Bernard Circas

**Bernard Circas** was a Sordish poet, novelist, short story writer and politician. He was acclaimed for his lyrical flow and was regarded to be the leader of the Sordish avant-garde. Circas was widely known as the first communist politician elected to the Grand National Assembly. He was also the former Speaker of the Independents until his assassination in January 1954. Circas was succeeded by Mansoun Leke.

## Biography

His early writings were heavily influenced by the social, cultural, and economic problems of his home city of Deyr. His work earned him the description of a "romantic communist."

He joined the Red Youth during the Sordish Civil War, and fled Sordland after the war was over, surviving the purge of Tarquin Soll. He moved to United Contana and studied sociology at the Communist University of Kyow. There, he was influenced by the artistic experiments of Contanan poets who advocated futurism, as well as the ideological vision of Malenyev.

Many of his works are regarded as the greatest achievements of the Sordish literature and earned him many awards abroad. Because of his political views, his works have been banned in Sordland since 1930.

In 1950, Bernard returned to Sordland following the departure of Tarquin Soll. He organized strikes against Sordish government’s failure to include amnesty laws and started to become a popular figure in Sordish politics. He ran as an independent in the 1953 general elections and became the first communist to be elected to the Grand National Assembly of Sordland.

He was shot when he was leaving Anton Rayne's inauguration ball by a member of the Young Sords.

## Role

Regardless of what the player does, and the path they have decided to go down from the previous decisions, Circas will be assassinated by members of the Young Sords, with the Red Youth retaliating, leading to Sordland plunging into chaos for much of Chapter I. His assassination will be used as the main reason behind a potential declaration of emergency, after the Old Guard convinces the player to declare one. This will trigger the Autocrat path. Alternatively, the player can snub the Old Guard and continue to push for reforms, thus enacting the Reformist or Dictator paths.

Should the player form the Anti-Corruption Police and focus it on the Old Guard, it will be revealed that the Old Guard, in particular Lileas Graf was the main conspirator of the Circas' assassination, leading to Lileas' arrest and a possible Old Guard purge. Alternatively, using the Secret State Police on the Opposition will lead to the National Front Party being revealed as the main conspirators for the assassination. Judging by how the SSP was formed on the orders of Lileas, it is likely that the assassination was indeed ordered by the Old Guard in order to fool Anton Rayne (and the player) to declare an emergency, turning him into a puppet of Orso Hawker and the Old Guard.

## Trivia

* Bernard Circas uses an edited version of the beta portrait of Frens Ricter.
* Circas is widely believed to be based on Nâzım Hikmet Ran, a Turkish poet, writer, and filmmaker, whose poem You (in excerpt) prefaces **Suzerain** upon starting a new game.
	+ There are many biographical similarities between the two. Ran, like Circas, has been described as a "romantic communist", and he had to flee political persecution in his homeland to live in exile in the Soviet Union (analogous to United Contana). There, he studied at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, and was influenced by the avant-garde of Soviet poetry and art.
	+ Circas' surname could also be a nod to Ran's Circassian heritage.
* In one of the coup endings, Bernard's daughter, writes Anton Rayne's autobiography.