At The Bright Empire....

Yahoo has blocked access to the Aurora Universe Readers Group and other groups, at least for me, and they don't have a phone number or e-mail for customer service, Any way to reach them?

--Brantley

From Shadar:

<<Seems to be widespread… lots of people complaining all over the place. Yahoo is saying nothing. Who knows if they care, or are even doing anything.

Perhaps Yahoo’s final destruction is at hand? It’s been going the way of AOL for a long time. Slow death in silence and darkness with a smaller and smaller group of older, unhappy users.

There are far superior tools available elsewhere, Facebook being just one, I suppose. I’m not really much of a social media user.>>

--Brantley

Just tried reporting the problem to WIRED magazine. Can't hurt, might even get some action.

--Brantley

I think the biggest problem is that the part of Yahoo that Verizon recently bought (as part of their plan to combine it with AOL) includes the Yahoo Groups that Brantley is talking about.

Verizon/Yahoo is this murky thing that nobody seems to know how to reach, but Verizon claims it's going to turn it all into something called Oath. But no one outside of the high mucky mucks at Verizon seem to know what means.

More interesting, Yahoo Groups is considered a pre-social media "rusted on" service that was not any part of the reason Verizon bought the internet resources of Yahoo. And the piece of Yahoo that Verizon bought has suffered a talent drain.

How much does Verizon/Yahoo want to spend to support an antiquated service that's likely not part of their forward-looking business plan -- which they currently provide for free? Yeah... probably not much.

Not a hopeful outlook, I'm afraid.

Shadar

The AURG has returned as mysteriously as it disappeared. But we may still want to have alternatives in reserve...

--Brantley

Following up on that...

Yesterday afternoon, the powers-that-be at Yahoo blocked AURG and other groups, posting an error message. Now it's back, but for how long? Shadar has reported personally and at SWM that Verizon, having bought out such Yahoo operations in hopes of merging them with AOL, may decide to let them die as too old-fashioned in the age of social media like Facebook. 

We may thus want to have an alternative forum in reserve. One would be an inactive Google group  created during the dark days of early 2003, when Shadar took a walk and took down the old AURG (It was revived by Ed Howdershelt as the Abintra Universe Readers Group; when peace returned, the new AURG was given the old one's name.) No further activity until I posted twice in 2014 -- can't recall why, but this may have kept it alive. 

Shadar has found another possibility: “I’ve read several places that this place ( groups.io ) works a lot like Yahoo Groups and even has an import feature, assuming Yahoo Groups ever come back up.”

The Yahoo Groups have come back up. But can we trust whoever is in charge to keep them up? We really need to discuss this.

--Brantley

Posted too soon. Now I get just a blank page at the AURG link, Could be just a huge traffic surge, but....

--Brantley

AURG back for the second time as of 8:30 p,m. EST. Are we in for a vicious circle from Yahoo/Verizon?

--Brantley

www.brightempire.com/Empress-3.pdf

I've been editing Empress of the Dawn III for some months now. But during the
past few days I've come up with a new approach for the run-up to the Battle of the Triple Moons, focusing on a new secret Kalla has learned that could undermine the essential morale of the Androsians if it got out. And this leads her to ponder the true meaning of her role, and what part that may play in the greater scheme of things. The story has also been restructured in other ways, including an account of the sacrifices made by generations of those who train for the war, never knowing whether it will come during their lifetimes.

--Brantley Thompson Elkins

www.brightempire.com/First-2.pdf

It promises to be a day of triumph for Vespyr T'alesta in the Winter Solstice update to First Protector Two, but things don't go entirely to plan in her debut as First Protector – at least, not as she understood the plan. That's how it can be, dealing with the Galen and their agents and their penchant for creating legends: the end justifies the means. But fear not; Vespyr has a new ally, and together they will find a way to bring her own vision of her mission into being. Perhaps that was even Aphro'dite's intention all along, devious as she may seem... I've had to tweak the final scene several times, trying to get it right on more than one level.

--Brantley Thompson Elkins

www.brightempire.com/First-2.pdf

www.brightempire.com/Empress-3.pdf

It's a given that Vespyr and Alexios will become an Item. And not just for sex. You'll recall that in Empress 3, Alexios had been talking about "cosmognosis." Vespyr knows nothing about that, but she's been thinking about the whole new relationship of Velor to other worlds and history, beyond her personal role as a Protector. So they'll be people of words as well as action. But I don't want the story to get bogged down in talk.

