Korsin Bentado

Korsin Bentado was a Force-sensitive Human Male. He was a well-built and bald man who had a black moustache. Korsin was a member of the Lost Tribe of Sith, the descendants of a group of Human Sith that had become stranded on the planet Kesh during the Great Hyperspace War. Korsin grew up during the Time of the Rot and became the leader of the Korsinite League, a faction which revered the Tribe's founder Yaru Korsin and his daughter Nida Korsin. In 3000 BBY, he went to Tahv to celebrate Testament Day, and to stop an attempt by the Sisters of Seelah to alter the Testament of Yaru Korsin to favor their interests. During Testament, the various Sith factions learnt that the ancestors of the Lost Tribe were not "great conquerors" but were actually slaves of the Sith Empire. This sparked a brief period of murder and unrest known as the Great Crisis. During the fighting, Korsin lost his left hand to Iliana Merko, the leader of the Sisters of Seelah.
Korsin subsequently joined forces with several surviving members of the Tribe including Edell Vrai and Neera to destroy the ancient Sith starship Omen in order to purge the "shameful history" of the Tribe. However, they were stopped by the Caretaker Varner Hilts, Iliana, and Hilt's Keshiri assistant Jaye Vuhld. During a brief skirmish, Korsin killed Jaye with his lightsaber. However, Hilts successfully convinced the other Sith to end the fighting by revealing the existence of a map which showed the existence of another continent known as Alanciar. Yaru Korsin had concealed Alanciar's existence and intended to use it as a "cause" to give his descendants a new sense of purpose. Hilt's ploy worked and the other Sith including Korsin elected Hilts as their new Grand Lord, the first since the Night of the Upside-Down Meteor which ended the life of Lillia Venn.
After Hilt's takeover of the Tribe, Bentado became a member of the Grand Lord's new Circle of Lords, and received the title of High Lord. For the next twenty-five years, the Tribe committed themselves to reaching and conquering Alanciar. The Tribe also developed a fleet of hydrogen-powered airships which were used to travel to Alanciar. Korsin's rival Edell Vrai led the vanguard force and encountered resistance from the Alanciari Keshiri, who had prepared for a Sith invasion. During the invasion of Alanciar in 2975 BBY, the High Lord commanded the Ebon Fleet which sustained heavy casualties from the Alanciari forces. The Ebon Fleet's airships were shot down, and most of the invasion force was killed.
Korsin's airship Yaru was shot down but he and a group of survivors regrouped and succeeded in reaching the capital Sus'mintri. There, Korsin and his followers slew the War Cabinet, effectively decapitating the Alanciari leadership. Korsin then rebelled against Grand Lord Hilts and attempted to create a second tribe on Alanciar. However, he was thwarted through the combined efforts of Edell, the local Alanciari woman Quarra Thayn, and his own Keshiri assistant Squab, who was actually loyal to Hilts. Squab slew Korsin while Edell used the Force to assert control over his remaining followers, ending Bentado's ambitions and ensuring the survival of Grand Lord Hilts. Following his death, the Tribe peacefully annexed Alanciari with the help of the Keshiri man Jogan Halder, Quarra's lover. Korsin would be remembered by the Sith and the Alanciari Keshiri as a "servant" of the evil Destructors whom the Tribe or the Protectors, were hunting for.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Korsin Bentado was a male Human who was a member of the Lost Tribe of Sith, a group of stranded Human Sith who lived on the remote Wild Space planet of Kesh. He grew up during the Time of the Rot, a nine-hundred-and-sixty-year period of turmoil and civil war which engulfed the Lost Tribe. By 3000 BBY, Bentado had become the leader of the Korsinite League, a cult which had been founded by a former slaver which revered the memory of the Tribe's founder Yaru Korsin and his daughter Nida Korsin. This slave adopted the name "Korsin" as a title for himself, separate from the Tribe's hierarchy of Lords. Believing that any worthy Sith individual could aspire to "Korsin-ness", Bentado and other members of the League patterned their lives after those led by the first Grand Lord and his daughter. He also believed that the Tribe itself was the body of the leader Korsin and that those would threatened the body were deserving of nothing but death.
As a member of the Korsinite League, he dressed in black and had an intolerant view of the other Sith factions particularly the Sisters of Seelah and Force 57, which revered the memory of Korsin's estranged wife Seelah Korsin and the non-Human Red Sith respectively. In addition, Korsin disagreed with the Golden Destiny, a faction that was obsessed with the stellar aspects of the Tribe's history and believed that the Tribe should reopen the Kesh Sith Temple and return to the stars. Korsin regarded these other Sith factions as "heretics" and "defilers" and always sought an opportunity to fight against them. Korsin and his brethren viewed the Testament of Yaru Korsin as a sacred text and adhered strictly to the political structure which Korsin had outlined during his last moments. His companions included Korsin Vandoz and Korsin Immera.
===Testament Day===
In 3000 BBY, Korsin Bentado and his followers learnt that the Sisters of Seelah, a sect led by Iliana Merko which commemorated the memory of Seelah Korsin, had occupied the capitol building in the Sith capital city Tahv, which housed the Tribe's historical archives and a holocron containing a holographic recording of Yaru Korsin's testament. The Sisters had planned to coerce the Caretaker Varner Hilts into producing a fake testament that would favor Seelah and those who followed her. However, this plot failed since the original Testament was a holographic recording of Yaru Korsin during his last moments. Thus, a fake document would not suffice. After four days, the Korsinite League arrived in Tahv. By then, the various Sith factions had camped outside the capitol building on the grounds of the Circle Eternal, a large plaza.
Bentado and his followers infiltrated the capitol building by using ropes and entered through the glass windows. These then ambushed Iliana and her followers, who were at that very moment trying to force Hilts to activate the holocron. Their arrival coincided with a ground attack by members of Force 57, a sect comprised of deformed and misshapen Humans who emulated the memory of the "Other Fifty-Seven", the cryptic name for the non-Human Red Sith members of the Tribe who had been purged in 4985 BBY. The Korsinite League then sparred with the other two Sith factions until they were interrupted by Varner Hilts who tried to bring peace in the capitol building, which was regarded as a neutral meeting ground for the Tribe. During that brief but hot skirmish, Iliana denounced Neera, the leader of Force 57, as "human trash". Bentado then angrily denounced Iliana as a "traitorous wrench."
