"They are not a species, they're a disease. The adults are the carriers, the children are tomorrow's adults, and the women produce tomorrow's children. The only cure for this disease is complete annihilation." - Seth on humanity
From slave, to house-mate of a revolutionary, to a house keeper, to a firefighter, to a father, to a revolutionary himself, to a mass-murderer, Seth has done more in a few years than many people have in their entire lifetimes.
Life as a Slave
Seth was a slave from birth. He served mostly as manual labor during his time as a slave, and was sold a total of three times. The first time was when he was a mere kitten. Growing up under that master he fell in love with another slave and married her in secret. Working their hardest, Seth had hoped that if they served faithfully, their master would give them a pass to go on leave for a day or two. Seth saved his meager pay in anticipation of that day he and his wife could go on leave, and planned to do all sorts of things with her. He must have imagined the perfect dress to buy her a thousand times. After a couple years, Seth gathered up his nerves and requested the pass from his master. Seth's master was a cruel man, and refused him his pass, and because of his asking began to treat Seth harshly. Burdened under the pressure of demands he could not meet, he decided to run away. His wife tried to talk him out of it, but in the end Seth convinced his wife to run away with him.
The two did not get far. They were captured swiftly and when he was returned to his master in chains, his master had them both beaten with barbed whips. Seth asked that he take his wife's lashes. He shouldn't have asked that. After he asked that, his master made Seth watch as his wife was hit over and over again. Catfolks' fur may hide the scars on their backs, but nothing can hide the scars they bear on the inside. He then had the mark of a runaway burned on his tongue and his wife's, and he then had them sold at auction - separately. Seth was crushed. He felt responsible for his wife's fate given that he had convinced her to run away when she didn't want to. How many times after that had he wished he had only listened to his wife, and not have run. If he had listened to her, she wouldn't have had to be punished, and they could still be together. Unfortunately Seth hadn't seen the worst of his actions yet. He was sold without much pomp and circumstance as a strong-back, but Seth knew his wife's fate was to be worse. She spoke well, and was an attractive Catfolk, too attractive to be a field slave. But with a runaway mark, and a sliced up back she wasn't pretty enough to be a house-cat (slaves that served in their masters homes as servants). She was to be sold as a a comfort girl. Seth was crushed.
Not a day went by where Seth wasn't burdened by guilt, and not a day went by where he didn't think on her. After several more years of slavery, his master had in mind to sell him at the next auction in Korhal. He was taken to the capital and sold, but the person who bought him wasn't like any of his other masters.
Freedom
Seth was eyeing each Catfolk being sold, ever vigilant and hopeful that he'd spot his wife. He didn't. What he did spy was a man who stood out. To anyone else he blended in, but to Seth he stood out like a pool of red blood in the middle of a snowy field. This is because at an auction everyone is busy, selling and buying, haggling and yelling, exchanging money and bills of sale, and the one thing that people don't do at an auction is nothing. And this man... was doing nothing. If Seth wasn't so busy looking for his wife, he would have noticed that the man watched as one by one Catfolk were being sold and bought until Seth came on the block. It was at this point the man got up and strolled up to the bidding area, and bid on Seth. Every time someone would bid on Seth, this man would outbid them. Seeing the gumption with which this man would bid on Seth, people stopped bidding, and in that way he won the bid and became the owner of Seth.
Seth was brought over to this man, and the man looked at him with an angry face. The man addressed Seth, "You're free now." Seth was taken aback. He didn't know what to say whether through shock or through years of training to keep his words to himself. All he could do was stare back at the man. "What's wrong? I said you're free," the man addressed Seth. Seth responded, "I... I don't know what to do." "You're free, you can do whatever you like," the man responded. Seth stopped to think for a moment, then looked up at the man and said, "Then I want to go with you. Can I do that?" The man raised an eyebrow and for the first time changed his expression, "Why would you want to be with me?" Seth replied, "Because I can't imagine a better person to be with, than the kind of man who'd buy a slave just to free him." The man turned and began walking away from the slave block and said, "You're a free cat now, I won't stop you from doing whatever you want, Mr. Free Cat." Seth smiled for the first time in a long time and ran to catch up with the man saying, "Seth, the name's Seth." "I don't care," came the man's reply.
