Adam Pyro

Adam Pyro was an Akarvian President and Diplomat infamous for his leadership during the Near War, Ghernian War, and Fall of Voldrania. Of all of Akarv's presidents, Pyro is regarded as one of its single most important and successful, next to Adam Akarvon, Oliver Herwall, and Graz Eldar. Aside from his Presidential history, Pyro served the nation as its Head of International Relations for over thirty years, making him one of the most important Voldranian diplomats in history.
==Personal History==
===Early Career===
Pyro was born in 25 AE in Akarv City in Voldrania, to politician Trevor Pyro and a mother he never met. He would later learn that his father was a member of the Cult of Inversion, and his death was associated with said cult. After information about the cult became more widely available he began to suspect that another prominent cult member, Kathleen Jasmond, may have been his birth mother.
Pyro didn't pay much attention to politics until 43 AE, when he turned 18. At this point he became aware of the Akarv-Fhia War, which was just coming to a close, and about the charges made against President Alan Fruith. He was fascinated by the process, and outraged over what Fruith had done. He believed their country should fight to protect itself and its people, not throw them at some pointless conflict. Inspired, he decided to seek political office himself.
He was able to attend a local university and dedicated all of his free time to studying political science and the structure of Akarv's government. He graduated in 21 AE and in 48 AE, at the age of 23, he ran for a position in Akarv's Senate. With the current senator of Akarv City resigning, Pyro did not have to face the challenges of an incumbent candidate and was able to win, banking heavily on his fathers reputation as a former senator playing in his favor.
While in the Senate Pyro made concentrated and passionate efforts to push for the policies he believed necessary. His knowledge, passion, and apparent leadership skills caught the eyes of the Karavist Party, with which Pyro identified. As the years passed Pyro's reputation in the Senate continued to grow, despite being a junior Senator. As the 52 election approached the people of Akarv were looking for a new leader, President Jeffery Michaels had dramatically fallen in popular opinion. With few major popular candidates ready to campaign the Karavist Party made the decision to back Adam Pyro's bid for the Presidency.
So the election came, and Pyro faced off against Michaels. Michaels remained unable to repair his public image following multiple diplomatic fiascos and a prolonged period of isolationism in the face of Fallnavorian colonization, while Pyro was a young and energetic candidate who took a hard stance against Fallnavor's King James Jaykay. In the end Pyro won by a wide margin, making him the ninth President of Akarv.
===Ninth President of Akarv, First Term===
When Pyro took office in 53 AE he wasted no time in energizing Akarv to face the growing concern of Fallnavor. He immediately took a bold and very much public stance that openly challenged Fallnavor's rapid and aggressive colonization near Akarvian land, and pushed for a major revitalization of the nations military and technology. The military, which had become all but stagnant since the Akarv-Fhia War, saw a rapid revitalization and within months Akarv was as strong as it had ever been, both in combat and in morale. But Pyro's challenge was not met with understanding, but by another challenge: James Jaykay called Pyro's bluff, and the two leaders quickly became fierce rivals.
Akarv and Fallnavor teetered on the brink of war, with Akarvian troops lining the border of their Tedren colony while Fallnavor continued to expand. Their respective governments resorted to slinging insults at one another while both clambered to find allies in case a war truly broke out. This heightened state of war fear became known as the "Near War". Pyro himself led the Akarvian vocal and political front, and often personally attended meetings that were meant to solidify alliances. He reached out to Eirros to mend poor relations formed under the Michaels administration upon their admission to the Council, and repeated the same actions when Mynyyd joined the following year. He also reached out to leaders in Scavoran, playing on their long history of conflict with Fallnavor, and Equis. For a time the Equivian government supported Pyro and his administration, but upon the election of Charles Kah they retracted into neutrality.
Throughout the Near War Pyro worked very closely with his Head of International Relations Graz Eldar, despite the two sharing a professional resentment of one another. As chief diplomat Eldar oversaw specifics that pertained to the formation of new alliances, and worked to maintain them once they were formed. Despite their fierce rivalry Pyro and Eldar's alliance proved pivotal to Akarv's relative success during the Near War.
