Murizas (/mjuːr'iː.zɑːs/), also known by the diminutive Muri and as Lady Mure to speakers of Galactic Basic, was the female personification of the planet Mure and the symbolic representation of the spirit and identity of the Murese people. The origins of the name, itself a Murese Sith compound word formed from "Mure" and the formal feminine ending "-izas" used to construct female versions of noble titles,[1][2] could be traced to an archaic term personifying the planet Mure as a female ruler or matriarch most commonly evidenced in poetry from the late Murese Postantiquity (15,000 BBY - 14,000 BBY).
Murizas was traditionally portrayed as a Murese Sith female dressed in the armor of an Infinite Empire Force Hound. Her armor was often augmented with a True Sith SISH04-style helmet tipped upwards on the top of her head to expose her face. Though she bore a Forcesaber on her belt, she was generally pictured beside a round durasteel shield emblazoned with the Rising Quad-Sun emblem of the Murese. The pronounced use of a shield rather than a Forcesaber was meant to serve as an indication that the Murese were a protectionist rather than an expansionist or imperialist power. Depictions varied in this respect, with some representations showing the shield slung on Murizas' back or propped against a wall or bit of scenery.
Her left hand (the dominant hand of the Murese and their Red Sith ancestors[3][4][5]) generally held aloft a set of balance scales stacked with gold and silver Finas coins, a reference to Mure's power in the intergalactic banking community following the end of the Galactic War. As a nod to the Murese people's past as spacefaring explorers who explored the expanse of the Unknown Regions west of their holdings in the Rakatan Archipelago, her right hand grasped a set of rolled-up flimsiplast star charts.
Behind the scenes[]
The concept behind the creation of a female personification of the Murese people and culture was derived from real world examples of such representations. Murizas was influenced in particular by Britannia, the personification of Great Britain, and Mother Russia, the personification of Russia. Like Murizas, Britannia was often portrayed with a tilted helmet upon her head and a shield placed in the forefront of the image. Similarly, Murizas' status as a matriarchal figure is a nod to Mother Russia.
Sources[]
- Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
- Crosscurrent
- "Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties" on Hyperspace
- Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon
- Sith (language) on Starsider wiki (Unavailable as of 7/18/18)
- The Unknown Regions
Notes and references[]
- ↑ An example would be the title for a king of a Murese city-state, grafas, the feminine version of which is grafizas.
- ↑ Sith (language) on Starsider wiki (Unavailable as of 7/18/18)
- ↑ "Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties" on Hyperspace
- ↑ Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon
- ↑ Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side