- "Death conquers all."
- ―Etah said upon arrival to Yridia II, presenting himself to Dark Jedi Master Bloodfyre, circa 38 ABY
Though he was born a Tapani noble, life lead him to become a Dark Jedi. Among the Brotherhood, he was once sworn to the ever shifting shadows, but Etah now stands only amidst the darkest shadow where the spirits of the fallen surround and invigorate him. Once a loyal soldier of Arcona, he is now a Knight of Tarentum and a Harbinger of Death. He has set aside his blaster, setting himself apart from his time as a front line rifleman, and now focuses on mastering the lightsaber to the exclusion of all other forms of combat. From the beginning to the end, from the end to the beginning; like all things tend to be, Etah’s journey has been cyclical.
Character History
Childhood (5-20 ABY/0-15 yrs old)
- "The weight of my future weighed heavy on my shoulders"
- ―, Etah to Psyko circa 25 ABY
Etah was born to a noble of the Tapani House Mecetti. His grandfather was a low ranked Knight, Sir Kisame, who gave his life in service to the High Lord of the House as a member of the Mecetti House Guard. Because of that noble sacrifice, his father was able to marry up within the House, becoming a Baron. Etah was born on the planet Nyssa but was raised on Obulette. His childhood was quiet, he was well educated and though he lived in luxury he was known to be a little rough and tumble.
Saber Rake (21-23 ABY/16-18 yrs old)
- "Most dark Jedi fight with a blade, I was born with one in my hand"
- ―, Etah to Hades circa 38 ABY
File:Young Etah.jpgEtah during his days as a young Saber Rake
By his mid-teen years Etah couldn’t be found without a lightfoil in his hands. He practiced form, he practiced footwork, he sparred against duelist droids and he fought other youths in back alley duels. He learned from the best and the brightest in his House. By the time he reached adulthood, Etah had secured a job as an officer of the House Guard, where he acted not only in a ceremonial capacity, as an actual bodyguard and was also used as a “troubleshooter.”
The d'Tana Crime Family (24 ABY/19 yrs old)
- "I don’t know what my ultimate purpose is, but I know what skills I possess"
- ―, Etah to Psyko circa 24 ABY
Working as a troubleshooter for the House Mecetti ended up taking Etah to the world of Nar Shaddaa. There, he wound up semi-undercover in the employ of the Tana Consortium, and that is how worlds collided. It was Selene who first sensed the nascent Force potential within him. She later theorized that he developed the Force within him by developing his skills as a duelist. Having nothing to inherit in the House Mecetti, it wasn’t terribly hard to convince him to join the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.
The Clan of Shadows (25-26 ABY/20-21 yrs old)
- "The shadows have always been my path"
- ―, Etah to Selene circa 25 ABY
Etah was first sent to the Dark Jedi Brotherhood's Shadow Academy. There he proved to be a mediocre force user but a highly skilled blade user -- not an incredible feat after becoming a Saber Rake of considerable skill. In time, he learned to channel the force through his body to aid his blade work in a manner not dissimilar to the Matukai, and even later on as an Equite, most of his use of the force was to aid him in dueling.
Very soon after joining the Clan Arcona and by extension the Dark Jedi Brotherhood in 25 ABY, the young Saber Rake was recruited into the Soulfire Strike Team by the then-Sergeant Selene d’Tana. There, he learned basic infantry skills while making use of the infiltration skills he learned as a troubleshooter for the Tapani House Mecetti. Koskian 'Psyko' d'Tana Arconae, Proconsul of Arcona at the time, saw great potential in the new Dark Jedi and took him under his wing as an Apprentice.
After a short time as a member of the Soulfire Strike Force, the young Guardian Etah was offered the first of what would be many leadership opportunities. Reluctantly leaving his mentor Selene, the young Dark Jedi took the helm of the Qel-Droma phyle as Tetrarch, a Krath Battle Team in the House Galeres where he lead for roughly a year and a half. He would be mildly successful, but enough so that he would subsequently be given the opportunity to serve as Aedile of the House Galeres.
