The House of Tamaran

Participants: Ryand'r , Komand'r and Koriand'r
Open/Closed: Closed
Location(s): New Rann
Time of Day: N/A
Weather: N/A
Summary: The former Princess and Prince of Tamaran answer a summons from their people's Queen.

There was much that weighed heavy on the Prince of Tamaran's heart on any given day. It was an open and powerful thing - a greater source of strength than any and all of his powers combined. One of the many forms of guilt that plagued it was the question of if he was doing enough for his people. The Tamaraneans had suffered cataclysmic tragedy after tragedy; had moved planets now three times and were rarely in a state of peace or calm.

Or was Ryand'r running away? First with the Omega Men, now with the Justice League's intergalactic division? He knew all of the logical arguments in favor of giving his people space; their current queen, his eldest sister, had a very combative and harsh past with Ryand'r and Koriand'r, their middle sister. And, despite all of the sins and terrible deeds that Komand'r had perpetrated, in recent times she had proved an invaluable ruler and savior of their race.

Staying out of Queen Komand'r's way meant there was no infighting among his people. No tangible representations of questions to her authority. And Ryand'r did not agree with Komand'r's actions or tactics, but they were bringing Tamaraneans security for the first time in over a decade. Being present for all of those decisions, he wasn't sure he'd be able to bite his tongue, and the last thing that their race needed was a ruling house that was divided.

Still... The guilt ate away at him. To the point that, when an encrypted summons from none other than Blackfire herself came to Ryand'r and Koriand'r aboard their branch of the Justice League's spacecraft, they had immediately disembarked and headed to New Rann. Now the two comets of cosmic flame, traveling faster than light, broke through the atmosphere and oriented toward the southern region of the mainland - the portion of the planet that was now Tamaran's.

Once over the central city there of towering buildings, Ryand'r and Koriand'r manifested from those lances of fiery light. The Prince looked over the cityscape. The bones were still undeniably Rann's, but efforts were clearly in the works to transform it for its current denizens. Facades and new construction in Tamaranean-style architecture were clear to see, and flora saved from their destroyed first planet was blooming and thriving absolutely everywhere.

"She has done much in a little time," Ryand'r observed to Koriand'r, and if the praise seemed difficult to say, that's because it was. Together, the wayward Prince and Princess drifted down to a wide balcony worn like a necklace around the grandest, most central complex of towers, and the purple-haired monarch that awaited them...

Komand'r was extremely independent and fiercely prideful, so stubborn and arrogant in her youth that she had betrayed the entirety of her race and exposed her worlds underbelly so that their greatest enemy may strike. She liked to think that she had grown. Once the wayward daughter of the royal family, now the strong and passionate leader and Queen. If that wasn't a change worth acknowledging, she didn't know what was. Sure, her path to fearless leader began with ruthless conquerer, but Komand'r had always been what the situation required. Another sign of change? Blackfire's ability to suck up her ego, put aside her pride and reach out to the two people who had every reason in the universe not to answer her call.

Ryand'r and Koriand'r, brother and sister, the missing chess pieces in her royal court.

There past was.. complicated. Betrayal, hatred, enslavement, constant attempts at their lives. But they had stood in her way when they could have bowed down or stepped aside. She was the eldest and this was her birthright. Komand'r had never been afraid to lay claim to what was rightfully hers, and sometimes that which wasn't. To make peace for her actions she had lead their people justly, both with kindness and strength, with compassion and control. Hopefully they would see that upon arrival. Komand'r looked out across their city, buildings beginning to look more and more like home, gardens and parks now budding beautifully with their plant life. This was the prosperity that Blackfire had always promised, or if not yet, it was soon to be.

Along with leading them to this place and governing over their rebirth, Komand'r had been a protector. The borders of their new home had been monitored around the clock, the space above them, the land below. She had whipped together a great devision of defense inside what was left of their army, she worked closely with them to keep her people safe, guarded and able to truly begin living.

So when things entered into her territory, she knew.

