Dr. Frederick Finck

Major of the AEF 3rd Infantry Battalion, 17th Reserve Company (Retired)

Good Machinery,

Good Chemistry,

Good Sabotage

Louise Caron (d.1742 AE)

**Frederick Finck**, or 'Freddy' to his close associates, is the founder and president of Finck Fuel Incorporated. An economic magnate with a powerful position in the Cyrenic industry, Freddy also serves the government as Minister for Business and Trade.

A self-made man, despite his noble ties back in the old country, Freddy is a decorated veteran of both the Bush Wars and a political ally of Doux Daniel Krüger. He has also long held a fondness for the history and geography of the Alkeban continent and earned a doctorate on the subject from the Cyren Institute for Academical Sciences.

## **Early Life**

Born in 1702 AE as the youngest child of Henry James Fennecky, Earl of Bigglesbrook, at the Fennecky family estate in the Grand Barony of Osterec; Frederick William Fennecky grew up on the outer fringes of upper-class society.

Frederick's father funded his childhood education and arranged for him to attend a prestigious school in the capital city of Dormin, which was, in reality, a well-concealed attempt to remove the young child from the volatile family affairs which had haunted his youth. Frederick made little effort to remain in contact with his kin upon reaching Dormin and instead found himself enchanted with the idea of moving even further away to Alkebu. A new land, with endless possibilities and a place where any ambitious man could make a name for themselves - at least that was how the propaganda romanticised it.

After a year's study, Frederick transferred from the Dormin school to the Cyren Institute for Academical Sciences and began researching the history of the many native tribes that had long inhabited the lands outside the safety of Cyren's bounds. Eager to distance himself further from his family, Frederick enrolled under the pseudonym of 'Frederick Finck' and soon very few people knew his original name or heritage.

During his studies, Frederick elected to join the Officer Academy for the Alkeban Expeditionary Force, both to fund his research projects and to learn how to protect himself from the dangers presented by the very hostile environment of the continent. In 1724 AE, he passed out and was awarded the customary rank of Second Lieutenant.

After signing on as a reserve officer in the 3rd AEF Infantry Battalion, Frederick focused again on finishing his education. He spent significant time in the native city of Sangaan, where he became acquainted with the Halta-Banu chief and crossed paths for the first time with Daniel Krüger. The pair briefly bonded over their mutual fascination with the local culture, but they parted ways as Daniel headed further south whilst Frederick returned to Cyren to submit his thesis.

In the summer of 1726, Frederick earned his doctorate in Alkeban History from the Institute and began planning an expedition deep into the continent based on information he had learned from the natives during his prolonged stay in Sangaan. These plans however never came to fruition as, within a few months of his graduation, Frederick was called up to active duty by the AEF in preparation for the imminent attack upon New Varenth. With little choice but to accept, he marched off to war and left behind his longtime sweetheart Emma Airyn, the pair would never meet again.

## **The First Bush War**

The 3rd AEF Infantry Battalion took part in the initial engagement of what would become the First Bush war, the attack on New Albertsville. There Frederick received his first real experience of warfare, having previously only engaged hostile natives and ran training exercises. The battle was a fierce one, lasting ten long days, and ended in defeat for the AEF as they were pushed back by the Varenthian garrison. Frederick took a clean shot to the thigh on the eighth day whilst leading his platoon forwards, and was carried from the field by his men.

 He was being treated at the AEF base near Lake Listen following the failed offensive when it came under attack from the Varenthians. He rejoined his battalion to defend the encampment then later took part in the second battle at Lake Listen where the AEF were victorious.

As a bloody stalemate began to settle in, the 3rd Battalion rotated back to Cyren to replenish from casualties suffered in the opening stage of the war. Here Frederick was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant for his gallantry in the line of duty, and he began a relationship with the nurse Jane Bellemy who would remain attached to the Battalion for the remainder of the war.

Eventually, the Battalion went back to the frontline, where Finck participated in several more tours of duty from 1727 to 1729 AE. In the wilderness, his knowledge of the native population's language and customs proved invaluable and he was awarded several commendations for the number of Cyrenic lives saved by his actions. However, at the end of 1729 AE just before the battle of Little Hill, Frederick was given leave from the AEF to return to Dorminia following the sudden death of his father. Exactly how he came to be informed of this, given that he had long been estranged from family affairs, could likely be attributed to these military successes in the years prior.

## **The Rise of Finck Fuel**

Frederick kept his stay in Dorminia brief, travelling back to Cyren only days after Earl Henry's funeral. As the youngest son, he had received no share of the family lands and was granted only a *small* inheritance of five hundred coppers, but returned to the land of opportunity in time for the official end of the First Bush War.

The Doux of Cyren, Lukas Aten, started a program of granting education or land to AEF veterans in return for them remaining on the reserve lists. Having no need for further education, Frederick debated declining the offer but instead found an interesting passage in one of the several journals he had written during the war. After an expedition confirmed his assumption, Frederick claimed a section of land upon which he soon invested his inheritance and savings in a coal mine and refinement plant.

The Finck Fuel Company was founded on June 14th, 1730 AE, with Frederick as the owner and sole employee. After taking loans from several friends made during his studies and service, he began hiring a workforce consisting primarily of previously enlisted AEF soldiers. He offered a generous living wage, superior to that of any other Cyrenic mining company, as he banked on instilling a harsh working ethic utilising the militaristic background of his workers. The mine was an almost overnight success, and rapidly saw a hefty return on Finck's original investment.