After interrupting the fight, Hilts welcomed the three Sith factions and commented that they had come too early, reminding them that Testament Day was only eight-days away. Neera then demanded to know why Iliana was here. When Iliana insulted Neera, Korsin reiterated that the "House of Korsin" was no place for both his opponents: the Sisters of Seelah and Force 57. After noting that Iliana's fellow Sisters were poised to move, Hilts stepped in between the two faction and asked Korsin whether he was from the Korsinite League. Korsin then introduced himself before introduced two of his supporters, Vandoz and Immera, the later of whom had been present at the last Testament reading twenty-five years earlier. He also announced that the League had come to celebrate the lives of Yaru and Nida Korsin since that year's Testament Day coincided with the Festival of Nida's Rise, which commemorated the succession of Nida to the Grand Lordship in 4975 BBY.
Korsin then took a shot at the Sisters and Force 57 by telling Hilts that the Testament would show the "misled" among the Tribe the "truth" of the Testament. Korsin reiterated his beliefs that the leader, Yaru Korsin, had come from beyond, and that the Tribe was the leader's body. He added that those who would threatened the body's existence only deserved death. After gazing reverently at a statue of Yaru Korsin, Korsin remarked the Korsinite saying that "one becomes all, an all one. Korsin now, Korsin forever." Shortly later, Neera reiterated her demand that Hilts reveal why Iliana had been allowed inside the capitol building. After confirming that she and her followers were from Force 57, Neera embarked on a verbal tirade attacking Neera for banishing "her kind" so that she could have her "blissful perfection." She also denounced the capitol building's atrium for not including a painting of Ravilan Wroth, the leader of the "Different Ones", and Gloyd, the alien "pet" of the Korsins.
In response, Iliana remarked that Seelah had been right to purge the "defectives" from the Tribe and vowed to repeat it. Before the Sisters could attack Force 57, Hilts got between the two parties and repeated his warning that the capitol building was not the place for violence. Bentado expressed his agreement with Hilts and then announced that the "defilers" had to pay the penalty of death. He vowed to destroy his opponents in combat in the capitol building and its surround grounds, where the other Sith factions had already gathered. For Bentado, he believed that the blood spilled would sanctify the place. He also claimed that the Korsinite League would be triumphant and in eight days, they alone would hear Yaru Korsins "blessings." When Hilts' Keshiri aide Jaye Vuhld expressed his concerns that there were thousands of people outside, Korsin merely commented that the killings would still proceed.
However, Hilts disagreed and argued that it did not have to end in violence. He recalled that Bentado had come for the reading and offered to do it now. However, Bentado dogmatically refused to accept a reading of the Testament on any day besides its anniversary. He warned Hilts that if he did not comply with tradition, he would be branded a "heretic" like the other Sith factions. As the Korsinite League's members surged forwards towards Hilts, Bentado vowed that they would hear the found in eight days alone. In response, Hilts convinced Jaye to present his calculations concerning the Sandpipes. The timid Keshiri mathematician first explained that the "Protectors", an honorific title for the Human Sith on Kesh, had brought their Galactic Standard Calendar to Kesh, which differed from the planet's length of days and years. Following their arrival, the Sith had calibrated their Sandpipes to the magical chrono aboard the Omen prior to abandoning the ship.
Several of the Sith delegates were initially bored and some of them ignited their lightsabers to express their disapproval. However, Jaye soldiered on with presenting his message. Jaye then shared that he and his fellow mathematicians had found that the sand in which flowed in the Sandpipe in Tahv was slower than those aboard the Omen. When Bentado queried about the time difference, Jaye explained that one standard day on Kesh was one second slower than Galactic Standard Time. This time difference meant that the Standard Calendar was eight days ahead of the Keshiri calendar. Hilts and Jaye then deduced that Testament Day and the Festival of Nida's Rise actually occurred on that day. Thus, Hilts was legally obliged to declare the Pantheon's Peace, which marked the reading of Korsin's Testament.
Bentado initially refused to accept Jaye's findings and grabbed Jaye by the wrist. He demanded to know whether the "Keshiri fool" had counted all the seconds since the Omen had landed. Jaye admitted he had done so and estimated that it had been more than sixty billion seconds since the Omen had landed on Kesh. Iliana came to Jaye's defense and argued that the Keshiri was telling the truth since she sensed no deception in him. With Bentado's Korsinite League and Force 57 agreeing with Jaye's findings, Bentado was forced to concede to Hilts, who now could legally convene the Pantheon's Peace. Hilts then ordered the assembled Sith to deactivate their weapons and to call the rival leaders from outside. Hilts privately hoped that Korsin's Testament would bring peace to the various Sith factions.
===Revelations of the Palimpsest===
Bentado Korsin represented the Korsinite League during the reading of Yaru Korsin's Testament. The other attendees were the other nineteen leaders of the various Sith factions including Iliana Merko, Neera, and the leader of the Golden Destiny, a faction that was obsessed with the stellar aspects of the Tribe's history. Per tradition, all the Keshiri staff who worked for the Caretaker Hilts were excluded from the meeting. Throughout the Pantheon's Peace, Bentado listened attentively to the sayings of his revered leader, who had made his Testament during his last moments following an attempted coup d'état by Seelah and his step-son Jariad Korsin. Korsin had recorded his testament into a holocron, an ancient Jedi and Sith technology that was used to record knowledge and to relay communications.
