Chaf'uri'onarad

**Chaf'uri'onarad** (Core Name: **Furion**) was a Chiss Ruling Aristocra representing the Chaf Family. He was an expert diplomat and functioned as the head of the state department for the Chiss Ascendancy. He Firmly believed in the Chiss doctrine barring first strikes and believed the most potent weapon for Chiss security to be diplomacy. He often clashed with his brother, Chaf'rei'gari of the CEDF, over this point.

## History

### Early Life

Chaf'uri'onarad was born on Sarvchi as a blood member of the Chaf Family. He lived through the Vagaari Invasion of the Chiss Ascendancy which profoundly affected his outlook on Chiss security. In the Ascendancy's period of reflection following the disastrous event, Furion rose through the ranks of his family hierarchy through his wit and charisma. He helped bring the Chiss foreign relations apparatus under the authority of the Chaf - while not as financially lucrative as sectors like energy or transportation, foreign affairs were an especially essential responsibility in the wake of the invasion. Many in the Ascendancy were pushing to abandon their long-held aversion to first-strikes, believing that, had they acted sooner, the Chiss would have been spared from the worst of the war. Furion, however, feared the tyranny of a more militarized, expansionistic Chiss state. Through his study of history, Furion was aware of many instances of governments turning to tyranny as a reaction to great loss in war. Hoping to spare the Chiss people of the same fate, Furion championed a state policy which would maintain the old military doctrine while opening the Ascendancy more to the states which surrounded it. Seeing the coalition gathered by the Vagaari during their invasion, Furion realized that the Chiss' neighbors despised them due to the Chiss' aloof and condescending manner in diplomatic relations. Seeking to change this, Furion sought to soften the way Chiss conducted diplomacy and open the Ascendancy for trade with their neighbors.

His beliefs were openly criticized by his blood brother, Chaf'rei'gari (Freiga), a rising star in the CEDF. Freiga believed that Furion's attitude towards foreign relations was far too idealistic and would doom the Ascendancy to another event like the Vagaari invasion. The feud between two highly ranked members of the family shook the Chaf and many were forced to take sides. Furion, however, won the support of the Chaf patriarch and was promoted, in time, to the position of Ruling Aristocra.

### Aristocra

As a Ruling Aristocra, Furion became the head of the Chiss foreign affairs apparatus and was free to implement his ideas. Additionally, he now had the authority to censure his brother, all but banning him from Sarvchi. They would not speak again for many years.

In his capacity as Aristocra, Furion built trade relations with many of the governments surrounding the Ascendancy. While Furion was a critic of Mitth'raw'nuruodo in many ways, he respected the famous Chiss warrior's admiration for alien cultures and beliefs. Furion instructed a new diplomatic corps to study the cultures and customs of the nations of the chaos in order to better relate to them and build bridges. It was Furion's dream to form a ring of nations surrounding the Ascendancy with mutually interdependent economies, all built on the Chiss economic system. After so many years of economic protectionism, Furion championed loosening trade restrictions and flooded the alien markets with Chiss currency. By making its neighbors economically dependent on the Chiss, it was Furion's hope that another great anti-Chiss coalition would be impossible. Moreover, any external invader would have to contend with Chiss trading partners before entering the Ascendancy proper, giving the Chiss the opportunity to prepare for a future invasion.

The liberalizing of Chiss trade was met with harsh criticisms and Furion became one of the most controversial figure in the Ascendancy's ruling regime. Nevertheless, Furion's New Diplomacy proved effective in building relationships with neighboring nations and allowing Chiss industries to expand to new markets. Nor did war occur between the Chiss and any of their neighbors for many years after the enactment of Furion's policies.

Furion managed to avoid taking sides during Obbic'eni'raynel and Dasklo'ur'ethindo's (The Tarn Siblings) power grab which pitted them against the Thriv family Aristocra, Thriv'aes'hrallae. The Chaf family, being one of the oldest and most respected of the Ruling Families, was courted by many of the other families for alliances, allowing Furion to keep his family aloof. Consistent with his diplomatic philosophy, Furion claimed his duty was to all Chiss and should not show favor to one family or another. Over time, Furion grew to be more critical of the Tarn siblings as their power hungry intentions became clearer.

in 29 ABY, Thriv'aes'hrallae returned to the Chiss Ascendancy after his 11 year exile. Initially, Furion was a great supporter of Vaes who effectively dealt with the Tarn siblings. However, Aristocra Vaes would soon prove a greater challenge to Furion than the Tarn siblings ever did. Vaes quickly consolidated power within the Ruling Aristocra, often using very similar tactics to his Tarn adversaries. Vaes forged close alliances with Dasklo'aell'athindo (Kloaella), Obbic'eni'tolori (Bicenito), Mitth'iri'onurell (Thirion), and Irizi'ud'nagathor (Ziudna), giving him a majority sway over the council.

### Contact with Aureus

In 33 ABY, the Chiss Mid Captain Psek'ar'issano (Karis), a subordinate of Chaf'rei'gari, made first contact with the Radiant Imperium of Aureus, a powerful multispecies empire from the far reaches of the galactic rim. The Imperium had begun encroaching on border territories of the Garwian Unity with a great number of powerful warships.

Furion was dispatched to meet with a delegation representing the Imperium on the 'green hell' world of Selki. He travelled aboard the *Nightwatcher,* the ship commanded by his brother Freiga, reuniting the siblings who had put aside none of their animosity. Furion travelled to the surface of Selki with Mid Captain Karis where they met with the Speculi ambassador Aura and a Hakh-Hakh Viceroy. Furion was fascinated by the shapeshifting Speculi with whom he would form a friendly relationship. While on Selki, the Imperium base suffered a violent storm, forcing Chiss and Imperium officials to work together to survive.

Upon returning to Chiss space, Furion began lobbying the Aristocra for the establishment of a permanent embassy at an Imperium world in order to learn more about and interact with their new neighbor. In the wake of the massacre on the Garwian world of Sentatei carried out by Hakh-Hakh warriors, the plan was hotly debated. Furion gained the approval of Vaes's cohort and departed for Selki aboard newly christened orbital embassy facility designed in secret by Chaf and Inrokini shipwrights.

## Philosophy

Furion's believed axiomatically that it was the responsibility of Chiss foreign relations to maximize good for the Chiss people by limiting the potential for war, while increasing the material comfort and freedom of Chiss citizens. He believed that militarism and expansionism were traps which turned states to tyranny, ultimately oppressing their own people in the name of defending them. Therefore, Furion developed a policy of foreign relations built upon three pillars: Mutual respect between nations; economic interdependence; liberal economic policies. In this framework, each pillar feeds into and reinforces one another. It was Furion's goal for the Ascendancy to become the economic hegemon of its region of space which would in turn lead to peace. The first major test to Furion's philosophy emerged as a result of first contact with the Radiant Imperium and their encroachments into Garwian space.