Standing amongst her people, looking out over both city and crowd, Komand'r waited patiently, yet another sign that she was evolving. She knew that they would come to her aid, not because they cared for her but because they cared for their people. A people that had already faced so much hardship, the death and rebirth of their home, the loss of their leaders along with so much more. Her siblings had always been naturals at caring. Their hearts were big, filled to the brim with potential. She sometimes wondered if that was their weakness, or their strength.

Regardless, Komand'r was certain that they would come, and given her calculations... Ah, they were right on time. No one could miss the blazing trails they left behind as they entered in from the horizon. It wouldn't take them long to find their people gathered, ready and waiting or their arrival. Komand'r stood at the head of her people, behind her a great staircase rising up to something massive and currently hidden under a giant purple cloth. Much had gone into preparing for this return and as her brother and sister came nearer, Blackfire began to ascend the stone steps. Halfway up she turned and threw her arms out, shouting: "People of Tamaran, welcome back the remaining members of your Royal Family!"

Koriand’r floated at her sibling’s side, looking out over the intricate spires and coiling citadels that rose from Raan’s surface, their lattice-work facades woven with creepers and blossoms that had once grown upon their lost homeworld of Tamaran. As her gaze swept across blooming flora, scanned the risen platforms and intertwined walk-ways, she felt as if she was reliving an imperfect memory, observing a waking dream that was familiar and strange in equal measure. The land she looked over was become Tamaran, the distinctive architecture and native greenery left no doubt, but it was not Tamaran as she recalled it.

Her heart ached with both joy and sadness: her people had finally found a home, a land they could call their own, upon which they could build cities that captured the glory of old. They could reinstate their laws, live their traditions, resurrect Tamaran on new soil and let it flourish as it once had. But it would never erase the memory of what had been lost, what had been taken from them, and the decades of hardship that followed.

It was poetic irony that the princess who had sealed Tamaran’s doom had also become its salvation - Komand’r, the eldest of three royal siblings, she who should have been queen.

Koriand’r could easily have been pardoned for despising her elder sister. For much of Kory’s young life, Komand’r’s jealousy and entitlement had driven them apart. Her lust for power, her greed and her pride had then seen Tamaran destroyed, leaving their family scattered and their people homeless. She had hounded Koriand’r across the galaxy, threatened her friends and sought to cause her nothing but strife. Even though she had looked up to Komand’r with naught but adoration as a child, the eldest saw her as a threat to the throne she wished to inherit.

But Koriand’r couldn’t hate her, even when she’d wanted to. She may have been confused, disappointed, hurt and enraged by Blackfire’s actions, but she had always found a way to forgive her. It was left to see whether Komand’r had earned such compassion. Martialling what remained of their people, setting out amongst the stars and forgetting her destructive nature was a start. So too was reaching out to her siblings – the Komand’r of old would never have shown what she perceived to be such weakness.

"She has done much in a little time.”

Koriand’r murmured her agreement, before looking toward Ryand’r. “Our sister has always been determined.” And with that brief exchange, their pause was over, and as one, they descended toward a balcony that jutted from the tallest, grandest spire in view. Komand’r awaited them, arms wide, with the gathered Tamaranean race at her back. As their feet met stone, a great cheer went up from the crowd, celebrating the return of wayward royalty.

It was a far warmer welcome than Koriand’r had been expecting when she and her brother had responded to Blackfire’s summons.

Ryand'r

There had to be a reason. There always was, for anything that Komand'r did, big or small, subtle or blunt. Ryand'r was sure he could pick apart the possibilities for days and not lay the whole matter bare. Summoning him and Koriand'r, and then assembling a large bulk of their people to receive them? Well, it made sense. Showed that Blackfire had the support of her siblings, in some measure; heartened the Tamaraneans to see their beloved royal family standing side-by-side again.

Ryand'r decided quite quickly that he didn't care. Trying to riddle out Komand'r's methods and motives was a foolish endeavor that he'd never succeed at. Not fully. And that errand was driven very much from his mind when he saw the bronze, lavender and gold masses that Komand'r had gathered together to welcome the Princess and Prince. His heart felt like it would split his ribs apart, and Ryand'r wondered if he would have the strength to leave them again.

