Dahlia

The Glorious Princept, Dahlia
Basic Information
Pronouns	they/them
Titles	The Glorious Princept Apokine Elect of Commitment
Place of Origin	Stel Kesh
People	Human Apostolosian (by adoption)
Connections
Af­fil­i­a­tion(s)	House Kesh Stel Apostolos Pact of Free States
Re­la­tion­ships	Cas'alear Rizah (sibling)
Meta Info
Season	The Road to PARTIZAN PARTIZAN PALISADE

“

It is time to right the wrongs perpetrated by the corrupt elites of Divinity…I will usher in a new age, a new millennium: the Millennium of Glory.”

– Dahlia, The Road to PARTIZAN 11: Summary & Recap

Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, is the Pact-aligned Elect of Commitment, the Apokine, and one of the claimant Princepts of the Divine Principality.

They are opposed in their claim to the title of Princept by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh.

Appearance

Dahlia's face cast is Jesse James Keitel, specifically wearing the bronze metallic makeup that Keitel wears in the linked image.

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 29: Honesty and Integrity Pt. 2.
Click here to reveal.

Dahlia wears a form-fitting black plug suit of Commitment's liquid stone, while Integrity protrudes from their back in spikes that plug into a hovering throne made of Commitment. Their suit can transform at their will, such as by forming their limbs into spears. Because they are integrated together with the two Divines, when Commitment takes the form of a room, that space is also them. It initially took the form of a black trapezoidal monument, its interior walls resembling striated marble displaying images and data. They soon alter the room to appear more like "a living room on a warm sunny day". The room bleeds when they are harmed.

Personality

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 29: Honesty and Integrity Pt. 2.
Click here to reveal.

Dahlia is a transhumanist and accelerationist who is on some anime sicko eternal war shit. Their goal is for humans, Branched, Divines, and other peoples to be pushed beyond their current limits into something completely new. They want the war with the Branched to last "until we're not human anymore," however long that takes, because they believe that war is the only thing that can create the change (and synthesis) they seek.

History and Involvement

Origins

Dahlia was born the heir to the throne of Kesh. During their childhood they were taken hostage by the Farmer but rescued by the then-Apokine. The Apokine raised them from then on — initially as a hostage of their own — but was swayed by Dahlia's skill and success into genuine fondness.

In the year of their majority, they attended the Summer Passage of Arms as a competitor and won six events, sweeping the Passage and gaining the title “The Six-Fold Champion.” In 1418, five years before the start of PARTIZAN, they declared their claim to both the status of Princept and of Apokine, causing military conflict between Kesh and Apostolos after Kesh's counterclaim of Cynosure.

As Apokine Dahlia is widely beloved by their Stel, having "proven themselves in court and on the battlefield in the ongoing war against the Branched". Through their war with Stel Kesh, they claim they will expose the Principality's misdeeds against Apostolos— the replacement of a historical Apokine with an imposter.

PARTIZAN

They remain focused on the front line of the Principality's war with the Branched, and do not appear directly. Cas'alear and the Swordbreakers join Millennium Break with their permission, and in "Millennium Break: The Storm Over Cruciat" they acknowledge the faction as legitimate in their capacity as Apokine.

This section contains spoilers for PARTIZAN 47: Operation Shackled Sun: Act 3: The Stories Told About the Things We Do.
Click here to reveal.

However, in the final narration of PARTIZAN, they affirm that they will bring Millennium Break to heel along with the other splintering factions of the Principality, thinking of them as no more than "their sibling's pet revolutionaries".

The Road to PALISADE

Although the Pact was first founded with the intent to push both Princepts out of power, by the Road to PALISADE Dahlia has taken lead of the group. However, even after the Pact of Free States is renamed, Dahlia leaves many matters to "senior members of Stels Apostolos and Columnar". In order to gain popular support, they have agreed that whoever wins the Principality's civil war will also win the right to the position of Apokine.

PALISADE

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 29: Honesty and Integrity Pt. 2.
Click here to reveal.

After the stellar combustors are destroyed, Dahlia holds an audience with Kalvin Brnine, who is at that time a prisoner of the Pact. They express admiration of Brnine's technological innovations in times of war, explain their philosophy, and attempt to recruit Brnine. The encounter ends with Brnine murdering Dahlia.

Relationships

Cas'alear

Cas'alear is Dahlia’s adopted sibling. The two grew up together, with Cas'alear recalling a trip they took with their family to the Isles of Logos when they were younger. Dahlia gave cas their blessing for cas to join Millennium Break as an envoy and attache from the Apokine, and in "The Storm Over Cruciat", Dahlia trusts that Cas'alear will be victorious in Cruciat to the point of considering it an afterthought.

Cas remains in contact with them as of "The Grand Premiere", in which they write Dahlia a letter expressing trepidation about the future of the Divine Principality; Dahlia does not seem to share their concerns.

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 29: Honesty and Integrity Pt. 2.
Click here to reveal.

By the time of PALISADE, Cas'alear has returned to working with Dahlia; Dahlia claims that this is because their sibling was not trusted by Millennium Break. Dahlia offers to send cas to Palisade along with additional Pact military aid, potentially folding STEREOMA into the Cause, although this offer is refused. With Dahlia's death, Cas'alear is the next in line to the position of Apokine.

Mech

Dahlia pilots Commitment, a Divine normally piloted by two people.

This section contains spoilers for The Road to PALISADE 04: Last Shooting.
Click here to reveal.

Dahlia wields Integrity in order to pilot Commitment. This makes them the Elect of two Divines. How Dahlia obtained either of these Divines is unknown, as Integrity vanished in "For The Queen" and Commitment normally belongs to Stel Columnar.

Trivia

• Like other elects and several other highborn members of the Kesh family, Dahlia is named after a plant, in this case a genus of flowers. Dahlias are related to the chrysanthemum and symbolize eternal commitment.

Appears in

The Road to PARTIZAN

• The Road to PARTIZAN 11: Summary & Recap (opening)

PARTIZAN

• PARTIZAN 28: Millennium Break: The Storm Over Cruciat (outro)
• PARTIZAN 47: Operation Shackled Sun: Act 3: The Stories Told About the Things We Do (outro)

PALISADE

• PALISADE 29: Honesty and Integrity Pt. 2

See also

• List of Elects