Raina Gelvan (Empress Miritis)

''"We will conquer as our ancestors did. Long have we been betrayed by the 'Sith' bureaucrats who seek diplomacy with our sworn enemies. We shall have a new empire... A new Order on Kalaan." -Darth Miritis, addressing her followers in 3639 BBY.''

Raina Gelvan, more commonly known as Darth Miritis, was a Human female born in 3690 BBY. She was the founder and first Empress of the Order of Kalaan, after a secession movement from the Sith Empire in 3639 BBY. Her full title was, "Her Imperial Majesty, Darth Miritis the First, Empress of the Order Founder of Kalaan, and Protector of the Seven Sectors."

Early Life and the Academy (3690-3675)
Raina was born in New Adasta, Ziost to an affluent merchant family in 3690 BBY. Her parents were agriculture traders with the Sith Empire, who had significant influence on the farming world of Thassis in the Outer Rim. As a child, Raina was often brought to Thassis to be cared for by the favoured farmers of her father, Arrik, and mother, Vynn.

When Raina was ten, it was discovered that she had a connection to the Force, and preparations were made for her to be taken to the newly-reclaimed Korriban to train amongst the Sith. This choice was relented by her caretakers on Thassis. On her eleventh birthday, an Imperial shuttle arrived with her father and Overseer Granux on board. The caretakers resisted the attempts to remove Raina, and were massacred by Imperial soldiers. For four years Raina trained under Overseer Granux and studied the basic concepts of the Sith religion. She was an excellent student, and never ceased to impress Lord Granux. As such, at the age of fifteen she was assigned to a Sith female known as Darth Rovina.

Minos Cluster Campaign (3674-3672)
After a year of studying under Darth Rovina, the two had been deployed into the First Great Galactic War, specifically to the Minos Cluster Campaign. They operated on the campaign for two years before deployed to the Second Battle of Bothawui in 3671 BBY. The primary focus of their mission was to secure the mining planet of Regellia, which maintained a small Republic base. Darth Rovina commanded the ground forces on the planet, which consisted of 2,500 Imperial soldiers, and 30 Sith war droid Mark IIs. The Sith Empire had astonishing success during the raid on the Republic base, securing a vital planet in prolonging the war in Minos.

Second Battle of Bothawui (3671)
After the great success on Regellia, Raina and her master were redeployed to the Second Battle of Bothawui. Darth Rovina remained with the fleet, but had sent Raina with the ground forces to destroy the shield generators. Raina led a small squad of elite soldiers which had encountered Jedi Knight Sanze Orahl and Lieutenant Lianna Rel, along with their company of Republic soldiers. Through a long-winded duel, Raina proved herself to be superior, and slayed the Twi’lek Jedi. Her forces had pinned down Lieutenant Rel and what remained of their company. There was a choice to spare them, but Raina commanded the execution of them all.

Becoming a Lord of the Sith and the Defense of Regellia (3671-3665)
Following the Battle, Darth Rovina and Raina Gelvan were recalled to Regellia to continue the defense of the resource-rich world. It was at this time that Darth Rovina had granted Raina the title Lord for her excellence in the Battle of Bothawui and the slaying of Sanze Orahl. The two remained at the Minos Cluster for the following six years of the war.

Battle of Hoth (3665)
During the Battle of Hoth, Raina was deployed as a pilot of a Fury-class starfighter with a small squadron based on the Enforcer. Despite failure to protect the Enforcer from its eventual destruction, Raina prevailed in the battle and was reassigned to The Commodore following the end of the engagement, with Imperial victory evident.

Return to Ziost (3664-3660)
Following the death of her father, Arrik Gelvan, Raina returned to Ziost to continue her family’s business with Thassis. It was during her time at New Adasta that she met a Sith Lord, and guard of the People’s Tower, known as Darth Engri, known by his former name as Vayl Grah.

Reclamation of Ord Radama and the Birth of Darth Miritis (3660)
Due to her proximity to Ord Radama, Raina Gelvan was summoned to participate in the reclamation of the Sith world. She served under Darth Malgus, and participated in the siege of Livien Magnus. The eventual failure of the reclamation lead Darth Rovina to be quite displeased with Raina’s work, and summoned her on Dromund Kaas, the Imperial capital.

Raina was lead into an ambush by Darth Rovina’s new students. Backed by fury, Raina slayed the assailants with ease, and proceeded to locate her former master. At Darth Rovina’s private stronghold outside of Kaas City, a fierce duel broke out between Raina and the Dark Lord. Once locating a weakness in Rovina’s movements, Raina took the opportunity to strike, halfing her master at the waist.

Upon a requested audience with the Dark Council to explain what had occurred, they had determined that Raina was prepared to become a full Dark Lord of the Sith, and she was reborn as Darth Miritis. She then returned to Ziost, to reunite with her love, Darth Engri.

Marriage to Darth Engri and the Birth of Balinn Gelvan (3658-3655)
Two years after Darth Miritis’ return to Ziost, a wedding was held outside of New Adasta to bond Engri to Miritis. They took their honeymoon on Thassis, where their son, Balinn, was conceived. Like his mother, Balinn was raised on Ziost and Thassis.

