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Darius, more commonly called River by those who knew him, was a Bendu Knight in the decades after the Great Sovereign Crusades. He helped Josiah Rendar track down Damien Starkiller, the binary clone of Ussej Padric Bac III and Isabella Dashin. During this time, he became one of the first members of the then-newly established Dark Guardians of Lettow.

Early Life
Darius, then possessing of no name, was born to Regiel and Thiria, two Anzats descending from a small group of Anzati that had colonized a small parcel of land on Kal'Shabbol years before. He was not given a name because, traditionally, an Anzat was named by a respected member of the community when he was old enough and had earned the honor of a name. As he grew up, he worked with his parents on their small farm harvesting crops, until he was eventually given responsibility of the wheat field. As was common to all the small, sprawling Anzat community, he had never tasted of a host, and acted more like a Human than an Anzat. Despite the war that occurred during this time, the lands around the Anzati remained generally unaffected.

Because being an Anzat made him instinctively a loner, he remained detached and distant in his relationship with his parents. Though this was usual for Anzati, he was slightly more emotional in the sense that he became close to his older sister, Shiphrah. Though around three hundred or so years older than he, Shiphrah did not mind his company, and was amused slightly by her brother’s slightly more emotional state. With this in mind, she nicknamed him River, citing that she felt he was a ‘river of emotion.’ He had no other friend growing up, as all the other Anzati were as impersonal as himself. She worked with him in the fields until he was twenty-one, when she began to show interest in a male Anzat named Jaala, and started seeing him. Though jealous now that he saw very little of his sister, River did not wish to displease her by requesting more time of her.

It wasn’t long before Jaala and Shiphrah were in love. Jaala entranced Shiphrah with his description of the world outside Kal’Shabbol, as he had taken a few trips offworld with his friend, Issachar, and he finally persuaded her to come on their next trip. The three friends soon left on the next export cruiser.

Left alone without his sister, River felt crushed, though he took solace in her recurrent letters describing her exploits. However, he feared for her safety, as he had heard of the many dangers that were to be found outside Kal’Shabbol’s protection. Though already antisocial because of his race, River became even more shut off from the world, and only found some delight in his sister’s increasingly infrequent letters.

The Charm
Shiphrah and Jaala’s vacation extended to well past a year, during which River left his home to live life on his own. However, he did not really settle down, and took up residence in the woods around the foot of Mt. Cephas, living off of the forest and only returning home to receive his sister’s letters.

In one of her last messages, River discovered to his horror that Shiphrah had taken her first drink of another’s life, and though torn by the act, was terrifyingly enthralled with her description, something that awakened a suppressed longing to do the same. Though heartbroken at his sister’s act, he continued with life as usual, however, he began staying on the mountain for longer periods of time, constantly wandering around, deep in thought. River was disturbed at how delightful Shiphrah’s description of feeding sounded, so much so that at times he would just read that part of her letter in excitement at the forbidden thought. However, his guilt at last prompted him to burn the letter so as not to be any more tempted.

Not long after burning the letter, he sensed a trail of something in his mind. Curious, River followed this ‘sixth sense’ farther up Mt. Cephas, aided by his race’s natural talent in tracking. Finally, the trail led him to a small cleft in the side of the mountain. Intrigued, River climbed inside, revealing a small network of tunnels carved with old runes. Though most were worn to where the letters were nigh unreadable, River could make out a few words, and discovered that the place had once been the habitation of a Bendu monk, who, from what River could gather, was named Azriel. This monk had lived here seeking solitude in which to meditate and grow closer to Yahweh. River, driven by a desire to see more before he left, continued to wander further within, still feeling pulled towards something deeper inside the mountain.

At last, River cam across a small circular room, in the center of which was a small pillar. On top of this pillar was a kind of decorative hook, upon which a necklace hung, dulled with age, except for the pendant, a green jewel. River soon discovered that somehow the strange jewel was what had led him here, and he put the necklace in a pouch before looking around the room to any explanation of what the necklace was. From what River could gather from the faded writing on the walls, the necklace housed some of Azriel’s power in the Force of Others in his attempt to become immortal.

Fascinated by this find and the cave, River decided to try to contact one of the local Bendu assigned to watch over the Anzat district to tell him of his discovery. However, on his way out, River accidentally caused a rockslide that shut off and destroyed the cave behind him. Though feeling guilty about the destruction of the cave, River still planned to find the Bendu and give him the artifact. However, as River began to ponder all that this plan entailed&mdash;to go into the Human two at the border to where the Bendu lived&mdash;River began to have second thoughts, as the Humans there were not at all welcoming to Anzati, sometimes throwing stones at the Anzati to keep those of the feared race away. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid their hatred was to dye his hair, as all the Anzats in the area had light hair while the surrounding Humans were dark-haired.

