#salaen

[pastel-kaleesh]

My half of the art trade with @accursedkaleeshi and her baddie Salaen!!!

Who's she gonna strike down?

I tried aiming for a PJSK/Genshin type art style I guess and I gave up on the background haha

[accursedkaleeshi]

your worldbuilding rocks 👍

[Thank you! That’s so nice! I’m glad other people enjoy it!]

[accursedkaleeshi]

I love the sisiis

Baby Ayaan pap the sisiis. feat. @tuberculosis-bot-9000 s boy Ígira. boi dark

[accursedkaleeshi]

As a crybaby I hope you know Crybaby Wife existing and getting nothing but kindness and no judgment for it means so much to me actually. Solstice anon lore

[Ayo LORE???

Same, though! I think I split up projecting my insecurities through Salaen (being aroace & autistic, feeling othered & having low self worth about it) & Lyx'al (having severe anxiety with my (former) only option be crying about it).

I used to be undiagnosed, unmedicated, & an absolute wreck. I'd have nightmares where I needed to do adult things but all I could do was cry hysterically?? And people around me had to pick up the slack which made me cry more?

I know it is hard to know how to react to people crying but that's bonafide projecting onto Lyx'al. That her family had to put in work to understand how to help her without taking it personally. Accepting that crying was a part of how she communicated. 😢 I'm in a much better place now but man it would've been nice to not feel like I ruined things by uncontrollably crying]

[accursedkaleeshi]

Ladies & gentlemen, wedding #5. Actually this turned into an informal story about how Salaen lived everybody’s found-family dream despite her apprehension. Character development for some earlier wives that I didn’t expand much on & more Kevanru being a goddamn delight. Self-worth themes. Wife dialogue is (most likely) not typos, I’m just trying to convey how they each speak.

Initially, Grievous had just offered to keep Salaen & Rexavarius on as kind of workhands bc tech support wasn’t really a widely used role on Kalee quite yet. Rexavarius was just not about that life &, respectfully, peaced out to go do outcast things. Salaen agreed to a trial run. Suspiciously. Not only was trusting other Kaleesh hard but she also did not want to let herself rise enough to fall, so to speak. Not accustomed to good things happening to her (girl, same), she didn’t want to get her hopes up if things were just going to fall apart in flames.

She was like, “Okay. But just a trial! Huh! I can leave whenever I want, right?” Grievous was just like, “Yeah, what the hell do you think I’m going to do??” “I don’t know! I don’t know your life, General! What if things get weird?”

Jyada goes, “Oh, nah, it’s too late. Things already weird, girl.” “Eh? What you mean, red eyes? I only been here uh. A uh. (Struggles with maffs) A few months!” “Nah. You /already/ been here a few months.”

Kevanru just coming to stand behind them like, “This is fun, I like you guys.”

To recap the wife & fiancé vibes at the time:

        Jyada: >:}         Bryaru: >:}         Kevanru: :)!!!         Salaen: >:0 ?!?         Taa’yn: ^u^         Twarxii: :/ ? what is even happening right now         Weyla: :l but secretly :}         Bly’saan: :} !!         Mertenzi: >:/ ? Mertenzi is kind of always like this.

If Grievous had not brought Kevanru home, Salaen may not have stayed despite initially feeling SO othered by them. Kevanru was fresher to this situation than her but they brought an entirely different attitude. The attitude was like an excited golden retriever. They were happy to meet new Kaleesh, excited to be there, & very genuine about it. Salaen felt like she was the opposite of them. Cautious, defensive, & most of all small. Not only in stature but personality. What could she possibly contribute to this …family?

Whether she wanted it or not, Kevanru often swept her up into the group as she had already been there when Kevanru arrived. They would forget Salaen was anything but part of the new family. Some of these women were kind & warm, things Salaen had never been. Blys’aan fed her the best food she had literally ever had in her life. She said glow-scales had to stick together. (They both had very brightly, almost neon colored scales). Taa’yn would try to include her with calmer, gentler words despite being even bigger than Kevanru. Taa’yn would try to share with her what she was excited about: the pups. There was three at that point with another on the way. Salaen assumed the other was biased: Taa’yn was pregnant & she carried the oldest pups around when their liimasyr was busy.

Salaen was quite far removed from having children around. “And you're okay with just pumping out pups until you die?” She didn’t mean this in the cruel way that it sounded. But kaleeshi society funnels everyone toward this inevitable conclusion if you aren't lucky enough to die before then. Taa’yn was troubled by this. She looked so sad for a minute that several other wives almost came over to kick Salaen’s ass but Taa’yn shook her head & said, “It is not for everyone,” patting the other woman’s hand. “But to make kaleesh greater than yourself? By just being good to them in such a hard world?” She put Randaja, Grievous’ first child, barely a year old, in Salaen’s lap. Several things converged at that moment: Taa’yn’s genuine care for her fellow kaleesh, the insanely absurd cuteness of this pup clambering over her legs & very seriously babbling reassuring nonsense, how hard & solitary her life had been, & probably hormones. She had to fight back tears, but definitely cried about it later.

