Koth Vortena

"We're going to win this thing. I'm telling you, it's destiny."

- Koth Vortena

Koth Vortena was a male Human from the planet Zakuul who served as an officer in the planet's military. He believed that the Eternal Empire was capable of great things, but was disillusioned with the rule of Emperor Arcann, and after being exiled, he made it his goal to fight against Arcann's rule.

Early life
Koth Vortena was born on Zakuul decades before the Galactic War. He eventually enlisted in the Eternal Empire Military, captaining one of the few manned starships that was not crewed by droids. In the closing days of Emperor Arcann's conquest of the galaxy, Koth and his crew were ordered to massacre rioters on Denon until they stopped rebelling. This crossed the line for Koth, who deserted, along with his crew. They then spent months fleeing from Senya Tirall, one of Arcann's Knights. Along the way, he recruited misfits such as Sergeant Ralo and the snobbish Tora.

Rescuing the Outlander
During Koth's escapades, he ran into the Sith Lord Lana Beniko, who was cultivating Zakuulan assets to help her find the Outlander, Emperor Valkorion's supposed murderer, whom Beniko believed to be a capable leader to fight Arcann's oppression. With the aid of T7-O1, Beniko infiltrated the Spire where the Outlander was being kept in carbonite, while Koth parked their escape shuttle on the side of the Spire with her bodyguard droid, HK-55. Unfortunately, Arcann's forces reacted to their breakout and Koth was forced to evade attack shuttles before being shot down. After stealing another shuttle from a nearby landing pad, Koth made his way to his allies and started firing up Vaylin, Arcann's sister, mowing down her skytrooper escort, though the High Justice shielded herself with a piece of debris before throwing it at the shuttle. Koth managed to keep the shuttle in the air long enough of the Outlander and Beniko to get aboard and fled the capitol.

The Gravestone
Unfortunately, the damage the shuttle sustained caused the party to crash into the Endless Swamp. Koth then worked with Beniko to scuttle their crash site while the Outlander and HK-55 went ahead to find a technological object the droid detected. Upon catching up, HK identified the objects to be foreign to Zakuul. Koth identified the object as the Gravestone, a legendary ship that single-handedly took on the entire Eternal Fleet. He quickly assumed that finding the Gravestone was destiny and that they were going to win.

Just as the party managed to repair the ancient starship, they came under attack by skytroopers and Knights. Koth prepared the Gravestone for takeoff while the others fought off the attackers. During the battle, they were joined by Senya, whom Beniko had managed to turn against Arcann. Koth was immediately hostile towards her, still bitter over the months of persecution from her, before HK reminded that they were still at risk of being attacked by Arcann. With the aid of the assembled Force users, they were able to raise the Gravestone and flee Zakuul. However, Arcann had summoned the Eternal Fleet to block their escape. Koth sent the Outlander to the gunnery station and managed to charge up the omnicannon, destroying more than two dozen ships in a single shot, enabling them to jump to hyperspace.

Asylum
Despite engine troubles, the crew managed to limp the Gravestone to the shadowport of Asylum, where Koth was happily reunited with his crew. However, Tora was absent, so Koth requested the Outlander and HK to go and find her. Senya also parted their company, asking the Outlander to meet her later to discuss an alliance with her enigmatic friends.

Sure enough, Tora returned to the Gravestone safe and sound. Beniko had also returned after contacting her network, having brought HK, who had no memory of where he had been. Knowing that HK would have accompanied the Outlander to Senya's rendezvous, Koth assumed that she had betrayed them. However, Beniko believed that Senya's contacts were the real danger. Gathering the crew, Koth and Beniko head for the last spot where HK had been before his memory loss and find the Outlander in a standoff with the exiled Scions of Zakuul, and forced them to stand down. Their leader, Heskal, then revealed to all that the reason why the Outlander remained a blindspot in their visions was because Emperor Valkorion was living inside the Outlander's mind. The news excited Koth, believing that Valkorion's survival meant hope for Zakuul and that Arcann's fall was predestined, though Beniko interjected that his beloved Immortal Emperor was a threat to all life. What was more shocking was Senya confessing that she was Arcann and Vaylin's mother.

Lady of Sorrows
Returning to the Gravestone, Koth has it out for Senya for withholding information from them and refused to believe that she would fight her own children. Senya suggested asking Valkorion directly for whether or not she could be trusted, though the Outlander protested that they were not him. Koth then stated that Valkorion was never interested in war and restoring him to the throne would save the Eternal Empire. Beniko stated once again that Valkorion was a monster, which Koth tried to refute, leading to an argument over who knew Valkorion better, which got awkward when Senya piped in. They were then interrupted by HK, who announced that T7 had passed along an offer of help from the mysterious Lady of Sorrows, an elusive information broker on Zakuul, who wanted to help fix the Gravestone. The Outlander and Senya then traveled to Zakuul to try and find her.

Later on, T7 informed Koth that the Outlander and Senya were heading into Breaktown to find the Lady of Sorrows. Koth deduced that they were going to confront the Heralds of Zildrog, a cult who believes in a mythical serpent that would cleanse corruption from Zakuul, and decided to head them off. Upon running into his allies, Koth stated that the Herald's leader, the Exalted, hates Knights and would not say a word to Senya, insisting that as an average Zakuulan, he can reason with the Heralds. Senya begged to differ, believing that brute force would serve them well. Though the Outlander chose to side with one party, ultimately, the Exalted refused to cooperate, believing that Arcann's fall was not their responsibility. Before he could order his men to attack the Outlander, they were contacted by one of the Lady's intermediaries, who warned the Exalted not to kill the Outlander, revealing to have the Exalted's son, Brennen, and another of the Outlander's companions, hostage, and asked both parties to meet at the Razor. Despite this, the Exalted ordered his men to attack anyway and left to confront the Lady. The Outlander survived the betrayal and pursued the Exalted to the Razor, where they find the lady, revealed to be a droid named SCORPIO, who kills the Exalted and has Brennen take his place. SCORPIO agreed to return to Asylum with the Outlander and company, desiring to speak to the Gravestone, whom she designates an intellect that rivals her own. When she mentions that Arcann had taken something from her, Koth asked what it was, but a glare from the droid indicated it was personal and private.