On the other hand, it's hard to get beyond the clichés of supremis sex; Shadar has warmed to the idea of them freaking out the Aureans by fucking while being attacked with a GAR, but that's just one scene. Should it be held for her return to Tazzi, or should it perhaps take place on some other world -- like the one where the Aureans took the Garzarollis after rescuing them from Himmelsreich after the commoner revolutiion? If so, I have to figure out how he and she find it. Only maybe the Aureans will have retaken or be trying to retake Himmelsreich (Now Freiwelt). Word would have reached Trpcic, and people there would be alarmed and anxious for Vespyr and Alexios to intervene, and give directions or lend a ship.

Any other ideas?

--Brantley

brantley wrote: www.brightempire.com/First-2.pdf

www.brightempire.com/Empress-3.pdf

It's a given that Vespyr and Alexios will become an Item. And not just for sex. You'll recall that in Empress 3, Alexios had been talking about "cosmognosis." Vespyr knows nothing about that, but she's been thinking about the whole new relationship of Velor to other worlds and history, beyond her personal role as a Protector. So they'll be people of words as well as action. But I don't want the story to get bogged down in talk.

On the other hand, it's hard to get beyond the clichés of supremis sex; Shadar has warmed to the idea of them freaking out the Aureans by fucking while being attacked with a GAR, but that's just one scene. Should it be held for her return to Tazzi, or should it perhaps take place on some other world -- like the one where the Aureans took the Garzarollis after rescuing them from Himmelsreich after the commoner revolutiion? If so, I have to figure out how he and she find it. Only maybe the Aureans will have retaken or be trying to retake Himmelsreich (Now Freiwelt). Word would have reached Trpcic, and people there would be alarmed and anxious for Vespyr and Alexios to intervene, and give directions or lend a ship.

Any other ideas?

--Brantley

I think that, among other things, you need to rehabilitate the public view of Velorians. Up to this point, the general public in the AU-verse know Velorians as Companions, which in most people's eyes is a disreputable business at best, and disgusting at its worst.

The Scalantrans took beautiful teenage girls (who gained super-powers after leaving Velor) and sold them off to rich men for 7-figure sums to serve them in all the ways such men could imagine, many of which were perverse.. The Companions period of indentured servitude lasted 99 years, and they were handed down like heirlooms from one generation of men to the next. The Scalantrans were basically pimping them.

Now we've got the first Protector, and she's a different creature. Much more powerful and tougher, with all her abilities amplified greatly, but she's no longer some kind of super-harlot, she's someone who can protect entire planets. Wealthy men can't buy her, in fact, Velor doesn't exact any fee for dedicating Protectors to care for a planet. Instead, this is how they push back the Arion Empire, which was on the verge of being able to conquer known space.

Now Velorians are superheroines, not concubines. They don't work for anyone but the Enlightenment, and their goal is to win and maintain the peace. They are honorable and incorruptible. Or at least, that's what they become.

Your story is set on Day One of the emergence of Protectors and the power (Aphrodite) who creates them, starting with the best genetics that Velor can offer.

I think any story has to explore (and celebrate) what makes them different than the Companions, both physically and also their role in society, which completely changes. Instead of the Companions being victims (who despite that have done great work on some planets, something most people in the 'Verse don't know), they are now a beacon of goodness and truth and peacekeepers. The role change is even more immense than their change in abilities, so the early stories about Protectors needs to deal with that.

Also, the Arions, who were positioned to conquer the known galaxy, are suddenly on the defensive. Large, militant, galactic-grade Empires don't deal iwth such changes nicely. They will do everything in their power to defeat this new role for Velor. They are going to be coming after the first Protectors with everything they'd got.

Shadar

We actually had stories about Protectors before we had stories about Companions -- and the latter were actually your idea. Kalla ends up doing well for herself in the Empress series, but she had bad times with Jayar and worse with Kyros in the second installment:

www.brightempire.com/Empress-2.pdf

Some 75 people clicked on Empress II yesterday, after I linked to it here. So readers are definitely interested. And there have been occasional references there to Companions who were exploited on worlds other than Andros -- one became an outlaw on Myrce, and another committed suicide because she could no longer live with what was required of her on Ulakinil:

<<I ask all of you of the High Council… is this our “high purpose” as Companions… to be robbers and murderers as well as lovers? Am I the only Companion being placed in such an intolerable situation? Does the High Council know anything of life on seeded worlds? Does it have the slightest awareness of what happens to us after we are sold? I may have no right to appeal to you, but I know that I am right to try. Having told you my story, I shall trust the Scalantrans to deliver it, and as soon as they depart, I shall slay Rasasingan – and then dive into the sun. I know that I could soon live free, but I cannot live with myself. So be it.>>

Maybe I can work another example in to First Protector.