Still, some of the other wives were pinnacles of kaleesh. Celebrated warriors, serious & regal. The kind of women she had expected to be married to General Grievous. Mertenzi may have been sailor-folk but she ran the place like any general. Most of these women knew what they were about. Salaen had never been sure of anything in her life. She would sit by the night fire at the entrance to the compound, looking at the stars & wondering what she was doing there. It only took half a week for this to be a group effort. Jyada & Bryaru began to join her.

Jyada could relate. She was just some loudmouth bandit, a gift to Grievous from her grateful clan to fill a vacant hunt wife spot. Now, she joked, she was the least qualified among the hunt wives. “Like Twarxii? Kolkpravis brigadier & sister of Bentilias san Sk’ar? She could kill me in two seconds. Kevanru? Could kill me in two seconds. And did you see Weyla? Not only could she kill me in two seconds but I would thank her for it!” Salaen agreed with this assessment. “Are you all just here to fill spots, then?” Salaen had asked. Again, a genuine question with none of the social grace others had.

Jyada had clicked her tongue & set a palm on her thigh as if she had to think about it. “What about you, Bryaru? You here to fill a spot?” she asked across the fire. Bryaru scoffed. “I am here because my family was keeping me contained in bureaucracy & protocols. I don’t have a warballad or a pillar in society or a tragic backstory, no offense, like everyone else, I guess. Grievous does whatever it takes for Kalee. He took a chance on me! Some politician’s spoiled daughter, not set foot out of Kaleela.” Bryaru sheepishly adjusted her grip on her drink. Bryaru also understood feeling outclassed by these women. She was the smallest & she was from a well-off family. She did not see herself as cool as the others.

“So you just here for the free glory, eh?” Jyada teased.

“No. Stupid. I’m here… well, I’m here for Grievous. The conviction? I want to share that conviction! Ya! Do something about it!”

“Ok, alright, stop fuckin yelling you nerd. Look how excited she get, its cute yeah?” Jyada said to Salaen whom was indeed bemused. The outcast looked down into her cup with a furrowed brow.

“Am I here for the General? For, ah, Grievous? He does not seem to like me?” she said. Both the other women made sounds of doubt through their teeth.

“Of course he likes you. If he didn’t like you he would have told you to fuck off,” Bryaru said as if that were obvious.

“Oh. Grievous liking you is more than him not hating you,” Jyada insisted. She then sat up & looked around, making sure no other ears were around before she leaned in conspiratorially. “You remind him of Ronderu,” she hissed in trying to whisper while lightly intoxicated & excited to share this theory.

Bryaru had let out a little gasp. She didn’t think anyone was allowed to just say her name like that, but if any of them were going to disregard sanctity it was Jyada. Bryaru batted at the troublemaker across from her with no real intent & whispered back, “Did we decide she was real?”

“Was she real??” Salaen echoed. She was mildly concerned that she was being dragged into the middle of what could be trouble but was also very intent on hearing it.

“Of course she was real! Bryaya, you just from the city where nobody believes anything & magic is dead-“

“Wh- I thought she was metaphorical-“

“Twarxii said she met her several times at the head of battles. Would Twarxii lie? About battle? No. Beside. Mer’ma says she must have been real. She says nothing imaginary can ruin a man like that-“ at her last sentence Jyada brought her claws to her heart. An excellent storyteller, the other two had been listening very intently, leaning together. At the conclusion both Salaen & Bryaru let out an identical, “Oh…” stunted & concerned.

“Yes. Our poor sad bastard man,” Jyada followed.

“I did notice him pretty fucked-up-edness…” Salaen said with as serious a look on her face as it got. She continued to furrow her brow at the fire while Jyada laughed hysterically & tried to reign it in. “Is that something…I mean. Is it a good thing? To remind him? Doesn’t sound like great.”

Bryaru frowned & kicked Jyada whom was on the ground quietly wheezing by then. Jiji sat up, blades of grass gently tumbling from her extensive mohawk, & tried to compose herself. “Girl, do I look smart enough to answer that?” was what she said.

“Well I’m not smart enough to answer it!” Salaen snarled. Jyada stuck her tongue beneath front teeth to stop from giggling.

“I think,” Bryaru said with some kind of authority after slapping at Jyada again, “that it is good for him, you know. Not to torment him but to remind him that she was real. Real, physical like you are now.”

“Oh she bust out the city smart-“

“Besides,” she continued over Jyada, “I think you are good for us. I mean, I like you.”

“Ooh! Yeah, I like you too, outback orange!”

“You do?” Salaen wondered aloud as both women at either side of her flung their arms around her shoulders.

Kevanru began coming out to the fire at night if they weren’t dead asleep. They were very busy preparing for a wedding. Jyada & Bryaru thought they already had Kevanru read & catalogued so they would goad them into complimenting Salaen. Even for a dejected war orphan, it was very difficult not to catch Kevanru’s earnest enthusiasm. They even eventually lured Twarxii out to the fire one night like it was some clandestine meeting.

“Why are you two being strange. You will scare them away. Kevanru, I mean,” Twarxii asked them in her commanding voice. Even she forgot that Salaen was here in a different capacity. Jyada relayed to her the theory, that Salaen reminded Grievous of Ronderu. Twarxii uttered a sharp hiss at Jyada for just throwing her name out there like that. But her stony gaze did settle on Salaen who felt immediately intimidated & awkwardly didn’t know whether to make eye contact or not.

