Walemin (/'wɑ.ləmɪn/, WA-leh-min)
Walemin is perhaps the single most influential person in the history of the Cluster Islands. For well or ill, her efforts to join the islands into a single political entity affected all oceanfolk, islanders and tideriders alike. Because she gave herself the title of Uniter, she is often associated with the atrocities committed by her successor, Kezlaf.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Walemin was born on Mraydor into a family with generations of political influence. Instead of following the family tradition, she opted for a career in business, and took a position with an exporter. She was twenty the first time she left Mraydor. Her work with the company brought her to most of the other Middle Isles, where she observed for the first time the vast disparities in living conditions throughout the cluster. Basic amenities she took for granted on Mraydor were in short supply elsewhere. Galtern in particular, though highly advanced in medical knowledge, had very few citizens with any significant wealth.
On that same cluster circuit Walemin became frustrated by the inefficiency of boat travel, compared with the electric vehicles used on land, especially when it came to the cost of goods. Raw materials had to be shipped across the Inside Sea, and the price that tideriders required for their services resulted in higher expenses for shipbuilders and other craft workers, driving up the cost of their products.
Once back on Mraydor she quit her job and began studying engineering, with the goal of developing a transport system that would move boats between islands at much greater speed. Walemin expected skepticism, given how unconventional the idea was, but when she discussed her proposal with other engineers she was surprised to find that their criticisms were less about whether it was possible than about whether it was reasonable.
Working towards the Unity
With her certification in hand, Walemin stepped back into the world of politics, using her family's connections to build a campaign supporting her proposed system. To gain support, she developed a framework not just for the conduits but for the advantages they would make possible. Islands throughout the cluster could apply the same standards of legal trials, for instance. She promoted a unification of islands, which she called the Unity, able to exchange resources more freely and improve the standard of living for all people.
In 1985 Vol the first practical test of Walemin's conduit system carried an uncrewed supply capsule along a quarter of Mraydor's perimeter, from the mines to the industrial sector. The success of this short run earned Walemin wider attention. She arranged a deal with Stolc, Galtern's capital city, to manufacture improved medical equipment and ship it to them with much less risk of damage on the way, in exchange for opening their hospitals to patients from Mraydor.
Construction on the conduit between Mraydor and Galtern began in 1993 Vol, and was scheduled to be completed by the end of 1999 Vol. In the year prior to the conduit's opening, Walemin held a series of radio meetings with Mraydor's governor and Stolc's most valued Worthies to organize a council and appoint members to govern the Unity's interests in both islands. The Unity and its governing council, called the One Mind, were to take effect as soon as the conduit proved viable, which happened on the first day of 2000 Vol.
As Uniter
Walemin presided over the Unity until her death in 2014 Vol. During that time the rest of the Middle Isles joined the council and the conduit system expanded to connect each one, but the Unity's growth was not smooth. Rapid turnover among Stolc's Worthies meant an entirely new set of representatives at nearly every meeting of the One Mind. To ensure the stability of the council, Walemin appointed a hierarchy of regional and island governors to represent the Unity over the entirety of Galtern. As a result, the support from Galtern's population waned, and Walemin's proposed merger of Mraydor's and Galtern's policing forces fell through.
Meanwhile, although some tiderider families added conduit-capable boats to their fleets, most were outraged about the conduits interrupting their traditional sailing routes through the Inside Sea. Walemin's assurance that they still had control of routes around the islands was repeatedly rejected. Sabotage to the conduits began to occur, as fast boats armed with blades rammed and destroyed the floats to create deep sags in the track. Regular patrols of the most vulnerable sections of conduit cut down on the damage, but could not completely prevent it.
Despite these setbacks, Walemin remained confident in the Unity as the best means to eliminate the inequalities between the Cluster Islands. However, her unexpected death put a halt to many of the programs she had initiated. In 2014 Vol she collapsed without warning after a meeting, and died before she could be put on the conduit to Galtern. In the immediate confusion Kezlaf assumed the title of Uniter, and was confirmed at the next meeting of the One Mind.
Accomplishments & Achievements
The conduits will likely prove to be Walemin's most enduring legacy. She believed they would change civilization as much as the geothermal power breakthrough that began the Volcanic Era. Now, seventy years later, it is clear she was correct.
The conduits have undeniably caused hardship to tideriders, and they enabled Kezlaf to spread his influence over all the islands. However, the benefits Walemin envisioned have also come to fruition. Communities on small islands have more reliable access to fresh food they can't produce themselves, and their populations have longer average lifespans than they did a century ago. Galtern's medical record estimate having treated more than 10,000 people whose conditions would have been critical or fatal if they had been brought by traditional sail. Lives have also been saved in the aftermath of natural disasters by To Reach, itself a successor to one of Walemin's programs disbanded after her death and recently restored.
Today the conduit system crisscrosses the Inside Sea and even extends to some islands not considered part of the cluster. With modifications to allow freesailing ships to cross, it may be possible to lay conduits across open ocean, into the Gaps. Like them or hate them, it is clear we cannot go back to a world without conduits.
Failures & Embarrassments
Walemin overreached when she attempted to involve the Eddy's Water Seekers in political disputes. Her notes on the meeting are vague, and imply she requested some Seekers to maintain a presence in the Cluster Islands in the mistaken belief that they could prevent devastating storms and waves. An alternate, more metaphorical interpretation suggests that she hoped to use their skill with water to influence her opponents into agreeing with her.
When Walemin could not convince them to assist her, she searched for a young water-sensitive person to recruit. To all the Cluster Islands' eventual sorrow, she discovered Kezlaf. She originally intended him to be part of her support staff, but he worked his way firmly into her confidence, probably through the same water-tuning methods he later used as the Uniter.
Personality Characteristics
Vices & Personality flaws
The confidence that made Walemin so successful also caused her to disregard evidence of negative consequences of her plans. She was narrow-minded in her view of what propserity should look like, and failed to take into account the individul cultures and histories of each of the islands that were part of the Unity, as well as the deep tiderider traditions.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments
Author's Notes
Links will come once I'm sure I hit my word goal without excessive BBCode.