As time wore on Akarvian morale shook as the populace became increasingly paranoid over whether or not a war would truly occur, and what it would mean for both their nation and Voldrania. Akarv and Fallnavor had long since become recognized as the two predominant powers of the region, and a war between them could potentially spell disaster. Faith in Pyro slipped as many questioned whether or not standing up to Fallnavor was worth it, and Akarv struggled to gain new alliances, and those it had largely kept to themselves. Before Pyro could be forced into submission by his own self doubt he and his administration were given a warning by Yoren that Fallnavor intended to forcibly remove Akarv from the Council, thus harming its legitimacy and undermining its status as a world power.
Enraged, Pyro directly confronted Fallnavor with this information on the political stage. Once the information became public it was revealed that nations such as Tripoly and Mynyyd had been in on it the entire time, and even Equis had been aware of it. The Yore government had been on board, but by a stroke of luck they experienced a change of heart. With Pyro's fierce push on the topic it soon became public knowledge, both in Akarv and in Fallnavor. Most Fallnavorians were shocked at the news, and it eventually reached James Navor II, Jaykay's cousin, who proceeded to oust Jaykay as King and take the throne for himself, effectively ending the Near War.
Pyro and Navor quickly came together and formed a relationship that would heal the wounds between the two nations. Jaykay had been ousted and Fallnavor was no longer aggressive towards Akarv, causing mass celebration across the nation. The doubt directed towards Pyro was replaced with reverence and praise, and at the end of 56 AE he easily won reelection, not even Graz Eldar dared to challenge Pyro's popularity. So Pyro went on to his second term without the burden of a rapidly growing hostile state to worry about, but he remained concerned about the growing problem of the Nether Conspiracy.
===Ninth President of Akarv, Second Term===
While no immediate threat seemed present when Pyro first began his second term, it quickly became apparent that the existing threats were much less obvious. He continued to dedicate resources to investigating the Nether Conspiracy, eventually greenlighting an expedition party to research ruins in Eirros with several other nations. But more immediately, Akarv's Tedre colony had grown bitter over the course of the Near War. For over a decade preceding the events of the last few years it had been neglected by Akarv, and had developed its own identity. It did not take kindly to Akarv establishing a military presence there after so long, so they reached out to Tripoly in an effort to gain in ally in liberating itself.
For its part, Tripoly still harbored the same resentments towards Akarv it had when allied with Fallnavor. Tripoly demanded Tedre's acceptance into the council on their behalf, but Pyro and his government fiercely refused, refusing to give up the exact reason the Near War even occurred. Pyro himself was reluctant to even hear any debate on the matter. But as time passed tempers did not fall, and so Tripoly and Tedre did "What Fallnavor was to scared to do", and declared war on Akarv at the end of 57 AE. Before Pyro could even react he had Fallnavor and Scavoran beside him, declaring war on the two aggressors in an act of solidarity with their new ally.
And so Pyro was finally forced to take action as commander in chief, and moved the nations army to a front in Tedre. He intended to quickly overtake the colony and then focus on Tripoly. Fallnavor and Scavoran joined the push, but even with their collective forces they moved slowly at best. Meanwhile, Pyro worked closely with Eldar to establish relations with Hera, conveniently located between both Tripoly and Tedre. While Hera remained reluctant to join the war they remained friendly towards Akarv, due in large part to Pyro's friendship with the Heran steward Yenklet Lupice.
With the workings of an alliance with Hera present Akarv was able to move troops into their territory, along their border with Tedre. From there they offered Hera protection from "line of fire" involvement, while also effectively cutting off any land routes for the enemy forces to escape from. By the mid 58 AE, though, Scavoran had pulled out of the war and the surprisingly resilient Tripolian/Tedren forces managed to force Akarv and Fallnavor back. Before they could sustain too many losses both nations tactically retreated and re-strategized. Pyro and Navor worked together, sometimes in person, to plan their next course of action in the war, choosing to put the pressure on Tripoly directly.
