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Following the recent rumours that emerged about reprehensible actions possibly perpetrated by the Bellatean and Corite heroes, The Novus Eye wishes to bring all Novus warriors more information about their respective heroes. Unfortunately, and despite their popularity, many aspects of their stories remain classified. We hope our series of articles will still let you discover some things you ignored, including the fact that having spent some long months together is not the more disconcerting aspect of the three heroes’ lives. Ladies first, some used to say in ancient times, so let us begin with Giz Kadasha, from Cora.
As even the most illiterate Bellatean foot soldier should know, Corite society is organized around a caste hierarchy; the closer to the ruling caste a person belongs to, the closer she is to her god, Decem. As soon as he’s born, a Corite is incorporated into a caste, based on his ascendance and potential to serve Decem as detected by the Dark Priest monitoring the labor and delivery. Displaying remarkable talent and devotion throughout his life, an individual can hope to achieve a higher station in the hierarchy, but this is a long and difficult process, and hopping from one caste to another is a very rare occurrence.
Corite society is based on a caste system of governance. This caste system is by abilities; the Corites are organised into their castes solely based on their relevant skills in life, their devotion and their dedication to Decem’s will. In this way, the castes function much like that of old ‘tribal clans’ of legend where priests were of a higher station than warriors and they in turn were of a higher station than workers. One’s strength in the Darkling Force and capacity to serve Decem and enforce His commands set their caste. The Spiritualist is the highest caste because they have the gifted strength in the Darkling Force.
The entire populous is grouped into one of these castes; once in a caste, the other members become your family, blood relationships are not a priority amongst the castes. Indeed, nothing is to be put before Decem, and marriage is not to be allowed because of the conflicts that could arise between family and god. Because everything Corites do reflects on she/he to their god, their children of course are a direct reflection on them. Seeking out the best possible mate to have children with is a very major decision. Corite children are raised in schools and only staying with their parents during vacations and Holy celebration’s. The Corites use the term Sires for parents, not showing either one mother/father as more important than the other.
Vena Blaein. As it Shall Be: the World from a Corite Point of View. Bellato, Valhalla: Klenson University Press, 10782: 229.
Giz Kadasha never had to worry much about upward mobility. She was born of Dain, one of the most talented individual the Corites had ever known, and it was clear from the start that she had the potential to surpass even her mother in power. This was not to be an easy accomplishment, as Dain was a real prodigy: she became Matriarch at age 15, when others of her age were still trying to discover how to properly use whatever potential they could have and only starting to comprehend the extent of Decem’s teachings.
A particular episode of Dain’s life has turned into a kind of legend: a few months before she was made Matriarch, she had a meeting with Archbishop and member of the Holy Conclave, Mana. It is said that Mana’s speech to Dain almost bordered on heresy, going as far as saying that questioning Decem and His teachings were a positive thing and that Accretians and Bellateans were far more logical and rational than Corites, who had turned faith into blind fanaticism. Nobody has ever been able to uncover what part of truth there was in this story. Some alleged that it might have been Mana’s intent to fool Dain into making heretic statements that she could have turned against her, though reasons of such a crafty scheme remain unclear.
But whatever happened didn’t turn Dain and Mana into enemies. When Dain gave birth to twin daughters, she oddly insisted that one of them, Kadasha, be not devoted to Decem as a Priestess, despite the obvious latent force that Kadasha seemed to possess deep inside her. She used all her power and vast influence to prevent her daughter from walking the path that should have been hers according to Corite customs. The Conclave and a large majority of Archbishops were infuriated by such a conduct, but the situation was somehow defused when Mana publicly supported Dain’s wish.
However, the Holy Conclave decided that an individual with so much power and set aside from the path drawn by Decem for all Corites shouldn’t be allowed to stay within the administrative center and place of power. And so Kadasha was exiled in a desolated part of the Cora planet, in a Bisk village.
The Bisks are presented by the Corites as an entirely separate race that they tolerate on their home planet only for the cheap labour, not much more than a slave race. But some Bellatean scientists insist that the two races are actually closely related, though one can wonder to what extent these scientists have been able to research the subject.
Kadasha acclimated surprisingly well to her new surroundings, befriending the Bisks to the point that she considered them as her own family. Growing up away from the Dark Priests’ teachings, Kadasha retained only the bright and cheerful sides of the Corite religion. She considered Decem as the god of Nature and Beauty, as all Corites do, but also a merciful and nurturing deity. She also started to question the foundations of Corite society, thinking that people from the lowest castes or even outcasts were just as important in Decem’s eyes, and that His love extended to everyone.