Seha Dorvald

"Trust isn't worth anything when it's built on lies."

- Seha Dorvald

Seha Dorvald was a Jedi candidate during the Second Galactic Civil War. Born on Coruscant around 22 ABY, most of Dorvald's family was killed following the Yuuzhan Vong's invasion of the galactic capital, and she was orphaned after the subsequent death of her father during the occupation. Dorvald remained in Coruscant's undercity for the following two years of the war, emerging some time after the invaders had been driven off the capital in 29 ABY. With the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Dorvald met Jacen Solo, a powerful Jedi and hero of the conflict, during one of his trips into the undercity. Solo found Dorvald to be strong in the Force, and introduced her into the New Jedi Order. Despite the fact that Dorvald was traditionally too old to begin Jedi training, Solo's sponsorship ensured that she was accepted in to the Order.

As a form of repayment for Solo's aid, Dorvald would complete tasks at her sponsor's orders. In 40 ABY, Dorvald helped smuggle Solo's apprentice Ben Skywalker out of the Jedi Temple on an unsanctioned mission for her sponsor. Following the revelation that Solo was a Sith Lord, however, and having learned of his invasion of the academies on Ossus and Coruscant, Dorvald came forward to the Jedi Masters and confessed to helping Solo. In recompense, Dorvald volunteered to aid Kyle Katarn, Valin Horn, and Thann Mithric in their mission either to place a homing device on the Solo, capture him, or kill him. The result of the mission was almost a failure, with the death of Mithric and the near-fatal wounding of Katarn, but Dorvald was able to complete the mission by rescuing Katarn and placing the homing device on Caedus before her escape. Dorvald survived the Second Galactic Civil War and was later apprenticed to Chandrilan Jedi Master Octa Ramis.

In 43.5 ABY, Dorvald and her master responded to the threat of Jedi Knight Valin Horn, who had been stricken with an enigmatic illness which induced paranoid delusions. Horn went on a rampage across Coruscant; Dorvald and Ramis attempted to capture and detain the rogue Knight. Although their efforts were unsuccessful in themselves, Dorvald and her Master were able to delay Horn's escape, who was later captured by Grand Master Luke Skywalker. When Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala later sanctioned a Mandalorian-implemented siege of the Jedi Temple in response to the Order's refusal to relinquish custody of several other psychosis-afflicted Jedi Knights, Dorvald took part in the collective effort to locate previously unexplored exits. Hours of tedious exploration into the depths of the Temple finally bore fruit when Dorvald, along with Master Ramis, discovered that rodents sent by fellow Jedi Leia Organa Solo had made their way through the smallest of the building's crevices, carrying much-needed supplies and correspondence to the besieged Jedi.

Early life
"I was little when the Yuuzhan Vong came to Coruscant. When the Vongforming happened. Most of my family died. I don't remember them, except my father. We lived in the undercity, so deep and out of touch that the Yuuzhan Vong had been driven offworld for months before I even learned about it."

- Seha Dorvald

Born circa 22 ABY before the onset of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Seha Dorvald lived on Coruscant during her early childhood. She did not remember her family during her childhood; they were killed following the Yuuzhan Vong's invasion of Coruscant in 27 ABY. Dorvald and her father survived the attack, and he took her to the Undercity, on Coruscant's main surface, to hide for the remainder of the war before his death. He was killed by a Yuuzhan Vong insect, leaving Dorvald orphaned. She would survive the rest of the war with several refugees she knew in the Undercity.

