Xander Gadling



Xander Gadling (MA 1009 - MA 1079) was a Poncoan general during the Elvian War of Independence (MA 1058-1059) and the Judea-Ponco War (MA 1062 - MA 1063). He was, for the remainder of his career, a popular politician, serving in the Ponco Senate for ten years, and as a close advisor and friend of the future Poncoan queen, Lisbeth Ponco. He is most famous, however, for traveling alongside Darin Otama and Lisbeth's mother, Jessica Ponco, during the First Magellan Crisis.

Gadling's life coincided with the end of the Magellen Age; he is even credited, by some scholars, as the ultimate catalyst of the Ferian Migration, the event that ended Magellan dominance.

Early Years
Gadling was born in Heedhurst, Ponco in MA 1009 to Jacob Gadling, a local blacksmith involved in piracy, and Lain Gadling (née Eriston). His childhood in Heedhurst would greatly influence the future trajectory of his military and political careers. His family was constantly plagued by economic and social pressures, factors common in Heedhurst. As a small coastal community, the economy of Heedhurst was rather simplistic, based on farming, fishing, and mining. Gadling spent many years shifting between these professions, intermingling with laborers of all ages and learning what he would later call "the laborer's perspective; the voice of the oppressed." He also was intimately introduced to the "dominant perspective," symbolized by Ponco's grasp on Heedhurst.

Though independent for much of its history, Heedhurst lost economic independence through the Kingdom Resources Act of MA 1008. The act instituted a system where the physical resources of subject cities were the direct property of the Kingdom of Ponco. The act, which was only used regularly on the citizens of Heedhurst, was believed to be a means to suppress the city, which, along with Garrow, was one of Magella's unofficial pirate havens. The act achieved it's goal, reducing Heedhurst's resources and therefore causing the city's pirate trade to stagnate.

Gadling was born into this situation and saw it's escalation, in MA 1016, when, to secure its frontiers and create a new viable port city, The Kingdom of Ponco established two forts near Heedhurt. The first, Fort Heedhurst, was within the actual city; the second, Fort Asthern, was located on Asthern Island. The increased military presence in Heedhurst caused problems for the Gadling family. Jacob Gadling was implicated in a series of piracy prosecuations that occurred in 1020. He was convicted the next year of piracy and incarcerated at Foundling Prison in Ponco. This forced Lain Gadling to fhave to financially sustain both Xander and his brother, Garrin, on her own, a volatile situation in an economically independent Heedhurst. In order to accumulate money, Lain sent her sons to Ponco to live with her aunt, Jaina Thelys in 1021. Though only originally intending to keep them there for a year, Lain was, in 1022, also implicated in her husband's piracy and brought to Fort Asthern. Xander would not know of his mother's incaerceration until 1025.

During his time in Ponco, Gadling frequented the Library of Victoria, one of the most extensive archival collections in Elfgard at the time. He sought out Poncoan historical and legal documents, trying to find a way to free his father. His education was supplemented by his time in Poncoan schools, a luxury not available in Heedhurst. He soon realized, however, that any hope he had of freeing his father was a childhood fantasy. This was followed by the death of his brother, in 1025. The Poncoan Guard claimed that Garrin Gadling was involved in piracy in Lower Ponco and was killed by a counterfeiter. Xander was never convinced, however, holding the belief that the gaurds themselves executes his brother.

Return to Heedhurst
After the death of his brother, Gadling and Jaina Thelys sent a letter to Lain Gadling. The return letter, from an anonymous citizen of Heedhurst, recounted Lain's arrest and imprisonment three years earlier. Gadling immediately wrote to the prisoner record department at the Archives of Ponco, petitioning for information regarding his mother's, and his father's, incarceration. (One letter arrived in Heedhurst relating the official details of his father's indictment in early 1021. Gadling knew nothing else). His request was declined without explanation. He spent the rest of the year and part of the next finishing school. He excelled, speeding through the material in order to complete his obligations in Ponco. He was planning, at the age of 16, to travel back to Heedhurst and find his mother.

While studying, he worked as a blacksmith's apprentice in the Market District of Ponco. He saved a small portion of his wages for his future journey; he paid the rest to Jaina Thelys. In Mid-year of 1026, at 17, Xander Gadling packed his bags and began his return to Heedhurst. This year also signified a shift in Poncoan social and economic policies that facilitiated the trajectory of Gadling's journey. Ponco, a traditionally socially progressive and liberal kingdom, had, in 1007, because of fears surrounding piracy, overpopulation, and resource scarcity, "elected" (see Poncoan government) an incredibly conservative Senate beholden to many wealthy interests, resulting in the Kingdom Resources Act of MA 1008, the militarizing of Poncoan borders, and the piracy prosecutions. The monarch, Sathin Ponco, also monopolized on these fears, implementing the Senate's reforms. Sathin was, however, succeded by his son, Roland, in 1022. Roland Ponco was a much more moderate ruler than his father.

