Sean O'Reilly

Sean O'Reilly
Sean O'Reilly
Personal
Born3016[1]
Died8 August 3063[2]
AffiliationHouse O'Reilly
Career
Title(s)Caesar
ProfessionNoble
Family
ParentsMarius O'Reilly (father)[1]
SiblingsLivia O'Reilly[3]
SpouseAurelia Davidson (concubine)[4]
Lydia Humphreys (concubine)[4]
ChildrenJulius O'Reilly[5]
Marcus O'Reilly[4]
Trajan O'Reilly[4]

Sean O'Reilly was the fourth ruler of the Marian Hegemony.

History[edit]

Academy[edit]

Sean entered the new Collegium Bellorum Imperium in 3032 as part of the first MechWarrior class, graduating in 3035. For the next five years, Sean "sowed his wild oats" according to his father: gambling, dueling, and fraternizing. By 3040 and the birth of his son, Julius, Imperator Marius wished to give his son responsibility in the realm. An ambitious colonization program was to be headed by Sean, who spent the next two years preparing for the project. Unknown to his father, Sean began skimming appropriations for his own uses, and had squandered much of it on gambling and mistresses.[6]

Discovered[edit]

Through 3046, the colonization continued without issue, until Imperator Marius stumbled upon his son's activities. Sean refused his father's order of restitution but acquiesced when Marius threatened to give his grandson Julius the throne instead. Sean promised to repay the state from his personal accounts and cut all ties with his most expensive mistresses, after which Marius confirmed Sean's place in the line of succession. Privately, both men remained suspicious, and Sean feared his father would again disinherit him from the Imperatorship, so he began to cull favor among the First Marian Legion, his military posting.[6]

Caesar[edit]

Imperator Marius O'Reilly died in 3048 in a climbing accident during a colonial visit to Herculaneum. Sean was suspected, but as his first act, he called for ten days of mourning for his father after renaming the planet in his honor. Sean took leadership of the government and promised a new destiny for the nation. As the new ruler, he named himself the first of the Caesars while strengthening the Marian Hegemony's Romanesque trappings. Caesar Sean increased the size of the Marian military, anchored by his allies in the I Legio, and silenced political opponents that could speak against him.[1][6][7]

Lothian Worlds[edit]

While the Inner Sphere focused on the Clans threat in the early 3050s, the Marian Hegemony was safe from the invasion on the other side of the civilized space. The Magistracy of Canopus attempted to recruit the Caesar to a Periphery-wide alliance, but Sean rebuffed them and made the proposal public attempting to embarrass the Magestrix. Instead, Caesar Sean focused on the Lothian League. Beginning in 3052, privateers and small raiding units wore down Lothian mercenary defenders for nearly two years, until 3054. For over a year Dame Lorelei Logan and her daughter hired more mercenaries and led the Home Guard against the Marian assault. Protector Thomas Calderon refused to reinforce the Lothians with Taurian troops, citing a phantom Federated Commonwealth attack, and Caesar O'Reilly personally led the final attack on Lordinax. Liesel Logan was killed while the Caesar landed on Lothario, the former Lothian League capital, though Grand Mistress Logan and her family had vanished.[8]

Word of Blake Ties[edit]

In mid-3057, renewed infighting between the various city-states on the independent world of Astrokaszy gave Sean an opportunity to begin a new round of Marian conquests. Although O'Reilly was supported by the Word of Blake faction known as the Sixth of June, the sudden arrival of the veteran mercenary unit Avanti's Angels, funded by the Magistracy of Canopus, prevented the planet from falling to the Hegemony.[9]

Heir to the Throne[edit]

Sean's son Julius was assigned to the I Legio following his graduation from the Collegium Bellorum Imperium. For most of the Hegemony's history, the First Legion was the elite force of the MHAF and fanatically loyal to the Caesar, and the Imperator before them.[10] Its position on Alphard has long given officers chances to rub elbows with influential politicians, however, and Sean feared Senators and forces opposed to his rule were able to impart their influence on the young heir. Caesar Sean had him moved to II Legio on Lordinax and gave Julius the opportunity to grow into a leader or sideline him, either was acceptable. Julius soon captured Elena Logan, the leader of the resistance, but instead of executing her, Julius integrated her into his staff. Julius took the Second and Fourth Legion and the Third Legion's First and Third Cohorts to conquer the Illyrian Palatinate.[11][9][12]

For the Crown[edit]

In late July 3063, flush with his own success, Julius then turned completely against his father, backed by the Marian Senate. Julius returned from Illyria, and detailed the failings of his father, even before his time as Caesar. Sean responded from inside the palace and declared his son a traitor and ordered his First Legion to put down the rebellion. Less than half complied. Those who followed their lord's orders were quickly defeated, already surrounded as they stepped out of the palace, with only eight members of the Prima Cohors surviving.[10] Julius marched to the throne room at the palace with a half-century of his most loyal bodyguards and the Senate to challenge his father to his face. Caesar Sean leaped at his son in either a fit of rage or a final test for his son. Julius impaled his father with his sword and became Caesar the next day, 9 August 3063.[12][13]

Concubines, Mistresses, and Children[edit]

Sean O'Reilly had numerous mistresses and concubines throughout his life. He had at least three sons by three of the women. All three were given a wing of the Imperial residence on Alphard along with their sons.[4] His heir, Julius, contradicted his father while at the Collegium Bellorum Imperium regarding the loyalty of General Ambrose Kelly. Though Kelly turned out to be a ComStar plant, and the feud reportedly planned to sour the O'Reilly's relationship,[14] Caesar Sean gave in to the wishes of his young son. The incident was the first of many between the two,[8] eventually leading to his death.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Era Report: 3062, p. 90: "Sean O'Reilly"
  2. ↑ Field Manual: Periphery, p. 72: "Crowning Achievement"
  3. ↑ Handbook: Major Periphery States, pp. 161–162: "Alphard Trading Corporation"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The Periphery, Second Edition, p. 56: "Sean's Accession"
  5. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 91: "Julius O'Reilly"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The Periphery, Second Edition, p. 54
  7. ↑ Field Manual: Periphery, p. 70: "Nova Roma"
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Periphery, 2nd Edition, p. 58: The Caesar and His Heir"
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Field Manual: Periphery, pp. 70–71: "Empire Building"
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Field Manual: Periphery, p. 77: "Praetorian Guard"
  11. ↑ Tactical Operations, Advanced Rules, pp. 12–15: "The Efficiency of Rome"
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, pp. 194–197
  13. ↑ Field Manual: Periphery, p. 72: "Crowning Achievement"
  14. ↑ Field Manual: Periphery, p. 69

Bibliography[edit]

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