attackers.
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: She prompts this reaction once her helmet is taken off.
- Moe: She gets this reaction In-Universe after her helmet is knocked off. Notably not a case of Samus Is a Girl since female fighters are the norm, but the Sarghress are surprised to see she's untainted.
- Token Minority: A double case, first in that she has a small bit of drowussu ancestrynote and second that she is one of the very few untainted Sharen left in the clan.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Strawberry shortcake.
Nona’brail Xyrrai'zestu Sharen*note
A member of the Xyrrai'zestu Sharen and Sorn'mal's mate, first seen serving as Shinae's nurse post-childbirth. Appears in Chapters 40 and 50. Her concept art can be found here.- Eye Scream: Both of her eyes are gone. Despite this she seems to get along well enough.
- Hostage Situation: Shinae takes her hostage to avoid being brought in by Chrys and Sorn'mal.
Kail'odian Xyrrai'zestu Sharen*note
A member of the Xyrrai'zestu subhouse, serving as an Imperial Guard. First seen escorting the fake Diva'ratrika inside the Beldrobbaen fortress, during Chapter 41. His concept art can be found here
◊.- Cool Mask: Wears a veil with a prominent emblem.
- Killed Off for Real: He falls to his death after Elbinac pushes them both over the edge of a lift.
- Playing with Fire: Has a fire affinity.
- Primal Fear: He's afraid of heights. He's quite unwilling to chase Kiel onto a window-ledge.
Other Sharen
Ashu'athama Sharen
Diva'ratrika's only son and brother to Snadhya'rune, Sarv'swati, Sil'lice, Nishi'kanta and Zala'ess. He is one of the headmasters at Davya Tower with Kel'noz. Little is known about him and he has so far only appeared in the early chapters chronicling Ariel's stay at Orthorbbae.- Locked Out of the Loop: Was he in on his three sister's coup on Diva'ratrika? It's not been made clear yet in the main story, though the fact that he's not tainted suggests that he's not.
- The One Guy: The only male child of Diva'ratrika and one of the few male Sharens in the entire clan left untainted.
- Out of Focus: Hasn't been seen since Ariel was last in Orthorbbae, minus a two panel appearance at the end of chapter 32.
- Rebel Prince: Implied, since his lack of tainting and apparent disinterest in matters outside of Orthorbbae imply he's not towing the Sharen party line, which may be why he's The Unfavorite.
- Shoulder-Sized Dragon: He has a wingless, snakelike dragon small enough for him to wear like a scarf.
- Vague Age: His age in relation to that of his five sisters is something of a question mark◊. Only his sisters are listed by birth order — not him. The lines on his face suggest he must be quite old, yet he has a natural white hair color like her younger children. Word of God confirmed he is younger than Snadhya but older than Diva's other children.
- The Unfavorite: It's telling that he's the only child of Diva not seen with a "Val" on the front of his name, though this may have been a writing oversight as other male headmasters in the same scene had a Val prefix, and he is identified as a Vel'Sharen on the clan overview chart. After the timeskip, Kern drew a chibi of Diva'ratrika and her children but with only the daughters present, which seems to further suggest this trope.
Kio'nel Vel'Sharen
A young Sharen who first appears in chapter 31 escorting Kiel to meet with Chrys'tel. Later appears in Chapter 42 as the leader of the Dari'yako Penal Colony.- Berserk Button: He winds up pressing Shinae's when, after Chrys'tel runs off, she asks him if he'll make love to her and he tries to turn her down, causing her to quite literally blow up in his face.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: It's pathetically one sided when Sarv'swati kills him and she almost literally curb stomps him before whaling on him with a glaive.
- Face Death with Dignity: He tries, at least, but finding out things got even worse after he left makes this impossible.
- From Bad to Worse: The Dari'yako colony getting attacked by Highland Raiders and the slaves being freed on his watch? Bad. An overwhelming Sarghress force arriving after he's already left for Chel and destroying what's left of it? Worse.
