Governor Alexander

Alexander is the governor-general of Aquila in the campaign Yeni Dünya ("New World"). He is the cousin of the reigning Emperor, the son of the previous Emperor's sister, and his family does not live in the New World. He was sent out by the central government rather than drawn from either of the city's two great houses.¹²³

Family

His surname belongs to one of the important houses of the Western Shield, a family that rose with the Emperor's support after the civil war.⁴

Governing Aquila

He is known for caring about planned city building and about keeping the water sources clean. In the researcher Miro's account, he agreed to keep the health dose given at the port free or very cheap, and he dealt between the mine owners and the researchers of the Coalition of Enlightenment. In the early years of the settlement, before his arrival, some mining ventures had driven native people from their land by force.⁵⁶⁷

The city's printed rules, read out to newcomers, say that crimes against the native peoples are judged like crimes against citizens and that the governor's policies are to be obeyed; at the gate a sergeant overruled a soldier who tried to turn native merchants away, reminding him of the governor's order.⁸⁹

People who studied him found him well suited to building ties between the native peoples and the Empire; even his opponents valued his skill at diplomacy. One criticism of him was that he accepted short-term risks to his own safety for the sake of an honest relationship in the long run. He insisted that the legion's soldiers be brought over a few at a time, so that their arrival would not look like a military move. While in good health he had held down the gangs and tried to improve the city with officials chosen on merit.^10111213

The poisoning

Rumours spread through the city that the governor was dead, but soldiers herded the people into the square before the castle and he came out alive, weak and anxious. After a priest touched his throat, his voice carried far across the square. He told the crowd that he had been poisoned the night before and that the one who did it was a native, but that another native had helped him get the poison out; when he heard that rumours had led to violence against the native people and their property, he declared that he would not allow it. As he spoke, three people were hanged from the walls, one of them, he said, a man of the city guard. When he tired he was helped inside.^{141516171819202122}

Among the Geroni, the head consul of one city told the adventurers that what had struck the governor was really an old Inran curse that turns the skin and then the inner organs into wood and kills when it reaches a vital organ; the Geroni could not cast it, but could stop it. From his texts he could not tell exactly how far it had gone, and guessed that the governor had at least a few months but less than a year. He said that his people had spoken with the Inran tribes and saw no reason to think that the curse had been cast on any political order. Fauna knew the curse only from legends and stories, and as far as she knew, no Inran of this age should have the power to cast it.^23242526

The consul feared that if the governor died, the hard-handed legion commander might take over, and spoke of the weight of the legion, the two great houses and the imperial chief mage in such a case.²⁷²⁸

Reaching the governor

News gathered in the city said that he had not been seen for about three and a half weeks, since his last balcony speech and the hangings. The captain of the guard said that after the last attempt it had become very hard to bring anyone to him, and offered to have the adventurers arrested on a made-up charge so that they would be brought before him; they chose to look for another way.^29303132

A diplomat they approached, Sera, told them that the castle was guarded by spells that show true faces and break illusions, and that the governor's crowded circle of advisers kept him from acting freely. She could not arrange an audience, but agreed to bring him out to a meeting on a ship belonging to the family of a rich friend of hers.³³³⁴³⁵

After the last attack on him he had narrowed his circle. Three tribunes he trusted, as advisers as well as guards, were always beside him, and someone else whose identity was kept secret was said to whisper often in his ear.³⁶³⁷³⁸

Spoiler: On the shipRevealSpoils: Yeni Dünya #19; Yeni Dünya #20 · Say what you have read

The man first received as the governor on the ship was a shorter double, chosen for his likeness rather than disguised by magic. When Bruno let it be known that he had seen through it, the real governor stepped out from among a masked group, leaning on the arms of his companions, for his illness made it hard to move his legs; he took off his mask and sat down in the double's place. His soldiers knew whom they were guarding; the double was for those outside. One of the masked men proved to be Travis, the governor's trusted spy.^394041424344

The governor said that he had been watching the band for a long time, with reports from Travis and his other men, and had first thought to give them smaller tasks; he valued them because they belonged to none of the city's factions and could finish what they took on. He called the gas they had handed over to Travis a weapon of mass destruction and thanked them for it. They gave his attendants the painting they had been carrying.^4546474849

He told them that he knew of opposition among the Geroni and wanted names and details, and that after the latest intelligence his policy of disarmament could not go on as he had planned. In his view there was no weapon that could destroy the Empire at a single stroke; what he feared most was the wickedness of ordinary people. He held that the Deimos wanted war and were driving the Empire towards it like hunters closing on a tiger, and that if the legions came in force there would be slaughter and ruin for the native peoples; stopping the Deimos, he argued, could keep the chance of living together alive.^5051525354

He asked them to work in secret, with his support, to stop the Deimos, but warned that he could not shield them if they crossed other imperial authorities, that they could not use his name to open doors, and that they would rarely meet. To any who wished to leave instead he offered only the clearing of their crimes in the New World, a new identity and enough money for a new life in return for silence. Bruno accepted, saying that he owed the Empire no loyalty but would work to protect ordinary lives. The governor said that his own research found it very rare for anyone to meet the Void and stay sane and uninfected, that he would speak separately with Orpi, who hoped to treat him, about his illness, and that if things went badly he thought he had a few months to live. His wish, he said, was that natives and newcomers alike would feel safe when they saw the legion's red.^{55565758596061}

The legion's arrival

The morning after the meeting, a larger legion force and warships were on their way to Aquila, though the city did not yet know it. When they landed, the governor came to the harbour on a throne in a carriage, amid a procession of priests with incense and hymns and mounted knights. Hidden archers shot at the legatus; no arrow struck, the legionaries quickly overcame the attackers and took one alive, and the governor was protected and carried away.⁶²⁶³⁶⁴

Afterwards he cancelled, where his authority allowed, the random floggings and heavy punishments handed out by the newly arrived soldiers. He seemed to be losing control, but being the Emperor's cousin still gave him power. It was said that the legatus left the palace without the governor's leave, slamming the door, and blamed the attack on the governor's soft policies.⁶⁵⁶⁶⁶⁷

Later the governor's illness was said to have grown worse: he could no longer stand, and Orpi had not yet found a cure despite working on it. The illness or poison left by the earlier attempt on his life went on slowly wearing him down. His fate is not known.⁶⁸⁶⁹