Species: Gelt
Affiliation: Warrior Caste
Status: Died 429 IE
Spouse: Laral Peteesh
Father: Laral Jorl
Overview
Laral Umish was a high-ranking Gelt Warrior and one of the primary architects of the unauthorized invasions of Gilead and Amargosa. As the son of Laral Jorl, he inherited both his family’s ambition and its disregard for Compact sovereignty. He gained notoriety for his extreme supremacist ideology, particularly his belief that humans should be domesticated as pets.
Yet despite his zealotry, Umish occasionally showed cunning political instincts—most notably when he agreed to act as champion for the human-sympathetic Gelt dissident Tishla, forcing a succession crisis within his own family. His rule from a hovering colony transport over Lansdorp ended in disaster when he was killed in the bombing that alsStorming Amargosao claimed the life of the Sovereign.
Biography
Family and Early Ambition
Born into the powerful Laral family, Umish was raised to uphold the dominance of the Warrior Caste. His father, Jorl, entrusted him with advancing their family’s influence.
Invasion of Gilead and Amargosa
Umish and Jorl orchestrated parallel invasions of Gilead and Amargosa, intending to expand the Realm without the Sovereign’s knowledge or consent. After Lattus Kai’s death, Umish unexpectedly backed Tishla’s claim to lead Gilead (renamed Hanar), offering to duel his own father in her name. The maneuver was calculated: by ceding Cyal (Amargosa) to him in exchange for her claim, Umish could consolidate power while eliminating his rival. The gambit proved effective—Jorl committed suicide rather than face his son in ritual combat .
From his command post aboard a colony transport above Lansdorp, Umish oversaw the occupation of Amargosa, enforcing Gelt supremacy with characteristic cruelty. Despite this, he had moments of practical flexibility, allowing certain humans to live under his rule if it served Gelt interests.
Philosophy and Infamy
“Humans as Pets” Doctrine
Umish became infamous for advocating the domestication of humans—a belief he expressed both as policy and personal obsession. He saw humanity as a lesser species suitable only for servitude, an attitude that undermined his credibility and deepened resistance both from within the Gelt and among the humans he sought to subjugate.
Marriage and Personal Life
Laral Peteesh
Though officially Umish’s wife, Peteesh functioned more as a status symbol than a true partner—an “arm decoration.” Their relationship was marked by coercion and abuse, with indications that Umish regularly forced himself on her under the guise of marital rights. Her visible discomfort during official functions and her quick capitulation to Davra Andraste—whom she once held captive—suggest she had long sought an escape.
After surviving the bombing that killed Umish and the Sovereign, Peteesh chose to surrender to Davra rather than continue a role that had long since become untenable. Her surrender, quiet but symbolic, marked the unraveling of Laral influence over Cyal and the failure of Umish’s supremacist project.
Death and Legacy
Umish was killed in a terrorist bombing that destroyed the colony transport during a summit with the Sovereign over Amargosa. The attack triggered a crisis in the Realm, leaving a leadership vacuum that neither his widow nor his cousin Laral Farad could fill. Peteesh’s survival and surrender marked the symbolic collapse of the occupation, paving the way for a combined Compact–Gelt effort to retake the planet.
Though Umish’s ideology and tactics were widely condemned, his role in fracturing Gelt unity helped open the path to Tishla’s ascension and the eventual integration of Gelt and human interests on Hanar.
Appearances: Tishla's Journey, Second Wave