Mylnric

Origins
Mylnric started life on a family farm in Bardonia. Named for the powerful mill which his mother was enamored with, he was taught to raise crops as an ordinary freeholder. Mylnric was barely beginning to reach adulthood when, well, history happened.

With the family farm reduced to ruins by war with Uldaraash and winter coming, young Mylnric needed a new way to feed his family. Recruited by a group of local highwaymen, he set out to even the odds. Life as a henchman was not romantic, involving long sorties across the countryside punctuated by moments of sheer terror for all involved.

Fortunately for Mylnric, this group proved to be Bardonians in spirit as well as in name. What started as opportunistic thievery from Uldarasshi merchants evolved into well coordinated attacks on high value targets. As his superiors gained notoriety and began to win contracts for politically driven sabotage, Mylnric kept a lower profile and studied the patterns of both politics and business. Now more than a meat shield, he used his unparalleled knowledge of the land to understand strategic opportunities while mastering asymmetric warfare tactics.

Age is no soldier's friend; bandits doubly so. With every battle came a new scar or injury, slowly wearing down Mylnric's combat abilities. As peace began to come to Bardonia, he realized the time was coming to find a new way of life. Upon hearing news of the discovery of Eldham, Mylnric decided to sell his well-worn sword for a ticket to the new land.

The worst thing you can say to Mylnric is "go back to Rathnir". As a long time criminal, he's heard just about every incarnation of swearing and rightous indignation that exists. However he'd rather spend a week at the Lutum sand mines than a day in Uldaraash, and is not above drawing a sword on someone to make this point known.

''Out of character note: Mylnric's player is native to Eldham and has no history in Rathnir. This character backstory is exactly that: a backstory. He's also not a god-tier PvPer, which is represented in game by Mylnric's growing list of physical weaknesses and his present aversion to armed conflict.''

= Life in Eldham =

Settlement in Eldham
At first, Mylnric landed in the frozen wilderness of Irulan and attempted to set up a small farm unbeknownst to the local government. Having no local contacts or claim to his land, Mylnric set out to see if other nations may be better suited to his needs. Xenophotastic invited him to check out Leethharka, then little more than a few homes and other buildings carved into a mountain. Sheep grazed where the outer city is now located. Seeing the strategic potential in the location he was warmly welcomed to, Mylnric sought to learn more about the A.W.E.. At the time, it was a new nation formed from two others and was in the process of acquiring Bostadia. Mylnric was one of the first citizens of the A.W.E. to visit Fort Sporania, and may or may not have “mislaid” evidence of Mr. Pierogi’s legal claims to the region in the namesake horse’s stables.

Early Career in the A.W.E.
Mylnric expressed an interest in road building when joining the A.W.E. He reasoned this would be an excellent way to get to know the empire, while setting the foundation for a mercantile career. Xenophotastic commissioned him to create a road connecting his city of Leehhtarka to the town of Adamentem (now Neboria). This was completed in time for the Unity Day Festival, and remains in use to this day.

His efforts and overall maturity received widespread recognition within the AWE leadership, leading to Mylnric's promotion to the High Council. Serving in this role gave him a level of visibility and influence within the government unlike anything he had ever experienced.

When Xeno developed a new kind of egg farm underneath Leehhtarka, Mylnric took it upon himself to establish a bakery for making cakes. This is a major export product for Eldham and provided Mylnric with a more reliable source of income than selling experience bottles at auction.

Phoenian Crisis Involvement
While planning an extension of the AWE's Great Northern Road into Phoenia, Mylnric was introduced to his counterpart Astapf. Discussions of the road network led to Mylnric mapping Phoenia, but little more than that. Not long after that, RageOFire came to power in Phoenia.

Astapf came to Mylnric for assistance, claiming that Rage was abusing his power as the King of Phoenia. Under the Second Constitution of the Republic of Phoenia, the King and the civil government were required to be separate, and this was not the case under Rage's rule. Other abuses of power were alleged, including the buying of votes. Mylnric conferred with Xenophotastic, his mentor and at the time a higher ranking official in the AWE government. He suspected that Xeno was unofficially playing the role of a spymaster, and therefore very knowledgeable on foreign affairs.