Twarxii huffed a sigh & subtly checked the area before she took a seat & leaned forward. “He would not mean to replace lij Kummar for all of the stars in the sky,” she said. She made an incredibly heartfelt sentiment sound like a stern briefing. Then her eyes softened just a little. “But he would not replace a person with a ghost.” As she stood back up, her wives made a small sad sound, “aw-“ & she snapped at them to shut up. “I think he just wants to help you, Salaen. It is up to you whether you want to be helped or not.”

“History-ly. I’m not good at making decisions,” Salaen murmured, feeling suddenly pressured.

“Talk to him about it,” was all Twarxii said as she walked away. The three remaining immediately began to tease Salaen about it. (“Oooo! yeah, Salaen. Talk to him about it.”) Salaen felt more comfortable, not being antagonized specifically, but perhaps being able to speak freely with less fear of saying the Wrong Thing™. “What this even means?” Salaen was inquiring when very suddenly Grievous was on other side of the beacon from her. She jolted on her seat with a, “Holy shit-“

“Are these bullies heckling you?” Grievous asked over the fire. The other three shut their mouths with little grins. He was not sure if some of them actually thought they were being covert but Twarxii had very faintly smiled at him on her way by.

“Yes. Exclusively,” Salaen said with a put upon somber nod.

“Not exclusively, outback. We also bully Grievous! Don’t we baby,” Jyada said as she got up & dusted off her chaps.

“Yes, they keep me humble,” Grievous said sarcastically. Bryaru had giggled & pulled at his cloak as he said this, prompting him to lean down far enough for her to plant a kiss on his cowled cheek before she scampered off.

“Its an important job!” Jyada said to Kevanru as if instructing them on the finer points of being his wife. “The whole planet chants his name. If we don’t let him know he is a sad slut, nobody will.” Kevanru couldn’t keep a straight face while nodding very seriously, their long ears bouncing, as they walked off back into the compound.

Grievous took a seat next to Salaen. She remained sitting up straight while he gently took her drink from her hands, removed his ingdoré, took a sip, & put the cup back in her hands. After a few more seconds of silence she was trying very hard to make awkward, she sighed heavily & dropped her shoulders. She made some kind of disparaging sound at him, like a groan & hiss, as if to concede he won something that she lost. “Why you trying so hard to not want to be here, hm, Salaen?” Grievous had asked after he chuckled. “Because you are afraid?” he said when he received no answer.

“Why you want me around if you so smart?” She shot back. She downed her drink & tossed the cup at him. It bounced off his chest & rolled a bit on the ground while he did not react. “I just want to help you-“

“Yeah, yeh, you just want to help me,” Salaen sneered along with him as he’d started his sentence. “I don’t need your pity, General.”

“No. You do not. But you have my condolences,”

“I don’t need your synomins- synonn- your same fuckin words.”

“All you need is yourself, hm?”

“Yes,” she huffed defeated as she pulled her knees to her chest.

“That is a hard life.” “Yeah.” “Who will reward us for our suffering in ascendency?” “…God or some’t. I don’t fuckin know.”  “Who will reward us for our suffering while we are still living?” “…” “Guess.” “Shut up.”

Grievous nudged her with his arm, leaning on her. “Guess.”

“Fuck off with your deep. Brain. Thoughts-“ Salaen loosely punched him along the length of his torso a few times to accentuate her feelings, warranting of course no reaction.

“I think only you can give yourself permission to be rewarded for your suffering,” Grievous said thoughtfully. Salaen groaned loudly like this were a terrible inconvenience.

        “And you in your infnit wisdom have done this, huh?” she snarled sarcastically.

        “Ew, no. Do I look like a man that knows salvation?”

        “Eh! You look like a man put back together with a few pieces missing inside, General.”

        “That’s because I am. But this,” he gestured with one hand to the compound housing his wives & children, “is as close as I am going to get.” They sat in silence for a few minutes.

        “But. Sharing all the burden…is not selfish?” Salaen asked quietly after awhile.

        “Maybe,” Grievous answered honestly & looked over to meet Salaen’s concerned gaze. “But the alternative? Suffer alone until granted death. Is there honor in that?” After he said this Salaen furrowed her brow, displeased, scrunching up her already close features. This big, dumb bastard really did know what he was talking about & just what to say. She did not like that he was right but she relented that evening to perhaps not be so afraid to have things to lose. Because maybe it was worth it? She’d never had things to lose, only herself.

        “…shit I dunno, man,” was all that she said in response to him. He had laughed & clapped a wide hand on her back, jostling her forward. After that Salaen tried to be more social with the family, or at least tried not to be antisocial. The timed trial she had arbitrarily set for herself still remained a source of anxiety. She had told herself she would leave after the wedding if it wasn’t working out. She thought she would magically feel better now that she opened up the possibility that she actually might not bail. This was not the case. So he would marry Kevanru & then what? She would just stick around awkwardly like an idiot? No way, she thought.

