Editing Skathan

'''Skathan''' is the emperor of the [[Dynasty]] on the [[Darkside]] of [[Taldain]].{{book ref|ws|prologue}}

He appears to be in his mid-twenties.{{book ref|ws|11}}

|I have seen the Emperor do things impossible for a normal man.

|Baon, on Skathan{{book ref|ws|11}}

[[Baon]] tells Khriss that Skathan does not appear to age, and is said to have been alive for hundreds of years. He also implies that Skathan has other magical abilities.{{book ref|ws|11}} While Darkside does have some manifestations of [[Investiture]],{{wob ref|1509}} it is unknown if the source and nature of Skathan's powers are based on [[Starmarks]] or something different.{{book ref|ws|prologue}}

According to Baon and Khriss, Skathan resided in the Darkside nation of [[Iiaria]].{{book ref|ws|11}}{{book ref|ws|prologue}}

|The Dynasty is quite proficient at keeping technology from spreading farther than they want it to. Skathan, the current Emperor, knows how dangerous a little knowledge can be.

|[[Khriss]], to [[Kenton]]{{book ref|ws|4}}

It is not known how Skathan came to power, but by the time of the crisis in the [[Diem]] it was implied that he had held autocratic control over the Dynasty for at least a century, and perhaps much longer. Khriss noted that Skathan suppressed the spread of new technology (such as pistols) among Darkside nations, along with at least some basic rights, like the right to travel between provinces.{{book ref|ws|prologue}}{{book ref|ws|4}} He also has an army of [[starcarved]].{{book ref|ws|prologue}} Darksiders that lived in [[Kezare]] on the [[Dayside]] created an ethnic enclave known as [[Lonzare]] in the city, but this was not common knowledge because Skathan did not want people to know that there was traffic between the continents.{{book ref|ws|5}}

Some residents of the Dynasty actively worked to unseat Skathan. [[Loaten]] was his former Chief Minister of Diplomacy, and was rumored to have made an attempt on Skathan's life, although his motives were unclear. Skathan claims to have had Loaten executed for betraying him.{{book ref|ws|5}} Prince [[Gevalden]] came to Dayside looking for a weapon to use against Skathan, who has threatened to invade [[Elis]] if they do not voluntarily surrender to the Dynasty, to bring stability to his "troubled" homeland,{{book ref|ws|prologue}} which Khriss believed to be the [[sand master]]s.{{book ref|ws|6}} After Gevalden's death, Khriss traveled to Dayside to seek out the sand masters;{{book ref|ws|prologue}} she also performed [[Khrissalla's_Journal#Sand_Experimentation|scientific experiments]] on [[sand (Taldain)|white sand]] and [[sandling]] carapace in the hopes of independently discovering a weapon that Skathan was not familiar with.{{book ref|ws|11}}{{book ref|ws|part=ars}} Loaten told Khriss that the Dynasty was likely aware of her "secret" mission because it kept close tabs on anyone perceived to be an enemy;{{book ref|ws|5}} Baon was indeed sent to Dayside by the Dynasty to watch Khriss and determine if sand mastery was a threat to the Dynasty.{{book ref|ws|12}}{{book ref|ws|14}} While Skathan's Elite may be sent undercover alone for spying or assassination missions, he will alwys send a back-up when a mere soldier is undercover.{{book ref|ws|14}}

Despite Skathan's suppression of technology, the Dynasty had some of the most advanced technology in the [[cosmere]] during his rule.{{wob ref|12236}}

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