Severian Marcella was arguably the second most important figure in the founding of Seleucar. He shared a childhood with Nikolas, and often bullied him into giving up food - an act he admitted later on with shame. Years later, he accompanied Nikolas on his travels, providing a cynical foil to Nikolas' lofty optimism, and engaged him in such debates as the so-called "Sermon on the Rocks." Eventually, he gave in to Nikolas' idealism, and when the young man became Nicator and his burgeoning village branched into a bustling capital, Severian was appointed as the duke and later chancellor of Seleucar - the right hand of Emperor Nicator himself. He outlived Nicator, but passed away mere years before the War of the Deeps came to fulfill the prophecy of the Black Wave.