Species: Gelt
Affiliation: Laral Family
Title (self-assumed): Governor of Cyal / Aspirant to the Sovereignty
First Appearance: Storming Amargosa
Profile:
Laral Farad is a banker by trade, not a Warrior like his infamous cousin Laral Umish. After Umish’s death during the occupation of Amargosa, Farad assumes control over Cyal (the occupation name of Amargosa). While he attempts to hold Gelt forces together, his inexperience with military command and his shaky grasp of the Realm‘s rules of engagement lead to frequent blunders and mounting dissent among both human captives and Gelt subordinates.
Key Traits and Developments:
- Not a Warrior:
Unlike his cousin Umish, Farad lacks combat experience, and his decisions are often bureaucratic, misinformed, or cowardly. He relies heavily on guards and failed alliances to maintain order, often using financial logic or bluster where discipline and strategy are required. - Rules of Engagement Issues:
Farad violates Realm codes of war more flagrantly than Umish ever did—engaging in genocide, deploying suicide weapons, scorched-earth tactics, and panicking under pressure. Even Gelt Warriors question his conduct, and some openly defect or ignore his orders. - Claims to Sovereignty:
In the aftermath of Umish’s failures, Farad puts himself forward as a candidate for Sovereign of the Realm. When this proposal reaches the Seat of Supremacy—the Sovereign’s inner council—it is met with outright laughter, underlining how unqualified and delusional his bid is considered. While Laral Farad’s bid for Sovereign was met with open laughter by the Seat of Supremacy, the idea of drafting Tishla—a former concubine turned political reformer—was taken far more seriously. Though controversial, her successful governance of Hanar and alliance with human leaders gave her legitimacy the council could not ignore, prompting cautious debate rather than outright rejection. This enraged Farad. - Early Power Plays: Farigha and Anacreon
Before openly assuming control of Cyal, Laral Farad is implied to have orchestrated the destruction of Farigha as a covert test of clean fusion deployment and the Compact’s readiness. The silence and disarray that followed emboldened him to pursue a broader plan of expansion. His next move was an attempted seizure of the Etrusca colony of Anacreon, under the guise of a diplomatic envoy. However, the Compact—tipped off in advance—sent Force Admiral Quentin Austin and Vice Admiral Eileen Burke to intercept him. After Burke sent a terse warning labeled “Earth, Hitler, 1938,” Farad, in a display of either sincere ignorance or calculated deflection, replied that he did “not know who Earth was or where the planet Hitler was located.” Austin responded in person by bluntly ordering Farad to “get the hell off the planet,” ending the standoff without bloodshed. The failed gambit further eroded Farad’s reputation and exposed his lack of understanding of both human history and interstellar politics.
- Final Downfall:
As the Compact and Hanar forces close in on Amargosa and resistance movements gain strength, Farad is wounded and ultimately left behind during the chaos of Riverside’s fall. He locates a hidden clean fusion device moments before it detonates, killing him.
Personality and Legacy:
- Arrogant and Delusional: Farad possesses a banker’s confidence in paperwork and rhetoric, but this does not translate to battlefield command.
- Ambitious to the Point of Absurdity: His bid for the Sovereignty—made at the height of his failure—is a testament to both his ambition and his disconnect from reality.
- Narrative Role: Farad represents the hollow, political side of the Occupation of Amargosa, in contrast to the Warrior castes’ brutal efficiency or the philosophical complexity of characters like Tishla.
Appearances: Broken Skies, Tishla's Journey, Storming Amergosa