William Forward |
Antono RefaScheming has always been an important part of Centauri politics and Lord Refa was a master of it. In 2258-59 he allied himself with like-minded persons, including Londo Mollari, in an attempt to shift the balance of power in the Centauri Republic. Emperor Turhan was dying and, because of the unfortunate death of his son, had no heir. Refa and his associates took an advantage of this and when the Emperor finally died, put Turhan's nephew Cartagia to the throne and had Turhan's supporters, including his friend Prime Minister Malachi, killed. Another one of Refa's achievements was the war between the Narn and the Centauri. In fact, he personally arranged and oversaw the bombing of the Narn Homeworld. By 2260 Londo was starting to doubt his associations with the Shadows and thus took away Refa's most important ally. To protect his position Refa went to Mr. Morden behind Londo's back and made his own deal with the dark First Ones. Londo knew how dangerous and untrustworthy the Shadows really were and thus didn't want the Centauri to have any contact with them. He threatened Refa with a poison until the scheming lord had no other choice but to end his affairs with the aliens. In the end, Refa became a victim of his own plots. Morden considered Londo to be more important ally than Refa and framed Refa for the death of Londo's lover. Soon there was nothing but ill-will between the houses of Refa and Mollari and the court also made a note of this. Even the Prime Minister said to Refa that there was no longer room for both of the houses in the court. When Refa heard of a plan Londo had come up with to please the Emperor, he had a telepath scan Londo's assistant Vir Cotto to find out the details. Londo was planning to imprison G'Kar, the last of the Kha-Ri, and Refa wanted to get there first. He travelled to Narn only to find out that he had walked straight into a trap - as a revenge for his lover's death Londo had payed off the Narns to kill and defame Refa. Lord Refa was married to Lady Celes and had a daughter, Senna, who later became Londo's protégée. Episodes: 025, 031, 039, 042, 055, 064 |
Wortham Krimmer |
CartagiaCentauri Emperor Turhan's nephew Cartagia became the puppet emperor of Centauri Prime in 2259 as a result of the political machinations of Londo Mollari and Lord Refa. For over a year Refa was the de facto ruler, but after he was killed by Londo, Cartagia alone had the power. he made a deal with the Shadows, offering the island of Celini to be used as a military base in return for godhood. The insane emperor truly believed that the Shadows could secure him a place in the Centauri pantheon. Those who opposed were beheaded. When the Vorlons in early 2261 started to persecute everyone who had had any relations to the Shadows, destroying entire planets in the process, Cartagia decided that it was time for him to join the gods. Instead of getting rid of the Shadow influences or strengthening the defencies around Centauri Prime, Cartagia did nothing to protect his homeworld because he wanted it to sacrifice it as a symbol of his ascension to godhood. In order to protect his people Londo formed a conspiracy to assassinate Cartagia. He lured Cartagia to the Narn Homeworld on the pretense of G'Kar's trial in order to isolate him from his supporters. During the trial of Londo made an attempt to kill Cartagia with a neurotoxin, but in the end it was Vir who injected the Emperor with the poison. Episodes: 067-071 |
 Damian London |
VeriniVerini, who had been in the imperial court practically all his life, was one of the few courtiers who managed to survive the reign of Emperor Cartagia. Like all the other members of the court, he too had to live in constant fear of losing his head at the emperor's slightest whim. When Londo Mollari had Cartagia killed in 2261, there was no heir to the throne and the Centaurum decided to appoint a regent until a new emperor could be chosen from outside the family. Even though a regent had hardly any other than ceremonial power, Verini was happy to accept the title when the Centaurum appointed him to the job. What Verini didn't know was that around the same time as he was appointed, the Drakh, former servants of the Shadows, had fled Z'ha'dum and set course for Centauri Prime, intending to revenge their masters' defeat. These dark servants came to the imperial palace and enslaved the Regent with a 'keeper'. Suddenly the Regent, who had always cultivated sobriety as his only vice, realised that the only time he was in control of himself was when he was drunk. The Drakh forced the Regent, who was already - thanks to Cartagia - mentally rather unstable to isolate himself from the rest of the world both physically and emotionally. During his reign Centauri began terrorist attacks against the other members of the Interstellar Alliance and when the Alliance found out the tuth, they declared a war against the Centauri. Verini's job was now almost done. Following the orders of the Drakh he turned off the planetary defense system around Centauri Prime and allowed the Narn and the Drazi to bomb the Centauri capital. After the attack the Drakh removed the keeper from Verini, killing him immediately. They then turned to the new Emperor, Londo, and forced him to take the keeper and to make peace with the Alliance by blaming the entire war on the Regent. Episodes: 021, 056, 067-068, 072-073, 097, 105-106 |