Category Archives: Anhilisha

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The Starchildren

As I believe I have discussed elsewhere, the starsisters are powerful demons. As such they do not exist in what we would regard as corporeal form. They need an anchor to remain long in the world of Khumkato–and that anchor is usually one of the starchildren.

What is a starchild?  Usually they are raised from birth to serve as host to one of the sisters. Most of the starsisters effectively operate breeding programs in which they maintain hundreds of slaves. These slaves are paired off in the hopes of producing offspring that will exhibit certain characteristics. For example, Anhilisha values beauty above all else, while Anhilarya puts much stock in physical strength. When a girl is chosen, she is placed in a very specialize grooming program. In particular, they are fed a very specific diet of unique herbs that is supposed to slow down the damage inflicted upon their bodies while they are inhabited by the sisters. It is apparently an unpleasant process to leave one host for another, and so the sisters would prefer to keep a host as alive as possible, for as long as possible.

While this is the normal method, the sisters sometimes will choose girls from the general population, if it strikes their fancy. This has led to various noble families–and even some peasant ones–to bring their daughters forward as sacrifice in the hopes they might be chosen. If they are, the family often benefits by the association. Of course the child suffers a hellish existence while her mind is slowly extinguished and her body is eaten up painfully from the inside out. Therefore, while it would seem to grant the family some “advantage”, in fact they murder a very large piece of their soul in order to gain it. I have met some of these people, and I can say that the spiritual scars run deep and are still evident even generations afterward. But then again, anyone willing to doom their own child to such a fate is already so far beyond moral reason that I doubt they even realize what they’ve done.

Hmph.  And bear in mind this is from the perspective of a professional assassin. May the gods have mercy on those girls.

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The Importance of Tea

As I have traveled through Nightfall, I have noticed that, despite the most vigorous efforts of the starsisters, the culture of the Empire of the Sun has still survived in places.  Given, you see very little of it openly practiced in the Twilight, but in the sunlit lands that have fallen under the political thrall of Nightfall but have not yet been reached by the darkness, you see more of it.

One of the most common hold overs from times gone by is the people’s use of tea.  Tea was once one of the main exports of the Empire, and its own people drank it by the riverful.  it is still exported today–albeit in reduced quantities because of the devastation wrecked by the Twilight–but its use is completely banned within Nightfall.  I suppose the starsisters think it would serve as a comforting reminder of a better life in a different age, and so while they will sell it other gladly, they are somewhat less glad to have it circulating amongst their occupied territories.

That is probably also why I think more tea is poured into more throats today than it ever was while the Empire reigned.  The people are simply more discrete about it.  In the sunlit lands, they serve tea at every private dinner and, if you are lucky, before bed each night.  

In the Twilight, it is more difficult to come by–but still not impossible.  I have found that there are secret tea houses operating in virtually every major city on the continent.  I once passed a fine evening in a small tea room virtually on the very doorstep of Ahilisha’s spire in the City of Glorious Twilight.  In all parts, the ancient tea ceremonies (there are several, I believe) are still held in high regard.

Personally, I have come to prefer the savory flavor of the gudaara leaf, with its almost golden hue.  If you are in the mood for something darker with more kick, I would suggest the highly prized Ooilo from the southwestern provinces.  If your Majesty would like to try it, you would be well advised to purchase as much as your stockrooms can hold.  The Twilight is almost upon that region.

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The Starsisters

The seven starsisters, under their mother Hai’lyn, are the ruling powers behind the nation of Nightfall and the center of the Cult of the Starsisters to which all are forced to pay homage.  They are incredibly powerful mystical beings that, according to the peasants’ legends, descended to our world of Khumkato from the outer darkness more than seven generations ago. They are said to be the living representations of the stars in the constellation of the serpent, where Hai’lyn allegedly resides.  While no one has ever seen their mother and some doubt her existence, the sisters are clearly very real and their strength grows steadily with the corruption they spread.  They are subduing this entire continent.

While I know that there are seven sisters, I have only been able to identify and locate five of them in the portions of Nightfall that are contained in the former Empire of the Sun.   (I would suggest that your majesty consider further expeditions to locate the remaining two.)  They are   Anhilisha, Anhilynya, Anhilerya, Anhilysha, and Anhilarya.   Apparently Hai’lyn likes to do things in groups and isn’t very creative with her naming.  Each of the starsisters will be treated to a separate entry in this compendium as I compile information on them.

From what I have been able to ascertain, the starsisters are not physical/corporeal in any real sense of the word.  They are very powerful spirits of some kind, and they possess the bodies of mortals to interact with and rule their physical realms here on Khumkato.  Their energies burn through the individual’s body, leaving behind a mindless husk that obeys their commands and seems to be able to manipulate the darkness of the twilight.  Thus the twilight is spread and maintained, even in places where the starsisters are not present.  I have seen one of Anhilisha’s ceremonies of transition.  It was…disturbing.

Each of the starsisters maintains control of a different section of Nightfall, living in a tower that burns with a brilliant white light at it’s peak.  Usually, the tower sits at the center of their ever-expanding district, and they sometimes have constructed newer abodes as the center of their twilight shifts and moves with time.  They are nearly always to be found in the darkest parts where the destruction of the corruption is at its worst.  Their cities all have grandiose, almost ceremonial, names such as the “City of Glorious Twilight,” the seat of Anhilisha’s district.  While marvels of engineering and planning at their center, the cities’ outer regions are dirty and chaotic.  They are universally dangerous places to be no matter where you happen to be inside them, and the mara haunt the grounds surrounding the towers.

The starsisters are very different from one another in terms of personality and style of rule, though they all share a love for cruelty, sadism, and murder.