Shortly after Gadling's journey to Heedhurst, Roland Ponco had assured the election of a socially progressive Senate, in 1026, whose power was soldified in 1027. Gadling left Ponco, a city that was unwilling, for the last half-decade, to assist him shifted in social attitude almost immediately after his departure. He found Heedhurst worse than he had left it--impoverished, subject to military rule. (This would quickly change with the repeal of the Kingdom Resources Act in 1027 and the dismantling of Fort Heedhurst in 1030, although the continued Piracy Laws would promise a perpetually weak economy for the city). The citizens of Heedhurst were unable to tell him where his mother was imprisoned. In 1027 Gadling again attempted to petition the Ponco Archives. This time, because of major bureaucratic reform by Roland Ponco, he would receive a response. It would not, however, arrive until the following year; during the interim Gadling worked as a stablehand in Heedhurst. The eventual response stated that his mother was currently imprisoned in Fort Asthern and that his father was currently in an appeal process to be released at Foundling Prison.

He wrote to his great aunt, Jaina Thelys, requesting she try to contact his father, Jacob Gadling, upon his potential release. Xander Gadling then immediately hired a man with a boat to transport him to Asthern Island. Island.

Life on Asthern Island and the Battle of Noruna
When he arrived in Noruna, the only large settlement, besides Fort Asthern, on Asthern Island, he found the village in constant distress, harassed by the local soldiers. He was told that the fort was closed to any of the villagers, but he himself attempted to request entry. He was denied. He met many men and women in Noruna who had been imprisoned at Fort Asthern for a variety of offenses, including drunkenness and stealing. They all recounted the harsh treatment of prisoners which bordered on torture. They also suggested illegal activities, such as bribery, and the import and export of illegal goods through the fort. He lived with the villagers for three years, understanding their culture and concerns, before he wrote directly to Roland Ponco, trying to make him aware of the prison's terrible conditions. (This was in 1031. Just a year earlier Roland Ponco, by royal decree, had a number of other forts, including Fort Heedhurst, permanently closed. Fort Asthern, however, due to its location and magnitude of operations, remained fully functional, In reality, a small number of high commanders had convinced Roland Ponco that the fort was incredibly important for Poncoan safety; their true motive, among others, however, was the highly successful piracy cartel being ran from the fort). Gadling never received a reponse.

In 1031 he also began living with a local woman, Luna Rydell, the daughter of a lumberjack. The facts of their relationship are difficult to discern, especially within the context of Xander's later romantic and sexual encounters. However, the two seemed to create and sustain a deep bond, becoming partners in an ever-increasing project to confront and degrade the power of Fort Asthern. Gadling continued to write to King Ponco and to Jaina Thelys. He even took a few trips, with Rydell, to Heedhurst, helping re-establish the local economy after the decommissioning of Fort Heedhurst, and to Ponco City, trying to make the Senate aware of the many injustices occuring on Asthern Island. While In Ponco City he learned, from Jaina Thelys, that the attitude towards piracy, at least within the city, had shifted; many of those accused of piracy, as long as a violent crime was not attached to their sentence, were released. (Why the Poncoan Senate and King Roland decided to release prisoners from Foundling but not Fort Asthern is unknown; however, it was possibly a political maneuver to create the illusion of sociopolitical progression while allowing the maintenance of piracy persecution in external prisons).

Jaina Thelys stated that, indeed, one of those released was Jacob Gadling, Xander's father. She said, despite her attempts at contacting him, that he immediately left Ponco City and traveled north to an unknown destination. It was clear Jacob Gadling had no intentions of reconnecting with his family. Xander was crushed, but he redirected his anger and disappointment into a stronger conviction to release his mother. He continued writing to the king at least once a year until, in 1040, his fortunes shifted. Noruna was almost an economically desolate wasteland, impoverished, a reflection of the Heedhurst of his childhood. His rhetoric in relation to Fort Asthern and Ponco's military system increased in vehemence. In response, in 1040, he was the target of an unauthorized assassination attempt for soldiers at Fort Asthern. They had received intelligence that he would be surveying the southern coastline of Asthern Island. He, however, became ill and stayed home. Luna Rydell went in his place. Despite his abscence, Rydell was identified as Gadling's partner and assassinated by the soldiers. When word reached Gadling he was devestated. (He would, many years later, while serving in Elvia, write: "I can only now understand my devotion to Luna Rydell, as such love and affection has again entered my heart. Yes, this is a different love now, but I wish not to downplay my connection to Luna. She was a friend and companion, of both the mind and soul, an emotional and mental compatriot. Who knows what our affection was, exactly. I don't, I just know it was there. Ever there, and I still see her, I still miss her. It has been, what, 18 years since she was killed, and I still feel the weight every day. Never again let love slip through your grasp; and here I am again, at the edge of battle." His prophecy, about the violence of love, would, unfortunately, again come true just one year after he wrote those words).