The ancient Yaru Korsin argued that the Tribe was a necessary mechanism to guarantee the Tribe's survival. After subduing Kesh, the Tribe's founder warned that the only threat to the Tribe came from within itself. Korsin also told his daughter Nida Korsin that the "true power" was behind the throne and that should disaster befall, the Tribe should remember that. Korsin also outlined the Tribe's hierarchy and how the structure should be managed to prevent uprisings like the one that ultimately killed him. In addition, the Tribe's founded also advocated killing the spouses of deceased Grand Lords and banishing Seelah. Korsin also advised his listeners to promote their own people to the positions of Sith Lord and High Lords. Bentado paid attention to the logistical details of the Tribe's structure since he believed that it justified his faction's beliefs. In the end, Korsin concluded with a statement telling his daughter Nida that she was the only "good thing" to come from Seelah. He also designated her as being responsible for the Tribe's future on Kesh. While it was not the Tribe's choice to live on Kesh, Korsin argued that they had a choice not to die there. That choice had to be made by his descendants. Shortly later, Korsin died and the transmission stopped.
Following the end of the Testament reading, Bentado stood up and praised Yaru Korsin. He championed Korsin's power struggle which he claimed his people represented and argued that there could be no compromise. Bentado was immediately challenged by the leader of the Golden Destiny who argued that Korsin had been a great conqueror and that the Tribe's ancestors had been a "powerful people". While the Tribe had not intended to come to Kesh, they had subdued the planet instantly. The Golden Destiny's leader also speculated that every human in the galaxy was likely to have his own planetary kingdom. To realize this destiny, he argued that the Tribe shoud stop fighting, reopen the Sith temple, and return to the stars. The meeting quickly descended into quarrels as the various Sith leaders tried to defend their beliefs and ridicule those of their opponents. Meanwhile, the Caretaker Hilts encountered problems with trying to deactivate the holocron. He quickly discovered that Korsin's Testament had been taped over an older recording or palimpsest—a second work that had been painted over an earlier one while using the same canvas.
It turned out that Yaru Korsin in the distant past had used the holocron as a communications device during his servitude to the Sith Empire. The assembled Sith quickly learnt the true history of the Lost Tribe. Rather than being conquerors from a glorious past, the Human Sith had actually been slaves to the Sith Lord Naga Sadow, a red-skinned and tentacled-face humanoid. The "vaunted" Yaru Korsin was merely a "delivery boy." The Omen was a dreadnought which had been tasked with delivering Lignan crystals to Sith forces on Kirrek during the Great Hyperspace War. In addition, Sadow dispatched Ravilan Wroth and his Massassi warriors to work with Korsin. It quickly transpired that Wroth and the "Original 57" had actually been members of an alien species known as the Red Sith, the original forebears of the Sith Order and the alien masters of the Tribe's ancestors. Finally, Sadow warned Korsin that he expected nothing but success and that failure would be punishable by death.
These revelations about the Lost Tribe's origins as slaves sparked anxiety and panic among the attendees. Korsin Bentado initially reacted with disbelief and commented that Naga Sadow had been "Korsin's celestial ally" in folk tales. He was shocked to learn that the "thing" actually owned the Omen and its crew. In response, Iliana commented that the Tribe's ancestors had not been conquerors but had merely been "diggers in the dirt" and that the Tribe's founder had merely been a "delivery boy". Similarly, Neera commented that this was not Sith but madness. Iliana then argued that this "inglorious past" had been the reason for Seelah Korsin's obsession with "sanctifying the Tribe." Out of fear and shock, Bentado accused Hilts and Iliana of tampering with the holocron. Hilts responded that he would not have known how to tamper with the device. The Caretaker concluded that the Keshiri Sith were a "lost" Tribe that had ended up on Kesh because Korsin was unwilling to go back and face Sadow.
Ashamed at the stigma that the Tribe's ancestors were merely runaway slaves, Iliana ignited her lightsaber and used it to destroy the holocron and the pedestal it stood upon. When Hilts asked Iliana to justify her actions, Iliana warned the Sith that their ancestors did not want them to know about their "inglorious past." Due to the Tribe's origins as Sith slaves, Seelah had destroyed all records relating to Ravilan's people. Yaru Korsin had also recorded over this message to preserve this secret. While Hilts was open to telling the true story of the Tribe's origins, Bentado feared that this news would inspire a revolt among the Keshiri. Neera vowed to kill anyone who revealed this secret while Iliana stressed that such measures would not be necessary since she had already destroyed the holocron.
===The Great Crisis===
Despite efforts by the leaders of the Sith factions to preserve knowledge of that "disastrous" Testament Day, it was widely believed that a drunken Sith leader had revealed the truth behind the Lost Tribe's origins to the Humans celebrating the Festival of Nida's Rise. This sparked a series of violent riots across Keshtah Minor, known as the Great Crisis, which resulted in the razing of several cities. Within eight days, the unrest had spread all over the continent. Since the Tribe had been reduced to a few thousand individuals, the ensuing bloodbath threatened the viability of the Tribe itself. Korsin Bentado and his Korsinite League participated in the ensuing fighting and fought against the other Sith factions. During a lightsaber duel with the Sisters' leader Iliana Merko, Bentado lost his left hand to her lightsaber. Before Bentado and his followers could capture or kill the Chief Sister, Iliana fled on an uvak to the Kesh Sith Temple, which housed the ancient starship Omen and was located at the edge of the Takara Mountains.
After two weeks of fighting, Korsin Bentado and several of his Sith opponents including the Golden Destiny member Edell Vrai, a young warrior and mathematician, and Neera met together and resolved to destroy the Omen. They regarded the ancient Sith starship as the last remaining relic of the Tribe's inglorious history and thus sought to destroy it. Edell justified his motivations on the grounds that the Omen had been nothing but a "carrier of chattel." Likewise, Bentado described the starship as the cause of the Tribe's imprisonment on Kesh and an "omen of despair." Despite his earlier fascination with Korsin-era architecture and the Omen, Vrai agreed with Bentado's assessment that the starship had to be destroyed. While Bentado believed that the Tribe was destined to annihilation, he believed that the destruction of the Omen would provide a common cause for the Tribe to rally in hatred against their predestined fate.
