Ewan Marik

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Ewan Marik.jpg
Ewan Marik
Character Profile
Born 2714
Died 2769
Affiliation House Marik
Profession Captain-General of the Free Worlds League
Parents Bertram Marik (father)
Children Kenyon Marik

Ewan Marik (born 2714 - died 2769), was the Duke of Atreus and the 33rd Captain-General of the Free Worlds League.[1][2] A brutal drunkard, his disrespectful behavior antagonized other national leaders, and his rash policies contributed to the eventual downfall of the Star League.[3]

Biography

Early Life and Fatherhood

Born in 2714, Ewan Marik was the only child of Bertram Marik. He served as an officer in the Marik Militia prior to his Captain-Generalcy. During this time he became known for resolving disputes through the simple expedient of beating any opponent - including superior officers - into unconsciousness. As a result Ewan spent more time in a jail cell than in his barracks, and made little effort to prepare for succeeding his father as Captain-General.[4]

It was while on leave from the Marik Militia that Ewan sired his son and heir. Impregnating a woman during a night of heavy drinking, the child's mother convinced Ewan to marry her and thus legitimize their future child. After the boy, named Kenyon, was born, the mother was swiftly moved to a new colony world on the Canopian border. This was just the first of several acts that led to a lifelong rift between Ewan and his son. Later Ewan would brutally assault Kenyon after the latter's defeat during a war game, breaking his ribs and jaw.[5]

Captain-General

One incident I'll never forget occurred when Marik, unable to arrive at a Star League meeting due to a mechanical malfunction, accepted a lift in a Davion JumpShip. Richard Cameron, the four other House leaders, and I were there to greet him. I remember his remarks on his arrival.

"Well, 'First Lord', you and your puppet Kerensky will be pleased that I had a miserable time on that Davion tub coming here. They're as badly serviced as a Kurita brothel and as ugly as a Capellan whore, eh, gentlemen? Oh, but of course Lady Steiner wouldn't know about such things."

In three sentences, Ewan Marik managed to insult each of the other four House leaders, plus the First Lord and myself, without even having removed his jacket.

  — From Twilight of Courage: The Memoirs of General Aleksandr Kerenksy[6]

Upon Bertram Marik's death in 2746, Ewan succeeded his father as Captain-General of the Free Worlds League. It was not long before he began antagonizing his fellow House Lords on the Star League Council, and took a particular dislike to Michael Steiner, whom he considered an effeminate dandy.[7] Constantly referring to Michael as "Lady Steiner" or "Clean-Hands Michael", Ewan also precipitated a real crisis between their two realms with his high-handed behavior during the Phecda incident of March 2749. When Lyran ships damaged a League trading vessel wrongly suspected of smuggling narcotics, Ewan's public demands for reparations and veiled threats nearly triggered a border war before a Star League fleet arrived in the region to defuse the crisis. While his conduct troubled many in the League, the Marik Civil War remained fresh in recent memory, and so no serious move was made to depose him.[7][2]

Ewan's relations with the other House lords were little better, and his contributions in Council meetings generally consisted of insults, disruptions, and bragging of his drunken escapades.[2] Only with the Draconis Combine's Coordinator Minoru Kurita did Ewan have anything resembling a friendly relationship, simply because the two men aided one another in advancing their interests at the expense of their enemies. Thus when Minoru introduced a motion to repeal the Council Edict of 2650, allowing the House Lords to dramatically increase their military strength, Ewan fully supported the move.[3]

Ewan's own addendum to Minoru's measure was to propose a new tax to be levied upon the Territorial States, to pay for this rearmament. Despite the unrest that the new levy provoked across the Periphery, Ewan was pleased with the outcome, believing that several "little brushfire wars" would keep Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky too busy to collude with his old friend Michael Steiner against him.[7] Though he did not live to see it, Ewan's spiteful measure would contribute to the Star League's eventual collapse.

After 2759, Ewan's alcoholism led to several debilitating ailments that would cost him his life. His last act as Council Lord was to vote against Richard Cameron's Executive Order 156, thus preserving the Free Worlds League Military from disbandment. Nine months later he died, allowing his vastly more competent and tactful son Kenyon to succeed him as Captain-General.[8]

Quotes

Suppose there are five piranhas in a tank, and two of them attack each other. Is either one the friend of the other three?
  — Ewan Marik, in a Star League Council meeting[9]

Title and Position

Preceded by Captain-General of the Free Worlds League
2746[2] - 2763[2]
Succeeded by

References

  1. Handbook House Marik, p. 89
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Era Report: 2750, pp. 75-76, "Ewan Marik Profile"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Handbook House Marik, p. 30, "Ewan Marik - Malice Afterthought"
  4. Era Report: 2750, p. 75, "Ewan Marik"
  5. Era Report: 2750, p. 76, "Kenyon Marik"
  6. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 26, "Ewan's Diplomacy"
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 26
  8. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 27
  9. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 27, "Civil War"

Bibliography