Although she knew the war was over, Dorvald decided to stay in the Undercity with refugees after her father's death, as they were the only people she knew. For a while, Dorvald lived near the World Brain, a dhuryam, a Yuuzhan Vong creature which was responsible for the transformation of Coruscant from a planetwide city into a hostile jungle. Dorvald was frightened of the creature due to its appearance; the dhuryam was a larger, more powerful form of a yammosk, a brain-like creature with many tentacles and a single, large tooth that had coordinated attacks during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Dorvald then met the Jedi hero, Jacen Solo, when he took a journey into the Undercity to meet the World Brain. Noticing her dislike of the World Brain, which Dorvald described as a horrible creature, he told her that what it looked like had nothing to do with its nature. Solo also noticed Dorvald's Force potential and sponsored her admittance into the Jedi Order, even though she was considered too old to become an apprentice. Because of this, Dorvald felt indebted to Solo, whom she already found attractive, and would often aid him by keeping him informed of events in the Jedi Temple.

Ally to a Sith
"I did things for Jacen. Kept him updated on goings-on in the Temple. After he became the head of the Guard, he asked me to take things into and out of the Temple for him, like spare datapads, and replacement electronic components. When your son disappeared&hellip;I was the one who helped him get out of the Temple without being seen."

- Seha Dorvald, to Luke Skywalker

By 40 ABY, an armed conflict had erupted between the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, which the Jedi Order operated alongside, and a successionist movement known as the Confederation. During the war, Dorvald continued to pass on information and carry out other tasks for Solo, who rose to the head of the Galactic Alliance Guard. Unbeknownst to Dorvald, her former sponsor had apprenticed himself to Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya, who was helping him take over the galaxy. Solo required a Sith apprentice of his own and sought to test Ben Skywalker, a young Jedi who was several years younger than Dorvald. Dorvald's sponsor left the testing up to Lumiya, who disguised herself as Solo and issued Dorvald with a message that she was to deliver to Ben Skywalker. Furthermore, the young Jedi girl was then instructed to enable Skywalker to escape the Jedi Temple so that he could carry out his mission&mdash;to retrieve the Amulet of Kalara from Drewwa.

While Ben Skywalker&mdash;the only son of Grand Master of the Jedi Order Luke Skywalker&mdash;was training in the Temple, Dorvald approached him and delivered the message. Once the first part of her assignment had been completed, the war orphan helped Skywalker escape without detection by opening up an secret passage, unknown to most of the Jedi, out of the Temple. Dorvald never knew she had been tricked by a Sith, though she would not unwittingly serve Lumiya much longer.

When Solo, who secretly became the Sith Lord Darth Caedus after he killed Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker, ordered his troops to seize the Jedi Temple on Ossus, Dorvald learned of the consequences of the occupation. Several Jedi were killed and tortured, leading Dorvald to realize that she had allied herself to a man who had no qualms attacking the Order and its members. When Caedus' troops moved against the Temple on Coruscant, Dorvald was ready. So as to prevent the Galactic Alliance Guard from capturing vital records, Dorvald destroyed the Temple's computers, while preserving a complete set of records and secreting them on her person. During the evacuation, the young Jedi girl saved two Jedi Knights from death by leading them to safety through Coruscant's Undercity, using her knowledge of the pathways there. She then escaped to the forest moon of Endor, where the Jedi Order had convened following their schism with Caedus and the Galactic Alliance he now headed.

Mission to Coruscant
"We'll all get out.''" "Girl, leave me&hellip;" "''I'm going to get you out alive."

- Seha Dorvald and Kyle Katarn

When Grand Master Luke Skywalker, husband of the slain Mara Jade Skywalker, gave Jedi Master Kyp Durron the responsibility of planning a mission to kill or capture Caedus, Durron was forced to search for a Jedi with knowledge of the Coruscant Undercity. His initial choice had been Zekk, a former orphan who had, like Dorvald, grown up there. Durron later changed his mind when he realized that the team would need updated knowledge of Coruscant's underlevels, which had been drastically altered during the Yuuzhan Vong occupation. Dorvald was the prime candidate, and was called upon to meet with Grand Master Skywalker. Unwilling to live a lie, Dorvald confessed to him that she was a traitor to the Order. She told Skywalker about her past and how she helped Caedus; that she kept him updated on things going around in the Temple, smuggled things in and out for him, and that she helped Ben escape the Temple on Caedus's orders. Dorvald told Skywalker that she felt indebted to Caedus for sponsoring her to be in the New Jedi Order, and that it was the reason for her betrayal.