Due to his expertise in mathematics and engineering, Edell was made the chief project officer of this demolition project which included thirty Sith warriors from various factions and several uvak, winged reptilian beasts of burden. The Sith participants came from various factions including Force 57 and the Sisters of Seelah. Despite their earlier differences, they were willing to work together for a common cause: destroying the last relic of their "inglorious past." For this demolition project, Edell planned to topple the temple's giant watchtower onto the chamber containing the Omen, crushing the ship. Edell got the Sith warriors to loop long leather cables around the supports of the watchtower. Several teams of Sith on the ground and uvaks in the air then worked simultaneously to lower the building. This construction project clashed with another expedition comprising of the Caretaker Varner Hilts, his Keshiri assistant Jaye Vuhld, and Iliana Merko. These three wanted to explore the Temple and find Yaru Korsin's secrets, which Hilts believed had the potential to save the Tribe from their downward spiral of destruction.
Edell and Bentado's deconstruction team discovered the presence of Hilts' party after Hilts sent Jaye to obtain glowrod]s for them to examine a secret map room on the seventh step of the stairway leading to the temple. As a result, Bentado murdered Jaye and the Sith party stumbled on Hilts and Iliana. Bentado, Neera, and Edell had all been hunting for the "chief Sister" Iliana and sought retribution against her for the numerous wounds and disfigurements she had inflicted on them. Bentado was pleased to meet his quarry and showed the stump of his left arm to her. They wanted to settle their unfinished business with Iliana by killing her. As retribution for his lost hand, Bentado suggested throwing Iliana from the temple's tower to her death. Meanwhile, another Sith suggested chaining the "chief Sister" to the spot where the tower would fall. Unmoved by their threats, Iliana threatened to attack them with her lightsaber and finish the fight once and for all.
However, the Sith were stopped by Hilts who demanded to know who had murdered Jaye, his best friend. However, Jaye's murderer Bentado was unrepentant and tried to justify his actions on the grounds that Jaye was a Keshiri and that his presence "profaned" the temple. When Hilts reprimanded the Sith for trying to destroy the temple which the Keshiri had helped build in the first place, Neera responded that all life was "profane". She cited the "alien masters" of the Tribe's forebears as an example of how disgusting life could be. Edell, the more moderate of the Sith party, attempted to reason with Hilts by telling him that everything they had known about the Tribe was a lie and that there was no sense in clinging to ancient sites like the Sith Temple since it contributed to infighting among the Tribe. In response, Hilts argued that the Tribe was not doomed but Edell did not see his point and instead argued that the end had already happened but that the Tribe did not know it. These Sith then closed in on Iliana, whom they regarded as the more dangerous of their prey.
===A New Destiny===
In an attempt to defuse the situation and to prevent further bloodshed, Hilts used the Force to yank off the stone panels covering the map in that chamber. This revealed the existence of a second continent known as Keshtah Major or Alanciar. After explaining the significance of his discovery for the Tribe, Hilts read a message from Yaru to his daughter Nida Korsin, which argued that this hidden knowledge was a cause that could one day be used to reunite the Tribe. Hilts also proceeded to read a letter from Yaru's mother Takara Korsin to her son Yaru Korsin, where the former prophesied that their descendants would one day rule a "great people" and be free of the Red Sith. Both of these texts were in the Tapani language, a tongue which had been forgotten by the contemporary descendants of the Tribe. When Bentado asked if there were any guides to this ancient language, Hilts responded that there had been guides until his archives were destroyed during the Great Crisis. Hilts then emphasized that he was the only person in the Tribe who knew the "old tongue."
Caretaker Hilts then successfully convinced the other Sith to end the fighting by arguing that the Tribe should abandon their internal infighting and pool their energies and resources into conquering this new continent. He described this new project as the biggest thing the Tribe's society had ever undertaken and reiterated that they needed everyone. Hilts also explained that Yaru Korsin had concealed Alanciar's existence since he had intended to use it as a "cause" to give his descendants a new sense of purpose. The Caretaker also reiterated that this endeavor would require order and discipline as in the "days of old". The various Sith were moved by Hilts' speech and quickly submitted to him.
Edell Vrai was the first to deactivate his lightsaber and kneel before Hilts. He vowed that the Tribe would "craft" their society again according to the "old ways". He praised Hilts for his knowledge of the "old tongue" and "old ways" and blessed him as someone who would guide their people well. Edell's fellow Golden Destiny members also followed suit and bowed before the Grand Lord. Shortly later, Bentado himself nodded and bowed to his knees. He praised Hilts for redeeming the Tribe's faith in Korsin. Neera also knelt and praised Hilts for finding a path that was wide enough for all the Sith to follow and placed all her trust in him. Finally, the various Sith elected Varner Hilts as their new Grand Lord, a position which had been hotly contested within the Tribe for almost a millennium. This marked the beginning of a new era in the Tribe's history known as the Hilts Restoration.
In the end, Iliana was the only person left standing in the map room. She was initially jealous that Hilts had beaten her in the race for the Tribe's leadership, which caused her eyes to flash in anger. However, Hilts defused this situation by asking Iliana to become his wife, making her his Grand Consort. This would enable Iliana to share his power and to give her protection from Bentado and his companions who still sought retribution against her. Shortly, later the couple were married at the mountainside Sith Temple on the last day of the Festival of Nida's Rise. Meanwhile, Bentado along with several other Sith leaders including Edell and Neera travelled throughout mainland Keshtah Minor, bringing with them the good news that the Tribe's governing system would be restored and set towards a new goal: reaching the continent of Keshtah Major, which lay across the Endless Sea.
===High Lord===
For the next twenty-five years, the Sith Tribe experimented with various technologies in order to find a safe and reliable means of reaching Keshtah Major. Following a series failed experiments with long-range uvak reconnaissance flights and building ocean-going vessels, the Tribe's chief engineer Edell Vrai finally developed airships in 2975 BBY, dirigibles which relied on hydrogen gas to stay afloat. During that time, Korsin Bentado rose to the position of High Lord and became an important military commander of the Tribe's forces. Later, Grand Lord Hilts appointed Bentado as the commander of the Ebon Fleet, a large fleet of sixty military airships which had been designated as the invasion fleet that would invade Keshtah Major. Hilts had made this decision at the behest of his wife Iliana in order to put Bentado's energies to better uses than staring new cults. Many of Bentado's former Korsinite League supporters also remained loyal to him and joined the Ebon Fleet.
