Genera Seithe was a Human dictator of Daispin, the second and last to hold the office.
Biography[]
Rise to power[]
Born on Daispin in 69 ABY, he grew up regarding Tristarian Zelon as a hero and loathing the Tantaari, whom he believed both inferior to Humans and obstructing the progress of civilization by clinging to primitive traditions rather than yielding to Zelon. In adolescence he trained to be a soldier, and was considered so intelligent and authoritative that he was made an officer at the age of twenty. He was a captain by 92 ABY, the year of the Battle of Enkhara Na'wen.
The siege of the capital changed Seithe's life. Zelon's army had staged against the Tantaari government, still nominally in control of Daispin, and even Zelon's mighty war machine was hard-pressed for victory. Seithe perceived a weakness in the Tantaari lines and led his company, along with three others whose captains he bullied into following him, on an all-out assault. They broke the line and crippled several Tantaari artillery weapons, opening a path for Zelon's reinforcements. In the chaos, Zelon led his forces to shatter the Tantaari army and rout its members, capturing or killing all its generals.
Seithe was given the honor of overseeing the executions of the Tantaari leaders, including the main line of the Kazraiin dynasty, but publicly demurred when credit was bestowed for the victory itself, joining the Human populace at large in praising Zelon for the victory. Both impressed by his subordinate's tactical skill and courage and pleased by the man's apparent lack of troublesome ambition, Zelon—now dictator of Daispin—promoted Seithe rapidly, eventually installing him in the council of state when Seithe was only twenty-five.
The next year, 95 ABY, Zelon was poisoned and died without legitimate heirs. Seithe rallied his supporters among the military to seize control of Enkhara Na'wen and execute those political opponents who put forward rival claims to the throne. By 96 ABY his hold was secure, and he set to ruling Daispin and eliminating the Tantaari resistance for good. Despite claims that Seithe himself had poisoned Zelon, the assassination was officially blamed on Tantaari radicals, which galvanized many Humans to support Seithe and his punitive campaigns against the Tantaari.
Reign of terror[]
Over the ensuing decades, Seithe continued and amplified Zelon's policy of suppressing the Tantaari in his territory and conquering the free states. While Zelon had razed the Temple of Kazrai as a sign of his power, he had largely left the Tantaari culture alone; he was more interested in political obedience and economic control. Seeing cultural assimilation as a way to guarantee political obedience, Seithe adopted numerous new policies, including punishing the use of any language other than Basic, banning Tantaari religious practices, and suppressing native Tantaari martial arts. Humans were given correspondingly greater privileges in society, and Seithe enjoyed the tacit support of many Humans and the obedience of those who disapproved of his philosophy but feared his reprisal.
While reordering Daispin, Seithe also reaped the rewards of command, taking two human wives who in time bore him three sons—Tristan, Zavio, and Kiryn. Seithe designated Tristan his heir, but raised all three of his sons to positions of power and influence. In 116 ABY, Seithe's supporters presented him a Tantaari woman, Aharet Kazic, who was a surviving Tantaari royal from the Kazic cadet branch. Rather than execute her, however, he felt it more fitting to subjugate the Kazics by having her become his concubine as well. She reluctantly bore Seithe two children before he had her assassinated in 118 ABY; their son, Kaiel, followed her to the grave in 122 ABY when Tristan poisoned him.
Tristaria[]
Seithe named his daughter Tristaria Zelona Seithe; his retainers and adherents were unsure whether it was meant as an homage to his mentor, Tristarian Zelon, or a way of mocking the former dictator by attaching his name to a half-breed bastard child. Seithe treated Tristaria with a sort of amused contempt, but did send her to Daispin's finest academies and provided her a series of tutors in diplomacy, martial arts, and war, toying with the idea of using her as a weapon against the Tantaari. He also made clear to Tristan and Zavio that she was not to be assassinated except at his command.
While Tristaria was in the Academy, she secretly married a Tantaari man. When Seithe's spies reported the marriage, he gave the situation to Zavio to deal with; Zavio had the young man kidnapped and murdered.
The fall at Gantu[]
By 135 ABY, when Tristaria left the Academy, Seithe's war machine had ground the Tantaari resistance down to a few last pockets of resistance. Already in his mid-sixties, Seithe had allowed his sons to carry much of the command burden; he added Tristaria to the army as well. In 136 ABY, however, when it became obvious he could force a decisive engagement at Gantu, Seithe took the field himself in command of his army, with all four of his children in command positions as well; he gave Tristaria the vanguard, hoping she would either prove herself or die fighting and rid him of her.
What should have been a climactic victory for the Humanocentrist government turned into a nightmare when Tristaria—now using the name "Aria Nikina"—rallied the Tantaari and led them right back into her father's forces. Seithe watched in horror and mounting fear as Aria killed her half-brothers one by one and their commands disintegrated under the Tantaari barrage. When she finally captured him, most of the army surrendered.
Seithe's life disintegrated around him rapidly. Aria cut off his hands, then forced him to watch as she executed his counselors, sycophants, adherents, and lovers. She refused to execute her father, instead sentencing him to a life of exile, subsisting on nothing but the charity of anyone who felt kind enough to give him any.
Pity case[]
Reduced to nothing, Seithe wandered from place to place, trying and failing to rally supporters to restore him to the throne and overthrow Aria, now Queen of Daispin; Aria had him watched, and the few nascent plots were suppressed, leading other former adherents to cut their losses. When Aria submitted Daispin to the Golden Empire and the protection of its comparatively massive Armada, any chance of overthrowing the government was lost, and Seithe watched in impotent fury as Aria passed the regency to her full-Tantaari cousin, Syr'ei. Seithe remained bitter and resentful of Aria, but grew increasingly old and feeble as well, gradually losing whatever chance he might have had of emerging as a standard-bearer for the old guard.
In 149 ABY, the Reawakened attacked Daispin, but Aria successfully fended off the invasion and killed Sacco Vyrak; Rin Sakaros believed the Reawakened would have attempted to forge an alliance with Seithe, which was one of the reasons she sent Aria to command the Defense of Daispin. Seithe was ambivalent about Syr'ei's failed coup against Aria in 153 ABY; Aria's death would have been sweet, but having a Tantaari rule Daispin would have undone all his work within his lifetime.
In 158 ABY, even the exiled and now-emaciated Seithe heard the news that Aria had given birth to a daughter, Sonata. Aria actually sought him out to show him Sonata, but only to make clear the extent of his failure—the Tantaari royal line would continue. The spiteful Seithe's only reply was, "She looks rather Human to me, Tristaria."
Skills and abilities[]
Even in young adulthood Seithe was hailed and a master tactician and inspirational leader. Though he often ruled by fear as dictator, a combination of acknowledging the skills of his subordinates and carefully rewarding fealty created genuine loyalty in those closest to him, who in turn influenced their subordinates.
Appearance and personality[]
Genera Seithe was a man of imposing musculature but relatively small stature, standing only 1.70 meters (5'7") tall. He had teak-colored hair and vivid green eyes. He often dressed in military uniforms even after taking control of Daispin, wearing a variety of decorations. After being deposed by Aria, he wore elegant clothing for a brief period before adopting deliberately nondescript clothes. He wore bandages over the stubs of his wrists, and his body gradually became frail and thin and his hair turned white.
Although conscious of how demonizing the Tantaari could help him unite Human supporters, Seithe genuinely felt they were a lesser species as well. He was beneficent to his supporters and his three Human children, but quick to punish those who opposed him and constantly critical of his daughter Aria. In exile, he remained bitter about his defeat, feeling wronged and unjustly maligned to the end without repentance for his crimes.