And with that, Seth was free.
Housemate to a Prince
At first Seth didn't know what to do with his freedom. He knew how to do one thing and one thing well - and that was manual labor. He attempted to get a job, but found it impossible for a free Catfolk to get one. All the jobs anyone was willing to let a Catfolk do, could be done much cheaper by a slave. Seth felt stuck. He then turned his attention to his liberator. He offered to be his personal assistant. Guy accepted and payed him a fair wage. With that, Seth had a place to stay, money to spend, a job to do, and free time to have all within the first week of being freed.
With his freedom, Seth wanted to learn. He had been denied an education as a slave, and now wanted it more than ever. Guy informed him of the free library Korhal had and Seth took advantage of it. He read books upon books on every subject. In this way he learned many things - cooking was one of his favorites and every day he would have something new and interesting on the table for dinner for him and Guy. It wasn't the best life, but it was more than Seth ever had before.
Seth quickly learned he was more than free. Guy had some weird sense of the word 'freedom' that gave Seth power over his liberator. Guy's version of freedom meant that Seth could not only do whatever he wanted without being harassed by Guy, but that he wouldn't refuse Seth any request. This combined with Seth's roll as personal assistant, allowed him to become Guy's confidant. He asked Guy why he freed him. Guy then told him about Mana. Seth learned of Guy's past, why he was doing what he was doing now, and what his future plans were (See Valerian Mengsk for more info) - things that Guy would tell no one and let them live.
Slowly Seth began to understand more about what kind of man Guy was, and it scared Seth. Seth had seen the world as black and white. Some people were good and others evil. This was the first case that Seth came across where there was a grey area. On one hand, Guy was a violent individual willing to kill innocent people at the drop of a hat. On the other hand he was the kind of guy that would randomly free a Catfolk.
The biggest point of contention between the two was Guy's philosophy that the ends always justify the means. Seth starkly refused to see his point of view and called Guy a monster for what he had done and was willing to do. Yet Seth continued to help him in his ventures in some sort of misplaced loyalty for the man who gave him his freedom; and Seth did enjoy their discussions, even if they always ended up in yelling matches. Seth got the feeling, however, that if Guy did not put him in such a unique position to never be refused anything, Guy would have killed him long ago for questioning his actions in such a disrespectful way.
House Keeper
When Guy came into power, he abandoned Seth. Having no place to go, and no friends, Seth didn't know what to do. Hanzo and his associates were the closest things to friends he had, so he tried to strike a deal. He offered Hanzo a deal, that he'd take care of his place, knowing that Hanzo was often away and his house would need looking after. In return Seth wanted no wages, only to be able to stay at the mansion, and enough gold for upkeep. Hanzo accepted.
Seth often went above and beyond his duties as a house keeper, acting more like a butler than a custodian of an estate. He would often make meals and do other such things for Hanzo and the mansion's denizens but only once did Hanzo make the mistake of expecting it from Seth. Seth had gotten up late one morning instead of having breakfast prepared before Hanzo and his friends woke up, as he often did. Hanzo asked Seth why breakfast hadn't been prepared yet and Seth addressed Hanzo saying, "You and I have a deal. I take care of your house and you let me stay here. Now I haven't asked for a copper more than I need to maintain the house, and I am a free cat. I am NOT your slave, and I am NOT your butler. I serve on no-one anymore." Hanzo untypically apologized and the two never spoke of the incident again. Seth made breakfast, and ate with everyone else at the table as always.
Firefighter
Seth made sure that the deal included no more money than was required to maintain the mansion. Seth wanted to earn his own spending money. He didn't know quite why, but for some reason that he couldn't understand, he wanted to work as a free cat, at a job of his own choosing, and earn a wage. When he found out that a person could gain citizenship by working for The Empire as a firefighter, Seth knew exactly what he wanted to do. Through no small effort he got a job with the local department and began not only earning a living, but earning citizenship. It was though this job that Seth met Rin.