Despite his privileged position with the Tribe's hierarchy, Bentado came to desire Varner Hilts' position as Grand Lord, an office which was held for life. Fearing that Hilts would outlive him, Bentado decided to find a way to overthrow Hilts and to install himself into a position of leadership. He also came to regard Iliana, who fiercely protected her husband, as another threat to his ambitions. As Sith, neither Bentado nor the Hilts fully trusted each other since it was Sith nature for individual Sith to aspire to ultimate domination and control of everything. To keep an eye on Bentado, Hilts, at the advice of Iliana, assigned the hunchback Keshiri servant Squab to work as Bentado's aide in 2980 BBY. Despite the Keshiri's deformity, Bentado developed a close working relationship with Squab and was never seen with his loyal aide. In reality, Squab was a secret agent of Hilts whose job was to eliminate any threats to the Grand Lord's rule.
In 2975 BBY, Edell Vrai led an expeditionary mission to "Keshtah Major". The Tribe had planned to sail across the Endless Sea and scout the continent before returning to Keshtah Minor. However, the Tribe's scout airships were intercepted and shot down by the local Keshiri, who called themselves the Alanciari and their continent Alanciar. The ancient Keshiri geologist and Herald Adari Vaal and her fellow rebels had exiled themselves to Alanciar two thousand years before. Under her influence, the Alanciari developed into a highly militaristic society and built a strong military to resist any Sith invasion from Keshtah. Edell and five other Sith crew survived and they succeeded in capturing two Alanciari: the signal office Jogan Halder and his lover Wardmaster Quarra Thayn. In addition, these Sith also managed to commandeer the Alanciari harvester Mischance which they used to return to Keshtah with Jogan. Meanwhile, Edell managed to recruit Adari as a guide for a ground-based reconnaissance mission into Alanciar's interior. Adari complied because she wanted to save Jogan's life and to lure Edell into a trap.
===The Ebon Fleet===
Following the Tribe's first contact with the Alanciari, Edell's thoughtcrier Taymor managed to transmit a telepathic message warning the Tribe's leadership that the expedition had encountered trouble. However, Taymor was unable to convey much in her thought impression other than feelings of surprise, shock, and confusion since she was killed before she could complete her message. This message was received by both Bentado's and Iliana's thoughtcriers but the two drew separate conclusions. While Iliana suspected that something bad had befallen Edell's expedition, Bentado interpreted the call as confirmation that Edell had finally found the "hidden land" and that the time was right to invade "Keshtah Major". Shortly later, Korsin requested an audience with the Grand Lord to obtain permission to launch an invasion. For that meeting at the capitol building in Tahv, Bentado was accompanied by eight loyal Sith warriors from the Korsinite League and his Keshiri aide Squab.
Despite his earlier agreement with Edell and the Hilts to wait until the scouting expedition had returned, Bentado ordered that the Ebon Fleet's airships be prepared for their journey to the new continent. By the time of the meeting, the Ebon Fleet's crew were ready to depart and the airships had been inflated and outfitted for war. Despite the Tribe's poor intelligence on the military capabilities of the Alanciari, the High Lord believed that he and his warriors would be more effective at subduing the natives than a "talented tinker". To counter Iliana's concerns, Korsin speculated that Edell too overwhelmed and confused by his discovery to know what to do next. Bentado also reasoned that Edell was probably waiting for the Ebon Fleet to arrive and invade Alanciar. When Iliana suggested that Edell's airships may have crashed into the ocean, Hilts emphasized that Edell was not dead since he would have sensed his death. In the end, Bentado obtained permission from his liege to invade Alanciar.
Following Korsin Bentado's departure, Hilts confided in Iliana that the Tribe was wasting an airship on Bentado and described the High Lord as his own gasbag. Iliana concurred and expressed her reservations that Bentado had rushed the invasion and was possibly taking all his people to drown. When Hilts asked if the destruction of the Ebon Fleet would bother her, Iliana replied that it would not. She argued that Bentado had stacked the invasion fleet with his supporters and that anyone the High Lord trusted was "worth drowning." After the departure of the Ebon Fleet, Edell's lieutenant Peppin and the surviving Sith crew returned to Keshtah Minor with the Alanciari soldier Jogan Halder and the Alanciari ship Mischance. Peppin flew an uvak to Tahv and quickly updated the Grand Lord about the recent developments in Alanciar particularly Jogan's capture and their acquisition of a copy of the Keshtah Chronicles, a popular history book written by Adari Vaal which depicted the Tribe in a negative light.
After learning about the military capabilities and the strong anti-Sith sentiment of the Alanciari, Varner Hilts devised a "grand deception operation" that was designed to win the "hearts and minds" of the Keshiri in Alanciar. He used the Tribe's most loyal Keshiri to organize a large public carnival in the capital Tahv where there would be painting, sculpting, music, and singing. Hilts succeeded in deceiving Halder into believing that the Sith Tribe were the benign "Protectors" and that the Keshiri in Keshtah were happy to live under them. The Sith also told Halder that Adari had been right about the presence of the servants of the Destructors among the Tribe but that these malcontents had been cast out. However, Hilts did not inform Bentado of these new developments. Firstly, the Grand Lord knew that even if he informed Lord Bentado, the latter would be unwilling to listen to reason.
Secondly, Hilts wanted to portray Bentado as a "servant of the Destructor" who had recently risen among the Tribe. This was helped by Korsin's own fearsome appearance and the black leather suits that he and his followers wore; elements which the Alanciari would associate with the malevolent Destructors. Hilts and Iliana regarded the ambitious Bentado as a threat to their rule and thus saw the invasion of Alanciar as an opportunity to eliminate him. Knowing that Bentado and his Ebon Fleet had already departed for Alanciar, Hilts wanted to give the Alanciari a fight that they could win. For his grand strategy of conquering Alanciar to succeed with minimal losses, Hilts had to convince the Alanciari that the Sith were indeed the benevolent Protectors. Meanwhile, Korsin Bentado would play the role of the patsy, who would initiate the invasion but would not benefit from it.
