Beyond Light has released and after playing the campaign I realised that I quite like how they portrayed Eramis (some flaws, but that's not the point of this post). So I wanted to go over her story shown in both the lore and story. Note: there will be spoilers for the events that take place in the Beyond Light Campaign as well as the Once-Shipstealer lore book, so if you would rather go and read them for yourself, I'd recommend doing so. Now with that out of the way; let's begin. The Story of Eramis begins in the Eliksni Golden Age. Eramis was an Eliksni from before the Whirlwind which in itself is a rarity (and shows how long the Eliksni lifespan can be). On Riis (the Eliksni homeworld) Eramis lived with her mate, Athrys, an artisain of the Eliksni. Together the two raised many Hatchlings; which were raised to follow Eramis (although she would have rathered them be more like her mate). The two were polar opposites but appreciated each other for who they were. Randevous with Variks step flavour text: [quote]"Variks recalls a dear friend from before the Whirlwind. Athrys. She was an artisan. Kind. Wise. Clever. Variks feels her absence even now." —Variks the Loyal[/quote] Randevous with Variks step flavour text: [quote]"Eramis and Athrys had many hatchlings. For Eliksni, hatchlings are raised by a village. Cherished by all." —Variks the Loyal[/quote] Exo Challenger step flavour text: [quote]"Their children were being raised to follow Eramis; to keep watch over the movements of the Great Machine. But she wished for them to be like Athrys. Makers. Builders." —Variks the Loyal[/quote] Power Hungry step flavour text: [quote]"Athrys was Eramis's mate. Their bond was strong. She valued Eramis's strength and stubbornness; Eramis admired her gentle nature." —Variks the Loyal[/quote] However, much like our own Golden Age, it didn't last. The Darkness attacked. Whilst it's not entirely clear who did the most damage, we now know both the Pyramids and the Hive attacked the Eliksni homeworld. This caused the Traveler (known to them as The Great Machine) fled. In the ensuing battle Athrys was slain, like many other Eliksni. Eramis, among many many more of her sisters and brothers fled Riis in pursuit of the Traveler. Many with the hopes of reclaiming it for themselves. Eramis was a known member of the House of Devils. Whether they were a house that existed on Riis or became one after the Whirlwind isn't exactly clear. Eramis was a Baroness, which in the old ways of the Houses, is a relatively high rank. She was a known warrior and fought at the battle of Twilight Gap. The Once-Shipstealer, entry V. The Nightmare: [quote]As she dissolves the old bonds of House of Devils, Eramis is haunted by shadowed dreams. In one, she relives Twilight Gap.[/quote] It was in the House of Devils where she met Phylaks. The Warrior. Both fought at Twilight Gap with their fellow houses. Empire Hunt: The Warrior transcript: [quote]Phylaks found fame at Twilight Gap, yes? [Insect-like-chattering] Fame for Ruthlessness. For Final Deaths.[/quote] There's a little bit of a time jump here, but essentially Eramis some how get's thrown into the Prison of Elders. The Warden her old friend, Variks of House Judgement. She fights in the arena of the Prison. Never to know defeat. The Once-Shipstealer, entry I. The Prisoner: [quote]Today, she fights a Centurion of the broken Red Legion. Money changes hands. His pauldrons are scuffed with the memory of battle, and he's been given a War Hammer. He raises it to cheers and peacocks for the crowd. Eramis tosses her broken spear between her hands, waiting. Two glowing, pinpoint eyes focus on her as the Centurion turns. He swings the hammer at her, and she rolls out of the way. He swings it again, but she's behind him now and out of his sight line. Like a creature searching for a fly on its back, he struggles to find her. She jams the sparking head of her Arc spear into a notch in his armor and uses the leverage to vault herself onto his shoulder. He rages like a niirsai beast, all fury and stupidity, and nearly throws her from his shoulders. She tries to pull her spear free, but his giant hand knocks her senseless for a moment. The spear releases at the last minute; she grabs the top. Arc energy bites her palm as she jams the tip of the blade under the edge of his helmet and into his neck. He screams. Before he falls, she leaps off and lands on her feet. The crowd never cheers for her. Instead, they whisper. No prison will hold Eramiskel, they say. Eramiskel is a devil greater than the Devils themselves. Eramiskel does not know how to lose.