With all of this in mind, River began to wonder if keeping the necklace would be so bad. Upon further examining the necklace and ajoining pendant, River found that, when the pendant was near him, he felt a sensation that seemed to raise his senses to a higher level. Finally, River decided to keep the charm, wearing the necklace around his neck so he could hide the pendant under his tunic, figuring that the artifact couldn’t be anything important, or the jewel would have been found, or at least heard of.

Storms
When he returned home to pick up his sister’s letters again, he found that there were none, which was disturbing, as he had been four months absent. Anxious, River once more decided to work harvesting crops so that any letter sent would be immediately received. However, none came for months, until he received a short note from Issachar, saying that Shiphrah was returning and would be home soon.

River apprehensively waited for the three friends on the day Shiphrah was to arrive, but Shiphrah was not the same as when she had left. Instead of his sister coming home, there was a centaurish, arachnoid droid, accompanied only by Issachar. Deeply troubled, River asked what had happened, and Issachar finally relayed the account.

While she had been gone, Shiphrah and Jaala had steadily got into an increasing amount of trouble, until some thug showed up attempting to kill Jaala. Shiphrah, who still loved Jaala and had married him while she had been away, had tried to stop him, but to no avail. After a struggle, the thug killed him, but the ensuing firefight had set the apartment the couple was staying in ablaze, and Shiphrah had been trapped within. When Issachar finally managed to get in to save her, she had been badly burnt. Using the money he and Jaala had gained, Issachar managed to buy help, though he couldn’t afford a quality doctor or prostheticist. The best Issachar could buy could only heal her somewhat before encasing her body in a gutted droid modified for life support. All of what had happened stacked on top of each other had driven her insane.

Feeling sick upon hearing this, River was left with nothing to do but take what was left of Shiphrah up to the mountains, away from people, as she was prone to bouts of raging insanity, during which she would go on a rampage. She was only tame to River, and would only halt these attacks when he gently prodded her to. Though now insane, she still spoke to him, sometimes recounting the old times with him, though half the time she was speaking of her escapades out in the galaxy. Though he was too naive to fully understand everything she said, he couldn’t help but feel a gut-wrenching agony whenever he read of the experiences. However, he did understand when she described what feeding was like, and though he felt the act was wrong, when she told him of the sweetness of feeding he felt a sick, twisted kind of enjoyment - one that terrified him.

River carved out a life in the forest for himself and his sister and lived there for months, until Shiphrah’s new body needed more power to continue running smoothly. Knowing he could not find what he needed anywhere in the Anzati district, and knowing he could not go alone as he needed to make sure he purchased the right size power pac, he and Shiphrah made their way to the Human settlement. Though he was yelled at and had a few things thrown at him while he was in the town, he finally managed to find a kiosk that didn’t mind selling to Anzati, when the price was right, and bought several power pacs, enough to last for around a year. However, he didn’t wish to stop in town to install the pacs, as his prosecution began to get more vigorous and he was eager to leave.

When he was some distance out of town, he began to set the power pacs in place, only to again have rocks thrown at him by one of the townsmen who had followed him out. Ignoring him, River continued to work, until the townsman began to throw rocks at the power pacs, destroying all but the one River was about to finish inserting into the correct slot. Finally acknowledging the man's presence, River turned to demand that he pay for the damage when he was struck in the face by another stone. The townsman began to hurl insults at him, continuing to throw rocks first at him, then at Shiphrah. River’s anger began to flood through him, and when the man said that Anzati were incapable of feeling, River snapped, and he finally spoke to the man. When this was met by another rock, River let his instincts go, and before he knew what he was doing, he had the man’s head in his hands, and he was feeding off him.

River had never felt anything more wonderful, delicious, or so incredibly exciting in his life, and almost despaired when he found that suddenly, all of the life within the man was drained. However, when the action was over, River realized what he had done, and he fell to the ground, backing away from the body in absolute terror. Utterly frightened by what he had done, River just ran back to the forest, Shiphrah in tow.

However, it was too late, and, having fed, his mind and his natural instincts began to take control of his mind. He began to feel the intense and unfathomable need to once more feed, which came in intense attacks at indiscriminate lengths and times. He found that when he felt these attacks coming on, that he could draw power from the charm of Azriel to fight off the need in time to find a room in which to lock himself while he grew maniacal in his craving and lust to kill&mdash;sometimes, the charm would even appease the craving and return him to sanity. However, he began to despair with this state, starting to hate himself and what he had become. However, he knew that no Anzat, once having tasted, ever broke loose of his addiction, and was chained to this craving forever. Despite this, he knew that he could not fight this and take care of Shphrah at the same time, so, at last, after half a year, he sought help.

