Fylk

Fylk was an Arcean economist, historian and philosopher who would later become leader of the *Rostefian Worker's Society*. By leading the RWS and declaring independance, Fylk would start the Arcean Civil War.

He is the author of *Dictatorship of the Merchants,* and considered to be the father of the Aequalist Ideology.

Despite also opposing the third empire, Fylk's rostefian aequalist society would come into conflict with Faucher's republic. Fylk would be hunted down and killed by Faucher's army shortly after the defeat of the empire.

Faucher's republic would last only a year, after which the ANLU would take over, with Fylk's wife, Acard, being one of it's founders. This state would go on to become the modern Arcean Republic

## Physical description

### Eye color

Green

Despite Fylk's observations about society's problems being mostly agreed on by a significant number of scholars, Most of his proposed solutions, which were seen as extreme and anti-democratic, would not be implemented until the advent of the UWS

## Early Life

Born in Arcean Rostef, Fylk like many of the Rostefian underclass held very little rights and could not even have last names. Fylk's parents were a schoolteacher and a factory worker in the city of Kingshome. The family was extremely poor, as his mother had inherited a debt to the local prince.

Flyk attended school as a boy, but he also worked part time in the same factory as his father. This was not considered abnormal at the time for people of their social status.

Accounts from his mother's diary say that Fylk was a gifted kid, but the veracity of these reports has been put into question. Regardless, while is is uncertain if Fylk had a genius-level intellect, he was still unusually smart for a kid his age and he was picked up in 1731 by an accountant to be his apprentice.

While in apprenticeship, Fylk would meet Acard, and their friendship would shortly after bloom into a romance, which they tried to keep secret.

This would last for a handful of years. When Acard's parents discovered the truth they would become enraged and framed Fylk for tax evasion, for which he would be sentenced to exile in 1736.

## Life in exile

now in his 20's, Fylk would travel and work with various economists and left-wing politicians in propterra, notably the UHR. During this time he would keep in touch with Acard through letters and they would meet whenever Acard went on vacation abroad.

Fylk would travel through various countries in the continents of propterra and chapultec where he would document and compare the political systems and the living conditions of the workers. During these years he struggled to get by and had to do odd jobs to survive.

It wasn't until nearly a decade later that, by chance, Fylk met with a writer for a newspaper based on Nikea who was abroad and decided to publish his story. Shortly after, the same publication contracted Fylk to publish many of his accounts about life for the working class in other countries.

When Fylk's name began to gain prominence, the circumstances of his exile were brought to the front, stirring up a controversy. Thanks to involvement from Acard, Fylk's name was cleared, and his sentence was retracted. Because of her actions, however, Acard was shunned by the nobility, and her husband, another noble, divorced her.

## Return to Arcea

When Fylk returned to Kingshome he began work in a series of books, the most important of which would be *Dictatorship of the Merchants,* published in 1752*.* During this period, Acard would discard her last name and marry Fylk. She too would be an influencial author with the publishing of *Bread and Roses.*

Immediately after the publishing of Fylk's seminal work, the pair would tour together trough rostef, denouncing the prince and demanding better working conditions for the lower classes. The authorities refrained from publicly acknowledging them but his rallies were often prematurely broken up by the local police. Their ideology would come to be known as Aequalism.

In 1755, Fylk fell terribly ill, but after a month he managed to recover. It was later discovered this was a result of poisoning, an assassination attempt by the authorities of the empire. The pair chose to keep this information secret. Realizing that there was no hope of changing things by working from within the system, the pair began to set up the stage for their next move.

## Involvement in the civil war

In 1760 Fylk called together democratic and workers rights activists a week later. Meeting in apartment block in the working class neighborhood of Addison in Kingshome. After only a single evening of deliberation, the Addison Declaration would mark the beginning of the Arcean Civil War. The Rostefian Workers Society (RWS) declared its independence from the Third Empire, with Kingshome as its capital. The Rostefian Yeomanry, sent to put down the rebellion by Prince of Rostef Meryn Edern, instead flocked to Fylk's banner. The RWS then saw its ranks filled by miners from the country side who soon began to flood into Kingshome.

The symbol utilized by the RWS was a red globe with a line -representing the planet of unus solum- encased within a star. It stands for "unity among workers across the globe or under the stars". Other interpretations of the emblem include "the spread of Aequalism across the globe and then the stars". Regardless, this same symbol would be decades later adopted by UWS after the breakdown of the UHR. In the modern day, the globe and star is internationally known as the symbol of the Aequalist ideology.

The Third Empire committed troops to uproot Fylk's upstart rebellion. The Aequalists would move south to meet the Imperial Army. In their attempt to cross the Stien Bridge across the Tay River, the imperial troops were ambushed. Not prepared for or expecting open armed resistance, they were forced back south of the river. With the imperial army defeated on home soil, the emperors enemies began to circle. Before the end of the year, the Quill Movement in Syerdawn, Rose Fanon's Red Wood Aequalists, alongside Devran Von Lark's Free Prince Movement in Sudfell, were in open rebellion against the Third Empire.

For the rest of the conflict, the RWS participated in various skirmishes against the empire, generally around the Tay river. Seeing that it was not a worthwhile pursuit, the imperials elected to focus most of their forces on other fronts.

## After the revolution

in 1768 the empire remnants finally fled the region. A new provisionary government was established by the various rebel movements with Faucher as its head, however, the RWS were not included in the new parliament. Fylk and the RWS refused to conform to the terms of Faucher's republic and instead offered for both states to co-exist peacefully.

Seeing as the proposition was unacceptable to the republic that aimed to reform the former Arcean empire, Faucher ordered that Fylk and his supporters be hunted down. The Rostef region was quickly overrun and after a year Fylk would be killed making his last stand in the small town of Cranfigge.

## Legacy

Fylk is recognized worldwide as the father of Aequalism, and as one of the most influencial figures in politics both nationally in Arcea as well as abroad. He is sometimes portrayed as an idealistic hero standing up to Faucher, or as a fallen figure who went mad with power and refused to let go, depending on who is presenting the narrative

### In popular culture

* The 1799 novel *Red Star* is about the life of Fylk and the birth of Aequalism. It has been heavily criticized for being historically inaccurate.
* The 1821 Arcean film *Scorned Princess* is a dramatization of Acard's life, centered on her romance with Fylk
* The 1824 Radio drama *Liberators* which broadcasted in the UWS Takes place during the arcean civil war and features Fylk as a prominent secondary character and paints Faucher as an antagonist. One of the protagonists is a foreign volunteer from the UHR who heps save Rosteff from the empire in several occasions, only to be betrayed by Faucher towards the end.