Love Triangle
Rin and Seth quickly became friends. Most of the other firefighters were of fairly common and accepted races, being a Catfolk and a Vishkanya the two found themselves often ostracized. Seth quickly became close to the Vishkanya, and often had her over the Mansion. They spent a lot of time together and Seth was beginning to develop feelings for her. The party quickly took to her and began including her on their missions. As such Seth was beginning to see Rin less and less. It was at this time that Mindi entered Seth's life (see Mindi for more info).
While Seth was still courting Rin, Mindi began hitting on him. Every chance he had to get close to Rin, Mindi would conveniently appear and interrupt the two. Whenever Rin was gone with the party on an adventure, Mindi would get close to him. Seth and Mindi were spending a lot of time together. He began appreciating her personality and love for Catfolk tradition. Whenever possible she hit on him, often wearing no clothing around him in the name of tradition, but for the real purpose of seducing him. Seth had trouble figuring out what to do with his conflicted feelings and two days exemplified this dichotomy.
One day Rin confronted Seth, and the two talked things out. Seth was about to bed her when his child began to cry. Seth told her he'd be right back and left to go calm Neytiri down. When he got to his room, he found Mindi already tending to her. Being late Mindi had just got out of bed and was naked. Seth had seen her without her shirt on often, but never had he seen her naked. Given Catfolks' more feral nature when it comes to sensuality, she was able to seduce him and Seth slept with her - leaving Rin waiting. Given how long Catfolk spend making love, Rin was kept waiting for a long time. After some time Rin came to see what was going on and walked in on them making love. Feeling crushed she ran away in tears, leaving Seth there saying, "Wait, no, I can explain!" Seth than threw Mindi off of him and ripped her to shreds with his words for tricking him into hurting Rin, and he even got psychically violent with her. She ran out of the room, and returned to hers. This marked the moment Seth began to realize that Mindi was being manipulative.
Seth later explained to Rin what had happened and apologized to her. Confessing his feelings she asked, "How exactly DO you feel about me Seth?" He responded saying, "Like this," and made love to her. But this was a one-night-stand that was never repeated, but the events with Mindi were constantly. He remained close to her anyway and continued courting her. The two got very serious, sleeping with each other in Seth's room, and Mindi spent as much time with Neytiri as Seth did.
But Seth and Mindi's relationships wasn't all roses. Seth knew she was manipulating him, and doing things just to hurt Rin, but Seth couldn't stop loving her. Seth began abusing Mindi. Whenever the two would argue about what she was doing he would inevitably hit her, but she'd still be able to make him sleep with her. Whenever Seth would drink, he would get violent. One particular night Seth had been drinking heavily, and when Catfolks drink heavily they loose all control, he abused her so bad that she feared for her life. She had to sexually gratify him to calm him down, and the party walked in on it. It was then that they discovered she had been abused by Seth on a regular basis. Even so they had no idea how long it had been going on for. They decided to stay out of it.
The Child
When the Night of Long Knives came, there was little Seth could do as he saw Catfolk after Catfolk that he had made friends with in the neighborhood be killed in cold blood. It was at this moment that Seth realized that he did not merely live with his employer, but with his friend. Hanzo hid Seth, and made sure that he would not become a victim of this terrible night. Hanzo committed murder against an agent of The Empire, and was prepared to do so several times over to keep Seth safe. As luck would have it, using The Key to hide the body, Hanzo only had to lie a few times to secure Seth's safety.
Seth heard a cry. Looking outside he saw a kitten abandoned in the street, crying next to a dead Catfolk with a hole in her head and womb. Seth tried to rescue the baby but was held back. Hanzo instead went out, after convincing Seth it was to dangerous for him to, and saved the child. From that point on Seth took care of the kitten as if it were his own.
Love Costs an Arm and a Leg
See Mindi & Allistair for more information.
Fall of Korhal
See The Empire for more information.
Seth heard the talk from the Catfolk slaves around his neighborhood (being an influential area of town, many people had House-Cats) of what they were planning to do. When the Orcs approached they were going to kill their masters, and take their freedom.
