Iliana Hilts

Iliana Hilts, born Iliana Merko, was a Force-sensitive female Human who served as a member of the Lost Tribe of Sith and the leader of the Sisters of Seelah on 3,000 BBY. She tried to manipulate the Caretaker Varner Hilts to give her political favor for her faction on the Testament Day.

When Hilts ascended to the rank of Grand Lord, she became his wife, seeing in this marriage a mean to share Hilts' power over the Tribe. Merko didn't realize until too late, that under the laws of the Tribe, she had to become his unfailing protector, as the consort of the Grand Lord was to be executed at the latter's death.

She later bore a daughter named Takara Hilts, who served as the Prefect of Police of the Tahv Constabulary in 2,975 BBY. That same year, Takara prevented an assassination attempt against Grand Lord Hilts and apprehended the assassin Parlan Spinner, a Sith outcast. While Iliana and her daughter Takara desired Spinner's execution, Lord Hilts decided to spare the youth and sent him on an expeditionary mission to Eshkrene, in the planet's south pole. Spinner would later be responsible for freeing the ancient Sith Lord Remulus Dreypa which led to Dreypa's rebellion that devastated parts of Keshtah Minor.

Iliana led the Tribe's forces against the rebels and inflicted heavy casualties on Dreypa's forces during the Battle of the Marisota Floodplain. Most of the Sith forces were later wiped out during the Battle of Sessal Spire by Dreypa's Leviathans, reptilian Sithspawn capable of draining the life energies and knowledge of sentient beings. Iliana was almost devoured by a leviathan but was rescued by Spinner, who subsequently joined forces with Takara and Kaliska of the Doomed to stop Dreypa. Iliana was greatly weakened by the Leviathan and as a resulted aged by several decades. Despite the loss of her fighting prowess, Iliana was still able to lead the defense of Tahv which marked the death and defeat of Dreypa.

Background
Iliana Merko grew up during the Time of the Rot, a period of turmoil in the history of the Lost Tribe of Sith, a group of Human Sith who had become stranded on the planet Kesh during the Great Hyperspace War. Following the Night of the Upside-Down Meteor in 3,960 BBY which saw the disappearance of Grand Lord Lillia Venn, the Lost Tribe had descended into chaos and internal infighting with many rival Sith factions fighting for control of the Tribe. This conflict lasted for nine hundred years and devastated the continent of Keshtah Minor. Many of its cities including the capital Tahv ceased to functioned properly due to a lack of proper maintenance. At some time prior to 3,000 BBY, Iliana became a member of the Sisters of Seelah, an all-female faction of the Lost Tribe. The cult consisted entirely of women and believed that Seelah Korsin was the true founder of the Tribe and that her husband Yaru and Nida Korsin were traitors. Like their role model, the Sisterhood practiced selective breeding and saw themselves as perfect specimens of humanity.

Enter the Historian
In 3,000 BBY, Iliana Merko and her fellow Sisters of Seelah took over the Circle Eternal, a palace in the capital city Tahv, which had traditionally been the residence of the ruling Grand Lord. She visited the office of Caretaker Varner Hilts, who was entrusted with preserving the Lost Tribe's written historical records and lores. Hilts was an elderly sixty-year old man who was the Tribe's de-facto historian and who worked and resided in part of the Circle Eternal. Testament Day was going to be held within twelve days time and Iliana wanted to coerce the historian Hilts into giving her faction a political favor. Testament Day was a holiday held every twenty-five years where the final testament of Yaru Korsin, the founder of the Lost Tribe, was read out before the Tribe. For centuries, Testament Day had been the only time when the Tribe's entire hierarchy met peacefully together. Even after the Sith splintered into warrior factions following the Night of the Upside-Down Meteor, this day was respected as a time of peace out of deference to the Tribe's ancestors.

Iliana's armed followers waited within the palace atrium while Iliana herself walked into Hilts' office, demanding to see him. She threatened Hilt's Keshiri assistant Jaye Vuhld with her lightsaber in order to draw Hilts' attention. Iliana expressed her displeasure that the palace atrium contained no statues of Seelah Korsin but only contained statues of her estranged husband Yaru Korsin and her daughter Nida Korsin. Millennia earlier in 4,975 BBY, Seelah and her son Jariad Korsin had plotted to overthrow Yaru Korsin. This coup failed with Korsin killed and a crippled Seelah was banished to the Omen, the Sith warship that had brought the ancestors of the Lost Tribe to Kesh during the Great Hyperspace War. Since the failed coup, all statues of Seelah had been destroyed.

Iliana wanted to talk with Varner Hilts about the contents of Korsin's Testament before the other Sith arrived for the conclave in twelve days time. Hilts responded that everyone already knew about the contents of the Testament since it had been transcribed many times. Iliana reiterated that she knew the basic facts but then revealed the true reason for why she had come. Iliana was aware that Korsin's Testament had been used by different Sith factions to support their claims and to denigrate Seelah. Since the Sisters of Seelah had little to gain from Korsin's Testament, she tried to convince Hilts to change the Testament to favor her faction. Iliana wanted Varner Hilts to tell the other Sith that he and his Keshiri workers had discovered Korsin's "true" Testament which declared that Seelah and those who followed her teachings today were the legitimate heirs to power on Kesh. As part of her plan, the Sisters had produced a fake scroll that purported to be Korsin's "true" Testament.

By producing Korsin's "true" Testament, Iliana intended to uplift the Sisters of Seelah's standing within Sith society. However, the historian Hilts was unwilling to cooperate with Iliana's scheme. While he admired the Sith woman's initiative, Hilts contended that Iliana's plan would not work because the Caretakers in reality did not actually read Korsin's Testament. He explained that the Testament was actually read by a holo-recording of Yaru Korsin himself which was kept inside a holocron, a pyramidical crystal lattice device used by both the Jedi and the Sith to store historical memories and lesson. In an effort to buy time until Testament Day, Hilts lied to Iliana that the holocron would only activate on Testament Day. This did not stop Iliana from fiddling with the holocron in a vain attempt to activate the projector.

Reading the Testament
After four days, Iliana grew impatient with having to wait until Testament Day. Iliana's forces continued to occupy the Circle Eternal and imprisoned the workers in a room but left Varner Hilts and his secretary Jaye alone. Iliana and the Sisters' presence in Tahv was observed by the spies of several rival Sith factions including the Korsinite League, Golden Destiny, Force 57. The Sisters of Seelah guarded the Circle Eternal's entrance in an effort to deny entry to their opponents. Over this period, the number of visitors which included the Human Sith and their Keshiri followers grew which increased the risk of violence on the streets of Tahv. These Sith factions initially held off on violence but instead exploited the mass public gathering as a change to recruit people to their causes. This year's Testament Day also coincided with the Festival of Nida's Rise which commemorated the ascension of Nida Korsin to the office of Grand Lord every seventy-nine years. While there was a festive mood, there was also a risk that violence could escalate due to the high concentration of Sith factions.

Throughout this period, Iliana struggled to activate the holocron. Since it was a recording device, she speculated that it must have a power source which she guessed was a lignan crystal. Hilts told her if she found out how the holocron worked, she would become the Caretaker of the Tribe herself. While Hilts was physically attracted to Iliana's beauty, he disliked her arrogant, venal, and untrustworthy personality. Hilts was a bachelor who had never married due to his lowly position and the selfish nature of many Sith adherents. Frustrated at Hilt's unwillingness to help her to activate the Holocron, Iliana ordered her followers to harm Hilts' Keshiri secretary Jaye if he refused to cooperate. Hilts reluctantly took the Holocron in his hand and agreed to activate it.

At that point, Iliana and Varner were both interrupted by the arrival of two rival Sith factions: the Korsinite League and Force 57. The Korsinite League was a Sith cult that had been founded by a former slave a century earlier which emulated Yaru Korsin and Nida Korsin. Each member adopted the name "Korsin" as their first name and their leader was Korsin Bentado. Meanwhile, Force 57 were another Sith cult that practiced ritual mutilation and scarring and were devoted to the original non-Human 57 aliens that were aboard the Omen. Since Seelah Korsin had destroyed all origins related to the Red Sith, no living Sith or Keshiri could remember how they looked like. Varner Hilts was able to bring peace to the three factions by offering to do a reading from the holocron.

Iliana quickly got into an argument with Neera, the leader of Force 57. Neera blamed Seelah for banishing and marginalizing the original 57 from the Precious Pantheon. Iliana retorted that Seelah had been right to purge the original 57 and threatened to do the same to Neera and her followers. However, Varner Hilts restrained the two parties and reminded them that the Circle Eternal was not the place for violence. Korsin Bentado suggested that the three Sith factions take their fight outside into the streets where several other factions had gathered. Hilts was unwilling to let bloodshed take place and offered to do the holocron reading. When Iliana realized that Hilts had lied, he retorted that lying was a Sith characteristic.

Bentado reiterated that the Korsinite League would not accept a reading of Korsin's Testament on any day besides the anniversary which was scheduled to occur within eight days time. At that point, Varner Hilts convinced his Keshiri assistant Jaye to present his calculations concerning the Sandpipes. Jaye explained that the first Sith colonists had brought their Standard Calendar to Kesh which differed from the planet's length of days and years. Millennia earlier, the Sith had calibrated their Sandpipes to the magical chrono aboard the Omen prior to abandoning the ship. However, the sandpipes in Tahv flowed one second slower than those aboard the Omen. This time difference meant that the Standard Calendar was eight days ahead of the Keshiri calendar. Hilts and Jaye then deduced that Testament Day and the Festival of Nida's Rise actually occurred on that day.

Thus, Hilts was able to declare the Pantheon's Peace and ordered the assembled Sith to bring in the other Sith factions into the atrium.

Personality and traits
Iliana Hilts was a full two meters tall. She had bright red hair which was neatly coiffed and had flawless pink skin. She was a strong and able leader who was capable of leading her troops in combat. This enabled her to gain a leadership position in both the Sisters of Seelah and the Lost Tribe's military forces. In terms of personality, Iliana was known to have been arrogant, venal, and untrustworthy. She was also aggressive, had a fiery temperament, and was willing to use any means necessary to get what she wanted.

Powers and abilities
Iliana Hilts was skilled in lightsaber combat as with many other members of the Lost Tribe of Sith.

Appearances

 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pantheon
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Secrets
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pandemonium
 * Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith 1: Spiral, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith 2: Spiral, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith 3: Spiral, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith 4: Spiral, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith 5: Spiral, Part 5