After hearing her confession, Skywalker was hesitant in allowing Dorvald, who was only a Jedi candidate, to go on the mission, and he only conceded after he agreed that someone who knew the new Undercity was needed most for the mission. Dorvald was joined in her task by Jedi Master Kyle Katarn and Jedi Knights Valin Horn &mdash;on whom Dorvald had an adolescent crush&mdash; Thann Mithric, and Kolir Hu'lya. The team traveled to Coruscant and infiltrated the galactic capital, whereupon Dorvald successfully led her companions underneath the Senate Building. There, the team stayed for several hours; Dorvald led them through their entrance and exit routes over and over again, drilling the senior Jedi until they were confident of their chances of success. Once the impromptu training was complete, Dorvald took up position alongside Master Katarn, who tasked her with placing a tracking device on Caedus during the chaos of the impending skirmish. Once this had been carried out, however, Katarn instructed Dorvald that she was to leave the fight immediately, regardless of whether the mission to eliminate the Sith Lord succeeded.

A little before dawn, the four Jedi sprung their trap while Dorvald stayed on position to observe the fierce lightsaber duel that ensued. During the duel, Dorvald telekinetically lifted the tracking device into the air toward the Sith Lord, waiting for the moment when the fight was at its most chaotic. Dorvald was initially impressed by the skill of the combatants as they dueled, but her excitement turned into horror when she saw Caedus impale Katarn in the chest with his lightsaber. Dorvald decided that it was the moment to place the tracking device onto Caedus, which she performed successfully, planting it on his cloak. The remaining Jedi continued to fight against their adversary while Dorvald used the Force to pull Katarn, who was still alive, out of harm's way. When the Jedi's previously planned airborne escape seemed impossible, Dorvald created an escape route by blowing up a hatch that was a few stories below from where they hid with explosives, and lowered herself and Katarn through the newfound path. The Jedi Master urged Dorvald to leave him to detonate the explosives while she fled, but the young girl refused. While Dorvald escaped with Katarn, however, Caedus killed Thann Mithric by decapitating the Falleen, finishing their duel.

After Mithric's death, Horn, Katarn, Hu'lya, and Dorvald escaped using the pathway Dorvald had created, and she led them through the undercity to a safehouse, which they used until they escaped from Coruscant. Although Katarn's condition worsened during the escape, the team returned safely to Endor. The mission, despite the injuries sustained and the loss of Mithric, had been successful. The Order was able to track Caedus as he moved around the galaxy, leading to further successful operations. In 41 ABY, the Second Galactic War was brought to a close with the death of Caedus during the Battle of Shedu Maad.

Rising tensions
"But we lost. He got away.''" "We won''. He's in street clothes and his canopy isn't airtight. So he can't make space. And he's airborne, so his tracking device will give away his location continuously. We flushed him. Others will run him to ground."

- Seha Dorvald and Octa Ramis discuss the pursuit of Valin Horn

Seha Dorvald remained with the Jedi Order and by 43.5 ABY had been assigned as a Jedi apprentice to Octa Ramis, a Chandrilan woman. Although still undertrained and lacking in confidence, Dorvald's skills had advanced in the years since her mission to Coruscant. Dorvald was stationed on the galactic capital when the Order received word that Valin Horn had undergone a psychotic break which led him to believe that he was surrounded by imposters who were conspiring against the galaxy. Horn became violent and embarked on a rampage as he attempted to escape Coruscant. The news saddened Dorvald, who realized that she had now had crushes on two Jedi who had acted against the traditions of the Order&mdash;first Jacen Solo, and now Valin Horn.