===Conquering Alanciar===
Korsin Bentado and his Ebon Fleet flew across the Endless Sea to Alanciar. They succeeded in traveling up to the Western Shield, an agricultural region to the north of the Shank, which was home to many state-owned farms. However, the Ebon Fleet was quickly attacked and shot down by several ballistae artillery units which fired flaming arrows and shards of glass at the Sith invaders. Within minutes, several Sith airships had been shot down or destroyed. The surviving Sith crew and soldiers were hunted and killed by units of Alanciari soldiers. Bentado's flagship Yaru was pierced by several flaming javelins and careened towards the eastern highlands, where it crashed and exploded. However, Korsin and his crew managed to cut the Yaru's gondola loose from the gas envelope as soon as they had cleared the top ridge of the plateau. Bentado suffered burns to his head and his eyebrows were signed off during the explosion but he managed to survive.
While traveling to the Alanciari capital of Sus'mintri, Edell Vrai and Quarra Thayn witnessed the Sith disaster at the Western Shield. Edell was furious with Bentado for not waiting for him to return to Keshtah and warn the Tribe of the Alanciaris' military capabilities. Despite the disaster at the Western Shield, Bentado and several other members of the Ebon Fleet managed to survive and regoup. These survivors included several Sith crew from the Yaru and other airships, several Human Sith warriors and a small number of Keshiri ambassadors including Bentado's Keshiri aide Squab. These managed to evade their Alanciari pursuers and after traveling for several days, they managed to reach Sus'mintri, the Alanciari capital which housed the headquarters of the War Cabinet, Alanciar's military government. There, they managed to infiltrate and seize control of Vaal Hall and its adjoining signal tower, which had multiple levels of signaling lights pointing in all directions.
Vaal Hall was strategically important because it was also the headquarters of Alanciar's various military, industrial, and education directorates, which had previously met separately ten years before. At Vall Hall, Bentado Korsin and his followers used their dark side powers and their lightsaber combat skills to murder the entire Alanciari government without arousing the Alanciari citizens and garrison. Even the sentries guarding Vaal Hall were unaware of this development since the Sith were hiding within the building. During their brief occupation, the Sith used this signal station to order the Alanciari to open the compound's gates, deliver food inside the gate, and to bring Sith prisoners to Vaal Hall—a subterfuge used to gather reinforcements. This enabled the Sith to lure Quarra Thayn into bring her Sith "prisoner" Edell Vrai inside Vall Hall, where he was reunited with his fellow Sith.
Most importantly, Bentado also managed to gain control of Vaal Hall's strategically important "worldwatch", a highly centralized situation room beneath Vaal Hall's signal tower which served as the central hub for Alanciar's semaphore system. This "worldwatch" contained a great map of Alanciar which showed a complex network of signal stations and military forts. It was also used to sent orders to all Alanciari signal stations throughout the continent. In addition, it contained a facility for thoughtcriers to transmit and receive signals from all over Alanciar. The capture of the "worldwatch" enabled the Sith to control the continent's highly centralized nerve center of signal communications. Thus, the highly centralized nature of the Alanciari War Cabinet became its downfall. Despite heavy losses at the Western Shield, Bentado succeeded in decapitating the Alanciari military government, a development which favored the Tribe's plans to conquer Alanciar.
===A High Stakes Gambit===
After seizing Vaal Hall, Korsin Bentado and his followers gained control of a highly-developed and well-armed civilization. Recognizing the industrial and military might of the Alanciari, he saw the potential to forge a new empire. For years, Bentado had harbored the ambition of succeeding Varner Hilts as Grand Lord. However, his former rival Iliana protected her husband from any threats to the Grand Lordship, thus frustrating Bentado's ambitions. As a result of these factors, Bentado decided to create a "Second Tribe" on Alanciar with himself as Grand Lord. In addition, he decided to kill Grand Lord Hilts in the process by ordering the Alanciari to shoot down his airship when it arrived in Alanciar. However, his Keshiri assistant Squab learnt about his master's conspiracy and sought the opportunity to sabotage Bentado's conspiracy while still appearing to serve him.
A few days later, Edell Vrai and Quarra Thayn arrived at Vaal Hall an discovered that Bentado and his followers had already taken over the building. Bentado's guards brought the newcomers before Bentado, who had established his headquarters in the "worldwatch room". After updating Edell about his escape from the Alanciari at the Western Shield, Bentado revealed that the Sith had managed to capture one of Sus'mintri's thirteen signal towers. He also related to Edell how he had managed to use the facility's thoughtcrier center to order the Alanciari to bring their Sith prisoners to Vaal Hall. Bentado ordered his Sith signalers to deactivate their alarms and to prepare for the arrival of a second wave of Sith airships. Both Bentado and Edell knew that the Tribe still had a dozen airships left on Keshtah Minor which were under the command of Grand Lord Varner Hilts.
When Edell suggested that they warn the Tribe about the threat of the Alanciari anti-aircraft ballistae, Bentado revealed that he wanted the Alanciari to shoot down the Tribe's remaining airships. Bentado also outlined his plans to create a "Second Tribe" on Alanciar that would be independent of Grand Lord Hilts. Bentado regarded Hilts as an obstacle to his own succession to the Grand Lordship and believed that he could become the ruler of his own Tribe in Alanciar. Bentado hoped to control Alanciar's strong military and industrial base for his own ambitions. While Edell agreed with Bentado's assessment that the Alanciari had certain superior qualities, he argued that the same potential existed among the Keshiri on Keshtah since they were the same people.
Bentado then defended his plans by reiterating Sith philosophy about self glorification and the need for the perfect Sith to control everything and everyone. However, he noted that effecting the control often failed due to the presence of too many variables like slaves with conflicting goals and other Sith working in the opposite direction. To emphasize his point, Bentado used the Force to throw several miniature airships across the table. Bentado argued that the Tribe's founder Yaru Korsin had only succeeded in winning the Keshiri over but had failed to conquer them. Unlike his ancestor, Bentado planned to conquer the Alanciari by bending their working system of government to his rule. Finally, Bentado claimed that he would succeed where Yaru failed because there were no other Sith on Alanciar.
