Elala Cisne

Elala Cisne
Character Profile
Also known as Alela Tiane
Born 3003[1]
Profession Gossip reporter
Children Dalma Humphreys

Elala Cisne was the mother of Dalma Humphreys. She was depicted as a small, brunette woman with green eyes and countless freckles and a long, straight nose.[2]

Character History[edit]

Elala Cisne was the love of Richard Humphreys' life, and he had vowed to marry her and no other. She became pregnant when both she and Richard were still very young, though sources disagree on the exact date of their daughter's birth. They sought an abortion, but were found out. Since abortion is a capital offense in the Duchy of Andurien, the doctor, who had performed more than a dozen abortions already, was executed within a month due to overwhelming proof.[3]

The entire affair was subsequently covered up. Dame Catherine Humphreys exiled her son Richard and banished Elala Cisne into the Capellan Confederation to separate the couple. Their daughter Dalma, who was two years old when her mother was sent away, was subsequently raised like Dame Humphreys' own child.[3]

When meeting his arranged fiancée Emma Centrella in person for the first time ten years later, Richard poignantly recalled seeing Elala for the last time "eight years, ten months and four days" ago (which would be 18 November 3021 from the context).[4]

Apparently estranged from his mother over the situation, Richard made it his life's quest to find Elala and reunite with her, though he only made headway after he had been recalled from exile (to marry Emma Centrella, which did not come to pass). Richard's younger sister Louise Humphreys finally found out that Elala was working as a gossip reporter for a music media enterprise in the Capellan Andarmax system. Richard's hired agent Tiun Kuan later found out that the Capellan media firm that had continuously employed her had strong economic ties to Helena Humphreys and assumed that they had most likely received a secret deposit from House Humphreys to employ Elala, who now called herself Alela Tiane, and provide for her, so that she would not return to the Duchy of Andurien.

During the Andurien/Canopian invasion of the Capellan Confederation the ultranationalistic Capellan Worm Cult spread to Andarmax and had a profound impact on the local music scene. Elala Cisne began researching into the sect in mid-December 3030 and became a cult member.

On 22 February 3031, Richard finally managed to meet Elala face to face on the Andarmax moon of Asimov. However, after a decade in exile she had turned her back on Andurien, embraced Capellan citizenship and married a Capellan man who was so fat that Richard thought of him as a fat Buddha statue. She rejected Richard and called their daughter Dalma a mistake.[2] Richard still joined the sect, just to be with Elala. After learning that he was Dame Humphreys' son they took him with them to the JumpShip Diamond aboard a gas tanker DropShip. Although Richard, effectively a hostage, was indifferent to the situation, the cultists were pursued by his bodyguards and Emma Centrella at the Andarmax jump point and confronted aboard their DropShip. Agitated, Elala drew a gun and shot one of the bodyguards (who would later die of her injuries). In the hands of the untrained Elala, the poorly handled firearm caused considerable damage inside the DropShip including a fire that could have killed all aboard. Elala was eventually subdued by Emma Centrella and brought back along with Richard.[5]

Since it was Elala's wish to return to the Confederation with her husband, Richard declined Emma's offer to send the captive Elala with him to Andurien in late March 3031; instead, he asked for Elala to be set free so that she could find happiness even if it was without him.[6]

Canonicity[edit]

Elala Cisne only appears in the apocryphal German novels Präludium and Gier (mentioned in the former, and featured as a minor character in the latter).

As neither book was translated or published in English language, they do not fall under the current definition of canon despite being official BattleTech products published by the official German license holder, Ulisses Spiele. The books, and by extension the character of Elala Cisne who is not mentioned elsewhere, must thus be considered apocryphal.

References[edit]

  1. In Präludium, p. 184: Richard Humphreys (born in 2998) notes that she was seventeen when he was twenty-two
  2. 2.0 2.1 Gier, pp. 296–298
  3. 3.0 3.1 Präludium, p. 184; Gier, p. 30
  4. Gier, p. 31
  5. Gier, pp. 313–322
  6. Gier, p. 327

Bibliography[edit]