Lord Regent Arabella Allerton

## Arabella Allerton

"One people, one banner; one queen, one nation"

> *"Through the state the people are provided for, through the people the state is enriched; through unity the two are one, and none will be left wanting"*
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> **- Arabella Allerton, 26, Minister of Finance -**
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## Overview

Arabella Allerton; a studious bureaucrat, skilled financer and administrative genius. As a minister of parliment she oversaw the rejuvenation of the economy, as Lord Regent she tore down the old parliament and replaced it with the Eternal Ministry.

Revered as the overseer of a nation her legacy is one of regalia and the advancement of peoples welfare, the second most popular Regent to reign behind Thomas Asbury; serving as Lord Regent for 37 years, the first two decades being ones of reform but stalling in her final years as a unique genetic disease emerged seemingly out of nowhere.

Arabella died suddenly, aged 54, just two years after initial symptoms were seen; post-mortem concluded that her veins and vessels had been shredded suddenly and her blood suddenly became toxic to the body, killing her within a minute. No poison or chemical weapons could have done this for none so lethal had been developed that was also undetectable.

## A child is born

In the year 2136, the a child of Rosana Allerton is born; the second daughter and third child, the Allerton family was the upcoming house of New-Bristol. The family held claim to the Avon county, the wealth among other uses afforded the highest education available.

As the Eternal Nation secured its bases with the groundworks for planetwide infrastructure the economy was capped, unable to grow; the expanding populace would suffer the economic cap as wages slowly fell as more money was devoted to agriculture and industry (without which the people would have starved or froze to death).

By 2156, the nation was coping under pressure to provide much else than food and housing, few went hungry but few saw much improvement; it was clear the population had grown too soon, administrators had underestimated growth rates and failed to provide reliable censuses, it could not be helped now though. However the pre-graduate Allerton saw a solution and her ambition took her to great lengths to prove her theorem.

Using her family county as a small scale state, she replaced the residing county minister with a ensemble of specialists like; accountants, architects, city planners etc. Within two years the Avon county was pulling leagues ahead of the rest in grow rates - albeit seriously in debt as the upward cost of the renovations and reorganisation of labour was significant - the results of which landed Arabella in the position of Minister of Finance by express order of The Imperial Court.

### Minister of Finance

Arabella was not well received by fellow ministers, she had after all proven that ministers of parliament were unneeded and that she was here to reform the parliament (The parliament was a temporary governing body tasked with running the state as the Nation found its feat, after which they would have been replaced) and while the ministers realised the parliament was only a temporary institution they had hoped to last long enough to cement themselves in prominent positions... the direction Arabella was taking them would remove all hope of that.

Disavowed by other ministers she was unable to enact any reforms at first, but as ministers ended their rotations they found themselves outed from parliament; the Imperial Court expressed a lack of faith in the institution and had rejected the renewal of many minister cycles, the few supporters of Arabella were granted renewal though and a fresh batch of ministers were brought in. Power had shifted into an equilibrium.

#### Economic reform

As power balanced out the grounds for reasonable argument were possible, Arabella could pass reforms without the risk of rejection simply due to resentment.

Without going into detail the reforms cost a lot of money but the influx of credits saw increases of economic growth across the planet, less money was wasted on maintenance as more efficient material and designs came in, roads and transports were replaced in chunks with more long term durability and other long term investments were made. At the same time though few people received pay and lived off rations and point based systems, money was spent on infrastructure rather than people.

Unpopular at first the reform was indeed. But the people lived for free and without cost but just without money (not so different than before anyway) but years into the project the signs were showing, monetary systems were reintroduced and wages came back at higher pay rates than ever before.

#### The Eternal Ministry

The time spent waiting for reform was not wasted, while selected specialists reformed the nation Arabella had laid the groundworks for the Eternal Ministry to replace the Parliament; as the nations people saw the nation spring back to life they were greeted by a new state, no longer was the Parliament running the state. It was **The Eternal Ministry.**

This saw the first step back towards the hierarchical nature of the Eternal Empire, it was officially what everyone knew would happen but none had expected it so soon; this was not a distressing event, it was joyous. The people had awaited in anticipation for the Imperial Court and the Empress to truly take the reins of governance once again.

## Lord Regent Allerton

As the Parliament dissolved and the Ministry took its place, Allerton was offered the position of Lord Regent; quite eagerly accepting Allerton oversaw the rejuvenation of the nation, one piece at a time and it was done so impeccably. However most of her time was spent overseeing the Eternal Ministry, smoothing out rough edges and appointing ministers; a decade into her position the Eternal Ministry employed over 700,000 people, not all ministers but also bureaucrats and other roles suited to running the state..

The second decade of her position was donned a mini renaissance as balls, banquets, competitions & tournaments sprang up in dozens many of which lead by Arabella; these events were not limited to the upper classes, they were for everyone... for it was the diligence of the people that saw the nation through.

Allerton became more secluded though, a growing movement of activists were pressing for a space station; personally Allerton thought the project too expensive to risk at the nation took its first steps out of depression, but the movement grew and Allerton was forced into spending capital. The pressure mounted and 25 years into her regency she feared the economy could collapse like a house of cards, the administration had failed to build up reserves as it had all been spent on the space station project.

30 years into the regency Allerton pulled the plug, rampant spending had devoured the treasury and many simply urged to continue and face the debt later, arguing that the exploits of space would pay the cost; Arabella disagreed and fought for years to delay progress, the Empress herself was divided by the risk-vs-reward scenario and thus allowed Arabella to continue the delay.

Aged 52, 35 years into regency, Arabella fell ill. Her condition was diagnosable and no treatment known, the doctors simply found her blood was turning toxic at random points and 'solidifying' in her veins and organs; these 'rocks' would occasionally burst and release more toxin. 2 years into the illness a sudden surge of toxin and simultaneous breaking of the 'rocks' overwhelmed the body and killed her within a minute, dying mid way down a staircase it was originally thought she had been pushed down until post-mortem revealed the true cause.