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| Selika Roh
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Empress Teta
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1 BBY (age 43)
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Human
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Female
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1.86 m
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68.2 kg
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Black (w/dyed purple lock)
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Violet
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Violet
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2632
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- "An illusion is always most effective when you’re showing someone what they want to see, what they expect to see."
- ―Selika Roh
Selika Roh is a Sith Adept and the Herald of the Brotherhood. Born during the waning years of the Galactic Empire, she grew up within the Noble Houses of Empress Teta. Political turmoil following the fall of the Empire saw the overthrow of the royal government during her youth followed by years of captivity, resulting in her discovery of the Force abilities that eventually lead her down the path to the dark side. Her search for the training to fully utilize her skills brought her to the Sith faction lead by Zoraan, and eventually to the Dark Brotherhood during the Dark Crusade.
A follower of the Krath tradition that originated on her homeworld millennia ago, Selika is careful to keep her philosophies hidden. Paradoxically, she also enthusiastically engaged in the purging of other Krath undesirables from the Brotherhood. The reason for this is simple: in her eyes the Krath of the Brotherhood perverted the true teachings of the Krath cult, focusing too much on the accumulation of knowledge as opposed to the exercise of vital power based upon it.
Biography
Early life (1 BBY - 5 ABY)
Selika at age 6 in 5 ABY.
Selika was born on the Deep Core world of Empress Teta in 1 BBY in the waning days of the Galactic Empire. Her father Lial Roh was the youngest scion of House Roh, one of the Ancient Houses and a prominent noble family on Empress Teta with roots stretching back thousands of years. The family, ascendent in the noble hierarchy under the rule of Palpatine’s Empire, was close to the throne and Lial held the position of Duke. Her mother, Nilan, was a member of House Methil and married Lial at a young age as part of an alliance between their two houses.
Born into the luxury of two noble houses, Selika’s early childhood was one of comfort. Like many nobles, however, she spent far more time in the care of nannies and various members of the house staff than she did her own parents. As a young child, she became close friends with Celes Maza, the daughter of her mother’s own handmaiden. The servant girl would come to be assigned to Selika by the age of five to be trained as handmaiden herself. The bond forged at that young age would persist for years to follow. Given the highly stratified nature of Empress Teta’s society, the nobility rarely interacted with the commoners with House Roh being no different. A system that had persisted for thousands of years was, however, unprepared to cope with the collapse of Imperial Order, and Selika’s idyllic life would begin to crumble along with it.
Turmoil on Empress Teta (5 ABY - 14 ABY)
Fall from grace
While the Emperor’s death at Endor had a major impact on the Empire, it wasn’t until the Empire’s final military defeat at the Battle of Jakku that the citizenry of the Empire truly comprehended that the end of the Empire had arrived. The terms of the Galactic Concordance left Empress Teta crippled under crushing reparations and the citizenry increasingly held the ruling elite responsible. Two years after the Imperial surrender, the economy was still declining. A year after that, and the public’s backlash was becoming increasingly hard to ignore. House Roh, like its counterparts, was forced to liquidate much if it’s assets to put towards reparations payments in order to attempt to placate the populace.
The home that Selika had grown up in was sold and servants discharged. Moving into a smaller accommodation in the capital district, Selika’s world seemed to come crashing down. Her one constant was her handmaiden Celes. Her tutors gone, Selika began attending a school for the first time in her life. The exposure to those outside the nobility, many of them angry at the ruling class, served as a rude awakening. She was bullied constantly by other students, often reduced to tears by verbal and physical attacks. Soon, however, the simmering unrest of the population would move beyond bullying and boil over.
A growing populist movement was sweeping through the planet spanning city of Empress Teta. It had formed shortly after the end of the Galactic Civil War, but even in the economic chaos that followed it had not been more than an exceedingly vocal minority. The movement would explode in the latter part of 9 ABY, however. In a move to grab more control of the planet’s carbonite industry, off-world banks withdrew loans to Korosian companies. This sent shocks throughout the planet’s economy that lead to an explosion of unemployment. Before the off world corporations could step in the economy completely collapsed. The last vestige of the old order would be gone within the year.
