"I am Vinthar the Sarkan of Egg Brood Xazin'-nizar, and I welcome you to this unscheduled boarding, friends of the spaceship designated: Starfall. I envy you today for the blessing you are about to receive as you are poised ineluctably to meet his highness, her glory, his wonder, her luminous magnificence—the picaroon! The plunderer! The pirate ruler of Wild Space! The glorious knave, Eleodie Maracavanya!" ―Vinthar, reciting a speech to a group captured by Maracavanya's pirates [src]

Eleodie Maracavanya was a pirate ruler who was referred to variously by male, female and gender-neutral pronouns including "zhe" and "zher." After the fall of the Galactic Empire, Maracavanya and zher pirate crew came to take control of the Annihilator, a Super Star Destroyer that once belonged to the Imperial Grand General Cassio Tagge, which they renamed Liberty's Misrule. With this vessel under their control, Maracavanya came to be known as the "pirate ruler of Wild Space."

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Biography

Background

Eleodie Maracavanya grew up on the moon Nar Shaddaa. Zhe was once a slave of the Galactic Empire but later became a pirate. Following the Battle of Endor, Eleodie became the leader of pirate gang based in Wild Space. Zher underlings included the Omwati Shi Shu, Vinthar the Sarkan of Egg-Brood Xazin'nizar, and several Weequay pirates. Eleodie and zher gang took over the Super Star Destroyer Annihilator,[1] the former flagship of the Imperial Grand General Cassio Tagge.[3] Eleodie established a pirate empire based aboard a flotilla of ships that included the former Imperial Super Star Destroyer.[1]

Meeting Kartessa

In 5 ABY,[4] Eleodie's Annihilator boarded a New Republic CR90 corvette called the Starfall. The ship was carrying a diplomatic mission led by Senator Tia'dor Emshwa, which was traveling on a mission to the planet Ithor to recruit the world to the nascent galactic government. Starfall was carrying reclaimed Ithorian artifacts, food, medicine, and a bounty of technology.[1]

Eleodie supervised the boarding with zher second-in-command Shi Shu, who informed zher about the ship. While Eleodie was reluctant to pick a fight with the New Republic, zhe accepted Shi Shu's explanation that plundering the Starfall would replenish their flotilla's supplies. After disabling the ship's comm array and sealing the breaching airlock, Eleodie and Vinthar commanded the boarding of the Starfall. After the pirates pacified the crew and passengers with flash grenades and flash detonators, Vinthar told Eleodie to board the ship and meet the captives.[1]

Eleodie waited as Vinthar addressed the captives with a short speech. After displaying zher electro-scythe, Eleodie used a vocoder to speak in a decipherable way to the Starfall's crew and passengers. Eleodie identified zherself as the captain of the Annihilator but vowed to rename the ship. Zhe promised to spare the lives of the captives if they did not resist but expropriated their ship and its cargo. Since zhe was no murderer and slaver, Eleodie gave them the chance to flee into the Starfall's escape pods.[1]

Though Eleodie did not impress crew into zher services, zhe still sought to recruit the Starfall's crew and passengers into zher services voluntarily. Eleodie promised that they would enjoy a life of spoils and riches as pirates and mocked the New Republic. To Eleodie's surprise, a young Chandrilan woman named Kartessa took up the offer. The youth wanted a life of adventure and did not want to be cloistered on Chandrila anymore. The woman's mother objected but Eleodie told her to respect her daughter's decision. The woman reluctantly agreed to follow her daughter and join Eleodie's pirate empire. Eleodie then allowed the remaining crew and passengers to leave aboard escape pods.[1]

Liberty's Misrule

In the months leading up to the Battle of Jakku, Eleodie later renamed the Annihilator the Liberty's Misrule. Zhe also became the leader of the self-proclaimed Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya, a nation of pirates and criminals which numbered ten thousand. The Super Star Destroyer became the center of Eleodie's new nation. Eleodie's Sovereign Latitudes was replenished by stolen ships and pirates and refugees who had fled into Wild Space. These pirates and refugees built ramshackle homes and markets in the Super Star Destroyer's hangar bays. Eleodie also found a new confidante in the form of Kartessa, the rebellious teenage girl zhe had encountered on the Starfall.[2]