--Brantley

brantley wrote: We actually had stories about Protectors before we had stories about Companions -- and the latter were actually your idea. Kalla ends up doing well for herself in the Empress series, but she had bad times with Jayar and worse with Kyros in the second installment:

www.brightempire.com/Empress-2.pdf

Some 75 people clicked on Empress II yesterday, after I linked to it here. So readers are definitely interested. And there have been occasional references there to Companions who were exploited on worlds other than Andros -- one became an outlaw on Myrce, and another committed suicide because she could no longer live with what was required of her on Ulakinil:

<<I ask all of you of the High Council… is this our “high purpose” as Companions… to be robbers and murderers as well as lovers? Am I the only Companion being placed in such an intolerable situation? Does the High Council know anything of life on seeded worlds? Does it have the slightest awareness of what happens to us after we are sold? I may have no right to appeal to you, but I know that I am right to try. Having told you my story, I shall trust the Scalantrans to deliver it, and as soon as they depart, I shall slay Rasasingan – and then dive into the sun. I know that I could soon live free, but I cannot live with myself. So be it.>>

Maybe I can work another example in to First Protector.

--Brantley

I wasn’t being critical about Companions, and yes, they are my creation. They were designed to be despicable but also desirable, and as various stories have unfolded, also honorable (well, a few of them anyway). Others remain brainless super-whores. And we have lots of stories about Protectors after they were fully developed as a group. There are also very early and now non-canonical stories from the early 90’s about a “Protector”.

Now these exploited "sex slaves" are transforming into beautiful butterflies that will save everyone. That's very dramatic.

But I was thinking along the line of exploring how Velor heals from this exploitive period (and lose their sole source of external income) and the Scalantrans lose a valuable trade good and the ways the many worlds that know about Companions are now going to learn about Protectors. My later thoughts about Companions were strongly influenced by Inara from Firefly, imagining how someone with her temperament and emotional intelligence would act if she had hundreds of times the strength of the other members of the Firefly crew, yet who hides that power from her well-heeled clients, who are generally the richest men on any given planet. The honorable whore who saves not only the crew, but the dispossessed and poor on those rougher outer planets. Protecting them in many cases from her own clients, who she learns enough about to stop them.

But more importantly in this context, how the Arions react. They won’t accept this change in power that defeats both their vaunted Primes (rare as they are) and their new weapon systems. I see them moving against Velor and against Aphrodite once rumors reach them (as they will) of strange and threatening events on Velor.

At this point there must be many hundreds or even thousands of Companions out there. What happens to them when the Arions go on a rampage trying to kill them all as they try to preserve the military superiority of their Empire? They certainly don't want Companions turned into Protectors. (Nor, I expect, do most Companions want to become Planetary Protectors, given their attitudes and lack of training and preparation for the role).

Anyway, you asked for ideas. These are mine.

Shadar

Of course, there are other complications and contradictions. The first
Companions didn't realize that they would be so much more powerful outside the gold field -- and only after a number of years how much longer their lives would be. And their slavery was far less onerous than, say, that of blacks on Earth. In the new post-Companion era, P-1s are, or at least will be, forced to serve as Protectors; Alisa's rebellion against that is a major AU story line.

--Brantley

brantley wrote: Of course, there are other complications and contradictions. The first
Companions didn't realize that they would be so much more powerful outside the gold field -- and only after a number of years how much longer their lives would be. And their slavery was far less onerous than, say, that of blacks on Earth. In the new post-Companion era, P-1s are, or at least will be, forced to serve as Protectors; Alisa's rebellion against that is a major AU story line.

--Brantley

It's hard for me to justify one kind of slavery over another. Companions are high-end slaves, very expensive, but also sold primarily for their sexual pleasures. Forced to stand naked in a city square while potential buyers bid for them. Only later did their owners discover that they were very useful in other ways. Some of them even had brains. Some changed entire worlds.

