Darix Palkiren


 * "...and he stepped from the air wreathed in an arc of blue fire... he looked the beast in the face and smiled."

Darix Palkiren (born under another name, which he changed in his early life) is an Andar from the Andari homeworld, and the original founder of the Blackhole Corporation, and thus by extension was the High Commander of the Blackhole Corporation Military Division and acting Emperor of the Blackhole Multidimensional Realms. Whether or not he can still be said to hold these titles is questionable, as he was later exiled and sealed off from his people by the End. Following this, he meets Thesius Fastoreleaor and the pair travel together for some time attempting to fight back against the End threat. This constitutes the main Arc of Time-Cloaked.

Darix is imprinted with a type-44 zinium nanoform structure, and from this he derives his abilities to open portals to other dimensions and influence the world in other ways. This makes him an effectuated transdimensional.

Darix Palkiren is given the title of the Thane of Space.

Background
See also: The Andari

Originally a physicist, Palkiren discovered the science of aceionics, and thus a potential limitless energy source derived from subatomic particles known as aceions. The potential for technological development was immense, as aceionic circuitry could be far more compact than other methods, and aceions could interact with the fabric of the universe in fundamental ways.

Instead of announcing his discoveries, Darix founded the Blackhole Corporation as a front to further develop the new technology under his direct supervision, in an act that was one part philanthropy, one part ambition and one part paranoia. In secret, Palkiren worked on the synthesis of zine and the discovery and use of hiacil, the cornerstones of Andari technology.

As the Blackhole Corporation slowly grew as an underground organisation, gaining allies and facing almost no barriers due to its advanced technological devices, Darix worked on the first iteration of the BlackholeAI, and remained at the top of the power structure throughout (although decision-making was a largely democratic process) to manage affairs in his rapidly growing seperate corner of civilisation.

The development of faster-than-light travel allowed settlers under the command of the Blackhole Corporation to travel to and colonise other worlds, essentially becoming a seperate civillisation (the Andari). Darix Palkiren, always having been ambitious and caught up in fantasy, organised the grandly-named Blackhole Pangalactic Realms (later known as the Blackhole Multidimensional Realms, ruled by the Blackhole Corporation with himself acting as the Emperor. Whilst this could be seen as an act of a narcissist, the realms were essentially a utopia, with all real worries eradicated. The people were happy living in the realms and as such did not mind Darix's power grab as long as he did not adversely affect their lives, something which Darix never held with. His one insistence was a certain focus in military power, but this made sense as the Andari expanded into an inhabited and hostile universe. Darix created the Andari high-language Fen Vibrile, and united all humans (after a long campaign of expansion into the seperate Earth surface population) under the banner of the realms.

Darix maintained his position for more than 9000 years, before when entering a new universe as part of the testing of type-44 nanoform structures, being attacked by End Drones and blocked off from his home-universe (as well as Andari outposts in other universes). This event caused the End to enter the Homeworld, and triggered the 900-year Andari-End War.

Post-Exile
Following his exile from his home universe Darix met the Dialsar Thesius Fastoreleaor, when he rescued him from end captivity as they attempted to convert him. Darix escaped with Thesius to plane far removed from Cerdual, and for a while despaired of his inability to return to his empire. Eventually, and somewhat grudgingly, he began a journey with Thesius, the eventual goal being to destroy the End and liberate both of their Homeworlds. As this quest stretched out from months to years and from years to decades, however, it transformed from a mere single-minded pursuit of a goal to a more general tour of the multiverse. This was seen as necessary once it became clear that a direct assault by two individuals (even be they near-demisighbes) was not sufficient to fell Endvoil.

Darix was somewhat humbled by his sudden loss of power, even bitter and resentful at times. However, he managed to find new purpose in his travels with Thesius. Their journey stretched to a centuries-long endeavour, but all the while the spreading curse of the End and the memory of his Homeworld grew stronger. Darix and Thesius continued working, slowly and surely, to attempt to bring down the End, culminating in their discovery of their larger role in the Great Cycle and the formation of the Time-Cloaked Order.

Abilities
Darix has a number of abilities beyond the norm. So far he has demonstrated:
 * Combat training, especially with Andari weaponry and battlestaffs.
 * Worldwalking.
 * Spacebending to a varying degree, but never beyond relatively small area effects unless under special circumstances. This includes teleportation and dimensional warping.
 * Force-shield generation (relatively small shields).
 * Fast regenerative healing (within reasonable bounds).
 * Vision in all areas of the electromagnetic spectrum (extended fields allow the interception of radio waves).
 * The ability to command Andari troops where they are not corrupted or not untrue Andari (due to rank).
 * Instant mental connection with Andari robotic entities (for better or for worse).

Personality
Darix would claim to be a pacifist, and indeed has never exacted violence needlessly upon any fellow human. While this has held for alien races for the most part, one must regard Darix as being less stringent in his own personal philosophy in this respect. Possibly partially as a result of personal paranoia for his own position and his empire, Darix always insisted in keeping the Blackhole Corporation Military Division one of the largest groups in his empire, with much of the effort of the BlackholeAI going into military research and almost every citizen undergoing some basic military instruction. It could be said that Darix was an extreme patriot, and would use any force necessary when his people or allies were threatened. However, serious threats were few and far apart prior to the Andari-End War.

Darix seemed to believe in fighter's honor, and trained to expert level in a huge variety of different combat techniques. From his many training bouts against robotic adversaries, it could be said that he somewhat enjoyed a skillful fight when nobody was actually being hurt.

Darix seemed to be attracted to power, almost hoarding knowledge of aceonics to himself and setting himself up as High Commander and acting Emperor. He had some narcissistic tendencies, and would often strive to aggrandise himself. However, he also intensly feared this part of himself and so would always seek to keep himself subdued in everyday life. His desire to be a good person was even more important to his self-image than his position, and so he would often berate himself for many aspects of his view on the world. While he would normally act confident in his role as the ruler of the Andari, he would always react with extreme worry and insecurity when it was suggested to him that his rule was in any way a dictatorship or that his power was in any way tyrannical. It is possible that Darix debated this internally throughout his life.

While he had many flaws, it would be wrong to call Darix a bad person. His direct decisions upon the lives of Andari citizens, and almost always deferred to the almost infallible judgement of the BlackholeAI to best improve the lives of his people. He fought for justice and the wellbeing of others, and vehemently opposed the End.

Notes and Trivia

 * Although, throughout Time-Cloaked, Darix has been revealed to have many flaws, when one considers his background it might be very easy to see Darix as having Marty-Stu traits. This is partially to do with the ultimate origin of the character concept which cannot be avoided, but it should be noticed that in Time-Cloaked, where most major characters have almost God-like powers, Darix is not actually that much out of place.
 * Darix has a Tumblr blog from which he attempts to make contact with our primative society. (It is run by Blackhole.)