When Kartessa revealed that she had abandoned her mother on the engineering sublevel for not leaving her alone, Eleodie chastised the girl for disrespecting her mother. After a few minutes of scuffing her heels, Kartessa asked Eleodie how zhis pirate nation would work out. Eleodie explained that it was better for the pirates to band together than to fight and kill each other for scraps. Karteesa pointed out that zhe had not answered her question and that pirates were naturally selfish. Eleodie countered that pirates had a mutual benefit for working together. Zhe reassured her that they would kill less because of the threat of their numbers. Eleodie also vowed to share the spoils equally.[2]

The two were interrupted by Shi Shu who informed them that they had visitors. These visitors turned out to be three Imperial II-class Star Destroyers that had fled the Battle of Jakku. The Ssori Gunner Carklin Ryoon and Shi Shu suggested tricking the Imperials and stealing their ships. However, Eleodie ordered zhis crew to destroy them and send their pieces to the New Republic in order to curry the new government's favor. Zhe proposed charging the New Republic for their clean-up.[2]

When Kartessa countered that the New Republic was not their friend, Eleodie responded that destroying the Star Destroyers could give them some leverage in their dealings with the Republic. When Kartessa added that the ships had considerable firepower, Eleodie promised to repay the other fleet captains for any damage. After Shi Shu ordered the rest of the bridge crew to activate the targeting computers, weapons systems, and tractor beam, Kartessa asked Eleodie if zhe knew what zhe was doing. Eleodie admitted zhe was taking a leap into the unknown and likened life to a pair of dice. The Liberty's Misrule wiped out the weakened Star Destroyers.[2]

Personality and traits

"Girl, it's like this: The sea is changing, and the tides are shifting. It's about to get real nasty for us nasty types. Either we're gonna be running from the new sheriff in town, or we're gonna be trying to kill each other in the farthest-flung dung-heap systems, stabbing each other over a few scraps of what was once ours by right. I'm proposing we get together and stay together. Scoundrels like us, we always worked together—it just want's official. So I'm making it official." ―Eleodie's vision of the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya, a pirate nation [src]

Eleodie Maracavanya was an individual of an undetermined gender distinct from the more common male and female. Eleodie referred to zherself primarily through gender neutral pronouns such as "zher" and "zhe," while occasionally exchanging those for "his" or "her." Zhe most notably switched pronouns in zher introductory speech where zhe referred to zherself as "his highness, her glory." Eleodie was known to have gold-colored eyes and fingertips. Eleodie's natural voice was loud and alive, vibrating with deep intensity. Zhe spoke with a vocoder that modified Eleodie's voice to make it velvety and rich.[1]

Eleodie was an opportunistic pirate leader who wanted to take advantage of the slow death of the Empire following the Battle of Endor. Zhe was skeptical of the New Republic and believed that the foundling government had little chance of saving the galaxy. Eleodie sought to create a new pirate state based on freedom, greed, and self-interest. Eleodie admired a rebellious young Chandrilan girl named Karteesa who joined zher crew out of a desire for adventure and to spite her mother.[1]

Eleodie believed that pirates should work together for their mutual benefit. Eleodie's vision led the pirate to create a pirate nation known as the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya. Eleodie believed in sharing the spoils of his catch equally among zhis underlings. Eleodie was also politically shrewd and sought to gain leverage with the New Republic by destroying Imperial Star Destroyers. Despite identified as a pirate and criminal, Eleodie still had some moral decency and chastised Kartessa for abandoning her mother in the engineering deck. Eleodie also had philosophical discussions with the young woman and kept her appraised of developments.[2]

Behind the scenes

Eleodie Maracavanya was a secondary point-of-view character who appeared in an interlude chapter in Chuck Wendig's 2016 novel Aftermath: Life Debt, the second installment in The Aftermath Trilogy. Although Maracavanya's species and gender are not explicitly addressed in The Aftermath Trilogy, Wendig has stated that he wrote the character to be human, and he intentionally used the gender-neutral pronoun "zhe" to indicate that Maracavanya was non-binary, giving the character the distinction of being the first such character in the Star Wars universe.[5]

Appearances

Notes and references