Yala

Overview

Yala is a member of the God-like beings known as the First. Her name is derived from the word joy and is supposed to govern her personality, however it is evident from the series that she can express a wide range of emotions. However, she generally prefers things that will make her happy which always includes battle as she tends to avoid politics and petty arguments. Yala is one of the first six members of her race created after Altwaal, making her one of the most powerful members of the First. Yala serves as a stereotypical war goddess for the First and many members of her race are fearful of entering battle against her. This was most likely due to her actions in the Age of Wars lead by her people for centuries, during which, she undoubtedly demonstrated her military prowess against many of her peers. When the wars ended, most of the First chose to live peacefully on their home planet of Elysia. Yala was put in charge of military training for all members of the First. She also began a romantic relationship with Gannish, another member of the six. While they lived peacefully for sometime, Gannish was part of a group of First who decided that Altwaal no longer had the right to be their sole leader, and should step down, allowing a council to rule instead. Yala felt that this was a form of treason and wanted nothing to do with this idea. This caused a strain in their relationship, especially when an assassination was attempted on Altwaal by the goddess known as Tulity. Soon after this another age of civil war broke out among the First and lasted for centuries until Altwaal himself ended it. Yala was among Altwaals closest advisers while he decided what course of action to take next. Altwaal eventually made the decision himself when he created the Eidolon Rift and literally drew a line down the middle of the First’s home planet of Elysia, making it difficult to cross from one side to the other. On one side he created House Dexter, where Yala chose to stay, and on the other side, he created House Sinister. The First were allowed to choose which side they wanted to remain on, however Gannish could not choose between his ideals or his love and was permanently scarred in the creation of the Eidolon before he chose House Sinister.

Yala was soon placed on House Dexter’s council with Pyrem as the official leader of the House. This would infer that Yala is also considered one of the wisest members of the First, as House Dexter’s Council is chosen by mutual consent and only seats the most wise. Yala was also put in charge of military training for all of the members of House Dexter. Both she and Gannish would still remain in a relationship, although Gannish refused to cross the Eidolon Rift out of fear. However this was not the case for Yala as she made frequent trips over to House Sinister in order to see Gannish in secret. During the later years Yala would serve as a War Goddess to many mortal races and was the main Goddess for the Saurian race who called her Khyalhtua. After many years of peace, the status quo of the First was shattered when Sigil-Bearers were created, allowing humans to access God-like powers without the help of the First. Yala helped to investigate one particular Sigil-Bearer known asSamandahl Rey, who was of particular interest to her close friend and ally,Trenin. Yala was directly responsible for helping to test the limits of this Sigil-Bearer when she gave a portion of her power to a Weapon Master of the Saurian race. However Sam was still able to defeat him easily.

Yala soon went to Pyrem after she became concerned that Trenin was becoming too obsessed with Sam, especially considering the Sigil-Bearer’s current power-level. Soon after this, conflicts arose on Elysia as the Secundae known as Seahn began to rally a group of Secundae’s to challenge Pyrem’s leadership and demand an equal ranking among the First. Pyrem accepted this challenge and ordered Yala and Trenin not to interfere, much to Yala’s protest. Pyrem soon equipped Altwaal’s Gauntlet of Power and seemed fully prepared to kill Seahn if it came to that. However Pyrem was ambushed by members from House Sinister and Yala, who had been spying on the battle, quickly came to his aid. However, Pyrem was less than pleased as he demanded that she leave the battle in order to keep his honor. She conceded and quickly went back to Trenin and Ihroe in order to watch the rest of the battle. After Pyrem was defeated and taken prisoner by House Sinister, Yala and Trenin came up with a plan to rescue him themselves. When they arrived, both Yala and Trenin fought a number of House SInister’s members before Ingra herself inverted. This made Trenin weary and he quickly suggested leaving before Yala became too intoxicated on battle and decided to challenge Ingra herself, although the battle ended very quickly when Ingra simply teleported everyone to their respective homes.

With Pyrem safely returned back to House Dexter, Yala abdicated her seat on the council by choosing to go on a mission with Gannish in order to discover the true origin of the First. The two of them returned to Elysia with information of beings created before them, only to find themselves being attacked by a manipulated Dexter Council. They did not have much time to rest, however, as the creator of the First, Solusandra, soon returned to Elysia seeking Altwaals Weapons of Power. Solusandra then revealed to the First that she had created them and that they were nothing more than her toys as she wreaked havoc on their planet. This drove many of the First to leave Elysia to live out their lives as gods on other planets, rather than someones toys on Elysia, however Yala remained on Elysia to help clean up the destruction that was left in the wake of Solusandra’s short return. Not much is seen of Yala after this, due to the abrupt cancellation of the series when Crossgen comics filed for bankruptcy. In the following issues, the First prepared for war with the Negation Empire and would have gone into battle against their version of Gods known as Lawbringers, however this issue was never released.

Power

Yala is a member of the First, and as such is privy to a wide range of power. She is also one of the six and is second in power only to Altwaal. Yala has demonstrated a wide variety of power, such as flight, teleportation, healing, weapon creation, and power transference. However she seems to prefer exclusively using her vastly superior strength and combat prowess. She is also one of the most capable members of her race in terms of armed and unarmed combat, which is evident by the fact that she alone seems to have been put in charge of training all members of the First in the ways of battle for centuries. Due to her high ranking among the First, many of her peers are frightened when entering battle against her as very few have been known to escape her blade.