Petra Keith was the daughter of Lady Astrid Keith and formerly the heir to the governorship of Milgar.
Personality[]
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History[]
Early Years[]
In her youth, Petra's "father," Statler Semokku did his best to impress Petra with the glory of the Imperium and the honor which her position commanded. Her true father, Duncan, meanwhile, taught her to be pragmatic, to defend herself with skill and honor, and never to flinch from danger should it come to her. Her mother, Lady Astrid Keith, told young Petra fantastic tales of a just and open Imperium, one in which everyone would be free to do as they wished and the smartest researchers could build for the good of their fellow people.
As a strong willed girl, Petra latched on particularly to the idea of being free from the more odious and boring parts of her duties as heir to Milgar. When Statler was murdered, she was devastated, not quite understanding what had happened. She continued to be confused throughout the rest of the resulting civil war.
After her father's death, the shock of discovering the full truth of her heritage was too much for Petra. Unable to process her mother's war crimes, that she had ordered Statler's death, and that Duncan was her true father, Petra avoided all of it and went to Aeldrum to get away from her family and become a true Mage Princess.
But more disillusion was to come. The arrests ordered by the Seer Council gave Petra her first taste of the rotten core of Imperial politics and destroyed any remaining impressions of the justice and grandeur of the Imperium left over from Statler's tales.
Pythian League[]
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Return to the Hybern Sector[]
Shortly after returning to the Hybern Sector, Petra and her mother reconnected and Petra began to assist her mother in her political adventures. During one of these missions, Lady Astrid Keith lost her life and Petra decided that she must honor her mother's memory by completing the work that she had started. She decided that the way forward was to ensure that her discoveries and the discoveries of all the great scientists of the Imperium were never lost, and to create the paradise Empire that her mother had told her tales of — far away from the fratricidal politics of the Imperium.
For this cause she joined forces with her mother's friend, Selene H. Veer.
Relationship with her Mother[]
Petra's relationship with her mother Astrid was often strained and sundered by Astrid's need for secrecy and her insistence on knowing the best way forward for her daughter. However, as a young girl, Petra was always in awe of her mother and hung on her every word, especially her tales of a just and open Imperium.
Later in life, Petra learned of her mother's war crimes and infidelity. Refusing to see her mother again, Petra left and committed herself to her studies and vowed to become the great scientist her mother was too busy gaining political power to become. After joining the Pythian League and becoming one of their more capable operatives in defense of the civil rights of her fellow students, she reconsidered her mother's actions. Having killed for her cause, she could understand why Astrid could not become a pacifist despite being thrown into senseless cruelty, but never forgave her for it.
When she returned to the Hybern sector, she reconnected with Lady Keith and they had a relationship that was at times cordial and at others deeply emotional. She shared her horrible experiences on Aeldrum with her father, and with some coaxing, all three came together — with Duncan mediating, they each shared their traumatic experiences. Lady Keith revealed to her daughter her tortured history of depression and suicidal impulses which she had hidden previously. Petra told her mother about her intense anxiety which emerged from the oppressive situation in the Aeldrum academies.
The understanding that resulted led Petra to aid her mother in some of her modest requests, up to Astrid's death. After discovering the many secrets which her mother had left to her, Petra came to understand her mother better. She could never forgive the massacres on Milgar, or the assassinations, or the secret police state that she seemed to be building within her territories. But upon seeing the gratitude and admiration which Selene Veer, Gentila Katiche, Anselm Trobe, Montral Keith, and her father Duncan had for Lady Keith, Petra knew that her mother had done her best to stick to her ideals and create, in miniature, a place that looked like the Imperium she wished to live in.