Zufa Cenva



Zufa Cenva [d. 164 BG] was the long-standing Supreme Sorceress of the Sorceresses of Rossak, and the mother of both Norma and Ticia Cenva.

Life
Little is known of Zufa's early life. She rose to become the Supreme Sorceress at a relatively young age, thanks in no small part to her telekinetic abilities, which were formidable even among the women of Rossak. Her abilities and intense hatred of the thinking machines saw her continue the Sorceress' fervent involvement in the League of Nobles, and their protracted war against Omnius.

Fight against the Machines
Zufa Cenva was a distant and stern woman seemingly harsh to people she considered 'inferior' such as Aurelius Venport and her misborn daughter, Norma Cenva. Despite her coldness, she displayed a zeal and great concern for the war against the thinking machines, and thought insignificant anything else, such as her personal relationships... contributing further to her stance.

Around the time of Battle of Zimia, the Sorceresses had developed a kind of psychic attack that could be fatal to any brain, including cymeks, filling up the gap of the Scrambler web, which harmed only Gel circuitry. Zufa trained young sorceresses who would throw themselves into the battles as weapons, obliterating cymeks as well as themselves.

Zufa having no 'useful' heir of her own, view her apprentices as her own daughters, and she 'died' each time they were killed in battle.

Family
She had little early success in producing a desirable female heir. Her first child to survive was Norma, who while possessing an extremely high intelligence, was born stunted and physically opposite to the desired Rossak girl. But being a staunch supporter of the Sorceress' breeding program, Zufa continued to seek out only male mates with exemplary genetics, and produce a much desired daughter.

Her most famous partner, though not her first was the entrepreneur Aurelius Venport, with whom she attempted to conceive for several years. However, for unknown reasons their pair's children never survived. As a result of their joint failure, and Zufa's cold and bristly personality, their relationship gradually eroded. Though Aurelius maintained cordiality - and unspoken love - for Zufa, she treated him with bitterness, seeing him as a frivolous man and a general failure.

Zufa treated her eldest daughter in much the same was as she treated Aurelius Venport. In her eyes Norma's stunted, unattractive appearance, and lack of telekinetic abilities, was an embarrassment. As a result, Norma was shunned and punished in equal measure. The girl's close relationship with Venport however helped her escape her mother's clutches. After Zufa had refused to agree to Tio Holtzman invitation for Norma to join him on Poritrin, Venport discretely approved the offer and paid for Norma's passage to the planet.

In later years, Zufa still saw Norma as a failure, despite her heavy involvement in numerous critical inventions. Her opinion only changed after Norma was biologically transformed during her capture by the Titan Xerxes. Norma's choice to enter into marriage with Aurelius Venport caused Zufa confusion and anger. However, her new-found respect for Norma on a more general level brought the pair closer than they had ever been.

After meeting the League's Grand Patriarch, Zufa became convinced of his latent genetic abilities, and suspected his ancestry lay not on Earth, but rather on Rossak. Seeing him as an ideal mate, she seduced him and bore his child, who she named Ticia.

Death
While returning with Venport from Salusa Secundus their vessel was intercepted by Beowulf and other neo-cymek rogues, when the Titan Hecate's asteroid helped them survive. It swallowed their ship in order to help them. But believing the ancient cymek to be hostile Zufa destroyed all three beings with a massive mental energy discharge.

Many more died when Hecate's vessel plummeted into the nearby planet Ginaz.

Appearances

 * Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
 * Dune: The Machine Crusade
 * Dune: The Battle of Corrin (Mentioned only)
 * Sisterhood of Dune (Mentioned only)