        She was going to have to propose to this fucker. That was the only sensible option, right? Salaen swallowed her pride & asked Kevanru for a drink at the beacon one night. “Kevanru. You just met this guy. Are you 100 percen’ on board with just…marrying him? Like you…you were doing Kevanru things & then BAM, now you are in this family?” Salaen made to throw her fist into her palm to illustrate & sloshed half her drink onto herself. Kevanru gave her their full attention, listening carefully.

        “Well,” they began slowly, to be sure they were saying what they meant, “Yes? That is how kaleesh do. In our lives there are different parts with rites as doors. That is what my mother told me. That is exciting, yes? To open a new door & find a whole new part!” As Kevanru spoke, Salaen’s expression grew more & more suspicious. Not because of their words necessarily, but because of how excitedly they believed what they were saying. It was really, really cute.

        “I open a door once & a man stab me with a bottle for my bottle…” Salaen said apprehensively & literally.

        “Oh…,” Kevanru pursed their lips in thought, the tusks dangling from their piercings bobbed a bit. “That happens sometimes, too. But! New parts don’t erase old parts. They just add. Sometimes you can go back, you know, like through a door.” Kevanru concluded with a nod & a smile, very confident they were helping. Salaen looked apprehensive.

        “There is nothing back there,” she said. She then pressed her lips together as if that had slipped out past her defensive wall of off-putting quips. Kevanru had tilted their head.

        “Oh. And you are? Scared about a new part? So now you feel trapped in a doorway…” Kevanru trailed off with a sad tone. The weight of the best metaphor in their repertoire sunk in. When Salaen merely nodded resignedly Kevanru got even more sad. “Oh! Well. You do not want to stay here with us while you find a new way?”

        “Well I. I do! I do want to stay with you! But I am not…enough.” After she admitted this, the word she settled on hung in the air for a moment in silence.

        Kevanru suddenly grabbed her around the middle & crushed to their chest, nearly double the breadth of Salaen from shoulder to shoulder. “Ohh, Salaen-!” they exclaimed sorrowfully. They were not quite intellectually equipped to fulfill her spirit & so a hug was going to have to do.

        Salaen had screeched in surprise & kicked her legs that were no longer in contact with the ground. “Aiiee! Oi! You’re going to break me, you mumuu!”

        “Are you going to kill her in ritual combat?” came Bryaru’s voice from the seat across from them. Bryaru & Jyada had walked up just as Kevanru had wailed to witness this while Salaen fruitlessly tried to wriggle free. The warrior put Salaen back on her seat & straightened her tunic & cowl while she blinked a couple times, dazed.

        “No, no. Salaen wants to be with the family! But she thinks she is not enough!” Kevanru relayed with an insistent kind of sadness, like they were trying to convince the others to action.

        “Enough of what?” Jyada murmured. “I don’t know,” Kevanru admitted. “She has two whole machetes, that’s more than- Salaen! You have two whole m-“

        “Oh my god, shut up for five seconds,” Bryaru slapped Jyada full on in the chest to get her to stop talking. She then sat next to Salaen, whom was looking bedraggled & defeated. “Why you think you are not enough?” Bryaru asked, putting a hand on Salaen’s shoulder.

        “…Well. You are all so smart & full of. Of feelings. I don’t think I feel feelings so big,” Salaen said, trying not to sound any more pathetic than she was.

        “First of all, I am dumb as hell, so write that down-“ Jyada announced.

        Salaen sniffled a bit while Bryaru shot Jyada a look. “I never been big feelings, you know? Uh,” Salaen stretched her arms out like she were indicating size then pointed to Kevanru, “Kevanru has big emotions,” she said. The others all “Ohhh”’d at the same time. “I don’t have love feelings. I must be broke, you know?” The others looked very thoughtful & serious, digesting this self-diagnosis.

        “Outback, your feelings don’t have to be big for them to matter. You sure got a lot of feelings about having feelings,” Jyada reasoned. Salaen’s frown deepened & Jyada stammered to reword her statement. “I mean! You still have feelings & things! All kaleesh are different, eh? Right Kevanru?”

        “Ah, yeah! That’s right!” Kevanru had already exhausted all the help they had to give. Now they were panicking a bit because of Jyada panicking.

        “I’m gonna just go walk into the jungle,” Salaen suggested forlornly. This was met with a chorus of “No!”

        “Hush now.”

        The three stopped squawking & looked up at the approach of another wife, tall & dark. Bryaru peeked around from behind her skirts & said, “I brought Weyla.”

        Weyla stepped around them & gracefully sat on the other side of Salaen. In a clear, smooth, humming voice with an accent Salaen had not heard much of Weyla spoke, “What is it you want to do, dear? Stay with us?” The outcast nodded vehemently, afraid she would start crying if she said anything. If she cried in front of Weyla she might die. “I think the consensus is that we would like it if you stayed, as well. Why stop yourself?” Weyla asked.

        Salaen took a deep breath to steady herself. “I want to be one of you-“ she started to explain.

