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Drowtales/Characters/Val'Jaal'darya


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The Clan as a whole

Background Information:

One of the clans to rise to power in Chel after the decline of the Sharess religion. The Jaal'darya originate from the fallen nation of Damadi, and then were forced to leave Mimaneid. Something of a Wild Card in Chelian politics, they nevertheless supply technology and healing arts not seen amongst the rest of Chel so no one can actually afford to oppose them.

  • Animal Motifs (The biogolems, which are sterile and technically not a species due to this, are the closest thing the Jaal have to a clan animal)
  • Artificial Limbs (besides making replacement limbs, they also make tails and wings for themselves)
  • Cultural Blending (the Jaal'darya seem to have been based on a mixture of Arabic, Middle Eastern and North African cultures. In-universe, their members originate from several different cities, including Damadi, Mimaneid and Chel.)
  • Deal with the Devil (many of their deals are like this, for instance Snadhya'rune paying for Kalki's birth was said to have drained her assets for nearly a year, and it came with massive strings attached. This is also why Quain'tana refused to pay for them to give her a child.)
    • The Jaal'darya podcast also says that if they were to do something like turn a male into a female (something Kel'noz is said to have considered) so he could have children they would probably want the first child.
  • Deep-Cover Agent (Wafay believes that her mother is in fact a Nidraa'chal agent. And to make it worse, she's been developing the parasitic flower. You can panic now.)
  • Does Not Like Men (to varying extents. They almost always cover themselves up in the presence of men but wear whatever they want around other Women. Some Jaal'darya despise men, while others feel sorry for them and want to turn them into women)
  • Even Morally Ambiguous Mad Scientists Have Standards (the Jaal don't seem to have many scruples, and are willing to use things up to and including biological warfare, but it's heavily implied that even the Jaal'darya don't fool around when it comes to demons)
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture (as mentioned above, the Jaal'darya seem to be based on an amalgamation of Arabic, Middle Eastern and North African influences, e.g. their clothing style and names such as Femi, Rani, Wafay and Asira/Malika etc.)
  • Foreshadowing (during the Jaal'darya podcast, the writer of the comic mentions that besides entire clans bargaining with the Jaal'darya, it's also possible for an individual to make a bargain with one member of the Jaal that the rest of the clan may or may not know about. In hindsight, this was pretty clearly referencing Kalki's birth)
  • Hidden Elf Village (their fortress is hidden on a giant lake somewhere in the Underworld)
  • Homosexual Reproduction (their ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for men entirely when it comes to procreation. As Kalki demonstrates, they succeeded.)
  • In the Hood (a frequent part of their fashion)
  • Lady Land (even more so than typical drow)
  • Mad Scientist (pretty much their clan's Hat)
  • Noble Fugitive (twice over, once from their homeland of Damadi and again from Mimaneid)
  • No Biological Sex (Word of God is that the Jaal's biogolems technically do not have a physical sex, and thus are sterile)
  • Professor Guinea Pig (they use themselves for experiments)
  • Shrouded in Myth (the entire clan, and a Daydream story about the clan is explicitly non-canon except for certain bits)
  • Vetinari Job Security (the Jaal'darya are correctly regarded as being manipulative, but they hold the monopoly on their technology, which everyone wants and/or needs, so no one can afford to oppose them)
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist (while their methods are extreme and basically amount to a Gendercide, they seem to honestly want the drow race to survive, and Asira makes a very good point against the Sharen's "wait it out" policy)
    • They also deliberately infected a group of unknowing Relic Hunters with an ancient fungus as a back up plan in case of a Sharen reprisal against them, since even tainting won't protect them if their bodies are rotting. Given what we know about the Sharen, the Jaal's actions, while disgusting, make a surprising amount of sense.


Asira'malika

Asira'malika Val'Jaal'darya

The Ill'haress of the Jaal'darya, little is known about her outside of her appearance in chapter 16.

  • Detached Sleeves
  • Fan Nickname ("Drow Michael Jackson" due to how weird her skin looks)
  • Femme Fatalons
  • Meaningful Name ("Malika" means "Queen" in Sanskrit, and the Origin of the Jaal'Darya story suggests that "Malika" may actually be a suffix that the leaders of the clan take in addition to their names and a royal title, since Asira'malika was originally known as Asira'sima in that story before taking leadership. "Asira" also means "chosen" in Arabic, which fits with her title as the Seer of New Ways.)
  • Milky White Eyes (her irises, at least, are white. Her schlera are actually a dark brown or dark red.)
  • Noblewoman's Laugh ("Ku ku ku!")
  • Professor Guinea Pig (the reason her skin looks the way it does is because she tried to make herself look like a Dark Elf. It didn't work.)
  • Stripperiffic (her clothing, which leaves her stomach completely bare, though this may be to show off the fact that she appears to be pregnant.)
  • You Gotta Have Burgundy Hair


Wi'am

Wi'am Val'Jaal'darya

A Jaal'darya friend of Mel'arnach's. She also helped create Kalki.


Femi

Wafay's mother and the daughter of Rani, Femi was first seen in the extra of chapter 26 on a trip to surface world to retrieve the parasitic flower.

  • Deep-Cover Agent (Wafay at least believes that she's really a Nidraa'chal agent)
  • Mad Scientist (her work with the parasitic flower definitely qualifies)

Wafay and Sata

Wafay Val'Jaal'darya

A young member of the clan who debuted after the 15-year Time Skip. She is the daughter of Femi and the granddaughter of Rani (a character appearing in Daydream). Wafay suspects that her mother is a Nidraa'chal agent, causing her to seek out the Sarghress.

  • Animal-Eared Headband (Her hood gives her the appearance of having cat ears, which considering her clan, is a very real possibility, though Wafay herself doesn't have any.)
  • Animal Eyes (Her eyes sometimes become narrow slits like a cat.)
  • Ascended Extra (not Wafay herself, but her grandmother Rani was first featured in a Daydream story describing the rise of the Jaal'darya in Chel)
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Plucky Girl (she has to be this in order to navigate the war-torn city on her own and seek the aid of another clan based on a suspicion, mainly, that her mother is a Nidraa'chal agent and is planning on using the parasitic flower as a weapon)
  • The Stool Pigeon (the Whistleblower Wilma variety, regarding her mother's apparent Nidraa'chal membership, and the existence of the parasitic flower)

Sata

Wafay's biogolem, he seems to be her protector.

  • No Biological Sex (like all Jaal'darya golems, Sata technically doesn't have a biological sex, though Word of God has used male pronouns to refer to him)
  • Oculothorax (his actual body, though he can be put into a golem suit that looks more like a standard body)


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