Prisoner
Captive of the Black Sun.
Known as the Crimson Night (named for the amount of blood spilled), the violence started in the early evening on the third day of the Festival of Life Fete Week in 10 ABY. Unemployed dockworkers began a march to the Capital Spaceport, but it soon degenerated into a riot. Many of the police and military units, themselves having not been paid for months, joined with the rioters as the chaos spread throughout the capital district. As night fell, the district descended into total anarchy. Selika’s family along with the Maza’s sought refuge in their home as the power grid failed and the city plunged into a darkness lit only by the fires set by rioters.
The rage that was fueled by a half decade of depression was especially directed at the ruling elite. Selika’s father, well known to the populace, was amongst those targeted. Nearly twenty men descended on the Roh home during the night, looking to exact revenge against one of the visible representations of their oppression. As the mob beat her father to death before Selika’s eyes, her mother and her handmaiden were shot as they tried to come to his aid by two members of the capitol police who had joined with the rioters. Selika and Celes ran to their dying mothers as the rioters tore through the home. Finally having had their fill, most returned to the streets to continue their rampage. Four, however, dragged the two screaming girls from the house and out into the night.
The dockworkers, seeking to improve their financial prospects, sold both girls to local representatives of the Black Sun. This would be the start of years of slavery and abuse for Selika and her former handmaiden. Initially, they were used as a laborer in the various criminal enterprises the Black Sun was involved in on Empress Teta. Four years of had taken their toll on the girls, and eventually one night Celes attempted to fight back against their captors. In the ensuing struggle, the guard snapped the former handmaidens neck. Selika, in the next cage over, saw that she would be the angry guard’s next target. Unlocking her cage, he grabbed her and threw her to the floor. As he continued, Selika looked into the dead eyes of her childhood friend. Tears welling up in her eyes and her emotions roiling, she manifested her first expression of latent Force ability. Telling the guard that the world would be so better without him, the man drew his own weapon and shot himself in the head. Her untrained, reflexive mind trick had been enough to twist the mind of the drunken guard. Staring at him momentarily, she fled from the warehouse that had served as her jail and into the night beyond.
Familial exploitation (14 ABY - 21 ABY)
Tolcon Roh, Selika’s uncle.
The Empress Teta that Selika found herself lost in was considerably different from the one she had left four years earlier. The populist uprising had given way to an authoritarian government backed by the corporate powers. The Republic, more interested in the continued carbonite trade, had done little to stabilize the planet. As a result, a reality similar to what had existed before had developed. Now, the influential corporate players had replaced the nobility as the sector of society in control. The only hope Selika felt that she had was with her uncle, Tolcon Roh. He had been off world during the Crimson Night, and had always focused more on the family's business interests than his brothers. As a result, he had maintained his position within society when the revolution had come.
Tolcon sent an airspeeder to collect his niece and bring her to his estate. Selika took little notice of the palatial home, still traumatized by her ordeal and confused by what had happened to allow her secure her freedom. Months of recovery and counseling followed as Selika tried to restore her shattered psyche. At first, she would not talk about what had happened the night of her escape. She hardly believed it herself, and had almost convinced herself that it had happened differently. Finally, she told her uncle what had happened that night. Tolcon was initially skeptical, but was well aware of the history of Force sensitivity in the royal bloodline of Empress Teta. After finally accepting what his niece was telling him, Tolcon sought to help her develop her ability. A shrewd businessman, Tolcon knew how valuable skill with Force suggestion could be.
Selika in 17 ABY.
By the time she was 18, Selika was assisting her uncle in his business ventures. Her position offered Selika her first trip off-world, and she saw places like Coruscant and Corellia for the first time. Soon, however, it became clear that she was as much a prisoner in her uncle’s care as she had been with the Black Sun. As her Force talents grew with more use, she began to access other abilities. As she shaped her skill to read others into true telepathy, she eventually turned that ability on her uncle. Tolcon, in truth, saw his niece as nothing more than a tool to further his ambitions. To him, Selika had been broken by her ordeal, and, no matter how much she was able to hide it, she was totally dependent on his good graces.
Infuriated with how her supposed savior was infantilizing her, Selika realized she would have to escape her gilded cage as she had the Black Sun years before. Contrary to her uncle’s perception of her, Selika knew very well how to take care of herself, and what she would need to do so. Over the course of several weeks, she used her skills to manipulate members of Tolcon’s staff into setting up secret accounts and filling them with the credits she would need. When everything was in place, Selika wanted to confront her uncle with her intent to leave. She felt a visceral need to stand up to him instead of, as she saw it, running away in the night as she had from her criminal captors. Tolcon, however, showed his true colors when confronted by his niece. Still seeing her as the weak, broken girl she had been, Tolcon screamed at her, throwing Selika to the floor of the family study. Anger burning within her, Selika reached out with the Force and lifted him from his feet by the neck. As Tolcon’s eyes widened in alarm as the true depth of his miscalculation became apparent, Selika jerked his head and snapped his neck. Dropping his dead body to the ground, Selika left her uncle’s home for good.
Search for the Force (21 ABY - 30 ABY)
Selika in 21 ABY.
Selika in 26 ABY.
The Dark Crusade (30 ABY - 32 ABY)
Disillusionment
Selika in 30 ABY.
Defection
The heroes of the Dark Crusade.
Learning blinding from Aabsdu Dupar.
Fading Light
A lull in the fighting on Begeren.
Korriban
Fighting on Korriban in 32 ABY.
Winds of change(33 ABY - 34 ABY)
Restoration
Selika's appearance during the campaign against Xander Drax.
Ascension
Tribune of the Holocrons.
Rising Tensions
War on Florrum
In battle on Florrum in 34 ABY.
Appearance
Physical description
Selika Roh.
Selika is a striking woman that stands just over average human height for a female. Selika's eyes are a deep violet color and are framed by her unruly, layered hair that falls just below chin length. Her hair is naturally dark black, save for a single lock of violet-dyed hair on the left side of her face.
Blessed with a lithe build, her movements are fluid and graceful. She carries herself with an almost regal bearing that many find off putting, but it is only an affectation designed to do just that. Her skin is an unblemished dark olive shade free of any scars or distinguishing marks.
Attire
Various examples of Selika Roh’s attire.
Most often Selika can be found wearing a set of deep purple robes made of Ottegan silk. These robes are designed to show off her figure, which is a deliberate choice much like her manner. The robes consist of a stiff collared vest open from neck to navel. Unlike the tabard of a traditional Sith robe, this vest does not extend below the waist. Underneath the vest is a bodysuit of darker fabric that, like the vest, is open at the chest. Over both bodysuit and vest a skirt is gathered at the waist. The skirt is open at the front and extends to the ankle. The font of the skirt is made up of a separate panel of lighter paneled fabric of slightly shorter length. The robes are complemented by long, fingerless gloves that extend above the elbow and thigh high boots. This outfit is her usual choice for both everyday use and combat.
When a more formal look is called for, can be found wearing a strapless, ebon dresses made of expensive materials coupled with long gloves and knee high boots. When discretion is called for, Selika will wear more standard robes. A violet tabard and black hooded cloak are coupled with a dark, baggy shirt and breeches. Though infrequently enough to almost never happen, she can still be found from time to time wearing her older combat attire. Colored in shades of grey, it features an asymmetrical jacket that hangs from her left shoulder and extends down below the knee over a set of boy shorts and belt. The ensemble is complemented by thigh high boots and a pair of long gloves.
Personality and traits
Personality
Selika Roh creating an illusory serpent.
Selika Roh is self-serving individual who, at her heart, is only out for herself. Power, glory, wealth, position, and anything that will make her life more comfortable is her goal. It matters little who might be caught in the middle, as long as the result is the further accumulation of power in Selika’s hands. She will lie, cheat, and kill anyone to attain her personal goals.
She has no particular objection to working with others or, for that matter, going it on her own. Her only interest is in getting ahead. Although she does not have the every-man-for-himself attitude of many other Sith, she has no qualms about betraying her friends and companions for personal gain. She is perfectly alright with betraying a family member, comrade, or friend if it is convenient to do so and it advances her agenda. she is personally indifferent to the concepts of self-discipline and honor, finding them useful only if they can be used to advance her own interests or gain power over others. The closest to loyalty she typically approaches is basing her allegiance on strength and ability alone and how much she may gain from allying with them.
She has little respect for the rule of law, and has no qualms about using laws to weaken those who stand in the way of her success. Additionally, if she must resort to breaking the law, she will. She has no real preference for either method beyond their possible efficacy in reaching her goals. She sees laws as tools to use against people, as well as their own sense of honor. Having no internal concept of personal honor, she never feels compelled to keep her word. Additionally, she will attack and kill an unarmed foe and has no issues with harming or killing an innocent. She takes no specific pleasure from killing, seeing it as one of many tools to use in the pursuit of her goals as opposed to a goal in and of itself. Selika will, however, often take pleasure in inflicting pain, either physical or mental, upon opponents.
Philosophies and beliefs
General
Selika's philosophy mirrors that of Aleema Keto.
Selika feels that the universe is governed by certain natural and manmade forces. If allowed to take their course, they will weed out the weak and useless in society. As such, the deserving should take advantage of this condition to further their own goals by any means possible, especially to destroy weaklings who put forward "good" actions to promote the wellbeing of all, which is just an excuse used to deny the deserving their due. In Selika’s eyes life is of no special value, for those who cannot take advantage of their superiority don't deserve it as they will only interfere with the rightful pursuits of those who do. This is especially true when it comes to the non-Force using populations of the galaxy. In her eyes, the multitudes have crushed those who touch the Force under their weight, preventing the Force users from taking their rightful place atop the galactic order.
Governments
Selika has very little respect for any of the current claimants to the mantle of pan-galactic governance. Her view of the Galactic Empire, and it’s successor state the First Order, is almost entirely shaped by her personal experiences following its collapse. While the Empire under Palpatine maintained order and backed the monarchy of Empress Teta, it had collapsed far too easily in the face of the threat posed by the Rebellion. The retreat of the military from the Core into the Unknown Regions just hastened the chaos that followed on Empress Teta which lead to Selika’s hellish years of captivity at the hands of extremists who toppled the government. In her eyes, the First Order is but the vestiges of a once proud system now governed by the heirs of cowards who fled when the fight started to get tough.
Selika holds the Republic, however, in almost equal disdain. The treaty ending their war with the Empire had left the remnants of Imperial space to the carrion feeders of the galaxy. The decade after their final victory over Jakku had not lead to the liberation of most of the Old Empire, but instead had seen the decay and despotism that spread there. More interested in maintaining continued trade than in the reality of the situation on Empress Teta, the Republic had done nothing when the extremists took over. They were content to allow the corporations to exert influence of the world that had allowed the festering underworld that had destroyed her childhood to progress unchecked. In the end Selika sees both the First Order and Republic as equally responsible for the hardships she endured, and sees both as corrupt entities run by weaklings who been undeservedly handed power by the masses.
The Force
Selika focuses on the mind affecting elements of the Force.
Selika’s views on the Force have been shaped by her exploration of the teachings of the Krath cult that dominated her homeworld millennia ago. She has sought out the teachings of the founders of the Krath, specifically those of Aleema Keto, as she has delved deeper into the Force over the course of her life. As a result, many of the long-dead Krath witch’s feelings on the Force have shaped Selika’s own. Restraint in the application of the Force is foreign to Selika as she tends towards flagrant or showy displays of power.
Unlike the Krath that held sway in the Brotherhood in recent times, Selika sees the Force as not something to be studied for the purposes of arcane knowledge. Instead the pursuit of arcane knowledge is simply one road to the true goal of the ancient Krath: domination. She eschews the more metaphysical schools of thought on the nature of the Force, seeing things like the interpretation the Force being a conscious entity shaping the galaxy as the worst sort of religious sentimentality. Much as galactic society would look down on primitive cultures that assigned religious motivations to natural forces such as electricity or gravity, so too does Selika look down on those that see the same in the Force. To her, the Force is just one more natural source of energy that makes up the physical universe. Those that can touch it and shape it to their will are simply making use of an evolutionary advantage that assigns them to a place of superiority over others.
Non-Force users
Force choking a non-Force user.
Selika views non-Force users, or as she calls them mundanes, as inherently inferior to those that can touch the Force. In her eyes, a Force user is a rare commodity. Whatever accident of genetics that brings about Force sensitivity can take generations to manifest itself in a mundane bloodline, all the while the mundanes breed like gizka. Even without the power that they wield, the Force user would be more valuable simply based on simple statistics. With their power, the Force user is exponentially more valuable than their non-Force using counterparts in her eyes.
This basic, underlying belief has lead to Selika viewing the lives of mundanes as less important or valuable than those of Force users. Expending massive numbers of the former to reach the goals held by the latter is a perfectly acceptable. What others would describe as senseless slaughter is something that Selika would see as being acceptable if for no other reason than one mundane is essentially interchangeable with the next. Her callous attitude towards them means that she has no compunctions about employing the murder of mundanes to further her own desires. It does not mean, however, that she takes direct pleasure in said killing. The pleasure she derives from any death directly flows from how that action advances her along the road to her destination, not from the murder itself.
Powers and abilities
Selika employing force lightning and illusion.
Unlike many Sith, Selika focuses on a few aspects of the Force at the expense of more across the board skill. Favoring illusions and mental abilities over others, she has never fully developed much of the more physical Force skills. In some areas, like the healing arts, she shows no proficiency at all. Limiting her focus, however, has allowed her great ability but still greater knowledge in how to apply her skills than many others of similar power and skill.
Force powers
Selika’s most devastating ability lies in her knowledge and skill in powers such as illusion or mind trick. She has focused on these skills mostly because she feels that attacking the mind is the most direct path to the defeat of her enemies. In her eyes, those that spend much of their time training their physical abilities and Force powers to complement then (such as amplification) more often than not neglect powers of the mind. Their weakness can then be exploited when they oppose her, with her ability to destroy them from within can make their physical prowess irrelevant.
For times when she is confronted by those who have not neglected the mental battlefied, Selika has applied herself to the study of powers that allow her to engage her foes while still keeping herself seperated from them as she does with mental assaults. Initially, she devoted herself almost entirely to telekinesis in more physical combat situations. More recently, however, she has learned to harness the Force in such a way to employ Force lightning. She has demonstrated remarkable skill in the ability in a far shorter time than most of her others, a fact that she feels is due to the nature of Force lightning. Unlike other skills, there is a mental state that one must reach to project Force lightning. Selika’s great experience with mental manipulation has allowed her to better achieve this mental state and harness Force lightning at a level that is not often seen by one as inexperienced in its usage as she is.
Lightsaber abilities
Selika during the GMIT.