        “But you don’t think you meet the criteria?” Weyla finished. Salaen shook her head. “You know what I love about Kalee? That there are so many different kinds of things that live here, so many kinds of kaleesh. But kaleesh don’t always like different. It is intimidating, no?” Salaen again nodded, her good ear pinning itself at a flat angle against her head. “But different kaleesh is why Kalee works. We can work together to achieve things we could never do alone. Grievous knew this. That is why I sought him out. He did not want to marry me when we first met. He did not think he met the criteria.” At this Weyla smiled just a little.

        “Point being, Salaen, no other family on the planet is as well equipped to understand that kaleesh feel things differently. There are many different kinds of love. When Kevanru marries Grievous, he is not the only one getting a new- wife?” Weyla looked up to Kevanru for clarification. Kevanru nodded.

        “Yeah, we all get a new wife! This is a group decision. We outnumber him,” Jyada interjected enthusiastically.

        “Yeah, that’s right. Khaganate wife council possesses the authority to vote in new wives as signed off on by Grievous,” Bryaru said, sounding very official. “Is that true?” Kevanru had asked looking very impressed. “I don’t know, I just made that up but probably?” Bryaru shrugged.

        “Yeah! Saelan, will you marry me? (No homo. Unless.)” Jyada blurted, bowing formally to her. “Hey-!” Bryaru interjected. “Nah, I saw her first so I got dibs,” Jyada said.

        “Yes, Salaen! You want to marry us completely platonically?” Kevanru boomed just as enthusiastically. At this point Salaen couldn’t help but laugh.

        “Sure, I guess. Yeah. Fine,” she said.

        Grievous was caught only a little off guard when his two most raucous wives & his boisterous fiancé approached him in their foyer, shoving Salaen in front of them & presenting him with a piece of parchment. Bryaru had written a formal proposal endorsement. He chuckled once & looked down at Salaen. He put an outstretched hand on her thin shoulder & tilted his head as if to appraise her reaction.

        “Is this what you want, Salla’?” he asked her.

        She nodded, looking determined, but just said, “Yeah, mate, for sure.”

        “Alright, it will be done. Welcome home, then,” he said, dotingly patting the side of her scarred face.

        He was then wrenched off his feet. Kevanru had come up behind & hugged him tightly to their chest, swaying for a moment. “Thank you, Grievous!” they had chimed. Grievous just kind of accepted this after a second of surprise. They were 4 inches taller than him & packed more densely with muscle, so he figured he had probably better get used to it. Bryaru squealed with delight & ushered Salaen off so she didn’t have to be seen crying in front of everybody else.

        Grievous married Kevanru & Salaen in the same ceremony at the end of the kaleeshi season before the rains started, equating to the end of 35 BBY. She was nervous the whole day with all of these very important people attending. She felt stupid being all dressed up except when she was standing with Grievous. Their ceremony attire matched. The other wives had a harder time dressing the brides this go around. There was a debate as to what Kevanru would wear & Salaen didn’t really come from what she felt was a culture.

        “I came from outcast culture, our ceremonies were passing out in the gutter,” she had said. The attending had looked concerned but Grievous had just sarcastically replied, “Happy wife, happy life.” Salaen laughed but he followed, “You are from where I am from, dummy.” “Oh, yeah.”

        Kevanru had family & friends in attendance. Their father may as well have been on a leash between his own wives &, although instructed to be on his best behavior, scowled the whole time. Kevanru ended up wearing pieces of their tarkhan armor with an adjusted version of a traditional bridal sari. Even though they were not adorned in as many accoutrements as Grievous, Bi’kotta’s bitter little heart might have actually grown half a size. Something like remorse may have blinked into his soul for a minute over the little girl he neglected all those years ago. His wives in his ears certainly reminded him multiple times, “Look how happy they are being accepted for who they are. By the Khaganate.”

        Other wives had family in attendance. Grievous drew important generals, leaders, & the Izvoshra out for another party. Even some of Grievous’ actual privkliin were there. Salaen just knew Rexavarius, whom was being the ultimate awkward 3rd wheel at the punch bowl kind of guest. While Salaen was telling Rex all about what happened they were engulfed in a very large shadow. They both looked up to Khagan Bentilias san Sk’ar, a 10 foot tall behemoth of a kaleesh dressed in the hides of entire animals, red eyes peering at them from the depths of his fearsome ingdoré.

        “That’s a huge bitch!” Salaen had exclaimed. “That’s what I said!” Jyada yelled from wherever & was immediately silenced like someone had hit her.

        “Sheelal! Where did you get this one?” Sk’ar boomed across the procession. “She bright but scraggly. You just picking ladies up from anyplace, eh?” he continued, poking at her shoulder with a huge claw. Grievous made his way over to try & prevent a scene, something Sk’ar made anywhere he went. He did like to judge his wives & this was wedding number 5 so he surely felt pretty good at it by now.

        “Mind your own business, you giant brisket!” Salaen he yelled up at him, scratching his hand. Rex had put a hand to his face. Sk’ar looked over to Grievous whom had not quite reached them.

        “Why you like your women so spicy. What is wrong with you?” Bentilias muttered to Grievous.

        “Yeah, she’s pretty great,” Grievous had replied, looking past him. Here came Benny’s sister to scold him. It wasn’t a party if nobody yelled at Sk’ar. 

