Eleodie Maracavanya was a non-binary human pirate ruler after the fall of the Galactic Empire who led zher pirate crew to take control of the Annihilator, a Super Star Destroyer that once belonged to the Imperial Grand General Cassio Tagge, which was renamed to Liberty's Misrule. With this vessel and a fleet under zher control, Maracavanya came to be known as the "pirate ruler of Wild Space" and a ship-based pirate nation, the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya.

Biography

Background

Eleodie Maracavanya was a^[1] non-binary^[3] human^[2] who grew up on the moon Nar Shaddaa. Zhe was once enslaved by the Galactic Empire but later became a pirate. Following the Battle of Endor, Maracavanya 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. Maracavanya and zher gang took over the Super Star Destroyer Annihilator,^[1] the former flagship of the Imperial Grand General Cassio Tagge.^[5] Maracavanya established a pirate empire based aboard a flotilla of ships that included the former Imperial Super Star Destroyer.^[1]

Seizing Starfall

In 5 ABY,^[6] Maracavanya'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]

Maracavanya supervised the boarding with zher second-in-command Shi Shu, who informed zher about the ship. While zhe 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, Maracavanya and Vinthar commanded the boarding of the Starfall. After the pirates pacified the crew and passengers with flash grenades and flash detonators, Vinthar told Maracavanya to board the ship and meet the captives.^[1]

Maracavanya waited as Vinthar addressed the captives and introduced his captain with a short speech that zhe had written zherself. After displaying zher electro-scythe, Maracavanya used a vocoder to speak in a decipherable way to the Starfall's crew and passengers. Zhe 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, zhe gave them the chance to flee into the Starfall's escape pods.^[1]

Though Maracavanya did not impress crew into zher services, zhe still sought to recruit the Starfall's crew and passengers into zher services voluntarily. Zhe promised that they would enjoy a life of spoils and riches as pirates and mocked the New Republic. To zher 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 Maracavanya told her to respect her daughter's decision. The woman reluctantly agreed to follow her daughter and join Maracavanya's pirate empire. Zhe 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 Maracavanya 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 that numbered ten thousand beings. The Super Star Destroyer became the center of Eleodie Maracavanya's new nation, which had no planet and was instead spread across Liberty's Misrule and two dozen starships, along with a contingent of starfighters that flew the nation's colors: red, yellow, and black. Maracavanya'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. Maracavanya also found a new confidante in the form of Kartessa, the rebellious teenage girl zhe had encountered on the Starfall.^[4]

When Kartessa revealed that she had abandoned her mother on the engineering sublevel for not leaving her alone, Maracavanya chastised the girl for disrespecting her mother. After a few minutes of scuffing her heels, Kartessa asked Maracavanya how zher pirate nation would work out. Zhe explained that it was better for the pirates to band together than to fight and kill each other for scraps. Kartessa pointed out that zhe had not answered her question and that pirates were naturally selfish. Maracavanya 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. Zhe also vowed to share the spoils equally.^[4]

The two were interrupted by Shi Shu, who informed them that they had visitors. Maracavanya quickly deduced from the hyperspeed vectors and recent battle damage on the three Imperial II-class Star Destroyers that they were fleeing the Battle of Jakku. The Ssori gunner Carklin Ryoon and Shi Shu suggested tricking the Imperials and stealing their ships. However, Maracavanya ordered zher crew to destroy them and their escape pods 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.^[4]

When Kartessa countered that the New Republic was not their friend, Maracavanya 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, Maracavanya 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 Maracavanya if zhe knew what zhe was doing. Zhe 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.^[4]

Personality and traits

Eleodie Maracavanya's personal pronouns were primarily "zhe," "zher," and "zherself," while occasionally alternating those with "his" or "her." Zhe had golden eyes and zher natural voice was loud and alive, vibrating with deep intensity. Maracavanya believed that pirates should work together for their mutual benefit and sought to create a new pirate state based on freedom, greed, and self-interest.^[1] Zhe also believed in sharing the spoils of zher catch equally among zher underlings. Zher vision led to creating the pirate nation known as the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya.^[4]

A self-described realist, Maracavanya was an opportunistic^[1] and politically shrewd pirate leader^[4] who took advantage of the slow death of the Empire following the Battle of Endor. Although zhe was skeptical of the New Republic and believed that the foundling government had little chance of saving the galaxy,^[1] zhe sought to gain leverage with them by destroying Imperial Star Destroyers.^[4]

Zhe admired a rebellious young Chandrilan girl named Kartessa who joined zher crew out of a desire for adventure and to spite her mother.^[1] However, when Kartessa abandoned her mother in the engineering deck, Maracavanya chastised her for the disrespect. Zhe also had philosophical discussions with the young woman and kept her apprised of developments.^[4]

Equipment

Maracavanya wore a shimmering,^[1] chromatophoral cape^[4] made of chromatic scales. When addressing a captive audience, zhe spoke with a vocoder that was worn around zher throat and modified zher voice to make it velvety, rich, and vibrating. Zhe also carried an electro-scythe that appeared to be a long, baroque staff.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Eleodie Maracavanya was a secondary point-of-view character who first appeared in an interlude chapter in Chuck Wendig's 2016 novel Aftermath: Life Debt, the second installment in The Aftermath Trilogy.^[1] Wendig confirmed via Twitter that his use of gender-neutral pronouns indicated^[2] the character is non-binary.^[3] This gave the character the distinction of being the first non-binary character in the current Star Wars canon.^[7] Wendig also revealed via Twitter that Maracavanya's species was human.^[2] The aide Tepoh's pronouns were changed to "zhe/zher" during the drafting process of the^[8] 2022^[9] young-adult novel Queen's Hope at the suggestion of Lucasfilm Story Group's Jennifer Heddle to match the pronoun set developed by Wendig^[8] for Maracavanya^[1] in The Aftermath Trilogy.^[8]

Appearances

• Aftermath: Life Debt (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook)
• Aftermath: Life Debt audiobook
• Aftermath: Empire's End
• Aftermath: Empire's End audiobook

Sources

• "Exegol, the Unknown Regions and Wild Space" — Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and references