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Waes'soloth Val'Beldrobbaen

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Appeared in chapters 0           11     16          26      32         41      47 48  50         

Waes'soloth is the powerful and ruthless Ill'haress of the Val'Beldrobbaen clan.

Appearance and Personality

Waes'soloth is a tall and regal figure, if grim, with naturally black hair and grey eyes. She is a staunch traditionalist with an extreme dislike of the tainted, openly expressing her distate for the admittance of the Vel'Vloz'ress as a Great Clan[1]. Furthermore, she is possessed of a violent and explosive temper, quick to punish or dismiss those she views as beneath her. However, despite her her stern and outwardly cold demeanor, she cares greatly for her clan and worries for its future. In particular, she shows a soft side for her children, despairing for her daughter Naal'suul's inevitable death by the accidental tainting received at Orthorbbae.

Biography - Background

During the Nidraa'chal War, a tainted servant attempted to murder a Beldrobbaen Val. Already disgusted by the actions of the Nidraa'chal and fearful that the servants would be used as a weapon, Waes'soloth flew into a rage. Personally slaying many of the servants with her high sorcery, Waes'soloth ordered a complete purge of the servant caste.[2] Waes'soloth spent much of the next 31 years in relative despair, fearing for the safety of the clan in the face of external and internal threats, keenly aware of conspiracies going on behind closed doors with the other clans. This despair was further fueled by a deadly accident at Orthobbae that wiped out an entire generation of Beldrobbaen women and deeply tainted Naal'suul, leaving Waes'soloth to helplessly watch her daughter degenerate due to the demon seed. Furthermore, she began to suspect the truth behind the Vel'Sharen change of command, unable to act on what was mere rumor.

Biography - Arc I

Waes'soloth is first seen lamenting her daughter's doomed condition, and prays for Naal'suul to be granted strength to carry on[3].

During the Ill'haress Council meeting, Waes'soloth is mostly in agreement with Zala'ess Vel'Sharen about the need to maintain stability within Chel'el'sussoloth's borders before the Moon's End Festival could begin. Like Zala'ess, she is also against any move to colonize the surface while the city is still in turmoil--however, Waes'soloth is one of the leaders who is concerned about mandatory tainting for children learning summoning in Orthorbbae, and she raises the question of whether or not Orthorbbae still serves its purpose[4]. The Ill'haress suggests clan-based schools for those affiliated with each clan following the Kyorl'solenurn example, though the lower circle of leaders rises against this notion. Ash'waren and Nega'fanea see merit in the suggestion, adding these schools can benefit each clan and their people who all have different origins.

When Naal'suul invites Chrys'tel, Shinae and Kiel to the fortress, Waes'soloth observes their conversation from the shadows. She holds the belief that Diva'ratrika had been murdered, but without solid evidence, no one can address it publicly[5]. She then asks if Naal'suul would like to be given a new Jaal'darya body to be free of the taint, and laments that such a thing is not possible. Waes'soloth wishes her daughter to be well and jokes about sending back the Jaal'darya envoy minus a few limbs.

During the Moon's End festival, her young son Khal'harror attempts to cheer Waes'soloth up with a golem in Naal's likeness [6].

Biography - Arc II

The District War

Waes'soloth officially declares Empress Diva'ratrika dead.

Waes'soloth has joined her clan with the Vel'Sharen to battle the Sarghress, Sullisin'rune, and Kyorl'solenurn forces, despite their numbers and reduced territory. However, due to an incident involving the assassination of the false Val'Sharess inside the Beldrobaben fortress, Waes'soloth officially declares the death of the Empress to the public and uses this opportunity to withdraw her troops from the home front.

Corruption Within

Towards the end of the District War, the Beldrobbaen had completely withdrawn their forces and had hoped to wait out the tumultuous aftermath, but Ni'bai Vel'Sharen's plan had went into affect. First came the enormous wave of demons sweeping across the city, then the city found itself gripped in the throngs of Kharla'ggen's puppetry high sorcery--all save for key targets, of which Waes'soloth found herself numbered among.

The Illhar'ess barricaded herself in her own chambers with her own high sorcery as soon as she witnessed the wave of demonic nether energy sweeping through the Beldrobbaben fortress, and for several days, Waes'soloth kept herself occupied as mind-controlled citizens of the fortress scratched at her door[7]. It was not until Sol'iania smashed into the room did Waes learn that her clanmates had attempted to contact the Illharess for at least two days. She is later debriefed by her eldest daughter Hile'wen, and the matriarch not shocked to hear of the upheaval of the clans that transpired from the moment the Vloz'ress released the demons until now--these events are quite familiar to her, having experienced the Empress' purge and the Nidraa'chal War within the last two hundred years. As she is surveying the many bodies of those who fell from the towers during the puppetry incident, Waes'soloth reassures Hile'wen that the clan will outlast all others by any cost. In addition, as a security precaution, the Illharess declares that from now on, only those of Val blood may enter the upper tiers of the fortress--promptly throwing out a servant in the process[8].

