Kurj Skolia
| Kurj Skolia | |
|---|---|
| Saga of the Skolian Empire character | |
| Created by | Catherine Asaro |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Military Key |
| Occupation | Imperator of Skolia |
| Family | mother Roca Skolia |
| Spouse | Ami |
| Children | son Kurjson |
| Nationality | Skolian |
 |
Kurj Skolia, also known as Kurj, was an ambitious Jagernaut primary who later became Imperator of the Skolian empire in the Saga of the Skolian empire books by Catherine Asaro.
Kurj was the son of Roca Skolia and had a troubled past involving his mother and various father figures. He and his mother were abused for many years by Roca's second husband Darr - Kurj's stepfather, who saw the pubescent boy as a rival. As he grew older, Kurj's subconscious attraction to and jealousy for his mother resulted in disaster when he found that his biological father was also his mother's father Jarac, which was a result of in vitro fertilization. He killed Jarac by entering the Dyad, almost destroying the psiberweb. (Pharoah Dyhianna, Kurj's aunt, later refers to this by telling him "Jocasta is the icon", a reference to the ancient Earth play Oedipus Rex.)
He became a hard and often ruthless man, who pursued his goals without regard to others. During his time as a Jagernaut he learned to hate the Eubians with passion and would do everything possible to rid the universe of them. As an Imperator of Skolia he was both respected and feared. He remained jealous of Roca's much younger third husband Eldrinson Valdoria and never accepted him.
Despite his secret longing for family Kurj lived a lonely life, never letting his occasional lovers close enough to form a stable relationship. However, when the Assembly wanted him to marry a chosen noblewoman for political reasons, he defied their order by marrying his lover Ami, a beautiful, sweet-natured and simple commoner.
Shortly after that Kurj died in a battle which also cost the life of Ur Qox, the ruler of Eubian Concord. His successor as an Imperator of Skolia became his younger half-sister Soz Valdoria. Several months after Kurj's death Ami gave birth to his son Kurjson.