Seth didn't know what to do. Thanks to Valerian he was already a free Cat, and he liked the humans he stayed with. He looked at his make-shift mannequin arm. Well he liked Hanzo anyway - he saved his kitten girl. "Gah! Hanzo was so confusing! Why did he save her?" Seth thought. "Humans have been nothing but harmful to anyone they came across. Any nation they find they take over, one way or another. Just look what they did to the Catfolks. Plundered our homeland, desecrated our holy sites, and kidnapped every Catfolk and sold us, as if we were items to be owned. How many female Catfolk have humans defiled? How many male Catfolk have been whipped and beaten and forced to wear collars like some common animal?! It was Humans that made us slaves. It was Humans that butchered us and ordered the killings during the Night of Long Knives. It was a Human that forced everyone in the Colosseum to kill us that one day, and Humans that did the killing. It was a Human that took my girl, and forced one of my own kind to tear off my arm." He grabbed his prosthetic arm. "What good have they done, huh?! WHAT GOOD HAVE THEY DONE?!" Seth found himself shouting. He heard a response, "You say something?" come from a voice from inside the Kitchen. Sy walked into the living room where Seth was and repeated himself, "Did you say something?" "Uhh, nothing, just thinking out loud," Seth replied timidly. "Oh, alright, well let's talk about what were going to do if the Orcs make it this far into the city."
Seth nodded and listened as Sy laid out a plan where he would don the armor he got off of the Angels from Limbo and would fight on the streets, hoping to inspire resistance from the local populace. He recommended Seth stay inside since he didn't know how to fight. Seth agreed, but only in word. In actuality he didn't know what he was going to do. Was he going to fight with the people of Korhal, or with the Orcs and his own people? Seth didn't get any sleep that night.
Seth went back and forth on what he was going to do, but the time eventually came when he could put off the decision no longer. The Orcs were nearing the area where The Hattori Mansion was and Sy was gearing up for the fight of his life. Seth grabbed a knife out of Hanzo's room (it was all he could wield with his one arm) and went to Sy and told him that he was going to fight. Sy put a hand on his should and nodded in respect to the Catfolk. Together they walked out into the street, and Seth could feel the eyes of everyone on them. The eyes of the Orcs who were fast approaching, the eyes of the humans staring through the windows from inside their mansions, and the eyes of the Catfolks. He didn't know what to do. Was The Empire worth him fighting for? Was it worth him dying for? All at once all the memories of the past few months flooded into his head, of the Night of Long Knives, the night at the Colosseum, that night where he lost his arm, how he nearly lost his baby. All because of Humans. Everything bad that ever happened to him or his people was because of the Humans. No, no! He would not die for a people that did nothing but commit atrocities on the world around them. No, he was not going to fight for them! He'd rather die than fight for them! Seth, standing slightly behind him, looked at Sy. "Ready to do this?" Sy said to him. Seth looked at the knife he held. "Yes... yes I am." With that Seth drove the dagger into the gap in Sy's armor between the top of his breastplate, and helmet, right into the neck between the shoulder blades. Sy let out a scream, and grasped at the knife, not able to reach it. He fell to the ground and let out his last breath.
All at once Seth heard screams coming from all around him, but it wasn't caused by the Orc's arrival. Humans were being dragged out of their homes by Catfolk, and were being put to death on the streets. They tried to resist but the element of surprise is strong ally indeed. When the Orcs arrived they helped with the blood bath, and together the Orcs and the Catfolks ransacked the homes of these once privileged humans. Seth had seen something like this scene once before, except this time he did not expect to be saving any babies.
It all happened very fast, and Seth to this day still can't quite remember exactly how everything happened. But those who were there said that he was vicious, that he went feral. He killed Human, after Human with nothing but the claws on his hand. When all was said and done Seth's fur was soaked in blood with a crimson sheen. He had killed over a dozen men that night. He found his actions had given him a new nickname, the Orcs kept calling him 'Die Ein-Bewaffneten Panzer'. He asked one of the Catfolks who spoke Orc what it meant. He told him it meant, the 'One-Armed Panther'. Seth smiled - he liked that name.