Leaving Shiphrah, promising that he would return soon, he returned to the town in which was the Bendu Knight in charge of the district. Though normally, just being around so many life-filled beings would have made him lose control, using Azriel’s charm he was able to keep a grip on himself until he finally reached the Bendu’s house.

He planned to ask him for help for his sister, but the older Bendu was mistaken in his intent, instead thinking that River had come to see if he was sensitive to the Force of Others. The Bendu rushed through an examination, and finally concluded that River had enough talent to be trained. Though the meeting did not turn out as planned, River decided to go with the flow, as this would give him an opportunity to speak to more and better Bendu than the Knight, and agreed to make his way to Ashla Prime, willing to seek help from Yahweh for his sister.

Lillianne
Eager to learn, River began to search for a Master. However, before he was assigned a Bendu Knight to train under, the Bendu Knight that had brought him here named him, as he couldn’t record River's name as being Anonymous, and he called him Darius. Though not particularly pleased with the name, River complied.

River, now Darius, was housed in one of the Temple of Light’s many rooms carved in the side of the cliff on which the Temple stood. For a few days, he stayed there, getting out occasionally to watch some Bendu being trained in some of the larger training rooms around the Temple. Darius was pleasantly surprised that the Humans in the Temple did not treat him any worse for being an Anzat. However, he decided that the probable reason was the Bendu couldn’t tell he was one, as there was a wider selection of Humans at the Temple, including lighter-haired ones.

However, most of the time he was attempting to get an audience with one of the higher-ranking Bendu, though, because of postwar problems, all were all busy. He began to get a little worried for his sister, as he had never been away from her from very long before, but he figured she could handle being alone for a while longer, and waited patiently as his problem was queued.

Meanwhile, he was given a temporary Master as the one he had been assigned to was on his way back from policing some local township. The Knight, Arindar, focused more on discovering the extent of Darius’s natural power and what Darius was talented in, making notes for Darius’s official Master. Darius, not wanting to be harassed because of his race, did not tell Arindar that he was an Anzat, deciding to only confess and get help from a higher-ranking Bendu, one he knew he could trust.

It was only a few days before Darius’s official Master returned, and the next day Darius began training under him. To his surprise, his Master was a woman, named Lillianne Crasse, and was pleased to notice her light colored blonde hair, which automatically made him more at ease. She was not at all the serious Master he was expecting, she was in reality quite friendly, even insisting on calling him by his preferred nickname, River. However, he had grown up with a dislike for Humans, and being an Anzat he never displayed much emotion, so he just listened and obeyed her, expressionless, and always on his guard for some deceit. She seemed to be keenly aware of the life around her, and immediately knew he wasn’t Human, and asked what he was. He didn’t want to open up to her, or tell her his race, for fear she wouldn’t help him get help for his sister if she knew what he was. However, he did tell her, though, to his relief, she didn’t seem at all perturbed by the knowledge.

Unfortunately, she often during her teachings had him meditate, something he was afraid of doing, as all of those sensitive to the Force of Others so congregated around him already made him much more vulnerable to attacks, but he managed to focus enough on the charm of Azriel's powers to control himself. However, at night, he frequently had to lock himself inside his room so he could try to vent off his cravings, but the restraint was difficult to hold on to. He also became more worried the longer he stayed away from Shiphrah.

After a few lessons, she invited him to train outdoors, which he immediately agreed to, having always lived outside most of his life. There he noticed that she, too, seemed more comfortable outside, and how fond she was of being around wildlife. To him, she seemed to possess an innocence that he had traded away only months ago, and he did not wish to harm this innocence by telling her what he had done, which, he was sure, would put him down in her eyes, something he did not want, and became even more closed-mouthed. However, just being around her made him calmer, and her bubbly personality slowly began to affect him, though he was somewhat uncomfortable with the feeling.

During their outside sessions one day, she just began to stare at him and examine him, as if searching his mind for something wrong. Already feeing uncomfortable, Darius was taken aback when she asked why he was afraid of her, and why he was trapping himself. Though reluctant to say, he suddenly just told her that he was evil, and he didn't want to hurt her.

Lillianne refused to believe this, however, and gently asked why he thought so. Almost afraid of the effect she had on him, he finally told her that she didn’t know much about Anzati, and left her, walking back to his room. However, not much time passed before she came to his room, asking why he had left so suddenly. Loathe to tell her to whole truth, he just told her that Anzati instinctively lust to kill. He could tell that she did not fully believe him, but she told him to trust her, and that she would help him overcome his craving. Darius became angered at hearing her say that she could help him overcome something those of more power and character than himself couldn’t overcome, as if this yearning was such a light matter. He finally told her that there was no hope for him, that he was only here for his sister, and that she had a lot of nerve to think that the whole thing was something so trivial as to be solved when all other instances had failed.

