Etah

"I will become strong enough,
That strength becomes meaningless"

A young and rising star in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Though relatively new Etah’s rank has risen to match his strength. He has shocked and impressed many within the Brotherhood with his drive, ambittion and determination. You can expect to see great things from him in the future.

Infancy ( 4 ABY / 0 years old )

I guess darkness was always my path

Etah’s beginnings were as murky as the rest of his life would become. Etah’s tale begins not long after the battle of Endor where the Lord Vader fell. It was a dark, stormy night the evening he was left on the doorstep of the Church of the Sith’ari. The sporadic bolts of lightening shined across the babies’ ebony skin and the mighty thunder heralded his arrival. The monks took the baby in, wondering who left him there, whether it was an accident, a mistake or a perhaps destiny. Notices were set throughout the planet Vjun but no one came forward to claim the young babe. There were disagreements among the leadership of the relatively new organization about what to do with the hapless young Sakiyan.

All of the Church’s members were human but one and most of them from Imperial backgrounds and had varying views about non-human species. Bishop Ravana, a former Special Agent from the Imperial Security Bureau advised Abbot Kol not to burden the Church with the responsibility of raising a child. Reverend Lokk, a former Colonel from the Storm Corps, advised the Abbot that the child’s black skin was reminiscent of the Sith’ari’s black armor and further went on to proclaim that his presence at the church was a matter of fate. In the end Abbot Kol, decided that Etah should stay.

There was no way that a cabal of old humans men could raise an infant Sakiyan. Sister Nu, an elderly Sakiyan female that had been among the Church all her life, acted as Etah’s nanny. During his infancy She bathed him, fed him, clothed him and made sure he stayed out of trouble. Through her, Etah learned to speak both basic and Sakiyan. She was the mother that life had never given him, and in many important ways created the moral groundwork for the man he was to become.

Childhood ( 10 ABY / 6 years old )

Only the apathetic and the weak fear hardship

Many people in the galaxy never work an honest day’s work and many more wallow in total ignorance. Etah can say neither.

Though it can be said the whole of the Church of the Sith’ari aided in raising Etah, there were several members of the Church who took direct responsibility for the growing young boy. Though Sister Nu continued to be a major part of his life into his childhood, others were needed to shape and guide the young Monk. The first individual was his tutor, Brother Jon and the second was his task master, High Priest Mik.

A professor of history at a prominent university on Coruscant before joining the Church, Brother Jon began working with Etah at an impossibly young age. He taught the child how to read and write in basic, along with basic arithmetic and critical thinking. Etah later credits Brother Jon as beginning Etah’s life long fascination with learning, a pursuit that sets him apart from most of his Obelisk peers.

High Priest Mik was a Tie-fighter Ace before joining one of the Churches predecessors. Second only to Abbot Kol in the Church of the Sith’ari, he was the young Sakiyans task master. He assigned the child’s chores and made sure they were completed. He was loud, abrasive, verbally and physically abusive. In a sick and twisted way he played a very important role in the future Dark Jedi’s development. High Priest Mik taught Etah that nothing was for free, that to eat you must work and he taught him to be strong.

Adolescence ( 17 ABY / 13 years old )

Blood sweat and tears were the legacy of my young years

Solitude, discipline, study, work, training, these are the things that typified his childhood. As he grew older, most of the important people in his life remained but their relationship and interaction changed. Sister Nu was still around in the background, but had effectively stepped back as Etah began to dive into the teachings and methods of of the Church. Brother Jon was still his tutor, but his lessons now included history, literature and philosophy. High Priest Mik was assigning the young lad more intense physical labor and was more violent and abusive than ever before. But at this point three new people entered his life.

Brother Takk was an Imperial Royal Guard before joining one of the Churches predecessors. He was near making the status of Sovereign Protector when the Empire came to an unfortunate end. As an Imperial Royal Guard he was one of the Galaxies foremost experts on hand to hand combat, which is why he became Etah’s martial tutor. Through him Etah learned Mandalorian, Echani and Teras Kasi techniques. Brother Takk specialized in controlling his opponent through different locks and holds and striking vital areas including arteries and organs.

Reverend Lokk was one of the leaders in the Church. He had successfully argued for the boy’s presence in the Cult. He taught the boy breathing, meditation, kinetic mediation and through these how to control the internal properties of his body. This would aid him in later years when Etah began to utilize the force. In addition to these, Lokk also taught the Sakiyan the specific theology of the Church of the Sith’ari and how to apply it to his life. Reverend Lokk became his confidant and friend, more like an older brother than a paternal figure.

Bishop Ravenna was also one of the leaders of the Church. He had unsuccessfully argued that the Church should cast the inhuman burden aside. Ravenna was the boy’s disciplinarian, a position that perhaps mirrors the task masters position, but with a little more theological legitimacy. He taught the young Sakiyan mortification of the flesh which was the use of pain in prayer and meditation and aided with aesthetic discipline. Meaning he whipped the young Monk with a barbed whip in order to focus him.