In 26 ABY the Deputy Grand Master Aristan Dantes, summoned Proconsul Koskian d’Tana of the Clan Arcona and Proconsul Phoenix of the Clan Scholae Palatinae separately, to meet with him on Antei. The two Proconsuls got involved in a scuffle. A short spat between both Clans ensued that included Phoenix abducting Etah and beating him, though not severely. Arcona crushed Scholae Palatinae and Phoenix immediately halted hostilities. Unbeknownst to most, the entire conflict was driven by a friendly bet between the two Proconsuls, and roughing up Koskian's apprentice was just for fun. Phoenix would later join the d’Tana family and ascend to its highest ranks.
After returning from his undercover mission to Eldar and shortly before officially being promoted to Dark Jedi Knight, the d'Tana family indicated that he, along with a Nagai named Rho, were being accepted into the family. Both having already been affiliated with the Consortium, joining the d'Tana family was an elevation to the status of Made men; Mafiosos whose safety and status were protected by the Consortium. Rho and Etah were the first members to be accepted into the family while being under the Dark Jedi rank of Dark Jedi Knight, both of them standing at Jedi Hunter.
But the joy of becoming a part of the d'Tana family would not last for long. Selene -- the pretty young woman who was the first person to recognize the dormant gift within Etah -- died under mysterious circumstances after being alienated from the Clan Arcona. Then, one by one the members of the d'Tana family left the Clan. Etah, knowing no other home but Arcona, choose to remain among the shadow Clan, while maintaining his loyalty to the d'Tana Crime Family.
Etah was put in charge of the legitimate front-business Dahl Plating, which produced bulkheads and hulls for space ships. The company was created by Gavin Dahl, and originally used as a legal front to assemble Coronada Station. As one of the few remaining Arconan d'Tana's, Etah was in charge of the mining, refinement and production of Garconan Spice. Dahl plating was successfully used as a cover for Garconan Spice's distribution.
When a majority of the Clan Arcona was called to the Antei system by the Grand Master, Etah stayed behind in the Dajorra system. The Arconan Fleet and most of its Dark Jedi left to join all the other Clans in a joint military exercise called Operation: Second Darkness. Taking his own journey, he worked on the development of his Force abilities and prepped for the Clans return, becoming a Dark Jedi Knight in the process.
Shadesworn (27-29 ABY/22-24 yrs old)
- "The ever shifting shadows were my birthright"
- ―, Etah to a group circa 27 ABY
Following the Rite of Supremacy “Second Darkness,” Etah was asked to step up as Aedile of the House Galeres. His active, though uninspired leadership helped see the House Galeres through a difficult leadership transition during early 27 ABY. The young Tapani noble gave no objections about the choice of Sashar as Quaestor to Consul Timeros, but Sashar, it seemed, had reservations about him. During a short period of absence, due to obligations to the Arconan Intelligence Service, Zandro Erinos was chosen to replace Etah.
The young noble had no time to grouse however, as the Yuuzhan Vong chose just then to attack Dark Jedi Brotherhood space. Etah, in the Dajorra system, led the few Arconans that weren't attending the Rite of Supremacy’s awards ceremony, to Last Stand Depot on the glassy planet of Sukhur. The reconstructed Arconan fleet picked up the Clan from this location before going into an exile that would last several years. During this period of time Etah had little contact with the d'Tana family and even ceased using the name for a short period.
File:ShadeswornKrathCloak.jpgThe Cloak of the Shadesworn
For his leadership in the 8th Great Jedi War, Etah was recognized by the Dark Council and the Clan Arcona by being elevated to the rank of Obelisk Templar. It was during this time that he was inducted into the nascent Shadesworn cult and began an extended Apprenticeship to Timeros Caesus Entar. But those details would not become public for quite some time. The cult of shadows suited his personality as a Saber Rake and foreshadowed his later embracing of necromancy.
Following the 8th Great Jedi War, Mejas Doto re-ascended to the throne of the Clan Arcona. This led to his Project Resurrection. Project Resurrection was the resurrection of the House Qel-Droma from the ashes of the House Oriens Obscurum and it entailed a program in which all existing members of the Clan leadership were fired and the entire Clan competed for the positions.
Etah believed in the competition that he had rightfully earned the Quaestorship of the House Qel-Droma. But in an act of what Etah felt was cronyism, Xander Drax was placed as Quaestor instead and proved to be a largely absent leader. That was immediately followed by a very public spat between Etah and the then Proconsul, Sashar Erinos. Those events caused a rift between Etah and much of Arcona that would not be reconciled for years.
28 ABY was a very slow year for Etah and most in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. The Arconan Fleet hovered in space without purpose, avoiding the marauding Yuuzhan Vong, without a place to go. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Sashar was using influence over Mejas Doto to drive out those not specifically loyal to him, cementing his eventual rise to power. Most went silently into the night, but Etah hopelessly fought back.
Clan Plagueis’s Jusadih system didn’t need to be evacuated two years earlier, when most of the Dark Brotherhood systems were forced to. But in 29 ABY the Yuuzhan Vong began moving toward the system. Plagueis asked for assistance from Clan Scholae Palatinae, sworn enemy (at the time) of Clan Arcona. So when Scholae Palatinae rushed to the aid of Clan Plagueis, Arcona attempted to ambush the home system of Scholae Palatinae which also hadn’t been evacuated.
The Yuuzhan Vong arrived in the system and the three Clans worked together to defeat them. Following their victorious battle against the Yuuzhan Vong, the fleet of the Dark Council arrived. There was a black ops mission by the Soulfire Brigade in order to put Scholae Palatinae in an awkward position, but that operation was ultimately unsuccessful. Etah was the Commander of Aerospace Group (CAG) of the elite Blue Mist Squadron during this conflict and was a factor in the combined Joint Task Forces success against the Yuuzhan Vong.
The Dawn of Supremacy (30-31 ABY/25-26 yrs old)
- "The twilight of Clan Taldryan’s domination has passed into the dawn of Arconan supremacy"
- ― - Etah in a communiqué to the House Galeres, circa 31 ABY
Though the rift between Etah and Sashar was very real, it was also useful. The ongoing, public conflict between the two put the Obelisk Templar on the fringes of the Clan and allowed him to function as a counterintelligence operative for the Clan's nascent Intelligence branch, which was being officially-unofficially led by Timeros Entar. As an outsider the young Tapani was able to sniff out dissenters and gain the trust of traitors. In this way he protected his Clan. His last mark was the Arconan Proconsul at the time, Vorion, though Etah later lamented the fall of the man could have been his friend in other circumstances.
File:Etahs Shadesworn Saber.jpgThe dueling saber Etah proudly carried during the time he was sworn to the shadows
In 30 ABY, approaching Arcona's greatest victory, Etah brought Vorion's planned treachery to light, which resulted in Vorion resigning along with the Quaestors of both houses, both of whom were thought to be his cronies, though ironically both of them went on to join the Dark Council at later dates. Trusting did not come to Timeros easily, so when the sudden shift of power forced the Entar into the Quaestorship of the House Galeres, he decided to call in his Apprentice and friend, Etah, to act as his Aedile. Etah was officially back in good standing with his Clan and a great threat was eliminated.
The Dark Jedi Brotherhood had bided its time, and rebuilt its fleet. It decided that 30 ABY was the proper time to return to Antei and to take it back from the Yuuzhan Vong by force. But it soon found that the Yuuzhan Vong they were planning to face had been destroyed by some sort of sickness. In their place however, was a crackpot Jedi Master named Omancor Crask, leading a band of anachronistic Jedi that had somehow obtained an army of automatons.
The Dark Brotherhood, led by the Clan Arcona, invaded Antei and destroyed the Jedi and their metal golems. Grand Master Aristan Dantes killed Omancor Crask in one-on-one combat and the Jedi were slaughtered en masse. Antei and then the Clan holdings were retaken three years from the date that the Yuuzhan Vong had originally invaded. Though parts of Dajorra were ravaged, the Clan Arcona had no problems reoccupying the system. Upon returning to Dajorra, it was found that the Garconan spice veins were tapped out. With Dajorran planets devoid of spice and the destruction of Coronada Station the d’Tana family made the decision that the future of the d'Tana family would have to lie outside of Dajorra.
A short time after the war, Etah adopted the Krath Order. This period was the height of Etah's apprenticeship to Timeros and he wanted to follow in his mentor's footsteps more closely. Following the war and Arcona's great victory in 31 ABY, Etah was elevated to Krath Archpriest and received a token of the Clans faith in him, in the form of a Seal of Loyalty. Not long after the Great Jedi War, Etah succeeded Timeros as Quaestor of House Galeres; and not long after that, the Equite returned his loyalties to the Obelisk Order for reasons not publically stated.
Etah's tenure as Quaestor of the House Galeres started strong, as he worked with the Pronconsul to institute Project Reb00t, which was a dramatic restructuring of the Clan that didn’t ultimately perform well and as the Shadesworn organization made their existence known to the whole Clan. But during a month and a half long absence due to obligations to the d'Tana Family, the House became restless. Seeing great potential in his Aedile, Zakath, and wanting to concentrate on his work with Arconan Intelligence, Etah stepped down upon his return and was accepted into a support role to the Consul Sashar Erinos and Proconsul at the time, Braecen Kaeth.
A Legacy of Excellence (32-35 ABY/27-30 yrs old)
- "We have reasserted Arconan Supremacy and in doing so, we've established a Legacy of Excellence"
- ― ―Etah in a communiqué to the Clan Arcona, circa 35 ABY
Though they are not years that stand out well to him amongst his memories 32 ABY found Etah joining the Arcona Expeditionary Force, leading military forces in an assault on Salas V and its nightmarish Killik inhabitants. In 33 ABY, Etah joined the rest of the Obelisk Order in attacking the remnants of Omancor Crask's droid army and then defending the Temple Boyna from Sith Incursion.
Following the Obelisk Order’s victorious war against the Sith Order, he was chosen by Justicar Kir Taldrya Katarn to serve as his Left Hand of Justice, a post he held for nearly two years, much longer than anyone had in the past. But there were no high profile cases during this time period. Instead, the first year mostly consisted of menial paperwork, but he spent the second year also serving with the Clan Arcona.
File:Etah in Arcona.jpgEtah the soldier
A call to invade New Tython came from the Dark Council in 35 ABY and Arcona eagerly responded, frothing at the mouth at the chance to extinguish the light Jedi blight from within the Brotherhood. Etah was involved in pre-planning the operation. Arcona hit the surface of New Tython with no complication and Etah was sent out in a small but elite team to flank the Jedi and their Mandalorian mercenaries. The small team breached and cleared Menat Ombo, which kept the Jedi from being reinforced and led to the enemy line folding and being ripped to shreds. For his actions, he was awarded by the Clan Summit. Sashar Erinos died during this operation and Etah is still conflicted about that.
Over the last several years Etah had watched the Erinos family, under Sashar’s careful control, come to dominate the Clan Arcona. This had been pattern had been interrupted by the placement of the new Consul, Wuntila Entar and the rise of Galeres Quaestor Sanguinus Entar, setting both of these families on a collision course, with Etah’s d’Tana Family trapped squarely in the middle.
In response to a possible civil war brought on by the Erinos Family, Etah went off the reservation and attempted to assassinate Teroch Erinos and brought his family members and the family’s allies and associates with him. Despite his determination, Etah was unsuccessful at his task and Wuntila sent Etah’s mentor Timeros Entar to rein him in.
Great Trials on the Horizon (36-37 ABY/31-32 yrs old)
- "You may be the Headmaster and you may be on the Dark Council but you will not destroy this facility without the authorization of the Star Chamber"
- ―, Alaris Jinn di Plagia circa 37 ABY
The Quaestor of Galeres, Sanguinus Entar, had a great amount of faith in Etah and placed him in command of the House’s premier unit, Specter Cell. Etah would lead the team well through several engagements. But before he took command, Etah first travelled to the Shadow Academy to receive his Dark Sage Law degree. In 36 ABY, everything went wonky, as the journeymen of the Brotherhood lost their abilities and began to transform into mindless zombies.
Etah allied with Alaris Jinn di Plagia, who had succeeded him as Left Hand of Justice, to oppose Headmaster Ronovi Tavisaen and her Praetor Solus Gar as they attempted to destroy the Shadow Academy to keep the Horizons plague from spreading -- ignoring the obvious fact that virus had already spread beyond the walls of the Academy. Before the Academy was destroyed, the Dark Council had found a cure for the Horizons virus. Etah shook hands with Alaris and left the Shadow Academy at the earliest opportunity.
Arcona had found an active pirate Space Port located just outside of the Dajorran system. They spent the next several years silently gaining control of the station, slowly turning it into a carefully constructed front. But, after all of that hard work on the part of House Qel-Droma, Arconan forces and safe houses across the station were suddenly overrun. It seemed that someone, at the very least, knew that an outside entity had taken control of the station.
Though Port Ol’val is a Qel-Droman asset, the Consul, Wuntila Entar, deemed the action a threat to the entire Clan. So Etah was assigned to a three-man team along with Legorii Kryotek Entar and Celevon Edraven and given an assignment. Though Celevon was largely absent, Etah and Legorii managed to get a lot of tasks accomplished. Underneath it all, this was a test of the members of Arcona, a Trial of Loyalty, so that Consul Wuntila Entar Arconae and Proconsul Marick Arconae knew who they could trust.
File:Etahs Lightfoil.jpgAs his time in Arcona began drawing to a close he began carrying a lightfoil again.
The Clan Arcona responded to a call for help from the House Plagueis. Etah wasn’t aware of all the factors going on, but he lead an assault on a members of a strange race called the Starweird, on the planet Kapsina; leading elements of his Specter Cell and members of the Soulfire Strike Team, Etah and the group emerged from the battle victorious. Like most members of the Clan Arcona, Etah felt at odds helping Plagueis, but everyone figure Wuntilla was playing an angle. In the end, the Plagueis Summit sacrificed themselves to cover the withdrawal of Arcona and the remaining members of Plagueis.
Not long after assisting the House Plagueis, Etah lead Spectre Cell in an assault on a Super-class Star Destroyer Avenger II, at the very beginning of what would come to be called the Dark Crusade. The Dark Crusade began as dealing with the political fallout from the actions of now-dead Grand Master Zoraan, then continued as a Holy Crusade to take the historically Sith planets in the Galaxy. The next year and a half was an exhausting series of skirmishes across the galaxy.
After a falling out with Aedile Cethgus, someone whom he had never really respected, Etah transferred to House Qel-Droma and took up leadership of the Battle Team Shadow Gate. It was during this time Etah began to sink into darker and darker depths of depravity and violence, shocking the more gray Jedi of the Clan Arcona who enjoy both the light and the dark of the ever-shifting Shadows. As combat against the One Sith began winding down, in 37 ABY Etah changed his Order to the Sith Order and was in short time promoted to Sith Battlelord. A short time later he once again realigned with the Obelisk Order for reasons he never made public.
Etah came to the Dark Brotherhood a bladesman but the Clan Arcona had made him into a soldier, a jarhead and a jackbooted thug no more than a tool for his betters to use to butcher their enemies. Etah had taken life as a young Saber Rake, but since becoming a soldier he had taken lives uncountable. The Obelisk felt the spirits of those dead following in his wake and invading his dreams. Those spirits lived just on the edge of his sanity and threatened to claim his soul.
The Clan of Death (38 ABY/33 yrs old)
- "The shadows shepherded me towards death, because death exists within the darkest of shadows."
- ― Etah to Hades, circa 38 ABY
As a member of the Shadesworn cult, Etah had followed the shadows into ever-darker shadows. Tormented by spirits of the fallen, those whom he killed and those whom he led to their deaths, the Obelisk Exarch stood within the darkest shadow, and there he found death. Death drew him to Dark Jedi Master Sith Bloodfyre; Bloodfyre brought him to the House Tarentum and taught the Obelisk how to master those spirits.
As a member of Tarentum working under the pseudonym Aynar, Etah jumped right into combat, becoming ever more unhinged. Not in a sloppy way but in a scarily focused way. The appropriately termed Operation: Fading Light involved mopping up the One Sith and bringing the Dark Crusade to a close; but before combat operations could be brought to a true halt, the underlying cause of the Dark Crusade was revealed as a master stroke by many powerful Elder Dark Jedi. Tarentum supported the Clan Arcona in answering the call of the Dark Council.