To his horror, he found that, in his anger, he had grasped her head and was holding her in the right position to feed off of her, and he immediately let go before he did anything he would regret. He could tell that there was some fear in her when he had done this, but mostly he could feel, using his newfound powers, that she had known that he would not hurt her, and she told him so. Disturbed by how open he felt when around her, he yelled back that he wasn't the one who could fight this desire, and before he knew what he was doing, he yanked the necklace out of his tunic, revealing the charm to her.

Curious, she asked what the pendant was, but, upon realizing what he had done, he hid the pendant again and said it was nothing. However, she only got nearer and gently pleaded with him to tell her. Moved by her concern, little by little he told her how the pendant gave him more concentration to fight off his baser instincts. Intrigued, she asked to see the necklace once more, and he slowly pulled the charm out for her. After holding the pendant a moment, not taking the loop from around his neck, she replaced the charm under his tunic.

Darius noticed how concerned she was with the pendant, almost worried, about his dependance on the necklace. Noticing this, he asked her if she would not tell anyone, as he did not want the pendant taken from him. She nodded before moving on from that and asked if he wanted to take a break from his lesson. He affirmed this and she left, but not before he thanked her with a slight, flickering smile.

Josiah
After this incident, Lillianne began to teach Darius ways to center himself and to hopefully not be so dependent upon the charm of Azriel, but the task was difficult and discouraging, so she would often break it up by nurturing one of his race’s natural talents&mdash;touching minds. First she taught him about feeling the life around him, then at last prompted to try to feel, read, and touch her mind, for practice. Inwardly, he had been wanting to do so, to learn more about her, but had been afraid to try. Apparently she was surprised at how adept he was at this power, as she had to stop him before he reached a point that was dangerous for one so untrained. He, however, had enjoyed the gentle feel of her mind, and was not prepared for how naturally the ability came to him. As well, though he did not try, he discovered how he inherently knew how to subtly influence a mind. However, it became obvious that his dependence on the necklace, and the power the necklace seemed to possess, deeply concerned Lillianne.

Finally, though, his request to speak to a Bendu powerful enough to help his sister came through, and with better results than he had hoped&mdash;he was to see Josiah Rendar, the High Priest himself. Darius was excited that he would at last be able to help his sister, especially since he was still worried for her welfare after being away for so long.

When he was escorted into the High Priest’s chambers, Darius was nervous, but, as usual, did not let emotion show. However, Darius soon learned that he had not gained an audience with Josiah because he had requested to, but because Josiah had asked him to come, as immediately Josiah asked him about Azriel’s charm. Feeling a gut-wrenching sense of betrayal, and desperately hoping that Lillianne wasn't the one who had told Josiah, Darius briefly recited where he had found the necklace. However, Josiah wanted to know more than that, and because he was afraid Josiah might want to take the pendant from him to study, Darius denied knowing any more than that, and only told Josiah that he needed the jewel. Any hope that Lillianne hadn’t been the one to tell him died, when the High Priest replied. Josiah began to get impatient with him as he continued to interrogate Darius, and, feeling guilty about lying so, and hoping for some help from Josiah, Darius told him all about what he knew of the pendant, and now he needed the charm ever since he had drained the life from a person.

All hope of understanding from Josiah proved futile when, upon hearing that Darius had killed a man, Josiah immediately ordered two guards to escort him, forcibly if need be, to his room, where he would be kept under house arrest, with a guard at the door at all times. Outraged at this sudden turn of events, without a chance to plead on his behalf, Darius turned back to shout that he had come to him looking for help, not to be treated like an animal.

However, it was no use, and he was thrown into his room and locked inside. Though he felt like voicing his anger, he decided that there was no point in shouting and banging at the door, and Darius just sat on his bed and thought. As he thought, he realized how appropriate this all was. He realized he was a public menace, a rabid animal, only fit behind bars because of what he had done. As he despaired, in one last hope, he reached out in his mind for Lillianne, to ask her if all of these thoughts all was true. He received no reply.

Behind the scenes
During the early days of 2007, Brandon Rhea removed the Bendu Order as a faction during the second timeline of TheStarWarsRP.Com as he felt there was nothing further that he could do with them. When they returned in late September, 2007, Solus created the character of Darius Dracskul and used him until the end of that timeline. In April, 2008, Rhea spoke with Solus and the result of that conversation was Darius becoming a larger part of the Alternative Star Wars Saga mythology rather than a random Bendu Knight. This marked the third collaboration between Rhea and Solus.

Appearances

 * Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac III