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Description
"In the Third Rebirth of Thanagar, a powerful empire rose to supremacy on the shores of the warm southern oceans. The Aedngh Empire was ruled by the Semash Royal Family, with charismatic prince Kodarc Semash as their figure head. Kodarc was both a brilliant strategist and conniving negotiator with a weakness for... shall we say... feminine company; his honor, sensibility, and diligence led to him being simply known as The Gentleman.

But, his regalia was just a mask. Kodarc was betrothed to Xay, princess of the Hol Kingdom. One night, she was seen escaping his bed chambers in a fright and he was chasing her. The Hol soldiers seized him and she confessed that Kodarc had raped her and that she had seen a private dungeon filled with missing women. Kodarc pleaded his innocence, but he was found guilty in the court of public opinion and executed. His head was chopped off. His jaw was broken in twain and given to the victim and her family, as was custom back then. And the flesh of his left eye was made into a candle that was circulated into public like a common necessity.

And... that's it. Reparations the Semash family gave to the Hol for the assault was later manipulated into the Hol annexing Aedngh and dissolving their monarchy. The Semash died off with no heirs, as the child produced by the rape was seen being dashed against stone by the disgusted mother.

This story has been relayed by Vetalla Dae, the head of Hol's new Museum of Thanagarian History. Three years ago (by human measurements), the planet Thanagar had both ended a long-running civil war between Hol and the Nation of Thal, and began a technological revolution with the discovery of a new precious metal called Nth.Both came about with the aide of the Justice League, who came to Thanagar to find their lost teammates and came across Mongul, an outsider manipulating the war to get his hands on the Nth. Thanagar, ruled by a joint union between Hol and Thal, is entering a confederacy of other planets (which shared their cultures and technologies with them) and now is in the jurisdiction of the Spectrum Lantern Alliance; a platoon of Yellow Lanternsmade a temporary HQ in the Hol capital of Kuhfu, led by Chay Andar, son of Prince Fel Andarof Hol. The war initiated because Shayera Thal, princess of Thal and formerly Hawkwoman, a temporary JL member, refused to marry Fel, but now that the war is over with no need for a political marriage, Shayera is free to be with her girlfriend Vetalla. Vetalla plans on making the tale of The Gentleman part of the museum's criminal law exhibit, having discovered the axe Kodarc was executed with and what she believes is the candle that was made from his eye. Shayera and Vetalla left the museum later to go out to dinner when a crazed Thanagarian man rampaged through the city with older weapons used by the military. The New Thanagarian Peacekeepers, led by Col. Katar Hol, Prince Fel's cousin, were in hot pursuit as the madman claimed that their technological revolution and alliance with alien planets will being forth the wrath of the Seven Deities of Thanagar.He even took an old firebomb and set the Museum they were at on fire. The Peacekeepers caught him and Shayera and Vetalla managed to put out the fire before it could damage the artefacts. Unfortunately, the candle Vetalla found was melted, so now it was useless. After she stored it away in a vault they made for damaged property, it began bubbling and emitting an ectoplasmic vapor...
Later, the party for the dedication of the museum was in full swing, with both elites and locals in attendance. The Hol and Thal royal families were also there, with Princess Shayera bringing Vetalla as her date. In the midst of revelry, Katar and Shayera stepped out for a small conversation. Katar, whom Shayera first came out to as Bisexual, confessed that he loves Shayera, and that he deserves a chance. Shayera, disgusted, refused, but Katar forced a kiss from her. She punched him right in the stomach and left. She couldn't find Vetalla so they could leave the museum together, but then saw that the executioner's axe in the criminal law exhibit began floating and had killed a man. The axe began materializing a Thanagoid shape, which took on a skeletal form with ancient clothing, a missing lower jaw, and a single red eye. The ghost introduced himself to the party goers as Kodarc Semash, the Gentleman, and that he has "business to resolve". Shayera and Katar tried to take him down, but to no avail. The Gentleman escaped both the Peacekeepers and the Lanterns. They caught up with him when he bashed Vetalla in the head with the blunt side of his axe, rendering her unconscious, and flew away with her. Shayera almost caught up, but he phased through a building and lost her.
Shayera, Katar, Chay, and the Lanterns determined that Kodarc could be taking her to the ruins of the Semash castle where the Aegndh Empire's capital city was, and they prepared for battle. They reached the ruins of the castle and searched the area, but were attacked by undead phantoms of Aegish soldiers. The Lanterns technology was ineffective, but Shayera's Nth metal mace, the weapon she uses as "Hawkwoman", is perfectly capable of injuring ectoplasmic constructs. The Yellow Lanterns quickly extracted some Nth particles to make into weapons for themselves, and gave Katar's particle beam rifle that same capability. The Gentleman's haunting voice mockingly proclaimed that the ritual will soon begin, and "blood shall repay blood." They realized that there is still a citadel for an old cult of Onimar Syn, one of the Seven Devils of Thanagar, hidden in the misty mountains to the north, and they could make it in time. They saw the old cave entrance leading there when they arrived, but saw that the structure itself had been excised from the ground and now floating like some form of tower, held by two ectoplasmic claws. More phantoms assaulted our heroes, and Shayera was the first to reach the altar Vetalla was chained to. As Shayera undid the chains, Vetalla sobbingly confessed that she saw her and Katar kissing and thought she was cheating on her. Shayera didn't get the chance to explain herself as The Gentleman struck Vetalla in the back with the axe. The blood pooled into the altar and a tempest whipped up as the image of Onimar Syn began materializing. The Gentleman explained that he wants revenge against Xay's bloodline for framing him for those atrocities so that Hol can take over his empire, and that offering the blood of Vetalla, a true descendant of Hol (making her Katar's distant cousin), to Onimar Syn will honor the deal he made with that devil for revenge. Hawkwoman and the Gentleman battled until she shattered the executioner's axe with her mace. This undid the deal with Onimar Syn, and he began retracting into the underworld. He tried to drag Kodarc down with him, but Chay used his Nth-infused Yellow Lantern energy to pull him back so he can face trial in Lantern custody.
In the aftermath of all of this, Vetalla survived, Katar apologized for forcing himself on Shayera, and she reaffirmed her commitment to Vetalla.

Notes:
* "Rebirth" is a Thanagarian coloquialsm for "er" or "age".
* The Gentleman's real name, Kodarc Semash, is how I spell the pronunciation of "James Craddock", the mainstream, non-alien name of the Gentleman Ghost.
* Xay didn't actually dash her son against the rocks. In fact, the conception was from consentual sex.
* Chay Andar, of the Yellow Lantern Corps, has a Lantern device shaped like a mask he wears right on his face.

Description
"In the Third Rebirth of Thanagar, a powerful empire rose to supremacy on the shores of the warm southern oceans. The Aedngh Empire was ruled by the Semash Royal Family, with charismatic prince Kodarc Semash as their figure head. Kodarc was both a brilliant strategist and conniving negotiator with a weakness for... shall we say... feminine company; his honor, sensibility, and diligence led to him being simply known as The Gentleman.

But, his regalia was just a mask. Kodarc was betrothed to Xay, princess of the Hol Kingdom. One night, she was seen escaping his bed chambers in a fright and he was chasing her. The Hol soldiers seized him and she confessed that Kodarc had raped her and that she had seen a private dungeon filled with missing women. Kodarc pleaded his innocence, but he was found guilty in the court of public opinion and executed. His head was chopped off. His jaw was broken in twain and given to the victim and her family, as was custom back then. And the flesh of his left eye was made into a candle that was circulated into public like a common necessity.

And... that's it. Reparations the Semash family gave to the Hol for the assault was later manipulated into the Hol annexing Aedngh and dissolving their monarchy. The Semash died off with no heirs, as the child produced by the rape was seen being dashed against stone by the disgusted mother.

