Finnor Clym

* General Info
* Allegiances
* Relationships

***“**By my right as Lord-Mayor, granted to me by the people of Stavia, you are hereby found guilty of high treason against the Republic of Southern Wyrsia and sentenced to death by hanging at first light tomorrow.**”***
— Finnor Clym

**Finnor Clym** is a Naerisi former soldier, judge, and administrator currently serving as the Lord-Mayor of Stavia. Clym was elected when the post was established in 1217 AW and was subsequently re-elected in 1222 and 1227 AW. As Lord-Mayor, he carries out a wide variety of duties, as the position is the highest political, legal, and military office in the capital.

Clym's lack of ideological loyalty towards the Republican cause is well-documented, yet he nevertheless managed to burrow himself into the heart of the Republic of Southern Wyrsia's political scene. He is often described as being more of an anti-Monarchist than a Republican yet makes no effort to hide his disdain for the extremes of both alliances. Clym is closely associated with Gert Brokmann and has used his influence with the national government to curb Fühlgartian influence as much as possible in Stavia.

Clym is an outspoken opponent towards further Fühlgartian intervention in Southern Wyrsia. Following the outbreak of the Second Fühlgart, a Group Zero conspiracy to assassinate Clym became public knowledge at the hands of the Provisional Government in Kalzberg. This resulted in a series of widespread purges against the Wehner Attaché -- tasked with ensuring ideological loyalty -- in particular. While Karl Wehner was spared Clym's wrath, most of his underlings were arrested and found guilty of various acts of treason and high treason in select cases. These purges have decimated the Attaché's influence and cemented Clym as a fair yet ruthless ruler.

## Biography

Born in Stavia in 1175 AW, Finnor Clym grew up in the poor district of Overinnyr in a labourer's family. While his family lacked the money for a formal education in the city, Clym was nevertheless a bright child capable of thinking on the fly and often outwitting adults. He began to work as a cobbler at his parent's workshop before being conscripted in 1196 AW by the Duke of Stavia to fight in the Sixth Fühlgartian-Wyrsian War. Under the command of a nobleman's son without military expertise, Clym and his comrades were butchered in a miscalculated assault. Clym survived with severe injuries, losing three fingers and gaining a life-long limp. He was deemed unfit for further service and returned to Stavia without compensation, completely disillusioned with the feudal system.

With physical labour proving difficult, Finnor spent more and more time relying on his brain instead, scouring through books at what few libraries Overinnyr had to offer. He took a particular interest in law at the time, scouring over codes of laws and encountering more examples than he could count of self-serving and contradictory laws only meant to fuel nepotism and corruption. He used this knowledge to become a transcriber for the courts at Stavia, hiding his grudges while he worked on a new code of law at home in his free time. This was not an official task but something of a passion project, though it would come to great use later down the line.

The Great War would significantly alter the course of Clym's life. With the fall of the Kingdom of Wyrsia, the old order that he despised had been driven out and replaced with a newer system that Clym was rather indifferent towards. Still, indifference was better than opposition and -- with much of the old judicial system having been staunch Monarchists -- Clym and other sympathisers were gathered by Gert Brokmann, the Head of the newly founded Republic of Wyrsia, to draft a new code of law for the country. At this point, Clym offered up his private project. While his manuscript was rough around the edges and tweaked extensively, it nevertheless laid the foundation for the current legal system in Southern Wyrsia. Unsurprisingly, Clym himself shot up from a lowly scribe to a judge around this time.

In the following years, Clym gained a reputation as a staunch anti-Monarchist, which aligned with the Republican goals. He still cared little for Republican ideological ramblings, yet worked alongside them because it was the pragmatic choice. His rulings were tough yet fair, and any fools still fighting a futile war for exiled lordlings who didn't care for them received no sympathy. Clym's approach to power was similar to Brokmann's, also a pragmatist of sorts, and the two became closely associated. When Brokmann announced that he would create the position of Lord-Mayor of Stavia, he privately urged Clym to run, which he did. Clym was a popular candidate and, despite some competition, ultimately won the position with a comfortable majority.

As Lord Mayor, Clym has treated his duties the same way as when he was still a judge. While he is rather cold to most people, there is no denying his efficiency when it comes to solving or creating problems. Clym became quite versed in creating problems for various groups: the Military Tribunal, the Wehner Attaché, the Purple Army, and a myriad of smaller groups operating in Stavia. The Lord-Mayor was no fan of Fühlgartians meddling in Southern Wyrsian problems and his pragmatic approach now began to sour his personal relations with Fühlgartian leadership. Where most local administrators would look away, Clym had no problem with having Fühlgartian officials arrested, tried, and imprisoned for their crimes.

While his deeds were provocative towards the Republican alliance, they were well-received and popular amongst disgruntled Stavians who held no love for the Wehner Attaché and its likes. This caused Clym to win a second and third term in 1222 and 1227 AW respectively, remaining a thorn in the side of any who would break the laws of Stavia the whole time, no matter their connections. Following the outbreak of the Second Fühlgartian Civil War, a large number of Group Zero plots were revealed by the Provisional Government in Kalzberg. Among them were the drawn-up plans for an assassination of Clym ordered by Jan Luftschwert briefly before his death. With local Fühlgartians implicated in this plot beyond a shadow of a doubt, Clym brazenly moved against them in 1228 AW. A wave of mass arrests followed, targeting the Wehner Attaché and -- to a lesser extent -- the Military Tribunal and imprisoning or executing many for charges of treason.

While Clym's purges in 1228 AW were extremely controversial and met with outrage across many Republican states, ultimately, nothing truly happened to him. He had acted completely within the laws of Southern Wyrsia and punishing him would make the Fühlgartians look hypocritical at best and backstabbers at worst. With bigger problems domestically, Clym was more or less let go despite his obvious defiance. The Wehner Attaché has significantly weakened and lost much of its political influence and the the Tribunal turned to focus on the War for Wyrsia. For now, business in Stavia is back to usual save for the war, and Clym remains in his position: disliked by many Monarchists and Republicans alike yet largely untouchable.