Seth found that the other Catfolk looked up to him, and began looking to him for what to do next. He wasn't sure what to do, he had never been a leader before, nor did he want to be. He ended up taking the Catfolk to areas around the city where slave trades happened, and watched as the Catfolk had their revenge. Seth would only watch, Seth never fought again since that initial night, he didn't have to. His reputation proceeded him wherever he went, and as he traveled through the city more and more people followed him. And it was this reputation that got him a meeting with her.
Concentration Camps
Proposal
In the weeks following the Fall of Korhal the Catfolk had created a sort of camp, a collection of houses in the old market district. Every day more and more Catfolks who survived the bloody battle made their way to this camp, and Seth had become the de facto leader. The Catfolk turned to him for leadership. His days were busy, trying to get food and water to feed everyone, and managing disputes - resent began building up for those Catfolk who didn't participate in the battle, or worse fought for The Empire. Those Catfolk tried to keep that fact to themselves. At first the Catfolk who fought for The Empire were being hung off the roofs of houses in the camp, but Seth quickly put a stop to that. He hated seeing his own people behaving like the Humans. He encouraged them to not lower themselves down to their level. Seth was well respected, as his reputation had grown beyond his actions, and people listened to him. He told them that they were all one people now, and they would not let the Humans divide them any longer.
The Orcs let the Catfolks be, as long as they stayed in their camp, or were in groups, but they made no attempt to help them in any way. Then one day a Orc of obviously high rank came into the camp with a small army at his back. He demanded the Catfolk known as The One-Armed Panther to come forth. Seth did, and was told to pick five Catfolk leaders, and follow him. Seth picked his men, leaving some of the more influential Catfolk to remain in the camp in case he didn't return, and together they followed the Orcs to the old palace. It was in shambles, a mere shadow of it's former glory.
Littered with human statues, Seth made his way through it's halls into a large room with a table, and there was the Witch. She told them why she summoned them there. She wanted to know what the Catfolk thought should be done with the humans - what should be done with the defeated people of Korhal. "They're not people!" Seth said bitterly. The Witch was intrigued, "Oh?" "People don't treat other people like this. No they're not people, they're a disease," Seth said. The Witch asked, "And what should be done with this disease?" Seth responded, "It should be burned out, so that it can't plague the earth any more." The Witch smiled and said, "You're the one they call The One-Armed Panther aren't you? Can't imagine why." Seth smiled at the moment of joviality. "Tell me what is your real name?" "Seth," he responded. At once an Orc jabbed him in the side with the rear end of his spear and said, "You will address the War Chief as my Queen!" Seth scowled at the Orc, then turned back to the Witch, "Seth, my Queen." "Seth," she said, "I like you. And I'm going to give you and your people a chance to take your future back. I appreciate your help in taking this city, and I won't forget it. To begin repaying you I will give you the honor of wiping the Human disease from this planet. You and your honorable people are to come up with a plan for assuring the utter annihilation of the Human disease. I will give you all the resources you need at your disposal to carry it out, and when you are finished I promise your people a place here in the Horde. I am giving you the opportunity to make yourselves a great people again, to lift yourselves to places unreached by other species. If you follow me I promise, your people will have even the mighty Orcs scared of them, and will have to answer to no one ever again. Orcs will obey your commands, you will wield powerful magic, and control even the most feared creatures on this earth. Tell me Seth, do your kind wish to be a proud people again?" Seth looked at her at responded, "With all our hearts." "Good," she said, "I'll see you in a week then." With that Seth and his Catfolk were escorted out of the palace, and returned to their camp.
The Plan for Human Extinction
Seth came up with a plan, an unspeakable plan. The plan to make the Human race extinct. Killing all the Humans as the Orcs found them would be... sloppy, unreliable, and the Orcs would violate the Humans as well. Seth refused to go down to their level, he was going to kill them, ironically enough, humanely. The only way to get rid of a disease is to completely eradicate it's carriers. First you quarantine them, then you burn 'em out. It's awful, but it's the only way, and this guarantees that when their finished the Humans would be completely eradicated, with not even bodies remaining to remind people that they existed - and in this way the world would eventually forget that they even existed. It is based on these principals that Seth came up with the plan for the Concentration Camps.
