"I enjoy the presence of my clan, and it's good to have some measure of power away from my people's Emperor. He is the master of the land, and I the master of the sea. We deal with each other when we have to." There's a slight sniff of distaste. skekSa knew skekSo of old, knows the way he rules over his own people. "I don't care for politics, really. It's an unpleasant business and it's a shame I can't avoid it completely."

skekSa is an interesting case - all skeksis called themselves Lords. While the majority of them are male-identifying, skekSa and skekLach the Collector identify as female and still use the title. Honestly, it's more obligation than anything else. "Captain" suits her better than "Lord", and she went out of her way to be more approachable than the others who ruled over Thra from the Castle of the Crystal and kept their affairs in secrecy.

"We, too, have a general, skekVar. There used to be three military commanders - the Conqueror lost his taste for violence and defected, the Spy-Master was banished because the Emperor feared his ambition, and the General remains. But I know little of your home world, or how human leaders rule." She twitches her beak. "I consider my home the Silver Sea, beyond the shores."