Eari Dendro

Empress Eari, Matron of Clan Dendro, may not seem an imposing figure on a physical level. However, her command of psionic abilities and her sharp, tactical mind make her a force to be feared, and she rules Kamaran with a firm but gentle hand. As a new age and new challenges dawn, she continues to navigate the delicate balance between the needs of her people and the desires of her neighbors.

Description

Empress Eari is small for an orchid mantis, seeming smaller still as her posture stoops with age. However, her regal demeanor and bolstering from her family spirit makes her an imposing figure. Her chitin is a deep shade of pink, while she wears a traditional kimono of a paler color, embroidered with golden thread. In public, she dons an intricate headdress, covered in tassels; movement of the tassels when there is no wind indicates the use of psionic powers, or even the presence of the family spirit itself.

History

Eari was born into Clan Dendro in 236 AH. At the time, her grandmother Balti was Empress. Sadly, Empress Balti died in 247 AH, and her daughter and Eari's mother Succi was chosen by the family spirit to succeed the late Empress. As a young orchid belonging to the clan of the Empress, her future was laid out ahead for her; all Eari had to do was walk the path. Her education was headed by the best tutors in Kamaran, with a focus on history, linguistics, and sophistry. She never left the province of Speki, but she learned all about the nations and cultures beyond it. She was bound by marriage to a warrior of Clan Gardneri, who she eventually grew to love.

Previous empresses had wished to keep Kamaran as independent as possible. However, when Eari was chosen to become empress following her mother's mysterious and untimely death while travelling abroad in 296 AH, she knew that the Orchid Isles could only keep to themselves for so long. Under her rule, trade with the Royal Hexagon flourished, especially through the efforts of Clan Gardneri's links to the Detrinian Empire, and most of Kamaran's present-day colonies were founded. The new Empress rarely made public statements or appearances, keeping her hand invisible and taking advantage of inscrutability.

Problems first arose when Haben of Clan Maxill, the self-titled Pirate Queen, began attacking the provinces of northern Kamran, consolidating power under her own banner. Empress Eari and her General managed to bring the conflict to an uneasy stalemate, and though the fleet of the Pirate Queen remains a persistent thorn in the Empress's side, it is not a problem that will destroy Kamaran, at least for the time being. When war broke out in the West, many of Kamaran's most fruitful trade routes became unviable, so the Empress focused her attention on the colonies, encouraging offshoots of noble families to settle there. Conflicts with the Ha'il-Sha scions were less easily handled than those with the forces of the Pirate Queen, but Eari did what she could to ensure peace - including, when a grand summit was called, leaving Speki for the first time and venturing to the Oasis of Peace with members of her clan.

Present

Empress Eari finds herself caught between the expectations of ancestors and spirit, and the knowledge that the outside world is at Kamaran's door. She sees the Cuulminakra as yet another threat that will ultimately not shake Kamaran's position, and has appointed the General to serve on her behalf in the Executioner's war council. She must still attend to Kamaran, after all.