Battle of Ansion (3655)
In 3655, Darth Miritis and her small fleet were summoned to Ansion, where a border dispute had erupted between the Republic and Empire over the unclaimed territory. It was a decisive victory for the new Dark Lord, driving the Republic back to Iridonia. It was here that Miritis began mapping the surrounding territory.

Alderaan Peace Conference (3653)
Although she did not participate in the conference directly, Darth Miritis was sent as part of the Imperial delegation and was tasked with working with Republic mapmakers to reshape the galaxy following the Treaty of Coruscant. Here, Miritis met the Imperial diplomat Halcyon Shay, and his wife Larin, the eventual Chancellor of Kalaan. He spoke of his distaste for the end of the war, and the weakness of the Empire for backing away from true victory.

The Cold War (3653-3642)
Little is known of the activities of Darth Miritis in the early years of the Cold War. She became loosely associated with raising the next generation of Sith, however she was among her peers who believed the requirements were far too lax, even if it were to compensate for those lost in the war. She grew a distaste for lesser aliens around this time, they were inferior creatures to humans and Sith in terms of Force potential, in her mind. Around 3645 BBY, Darth Miritis began noting her views of the Sith, and the flaws of the Empire. These were the early drafts of the eventual Book of Miritis, the founding document of the religion in the Order.

In the years leading up to the Second Galactic War, Miritis had started using her wealth for influence. As the war left many planets ravaged, the agricultural surplus on Thassis was in high supply. This was used to begin funding Sith Lord who were known to rebel against the Sith Empire, such as Lords Grathan and Tytonus. This was done in utmost secrecy, as to maintain her position on Ziost.

The Second Galactic War (3642-3639)
In 3639 BBY, Darth Rayahk, a notable Lord of the Sith, and her apprentices Jaggus and Anryus, began speaking against the new war. She had sensed visions of the Empire coming to a crippling defeat at the hands of our foe. The Dark Council denounced her movements, suggesting the Empire would never fall to the Republic again. Darth Miritis however, who had further entrenched herself in aiding revolts from within, summoned Darth Rayahk personally to understand her ‘prophecy’.

After, Miritis had summoned those she had most trusted that she met during her lifetime who thought ill of the Empire. If they were to hold a revolt of their own, it could not be done alone. Members present included Darth Miritis, Darth Engri, Darth Rayahk, Darth Santificus, Lord Jaggus, Lord Anryus, Halcyon Shay, Larin Shay, Balinn Gelvan, and their closest associations. They were gathered on Thassis, their warships in orbit of the planet, an exodus was expected before the meeting had begun. Darth Rayahk spoke further of the expected defeat, and Darth Miritis indicated an area of unclaimed land by the Empire and the Republic, the systems surrounding Ansion, in the Mid Rim.

The Order of Kalaan (3639-present)
At Kalaan, the fleets emerged from hyperspace and assumed a blockade while Darth Miritis and the delegation proceeded to Karbala City, the capital of Kalaan. The native population’s leaders refused cooperation, they had been independent for many years, and wished to continue as such. The response was unfavourable to Miritis, and so began the Battle of Kalaan.

The majority of the war took place at the inland cities occupied by the Kalaanians, which were moderately fortified. As such, the war council advised bombardments of the planet to draw out the native forces. This was largely successful, as their armies were either drawn into the open and decimated by Miritis’ forces or were starved out in the cities. After the complete destruction of Karbala, their leaders offered surrender in exchange for survival.

The campaign had lasted seven months, as the short-term attrition game was practical for the war council’s success. The peace negotiations were brokered in the burning capital of Karbala, where complete subjugation was demanded.

The following years were spent expanding the new founded Order’s reach and investing in large infrastructure projects. The war council became the official Council of Kalaan. Around this time there were a large influx of refugees from both the Empire and the Republic who were fleeing either each other, or the newly emerged Eternal Empire.

In 3637 BBY, Darth Miritis felt a great emptiness in the Force. She sensed not only the death of her mother, but the death of billions of individuals, despite complete emptiness in the Force. She hadn’t known what to be the cause of such immense genocide, as well as the hole in the Force. Now-Chancellor Halcyon Shay had received word from close officials on Dromund Kaas that Ziost had been destroyed.

With the coming of the refugees, in what will be known as the Asylum Years, also came increased levels of crime and disease within the new empire. This continued to fester Miritis’ hate for the lesser species of the galaxy, however her empire needed these individuals to grow the Order. In 3633 BBY, a plague had broken out on Ord Varee, and quickly spread throughout the conquered territories.

Darth Engri, as the Minister of Science, sought to both find a cure and weaponize the plague, causing him to become infected as he worked with the new arrivals. Prior to this, it had been thought by the upper echelons of the Order that it was merely a peasants' disease, and would not be of concern to the Council. Per the Empress' decree, Darth Engri, and all other's who became infected were sent to camps outside of Kalaan City, if not to Ord Varee where the pathogen was born. In the same order, Darth Miritis issued a contract to construct a new Imperial Palace off of the coast of Kalaan City, to prevent the spread of the plague to herself of her Council. Darth Engri's funeral was held several months later, after being euthanized by the Prophet.

Following the eradication of the plague, Empress Miritis began to improve the infrastructure of the Order, and prepared for expansion into Wild Space.