Ghettos
Starting in the lands of the fallen Empire, and into the rest of the world as the Horde spread, whenever Humans were encountered, instead of being killed on site, they would be captured. Large Ghettos would be set up in the major cities of the fallen Empire where the Humans would be taken to. Regular shipments of humans would be taken from the Ghettos and brought to Korhal.
Camps
A series of facilities were to be build in and around Korhal. These camps would provide housing and food for the strong Humans so that work could be extracted from them, until they were literally worked to death. The weak would be burned in mass in gigantic furnaces.
Reception
The Witch was pleased with this plan and had her Orcs carry it out. The infrastructure necessary was built and the Catfolk were given high positions in the Horde. They were put in charge of the camps, and could put anyone in it they desired. In this way the Orcs feared the Catfolk, for anyone who gave them trouble, would inevitably end up getting run through the camp. Seth had a building built for himself which doubled as the office building which he manged everything form, and his house. Here he was able to keep Neytiri protected from the rest of the world, here he had control.
Unexpected Visitors
Fifteen years into the genocide, the Humans were on the verge of extinction. As Seth was dealing with one of the last very large shipments of Humans he was listening to a report of the numbers that came in and the Catfolk giving this report said something that caught his ear. "... and two Humans we found outside the city limits." Seth pondered out loud, "Outside the city? How in the world did they manage to survive this long so close to the city?" The Catfolk giving the report replied, "Not sure sir. They were a bit out of the ordinary. One had a very well made weapon that's in the armory now, a Katana. He was dressed up in the garb of the ninjas." Seth's ears perked up. "The other was a young girl with a Dire Wolf as a pet," the Catfolk shuddered, "Glad I didn't have to fight that thing. The Orcs who brought them in said it took a chunk out of one of them before they were able to put it down." Seth jumped up, nearly knocking over the glass of milk on his desk. "Where are these two now?" Seth demanded. The Catfolk said with a bit of surprise and curiosity in his voice, "Um, well they should probably be near the furnaces by now. The man looked strong enough to work, but we have too many workers already so they decided to burn him with the rest." Seth got intense and walked over to the Catfolk giving the report, "Listen to me closely. You are to go over and brings those two to me immediately. You are to do this yourself, do it quickly and try to arouse as little questions as possible, you understand me? Now go, NOW!" The Catfolk left quickly. A few minutes later he returned.
"Got to 'em just in time Sir, the gas was already being turned on when I snatched them out of the furnace," the Catfolk told Seth. "Very good, you've done well. Send them in and wait in the next room and make sure absolutely no one comes in." The Catfolk did as he was told.
After talking to Hanzo and Arisu, they told him what happened, and Seth briefly filled them in on where they were and what was happening. He knew he didn't have much time, the next cart with the charred bones of the dead was leaving soon, and each second that these two were still here was chance that they could be caught. He arranged for them to be hidden among the bodies, and dropped off in the city. It was all Seth could do for them, at least they wouldn't die in the camps. How they survived the outside world was up to them. No one found out about what happened.
Arm Returned
The Witch would make trips out to visit Auschwitz and see how everything was progressing. One day the Witch visited unannounced. She talked to Seth and assured him that his people were going to be rewarded for their service to her. She restored his arm as a symbol of this. Seth cried. For the first time in fifteen years he held his daughter in his arms. Seth's conviction was more sure than ever, and he was set to finish the task which he set out to do.
This was exactly the effect the Witch had wanted. She knew that years of this type of work would take it's toll, and she knew that if she didn't re-motivate Seth, that she might loose his service. She was just using him, she had no intention on keeping her promise. When the camps finished burning flesh, the next thing their furnaces would torch would be fur.
School's Out
With all the concentration camp network nearly completing their design, and the Human extinction event neared it's final moments Seth's thoughts turned to the future of his people. He had been working on a plan for a while, and it involved expanding the Asylum Initiative, as well as opening up schools for the people of the Horde, with the Catfolks as their teachers. He knew the Orcs would be adverse to this plan, but he knew the Witch was reasonable. And with time even the Orcs wouldn't be able to deny the good the schools would do for their people. When time came to present his plan, the Witch refused it, with out as much as an explanation. She barely even heard his plan.