This story has been relayed by Vetalla Dae, the head of Hol's new Museum of Thanagarian History. Three years ago (by human measurements), the planet Thanagar had both ended a long-running civil war between Hol and the Nation of Thal, and began a technological revolution with the discovery of a new precious metal called Nth.Both came about with the aide of the Justice League, who came to Thanagar to find their lost teammates and came across Mongul, an outsider manipulating the war to get his hands on the Nth. Thanagar, ruled by a joint union between Hol and Thal, is entering a confederacy of other planets (which shared their cultures and technologies with them) and now is in the jurisdiction of the Spectrum Lantern Alliance; a platoon of Yellow Lanternsmade a temporary HQ in the Hol capital of Kuhfu, led by Chay Andar, son of Prince Fel Andarof Hol. The war initiated because Shayera Thal, princess of Thal and formerly Hawkwoman, a temporary JL member, refused to marry Fel, but now that the war is over with no need for a political marriage, Shayera is free to be with her girlfriend Vetalla. Vetalla plans on making the tale of The Gentleman part of the museum's criminal law exhibit, having discovered the axe Kodarc was executed with and what she believes is the candle that was made from his eye. Shayera and Vetalla left the museum later to go out to dinner when a crazed Thanagarian man rampaged through the city with older weapons used by the military. The New Thanagarian Peacekeepers, led by Col. Katar Hol, Prince Fel's cousin, were in hot pursuit as the madman claimed that their technological revolution and alliance with alien planets will being forth the wrath of the Seven Deities of Thanagar.He even took an old firebomb and set the Museum they were at on fire. The Peacekeepers caught him and Shayera and Vetalla managed to put out the fire before it could damage the artefacts. Unfortunately, the candle Vetalla found was melted, so now it was useless. After she stored it away in a vault they made for damaged property, it began bubbling and emitting an ectoplasmic vapor...
Later, the party for the dedication of the museum was in full swing, with both elites and locals in attendance. The Hol and Thal royal families were also there, with Princess Shayera bringing Vetalla as her date. In the midst of revelry, Katar and Shayera stepped out for a small conversation. Katar, whom Shayera first came out to as Bisexual, confessed that he loves Shayera, and that he deserves a chance. Shayera, disgusted, refused, but Katar forced a kiss from her. She punched him right in the stomach and left. She couldn't find Vetalla so they could leave the museum together, but then saw that the executioner's axe in the criminal law exhibit began floating and had killed a man. The axe began materializing a Thanagoid shape, which took on a skeletal form with ancient clothing, a missing lower jaw, and a single red eye. The ghost introduced himself to the party goers as Kodarc Semash, the Gentleman, and that he has "business to resolve". Shayera and Katar tried to take him down, but to no avail. The Gentleman escaped both the Peacekeepers and the Lanterns. They caught up with him when he bashed Vetalla in the head with the blunt side of his axe, rendering her unconscious, and flew away with her. Shayera almost caught up, but he phased through a building and lost her.
Shayera, Katar, Chay, and the Lanterns determined that Kodarc could be taking her to the ruins of the Semash castle where the Aegndh Empire's capital city was, and they prepared for battle. They reached the ruins of the castle and searched the area, but were attacked by undead phantoms of Aegish soldiers. The Lanterns technology was ineffective, but Shayera's Nth metal mace, the weapon she uses as "Hawkwoman", is perfectly capable of injuring ectoplasmic constructs. The Yellow Lanterns quickly extracted some Nth particles to make into weapons for themselves, and gave Katar's particle beam rifle that same capability. The Gentleman's haunting voice mockingly proclaimed that the ritual will soon begin, and "blood shall repay blood." They realized that there is still a citadel for an old cult of Onimar Syn, one of the Seven Devils of Thanagar, hidden in the misty mountains to the north, and they could make it in time. They saw the old cave entrance leading there when they arrived, but saw that the structure itself had been excised from the ground and now floating like some form of tower, held by two ectoplasmic claws. More phantoms assaulted our heroes, and Shayera was the first to reach the altar Vetalla was chained to. As Shayera undid the chains, Vetalla sobbingly confessed that she saw her and Katar kissing and thought she was cheating on her. Shayera didn't get the chance to explain herself as The Gentleman struck Vetalla in the back with the axe. The blood pooled into the altar and a tempest whipped up as the image of Onimar Syn began materializing. The Gentleman explained that he wants revenge against Xay's bloodline for framing him for those atrocities so that Hol can take over his empire, and that offering the blood of Vetalla, a true descendant of Hol (making her Katar's distant cousin), to Onimar Syn will honor the deal he made with that devil for revenge. Hawkwoman and the Gentleman battled until she shattered the executioner's axe with her mace. This undid the deal with Onimar Syn, and he began retracting into the underworld. He tried to drag Kodarc down with him, but Chay used his Nth-infused Yellow Lantern energy to pull him back so he can face trial in Lantern custody.
In the aftermath of all of this, Vetalla survived, Katar apologized for forcing himself on Shayera, and she reaffirmed her commitment to Vetalla.

Notes:
* "Rebirth" is a Thanagarian coloquialsm for "er" or "age".
* The Gentleman's real name, Kodarc Semash, is how I spell the pronunciation of "James Craddock", the mainstream, non-alien name of the Gentleman Ghost.
* Xay didn't actually dash her son against the rocks. In fact, the conception was from consentual sex.
* Chay Andar, of the Yellow Lantern Corps, has a Lantern device shaped like a mask he wears right on his face.