Lafayette Harmen

Lafayette Harmen

Role: President of Vinland

Former Role: Governor of Pallolina

Nicknames: The First Soldier, The Father of Vinland

Wife: Martha Allen

Children: William 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

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. The abandonment of their son devastated Martha, and just like so many in Lafayette's family, his beloved wife died from the heartbreak. More than all of the others, Martha's death hit Lafayette the hardest, and soon after the beloved Governor disappeared from the public eye.

As the other colonies followed suit by freeing their Lyanans in addition to the other colony-specific protests, the forces of Deus Ultima responded by apprehending various political figures, and in the case of Martin and Judith Keene in Regenia, burning the couple to death. As the forces of Deus Ultima increased their oppressiveness and violence, Lafayette finally emerged from his mourning and in possession of a firearm he named Providence. He requested all Pallolinans to join him in the fight for their freedom, and with the first colonial militia formed, they marched South to free the political prisoners being held in Castle DeBaree within the penal colony of Fyorina.

General Harmen and The War of Revolutions

With Lafayette leading the charge, the colonial militia marched south to Fyorina. They encountered little resistance as they crossed into Georgina, but they did encounter several troops of Blessed as they reached the Fyorina border. Both sides were taught to fight with honor which meant they stood on opposing sides and fired. This traditional fighting style decimated many of the colonial militia troops, and they would have been completely wiped out if it wasn't for Lafayette's heroics. Despite the diminished militia, Lafayette and is remaining loyal troops continued their march to Fyorina.

Upon Lafayette reaching Castle Fyorina, he was met outside the castle gates by a member of the Trinity, Warden Oranje, and many Blessed. The odds were not in Lafayette's favor, but before the fighting could begin, the entrance to the castle exploded, and the prisoners, led by Methuselah Graham, surprised Deus Ultima's forces. Thanks to his demigod powers, Warden Oranje was able to withstand the surprise attack, but he was unable to beat Lafayette in single combat. Upon Lafayette slaying Warden Oranje, the recently escaped prisoners swore allegiance to Lafayette and his militia, and thus the Vinland Military was born and Lafayette was given the title of General.

Following Fyorina, Lafayette and the Vinland Military marched north to stop the violent quagmire between the former colony of Valhalmont and a member of the Trinity, Cambria Unchained. During their march north, they had many battles with Deus Ultima's forces, but unlike their first battle where both sides fought with a traditional fighting style, Methuselah Graham introduced a style of fighting that utilized sneak attacks and smaller squad size. This change proved wildly effective and the battle losses soon were overwhelmingly incurred by Deus Ultima's fighters.

As the Vinland Military marched north, their numbers swelled in size due to the various newspapers keeping the public abreast of Vinland Military's victories. In the north, however, the lack of forests and destruction of cities rendered the hit and run tactics of Methuselah Graham ineffective, and so instead an all-out battle occurred between the Vinland Military led by Lafayette and the forces of Deus Ultima led by Cambria Unchained. Witnesses describe the battle as near apocalyptic, and the number of deaths and shear destruction incurred during the battle agree with that description. Similar to his fight with Warden Oranje, Lafayette took on the most powerful demigod in one on one combat, and managed to succeed in felling the giant.

The Final March and the End of the War

With Cambria and the bulk of the Deus Ultima's Blessed killed, General Lafayette and the Vinland Military made a final march to the Silversun, Deus Ultima's Colonial Vinland administrative center located in Loginus Landing, Yorn, as well as the location of the last remaining demigod of the Trinity, Romeo the Rational. Upon reaching the Silversun, Lafayette was surprised to find that the Blessed were standing down and Romeo the Rational waiting to surrender. Vinland won the War of Revolutions, but since the Vinland Constitution was not ratified by all of the colonies, the colonies reverted to ten independent territories instead of one united country.

Return to Pallolina and the Valhalmont Invasion

General Lafayette returned to Pallolina with 10x the number of people he left with, and decided to remake Harmeny into a home for this new military. He initially returned as a Governor, but upon seeing the other former colonies remove the role of Governor in favor of something more appropriate for their territory, he too preferred the title of General in place of Governor. Additionally, with his son William remaining a member of Deus Ultima's court, Lafayette was left without an heir to inherit the rule of Pallolina, so instead he chose to split the responsibilities for leading the state between three of his most loyal soldiers, a trio that soon became known as the Triumvirate.

During this time, the former colony of Regenia was invaded by Valhalmont. The newly chosen leader of Regenia, Jeremiah Keene, requested Lafayette and his military's aid in repelling the Valhalmonters, and Lafayette mustered up his troops and once again marched north. Thanks to excellent defensive fortifications, General Lafayette and his forces were able to stop Valhalmont's invasion, and after a sudden change in leadership within Valhalmont, the invaders surrendered and their new leader, Ajax Killian, formally ratified the Vinland Constitution which in effect created the country of United Vinland.

President Harmen and United Vinland

Upon the ratification of the Vinland Constitution, the leaders of the ten states met at the proposed site for the capital of Vinland, Liberty's Light. Although it was a contentious meeting where very little was agreed on, one item that received unanimous approval was Lafeyette's nomination to be the first President of the new country. Reluctantly he accepted the position, and soon moved from Pallolina to the newly built Liberty Palace.

As President, Lafayette took on a ceremonial role. He gave speeches and participated in events and altogether brought about a peace and tranquility that had been missing for decades during Vinland's colonial and post-war days.