He was grinning, broad and bright and unrestrained, as his boots touched the dais before Komand'r. Then his green eyes met his eldest sister's, and they steeled somewhat. The smile tightened at the edges, but didn't fade. The cries of Tamaran were filling his veins and their joy was infectious, making his skin glimmer and shine with an inner light. Ryand'r might have hesitated, then, if he hadn't prepared for the moment.

With significance and the ease of a lifetime of practice, Ryand'r lowered his gaze in deference, before bending to kneel on one knee. He bowed his head, the array of hundreds of wiry braids spilled over his bare shoulders. Then he rose again and, louder than he would perhaps have liked to cut through the continuous celebration of hundreds of Tamaraneans, he said, "Sister."

Komand'r

Her people were overcome with joy.

The crowds let out a simultaneous roar as her siblings came in for their landing. They cheered and jumped, sang praise, they knew the part that these two had played in saving their nation, their species. Like her relatives, her people had such a great capacity for love and passion, a pride for the royal family. So, she watched them. She watched her people give their adoration and processed it, absorbed it, tried to reflect it. They touched down at the bottom of the stairs that she'd been climbing.

Komand'r stood, proud and confident as always. Her smile was subtle, but her siblings were observant. She met eyes with her brother, Ryand'r, she took him in and what little room she had in her heart for him swelled with her own sort of pride. The confidence he showed, the way he met her gaze, it reminded her of herself. When her sibling kneeled, Komand'r gave a deep nod in return. "Brother."

And then her eyes turned to Koriand'r. "Sister." She may be stronger than all of them. Komand'r steeled herself over now, her eyes narrowing ever slightly, yet she gave her the same nod that their brother had received. "Please, come join me." She had turned around before ending the sentence, beginning to climb the steps again as the people continued to cheer.

At the top of the stairs was a small landing before the great, currently covered, monument. She turned and waited, assuming that her siblings would take place at either side. Once into position, Komand'r motioned to someone on the sidelines. "You'll have to forgive them, they were overcome when I spoke of your return." Watching as the School of New Tamaran's classical dance class spread out at the front of the crowd, they were soon announced by their instructor. The girls pranced around, performing one of their cultures dances that had been past down from generation to generation, a dance that Komand'r and her siblings had been forced to learn themselves as kids.

She smiled brightly at the girls when they turned to bow, an odd sight, surely. Once the people had calmed down their applause, Komand'r cut between her siblings to the covered structure. "Tamaran, me and my siblings stand before you, the only remaining members of our line. We stand in front of our bright new city, on a world which brings hope for us all." She watched them as she spoke, and imagined that the love she felt for them was as deep as the love they felt. "Let this remind us that we stand united, across the galaxy." With that, she tore down the violet cloth to reveal a tall golden statue, the three of them, side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Her in the middle, Koriand'r to her right and Ryand'r to her left.



Koriand'r

The crowd’s noise was thunderous as Ryand’r knelt before Komand’r, lowering his head in deference, acknowledging her as Tamaran’s ruling monarch. For a long moment, Koriand’r stood tall, watching her elder sibling’s inscrutable face, as if trying to read her, though she knew she couldn’t. For so long they had warred, for so long their motives and intentions had been distinctly set apart; it seemed strange that they were now aligned. Love her though she did, what trust existed between them was a fragile thing, easy to shatter; how many times had Koriand’r found herself betrayed, her sister’s knife in her back? She had every reason to be tentative, but, for the good of what remained of the Tamaranean populace, and because she still adored her sister, she had no option but to put her faith in her.

Slowly, Koriand’r fell into a kneeling position at her brother’s side, mimicking his bow, a cascade of fiery locks cascading over her shoulder. “Sister,” she responded to Komand’rs greeting, and then rose to find herself shepherded toward a grand staircase, the gathered audience still shouting and screaming with unbridled joy. As they ascended, they approached a vast, veiled monument, one that cast a long shadow across the landing on which they came to stand. Starfire’s eyes were drawn up, gazing at its immensity, before a gesture from Komand’r caught her attention.

