Name: Thane Ashford
Alias: Lord Ashford of Luna
Age: 35
Height: 6'4
Weight: 228lbs
Hair color: White
Eye Color: Blue
Other Notes: Psychodriver, high Orgone proficiency
Biography:
One of the most influential men on Luna, Thane Ashford made a name for himself as the discoverer of Orgone technology, and as a consequence has become one of the most powerful men on the planetoid’s surface. While the name of his House is known to all, it once wallowed in obscurity as a tertiary to House Exeter, specializing in the manufacture of generators and other power sources that were scarcely a step up from standard Terran fusion-derived devices. His birth was a matter of considerable investment due to the level of gene therapy involved, using the latest techniques available, and was scandalous enough to further lower the House's reputation for spending so much on a single human being.
Thane, unlike most Lunarians, was sent to study abroad, traveling to both Earth and the Colonies in his learning. While ostensibly worldliness makes one more empathetic, it only strengthened the young man's growing convictions that Luna was a precious place that was different, a place which deserved to be untouched by what he increasingly saw as the unwashed, uncivilized, and barbaric masses. To see the former homeland of the first Psychodrivers, Japan, afflicted with the societal ills of the age in particular left a deep impression upon him, and he resolved upon his return not to allow such blight to come to his home.
He was adjacent to Gerart Enfield during his training as a knight, and for a time the two were fast friends - a relationship that soured as Ashford, despite his intellect, found he could never quite best the more intuitive Gerart during combat, in spite of his "common blood". When Gerart was nominated to the position of "Knight of Knights", while he openly congratulated him, it would be the last time the two would ever speak for over six years, and it is believed he specifically constructed the Orgone Viper Sword as a remote weapon to overcome what he saw as his own limitations in preparation for an eventual showdown.
At age 23, he acquired an EOT Relic from Exeter that they had previously attempted to discard - a new power source, one that jeopardized their monopoly with its strength. After two years of trial-and-error experiments, the first Orgon Extractor was perfected - and in less than a year, it had completely bulldozed the competition. Ashford's Prototype Volrent made short work of the Exeter's vaunted masterpiece, the Diamd, in an much-publicized duel that would forevermore haunt the once great House's fortunes. Subsequently, Ashford became the prime supplier of Luna's military forces, constructing in secret not only the designs for the modern-day Knight Machines that are seen in its military, but the Eltram-powered Larseilam stasis field that, in his mind, was the ultimate weapon to ensure Luna's final independence from its Terran overlords.
Not one for the public eye, he mostly resides in the specially-designed Moon Cradle, a massive facility that is part luxury residence, and part bunker capable of surviving even the most torrential onslaught upon the planet's surface, building a community of like-minded ultra-elites within its walls. From there, he quietly pulls what strings he wishes, preferring to keep his name out of the public view - for true power, he understands all too well, is never what is directly seen.
Since the ascension of Queen Selene III, Thane has become something of a figurehead for those Lunar elites dissatisfied with the new Monarch's populist attitudes. While he openly proclaims complete loyalty to the Queen, he has privately been amassing support for a coup of sorts, one that will - softly, gently - correct the misguided young woman's perceptions about the world around them, and restore order to a populace that needs to be protected from the violent, envious hordes abroad.
Personality wise, he is polite and extremely well versed in the intricacies of maneuvering through the Lunarian aristocracy, simultaneously able to both strongarm potential challengers and win unlikely allies with his wealth and influence, but his personality is guarded, and his words carefully chosen. Superficially quite charming, it is something of a mystery what remains beneath, and whether or not his intentions have remained true to their boyhood origins, or have fallen prey to the cynical lust for power that has already consumed so many of his peers.
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