- General Failure: He seems to be decently competent, but he gets completely blindsided by the Highland Raider attack and didn't even know about the main Sarghress force coming in to destroy the rest after he'd already left for Chel until another survivor makes it back. And Sarv'swati is not pleased.
- Kissing Cousins: Has a very obvious crush on Chrys'tel, and though it's not entirely certain how they're related he's most likely a cousin, but Chrys doesn't seem to return his feelings or for that matter even seem aware of them.
- Series Continuity Error: In Chapter 42, due to the Colonies story being done by two different artists his hairstyle changes drastically between the two parts of the story, with one artist using his updated concept art and the other his pre-timeskip art as references. This lead the author of that side-story to say that he got a haircut before his meeting with Sarv'swati, which some readers thought worked since it emphasized just how screwed he knew he was and at least wanted to look decent before he died.
- This Is Gonna Suck: his face as he goes to meet with Sarv'swati to tell her what happened to Dari'yako clearly says this. He's not wrong about her response either.
Quar'imar*note
An ex-Dutan'vir and Orthorbbae Master, he is seen assisting Zala's faction during the Civil War arc of Chapter 37.- Badass Teacher: Teaching generations of drow at Orthorbbae has clearly not dulled his combat skills in the slightest.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Implied. When subjected to an empathy attack, the word appearing next to him is "failure".
- Extra Oredinary: Has a metal affinity. He uses it to save Chrys'tel.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: He seems to regard his job as not just locating the "hidden weapon", but training Nau and Chrys'tel in real-world combat on-the-fly.
Eri'nyasa Vel'Sharen*note
An Imperial Overseer first seen in Chapter 39, protecting a bio-golem double of Diva'ratrika. Reappears in Chapter 41, protecting the fake Diva'ratrika inside the Beldrobbaen fortress.- Cool Mask: A white veil hides most of her face.
- Oh, Crap!: She is strongly unnerved by the effects of Raan'dirk's taint, after he is severely injured in battle.
- Secret-Keeper: She's fully aware that Diva'ratrika is dead, and is among those responsible for hiding that fact as long as possible.
- Summon Magic: Proficient in both traditional and nether summoning.
Nidek'nil Sharen*note
A an ex-Dutan'vir Overseer present with Nihi'liir at the Sharen penal colony in Chapter 40. His concept art can be found here.- Berserk Button: Hates empaths for undisclosed reasons.
- Locked in the Dungeon: His fate after Chapter 40.
- Playing with Fire: Has a fire affinity.
- Scars Are Forever: Has several knife scars across his face.
- Undying Loyalty: To Sarvs'wati and the Sharen cause. After Nihi'liir is assassinated he blames himself for being unable to save her.
Duras Vel'Sharen*note
A male Vel serving in the Sharen Alliance during the closing cycles of the District War. First appears in Chapter 47.- The Big Guy: He's very tall for a male, being roughly the same height as his female comrades.
- Epic Flail: His shield has a large chain attached to the back of it, presumably to allow it to be used as a very large flail.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Carries a large spiked shield.
- Shield Bash: He opts not to wield a weapon, instead using his shield for both offense and defense.
Miscellaneous Servants
Jethel*note
A servant of Snadhya'rune in Felde, first seen at the gathering in Chapter 44.- Force Feeding: When he attempts to get Kharla's attention, she irritably stuffs a piece of bread into his mouth.
Sakkara*note
A drowussu slave first seen in Chapter 47, serving Zala'ess during the closing cycles of the District War. Her concept art can be found here
◊.
- Hide the Evidence: Shinae passed her a vial of poison to prevent Chrys'tel from confirming she'd poisoned Zala'ess. Unfortunately for Sakkara, she is unaware of what it is and takes a few whiffs to find out. Word is out on whether or not it's airbourne.
- Skewed Priorities: Per concept art, she would have difficulty choosing between escaping and a closet of clothes.
Return to the main character index here.