As this was occurring chaos had gripped Hera, which had recently seen steward Yenklet Lupice voted out of power in favor of Renol's religious leader Undek Mag. Mag's election occurred shortly after the events of the Eirrosian expedition, which lead to the death of an Heran bodyguard. While Lupice was outraged and critical he was criticized for not taking action against the killers home nation, Equis. So when Mag was elected he immediately declared war on Equis, quickly mounting an invasion force. Pyro quickly gained word of what was transpiring in Hera and swiftly dedicated a portion of his troops to intercept Mag's army; he did not want another war while one was already going on.
Akarvian interception forces were joined by those from Equis, Fallnavor, and Eirros, all of which had the same goal. But upon arriving they discovered that Lupice had staged a coup to overthrow Mag and prevent the war, which had resulted in his demise. Shortly after a band of mercenary's led by Inker Poker made a second attack on Ghernia, successfully killing Mag and taking power for themselves. When the reactionary forces arrived they had a tense standoff with Poker before a temporary peace could be established. When Pyro was made aware of the events in Hera he reached out to Poker, but the two shared a poor relationship, jeopardizing Akarv and Hera's shaky alliance. Still, they managed to maintain some form of alliance, enough to prevent any more war from breaking out.
As 59 AE reached Pyro was confident that Tripoly and Tedre were on the brink of defeat, but was caught entirely off guard when Tripolian King Zade Zen personally led a front into Fallnavor in an attempt to eliminate them from the war. In an emergency meeting Pyro and Navor came up with the plan to intercept the invading forces in midland Fallnavor, long before they could reach the capital, and create a barricade of manpower that would, theoretically, force them into submission. The ensuing battle would mark the death of Zade Zen and essentially ended the war. It did not truly end, however, until Poker's Hera led an overnight invasion that left the Tripolian capital in their possession.
In the first few months of 59 AE it seemed as if there might be peace, despite the continuing threat of the Nether conspirators. Tripoly had been subdued, but Tedre mostly remained hostile. With great reluctance, Pyro admitted that Tedre would never back down and in order to ease the stress of a decade of war fear he put up no challenge in their quest for independence, something they would achieve later that year. Unfortunately for Pyro, he was soon forced to partake in yet another diplomatic nightmare: Fallnavor had taken in political refugees from Mynyyd and granted them full citizenship, an act fiercely opposed by Scavoran. Scavoran's aggressive demands that Fallnavor revoke their citizenship were met with denial from Fallnavor, and it seemed as if the two would enter a war of their own.
Pyro intervened, attempting to play the part of neutral mediator between the two but it seemed as if it was no use. Both sides began constructing barricades in preparation for war, and Scavoran's military grew dramatically while Fallnavor increased the strength of its air fleet. But before this war could come to pass the Nether Conspirators made their move, and the Void Devourer split a rift in the void so large that it caused mass destruction all across Voldrania in 60 AE. Unknown the Voldranians the supernatural entity known as the Inversion had intervened, stalling the destruction.
In what was one of the hardest decisions of Pyro's entire career, he called for a mass evacuation of the entire nation. All civilian and military ships were converted into transports that could take the populace away from the now burning landscape. Other nations had made similar calls, but many had ended up scattered and broken, with some like Yoren dissolving and being absorbed into Akarv, among others. Others, such as Fallnavor, were unable to escape in time and the majority of the nation was completely destroyed. So the Voldranian refugees sailed away, the voyage leaders directing the ships towards a legendary landmass spoken of by Old World traders. With the intention to form a new home in the supposed new world, Pyro insisted that the normal Akarvian election be held regardless. In a chaotic election held between countless ships the votes were finally tallied just as they all arrived in New Voldrania, and Graz Eldar was determined to be the nations next president.