Seth was brokenhearted. How could he not have seen it?! The Queen just used him, and used his people. She was no different from the Humans, his people had been slaves again, they just didn't know it. No, no he was just over thinking things, surely she had a good reason for refusing his idea. Seth looked at his new arm. It wouldn't do to think about this, he just needed to focus on a new plan for his people's future. The Queen promised she'd take care of him, and he just had to trust her. Besides if she wanted to betray them what was he going to do? Take Neytiri away and run? She tracked down nearly every human on the planet, it would be child's play for her to find them. No he just had to continue to serve and believe that everything was going to turn out alright in the end.
Though Seth continued to work for the Witch, the guilt of what he did began to weigh on him now more than ever. He had always been uneasy about what he was doing. Having his daughter kill infants? Having to kill thousands of helpless souls. He kept reminding himself that they were not helpless, that they were killers, members of a corrupt and putrid species. But there was always a part of Seth that didn't believe the lies he told himself so that he could keep doing what he was doing.
Auschwitz Closed for Business
- "People are going to say a lot of bad things about your dad - they're going to call him a monster. Maybe they're right. But whatever you hear know this: I love you and I don't regret one moment I spent with you." - Seth's last words to his daughter
Seth only noticed the ruckus a few moments before a Kikmongwi came bursting through the door of his office, weapon drawn and helmet on. He had Neytiri clinging to his leg. The Kikmongwi told Seth that if anyone came through this door to kill them, even if it was him. Seth was confused, after all this time was there finally a riot? But why the strange order? But Seth didn't question his friend and nodded, and with that the Kikmongwi left. Seth went over and locked the door, and scooped up Neytiri into his arms.
Then a most astonishing thing happened, seemingly out of nowhere a magnificent and very obviously magical horse appeared, with a ninja rider. "Hanzo? What are you doing here?! Is this you're doing?!" Confused at what was happening Seth put himself between Neytiri and Hanzo.
Hanzo tried to convince Seth to come with him, and leave his life of abhorrent sin, telling him that the Witch didn't really care for him or his people. Although Seth had misgivings and was willing to consider that Hanzo may be right, he didn't want to live. He thought he deserved whatever was pounding on that door trying to get in. Maybe, with his last act of life he could at least do one thing right. He could do something good. He knew it wouldn't be able to atone for what he'd done, but it didn't matter. He had to protect his daughter. Giving Neytiri to Hanzo he told them to fly, and he turned to the door ready to buy them the time they needed to escape. As Hanzo was leaving, girl in hand, he saw the door broke down and Seth throw himself at the Durans entering, and with that Hanzo and Neytiri escaped to safety. But as fate would have it Seth was not to die, not this day.
See Samir Duran for more information.
Death
Change
As the Doppelganger was trying to assimilate Seth something unexpected happened. Instead of absorbing his mass so that it could split into two, the Doppelganger started bonding to Seth. As much as it tried It couldn't absorb him, instead only bonding more and more to him. When the process was finished instead of a new Doppelganger, there lied Seth covered in a black, inky substance. Not knowing what to do the other Doppelgangers threw him in the furnace of which he burned so many others, locked the doors and considered what to do with him.
Seth couldn't breath, but somehow didn't find himself suffocating. He couldn't see, but somehow the whole room was made visible to him. The Doppelganger had formed a symbiotic bond with Seth, and the two minds had now become one flesh. With Seth as the core, and the Doppelganger as the outer shell.
Seth couldn't take all this, he just wanted to sit down, but there was no where to sit down. Then part of the black ink surrounding his body formed a stool for him to sit on. Sitting on hit he tried to think, it was then that Seth noticed it. He was hearing whispers. It was Duran. Not only had their bodies bonded, but it appeared in some ways their minds had as well. The two began to silently converse with one another, Duran filled Seth in on everything he had missed, and Seth returned the favor. It was all the confirmation Seth needed to confirm his suspicions about the Witch. She didn't care for him, his people, or anyone. She just wants to destroy everything! It was through this reforming of Seth's mind that he had decided that the Witch must die if his daughter was to be safe. He didn't care for the rest of the world, or the planet - only that Neytiri's future would be secured. Noting no reason why they should be enemies, the two became very close. Whatever just happened seem to make it so they affected one another. Duran's motivations became partially Seth's, and likewise Seth's, Duran's.