The former House, now Clan Tarentum wearily emerged from the conflict, having done their part to aid the Dark Council. Transferring within Tarentum to the new Battle Team Mortis, Etah began laying the foundation for a powerful House of Dark Jedi and he began taking up the banner of the Grand Chamberlain in the face of other sects developing within the Clan. As he helps rebuild Tarentum, Tarentum rebuilds him.
Appearance
Robes
File:DervishObelisk.jpg
Psychological Profile
There are a few different parts of Etah’s personality and they are sometimes in conflict with each other. Part of Etah will always be a jovial and glib playboy who delights in wine, women, song and laughter. Even in the tensest of moments this can cause the Obelisk to grin and issue one liners that make onlookers groan. The second part of him is a noble and duelist, who takes his responsibilities seriously and who single-mindedly, concentrates on the task at hand and his ultimate goals.
The last part of his personality is just now developing. When Etah became an Obelisk Templar in the Clan Arcona he was inducted into the nascent Shadesworn cult. The Shadesworn reveled in moving between shades of light and darkness, but Etah only moved from dark to darker. After a number of years he had moved beyond shadows and into not but darkness. This change in his outlook led to him leaving Arcona for the Tarentum.
Shifting from the Shadows, into darkness and death itself was the result of several years of combat operations with the Clan Arcona. Several years of watching comrades die, several years of taking life after life, after life. Several years of dark nights alone, haunted by his memories, staring at the ceiling contemplating the meaning of the events he lived through and others did not.
Now after many years of embodying the chaos of the ever shifting shadows, Etah represents absolute darkness of death. The secrets of life, he believes, and the secret to death can be found in the communication with the spirits and the quest to lengthen his lifespan. Thus begins his new journey, thus begins his new goals.
Combat
The Force
Etah’s most powerful force abilities allow his body to move faster and more intuitively, making him even more deadly of a lightsaber duelist. If he can’t overcome his opponent with just his blade he calls forth the spirits of the dead to attack his opponents (a combination of blinding, affliction and terror). He has an assortment of less powerful force powers to round out his force abilities, most of which are the classical force powers of the Jedi.
Lightsaber Combat
Etah has studied lightsaber combat to the exclusion of all other forms of combat, since he was a teenager. He rightfully believes himself to be a master of the blade and it willing to prove it to anyone who doubts him. He doesn’t just wave a tube of light around, or even just stand in a proper guard. Etah utilizes proper body mechanics, has very fast footwork, uses range to his advantage, has a large selection of moves, or shots as he calls them, and fools his opponent with feinted shots combined with rapid combinations of shots.
Primary Lightsaber Form: Makashi
A watered down version of Makashi is the form Saber Rakes from the Tapani Sector use to fight each other with lightfoils, so this is the form Etah studied from the time he was a teenager. The Equite believes himself to be the apex of one-on-one lightsaber dueling and enough people have fallen to his blade to make the case for that to be true.
Secondary Lightsaber Form: Shien
Freely and quickly switching from the one-on-one dueling of Makashi, to the open style of Shien Etah has taken more than one group by surprise. He does not use the controversial reverse grip style, preferring a guard not dissimilar from Makashi’s, giving the added benefit of confusing his opponents as to which style he is using at the time.
DJB Facts
Trivia
- Has been involved in Star Wars role play constantly since 2001*
- Has been known as Asikari Uofisa,*
- Originally took the name Etah Araya after the singer of the metal band Slayer*
- Took and passed over 30 Shadow Academy courses as an Apprentice*
- Was originally a Sakiyan Monk into self flagellation*
- Was promoted to Dark Jedi Knight in the span of 7 months*
- Was promoted to Obelisk Templar in the span of 13 months and following a Great Jedi War*
- Was known as Etah Idanian for a bit, during which time he wanted to join the Entar family*
- Was promoted to Krath Archpriest following a Great Jedi War and temporarily changing his Order*
- Became a Mirialan Swooper (biker)*
- Was promoted to Sith Battlelord following the Dark Crusade and temporarily changing his Order*
- Was known as Aynar d’Tana for a time during which time he was Coynite*
- Finally settled on being a human Saber Rake from the Tapani Sector*
Positions Held
Note: Does not include Battle Team Leadership positions or House Roll Master positions