Naubol'oth Val'Beldrobbaen confronts her about the leader's terrible track record of servant treatment, as Dev'ess Priyala discusses bringing the other Dev'esses together for discussion. As they speak, maddened Nin'diil attacks Waes'soloth, claiming that her slaughtered family was "not dead" and forcing Waes to put the woman out of her misery. Priyala reflects on the lossess suffered by the clan, while Naubol'oth tasks himself with inveestigating thr disturbance.

Prior to the gathering, Waes'soloth discusses events with her attendant Ischa and the attempt to cheer up her Illhar'ess--however, the task ahead weighed heavily on the woman's mind, and concerns worsened when Ambassador San'dellora rushes into the hall bearing strange news. Of all the Houses existing in the clan, only two Dev'esses bothered to show: Priyala, and the aged dokkalfar Thalestris.

Waes'soloth stands before the Beldrobbaen family lines.

This act of disobedience from the other leaders enrages Waes'soloth, making it seem as though the Illhar'ess has no control over her own clan. Their reasons varied, and even San'dellora was embarrassed to utter them in front of the clan leaders[9]. It is only when Verthandi arrives to explain that the situation is clear: Snadhya'rune's madness poison has begun to take root in the clan, and there is only one ultimatum given: surrender or be faced with the mind-ravaging effects without a cure. Verthandi warns that even now, the poison is being spread by willing agents; desperate to see reason, Verthandi argues that the clan can no longer sit and wait out change, because the decision is now or be destroyed. Still, Waes'soloth refuses to bend to Snadhya'rune, stating plainly that the eldest daughter of Diva'ratrika will never be a worthy successor to lead Chel.

Shortly after, chaos comes full force to the Illhar'ess in the form of news that other Dev'esses have moved to enact their own purges on other families, starting with explosions that bring down entire House towers. Waes'soloth suffers a meltdown and disappears into her own shadow, prompting Thalestris to take command in her absence. During this time, Waes weighs in what little options she has, even considering calling on the hated Val'Jaal'darya[10]. The very same servant she threw out had appeared to her once more, begging for forgiveness and a chance to prove his loyalty to the clan, adamant that he and those of the servant caste are as Beldrobbaen as the those of Val blood. Seeing the servant in a new light, Waes'soloth learns that Dev'ess Laan'vanya's daughter had been interfering in the kitchens which no Val should do by principle...

The thought bugged Waes enough to investigate the matter in person, which leads her to a chaotic scene of Verthandi being attacked by Dev'ess Siskath and her House warriors. All abruptly bow before their Illhar'ess when she moves to intervene, and the chance to question Laan'vanya's sixth born presents itself: the girl denies ever being involved, but both the servant and Waes'soloth catch her in a bold lie. By then, the girl cracks and reveals that she was the one spreading the poison throughout the clan fortress, through the food she spiked[11]. Though ridiculous are her reasons, Laan'vanya's sixth-born daughter fully believes that the clan needed to fall to ruin; she launches poisoned vials at Waes and everything around her so that by doing so, no one escapes her wrath. Waes'soloth retaliates by ordering Siskath's House to retreat and seal off the entrances while she dealt with the traitor herself.

Isolating the culprit to limit the spread of infection.

The girl continues her mad assault, but fear overcomes her as the vials begin to run low. In an act of mercy, the Illhar'ess spares the girl and orders a safe haven for her, as news of the Jaal'darya emissary's arrival comes. It is revealed that Waes'soloth made a request to the servant caste to seek out the Jaal'darya in the Beldrobbaen's name, and lucky for the clan, Illhar'ess Asira'malika had wanted to initiate friendly ties with the Val'Beldrobbaen in the face of the Nidraa'chal threat. She is informed that those who had been exposed to the virus more recently can be saved by the Jaal'darya formula[12], but those who have taken to the poison earlier are later offered the opportunity to leave the clan and seek out Snadhya'rune in Felde.

The Aftermath of the District War

Waes'soloth is later seen on the way to the Sarghres fortress to participate in Zala'ess Vel'Sharen's initiative to gather the remaining clans and form a coalition. They're briefly halted by a Sarghress patrol party pursuing a demon with the likeness of Naal'suul[13], and both Waes and her Drider guard Banjax physically remove the wolves blocking her path. Once at the gathering, she is most concerned about whether or not the Sharen Alliance will last--as do the positions of the other clans[14]. As expected, the meeting goes nowhere until an ill Zala'ess suddenly declares that each clan can administer a sector of Chel's economy as an effort to minimize fallout from the war. For the Beldrobbaen, Zala'ess offered to give them power to administer all the districts, with their fellow Phariastans lending a hand to bolster clan numbers[15].

Notable Quotes

"Your retirement was not done out of spite. I did it to protect my own. The Beldrobbaen must be preserved from threats--although I am failing to do so..." - Speaking to a slave begging to be reinstated[16].