Battle of Asylum
Upon their return to the Gravestone, Koth was hesitant to grant SCORPIO full access to the ship's mainframe. Subsequently, Asylum came under attack by the Eternal Fleet just after the Outlander was summoned to the Scions' hideout by Heskal. While the crew put up a defense of the Gravestone, Koth fought to meet with HK to reach the Control Spar to deactivate the docking clamps holding the Gravestone. Koth then met up with the Outlander and Beniko, the latter volunteering to stay behind and hold the choke point while the two of them go on ahead. Upon reaching the Control Spar, they run into HK. Koth and HK then stay behind to ambush Eternal Empire forces while the Outlander went to the docking controls. However, HK soon went to join the Outlander in fighting Arcann. Once the Gravestone was freed, all survivors evacuated aboard. Unfortunately, the omnicannon was non-functional, though Koth was able to use the functioning turbolaser to destroy one cruiser before escaping into hyperspace.

Personality and traits
Being a native of Zakuul, Koth firmly believed in Emperor Valkorion, knowing only prosperity under his reign, and naively deflected anyone's insistence that he was a monster who would devour all life in the galaxy. He was also an optimistic believer in destiny, as evidenced when he and his allies found the Gravestone.

Koth possessed a moral code, which he adhered to in defiance of Arcann. He believed in protecting the innocent, whether they were of Zakuul or not.

Behind the scenes
Koth Vortena is a major character in the Digital Expansion Knights of the Fallen Empire for the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. He was first mentioned on the webpage for the expansion on the game's official site, which also included concept art for the character. Vortena's character blurb originally referred to him as "The Exiled General," but was later changed to "The Exiled Officer." He is voiced by Ike Amadi in the game.

Gameplay alternatives
Koth has a number of alternatives in the campaigns of both Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne.

Knights of the Fallen Empire
In Chapter III: Outlander, the player's choice to shut down the sun generator or let it explode affects future interactions with Koth throughout the game. If the generator blew up, Koth will confront the player about the deaths they caused. His disapproval can be mitigated by the player agreeing they went too far and/or choosing actions and dialog that Koth agrees with.

In Chapter VII: Lady of Sorrows, Koth will attempt to join the Outlander when they meet with the Exalted. Koth remains at the player's side until they meet the Lady if the offer is accepted; if rejected, Koth will be captured by the Lady to ensure that her meeting with the Outlander happens on her terms. There are no negative repercussions, apart from disapproval from Koth, for either option.

In Chapter X: Anarchy in Paradise, if the Outlander chooses the dark side option and allows Kaliyo Djannis to set off explosives throughout the Spire, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths, Koth finally reaches his breaking point with the Outlander (especially if they consistently chose dark side choices, such as the sun generator explosion in Chapter III) and abandons the Alliance. He attempts to hijack the Gravestone, but is fought off by Tora, who then reports the incident to the Outlander at the war room on Odessen. He then steals a shuttle, accompanied by Ralo and Len Parvek, and escapes to hyperspace.

In Chapter XII: Visions in the Dark, if Koth had remained with the Alliance, he amazingly finds himself agreeing with Senya when she protests Kaliyo's involvement in the attack on the GEMINI frequency.

In Chapter XIII: Profit and Plunder, if Koth remained with the Alliance, he will be part of the sabacc game involving Lana and Gault Rennow, otherwise Theron Shan would take his place.

In Chapter XVI: The Battle of Odessen, if Koth had left the Alliance after Chapter X, he will return to the ship during the Battle of Odessen to repair the Gravestone and purge SCORPIO's presence in the ship's computer. However, after the Gravestone destroys Arcann's flagship and supporting fleet, Koth will inform the Outlander that he has taken control of the ship rather than allow the Outlander to use it to destroy Zakuul, and disappears into hyperspace. Tora sends an in-game mail to the player afterward indicating that the Gravestone was spotted briefly near Balmorra.

Knights of the Eternal Throne
In Chapter I: Wrath and Ruin, if Koth had left the Alliance and hijacked the Gravestone, he will appear in orbit of Voss to battle against Vaylin's attack there, but refuse to aid the Outlander when Arcann (and, if the player spares her life, Senya) escapes from the surface, telling the Outlander to "fight [their] own battles".

In Chapter III: Dark Reunions, Koth sends a distress signal to Odessen when Vaylin and SCORPIO take control of the Gravestone, regardless of the choices taken in Knights of the Fallen Empire. Once the Gravestone arrives on Iokath, the player will have the option of sparing Koth's life (light side choice), punching him out (lesser dark side choice), or killing him (greater dark side choice).

Romance
Koth is a full romance option for male and female players of either faction. The Outlander can ask about Koth's (platonic) relationship with Lana, and flirt with him, throughout the first eight chapters of Knights of the Fallen Empire. In Chapter IX, players can choose to initiate a full romance with him, although he will emphatically reject them if his approval rating is low or if the sun generator was allowed to go critical. Koth will also be wary if the Outlander flirts with him after pursuing Lana during Shadow of Revan, and will close the door on a romance if they continue to flirt with both of them.