The Holy Empire Of Lutum had just lost control of its claims, and while this was happening, Phoenia was expanding into Lutum's territory. This event had forced Blue Arbiter to seek asylum in the A.W.E., where he took a job as a police officer. In order to better judge Astapf's intentions and ability to work with the A.W.E., Mylnric invited Arbiter to the Sobering Scribe Tavern in Leehhtarka for the negotiations as well. His reasoning was that if Astapf were to seek asylum in his city, he would need to come to terms with the fact that the man protecting him is from Lutum.

Negotiations at the Sobering Scribe led to a plan of action, exposing the inconsistencies between Rage's policies and the Phoenian constitution as justification for supporting a planned rebellion against Phoenia. However Astapf pre-empted the necessary Senate vote to support such a measure by declaring The Phoenian Civil War anyway. The lack of public justification forced the Zamotz Union to quietly withdraw support, and the A.W.E. to offer no formal support whatsoever. Astapf became a wanted man in his home country, narrowly escaping pursuit by heavily armed mercenaries. The citizens of Rapture loyal to him fled through the jungles of the AWE and founded their own city, Ironton, before Mylnric could react. This claim was later legalized when its residents formally applied for and were granted citizenship. Phoenia itself would lose its western coast to a new nation, Soliana, and join the Zamotz Union.

Lutum proved far more patient and coordinated. Their king, TheClarkyCat, and his trusted man Lord_Volt broke their exile to meet with Mylnric and Xeno at the tavern. This resulted in a long conversation about the future of Lutum, and a tentative promise from the AWE to offer protection for the rebuilding process. Lutum became a formal protectorate of the A.W.E., retaining its sovereignty and population while offering its benefactor considerable influence in a region that had previously been overlooked. Mylnric did not pursue options to get involved with Phoenia, figuring that his nation lacked the necessary settlers to retain control of a chaotic land. Allowing the land to fall into the hands of a trusted ally was no setback in his eyes; after all, "it's only yours if you can keep it". Lutum offered the support of its native population, and therefore would not need the AWE to draw resources away from domestic priorities except in the event of a war.

Forgotten Ideals Movement
In a strange twist, Xenophotastic was elected Senator of Ekari Province and then chose not to be seated. Mylnric served as his delegate for about two and a half weeks, trying to keep the government stable and taxes low. After Archeon was stripped of his High Council position, Mylnric returned the senate seat to its original owner. While the legality of this move was questioned, Mylnric pointed out that he was legally entitled to re-seat Xeno as Xeno was the duly elected Senator.

Xeno became increasingly frustrated with the AWE government, and began plotting efforts to change how it was run. He decided to launch a "coup" on the AWE discord, using mod powers to strip government positions from his nemeses and promoting TheOtakuKaiser as the true emperor of the nation. Mylnric was caught completely unaware by this, and moved his personal belongings out of his home in Leehhtarka to a recently reclaimed farm in Cansavia. The coup attempt resulted in a ton of personal drama, and culminated with "plea deals" being reached between Police Chief Lafonze (Gangstapimplimp) and Xeno. Xeno was revealed to be Rennoc, Quincy Saint of Magic, and therefore able to gleefully defy being publicly executed for treason and forced to mine sand. Kaiser was not so lucky, and remained dead after his own execution for his minor involvement in the plot.

Much like Saint Rennoc, the drama didn't die either. The AWE Senate voted to consider merging with another nation, and several other members of the government sought a wide variety of reforms. This turned into an extensive Discord group thread between a number of similarly aligned people, discussing a wide variety of things including a new Constitution and a new name. However the group thread had a mole, reporting to the appalled General Archeon and exposing the conversation at a public event. Mylnric was at the time aware of the entire discussion, though a relatively minor contributor to it. He held the view that reform was best achieved by voting out political opponents, rather than insurrection. Nonetheless Mylnric was called upon to defend all aspects of the conversation in public, with many of the others involved forced to log off due to time zone differences.

The entire group, including Mylnric, was charged with treason. Mylnric used his public platform to refuse any plea deals, and the others later did the same. Due to a shortage of judges and jurors, this caused a collapse of the A.W.E.'s legal system. Controversially Mylnric enlisted foreign support by disclosing this to Eldham without any approval from the Emperors. In his view, the nation was on the verge of splitting up into pieces, and Eldham as a whole would care if its 4th largest nation imploded. Making the dispute public would provide useful outside pressure to get the situation resolved constructively, and prepare alternatives if it didn't. One friendly and one neutral nation offered assistance running a more unbiased court, while the AWE's enemies quickly took notice. Unknown to Mylnric, the other Entente nations had been informed of the situation.

