#Sehlaan Mar'el

[murder-and-mayhem]

Meet My OC

S E H L A A N | SITH WARRIOR

Romances: Malavai Quinn during the Warrior storyline (ended it after the Quinncident) | Theron Shan during Shadow of Revan | currently in a committed relationship with Arcann.

@ladytirall I saw your post about OC's so I couldn't resist showing off my main. She is a redeemed Sith Warrior, and I am ✨obsessed✨ with her. I gave a lot some backstory below the cut, and I apologize in advance for the dissertation. I got way too carried away....

A/N: I am highly aware that this backstory fucks the SWTOR timeline mercilessly considering all class stories technically occur simultaneously. This is just the headcanon following my in-game family tree. My structuring of Imperial Society is loosely based on this post by @fluffynexu (particularly the schooling that Force-sensitive Sith children undergo), along with my own headcanon that not all "legitimized" children born in the Empire come with the obligation of marriage. Basically something along the lines of "powerful bloodlines are so inherent to the power structure/caste system that procreation has become a transaction". It's fucked up, but the Empire is fucked up so why not go balls to the wall.

In 3665 BBY, Sehlaan was born on Dromund Kaas to Jaidys Mar'el—better known across the Empire as Darth Nox. Her birth was part of a contractual agreement between Nox and a prominent Kaasian family. Darth Nox—a former slave and distant descendant of Lord Aloysius Kallig—had been newly appointed as a member of the Dark Council after killing her predecessor.

Her position on the Council was hardly secure at the time. Many Sith saw her rise to power as an affront, and—whether due to their prejudice, their own ambitions, or both—Nox was met with many attempts to usurp her seat, and subsequently end her life. In an attempt to solidify her position in the Empire and ensure her own legacy, she made an offer to several powerful families at the top of Kaasian society. She focused particularly on old families who had a reputation for their ruthless ambition, and offered them a mutually beneficial contract: she would produce an heir with one of their bloodline. A legitimate child between a Dark Council member with ancient Sith blood, and a sire from a deeply respected family boasting ties to high-ranking officials and its own prestigious bloodline.

The child would cement an alliance between the two, give her a better foothold among the Sith still clawing for her Council seat, and offer the families who accepted a chance to grow more powerful among their peers. Two of the families were able to overcome their distaste towards her years as a slave, and accepted her offer. Two families. Two children.

Sehlaan's brother, Torvahl, was born first to a different father, and Sehlaan followed two years after. Her childhood was strictly managed and closely monitored by both her mother and her biological father's family. When her Force sensitivity manifested at 4 years old she began a training regimen, with the end goal to have her attend the Academy on Korriban when she came of age and had finished her years of study.

Sehlaan took to her training with obedience and an eagerness to please, eclipsing all initial expectations that had been set for her. She was heralded as intuitive and clever among her masters, quick to learn, and deeply attuned to her connection with the Force. Sehlaan excelled in her studies, and her mother's personal lessons in dual saber combat had labeled her somewhat of a prodigy.

Sehlaan's brother hadn't fared nearly as well. He had proficient skill with a dual saber, but his hesitance to tap into his passions during his training had stunted his connection to the Force. He also struggled in his studies and had issues focusing. Sehlaan often helped him practice, even going so far as to help him cheat in order to remain close to him and spare him their mother's ire. When Sehlaan's interference was discovered, the resulting punishment was severe on both children. Torvahl's masters labeled him as weak and slow, and Darth Nox quickly wrote him off as a failure. Sehlaan, however, loved her brother deeply, and she refused to give up on him so easily. She did everything within her power to help him catch up by meditating with him, studying, and sparring.

When they were 13 and 11 years old, Torvahl disappeared. It was discovered later by Jaidys' contacts at Imperial Intelligence that he had run away with an SIS agent who'd escaped capture under mysterious circumstances. Her own spies later reported that he'd been sent to Tython, and that he was excelling at his training at the Jedi Temple despite his late start. 

The event was extremely traumatic for Sehlaan. Her mother forbade any mention of him with swift, brutal punishment to follow if her orders were disobeyed. Nox was deemed incompetent by Torvahl's sire and relations between the two deteriorated significantly, creating new enemies of the family and their allies. The only thing that protected Nox from the fallout of Torvahl's 'betrayal' was Sehlaan's biological father. His family was the wealthier and better connected of the two, and their peers were hesitant to fight an open war between them.

All of the pressure to succeed now fell on Sehlaan, and her already strict schedule became micromanaged down to the minute. She was made to train and study harder, and she was no longer attending a public academy. Instead she trained under Nox's ally, Darth Vowran, as well as several other masters and scholars that shared the same allegiance.

Sehlaan had no choice but to obey.

Torvahl's disappearance left her heartbroken, and being an 11 year old without an outlet her pain quickly turned into outright fury. She felt abandoned by her brother, and was gutted that he hadn't trusted her to tell her of his plan so she could leave with him. Her bitterness and rage fed her connection to the Dark side, and she shouldered the burden of her family's legacy with renewed vigor.

When she was 20 years old she was brought into the Sith Academy ahead of schedule by Overseer Tremel. She was given strict instructions that she was not to reveal her mother's position on the Dark Council to others. Nepotism was rampant among the Sith, but Tremel wanted her to be chosen on her merit, not her connections. The plan succeeded, and Sehlaan became the newest apprentice to Darth Baras.

In the first year of her apprenticeship, she was tasked with hunting down her Master's nemesis, Nomen Karr, and his padawan, Jaesa Willsaam. Baras' intel stated that Jaesa could sense the true intentions and alignments of anyone through the Force, and Sehlaan was curious. She'd had a decade to seethe over her brother's decision to run, and during all of those years under Nox's thumb she'd slowly begun to understand why he'd grasped at any chance to leave. Even if she couldn't forgive him for leaving her behind.

This new understanding left her feeling conflicted, and she found herself questioning her allegiances—something she had desperately tried and succeeded to hide from both her mother and her new master. As she hunted the Jedi down, she found ways to still appease Darth Baras in her decisions without causing as much bloodshed, listing pragmatism for her choices rather than mercy.

When Sehlaan finally confronted Karr and Jaesa, the padawan turned her power on the Sith and saw this confict. Sehlaan was at a tipping point. After Nomen Karr's fall, Jaesa left with Sehlaan of her own free will to become her apprentice, and Sehlaan began to learn and understand the Light side of the Force in secret. It took working through hundreds of setbacks (especially during her years as the Emperor's Wrath) and overcoming decades of indoctrination before she was able to cleanse her lightsaber crystal, eventually changing the color from red to white.

It wasn't until her meeting with Darth Marr and Satele Shan in the forests of Odessen that she was able to find true balance in the Force. Using components provided by Marr and Master Shan, she built a new lightsaber using her own cleansed crystal before going on to defeat Arcann. After his fall, she chose mercy despite the blow back from her allies on the decision, eventually leading to his joining of the Alliance.

Arcann saw it as a chance to redeem himself and heal the wounds he'd left on the greater galaxy. Later during a private moment between the two, he asked her why she'd chosen to let him live and why she'd let him join her on Odessen. Sehlaan quietly told him of her own journey towards the Light, and how sparing him and his mother had been an easy decision in her eyes.

[murder-and-mayhem]

You ever have that one armor set that's just...*chef's kiss*

KInda looks like a half-baked Luke Skywalker cosplay, though.

BONUS:

✨Real Space Barbie Hours✨