Gavin Dow

Gavin Dow, ca. 3076
Gavin Dow
Character Profile
Born 3007[citation needed]
Died 3091[1]
Affiliation ComStar
Position Primus

Gavin Dow was the fourteenth Primus of ComStar, holding the post during the second half of the Jihad.

History[edit]

Early life to First Circuit[edit]

Born into a rich white-collar family in the Lyran Commonwealth, despite receiving an excellent education and everything he could want from an early age, the young Gavin Dow wanted more. In his early twenties Dow joined the largest corporation of all: ComStar. [2]

Starting as an Acolyte, Dow rose through the order as an HPG administrator until the 3040s and the public unveiling of the Com Guards. Sensing a momentous shift in the direction of the Order, Dow joined the Guards and underwent MechWarrior training, but his real talent was in logistics. Dow served in the Guards during the Battle of Tukayyid, though from a Mobile HQ far from direct combat. [2]

Having been drawn to the Order less for spiritual reasons and more for its corporate and political aspects, Dow remained with the secular Order after the ComStar Schism, transferring back to the civilian branch. Trading on his Com Guards experience and previous HPG service, Dow slowly ascended the ranks, reaching the important position of Precentor Tharkad, representing and commanding all HPG stations in the Lyran Alliance on ComStar's First Circuit in 3060. [2] [3]

Precentor Martial Pro-Tem to First Precentor[edit]

One of the most outspoken opponents of Victor Steiner-Davion's selection as Precentor Martial of ComStar and Sharilar Mori's reign as Primus, Dow became the de facto leader of the loyal opposition aligned against them. After Victor temporarily stepped down as Precentor Martial to fight in the FedCom Civil War, Dow used seniority on the First Circuit and previous military experience to pressure Primus Mori into naming him Precentor Martial Pro-Tem. [2] [3]

Hoping to trade on his past service with those disaffected by Victor's promotion from outside the Com Guards, his actions during the FedCom Civil War earned him few friends in the modern Com Guards but allowed him to springboard himself into the newly created position of First Precentor in 3067, second only to the Primus and above the newly returned Victor. [2] [3]

After the Word of Blake attack on Tharkad in 3067 with Victor incommunicado, Dow pushed for immediate action and again took command of the Com Guards to launch the ill-advised Case White, successfully spinning much of the blame the disaster away from himself and toward Victor and Anastasius Focht. After the assassination of Sharilar Mori in 3068, as the most senior member on the First Circuit (and with Mori's supporters discredited by her unveiling as a House Kurita agent) Gavin Dow was elected Primus unopposed. [2] [3][4]

Primus of ComStar[edit]

Upon his elevation to Primus, Dow has publicly pledged to a skeptical Inner Sphere that under his rule that ComStar would focus on the twin goals reestablishing the HPG net and defeating the Word of Blake. [3]

While generally supportive of Devlin Stone's reforms and the formation of the Republic of the Sphere in public[5], there is some evidence that Dow and other elements of ComStar rankled at the organization's loss of power and prestige in the wake of the Jihad and actively worked to circumvent the restrictions the Republic enforced upon it.[1]

Death and Legacy[edit]

Dow would die in office in 3091, the First Circuit ultimately selecting Blakist war-hero Lisa Koenigs-Cober as his successor. [1]


Portrait Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Era Report: 3145, p. 81 "Factions - ComStar"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 75
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 206
  4. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 46
  5. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 6, "It is, as Primus Gavin Dow himself said, 'As if all of mankind can feel the kind of hope we long thought lost to the ages.'"

Bibliography[edit]