In addition to study and the metal exhaustion that accompanied that, heavy chores and the beatings that accompanied them, martial exercise and the physical exhaustion that accompanied that, mortification of the flesh, discipline and the searing pain that accompanied them, Etah also practiced fasts, which deprived him of sustenance and vigils which aside from prayer, meditation, corporal mortification and discipline also involved chants, recitations and study. This exercise deprived him of sleep and sanity.

Young Adulthood ( 22 ABY / 18 years old )

Naivety dies on the battlefield, along with the best of our generation

Reaching the age of eighteen and becoming an adult and full Monk in the eyes of the Church, it was decided by Abbot Kol that he should leave the monasteries protective walls. He wasn’t exiled or stripped of the priesthood, but the members of the Church of the Sith’ari while aesthetic Monks generally entered the Cult in their latter years, after experiencing all life had to offer. Etah had done it backwards. He spent eighteen years as a monk and was now being sent into the Galaxy, to adventure and experience both the good and the bad, and to find his own way to power.

During this same period he watched Sister Nu die, more or less of old age (though there are rumors to the contrary). After her death, funeral and burial Etah had only one destination in mind. The planet Saki, the home world of his people, a place Sister Nu had spoken of fondly. Gaining passage with a freighter in exchange for some lessons in basic, the Sakiyan eventually reached his destination. He was received by the family of Sister Nu who had been corresponding with them for years. They treated Etah just as if he were her son. Raised from infancy by Monks, in a life of essentially solitude, he felt the warmness of belonging for the first time.

The first few months after arriving he began meeting with Sakiyan elders to learn one of the most important things about being Sakiyan that Sister Nu had never taught him, how to properly utilize his advanced Sakiyan senses. This would help him later on as he learned to wield the force. He used his meditative techniques to extend his senses out. The two made a formidable combination, much like they would later enhance his connection with the force. With these senses he learned to be truly alive and aware and he felt truly at home among his fellow Sakiyans, he was no longer the strange outsider.

The Antartis rebels were a group of Hutt’s bent of monopolizing the Sakiyans valuable repulsorlift technology. After approximately a year of living with the relatives of Sister Nu and learning how to control his advanced senses, Etah felt a call to serve. Joining the Saki Army as an infantryman, the young soldier was trained in basic infantry skills before being chosen for officer training because of his advanced level of education. Then he trained in command functions, light infantry tactics, reconnaissance and other forms of intelligence collection, a very difficult, elite and highly competitive training pipeline.

Just as he was commissioned and assigned to his first command, the Antartis rebels landed. An infantry commander Etah was involved in the heaviest fighting against the Hordes of the rebel Hutts which included legions of Klatooinians, Nikto, Vodran, Weequay and even a few rebel Sakiyan Scouts who were the most detested. A year and a half into the fighting, about when the tide turned against Hutt’s, Etah was reassigned to reconnaissance. An Army level asset, he coordinated with local commanders and reported to the Command Generals Staff about intelligence collection and direct action operations including small unit assaults, ambushes and command head hunting.

Though not quite a celebrity war hero, he is considered a hero by some and is pretty well known in Sakiyan military circles. After just shy of two years of military service Etah was given an honorable discharged by the Sakiyan military High Command and advised that he could best serve the Sakiyan people by becoming a powerful force user. The same Sakiyan elders who taught him how to use his Sakiyan senses, had senses so finly tuned that though they were not force sensitive, they could sense Etah’s own force sensitivity. The young soldier visited the Church in Vjun once before heading off to the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.

Dark Brotherhood ( 25 ABY / 21 years old )

"The darkness of his skin is matched only by the darkness in his soul"

Etah came to the brotherhood to become the Champion of the planet Saki and the Sakiyan people and to walk the path of the Sith’ari. Immediately finding an ally in the Soulfire Strike Force he acclimated well and quickly. He rose through many ranks quickly, surpassing most of his peers and many who had begun their training before him. As a Guard he was appointed by his House summit as Battle team leader of the Qel-Droma phyle and was inducted into the Grand Masters Royal Guard.

DJB Facts

• Joined the DB: 19 SEPT 2006
• Current member of Clan Arcona
• Current member of House Galeres
• Tetrarch, Qel-Droma Phyle
• Apprentice to Koskian 'Psyko' d'Tana Arconae
• Grand Masters Royal Guard: Inductee
• Antei Combat Center: Neophyte

Trivia

• Was originally the Apprentice of Callus Bo'Amar
• Completed 18 Shadow Academy Courses in his first 10 days
• Made the rank of Novice in 4 days
• Made the rank of Acolyte in 1 day (5 days all together)
• Made the rank of Protector in 2 days (7 days all together)
• Made the rank of Guardian in 8 days (15 days all together)
• Made the rank of Jedi Hunter in 56 days (71 days all together)