Vaxa Ral
Vaxa Ral (formerly Vaxa Ukinix) is a Betazoid and the disputed matriarch of the Ninth House of Betazed.
Stats
Family
Vaxa is the elder sister of Astradem Ukinix, and the grandmother of Keehani Ral.
Early Life
Vaxa was the first born to her parents, making her the next in line to the matriarchy of the Ninth House of Betazed.
After her brother Astradem Ukinix was stripped of his title, her parents offered Vaxa for betrothal to a member of the Sixth House of Betazed along with a large amount of land. However this arrangement fell through when it was discovered that Vaxa was pregnant to “Itum Ral”, an agricultural scientist employed by the Ninth house. Vaxa's parents threatened to strip Vaxa of her title, but with mounting legal action involving the other Betazed houses, Vaxa's parents feared that would have weakened the Ninth House legally and politically. Instead, Vaxa was forcibly offered a plot of land owned by the Ninth House in the Piri Islands, effectively placing Vaxa in exile.
Not long after moving to the Piri Islands with Itum, Vaxa gave birth to a boy, Cigrun.
Dominion War and Occupation
Itum was killed during the Dominion Invasion in 2374. Cigrun subsequently became a resistance fighter, and met an unknown Betazed female, with whom he had a relationship with. Cigrun and the unknown female had a daughter, Keehani, in 2375. Cigrun and Keehani's mother were killed three days after Keehani's birth.
Keehani was delivered to Vaxa, who raised her and became her guardian. The details of how Keehani was delivered to her grandmother are unknown.
Post War Name Change
During the Dominion invasion, Vaxa's parents and two younger sisters were killed. While Vaxa should have officially became the matriarch of the Ninth house, the other houses took control of the house given that Vaxa was in exile, and that the Ninth House was in a "much weakened position" after the war.
Soon after, representatives of all of the other houses (excluding the Fifth House who refused to get involved) asked Vaxa to abdicate her title. When she refused, they threatened to take her plot of land away from her. Eventually after multiple protracted legal battles, Vaxa and the Houses settled on letting Vaxa retain her land and her title, provided she changed her and Keehani's family name. Vaxa chose the name "Ral", the family name of her dead de facto partner Itum.
Vaxa kept her matriarchy a secret after her name change.
Disclosure of Matriarchy
In early 2396, Vaxa was diagnosed with rare and acute neural disorder, possibly a side effect of Empathic Synaesthesia. After her diagnosis, she told Keehani of her exiled matriarchy. Keehani, initially enraged, began taking steps so that Vaxa could retake control of the Ninth House.