But the point of having Companions in the AU was intended to be an example of how people can overcome adversity. Therefore, things needed to be pretty disturbing. Handed down as property for a hundred years in a family, warming the bed of whichever patriarch was in control of the family at that point, was supposed to be significant and disgusting, even killing his enemies if that was his command. They weren't honorable.

But the fact that some of these Companions escaped this and are NOW leading the way to the proud and honorable Protectors is a triumph of will. They will transform Velorian society, at least as seen from outside. They are extremely disruptive in many ways, but they now have the kind of honor that comes from overcoming difficulties (slavery, in this case) without hostility towards those who enslaved them. Given they are akin to goddesses, they could wreak terrible revenge. Instead, they turn their new powers into good, protecting planets, risking death from the Arions to help those who cannot help themselves.

Recall that few Protectors live to an old age (and their natural life span when empowered is many hundreds of years, possibly a thousand). Most don't make it to the end of their first century given the Arions eventually kill them in battle. If you could live, healthy and strong, for a thousand years, would you undertake a job that almost guarantees you'll die horribly before you've lived 10% of your natural lifespan? It takes a special kind of selfless dedication to accept those odds and not shy away from conflict or battle. To care enough to give up your life for others.

And this all coming from formerly disreputable Companions. Anyway, the core of this was on my mind when I created Companions. You've done an excellent job, Brantley, of showing how they became something far more than slaves. How they influenced entire worlds. Now the ultimate payoff -- they are further enhanced by a Galen to become Protectors, and are no longer bound to any rule except the ones they invent as part of the vaunted Hall of Protectors.

Shadar

We have to remember that the era of Companions lasted for more than 300 years, and evolved over that time. And there are details that were never directly addressed.

One is how indentures were enforced. A Companion could go AWOL, after all. But the indenture holder would want his money or whatever back from the Scalantrans, who'd want it back from Velor. What would or could Velor do about it? The AWOL Companion couldn't be punished by her host world, but she could be outlawed, with anybody she tried to hook up with or even ally with being on a lit list. One such case was referenced in Empress-3, but that involved the Companion accidentally killing her holder. One scene in Companions touches on this, from Ju'lette's viewpoint:

<<Were she ever to interfere in the affairs of the household, or even express her displeasure, Alfonso would doubtless complain to the Scalantrans, and the Scalantrans would complain to the High Council. It would be bad for business, bad all around.>>

Shadar mentioned that some Companions would have been just brainless super whores. Could be, but are or were there many brainless Velorians -- even among the P class? Obviously their stories wouldn't be interesting, and it would be hard to write a sidequel about one of them now. But once the duties of Companions came to include fighting Aureans, Velor wouldn't be sending out any more morons, and there was the Exception for Companions to desert if their masters took up with the Aureans – as in the case of Ju'lette, before Vespyr. 

The slave markets may have come after Empress, as only Kalla was shown off to Feodor, That was early in the game, when only a few candidates were on each ship. Gabriel Molina acquires Liz'bet at such a market:

<<The Scalantrans had set up a special enclosure for the Companions, surrounded by a palisade. There they displayed a half-dozen Velorian women like prize animals, inviting potential buyers to inspect their naked bodies for non-existent flaws. The Companions were indeed as advertised, without a single wart or mole or wrinkle.>>

But the indignity of that was mitigated, for some at least, by the desire of the Velorians not only for sex but fir a different life. I myself forgotten this scene between Liz'bet and Gabriel Molina in Companions:

<< Liz'bet held back nothing of her life on Velor, and he began to see what had attracted her to the life of a Companion. Velorians, unlike Earthmen, had known from the beginning what they were missing from being bound to a single world. They had later learned what they were missing from being bound by the gold field: the chance to live free, beyond their wildest imaginings.
"They profit from us," she said. "We buy them their science and technology, for the Galen left them nothing save the Maternity Engine and its support systems. These they designed to be self-maintaining, but all else the Velorians had to build and maintain for themselves, with little more knowledge than your own people possess. From the trade in Companions, they have gained in knowledge, yet we have gained in freedom."
"As an indentured servant?"
"We are free to say yea or nay to our indentures. And I never had any doubt about you. I could tell from your manner that you were a good man -- better than what I might have found at home. And have I not been proven right?">>

As to what happens next, after First Protector, my version of AU history includes Lisa Binkley's Questlings, which takes place during a century-long lull in the Aurean War that ends with Emigrants. I think the Velorian Navy as well as the Protectors will have stalled the Empire during that period, before the genetic wars -- the tset'lars and all that. History can be very complicated.