===New Voldrania===
When the Voldranians arrived in what would become known as New Voldrania they were faced with many challenges, with the presence of preexisting nations being one of them. While the government was largely a chaotic mess in the first few years of reestablishment, it still managed to hold the nation of Akarv together, and Eldar and the scattered Senate appointed Pyro as the Head of International Relations. While Eldar and his administration focused on rebuilding the nation Pyro would focus on establishing a relationship with native nations such as Llysos and Krolesk.
Pyro was able to form relations with some of the native New Voldranian nations quickly, painting Akarv as an oasis of stability and progress among the settlers. This was only supported by the foundation of the Western Accord in 62 AE, an alliance dedicated to creating a voting bloc in the new Council that would give them a measure of control over it. In response to the Western Accord's formation, Pyro and leaders from Krolesk and Llysos formed the East Voldranian Alliance of Independent Nations, EVAIN, in 63 AE. Almost immediately a second Near War broke out between EVAIN and the Western Accord over the Council issue, much to the dismay of all the Voldranian settlers. Despite this, Akarvians typically put the blame on the Western Accord aggressors rather than Pyro's aggressiveness.
Aside from the "Second Near War", Pyro's early actions in New Voldrania led to Akarv's long-term legitimization in the region. This included visiting other allied nations in person rather than sending diplomats, and partaking in a delicate international endeavor alongside Krolesk'Kans such as Vroskin the Sly and Rodesk Navor to overthrow Krolesk's corrupt ruler. While partaking in the latter, Akarv learned that Krolesk had taken some Fallnavorian survivors prisoner, and Pyro managed to organize a prisoner swap that left James Navor II and James Jaykay in Akarv's possession. Navor was freed as an ally, but Jaykay served a short and controversial detainment for his role in the Near War.
By the first official election in New Voldrania the government had much more efficiently organized itself, and proper votes and appointments could take place. Eldar was reelected, and Pyro was confirmed yet again as the nations Head of International Relations. By 66 AE the people and government had largely organized themselves and life was becoming less chaotic, but the drama involved with the second near war remained an issue. Using this to her advantage, known political extremist Vala Khan began building a following in the Akarv-owned Namessian islands located between Akarv and Jados. Pyro was among one of many to insist that Khan should be taken seriously, and that her operation in the islands should be challenged. Eldar wrote these concerns off and ultimately neglected the islands until it was too late. At the end of 66 AE Vala Khan received enough Council support to secede, receiving unanimous votes from the Western Accord.
Namess' secession would ultimately lead to Eldar's fall from grace, and was the source of several major problems for Akarv. The islands had been a pivotal buffer between Akarv and nations of the Western Accord, and it had lost several pieces of new technology being tested in the region. Namess now effectively controlled the only major waterway connected Akarv's southern navy bases to its northern ones, making it difficult and time consuming to travel. And above all else, no aggressive action could be taken against Namess in fear that the Western Accord would come to their aid. It fell to Pyro to deal with these problems, and in 69 AE he signed the Treaty of the Namessian Strait with Namessian officials that reopened the strait to Akarvian vessels and prevented either from aggressing the other in relation to the "Second Near War".
Even before the election in 68 AE Pyro was confident he would remain in his position, both Norman Grahck and Sarah Nass were allies of his and acknowledged his diplomatic strength and the value of consistency. When Sarah Nass won the election Pyro was, again, confirmed as the Head of International Relations. With the Western Accord slowly falling apart he could now focus on less militant issues and more diplomatic ones. Together with Nass he orchestrated an expedition to survey the damage in Voldrania, and worked with other nations to enforce her "Top 10 Most Wanted Criminals" list. In 70 AE Pyro and a group of other diplomats finalized their plans for Akarv's embassy center, a giant circular structure to be built in Alred City which could house the embassies of several different nations and military organizations. This "Citadel" would eventually be completed in 73 AE.
In 72 AE Sarah Nass announced that she would not seek reelection, and both she and Pyro came out and revealed that they had developed a romantic relationship. Both would be temporarily retiring from the political world to settle down and start a family, despite their age. They made good on their promise, and they were married by mid 73 AE. In 75 AE they had twin children, Christian and Rachel. The birth of their children occurred during the middle of the Nether War, the first major conflict Pyro had no involvement with during his career.