Close by, a troupe of children emerged, all dressed in classical Tamaranean garb. The youngest could have been no older eight, while the eldest looked almost fully grown, well on the way into adulthood. Their faces were radiant with pride, making their flawless features only more beautiful. Following a brief musical introduction, they began to sway and spin and leap – an ancient cultural dance that Koriand’r herself had one learned. Upon it ending, Starfire found herself clapping, her eyes filled with tears, mind hazy with the memories of simpler times. She beamed at the girls, an expression her sister also wore – strange though it seemed upon a face with such harsh features, it suited her.

Raising her voice, Blackfire silenced the crowd, turning the attention of all gathered to the hidden monument once more. Following a brief speech, in which she spoke of togetherness and unity, the velvet cloth covering the statue was dropped, revealing the golden likeness of the Tamaran’s ruling house.
“X’hal,” Koriand’r breathed, and without realising it, took hold of her brothers hand, squeezing it gently in her own.

Ryand'r

They may have knelt at different times, but Ryand'r and Koriand'r both stood as one while their eldest sibling spun on the spot and began sweeping up the stairs. Ryand'r followed suit, incapable of ignoring the dignity and power that Komand'r had always conveyed with her presence alone - which extended to her stride. Koriand'r, too, had a grace to the way she carried herself. Ryand'r wondered if he'd inherited something similar? He couldn't imagine he did.

Once on the platform that the stair terminated in, Ryand'r turned and watched the young Tamaraneans emerge from the masses in traditional garb and begin their performance. He smiled fondly at them, feeling Komand'r's pride and Koriand'r's joy like two stars beating against his skin. He joined in on the applause firmly, and then Queen Komand'r directed everyone's attention to the pale, purple cloth obscuring... Something.

There was total silence. Enough that Ryand'r could hear the soft sigh of the material sliding off of the object beneath when Komand'r pulled. Then a gasp rippled through their people - and more applause. Ryand'r blinked, dumbfounded for a moment at what stared back at him. Tamaran had been in upheaval and tumult for most of his adult life. He hadn't stood for a single portrait or sculpture before. There hadn't been time, or prudence, or material, or, or, or, the list went on.

Koriand'r's hand caught his and she squeezed it. Ryand'r's surprise was broken at that. He looked sidelong, squeezing back, and regarded both of his sisters. "Is that really the shape of my nose?" he asked, raising one auburn brow wryly.

Komand'r

Komand'r waited and observed, eyes flicking back and forth between her siblings and then her people. She wasn't the type to worry of other peoples opinions of her, surely everyone knew that by now. But tonight had been heavy on her mind ever since she'd decided to bring them here. Acknowledging the facts, Ryand'r and Koriand'r had every reason to doubt their oldest siblings intentions. In all honesty, this was the most grand of gestures anyone would be receiving from Komand'r and her reasoning behind it was simple. Unity, an appreciation for the time of peace that they were enjoying.

And unity, in preparation for the war to come.

"The sculptor had little to reference." The conversation between them was kept private by the roar of the crowd beyond them. Komand'r turned, walking now to the left of the statue just as a hover-craft came soaring out of a hidden place to meet them. "Come, nows the time for some answers."

Komand'r climbed aboard the royal vessel and took her place beside the driver, a member of her personal guard. She gave her siblings time to process the situation and climb aboard before she motioned for them to take off. They soared through New Tamaran, a little extra tour of their new home for the two who had yet to see it in all it's glory. Komand'r kept quiet during the trip, her mind on the subject that needed to be discussed.

The route eventually came to the royal kingdom, circling to the back for a secret entrance concealed by advanced technology that the people of Rann had assisted her with.

Upon arrival to her personal war chambers, Komand'r jumped off the craft first, gesturing up at the intimate chamber, a dome styled room with a war table in the middle. "This is what I called you for. A room that I've had little to do with, until now." She knew that her siblings were well versed enough to clearly see what was happening. "I believe the Citadel has been scouting our new home."



Koriand'r