Naeq Sha'blonoq (pron. NAIK [long "i"] Sha-BLO-nok) (2076-2037 AE) is a character in the Continuation universe. She was Naha'jem (high leader) of Ash'tor from 2117-2137 AE and a major force behind the expansion of Ash'tor's imperialist ambitions in Selbûn.
Biography[]
Naeq was born Zaha'rem Boroc on the planet Hahûn in Selbûn to a Sama family with Ash'torian cultural influence. At the time, Hahûn had long been under Ash'torian jurisdiction, though its population was predominantly Sama. It was an ecologically impoverished planet with an impoverished populace. Expressions of civil unrest included protests against Ash'tor; protests against Hahûn's sister world, Yorûn, seen as selfish for not sharing its prosperity; and rampant crime.
Zaha'rem was orphaned at an early age and reported that she was initially raised by her cousin, an older boy named Naeq. She reported that this cousin died when she was 7. At this time, Zaha'rem took on his name, as well as various markers of masculine Sama identity, which she retained throughout her life.
By age 13, she was the leader of a gang of street children and feared. At 13, she reportedly rescued a girl from being assaulted. This was Qe'nem (2075-2137), who remained with Naeq and became her longterm sexual partner.
In her teens, Naeq's leadership and military potential came to the attention of the Ash'torian military on Hahûn, and was inducted into the Ash'torian cadet corp on Lane'bib in Sylmor. Once she obtained Ash'torian citizenship, she formally married Qe'nem to facilitate her immigration to Ash'tor. Both took the surname Sha'blonoq.
Naeq rose quickly through the Ash'torian military ranks. In 2111 AE, at 35, she became He'jad, the highest military leader in Ash'tor, the youngest to achieve this post and one of the few women. She was a chief figure in the Ash'tor-Leddie War over certain Selbûn planets and is credited with winning the war by collapsing a Tide and, thus, blocking easy Leddie access to Selbûn. On the heels of this victory (2117 AE), she ran for the office of Naha'jé (feminine Naha'jem), the high political leader of Ash'tor, and won by a vast margin, replacing long-time the Naha'jé Ba'lahr Y'Quo'dem Do'sé. She was the first Outlyer (from the Sama planets in Selbûn to attain this position.
Naeq's regime was typified by instensive military action to curb rebellion in the Outlying Planets of Selbûn but also by intensive economic and ecological development to improve standard of living. Her homeworld of Hahûn was a particular example. She also oversaw the beginnings of the Ash'torian Jana Walking program, developed by First Walker Ghanior Y'Seevoya Lastri'nom.
In 2136, Naeq ordered the nuclear bombing of the planet Yorûn, citing a concentration of rebel (Striver) activity. However, the act was widely regarded in and out of Ash'tor as a war crime at least partially motivated by the old feud between Yorûn and Naeq's homeworld of Hahûn. This act precipitated a coup, in which Naeq was arrest. At her trial, 2137 AE, she was condemned to death, but before she could be taken into custody, she was shot dead by Qe'nem, in an act of defiance apparently agreed upon between them. Qe'nem herself was shot the same day, reportedly at her own request. Naeq was succeeded by the leader of the coup against her, Lastri'nom Trorq.
She is universally known by the name "Naeq," though Ash'torian custom would traditionally refer to her as a public figure by surname.
Appearance
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Photographic documents are restricted in Ash'tor, but Naeq is reliably described as a diminutive woman, blue-eyed, and pale skinned with light blond hair, which she kept cut short.