Dum

**Karolina Halle**, known as **Dum**, was an Aldan politician, economist and jurist. She founded the first financial institution in the Province of Alda, the Alda Chamber of Commerce. Later, she was appointed by Lord Jasper Dusksworn to become the first Minister of Economics, which absorbed the ACC and took over it's banking operations. Serving in this office as the Aldan people migrated to found the Kingdom of Alda, until stepping down shortly after its independence from the Huitca Federation. Dum served as the first speaker of the Senate. She served as dirach of the Aldan Kingdom of Westmarch and the Aldan Commonwealth.

## Biography

### Early Life

Dum’s family enjoyed moderate wealth as the majority stakeholders of a trading company which maintained several shipping routes in Haven and Ummarnu. Dum’s mother died when she was 16. Shortly after, she began to study commerce under her father. With her father’s disappearance several years later, she inherited the family’s share in the company but quickly sold it along with all other family assets and emigrated to Alda.

Upon arriving in Nearon, the primary settlement of the Savernian Province of Alda, Dum took ownership of an unoccupied building in the old city's center, later the Nearon market. Shortly after, the building was repurposed to serve as the Alda Chamber of Commerce and she established a home outside of the city called "Stranded Signs".

Attempting to meet an untapped market for capital, as well as an overall lack of financial commerce, Dum established Alda's first banking institution, the Alda Chamber of Commerce. At this time, Nearon existed as a boomtown, with an exponentially increasing demand for housing and startup capital for new businesses. The ACC focussed on meeting that demand with loans to citizens of the province. The ACC effectively ceased operating when Dum assumed control of the Alda Department of Economics, and was officially absorbed by the Department some time later.

### Political Career

The earliest form of a government in Alda beyond Lord Jasper Dusksworn's rule was his creation of the Lord's Council. This body was composed of Evan Rydell Amakiir, Metternich, Jorunn and Dum. Eventually this would evolve into two of the primary institutions of the Aldan Government: The Royal Council and the Departments. The Department of Economics evolved from this Council with Dum assuming the office of it's minister. Following the founding of the Kingdom of Alda, the Department's role expanded from simply advising the Aldan Monarch to assisting with foreign trade and approving the treaties regulating them, managing the Portside Market in Haleos as well as the previously mentioned banking functions of the Alda Chamber of Commerce.

#### Military Service

Shortly before moving to the Kingdom of Alda during the migration, Dum enlisted into Alda's army as an Auxiliary. She saw combat and was slightly wounded at the battle of Keisaria City during the Aldan-Keisarian War.

Afterwards she worked exclusively in support roles related to procurement for the army. During the Alda-Dreondor War, she oversaw the army's equipment acquisition. Working from primarily donated funds, she supplied enough equipment for every Aldan soldier that requested supplies as well as providing weapons and supplies to the many soldiers of Alda's allies. When the Agnarian's capitulated to Alda and Huitca, the equipment was stored by the Department of Economics and eventually transferred to the Department of War when it was established after the war.

During the Alda-Dreondor crisis, as a member of the Royal Council, Dum participated in the negotiations between Dreondor, later Agnarian, and Alda. She authored the final instrument of surrender that ended the war, signed by the Agnarian delegation mere hours before Alda's coalition was set to assault the Agnarian capital of Zerith. In accordance with the terms of surrender, control of the city had to be entrusted to an Aldan official until it could be ensured that peace would be maintained. She served as the de facto Governor of the city during its transition period before its annexation into the Aldan province of Westmarch.

Dum stepped down from the Aldan Army shortly after leaving as Minister of Economics.

#### Resignation as Minister

Following the conclusion of the war, Dum resumed the regular peacetime functions of the Department of Economics, with the expansion of the Portside Market being her priority.

During this period, instability that would lead to the end of the Huitca Federation began to prompt considerations of Alda withdrawing its status as the Federation's vassal. Dum advocated Aldan independence and opposed the proposed concept of an integration with the federation under a reorganized government.  Following the announcement of Alda's independence, Dum announced her resignation as Minister of Economics.

#### Judicial and Senate Tenure

Dum established a private legal practice after leaving the Department called Aldan Legal Representation, as well as becoming a citizen of the town of Brynmor with intentions to establish a new estate there similar to Stranded Signs outside of Nearon. However, Dum offered to King Jasper Dusksworn to become a Judge in order to fill a vacancy left by Hinda C. Bolodrav. The King accepted and Dum ceased her legal practice and remained in Haleos.

As a Judge, Dum promoted the practice of professionalizing the field of legal represenation with a short lived forum of discussion among Aldan Judges and aspiring representatives, acting as an ad hoc law school. Plans were also made with then Minister of Architecture, Helena Amakiir, to construct a courthouse in Haleos, as well as providing the funding for the project. This project abandoned after Helena’s departure as Minister.

Among the cases overseen by Dum as Judge were cases regarding treason by Aldan citizens that conspired with foreign adversaries of the Kingdom and a trial against fellow Aldan judge, Mithrandir Karhu.

Dum served as one of five Senators at Large and as Speaker of the Westmarch Senate. Among the bills she has authored during her time in the Senate are the "Exclusion of Foreign Criminals Act", banning individuals who were involved in hostile actions towards Alda in the Alda-Dreondor crisis from being given visas into the country, and the "Housing Our Nations Institutions Act", which authorizes the government to repurpose unused buildings in Haleos to be used by the various parts of the Westmarch government, including the Senate, Departments, Prime Minister, and the Courts.

### Diarch of Westmarch and the Aldan Commonwealth

With the resignation of Queen Fumiko Saxon, King Kunze of Westmarch and Prime Minister Brsph approached Dum to fill the vaccant position of being one of the two cheif executives of the nation. Dum accepted and Kunze presented her nomination to the Westmarch Senate. Following the confirmation by the Senate, Dum moved to rename the nation to The Aldan Commonwealth, and has advocated a new policy agenda for the nation based on "neutrality and cooperation with other nations". Following this, Dum enacted the "Recognition of Aldan Neutrality", outlining the foreign policy for the Aldan Commonwealth.

Shortly after the announcement of the policy. Dum unexpectedly passed away due to illness, the details of which were not specified by government publications, but contemporaries remarked on a sudden decline in her health and capacities in the days before her death and speculation remains that it may have been a latent result of the injuries she suffered in the battle of Keisaria City. Dum was laid to rest in the courtyard behind the Haleos Castle.