--Brantley 

brantley wrote: We have to remember that the era of Companions lasted for more than 300 years, and evolved over that time. And there are details that were never directly addressed.

One is how indentures were enforced. A Companion could go AWOL, after all. But the indenture holder would want his money or whatever back from the Scalantrans, who'd want it back from Velor. What would or could Velor do about it? The AWOL Companion couldn't be punished by her host world, but she could be outlawed, with anybody she tried to hook up with or even ally with being on a lit list. One such case was referenced in Empress-3, but that involved the Companion accidentally killing her holder. One scene in Companions touches on this, from Ju'lette's viewpoint:

<<Were she ever to interfere in the affairs of the household, or even express her displeasure, Alfonso would doubtless complain to the Scalantrans, and the Scalantrans would complain to the High Council. It would be bad for business, bad all around.>>

Shadar mentioned that some Companions would have been just brainless super whores. Could be, but are or were there many brainless Velorians -- even among the P class? Obviously their stories wouldn't be interesting, and it would be hard to write a sidequel about one of them now. But once the duties of Companions came to include fighting Aureans, Velor wouldn't be sending out any more morons, and there was the Exception for Companions to desert if their masters took up with the Aureans – as in the case of Ju'lette, before Vespyr. 

The slave markets may have come after Empress, as only Kalla was shown off to Feodor, That was early in the game, when only a few candidates were on each ship. Gabriel Molina acquires Liz'bet at such a market:

<<The Scalantrans had set up a special enclosure for the Companions, surrounded by a palisade. There they displayed a half-dozen Velorian women like prize animals, inviting potential buyers to inspect their naked bodies for non-existent flaws. The Companions were indeed as advertised, without a single wart or mole or wrinkle.>>

But the indignity of that was mitigated, for some at least, by the desire of the Velorians not only for sex but fir a different life. I myself forgotten this scene between Liz'bet and Gabriel Molina in Companions:

<< Liz'bet held back nothing of her life on Velor, and he began to see what had attracted her to the life of a Companion. Velorians, unlike Earthmen, had known from the beginning what they were missing from being bound to a single world. They had later learned what they were missing from being bound by the gold field: the chance to live free, beyond their wildest imaginings.
"They profit from us," she said. "We buy them their science and technology, for the Galen left them nothing save the Maternity Engine and its support systems. These they designed to be self-maintaining, but all else the Velorians had to build and maintain for themselves, with little more knowledge than your own people possess. From the trade in Companions, they have gained in knowledge, yet we have gained in freedom."
"As an indentured servant?"
"We are free to say yea or nay to our indentures. And I never had any doubt about you. I could tell from your manner that you were a good man -- better than what I might have found at home. And have I not been proven right?">>

As to what happens next, after First Protector, my version of AU history includes Lisa Binkley's Questlings, which takes place during a century-long lull in the Aurean War that ends with Emigrants. I think the Velorian Navy as well as the Protectors will have stalled the Empire during that period, before the genetic wars -- the tset'lars and all that. History can be very complicated.

--Brantley 

But maybe the idea of a Galen working with the Velorians to even out the balance of power was completely intimidating to the Empire, leaving them to believe more was afoot than just a roguish Galen. Maybe they thought the Galen were going to assert themselves in other areas, which in the end, they don’t (at least for a long time).

Later on we see that Arions believe they can own the galaxy and are no longer afraid of the Galen. But I’m not sure of how much time passes between these events.

We do know that during the Tset’lar period, still a long way in the future but per your planned history, which is the next major organized conflict between Arions and Velorians, the Galen do beat the Arions down, using the Geheimites as their club.

Perhaps the best logic is that the Arions backed off after their GAR technology was thwarted, due to the power of Protectors and their fears of greater Galen influence, and to deal with Aphrodite and her Protectors, they began working to mix Primal and Geheimite genes to produce the Tset’lar, which were lethal to Protectors. That way, they are fighting fire with a bigger fire.

What would need to be explained is why Skietra (and the Galens in general) were OK with Aphrodite’s work on Velor, but not the Arions homebrew mixing of Geheimites (who are at least 50% Galen genetics and upward) and Primal genes. Maybe it's as simple as one being a Galen initiative (even if by a single member of their race) versus the Arions weaponizing genetics they don’t own (Geheimites) for purposes of conquest.