Grand Falcon Coolworld moved the Senate to vote on the charges presented. While there was a lack of clarity whether the Senate was voting to pursue charges, or to convict the accused, this did result in Mylnric being let off with a clean record. Subsequent private negotiations led to the departure of several prominent members of the Forgotten Ideals Movement from Eldham, including Xeno. Others accepted plea deals, leading to a public execution at the city of Vonkari. Maxi put his city ahead of himself and chose to remain in the nation, along with one other. This alleviated Mylnric's concerns about "Vonk-exit" and caused him to scrap some contingency plans, which for legal reasons must remain classified. Yoissy was deeply unhappy with Mylnric's use of outside pressure, but swiftly moved towards constitutional reform.

Life in Cansavia and Lutum
[ NOTE: Ongoing ]

With the Forgotten Ideals controversy finally put to bed, Mylnric began to focus more inward. His bank balance was desperately low, in fact barely capable of sustaining a land claim. Interestingly, his situation was rescued by the former Phoenians who now led Soliana. Selling potatoes and then cactus for XP bought enough time to win a partnership with AdmiralDalai, who had created an egg farm in Encan City. Finally having the missing piece of a cake-making business without venturing into Leehhtarka, as well as a lucrative trade agreement abroad, Mylnric was no longer poor.

Realizing the limits of a single man to run a settlement, Mylnric decided to open his land up to other settlers. At first he attempted to recruit locally available cheap labor to work his lands. This was thwarted by then-Governor Alyra of Brunia, who recognized the laborers' right to unionize. Fearing the prospect of USSE influence in his own town, Mylnric opted to solicit new citizens by giving away surplus food to new players and the occasional bandit. After a controversy between one of his citizens and the city of Willowreach, Mylnric opted to rebrand the "Company Town of PortCansavia" to the "Village of Gaia's Garden" and focus on making a good home for people who are looking for a more rural lifestyle.

Mylnric received an invitation from his longtime friend, Blue Arbiter of Lutum, to assist with economic development in that nation. Arbiter had become King of Lutum and attracted a large number of new citizens to the region. Mylnric theorized that shipping eggs to the rising nation and distributing them publicly would help its citizens get financially established. This proved to be highly successful, making both Mylnric and his business partner Admiral Dalai wealthier in the process. Money earned from a different business deal with Dalai was also spent in Lutum. Mylnric had previously acquired a worn-out netherite pickaxe, and was able to acquire the mending book needed to restore it from a fisherwoman in Lutum. Pride in Lutum's success has led to Mylnric becoming a citizen in that nation, despite deep reservations about potentially being given a title of nobility.

= Values and Beliefs =

Religion
Mylnric's religious views are shaped by his longstanding fascination with the cycle of life and death. He has come in contact with a variety of different faiths over his life, and so far has yet to find an organized faith that truly fills his spiritual needs.

He follows the Twin Prophets, who represent the relationship between Gaia and Entropy.

Gaia is the Quincy goddess of life, evangelized by the prophet Yoissy. Mylnric has met Yoissy in person on a number of occasions, serving under him in the government of the AWE as well as attending a meeting where the prophet evangelized his beliefs. This meeting was also attended by Cubists, who introduced him to that faith as well.

Entropy goes by many names, but is most clearly acknowledged by Soleannen myth (which Quincy traces its roots to). Mylnric met Onetapped in a dream, who invited him to see a bombed out ruin where the city of Roma once stood. Clad in full netherite armor, the Raven Prophet told Mylnric and a bandit incarnation of Lathien about his plans to spread the word of entropy. The ruin was later replaced with a copper field, from which Mylnric harvested a small amount of copper. While the city of Roma has returned to its customary location, the copper collected has not disappeared. Mylnric keeps this as proof that his dream was, in fact, real. (This occurrence was the result of a minor staff scandal over differing interpretations of griefing, but the sheer absurdity of experiencing it in character makes for a good religious experience.)