Just days after Rydell's murder, Gadling sent a sorrowful lamentation on love and the current state of political affairs in ponco to Ponco City and Fort Asthern. The commanders of the fort were enraged and, without authorization, labeled the people of Noruna as traitors and marched into the village, initiating the Battle of Noruna. This was Gadling's first experience, at the age of 31, of war. He, however, proved to be a natural tactician and strategist, quickly leading the citizens of Noruna into a victory after only a few days. (Though Ponco was a relatively neutral kingdom, he remembered accounts of past battles from the books at the Library of Victoria, recounting, detail by detail, the intricacies of urban warfare. The soldiers retreated to Fort Asthern and Gadling immediately sent a letter to King Roland chastising him for ignoring the injustices of the fort, again exposing the various crimes occurring there and recounting the Battle of Noruna.

This time, Gadling received a response. It took the death of Luna Rydell and a minor battle, but Fort Asthern was finally going to be defunded and most of its operations were moving into Ponco City. He also commended Gadling for his vigilance and immediately sent to have Lain Gadling, and other piracy convicts, released. The rest of the prisoners at the fort were transferred to Fort Ponco and Foundling Prison. Much of the fort's military hierarchy were other demoted or tried for a variety of crimes, including torture and facilitating illegal activities. The forst was then gifted, by Ponco, to Noruna, and was subsequently converted into a highly successful trading post. Gadling continued to live with his mother, who suffered from a number of physical and mental ailments, for two years, until her death, in Noruna. He, during that time, considered, at the behest of the people of Noruna, running for Senate as a representative of Noruna, but ultimately decided against it.

Journey(s) Across Magella
In 1042, after the death of his mother, Gadling remained in Noruna as an important economic advisor. (He, during his time at Noruna, and utilizing his memories of his childhood at Heedhurst, began formulating the socioeconomic policies he'd later espouse, sometimes referred to as Gadlingism, or, more commonly, Poncoan Socialism). He oversaw much of the trade at the former Fort Asthern. He was, however, beginning to grow restless within his small context. He felt useless now that Noruna's economy was booming. He realized that Fort Asthern was only a small piece in a larger puzzle of government dominance. (He may even had entertained the idea of traveling to Dellin, from where he had heard horror stories of the central, church-run government's oppression of small farmers in both Dellin and Alondin. He also heard of Dellin's continued colonial expansion into Elvia and Daiden. He connected this to Magella's own colonial origins, writing, at this time, a small manifesto, no longer extant, about the implicit function of Magella in contemporary imperial attitudes).

He would, however, remain on Magella. In late 1042 he received a letter, directly from King Roland Ponco, that was sent, in haste, by boat from Victoria. The subject of the letter was Jessica Ponco, Roland Ponco's daughter, who had, without the king's consent, left, as a Poncoan emissary, on what Roland Ponco believed to be an "ill-fated journey, destined for failure; a false prophecy by a dream-prophet" with Darin Otama. King Roland wrote directly to Gadling, he said, because 1) Gadling was a respected leader in whom he had trust, because of the events preceding, during, and following the Battle of Noruna; and 2) because Jessica Ponco and Darin Otama were traveling west, probably through Heedhurst, and King Roland believed Gadling would have the influence to intercept them. King Roland hoped that Gadling would intervene and return the princess back home. He did state, however, in the scenario that such a return was impossible, he would humbly request that Gadling accompany the duo and act, on behalf of the Kingdom of Ponco, as a Protector of the State (meaning, he see that Jessica Ponco return safely following the completion of the journey). Gadling was skeptical of the king's request and was profoundly unsure of his motives. He knew Ponco had enough power to retrieve the princess; why was King Roland directly appealing to him, a, by all accounts, terrorist who fought against Poncoan interests?

His intellectual curiosity ultimately outweighed his uncertainty. He knew that, by the time he arrivwed in Heedhurst, Ponco and Otama may already have departed from the city. However, since they did have to followi the road through the Victorian Coast, around the Penninsula of Victoria, he thought it still possible to intercept them. He quickly hired a boat from Noruna and traveled to Heedhurst. When he arrived there were no accounts of two individuals, a male and a female, traveling through the city. It was possible Heedhurst was not an intended destination of their journey. He wrote to King Roland, after two days in Heedhurst, explaining it was possible the princess, and her companion, had either already passed through Heedhurst or were simply planning to circumnavigate the city. He said he would, if necessary, try to track their path, though he admitted he was unsure of the nature of their journey, and unsure of his role in the entire matter.

Jessica Ponco and Darin Otama entered the city of Heedhurst the following day.

Poncoan Senate and Later Years
Following the war, Gadling participated in the final regional Poncoan Senate election as a representative of Heedhurst. He won election by a large margin and quickly became the leader of a small progressive group in the highly conservative Senate.

(Perhaps move some dates back? Make the Battle of Noruna earlier, and adjust all other prequisite events?)