Sotha Zyn belongs to a family of elves that was granted noble status in return for some service that the family's forebear did for Talingarde. Considering how well known the Zyn family is for its members military prowess, it is likely he was a general of some distinction. Sotha, however, had little interest in that. He had always been interested in studying, whether magic, history, or whatever else, and so he balked at the expectation of his family to serve in the Talingarde military. Eventually, he gave in, on the condition that he would become a soldier as long as he could continue to study magic.
He seemed to take a completely different view of life in the military after becoming a Magus. He poured himself into his training, and before long, his sword arm was as strong as his mind. After finishing his training, he was sent to the Savage North to fight against the encroaching monsters. While stationed there, he made the effort to learn to speak with them, t he better to overhear their plans, he called it. Unknown to others, he would meet with the creatures they were fighting, goblins, possibly, and he managed to convince them to surrender to his company. It later turned out that Sotha had been abusing his position as quartermaster's assistant to pass along weapons to the goblins in exchange for a token force of them to surrender.
The surrender of the goblins was part of a plan. He figured that if hostilities ceased by his hand, he would get an audience with the king. He was right, though to his dismay, the audience with the king was in the company of his comrades, making Sotha's plan harder to put into effect, and nearly impossible to survive. Even so, when the king came to him to offer congratulations, Sotha cast True Strike and stabbed at the king. The strike would have been fatal if not for the soldier next to him reacting quickly enough. Sotha surrendered immediately, and found his way to Branderscar Prison afterward.
No one knows why Sotha tried to kill the king, he has said nothing of it, and in fact, during his trial he had claimed that madness had overtaken him, and that he was unaware of what he'd done. The truth is that Sotha himself doesn't know why he did it. What he knows is that for some time, he has been heeding the counsel of a voice in his head, one that appeals to his pride, and suggests things that he might do, things that he deserves to do. Whatever the voice is, Sotha trusts it well enough to put his life in it's hands.