Edell listened to Bentado's arguments but regarded his ambitions as a grandiose delusion. While admiring the originality of Bentado's plan to rule Alanciar as a solitary Sith, he argued it doomed to failed because he was not the only Sith present on that continent, pointing to the presence of Korsin's Sith followers. A defensive Bentado responded that the Sith followers in the building were loyal to him. Edell countered that he could not always rely on the loyalty of his Sith followers since they would eventually tire of hiding indoors. Quarra defended Edell by reiterating that the latter had received motivated help. By contrast, she stressed that Bentado would receive no help from the Alanciari since he had killed their leaders. Edell tried to reason with Korsin by convincing him to work for the greater good of the Tribe by bringing its airships to Alanciar safely.
When that failed, Edell then turned to Bentado Korsin's Sith followers and told them that the latter had successfully established control over the Keshiri of Keshtah Major. He ordered them to help him until the Tribe's reinforcements arrived. Edell then reiterated that they would work together to consolidate power on the continent in the name of the Tribe and Grand Lord Hilts. Bentado was angered by Edell's recalcitrance and ordered his men to seize Edell and Quarra. They fled the "Worldwatch" and entered the hallway which they had entered through earlier. During their escape, Edell was wounded by Bentado who unleashed Force lightning on him. However, Quarra managed to wound Bentado's left arm with her hand-ballista, giving them time to reach the anteroom outside the War Cabinet's chamber. These two then discovered that Adari Vaal's wall tapestry led to a secret chamber which turned out to be her secret library.
===The Last Stand===
Despite searching throughout Vaal Hall, Korsin Bentado and his followers were unable to find Edell Vrai and Quarra Thayn. For a day, they hid inside Adari Vaal's secret library while Quarra tended to Edell's wounds. After some discussion, Edell and Quarra agreed to put aside their differences and work together to defeat Bentado. Edell managed to convince Quarra to help him stop Bentado in his tracks by appealing to the Alanciari love for building things, which he also shared. He also assured Quarra that Grand Lord Hilts was a better person than Korsin and that the Alanciari would prefer to live under him as a ruler than Bentado. Seeking to work with someone whom she regarded as a lesser evil in order to stop a greater evil, Quarra agreed to join forces with Edell and stop Bentado for the good of the Alanciari. Since the pair were unable to disrupt Bentado's communications without alerting the Sith or the Alanciari, they concluded that the only way to stop Bentado's scheme from succeeding was to stop Bentado himself.
After arming themselves with Adari Vaal's ancient Sith lightsaber, Edell and Quarra used a diagonal tunnel leading upwards from the library to enter the "worldwatch". By that time, Grand Lord Hilts' airship Good Omen had arrived off the western coast of Alanciar near Port Melephos. Bentado was also still pulling glass shards from the stump of his left arm. In response, Bentado instructed Squab to order the Alanciari uvak "diamond-flak" teams to engage the aircraft. Upon exiting the tunnel, Edell jumped onto Bentado, and used his legs to drive Bentado's head into the map surface. After rolling across the map table, Edell ignited his lightsaber. Shortly later, Quarra emerged and startled Squab. One of Bentado's female followers then attempt to aid Bentado but Edell shoved her aside by using the Force. This distraction enabled Bentado to recover and snare Edell's ankle, causing him to fall to the ground. Quarra then attacked Bentado with Adari's lightsaber but the High Lord managed to ignite his own lightsaber. He was able to deflect her attack by using his higher position on the map table. Meanwhile, Edell recovered from his fall and managed to impale another Bentado defender.
However, Squab was able to escape up the staircase leading to the tower before the two attackers could stop him. To both Bentado and his opponents, Squab appeared to be relaying Bentado's command to destroy the Good Omen but was actually ordering the Alanciari defenders to allow the Grand Lord's airship to land. While Quarra could undo Bentado's grip on Alanciar from the tower, Edell feared that she could bring a host of Alanciari on his head. Before Quarra could pursue Squab, Bentado used the Force to throw her against one of the lower belfies, knocking away her lightsaber. Standing over the Keshiri woman, Bentado threatened to kill her unless Edell stayed away from him. In response, Edell threatened Squab with his lightsaber. The Keshiri servant had already returned from the signal tower and was cowering beside the wooden spiral stair case which led to the signal tower. However, Bentado was unconcerned by the potential harm to his Keshiri servant since he believed that he could find more Keshiri servants on Alanciar.
When Bentado threatened to kill Quarra unless Edell yielded, Edell stood up for her by describing her as a "big help" and telling Bentado that it was rude for guests to kill their hosts. Bentado dismissed Edell as a "fool" and used the Force to throw Edell against a concrete wall. As a result of the attack, Edell dropped his lightsaber and Bentado flung Quarra to Edell's side. After Squab emerged from hiding, Bentado ordered the Keshiri to pick up Quarra's lightsaber while he took care of his two enemies himself. Bentado intended to execute his two wounded opponents but was interrupted by a message from Squab. Squab had received a parchment from another of Bentado's other Keshiri servants which carried the news that Grand Lord Hilt's airship had landed at Port Melephos. When Bentado asked whether the airship had been brought down, Squab confirmed that it had landed safely. Bentado was infuriated that his plan to assassinate the Grand Lord had fallen apart.
Unknown to Bentado, Squab had been secretly serving Grand Lord Hilts and had disobeyed Bentado's command to down the Grand Lord's airship. In desperation, Bentado attempted to command Squab to order the Alanciari troops to kill Hilts and anyone with him. However, Squab countermanded this order with a new order from Hilts ordering him to kill Bentado. Squab then used Quarra's lightsaber to stab Lord Bentado through the heart, killing the Sith Lord. This effectively ended Bentado's dreams of creating a "Second Tribe" and killing his rival Hilts. Squab then handed Bentado's weapons to Edell Vrai, who was designated as the new commander of the Sith forces on Alanciar. Following the defeat of Bentado, Edell reasserted control over Bentado's men and the signaling devices. Thus, Korsin Bentado would finally atone for his action of murdering Hilts' Keshiri aide Jaye Vuhld twenty-five years ago.