Also, given that Geheimites are still functioning as their procreators, they probably don’t want them messed with.

There aren't any Wikileaks about whatever hidden agenda the Galen may have, so the Aureans may well fear the worst. And the Galen themselves may have their factions; Aphro'dite may not speak for all of them. Maybe others are content to work with the Geheimites and ignore the Velorians -- and, for that matter, the Terran diaspora.

--Brantley

Alisa Liddell, aka Alisa-zar Kim'Vallara, has been mentioned in this thread. She was created by Shadar for Ordinary Velorians back in 2003, and first starred in our collaboration "Alisa's Story." She later appeared in the Shore Leave trilogy and Encounter at Westfold. But relatively few readers are familiar with "Passion Play," an overview of her life and career:

brightempire.com/Passion.htm

Here she is revealed as a mover and shaker, but in a relatively quiet way. She has a sense of history that she had gained over the course of her close encounters with historic events on Kelsor 7, Reigel Five, Rostran and elsewhere.

--Brantley

AuGoose wrote: Out of curiousity and as a part-time galactic ruler myself, what's the feasibility matrix for Arion just gassing the entirety of Velor and whipping out the majority of the seed stock of these new and irritating space-cops at the source? Sure throw in some catspaws and basic deniability cut-outs, but I mean its only one basket/planet. How bad ass of a galactic empire am I running if I can't cataclysm-on-demand one planet? When they were just super-harlots, nobody cared, but now the wheels of galactic machination seem to be turning...

Something like that was my thinking as well. The Companions didn't threaten Aria, especially after the Arions came up with their GAR laser-delivered particle-beam weapons. Basically, a hollow, circular laser beam tube that prevents the highly-charged particles from reacting with air or anything else in the way until they reach whatever the laser was striking. GARs can blow holes in the sides of armored warships, and can kill Companions if the fire is concentrated long enough.

But now with the Protectors, who can shrug off a GAR, and whose job is to protect planets (from the Arions) and not just warm some rich old fart's bed, it's a new game. I figure the Arions would try (and based on future events, fail) to put an end to it as soon as they learned what was going on.

But Brantley's history has a century of peace (or at least, non-engagement) following First Protector before the Arions reply with their own super-extra-high-powered warriors, the Tset'lar. I understand Brantley's arguments for that, but as I see it, either approach can be made plausible. It's up the author.

The wonder of speculative fiction. It can be whatever you want.

It hasn't been dealt with directly in either Shadar's version of AU history or my own, but the Galen also have to contend with the Elders, who developed mental as opposed to physical powers and (according to what may be history or just myth) managed to kill off all the Galen females. Supposedly the Galen created the Velorians as replacement mothers but were dissatisfied with the results and tried again with the Geheimites.
Just how this all happened I've never been able to figure out. There weren't any witnesses but the Galen and the Elders, and Velorians and others have only the word of the Galen or their proxies for it. Could all be B.S. But there are the Daimoni, creations of the Elders, just as there are creations of the Galen, so the galactic war between their creators seems to be/have been for real. But just as Terrans have rival ideologies and political factions, so may the Galen. We don't know who or which Skietra speaks for, nor even whether Aphro'dite truly speaks for Skietra or is really acting on her own and only tolerated by the Galen.

--Brantley

brantley wrote: It hasn't been dealt with directly in either Shadar's version of AU history or my own, but the Galen also have to contend with the Elders, who developed mental as opposed to physical powers and (according to what may be history or just myth) managed to kill off all the Galen females. Supposedly the Galen created the Velorians as replacement mothers but were dissatisfied with the results and tried again with the Geheimites.
Just how this all happened I've never been able to figure out. There weren't any witnesses but the Galen and the Elders, and Velorians and others have only the word of the Galen or their proxies for it. Could all be B.S. But there are the Daimoni, creations of the Elders, just as there are creations of the Galen, so the galactic war between their creators seems to be/have been for real. But just as Terrans have rival ideologies and political factions, so may the Galen. We don't know who or which Skietra speaks for, nor even whether Aphro'dite truly speaks for Skietra or is really acting on her own and only tolerated by the Galen.

--Brantley

But I suspect we will find some of these answers, especially the ones related to Aphro'dite, in your future writing. She's a principal figure in Velorian history, but we know little of her or her motivations or how the other Galen regard her. If there are factions, who does she support?

Shadar