Ory'hara is the messiah in the Novaverse, spoken of in prophecy. The word is a Polaris interpretation of a Vell-os concept. The Vell-os view it as the person who will release them from servitude, while the Polaris view it as the person who will show them the way to repay their debt to the Vell-os.
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Pronouns
Ory'hara and the pilot are referred to in this article with it/its/itself pronouns.
The weaves of life are a phenomenon affected by the willpower of martial artists among the Wild Geese, Heraan, Nil'kemorya and Vell-os to influence combat in their favor. To the uninitiated, this looks like exploiting mechanical advantages or luck. Training is required to visualize the weaves, but any human can do it. However the Ory'hara learns this faster and in a subtly different way where it sees this as a dance rather than a weave.
"In learning Heron style, you are taught to read and direct the "Weave" of combat. Subconsciously, all of us fight to a pattern and rhythm. Heron Style teaches us to detect it and control it. It isn't so much that you defeat your opponent, but he defeats himself, if you force the "weave" to do so. It is hard to explain, but once felt, and mastered, it makes all combat easier, from one on one, to mammoth battles between hundreds of ships. There is one teacher Karlaekaar, to whom the most promising students are sent. It is said he imprints the ability to read and control the "weave" on the student subconsciously. This makes their "weave" unreadable, and therefore very dangerous." ― Eamon Flannigan
After two of the three times that the pilot is named Ory'hara, they end up developing (through martial arts training) powerful non-telepathic abilities to influence and interpret the weaves of life in the galaxy. These abilities grant a greater understanding of the motives of others and are powerful in combat. A formative Ory'hara can be defeated by a sufficiently powerful telepath.
While the Ory'hara is not a telepath, Vell-os telepaths refer to the method of construction for their ships and weapons as utilizing weaves. The Ory'hara can manifest similar weapon-like effects with weaves, as it once formed a hurricane of telekinetic force centered on itself that scattered grown men like leaves. It's possible that the difference lies in the energy generation of the Vell-os: as the Ory'hara is not a telepath, it cannot generate the energy required to form telepathic constructs.
Through an action known as 'merging with the universe' or 'stillness', the Ory'hara can defeat any warrior in the galaxy, protect itself and others from the inhuman Krypt-mind and even protect an armada of spaceships during a fleet action. This power provides self-protection equal to T2 Telepathic Strength. When other experienced practitioners of weaving meditate on the universe during this occurrence, they observe the pilot instead.
Undertaking this action leads to profound isolation from its fellow humans and the more that it does this, the more the Ory'hara loses its sense of self and becomes at risk of disappearing as a person. Despite this, it's theorized that an Ory'hara will appear again in the far future when they are needed by the species. This reflects the translation that Mu'Randa gave of the word as 'eternal or recurring vigilance'.
Ory'harans[]
Polaris Storyline[]
Mu'Randa names the pilot Ory'hara for their willingness to always help, surprising her fellow Polarans.
The pilot gains a comprehensive knowledge of weavery by training with Eamon Flannigan, Mu'Feren and Nil'kemorya master Arado.
The pilot undertakes successively more extreme actions using its ability to merge with the universe to get them through these trials. It goes from destroying an Auroran armada, to surviving Krypt, to defeating Llyrell, to defending the Polaris armada from the Federation and Auroran navies during a fullscale invasion.
When pressed, the Ory'hara admits it could probably destroy a world if it wanted to.
It begins to lose itself more and more to their union with the universe. At the end there, it's only Mu'randas pleading that stops the pilot from disappearing. When it's ready to pass on, it goes to the Za'iuso system and weaves a planet named Ar'Za Ory'hara into existence as a memorial to itself.
The Future[]
The Polaris are assimilated into the Auroran Empire and Federation, ending the 'First Period of Disunity'. Centuries later, a period known as the 'Second Period of Disunity' culminates in the Shard War, which sees death on a massive scale. This too is ended by a person named Ory'hara.
It takes another fifty millennia, but humanity finally transcends. They leave the word "Ory'hara" etched onto every stone they ever laid, much to the confusion of younger races.