At the end of the Nether War Pyro made the decision to end his retirement and return to the political world, easily re-earning his position as Head of International Relations under Oliver Herwall. Immediately after his reinstatement the Akarv-Alten War broke out, and Pyro spent much of his time during the war in talks with Llysos to try and either gain their support or prevent them from intervening. Ultimately Akarv's alliance with Llysos was maintained, and Pyro played a crucial role in receiving their support with the occupation of Altenahnenwalde. Despite flexing his diplomatic muscles and proving he could still contribute on the international stage, the world had largely fallen into an isolationist state in the aftermath of the Nether War. As a result, international relations suffered a gradual reduction, and Akarv's diplomatic department saw little use.
Pyro continued to be confirmed as Head of International Relations term after term, serving under presidents Herman Stalke, Abigail Kosch, and Victoria Khan. Most of Pyro's activity during Stalke's administration was blocked or ignored, largely due to Stalke's extreme isolationist policies and generally aloof persona. Pyro's endorsement of Abigail Kosch, who had been outspokenly against Stalke and for the return of Akarvian strength, was key to her election. Even still, much of Pyro's time was spent strengthening preexisting relationships rather than forming many new ones. The notable exception to this was the formation of friendly relations with Varrenholm, who joined EVAIN in 85 AE.
While Kosch's presidency was marked by a return of the military's strength, her successor Victoria Khan focused more on repairing Akarv's image and relation around the world. With Pyro by her side, Akarv reached out to and mended relations with groups such as the Lirun, who had previously been bitter over the imprisonment of Lao, and nations like Altenahnenwalde which had been occupied by Akarv for the past sixteen years. While Pyro did not always approve of Khan's methods he supported her without argument publicly.
===The Monitor Invasion and its Aftermath===
In the last week of 93 AE Pyro and Khan called several global diplomats to the Citadel for a diplomatic summit, something Pyro himself would lead. The summit was meant to last into the new year, but was suddenly cut short when the Citadel, Akarv, and the rest of the world was suddenly invaded by agents of the Monitor, marking the start of the Monitor Invasion. Pyro, the international diplomats, their guards, and members of SANA were all held captive within the Citadel for two weeks while the Monitor organized his new "rule". At the end of the second week a group of vigilantes originating from Krolesk liberated the Citadel, freeing Pyro and the rest. As they fled to attend a summit beneath the Khan Mansion the Monitor turned his weapon on them, destroying the Citadel's central tower.
Many of the present Akarvians turned to Pyro to act as a leader in the counterattack discussion, but shock from the Citadels destruction and the chaos of the entire ordeal left him angry and confused, forcing Henry Khan and Natalie Evans to lead. His hesitation led to criticism from other parties present, such as Yubbeus Skink of Ralkeis, who came to see Pyro as a weak and ineffective leader. Pyro was able to make up for his hesitation in the summit in the following weeks, once the Monitor was forced into retreat. The Monitor's forces wouldn't be rooted out until at least a month later, and Pyro was one of several global leaders at the forefront of fighting them off.
The Monitor Invasion was a short but pivotal moment in Voldranian history, and the chaos it caused produced countless revolts, political coups, conflicts, criminals, and drama. As one of the relatively few nations to remain stable in the events aftermath, Akarv was forced to once again take a more active role in world affairs in order to both protect its interests and to help stop the Monitor Invasions aftermath from causing any more damage.
In late 94 AE conflicts in New Fallnavor led to the beginning of the Great Navirian War, a short skirmish that was preemptively named for its potential bloodshed. The war was prevented when Pyro and fellow diplomat Philip Trenduz hosted a peace summit between Krolesk and Ralkeis that led to a shaky treaty. While a potentially major global war was prevented it came at the cost of worsened relations with Krolesk, and their collapse into further political chaos.
Category:New Voldranians Category:Voldranians Category:Characters Category:Akarvians Category:Politicians Category:Leaders