Salaen did grow to love Grievous in her own way but it was clear she really loved being a part of the family. That was enough.

[accursedkaleeshi]

What was it like coming home after The Incident(TM) (Salaen)

"This will sound awful," Grievous rumbled, "but it was a bit cathartic."

"After Blys'aan had suffered for so many months, I am sure no one felt any closure as we had to burn her at a distance. Salaen had wives with her, it was relatively quick, & we were able to hold traditional death rites for her... It definitely meant more to everyone than just a, what basic says? Funeral." The general tilted his head at 45° while he stifled a cough.

"That was the last time I drank. Couldn't not, for Salaen. We concluded she went out doing what she loved: drinking with her wives & inconveniencing wildlife. Jyada took it hard. Weyla's foot was not healing. I did not have any reprieve between thinly veiled anguish & blinding rage at the Separatist leaders not helping."

"That was probably when they started trying to get rid of me, realizing I was just going to get louder & angrier until I became a liability."

[accursedkaleeshi]

Salaen’s Bio Wife # 8 ["The incident"]

Guys this is 2k words I am sorry. Your feelings will be hurt. Featuring a homie's Kaleesh OC Rexavarius avr Ladrao

TL:DR: Salaen "Bet you're too good to marry an outcast" Grievous "BET". Wildly irresponsible lush Steve Irwin hunt mother, dual wields machete like a mad lad, dies in a hunting incident a little over a year before Grievous gets obliterated.

As Grievous was leaving Hakaleel Trading with Blys’aan he had asked around for anyone tech savvy. There were not a lot of options. Most of the technology that had come to Kalee had come on the spurs of the Yam’rii due in whole to Grievous seizing all of their surface installations. All other tech came from trading with nearby systems, long haul vendors, & things they had been made to use when the Republic had made contact with them nearly 60 years ago. Yaitee’s scribe did say, however, that there was an outcast at the local aklun that did some work for them when setting up comms. This was exactly what Grievous needed.

An aklun was for all intents & purposes a halfway house. Places where outcast & disenfranchised Kaleesh could stay. Outcast Kaleesh were individuals that were banished from or chose to leave their communities. Invisible Ones were single mothers, their bastard children, & lone orphans. Often the Invisible Ones were folded into the same group as outcasts. Which: not great. Some aklun were run charitably & seen positively to their nearby communities. Some aklun were at the other end of the spectrum where you can’t have shit in Detroit.

This particular aklun was somewhere in between. There were places to sleep but it was a bit rundown. The Kaleesh running it were a bit rundown. Grievous compartmentalized everything he witnessed there, knowing things were about to get 800 times worse for the entire planet. He didn’t have time to grieve these people. They visibly perked up at the mention of work but became concerned again. Salaen was the Kaleesh he was looking for but she was also the primary hunter for this aklun. Although, for their sake & hers, she really could not turn down work.

Salaen agreed to the work on the condition she not go alone. A fellow outcast volunteered to go with her. Rexavarius avr Ladrao knew a bit about networking & more about hard work. Rex assured her it would be fine, as if anyone on Kalee was good for paying them back it was going to be General Grievous. With this, she agreed.

Salaen did not like Grievous. She resented his status & privileges. He was hiring them on to set up network for his entire half built compound, the likes of which was unheard of for a personal home on Kalee. A compound which he was building for his soon-to-be seven wives. They were arriving to a double wedding. They were having pups in this economy. It seemed very selfish to her. And everyone around her was always very impressed with him. Even Rex, choosing to continue to be wholly disenfranchised from society, had a high respect for Grievous. This kept her from lighting him up during that wedding. Also free food.

Grievous later went over the plan with the outcasts on how he wanted things. Salaen was being standoffish the whole time. She noted he could definitely do this himself; it was clear he was comfortable around much more advanced technology. He hired them to do it because he was busy. She understood enough for her & Rex to get the job done. Grievous went into what may have been unnecessary detail as he wrapped up & Salaen could not contain a very sarcastic, “Wow you sure know everything.”

Grievous had just sort of smiled & said, “You do not have to like me, but know that I understand your anger. If I let my fury remain directed at the inaction of others I would have immolated long ago. Sometimes you just have to change things yourself.”

At this Salaen set her jaw & looked him in the eyes, feeling patronized. “You are from that tri-village settlement in east Kunbal, yeah? Kolkpravis runoffs living in the shade of the cliffs?” That was very specific information for someone to be privy to. When Grievous had cautiously confirmed she followed, “So was I. A village next to yours. The huk saw the ones on either side first, isn’t that right? Some of us little ones hid well enough to escape the assault but not well enough to avoid the scouts they sent out constantly. I am sure I only escaped because of you & your rifle. I could hear the crack, even muffled by the jungle.” In the silence that followed Salaen looked angry. But what could she say that wouldn’t sound petty & ridiculous.

After a moment Grievous bowed his head to her, wearing a very knowing look. “As it grew, my shadow became harder to get out of, this I know,” he had said, clapping the both of them on the shoulders as he passed between them & left.