[/quote] It is here she meets a young member of House Wolves. Praksis. A mind of machines, with a large ego. The Once-Shipstealer, entry II. The Wolf: [quote]The neighboring cell holds a Wolf. She ignores him at first. He's too greedy for her acknowledgement. Sometimes, he reminds her of the needy Dregs that followed her old Kell like carrion birds, squawking for attention and squabbling over his kills. What the Eliksni have lost, more than anything else, is dignity. Eventually, the Wolf learns to intrigue her. He calls himself Praksis, and he has ideas. But he's young. He thinks every idea he conceives of is the first and best of its kind. She suspects he's never had to report directly to a Kell. He likes to talk about machines—building them and bending them to his will. He has a mad idea about recapturing the Great Machine, binding it in Arc wire, and making it give them its power. He's been listening to the stories about Ghaul. She lets him talk, and she asks him questions. Every question is a whetstone. Every conversation is a test, and it will only take one failure to lose her interest.[/quote] Eventually she shows one test. A test to see where his ideology lies. [quote]"Did the Great Machine make the Eliksni strong, or did it draw out the strength within us?" she asks. Again, silence. She tilts her head back, looking at the dark ceiling of her cell. "Reliance is the greatest weakness. Remember that. You are playing with a child's stacking spheres." He's silent so long that she begins to wonder if he was worth her time. Then, he says, "I will create new spheres." She closes her eyes and smiles.[/quote] From here we jump to the day the Guardian's went on a war of Revenge. The Day of the Prison Break. Variks would go to speak to Eramis before he ochestrated his plans. He would go to her for help. He is but a scribe. He isn't a leader, but he needs one. The Once-Shipstealer, entry III. The Traitor: [quote]"Change Variks will make, yes? Change Variks will lead. But Variks, too, will need a leader…" Eramis laughs. "You wish to make me your prisoner-Kell?" "No," Variks cringes. "Variks wishes—" "I do not care what you wish, Variks the 'loyal'," she says. There are Eliksni who change in the shadow of prison bars. They fall. They shrink. But Eramis has grown. She must show Variks that even with this steel between them, he is smaller. He is still a Dreg pretending to be a vandal. "If there is justice in this world, one day, I will dock your last two arms and leave you for dead." Something in Variks's eyes hardens. They share a tense silence. Finally, he says, in a voice as cold as Ether, "Do not say that Variks did not try to help." He leaves, and Eramis settles herself again on the floor of her cell. Later that day, an alarm sounds. The warden projects a message in Variks's voice. The doors of her cell open, unprompted, as frenzied Eliksni and Cabal charge through the prison, thirsting for freedom.[/quote] Eramis' freedom does not come with all sunshines and rainbows for the new kell. In her efforts to obtain power, she gains the attention of the Hidden, and the soon-to-be kell, Misraaks the Forsaken. He would would foil her heist on the Vaults of the old Tower. Her chance to gain a foothold, she attempted to gain SIVA. For those not fully aware of the History of House Devils, they chose to take their splicers and augment them with the nanotechnology SIVA. They built their base of operations deep within the Plaguelands, augmenting it's natural space to house the neo-house. They were promptly defeated by Guardians. First the Replication complex fell and soon the Archon-Prime, Aksis would fall as well. SIVA was a powerful asset to the Eliksni, and Eramis' failure to gain it would be the spark of change in the House she was building. The Once-Shipstealer, entry IV. The Visionary: [quote]Atraks bows her head out of respect. "This failure has no sting for you," Eramis bites, bitter. Atraks keeps her head bowed. Then, slowly, she raises it. Her eyes dart over Eramis's face, searching. "I am too young to remember," she agrees. "But my eyes are clear. I can see what the Devils will be." Eramis opens her mouth to remind Atraks of her place, and then pauses. Something in her mind has unlocked. She stands to her full, towering height, stretches her second set of arms. "No," she says. Clarity has descended on her like a Riis rain shower. "The Devils are nothing." She begins to walk out of the room, purpose in her step, fire reignited in her belly. "The Devils are dead." House of Anarchy. House of Ruin. House of Eramis. "We must become something new."[/quote]