Sirah (title)

Sirah was a Bajoran word for the leader and storyteller of a village on Bajor. The Sirah was responsible for leading the people against the Dal'Rok, a threatening creature and a creation of the Sirah in order to get the village's people to band together against a common enemy. In the mid-24th century, the Sirah and then Hovath in 2369 held the role.

The first Sirah, seeing that the people of the village fought constantly, used a fragment of an Orb to channel the people's feelings into the Dal'Rok. Each year, the Dal'Rok would appear for five nights and threaten to destroy the village unless the people united. Whenever it appeared, the people believed the Sirah accomplished this by "telling the story" of how the village was stronger than the Dal'Rok, thus giving the impression that he controlled it when in fact the people themselves did so, through the fragment.

For a brief time in 2369, Miles O'Brien, a Starfleet officer stationed aboard Deep Space 9, was appointed Sirah by the previous one. This angered Hovath, the previous Sirah's apprentice and hand-picked successor, as well as O'Brien, who did not want the job. However, O'Brien was not meant to be the Sirah; rather, Hovath had failed to unite the people and control the Dal'Rok previously, and by saving the village when O'Brien failed, he was able to prove himself capable in the eyes of the villagers. This was necessary, as they could not unite behind someone they did not trust. 

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Sirah (Titel) Sirah