There was a long pause until she preemptively told Rex to shut up. This prompted Rexavarius to give her a reality check only a fellow homeless vagrant can give, having also lost his entire clan to the bugs. It culminated in, & I’m paraphrasing, “Thing about resentment is that it is only hurting you. You’re not dumb, you know it. Out of all the miserable greedy kaleesh you’ve ever met at least this one actually did something about it.” She was like, “You’re right but where did I ask you.” To which Rex replied, “If I have to do this job with you I have a limit to how much bitching I will put up with. Besides. You know he is not like that [Salaen implying Grievous is classist & above them]. You know lij Kummar came from nothing?” For once, Salaen does not argue.

She hadn’t thought of lij Kummar. No one had come close to even breathing a word remotely near the subject of her. Rex was right. As far as every Kaleesh on the planet knew, Ronderu lij Kummar had come from nothing. She survived as an outcast for as long as she had been on the mainland. Not simply an outcast, even, but thoroughly demonized. She had become a minor patron saint of sorts to the outcasts & the invisible. Every Kaleesh on the planet also knew how beloved she was by jai Sheelal, both driven by the other & their righteous fury.

After this talk she reconsidered being hostile to Grievous & instead took to studying him like she was starting an audit. Rexavarius would occasionally help her psychoanalyze this literal national war hero but eventually stopped, telling her he was biased. Really Rex just wanted to finish this very generously paying job without getting on the wrong side of whom many believed to be a planetary demigod. When Rex stopped humoring her she started talking to his wives when they brought them food. All in all a very thorough investigation, over the course of a few months, as to why she shouldn’t resent Grievous. Because if her resentment was unfounded this whole time she would have to own up to it, which was almost worse. Salaen eventually came to Grievous when he was reviewing the last of the network connections to go in (& when Rex was not around).

What she literally said was, “Hey, General. Sorry for being…an entire bitch to you.”

Grievous had smiled & laughed. “I was not just placating you when I said I understood very intimately your indignation,” he said. Salaen knew this to be the case. Knowing his deeds aside, the emptiness lingering at his core behind the fire had become obvious as she had started to look for it.

Instead of telling him this she replied, “That was a lot for a kliin’yzru.” (Basically “Those were some big words for a hobo.”) Grievous had clicked his tongue at her for being a smartass. They would then bitch at each other about electronics with less hostility in the intent.

Right before Rex & Salaen finished the entire job Grievous was gone again on some diplomatic something or other. It was completed by the time he got back with another Kaleesh in tow. Rex & Salaen were chilling with the wives, drinking as they had been doing. Grievous was like, “Yo I’m back. I know I said we had enough wives but I beat Kevanru in ritual combat & they said they had to return to the rule of their father or marry me so. Here we are.” There was immediate overlapping chatter. This included both Jyada & Salaen admonishing him for being a slut, as well as Mertenzi telling him to stop bringing people home like a bleeding heart dovt’in.

Grievous went over the outcast’s work & was pleasantly surprised at the quality. He offered the pair to stay on if they wanted to (despite what Mertenzi had just said the day before). Rex was honored but said he preferred to move on, accustomed to his solitary wandering. Salaen hesitated. She realized that not only did she actually like these Kaleesh but that Grievous was offering her an actual home, something she had not had since she was a pup. She finally said, “Do I have to defeat you in ritual combat?”

Grievous had turned to his wives gathering for the morning & just kind of yelled, “What do we think of Salaen?” There was another instance of overlapping chatter that was wholly positive, with cheers, clapping, & Jyada whistling.

Short of the long of it (I say, at 1500 words), Grievous married Salaen & Kevanru in the same ceremony at the end of the 35 BBY year. (Rexavarius came back to attend bc free food.) Salaen fell in with Jyada & Bryaru so instantaneously that it made adjusting to this new lifestyle a little easier. She had a short temper & continued to be very defensive of her actions & origins. Out of all the wives, Salaen was the most disconnected from Grievous. She loved him, but there are many different kinds of love that Kaleesh understood innately & didn’t really feel the need to label. She never felt her love for him was the same as some of the others’. Part of her feelings of inadequacy came from living so much of her life isolated & part of them were reactionary.

Once she saw the emptiness in him it was hard to overlook it. It never changed even as their family continued to grow. It was an untouchable sadness that left her & many others feeling helpless & inadequate in their inability to fix. That had not been a secret to any of them. Literally the whole planet knew. But watching it cripple him in private moments was still difficult. Grievous did love her, as he loved all of his family, but likewise: there are different kinds of love. He had to temper his interactions with Salaen, sometimes avoiding her completely & just hoping she understood. She did. She saw the most sadness in him because she reminded him the most of Ronderu.

They looked nothing alike, of course, but their background had been similar. Outcast, alone, bitter, & angry about it. It led to their defensive attitudes. Desperation to be validated with the refusal to admit it. They both communicated…aggressively. Grievous felt he had perhaps selfishly put them both in this situation. He could not & would not ask Salaen to change who she was. He could curtail these thoughts with enough mental preparation but even so, it often blindsided them. The result was just more of his grief on display than he’d like & a lot of unspoken but understood apologies between the two.