Rebellion Storyline[]
"Don't worry about it meaning anything, the computer just spits them out randomly." ― Frandall
In the mission answer Polaris summons, the pilot is assigned the code-name Ory-Hara by a computer system.
Short Track[]
"An interesting piece of trivia don't you think?" ― Mu'Randa
In the mission take Mu'Randa home, Mu'Randa states that Ory'hara means 'eternal or recurring vigilance' but it also indicates stealth and cunning. This is reflective of its feat taking the Polaris Ambassador home without being detected despite the security leak of the Rebels.
With the advantages in time granted by the Holo-scanner, no knowledge of weaving is ever developed by the pilot. Frandall's identity is uncovered not through weaving, but through a hint dropped by Eamon Flannigan.
Long Track[]
"You have the Ory'hara in you." ― Llyrell
In the mission talk to Vell-os, Llyrell states that Ory'hara means 'the guardian spirit that lies beneath the currents of life' and that the pilots nature as a Rebel mirrors that. The pilot ends up developing powerful weaving on this path by training under Eamon Flannigan and Llyrell. The implication is that as the Rebels were running out of time to foil the Bureau's plot, the pilot needed to develop more extreme abilities to compensate for its past failures.
It ends up defeating the Nil'kemoryas 'fatal convergence' technique where two fighters can always defeat a single opponent. This confrontation demonstrates that fighting with weaves doesn't have to be flashy: apparently, this all occurred while sitting leisurely at a bar. Llyrell attempts a similar strategy and is only defeated at the last second by using 'stillness', which appears to be an analogue to 'merging with the universe'.
As a result of its new ability with weaving, the pilot begins to gain a greater awareness of the events surrounding it. It uses this to unmask its supervisor Geoff Daniels as Frandall by itself and even detect that Frandall is suspicious that this ability could uncover his deeper and darker secrets.
The Future[]
The pilot never loses its sense of self as a Rebel. It is implied that it simply laid low and lived as a simple freighter captain. Regardless its impact was long-lasting as future legendary president Oriallo Pentecost said its name as his dying words.
Ory'hara is mentioned as a recurring figure who brings humanity back from cataclysmic setbacks in the epilogue. It's also the last word spoken by a human before they transcended past the veil. This takes ten millennia.
Non-Ory'harans[]
Association Storyline[]
Weaves and martial arts are not encountered in this storyline.
The Future[]
The pilot does not become a saviour of any sort, instead opting to allow others to be the stewards of the universe.
Bureau Storyline[]
The pilot is effortlessly apprehended by Nil'kemorya upon landing on their headquarters. When it is returned to their vessel to be banished from the station, its efforts to resist are turned upon themselves "through a trick of mechanical advantage" to hurry it along faster.
The Future[]
In the epilogue of the Bureau Storyline, the pilot becomes sovereign over all the peoples of the galaxy and executes a plan to reshape humanity into its own image, taking up the mantle of a fallen figure who challenges God.
Heraan Storyline[]
According to Eamon Flannigan in the WG life path, Karlaekaar trains the pilot to control the weave subconsciously during 'Receive Training from Karlaekaar', which makes it undetectable and dangerous.
The Future[]
In the epilogue of the Heraan Storyline, the Vell-os gift the Key to the Shard's Final Creed to the council KalHallarn made, supposedly to save them from a future cataclysm. In ten millennia humanity is ready to transcend after a great golden age. KarHallarn is the word whispering around the abandoned worlds that humanity left behind as younger races discover them, even though everything that humans built has become dust. It's implied that this is the result of a solitary guardian spirit and KarHallarn supplanted the concept of Ory'hara.
Vell-os Storyline[]
Weaves are described as being used to form the Vell-os telepathic effects.
The pilot is also a fit for the Vell-os prophecy in this story, but it is never named Ory'hara.
The Future[]
The pilot joins with Krypt and the entire Vell-os race to become a god. They use their godly power to restore the destroyed Auroran homeworlds and Vellos to boot. As almost an afterthought, Prime releases the Bureau and Moash's dirty laundry to the public. The pilot chills beyond the veil with its telepathic buddies until the rest of humanity finally joins it, fifty millennia later. Then, they conquer the higher planes together.