When Selika first learned to use the Force, she had no access to a lightsaber. Her reality lead to her mastering of the Force independent of the traditional weapon of the Sith and Jedi, and her feelings towards the blade were shaped accordingly. As she progressed and gained more experience with other Sith with the followers of Zoraan, she begrudgingly began to use a lightsaber. For many years she still saw the lightsaber as a secondary weapon, something whose use signaled a failure on her part to destroy her enemies with the Force alone. After her arrival in the Brotherhood, however, her view began to shift somewhat. Still viewing the saber with some amount of internal disdain, she has come to see it as another useful tool in her arsenal. Even now, though, she still favors the Force alone over her weapon when she can.
With her saber, Selika rarely goes for the quick kill to open combat. Her tendency is to maintain her Soresu-based defense to, ostensibly, wear down her prey. In reality, she is motivated as much by her desire to inflict pain and torture before finishing off her opponent. She will favor attacks whose goal is to be as painful as possible for mind or body before eventual death, using the taunts favored by Dun Moch to dominate her opponent. When her final strike does come, however, it will often be in the form of a swift and lethal application of Djem So.
Other skills
Many Sith and Jedi see the Force as a tool that can replace many of the more mundane abilities, becoming reliant on mind tricks instead of their innate ability to manipulate others for example. Selika instead feels that those abilities can make your talents with the Force even more useful. In keeping with her focus on those Force abilities that target the mind, Selika has developed her own mental prowess outside of the Force. She uses her sharp mind and perception to augment her Force ability. As a result, much like her Force abilities, she has not developed her physical skill to the same level that many of the more martially focused Sith have.
Relationships
Teylas Ramar
Teylas and Selika, Dread Lord and Wrath.
Malice
Master and apprentice.
Turel Sorenn
- "Monsters like you don’t deserve to live."
- ―Turel Sorenn
Selika vs. Turel.
Selika and Turel Sorenn are, on the face of things, the most bitter of enemies. Originally crossing paths under the auspices of an intelligence gathering mission, Selika has always pursued a more personal goal when it comes to Turel: turning the Jedi to the Dark Side. She sees his personality type as ripe for corruption, with his time serving Arcona having left him uniquely vulnerable to her machinations. She feels that Turel would make a formidable Sith, and at the same time offer her invaluable information in regards to V'yr Vorsa, one of her most formidable rivals.
In their interactions, both on New Tython and during the Grand Master’s Invitational Tournament, Selika has gone to great lengths to break his spirit. She has engaged in the cold blooded murder of several citizens and law enforcement officers on New Tython as well as tricked Turel into killing an innocent as well, all in the name of destroying his devotion to the light. This campaign has spilled out into a larger conflict between their two respective clans as well, contributing to the conflict between them on Florrum in 34 ABY.
V’yr Vorsa
- "Selika Roh. You are under arrest for the murder of eight Council agents, two law enforcement officers, a father of two, and for assault and injury of a Council member of Clan Odan-Urr."
- ―V’yr Vorsa, 33 ABY
Selika and Vorsa in combat on New Tython.
Selika maintains an adversarial relationship with the Neti councilor. This rivalry began with their overlapping fields of control of the Brotherhood (Selika as Tribune of the Holorons and Vorsa as Herald), but has grown beyond that. Selika felt that she had been appointed to the staff of the Herald as one of Vorsa’s magistrates specifically to keep an eye on the Jedi serving the Dark Council, a notion that has never been confirmed nor denied by others in the Brotherhood.
Beyond their more professional rivalry, the two have developed far more personal animosity from Selika’s interactions with Turel Sorenn. Turel, being one of Vorsa’s proteges, is something of an ongoing project for Vorsa, and Selika’s efforts to turn him fully to the dark side have not gone over well. Their first direct conflict came as a result of Selika’s assault on Turel in 33 ABY and lead to a large amount of collateral damage in Menat Ombo’s Visulu Marketplace. Their battle was ended before a satisfactory resolution due to Selika’s extraction by fellow di Plagia Aabsdu Dupar, so the tension between the two continues. Since then, Selika has attempted to work behind the scenes to sabotage Vorsa’s efforts, especially in operations to engineer the transit of undesirables out of Brotherhood space.