Besides their husband’s internal struggle, Salaen fit into the family well. She was a hunt wife, dual wielding machetes. It was always a toss up as to whether she helped balance out Jyada’s chaos or she became part of the problem. She did love the drink & often dealt with her emotional labor with alcohol. Salaen was the hunt mother that taught the children most about the animals. She was always chasing, catching, &/or otherwise manhandling the wildlife to the point where other parents had to put a disclaimer on her actions. Like a wildly irresponsible Steve Irwin.

Salaen had 2 children of her own. Spare time was spent with Jyada, Bryaru, & Kevanru whom liked to drink around the fire when the children were asleep. She did feel like she belonged there with them. She lived 11 years with their family. In 24 BBY she died following a piinyur (a sabre-toothed jungle cat) attack whilst camping for the night with the rest of the hunt mothers & a handful of children. Jyada & Weyla were also injured, Weyla losing her left foot at the ankle.

[accursedkaleeshi]

[Salaen's Bio]

“The Incident”

The incident occurred in the 24 BBY year. Salaen & the other hunt mothers had set up camp for the night despite not being too far from home. It was dangerous to move through jungle at night with a handful of children in tow. It was somebody’s ingpriva. (Listen I have to finish all the wive’s character sheets before I try & sort out all the children. It is an undertaking, ok.)

All the children were sleeping literally underneath the wagon they had brought. Weyla was on guard at said wagon. Jyada, Kevanru, & Salaen were drinking around a small fire a little over 5 meters away. The Republic embargos had been in effect for over a decade at this point. Resources were scarce. For everyone. Not only was Kalee’s wildlife being over hunted for lack of food, exotic animals were a lucrative export. The only lucrative export left. So, despite the general consensus to stop doing it there were still large poaching rings.

A piinyur was a large sabretooth jungle cat that lived most of their lives in the trees. They relied on snatch & run methods, in part a reason not to travel thick jungle at night with very snack-sized members of your troupe. Usually a piinyur would never size up a camped group of Kaleesh. But times were desperate. If this particular cat didn’t take something now it would just get weaker & weaker.

The piinyur had sized up Weyla, alert & armed, & did not like its chances even though it would love nothing more than to snatch a nice juicy Kaleesh pup & be on its way. It stalked behind the women drinking. One was much too big. The other against a tree facing its direction. But the smaller one was the closest, facing away, sitting up against a low rock outcropping, with the fire between her & the others. This was not an ideal situation for anyone, least of all the cat. But it was so hungry.

The piinyur leapt out of the darkness & clamped its whole mouth around Salaen’s skull. She screamed once. Jyada’s immediate reaction was to lunge forward, over the fire, & punch the animal in the face with full force. The piinyur let go of Salaen but slashed at Jyada not wanting to give up its last chance at a meal. Its claws caught the temple of her mask, batting it off, & scratched her just above the eye.

Jyada roared at it & the cat scrambled back into the brush. It did see the burst of chaos it caused & scampered off to its initial target. Weyla already had her bow drawn when the cat leapt at her. She shot it right in the chest but it was a close range hit. The piinyur still landed on her. She was able to throw it off to the side rather than being pinned. It immediately tried to dig under the wagon where some children were just coming out of a dead sleep. Weyla kicked that bitch right in the face & there was a struggle.

The cat was locking down on Weyla’s foot just before Kevanru bounded in & pretty much suplexed it. It didn’t take a great deal of Kevanru’s tremendous strength to put the piinyur out of its misery. They were able to break its neck before it knew what was happening. Weyla was already stacking children back onto the wagon like sacks of potatoes. This all happened in maybe 3 minutes, 5 at the most. The kids weren’t really aware of what happened & some never even woke up during the commotion. A small blessing.

Kevanru stood for a second, unsure of what to do, before racing back to the other hunt mothers. They knew it was not going to be good. The sound it made. The sudden short scream. Piinyur’s large fangs, which protrude far from their closed mouths, are used kind of like a bottle opener. The fangs hook into the neck or head of prey so it can hang onto to it while dragging it back into the trees. Kevanru learned this from Salaen, whom was now cradled in Jyada’s arms right where she had been sitting. The cat’s huge fangs had wrapped around the back of Salaen’s head & punctured her temple. Then its jaws had clamped down like a vice, squeezing & cracking her skull with no small amount of force. Jyada was tearfully muttering calming words to her. Salaen’s only open eye was glassed over but did move to Kevanru when they loomed over Jyada’s shoulder.

“Everyone is okay- The pups are safe…” Kevanru said as they concentrated their way to a moment of clarity. Kevanru had never been much of a deep thinker but they were grateful for the panicked thought that struck them: What does she need to hear before she goes?

Salaen managed a smile & choked out, “Damn cat got me, lads.” As usual, she never directly addressed a problem, opting instead to say something cheeky.

Weyla shouted (as much as Weyla could shout) for Kevanru to help her get the wagon full of sleepy, confused children home. Jyada stayed with Salaen by the fire until she died. Her brain had swollen to close the punctures in her skull. Jyada pinned the cat among the rocks that Kevanru would later come back to retrieve. She broke down camp & carried Salaen home by herself.

Grievous was, of course, not home at the time. He was vaporized a little over a year later.

[She died doing what she loved: drinking with her wives & getting bitten in the face by wild animals]