Jane left him the following year, and they parted ways bitterly as she complained that he was no longer the man she had fallen for. With no love interests to distract him anymore, Frederick dedicated his every waking moment to the company. Finck Fuel expanded rapidly, absorbing several other smaller refineries until it had become the primary coal supplier to Cyren on the continent and Frederick Finck was painted as the poster boy for the Alkeban dream. What had once been a single man and a vision became a titan of the fuel industry in the span of half a decade, and soon the company incorporated several other businesses across different industries to the point that 'Finck Inc.' became a household name.

## **The Second Bush War**

When New Varenth began to encroach on Cyren's borders in 1736 AE, Frederick feared he would be pulled away from the business world at a crucial time for expansion. His concerns proved well founded when Cyren was sacked by Varenthian troops shortly afterwards, and he was forced to focus his factories on the war economy. With cooperation from the local Sparks Chapter, Finck Inc. began developing weaponry and machinery that was delivered directly to the AEF at an impressive rate.

At this point, Frederick was requested to return to his once beloved 3rd Infantry Battalion but declined by stating that his business was in itself a vital contribution to the war effort and far greater than that of a single officer. Soon the Battalion, along with the majority of the AEF, became embroiled in the siege of Simbak-Sun and the battles in the Xhona Valley. This left Cyren itself comparatively undefended again, and the Varenthians made sure to capitalise upon this.

Unable to contact any allied forces, and with only a small garrison that consisted primarily of either high ranking staff officers or green recruits, the Major General was forced to call up all able-bodied men to fight. As one of the few veteran officers left in the city with actual combat experience, Frederick was promoted to the rank of Captain and given command of the newly created 17th Reserve Company.

For several months the city held out against Varenthian assaults, praying for relief from the rest of the AEF, but it never came. Without enough men to man the factories and protect the city both, supplies eventually ran perilously low. The lower districts fell first, then the harbour, and then the fighting descended into street-by-street urban warfare until the AEF were fighting upon the steps of the Doux's palace itself. During this period Major General Steyn was killed and the fragile chain of command collapsed, forcing Doux Aten to bitterly yield Cyren to New Varenth.

In the period that followed, dubbed as 'The Occupation' by the Cyrenics who live through it, Frederick spent many months as a high-value POW in a prison camp not far from the city. Treated well given his status as both a commisioned officer and renowned businessman, Finck remained fit and healthy despite his capture. He was eventually liberated in a prison break by AEF units returning from the Xhona Valley, who had arrived too late to save the city, under the joint command of his old acquaintance Daniel Krüger and Martin Longhurst. Frederick was reinstated as commanding officer of the 17th Reserve Company, now barely a platoon strong and consisting mostly of fellow liberated prisoners of war, and fought under Krüger and Longhurst during 'The Reclamation'.

In the aftermath of the battle, and the end of the war after the crushing defeat dealt with the forces of New Varenth, Frederick formally retired from the AEF. He hung up his uniform to focus on restoring his business to that state it had been before the war and capitalised upon the deaths of several other key businessmen and politicians to place himself in the inner circle of Doux Aten. By April 1739 AE, a year after the end of the Second Bush War, Finck Inc. was in a more powerful position than it had ever been before the war and Frederick himself had been named to the Cyrenic governing council as the Minister for Business and Trade.

*For His Distinguished Service in the Alkeban Bush Wars on behalf of the Union States of Dorminia, Maj. F. W. Finck was awarded; **the King's Cross 2nd Class**, **the Cross of Distinguished Gallantry 2nd Class**, **the King's Colonial Cross 1st Class**, **the Cross of Honors,** and **the Orange Heart**.*

*For His Distinguished Service in the Name of Cyren and Her People, Maj. F. W. Finck was awarded; **the Order of Cyren 2nd Class**, **His Grace's Wheel of Distinguished Service 1st Class**, **the Doux's Cross 1st Class**, **the** **Alkeban Star of Service 2nd Class**, **Bloemfield Medal of Gallantry 2nd Class**, **Cyrenic Distinguished Honors of New Albertsville**, **Cyrenic Distinguished Honors of Simbak-Sun (Silver)**, and **the Alkeban Heart**.*

## **Coppers and** **Politics**

After the death of Doux Aten in June 1740 AE, Frederick briefly considered running for the vacant Doux office. Quickly he decided that it would be better for the company if he remained on the Doux's side rather than became the Doux himself and invited further questions upon himself concerning some of the more *adventurous* business practices employed in his factories. This led him into the camp of his old friend and newly-declared Cyrenic patriot Krüger, who was the clear favourite of the working masses.

As a hero of The Reclamation who had climbed from the bottom of the ladder to a place at Doux Aten's side, the common vote already sat firmly in Daniel's corner. When he received widespread public endorsements from both Finck and Longhurst - another such people's hero and the freshly appointed Major General of the AEF - the opposition withered before him. In a month Daniel was sworn in as Doux, with Frederick lingering in the shadows just behind him and all too ready to whisper in his ear.

This close friendship between the Doux and the head of Cyren's most lucrative industry quickly proved beneficial for both parties. At Frederick's suggestion, Daniel lifted several restrictions on Cyrenic businesses and placed heftier tariffs upon both imported and exported goods which further incentivised the local suppliers. In return, Finck Inc. provided much of the funding for the Doux's projects and infrastructural reforms. When the worker's wage was increased, it was Finck Fuel Incorporated that adopted the new baseline first and pressured its competitors into doing the same or facing the wrath of both Frederick and the common people. That was not to say that the wage increase was not also matched by a subtle pricing increase across many Finck Inc. products, but it served it's purpose well and kept the workers placated.