Richard Humphreys (31st c.)

Richard Humphreys (b. 2998 - d. ???) was the fifth of six children (and youngest son) of Dame Catherine Humphreys of the Duchy of Andurien.

He became father of Dalma Humphreys, the future leader of Andurien and House Humphreys, at a very young age, though it remains unclear in what year exactly Dalma was born.

Just before the Andurien Secession, Richard—Dame Humphreys' only unmarried son—was supposed to marry Emma Centrella, daughter to the Magestrix of the Magistracy of Canopus. However, the wedding fell through, reportedly because of a mutual hatred between Richard and Emma; Richard was unflatteringly described as a playboy and hedonist with little aptitude for a political, military or scientific career who seduced a succession of women with his looks and family connections.

Apocryphal Content Starts

The information after this notice comes from apocryphal sources; the canonicity of such information is uncertain.
Please view the reference page for information regarding their canonicity.

According to the (apocryphal) German-only novels Präludium and Gier, Richard was in truth a calm, intelligent, gentlemanly, charismatic and resourceful person, and a capable leader if the situation required it; his poor reputation including his playboy image was just an act.

When Richard's childhood love Elala Cisne was pregnant with Dalma in ca. 3029, they planned an illegal abortion but were found out. Dame Catherine subsequently raised Dalma like her own child. Richard and Elala were sent into exile separately, leading to a very cool relationship between Richard and his mother. He made it his life's quest to reunite with Elala.

Richard was recalled from exile to marry Emma, and made a lasting impression on her; however, he was straightforward in that he was in love with Elala and would only marry Emma for political reasons. They became friends nonetheless (with Emma hoping for more) and, unwilling to enter a purely political marriage, engineered a faux scandal that established both Richard's playboy image and their supposed mutual dislike. During the Andurien Wars they had infrequent contact and it was ultimately Emma who helped Richard find Elala on Andarmax. Here, Richard found out that Elala, by now exiled from Andurien and her child for a decade, had become a full Capellan Confederation citizen, had married another man, had recently joined a nationalistic Capellan sect, and rejected Richard. It was Emma who rescued a heartbroken and heavily drugged Richard from the clutches of the sect after he had joined them to be with Elala.

Although they remained on friendly terms, Richard and Emma went separate ways afterwards, while Elala went to live in the Confederation with her husband.

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After the Andurien Wars, Richard Humphreys maintained a very low profile. He technically stood to inherit the Duchy of Andurien from his mother, who died just after the Duchy had been re-conquered by the Free Worlds League. However, following the war the Duchy was put under a federally appointed governor until 3048. In that year, Richard's daughter Dalma resumed Humphreys' authority over Andurien, while Richard had faded into obscurity by that time. In fact, the Humphreys clan had effectively forced him into seclusion because he was too close to the "Canopus affair", the Andurien/Canopus alliance and joint attack on the Confederation in the wake of the Andurien secession.

It was alleged that Richard Humphreys played a role and demonstrated his ambitions in the short-lived Styk Commonality, which received support from House Humphreys of Andurien simply to oppose House Marik.

Richard Humphreys apparently had at least one other child, Dalma's brother Steven Humphreys. Rumors also suggested that Dalma Humphreys and Emma Centrella's daughter Danai were in fact half-sisters.

Bibliography

• Era Report: 3145
• Field Manual: 3085
• Gier
• Historical: Brush Wars
• House Marik (The Free Worlds League)
• Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers
• Präludium
• Shattered Sphere