Iphis Melinoe

Iphis Melinoe
Biographical Information
Date of Birth:	9 ABY (age 34)
Place of Birth:	Hapes
Physical Description
Species:	Hapan
Gender:	Female
Height:	190cm
Weight:	65kg
Hair:	Blonde
Eyes:	Green
Skin:	Fair
Personal Information
Mother:	Telethusa Melinoe
Father:	Ligdus Naso
Associates:	Phaedra Asterion, Imopea
Enemies:	Marick Tyris Arconae
Weapon(s):	Mortuary Sword
Fighting Style(s):	Sumiren broadsword fencing
Chronology & Political Information
Profession:	Menace
Era(s):	Exodus era, New Order era
Personal Ship:	The Saint of Awe
Known masters:	Colibrip† Fialka†
Dossier:	14287
[ Source ]

Iphis Melinoe (/ˈɪf.ɪs me.lɪ.ˈnəʊ.e/) is a Krath-trained Sith who recently returned to the Brotherhood after fleeing Lyspair during the Fall of Antei in 21 ABY.

Biography

Childhood (9-21 ABY)

Iphis was born the second daughter of a minor noble house in the Hapes Consortium in 9 ABY. As a child, she came to the attention of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood and was enrolled at the Shadow Academy in 19 ABY.

In 21 ABY, the Brotherhood was assaulted by a previously unknown alien force called the Yuuzhan Vong. When it became clear that Brotherhood forces had little hope of fending off the Vong invasion of Antei, Darth Sarin initiated a contingency plan called the Braata Option. Brotherhood forces were instructed to abandon the system and regroup outside the Shroud. Three years later, the Brotherhood would reclaim the system. Iphis would not be among them.

Phaistos (21-42 ABY)

Rather than follow the Braata Option, the elder instructors and archivists Iphis studied under abandoned the Brotherhood entirely, seeking a relatively sparsely populated world that a group of 19 Force-users could dominate. They found it in Phaistos, a backwater on the far side of Sith space.

Phaistos had been colonized by one ancient Sith empire or another in the distant past, but by 21 ABY that was a distant memory. The planet was occupied by a small but self sufficient population of native humanoids divided into a handful of major polities.

The refugees comprised three equite instructors from the Shadow Academy and a dozen students of novitiate or journeyman rank, Iphis among the youngest of them. The group, which semi-seriously referred to itself as the coven, fell under the initial leadership of Iphis’ master, the Fosh Krath priestess Colibrip. The Coven were too weak and too few to dominate the planet by force, and Colibrip worked to secure a position as refugee advisors to the Royal Court of Sumire, one of the more dominant states. After a decade of developing the Coven’s power, Sumiren court politics, and the occasional assassination, Colibrip established herself as the power behind the throne.

Prodigal Daughter (43 ABY-Present)

Iphis appeared in Brotherhood space in 43 ABY, offering what knowledge and artifacts she could salvage from Phaistos in exchange for asylum. She was immediately inducted into the Envoy Corps despite the Exarch's misgivings. Her envoy duties included at least one return trip to the Phaistos, accompanied by Marick Tyris Arconae and the Envoys Dusa Harik and Myra Baas.

Using funds provided by the Iron Throne, Iphis purchased a vessel for herself, The Saint of Awe, a refurbished Cosinga-class corvette from Andromeda Shipworks on Nubia. She managed to convince the owners' invalid daughter to join her and take command of the vessel.

During this time, Iphis was frequently seen in the company of the abrasive an unhinged Shani-impersonator Imopea.

Description

Appearance and Attire

Iphis is a Hapan female with fair skin and straight, thick, pale blonde hair. She is exceptionally tall without the athletic build to support it, more willowy and coltish than amazonian.

Iphis has a heart-shaped face with a distinct jawline tapering to a pointed chin, set atop a long, delicate neck. Her nose is relatively narrow with a slightly pointed tip. She has a cruel mouth with full lips and a prominent cupid's bow. She has expressive eyes with a noticeable upward tilt at the outer corners. Her eyebrows are well-defined and dark, contributing to the intensity of their gaze.

Iphis would epitomize pureblood Hapan beauty if not for her eyes and the fact that her right arm is missing from the mid-humerus down, replaced with a skeletal, gilded cybernetic. While her eyes are striking, the sheer intensity of their emerald green color is inhuman, and their vibrancy makes her skin and hair look washed out and lifeless in comparison.

Contrasted with the rest of her features, Iphis' eyes and height underscore a sense that she is not quite the sum of her parts. It's as if she had been cobbled together from a small group of individually gorgeous women whose individual aspects don't match. Her build is lithe and delicate and she would be dainty if not for her height; she is tall and imposing, or would be if she had the frame to back it up. Her bone structure and facial features share perfect bilateral symmetry, an effect ruined entirely by her mismatched arms.

Speech and Mannerisms

She affects a heavy, artificial tedium, or a faint and glittering malice, sometimes even a self-deprecating humorousness. Iphis speaks with a highborn Hapan accent that's been somewhat mutilated by decades away from the Consortium. She sounds Hapan to outsiders, less so to native Hapan-speakers who aren't as far removed from their homeland.

Personality

Iphis' personality can be charitably described as "extra;" for those who've gotten to know it, it can be easy to forget how unobtrusive and easily overlooked she is around strangers. Her genuine indifference to other people's feelings and natural caution mean Iphis goes out of her way to avoid attracting attention or scrutiny—at least until she's in a sure position to gloat.

Iphis plays up being a decadent, shallow mean girl. She really is one, but her public persona can exaggerate these tendencies to the point of caricature. She pretends to forget people’s names, has prepared flowery put downs she can inflict onto which target is convenient, and will push people's buttons if there’s nothing better to do.

Assuming that this means she cares about others’ opinions of her would be a mistake, however. Ultimately, other people are merely extras in the background of her starring role in life, hardly worth the sustained attention. She’ll play along with insults, lightsaber-measuring contests, and torrid love affairs so long as they're amusing her, but when they inevitably become tedious, Iphis moves on without fanfare.

Skills and Abilities

Iphis is brilliant, strong willed, and possesses an unusually focused and inquisitive mind, all of which come as an unpleasant shock to those who judge her by her shallow persona. Although limited by fairly rudimentary technology of Phaistos, she's a competent biomedical technician, with skills both informing and informed by her use of the Force to control granular biological functions.

The Force

Iphis specializes in channeling the Force through living material, namely her own body and those of sapients unfortunate enough to draw her attention. Her mastery of Control Self and Healing allow her precise control over a wide range of bodily functions, and she's only slightly less competent using Amplification to augment herself further.

Iphis is adept enough at Concealment to leverage it more or less indefinitely; if another Force-user detects her, it's by her choice.

Combat

Iphis didn't have a lightsaber when she fled Lyspair, and the group didn't have access to kyber crystals to construct new ones on Phaistos. What they did have was Pavo’s proficiency in Sith Alchemy, which he used to craft weapons for the group’s younger members. By the time Iphis had a lightsaber to practice with, she was already proficient with physical edged weapons. As a consequence, while Iphis can wield a lightsaber to deadly effect, it's frankly a step down from what she can do with her sword.

Ship

Iphis' personal ship is The Saint of Awe, which also serves as her primary residence. The Saint is a Cosinga-class heavy corvette that was refurbished by the Nubian boutique shipyard Andromeda Shipworks according to plans provided by Arx Capital Exchange. Phaedra Asterion serves as the ship's captain and Iphis' personal secretary.