Lafayette Harmen
Summary
Lafayette Harmen was the former Governor of the Pallolina, the first General of the Continental Vinland Military, and the first President of United Vinland. Lafayette is widely praised as the father of the country and is seen by many as one of most crucial figures in the creation of United Vinland.
He is an older man with curly white hair and despite his age, he kept a large, strong stature. He is often seen carrying his personal firearm, Providence, strapped to his back.
Colonial Pallolina
Lafayette was the youngest son of the Governor of Pallolina, Limsmith Harmen and his wife Parling. His mother, Parling, did not survive his birth, and this tragedy was the first of many that filled Lafayette's life. Due to illnesses, spontaneous violence, and random accidents, all of Lafayette's six elder siblings died before Lafayette's tenth year. As Limseth's sole remaining heir, Lafayette was constantly by his father's side as Limseth needed his son to understand what it meant to be a leader, and when he wasn't following his father, he was training with the various quartermasters of Harmeny in the tactics and methods of fighting and warfare. This training was prescient as Limseth died after a Godsphere fell off the front of an Ultima Church and crushed the Governor following a service. Alone, Lafayette was named Governor of Pallolina at the young age of fifteen.
Thanks to the years shadowing his father and his inherent personal strength, Lafayette led Pallolina in a fair and honest manner, and the Pallolinans adored their young Governor in return. He dealt with dissent in a quiet and private manner while also being open and respectful toward any critiques from Pallolina's citizens as well as Romeo the Rational's administrative rulings on behalf of Deus Ultima.
It was during this time he met Martha Allen while he was taking a walk on the shores of the Swirling Ocean outside of Pallolina's capital of Harmeny. She was a painter who loved to paint the sea, and the two soon struck up a relationship. In a life that had experienced so much tragedy, Lafayette found genuine happiness with Martha, and the pair soon married, although the deaths of all of his siblings as well as his own mother led many to speculate that Lafayette did not want Martha to have any kids. Despite this, the couple eventually had a son named William.
As the years went by and Pallolina continued to experience a prosperous calm, the order from Deus Ultima to annihilate of all Lyanans, an event known as The Culling, shattered this peace and tranquility. As protests spread around Pallolina about whether the Lyanan slaves should be killed, Lafayette ordered for the state to disobey this commandment as he petitioned Romeo the Rational to rescind his father's commandment. During his petition to Romeo the Rational, Lafayette met a fellow petitioner, Ari Clerks, one of the pre-eminent businessman from the Jullicut colony, and as their petitions were ignored, Ari suggested that they bring together various influential figures from all of the colonies to find a way out of the oppression and violence that stemmed from Deus Ultima's commandments, and Lafayette recommended that they hold the gathering at Castle Harmeny.
The Grand Colonial Council, Lafayette's Decision, and the War of Revolutions
This gathering of the various colonial figures was known as the Grand Colonial Council. It was during this meeting that Ari Clerks suggested that they declare independence from Deus Ultima, and although the attendees expressed skepticism at the proposal, Lafayette won over many of the undecided participants by being the first to agree to independence, a choice he backed up by following something that was contentiously agreed upon at the council, the freeing of each colony's Lyanan slaves.
There was minimal strife from the Pallolinan slaveowners over the freeing of the slaves due to their belief they would lose them anyway due to The Culling. Although Pallolina as a whole was peaceful, Lafayette found defiant opposition from his teenage son, William. As Lafayette refused to change his decision to choose independence, William abandoned his family and fled Vinland in order to join the court of Deus Ultima at his home atop Mt Divinus in the Antillean continent. As the other colonies followed suit by freeing their Lyanans, the forces of Deus Ultima responded by apprehending various figures