Drawing on her prior experience with Horn, Dorvald convinced her master that they should lie in wait for the rogue Jedi Knight at the Senate Building. There, she expected Horn to revisit the hidden passages beneath the plaza through which she had led him several years before. Focusing on a tracking device, Dorvald grew increasinly frustrated as Horn failed to arrive at the plaza. Following a discussion with Ramis, during which she revealed her frustration with herself for falling for Jedi such as Solo and Horn, Dorvald was counseled by her master against withdrawing from her emotions. Moments later, the tracking device alerted the two Jedi to the presence of Valin Horn.

Tracking the rogue Jedi Knight into the Senate Building, Dorvald and Ramis were obstructed by a security guard who proved resistant to a mind trick. The younger Jedi was able to sense Horn's elation as the Jedi Knight searched the Senate Building; combining her Force powers with Ramis she enabled her Chandrilan master to locate the rogue Jedi exactly. Ramis revealed that Horn was about to steal two vehicles; the first, a Kuati shuttle, Horn used to shatter the wall of Senate Building, granting him egress to fly out in an X-wing starfighter. As Horn piloted the starfighter out of the Senate Building, Dorvald used telekinesis to boost Ramis onto the small craft. She watched as her Jedi Master stabbed a hole through the X-wing's canopy before being thrown off the starfighter into the air.

Dorvald reached out with telekinesis and slowed Ramis' descent. The Chandrilan woman hit the ground hard, but survived the impact. Master and apprentice halted their pursuit, with Ramis confident that Horn was no longer able to enter atmosphere in his damaged craft. Indeed, Grand Master Skywalker was able to incapacitate Horn personally and return the Jedi Knight to the Mon Mothma Memorial Medical Center for study. Horn's inexplicable madness and subsequent rampage resulted in restrictions being placed on the Jedi Order by Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala, an approach which developed further in subsequent weeks.

A new hope
"And if we can get medicines in, we might be able to get messages out.''" "''It's already in progress. Now come on. Let's get the vials off these little fellows and in the hands of Cilghal. And, let's get you a sanisteam."

- Dorvald and Master Ramis, upon the discovery of Princess Leia's rodent couriers

Following Valin Horn's descent into Force-induce psychosis, several other Jedi succumbed to the same illness, forcing Chief of State Daala to demand their uncontested surrender to Coruscant authorities. When surrogate Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner refused to oblige, Daala contracted Mandalorian commandos to lay siege to the Jedi Temple. All known exits, secret or otherwise, were blocked by Mandalorians, effectively trapping all of the Temple's occupants within. Seha Dorvald was present at the subsequent Council meeting that was called in response to Daala's action, where Master Ramis volunteered her services as well as those of Dorvald's in light of the latter's experience with working underground. The meeting also saw the selection of Master Hamner's assistant, Jedi apprentice Kani Asari, to liaise with the leader of the Mandalorian siege force, Belok Rhal. Because Asari was neither Sothais Saar nor Turi Altamik&mdash;the two Jedi for whom Daala appealed&mdash;Rhal killed her with a close-range blaster shot. The Jedi were horrified by the unwarranted murder of one of their own, and Dorvald and Ramis attempted to rouse Kenth Hamner into eating, but eventually left him to begin their task after the grief-stricken Master refused.

Seven hours of tedious exploration with her own team of six apprentices yielded nothing save the discovery of numerous openings that were not suited to accomodate neither Dorvald nor any of the six other apprentices assigned to assist her. As an exhausted, famished, and filthy Dorvald crawled back through a tunnel to report to her Master, she absent-mindedly happened upon a dead rodent whose odor nearly caused Dorvald to vomit. She received a comlink from Master Ramis at that moment, inquiring as to whether or not Dorvald had taken notice of anything unusual. When she replied that she had not, Ramis told her to expedite her return, as the Jedi Master had made a discovery. Dorvald arrived to find Ramis standing beside shelves lined with numerous and different sized boxes, and over a trio of rodents of the same species as the corpse Dorvald had just encountered. Each with something affixed to their backs, Ramis explained that there were many more of the creatures, and that they had suddenly appeared through every opening through which they could squeeze their bodies. Dorvald realized upon closer inspection that the vials being carried by the rodents contained the medicines that the Mon Calamari Jedi healer Cilghal required to treat the ill Knights, and also learned from Ramis that Master Corran Horn determined that someone had used the Force to compel the vermin into service. An idea dawned on Dorvald that if the creatures could bring supplies in, they could also carry messages to the outside as well. Master Ramis advised Dorvald that such plans were already under way and, as they both began collecting the vials in preparation for delivery to Cilghal, told the young girl that she was in need of a sanisteam.