===Legacy===
As a result of Korsin Bentado's death, Grand Lord Varner Hilts' leadership of the Tribe would continue unchallenged. In addition, his death also marked the fall of the Korsinite League faction. Following his death, Squab and the Keshiri whom accompanied Bentado quickly cooperated with Edell's orders. These Keshiri slaves were loyal to Grand Lord Hilts and disarmed Bentado's surviving Korsinite League supporters. Edell was able to force the Korsinites to yield to his authority by threatening to bring all of the Alanciari down upon Vaal Hall if they did not surrender. Edell also communicated a deal from Grand Lord Hilts to the surviving Korsinities. Grand Lord Hilts intended to exile or enslave the defeated Korsinities. Due to their heavy losses at the Western Shield and the death of their leader, the Korsinite League was broken. Edell's Keshiri servants occupied the strategically important signal tower until they were relieved by Grand Lord Hilts' forces, who then took the surviving Korsinites in custody where they faced enslavement or death.Lost Tribe of the Sith, 22 January 2014/Email from John Jackson Miller
Hilts and his loyal friend High Lord Edell Vrai would preside over the "unification" of Alanciar and Keshtah under Sith rule. Varner Hilts was able to get the Alanciari to peacefully submit to Sith rule by using the Alanciari man Jogan Halder to convince them that the Sith were not a threat but were instead the benevolent "Protectors." To counter Adari Vaal's pervasive anti-Sith legacy, Halder acknowledged that she had been right about the presence of servants of the Destructors, malevolent beings in Keshiri religion, among the Tribe. However, these "malcontents" had been purged from the Tribe exactly one day after Adari had left for Alanciar; thus eliminating the justification for the Alanciari's strong aversion to the Sith.
Meanwhile, Bentado Korsin would be remembered as a "vile servant" of the Destructors who had built airships and been exiled from the Tribe for his warlike and violent ways. He and the Ebon Fleet were depicted as a threat to both the Alanciari and the Tribe. Hilts would later confide in Edell that he had allowed Bentado's Ebon Fleet to continue with their journey to Alanciar because he had known that this second contact would provide the Alanciari with a fight that they could win. Bentado and his followers also perfectly fitted their designated role as the "Destructors" due to their dark clothing and malevolent appearance. By contrast, Edell Vrai was portrayed by official propaganda as a "trusted friend" of the Tribe whose airships had traveled to Alanciar in pursuit of the "criminals." Similarly, Quarra Thayn was depicted as a well trained Alanciari who had secretly worked with Edell to defeat Bentado. Finally, his main opponent Grand Lord Hilts appeared to be nothing more than a "kindly old man" to the Alanciari. Therefore, while Bentado played an important role in facilitating the Tribe's conquest of Alanciar, he did not live to benefit from this victory with all credit going to Hilts and Edell. His dreams of victory and domination would also remain unfulfilled.
==Personality and traits==
Korsin Bentado was a violent and ambitious Sith who revered Yaru Korsin, the ancient Founder of the Sith Tribe on Kesh. He was a well-built Human man who was bald but had bushy black facial hair. He and his followers donned black leather suits and sought to pattern their own lives after those of the elder Korsin and his daughter Nida Korsin. During the Time of the Rot, Bentado was known for his zealous devotion to Korsin's testament and believed that the Tribe should adhere to the power structure which Korsin had outlined in his testament. Bentado and his followers were unwilling to compromise with any opponents whom they saw as defilers and heretics who were dividing the Tribe, which they regarded as the "body of the Leader." Bentado's religious zeal led him to justify fighting and killing his opponents in combat. In addition, Bentado was also dogmatic and reactionary in his attitude. On one occasion, he refused to accept a public reading of Korsin's Testament on any day besides its designated anniversary.
While Bentado's faith in Korsin was shaken during the Great Crisis, it was rekindled after the Caretaker Varner Hilts discovered a map and a message from Korsin to his daughter Nida which confirmed the existence of another continent known as Alanciar or "Keshtah Major". He came to respect Hilts for redeeming the Tribe's faith in Korsin but still regarded Hilts as a rival to the Grand Lordship. Korsin's power ambitions led him to instigate a mutiny against his liege and attempt to create a "Second Tribe" during the Invasion of Alanciar in 2975 BBY. As a Sith, Bentado believed in the glorification of the individual and the subjugation of others. However, Bentado also believed that a Sith individual could only be truly free when nobody else could resist his will and when he had total control over everything and everyone. However, Bentado's dreams were ended when he was killed by his Keshiri servant Squab, who was a secret agent of Grand Lord Hilts.
==Powers and abilities==
Despite losing his left hand during a lightsaber duel in the Great Crisis, Korsin Bentado was still very skilled and proficient in lightsaber combat. Despite being outnumbered against Edell Vrai and Quarra Thayn, Bentado was still able to best them in lightsaber combat. Bentado also knew how to use Force lightning and to use the Force to push other combatants.
==Behind the scenes==
Korsin Bentado first appeared as a non-point-of-view character in John Jackson Miller's Lost Tribe of the Sith eBook series. He made his debut in the short story Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pantheon, which was released on July 18, 2011. According to Miller's production notes on the Pantheon at his website Faraway Press, the author likened Bentado's demeanor and speaking style to the Canadian actor Keanu Reeves' character Don John in the 1993 film adaptation of British playwright William Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing.
Bentado also appeared in its sequel Lost Tribe of the Sith: Secrets, which was released on March 5, 2012. He later appeared as the main antagonist of the series' finale Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pandemonium, which was released on July 24, 2012 as part of the mass paperback Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories. In his production notes on Pandemonium, Miller also noted that Bentado deceptively addressed the one problem that the Sith had in ruling everything: getting other people to go along with them. He likened Bentado's attempts to manipulate the Alanciari semaphore system to Palpatine's efforts to take over the Galactic Republic by tricking other people into doing his bidding.
==Appearances==
*Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pantheon 
*Lost Tribe of the Sith: Secrets
*Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pandemonium
==Notes and references==
Category:Humans
Category:Lords of the Lost Tribe of Sith
Category:Males