Lorin Beronan
Lorin Beronan is the master of the Hegemony of Lorean in 993.
Born in 922, he was accepted as a Monk of the Order of High Science in 934, a reclusive but respected order within the Unified Cultus of the Last Man (colloquially known as the ‘Last Man’ creed). He grew to be an outstanding researcher and philosopher, writing the seminal work The Thoughts of Men and Wolves, a cultural history of the interaction of human and Vargr scientific philosophers within the Julian Protectorate, at the tender age of 24. A competent accountant and talented entrepreneur, he simultaneously swiftly rose to Master of Revenue for his order at 29.
Master Beronan was well on his way to becoming Primate of High Science when circumstances intervened. A string of major banking failures and notable bankruptcies within the Hegemony government threatened to undo the stability that was forged after the Time of Madness. Many economists thought that guarantees to depositors and an infusion of cash from Menderes Corporation would be the best solution to calm the troubled waters. Master Beronan disagreed, fearing the compromise of Hegemony independence and the rise of moral hazard. Instead, he successfully led negotiations for a more lenient repayment plan for the debtors in question. As the crisis ebbed, Master Beronan’s arguments laid down a more forceful legal and moral framework regarding financial activity. Impressed, the ruling Hegemon permitted Master Beronan to personally execute two dozen senior financiers and auditors, whose systemic failure and incompetence had put the Hegemony at risk.
At Hegemon Darsol’s invitation, Master Beronan left his order, and joined the Hegemon government as the Junior Minister of Finance in 958. His outstanding work and amazingly quick and subtle mastery of the bureaucracy and the legal system brought him to the head the department in 969. After several years of satisfactory service, Minister Beronan, now openly groomed for the Apex, was inducted into the Four Swords Regiment as a Lieutenant/Ensign in 975. Lt/Eng. Beronan completed one cycle of service, with three years of intensive training, four years commanding a reinforced artillery company, and another five years as an engineering hand on the Hegemony Warship Bitter Cut, within the Hegemony Protection Group Parietis.
After his eleven years of military service, Beronan and four other suitable candidates was invited to the Apex, the residence of the Hegemon. Legally registered psions (all high-ranking Last Man clergymen) spent two days asking Beronan questions and reading his mind, sometimes subtly, sometimes forcefully. Beronan and another man were judged to be a ‘viable successor’ of the Hegemon: two other men were ‘honorable but insufficient’ and the fifth executed for ‘harboring a treasonous mind’.
Hegemon Darsol, having chosen his death date and prepared for his apotheosis, chose Beronan as his successor. After sharing a fine meal with Beronan, senior advisors, and various ministers and friends, Hegemon Darsol drunk deeply from the ruby-red poisoned chalice placed at his left hand, and died later in his sleep. After a week of public mourning, Beronan was exalted as Hegemon in a Last Man religious ceremony in 258-980: the other, now officially nameless contender was placed in a government low berth as ‘reserved talent’, joining 22 other men in their long, long sleep.
As of 993, Hegemon Beronan has been ruling the Hegemony for thirteen years. He has continued the ‘patient strength’ policies of his recent predecessors, encouraging free trade (both with other Protectorate members and internally), the slow but continuous relaxation of internal controls, and strengthening relations with the Star Legion.
After receiving several parties of very wealthy and heavily humanized Amdukan Vargr from the Asimikigir Confederation, the Hegemon is seriously considering opening up Arzul Sector to Vargr settlement. He has sent several trial balloons, which were shot down as expected. He now plans to use a different, more theological approach, stressing that the adoption of human ways by the Vargr proves the superiority of humaniti, and that such Vargr is to be welcomed into Arzul Sector, not rejected. The enormous wealth that the leading Vargr families bring (and the unofficial but strong support of Menderes Corporation) should help in easing tensions while enriching the Hegemony as a whole. The free and non-violent interaction of Amdukan Vargr and local humaniti should also help in increasing the integration of the Hegemony with the rest of the Julian Protectorate. Already, the Hegemony has relaxed controls on senior Vargr leaders and licensed Vargr tour groups to operate within Arzul Sector.
The most pro-Imperial of the Julian Protectorate’s current leadership, Hegemon Beronan has often encouraged more Imperial-Protectorate co-operation: but, as only an Associate Member of the Protectorate, his opinions does not carry the weight of other Full Members who have a deep-seated hostility to Imperials. Relations with the Second Empire of Gashikan remain mutually respectful, but cool: Emperor Shonyfra continues to make overtures to encourage the Hegemony to leave the Protectorate, but the rewards he offers are meagre compared to the loss of markets, technology, security, and social networks the Hegemony would have to bear.
As the head of the Unified Cultus of the Last Man, the Hegemon continues a policy of limited tolerance for other religions, and has attempted to draw back to the Way some of the less heterodox cults, philosophical clubs, and ritual societies, with mixed success. As the New Morality grows within the Orders, the Hegemon has encouraged increased censorship within the Home Worlds and Star’s End, with respectable results. Attempts to extend these policies to Damlaer space and the Empty Quarter, however, has crumbled in the face of local derision. A similar pattern of Home World support and Colonial rejection has been shown for his campaign against internal corruption, as well.
Family
The Hegemon’s family resides on Fathall (Arzul 0834), a pleasant world dominated by the clergy of the Last Man. His family is given no special status within Hegemon society - but they are proud of him, anyways. He permits himself to pay for his surviving siblings, nieces and nephews (and grand-nieces and grand-nephews) to come and visit him on the capital world of Damler: it’s just nine parsecs, after all. A ten-week round trip (assuming a jump2 ship, one week in jumpspace, one week in port) is practically a neighborhood jaunt in Traveller terms. While the 71- year old Hegemon is no longer bound to his monkish oaths, he remains personally celibate: in his view, sex is but a distraction from duty and piety, and the little desire that remains in his aged body is best suppressed and sublimated to useful activity.
References and Contributors[edit]
- Alvin Plummer. "The Lords of the Quarter, 993 Imperial." Stellar Reaches 13 (2011): 35.