Ransolm Casterfo

Ransolm Casterfo was a male politician who served as a member of the Galactic Senate of the New Republic several decades after the Galactic Civil War. Casterfo, an ambitious young senator, was a political opponent of Senator Leia Organa, and he collected artifacts leftover from the Galactic Empire including pro-Emperor Palpatine banners, armor fragments, and more.

Early life
Ransolm Casterfo's childhood was defined by suffering and indentured servitude under the hand of the Galactic Empire. He described it as "slavery in all but name". His homeworld of Riosa was annexed and its industrial facilities were commandeered for the manufacture of parts and components for the construction of the first Death Star. His childhood was spent in an Imperial work camp and his father had a position of some authority over the laborers. Casterfo witnessed numerous visitations of Darth Vader to his homeworld. On one occasion, he saw his father being punished for failing to meet quotas set by the Empire for production.

His being able to grow up with his parents nearby was apparently a special privilege afforded to his family for their position, as most parents were not allowed to bring their children with them into the work camps. Although he harbored an admiration for the concept of centralized power and the grandeur of the Empire, his family's suffering led to a deep resentment of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. His father and mother both died within a year of the founding of the New Republic due to the effects of hard labor and working without safety equipment to filter out the toxic gases they were forced to breathe.

After the loss of his parents, Casterfo had a period of difficult survival. Fortunately, he was taken in by a wealthy off-world family who took in several other war orphans. Provided with food, education, and safety, he was able to survive into adulthood.

Investigation of Rinnrivin Di
By the age of thirty two, Ransolm had become a Centrist senator in the New Republic's Galactic Senate for the planet Riosa. As a junior senator, he was considered to be a charismatic and attractive politician. Casterfo supported the Centrists' strong stance on law and order and helped reintroduce the death penalty to his homeworld of Riosa, which still had not fully recovered from the deprivations of Imperial rule. The Centrists were one of two factions in the Galactic Senate. While they supported a stronger central government and military, their Populist opponents believed that sovereignty should reside in the member worlds. By the time that Casterfo had assumed office, the Galactic Senate was deadlocked by infighting between the two factions.

Due to his work as a senator, Casterfo was allocated an office in the New Republic senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime, which was currently hosting the Galactic Senate and the New Republic government. Following a ceremony to dedicate a Jelucani fogstone statue to the late Senator Bail Organa, Ransolm and his Centrist colleagues mingled with their nominal Populist opponents. The following day, Casterfo attended a session at the Galactic Senate where the Twi'lek emissary Yendor of Ryloth raised the threat posed by the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di's crime cartel to commercial traffic in his planet's sector. The leading Populist Senator Leia Organa, Bail's adopted daughter, volunteered to travel to Bastatha to investigate Rinnrivin's cartel.

When the Centrist politician Lady Carise Sindian raised concerns about Leia's objectivity, Senator Casterfo volunteered to accompany Leia in order to ensure that the mission was a bipartisan one. Later, Senator Leia visited the junior senator's office to gain Ransolm's trust. While Leia was disconcerted by the presence of "Old Empire" relics in Casterfo's office, the two senators were able to develop a travel itinerary. During their first meeting, Casterfo suggested that not all aspects of the "Old Empire" were bad and that the Empire failed because it had the wrong Emperor in charge. Casterfo's views struck a raw nerve with Leia, a former leader of the Rebellion and a veteran of the Galactic Civil War.

The following day, Organa and Casterfo traveled to Bastatha in their investigation, where Organa was captured by Di, and Casterfo rescued her. Several Senators claimed that he had put Organa's life in danger.

End of career
Acting on information provided to him by Lady Carise Sindian, Casterfo revealed before the senate that Senator Organa's father was Darth Vader. Organa was shocked at Casterfo's sudden betrayal, and Casterfo felt like he did the wrong thing. After this, he allowed Organa to speak before the Senate about the conclusion of her investigation of Rinnrivin Di.

Later, he was wrongly accused of treason, on the charges of assisting Arliz Hadrassian and the Amaxine warriors in their rebellion against the New Republic, and the assassination of the candidate for the position of First Senator, Tai-Lin Garr. Ransolm was then sent off to Riosa to be executed.

Behind the scenes
Although Ransolm Casterfo first appeared in the 2016 novel Bloodline, written by Claudia Gray, the character existed, in various forms, in the earliest versions of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. While writing the novel, Gray mentally pictured Casterfo as being portrayed by Tom Hiddleston. His name is pronounced "RAN-som CAS-ter-foe."

Appearances

 * Bloodline