Koar

-"And why should we spare you?" the man asked, never taking his eyes away from the creature, never getting distracted by the bloodbath around them. A small dark room, dismembered corpses and blood everywhere and only their breaths breaking the silence.

The hooded creature in front of them didn't speak but from inside her cape she produced two books and placed them on the ground before her as she was kneeling there.

Bright Star Votta kept staring at her and the two books. He recognized both of them of course. The “Divinium”, the holy book of Khepre's most widespread religion and “Xenology”, a famous scientific book written by Aranon Telembrin, a widely known and respected alien researcher.

The hooded girl opened the Divinium first and with a steady voice started reading from it.

-”....And God created her before every other creature, in His image and semblance, and He loved her more than any of His children. Koar the Firstborn was always by His side and it was her that God sent on Khepre to guide His other children to the righteous path.....”. The girl turned some pages and continued reading from there “...But her heart was corrupted and twisted. Eternal Evil had found its way in her mind and made her envious of God's love for His other children. For centuries she kept her feelings boiling in her soul and the day thereafter known as Black Day, she betrayed Him. She took the accursed Dark Blade in her diabolical hands and stroke. God died by His most loved one's hands. Heavens screamed and the sun disappeared and all the world was covered in blackness and sorrow. Koar the Godsbane vanished in the shadows the fire casted as Heavens were being consumed in blazing flames...."

The girl closed the Divinium, opened Xenology on a page and started reading.

-"...The entity's name cannot be spoken in any language in the known universe. The best approximation of it offered by a devoted xeno researcher sounded like a mixture of words, musical tunes, audible mathematical sequences but all in a nonsensical, paradoxical succession that made everyone hearing it weep and scream and beg for the recording to stop. So most researchers use the made up name "Abubacalon" instead.

Abubacalon arrived on Khepre. When and how are meaningless questions in its case as the entity existed in a pocket dimension, parallel with and touching ours, but with its own laws of physics. It is speculated that a day in that dimension equals hundreds of years in ours, thus allowing Abubacalon -who was able to travel back and forth between dimensions- to appear in many instances throughout the history of Khepre. It is believed that contact between early civilizations and the entity is what gave birth to numerous myths and legends, as well as setting the base for the development of almost every religion on the planet. A species with such an advanced technological level -that even by today's standards is nearly incomprehensible to us- would certainly appear as divine for primitive populations.

Though the secret of physical travel between dimensions is still unknown to us, it is widely believed that we have already visited Abubacalon's dimension in a way. And that way is none other than what the so called “prophets” and “saints” describe as visions and contact with God. The theory is that some individuals through means of meditation or medication achieve what Friedricrast describes as “conscience jump”, allowing their minds to glimpse inside the pocket dimension, though obviously in a distorted and irrational manner. There are many who believe that stripping those visions from theological exaggerations and superstitions can be a viable way of obtaining information about Abubacalon's dimension.

The dominant theory behind the reason of Abubacalon's arrival on Khepre is that of the exile from its homeworld. It is speculated that the alien was obsessed with the continuation of life after death and reanimation of dead beings, something that might have been considered unethical use of its species technology and could have lead to its removal from their society. Backing this theory are the numerous references to the creature Koar.

Supposedly a golem like creature, created lifeless and infused with life by Abubacalon. A semi-successful effort as she was far from perfect by the alien's standards. Reduced to servitude and disrespected by Abubacalon, after years of abuse she finally turned on her master, killing Abubacalon and escaping the pocket dimension to ours.

For an unknown period of time she is believed to have wandered Khepre -maybe even to this day- in disguise. There are plenty reported sightings of her, though not all are to be taken seriously given hers and Abubacalon's presence in Khepre's belief system. What must certainly be true is that Koar would surely have an affinity for and basic knowledge of Abubacalon's technology -which is none other than folklore's "magic"-, though perhaps is either not familiar enough with or unable to harness it. If she actually did, Khepre would most likely have a new religion by now..."

The hooded girl closed the book slowly and lowered her hood revealing herself to the S.T.A.R.S members.

-"Pick your favorite one. They are both right and completely wrong at the same time. I am Koar. Fallen angel? Wizard? Alien? Construct? All. Nothing. Koar is Koar."

Bright Star Votta was a wise man. He did much more than sparing her. He took her under his personal protection, recruited her to their cause. Named her Dark Star.