Most Sith believe the force is a kind of energy field and that the Darkside is a specific way to manipulate that energy field. But to Etah, the Darkside is more than just energy. To him the Darkside is more like a primordial god with cosmic powers that it bestows on faithful servants. He believes that when people draw on the power of the Darkside but do not feed the Darkside, the Darkside twists their bodies, exacting a gnarly physical toll. He believes the way to feed the Darkside is by eliciting strong emotions from others, and the strongest of emotions are fear, anger and hate. So Etah wreaks havoc on the guilty and innocent alike, to harvest their fear, anger and hate and the pain and loss from their loved ones. This set of beliefs has caused him to commit grievous atrocities, which tends to make him a liability.

Within the span of his existence Etah has been the torchbearer of several causes. He started as a Padawan, then became an Imperial soldier, then he was a terrorist. In Arcona he was Sworn to the Shadows, since Tarentum he is Sworn to Death. Now he believes himself to be successor of the Sith Lords of the Golden Age. The movements he has fought for are causes that he sincerely believes in. Once he accepts a path he cannot be swayed to another point of view and he cannot be convinced that he is wrong. He knows his principles are righteous and that all who oppose him, even those who do so with good intent, are sinners. This dichotomous mindset tends to make him the perfect pawn for others, but his puppeteers are playing a dangerous game if they do not believe in the cause as fervently as he does.

Though his world is no longer foxholes, blasters, and orders, the core of Etah will always be that of a soldier. He chose to be a soldier when he left the Jedi Order; he grabbed onto that destiny and made it his, carrying it into the Empire, onward after it fell and for many years after joining the Brotherhood. It means a lot of things. It means that he generally stands straight, that he doesn’t tend to waste words and that he can be abrasive. It means that he is relentless to the point of appearing suicidal. It means that he is so inwardly driven that reality is not a weapon that is easy to harness against him. It also means that he is sometimes predictable and is rarely underestimated. It also means that he sometimes walks into ambushes because the target of his ire is on the other side.

Most Sith have passions that flicker like an open flame and can erupt into a raging inferno at any moment, but Etah’s particular brand of hate takes the form of a smoldering ember. His passion is a slow burn, creating lots of smoke but only a small, dark fire. Once it crescendos, his rage burns much more intensely than other Sith, but the buildup is much slower. This means that he does not often lose his temper and lash out like they do. He generally responds, even to sudden surprises, very calmly and sometimes he can seem quiet. His voice, even while panicked, is even pitched. The problem with such a slow burning anger is that it is equally slow to extinguish and thus he tends to carry slights that transform into vendettas with him for decades, letting his scorn grow ever deeper, turning potential or one-time allies into enemies.

Etah’s goal in lightsaber combat is to construct the ultimate defense. He moves his blade in tight arcs around his body to block his opponent’s strikes and he can string dozens of these blocks together, like the mighty sea crashing upon the shore, most of his opponents attacks fail to penetrate his defense. He is able move faster, by making small movements and can sustain that defense for longer because the movements exert less energy. He angles his blocks into parries, forcing his opponents blade to slide across his, causing the momentum behind the blow to move his opponent out of position rather than absorbing the blows through his block and into his arm. The problem with this style of defense is though it takes less active concentration and less effort, Etah tends to prolong these fights by failing to capitalize on his opponent’s blunders, instinctually continuing to defend instead.

Etah has learned a lot about humanoid behavior. He has studied what makes people give into fear, anger and hate. But his goal isn’t to help them; it is to exploit their vulnerabilities. Even while in the midst of combat he uses laconic phrases the same way a psychiatrist would use probing questions, to force his opponent to disclose their self doubts and their irrational fears going all the way back to their childhood, peeling away a person’s defenses and digging deeper and then deeper in their psyche, layer by layer, like you would an onion. Then he uses this information to torment his target. This skill set while powerful, takes thought and action that most would rather spend on violence. Sometimes he becomes so intent on mindkarking his opponent that they are able to outmaneuver him, that is if they have the force of will to resist his techniques.