Mylnric believes that mortals are the arbiters of the gods. Through the exercise of free will, mortals get to choose which primal forces win conflicts. This is why the faithful are so highly coveted by the gods. He sees his role in life as being a keeper of the balance between Gaia and Entropy. By choosing who to rob and who to protect, he helps keep Gaia's creation healthy. His mentor Xenophotastic is the epitome of this relationship, indeed co-opting some of the gods' power to travel and evade mortal retribution. Perhaps Xeno is a prophet or a god himself? The question remains unresolved.

Furthermore, Mylnric believes that all life must have a beginning and an end. When mortal life no longer needs something, it is to be returned to the earth so something new may grow. Accordingly, when Mylnric dies he plans to distribute his wealth to his citizens, as well as leaving random caches of gold scattered across the Eldham wilderness. Embracing death in this way is, in his view, a way to respect the sanctity of life.

Honesty and trust is far more sacred to Mylnric than life or property. Accurate information and reliable promises are paramount to surviving life in the underworld, and these values continue to shape his religious views. "One's health and property come and go. One day you're a king, the next day you're at the hangman's noose. That's just life in Rathnir. Reliable friends are worth more than gold. The people who will tell you that what you've seen with your own eyes isn't true? Nothing good comes from that, and the gods shouldn't suffer them to live."

On Solonism:

"Look, these guys are on to something. If we don't protect Gaia's creations, they will get overrun and destroyed. That said let's be honest about what I've done with my life. There's no way I'd survive a Solonist purification ritual; there just wouldn't be anything left of me. If I'm going to join a religion that's going to get me killed, it's going to be Barry the Blue Sheep. Liberating that poor bastard from Uldaraash sounds like my way to die."

On Cubism:

"They have the right idea with The Cube and The Void. It's the right dynamic. However... isn't the Cube just another manifestation of Gaia? That's what Yoissy said, and he kind of has a giant living heart tucked away in a cave. I've also got a lingering suspicion that the Cubists might get upset if I told them how close I am to the Void."

On Quincy:

"I converted for a hot moment. Yoissy is a prophet after all, and Xeno a saint. I've seen what they can do first hand. Alas, I just couldn't find the right path to follow. Gaia herself is only part of the bigger picture, and Erucalad just isn't my guy. Why they have multiple gods for entropy is beyond me. Envy, hatred, desperation... they're all manifestations of the same god. I don't understand why nobody sees that."

On Berrism:

"Why do I have to explain this? Berries are just another manifestation of Gaia. Plus the Bope says 'don't steal'. I guess that works if you worship the pricker bushes people tend to stick outside city walls, but it really doesn't when you're the poor idiot trying to get in."

On Ratism:

"These guys lost me when they started executing cats. I guess they really are as axe-crazy as Eldham says. Cats are sacred creatures, they understand the balance between life and death. Why would you kill one?!"

Political Philosophy
Mylnric is a committed minarchist and has been much of his life. Having seen the capacity of kings to ruin the lives of those who live under them, he is highly skeptical of state power. Mylnric believes the best form of statehood is a voluntary union of free men, and is very willing to volunteer his time for the greater good so long as this is reciprocated by other citizens. His strategy for making money is to leverage his power to gain the knowledge he needs to become a successful merchant, rather than to draw a government salary.

While Mylnric is still nursing wounds from Rathnir and has little appetite for combat, as a Bardonian he understands the value in giving younger and more war-hungry men a constructive outlet for their passions. He is a firm believer in never fighting fair, only engaging his enemies where he has a distinct advantage. Soldiers shall be fought in court; scholars on the battlefield. Mylnric understands the brutal nature of conflict, and is not above drawing on the lessons learned from banditry to achieve results he believes are worthwhile.

"I don't understand why people believe a successful empire requires unchecked aggression. Fools are born every minute. Why alienate potential allies when there's no shortage of marks?"

As the founding Minister of Regional Planning for the A.W.E., Mylnric aims to grow both the economy and the relationships of his nation. He uses the government primarily to coordinate efforts across different communities, leaving each to be run according to the preferences of those who live there. He is inspired by Yoissy’s example of leadership through conflict resolution, but uses it pragmatically to preserve the integrity of nations which have done right by him.