Natba Ashtear

Biological

• Full Name: Natba Ashtear (deceased)
• Born: September 2, 2245 AD
• Birthplace: Trann, Guardia
• Sex: Male
• Race: Human
• Hair: Violet
• Eyes: Blue
• Height: 6'1"

Personal

• Religion: Spekkian
• Title: Director of the Trann Syndicate
• Nicknames: None
• Hobbies: None
• Known Skills: Natba was a brilliant mechanic and inventor, personally designing many of the battle drones that made up the Trann army. He was also an accomplished swordsman and marksman, and had read and mastered all the classics of Guardian warfare

History

Natba Ashtear was one of the three principal players in the Syndicate Wars, along with his rivals Doan Pendouris of Arris and Taalib Morris of Proto. He was the more ruthless of the three, the one who is most often villified in the retellings of the story. In the end it came down to a contest between Arris and Trann for control of the Kingdom, and Doan emerged victorious (in part due to his alliance with the Knights of the Square Table and the support of various Noble houses).

Natba was the last known scion of the Ashtear line, famous for producing engineers and scientists of extraordinary skill. The Ashtears had pioneered robotics research in Guardia from the beginning of the second millenium, and this was a critical component to the early establishment of the Technology Syndicate. Since that time Ashtears had always sat on the Technology Syndicate's board, and it was only natural that, once the Syndicate was broken up into three parts, an Ashtear would claim one of them.

Natba was not the first to employ robots as soldiers, but he did significantly streamline the process. Trann Syndicate battle drones were stripped-down, devoid of the higher AI functions that typify most modern robots, and even relieved of power cores that would have made them heavier and less agile on the battle field. Popular legend has it that he valued his human soldiers even less than he did his mindless robot troops. In an engagement against Proto Syndicate forces for control of the Eastern Corridor, Ashtear kept his soldiers fighting on the frontlines against a surging Proto offensive, while his drones laid mines behind his formations. When at last the Trann forces' morale was broken and they fled, they were torn to shreds by a lethal field of proximity shrapnel devices. Seeing this, the Proto Syndicate forces were too afraid to advance, and held their position long enough for Ashtear's second wave to move around the mountains and ambush the enemy from behind. Despite heavy losses (which would eventually hinder Trann's efforts to fight Arris), Natba claimed victory, and sure enough his Eastern border was never again harried by the Proto Syndicate.

Natba Ashtear had a long history of contention with the Pendouris family. He had Doan's father, Jareth, assassinated near the start of the Syndicate Wars, and toward the end he had attempted to likewise kill Doan himself. Ashtear's ambush failed to get Doan, as the Arris Director was elsewhere at the time, but did succeed in mortally wounding Doan's pregnant wife. This would prove to be Natba's undoing, as it emboldened Doan to embark on the final offensive of the war, leading directly to Trann's ultimate defeat (and Natba Ashtear's death) in the year 2300 at the Battle of Bangor Field.