Why this happened no one knows, as it had never before and never again has happened. Some say Seth's will was simply too strong to allow the assimilation. Whatever the reason what was created was more powerful than the two ever were individually.
New Lease on Life
All that was left to do was to wait to see if the Doppelgangers outside were going to open the doors and let him out, or turn on the furnace and have it's one last victim. After hours which seemed like days Seth heard a sound. The doors unlocked and opened. Several Doppelgangers stood outside and gestured Seth to come out. Doing so they told him that they were going to let him live. They asked him to join them on taking down the Witch. Seth readily agreed and together the Doppelgangers and Seth left Auschwitz, into Korhal.
See Samir Duran for more information.
When the Doppelgangers found the palace empty, Seth suggested that they go south and catch up to her. The doppelgangers disagreed. They felt they should secure Korhal from the Kaylas and then spread. Eventually they would spread through the entire globe, and she would be found then, they said not to rush and that patiently they would eventually find their prey. This did not sit well with Seth and he left Korhal wishing the Doppelgangers good luck and telling them if they ever find his little girl to leave her be. They made no promises.
Confrontation with the Witch
- "You know Seth served me willingly for fifteen years? It wasn't until only recently that I had to enchant him. Heh, the people of this world were so easy to conquer." - Jadis
Going South Seth caught up with the Witch's armies. A few miles away he could see their camps, so Seth began to plan how to get to his prize. To his surprise his foe came to him. With a strike of lightning she appeared next to him and with out so much as anything but a word, she cast a charm spell on him. Smiling she commanded him to take the form of the grim reaper. The outer shell of black ink took the form of death. Jadis then sent him ahead of her to Baphomet's Temple, with orders to kill the party. With that an enchanted Seth left for the temple.
Confrontation with the Party
When Seth arrived in the temple, he fought the party until Jadis arrived. When she arrived she stunned them all and began to enchant them, nearly convincing all of them that there was nothing in existence but the room they were in. The magic that Jadis was using on them was effecting him too, and he too began to believe that there was nothing but the room. It wasn't was until the thing most precious to him in this world was brought up that Seth stood a chance of resisting. Neytiri's name was spoken. He began to remember her. The more they brought her up the more Seth remembered, and remarkably Seth broke out of the charm spell. He was his own again. But he was getting sleepy, and he was struggling so hard just to have the faintest recollection of his daughter. It was that stuff she threw in the fire, that was doing something to the air! Seth went over to the fire and did a very brave thing he knew was going to hurt him. With his new hand, he smother the fire. The sweet heavy smell grew very much less. For though the whole fire had not been put out, a good bit of it had, and what remained smelled very largely of burnt hair, which is not at all an enchanting smell. This instantly made everyone's brain far clearer. Seth and the party held up their heads again and opened their eyes.
- "All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and maybe even Neytiri herself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this dark dingy pit of a room of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world to pieces. That's why I'm going to stand by the fake world. I'm gonna go out there and look for Neytiri, even if there isn't even a Neytiri to find.” - Seth moments before putting out the enchanting fire
Jadis was infuriated and threatened him, and as punishment the arm she had regrown for him melted away. The party defeated Jadis, and Seth watched as Baphomet and the party disappeared (see Jadis for more info.).
In his right mind now, he went to go find a way out. As he went into the next room he found Arisu protecting Ghost, with a crossbow pointed at Seth. Seth was very weak from the battle with the party, and keeping his distance, he made his way over the door. Peering through it he saw several Orcs. They were in the temple already, probably filled the place. The hole - he could get out the same way he came! Seth looked over at Arisu and told her how to get out. She wouldn't leave without Ghost. So Seth helped her carry him.
With that Arisu, Ghost, and Seth left the temple. Seth wasn't sure what his future would hold, but he knew one thing. He had to find Neytiri.