Personality and traits
"You're not calm, Seha.''" "''I know, Master."

- Octa Ramis and Seha Dorvald

By nature a shy girl, Seha Dorvald suffered problems with confidence in her early years. Orphaned at a young age, she was taken in by Solo and sponsored for entrance into the Jedi Order. Dorvald lagged behind her fellow Jedi despite her advanced age, and was lacking in confidence while she was in her early twenties. Timid around figures of seniority, especially those Jedi Masters to whom she had to admit her secret work for Jacen Solo, Dorvald had limited self-esteem; when Jacen Solo and later Valin Horn&mdash;both Jedi whom Dorvald found attractive&mdash;each turned from the Jedi ways, the young Coruscanti felt frustrated with herself for falling for such men. She was more comfortable in situations in which she was familiar, such as when she led senior Jedi through training in the undercity, and had fewer problems flirting with the younger Ben Skywalker in the Jedi Temple.

While her childhood experiences and the betrayal she felt she had suffered at the hands of Solo instilled in Dorvald a tendency to cry and exhibit volatile emotions, the young Jedi could also be driven and focused. Similarly, her propensity to become frustrated when matters went awry contrasted with her capability to remain cool-headed and analytical in times of danger. Dorvald was also loyal, first to Solo and later to the Jedi Order; she placed her life at risk during the evacuation of the Coruscant Jedi Temple and once more during the ambush outside the Senate Building when she saved Master Katarn. Following her break with Solo, Dorvald decided to come clean about her past efforts to aid her sponsor, rather than remain anonymous as an informant. She desired the trust of her Jedi and was willing to go to great extents to obtain it.

Powers and abilities
"You caught me? With telekinesis?''" "Partly. You still hit hard." "''Not that hard. You did very, very well."

- Octa Ramis and Seha Dorvald

Dorvald showed latent Force powers, though they were not fully developed because she had been inducted into the New Jedi Order at a more advanced age than most. She knew basic Force applications such as Force pushes and pulls, both common elements of telekinesis. Dorvald's skill was far from perfect, however, as demonstrated when she accidentally dropped Katarn from a height of two meters during their escape from Coruscant. By 43.5 ABY, Dorvald remained undertrained and years behind many of her peers. Nevertheless, her skill at telekinesis had by this time developed to the point at which she was able to use it first to aid her Master, Octa Ramis, as they pursued Valin Horn, and later to save the Chandrilan's life. Dorvald was also able to sense the emotions of Valin Horn from a distance, and using a Force meld, combined this sense with Ramis's own powers, enabling the Chandrilan woman to pinpoint the Jedi Knight's location. Dorvald was also adept at working in close quarters and underground explorations, evidenced by her participation in the mission through the Coruscant Undercity to apprehend Jacen Solo, and later in the bowels of the Jedi Temple while it was besieged by Mandalorians.

Behind the scenes
The character of Seha Dorvald was created by Aaron Allston for the fourth novel of the Legacy of the Force series, Exile. Since the publication of Exile in February 2007, Dorvald has only appeared in novels written by Allston; the character was expanded upon and put to greater use in Fury, the seventh Legacy of the Force installment, and had a brief role in Allston's Outcast, the opening novel in the Fate of the Jedi series, which began publication in 2009. Prior to the Fate of the Jedi series, Dorvald was also afforded an individual entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

Appearances

 * Exile
 * Fury
 * Outcast
 * Allies