Editing Kalvin Liao

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Kalvin Liao HLTCC.jpg
| caption             = Portrait of Kalvin Liao
| name                = Kalvin Liao
| birthdate           = [[2492]]<ref>''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'' - Liao Family Tree</ref>
| died                = 13 March [[2530]]
| othernames          = "The Mad"
| affiliation         = [[House Liao]]
| profession          = [[Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation|Chancellor]]
| parents             = [[Raxal Liao]]
| siblings            = [[Mica Liao]]
| spouse              = [[Ariana Calderon]]
| children            = [[Terrence Liao]] (illegitimate)
}}
'''Kalvin Liao''', nicknamed "The Mad" and "The Devourer", was a Chancellor of the [[Capellan Confederation]] during the [[Age of War]]. Often cited as the archetype of the Capellan "Mad Chancellor", his reign was characterized by bloody purges and costly foreign wars.<ref name=HLTCC_p39>''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'', p. 39</ref>

==History==
===Early Life===
Coming to power after decades of peace and prosperity in [[2520]], the handsome and intelligent Kalvin Liao was considered to be a portent of a better future. One of the first accomplished MechWarriors at the age of 28, he had styled himself as protector of the weak.<ref name=HLTCC_p36>''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'', pp. 36–38</ref>

===Corruption===
Upon assuming the throne of the Capellan Confederation from his uncle [[Hendrik Liao|Hendrik]], he quickly discarded the congenial mask he had worn all his life, and used his position to indulge himself in all kinds of vices.

To further his own personal wealth, he used the [[Maskirovka]] to investigate wealthy nobles for treason. Upon acquiring or manufacturing such evidence, the noble would be quickly murdered or blackmailed out of his fortune, which would be added to the Chancellor's personal fund. Still not satisfied, he established the Courts of Philosophical Inquiry to help with his personal crusade against "traitors" (which would eventually include his own father). One of their first victims was his predecessor, Hendrik Liao. Denounced by the [[Duke of St. Ives]] and judged guilty by manufactured evidence, Kalvin had his uncle killed not even two years after assuming chancellorship.<ref name=HLTCC_p36 />

A failed assassination attempt by a young noble from [[Nanking]] in [[2523]] gave Kalvin Liao an excuse to grab even more power. After publicly drawing and quartering the would-be assassin, the Chancellor's ire turned against possible coconspirators. The same year, assorted mercenaries killed 10% of the [[Dictionary#H|House of Scions]], who Kalvin held responsible for the assassination attempt. A year later, the House was closed altogether, and finally in [[2525]] the paranoid Chancellor deeply cut the rights of all Capellan nobles, instead instituting a military government, the Diem, which was only answerable to him.<ref name=HLTCC_p36 />

===Foreign Wars===
In [[2518]], Kalvin Liao was introduced to [[Mesillia Allard]], daughter of the [[Duke of Andurien]], during a state visit. While Mesillia was largely unimpressed by Kalvin, he in turn became obsessed with her. Although he kept his obsession secret until his assumption of the throne, after his rise to the post of Chancellor he immediately started bombarding the Duke of Andurien with marriage proposals. Despite several hundred of them asking - and some demanding - the hand of his daughter, the Duke refused them all.

Frustrated by his lack of progress, Kalvin Liao forced through a decree legalizing polygamy and distracted himself with marrying his first three wives. By [[2527]], he had married twenty-six women, including [[Ariana Calderon]], daughter of the Protector of the Taurian Concordat. His unrelenting courtship of Mesillia remained unsuccessful however, and in a manic fit the increasingly unstable Chancellor ordered all his wives executed for treason. Enraged, the Concordat attacked Capellan border worlds in a bloody series of raids known as [[Ariana's War]].<ref name=TPSB_p20>''The Periphery'' (First Edition), p. 20</ref>

Finally fed up with his unrequited courtship, Kalvin Liao launched the [[Second Andurien War]] in [[2528]] in a mad attempt to win both Mesillia Allard and Andurien.

===Death and Legacy===
As the Second Andurien War escalated into a dozen more systems and Mesillia disappeared during the fighting on Andurien, Kalvin's mental health deteriorated further. His reign of terror was finally ended at the hand of one of his own guards, a [[Red Lancers|Red Lancer]] on March 13 [[2530]]. It would be up to Kalvin's sister Mica who had lived in exile to pick up the pieces.<ref name=HLTCC_p39 />

==Quotes==
{{Quote|''When children play, you often give them toys or shiny ornaments to hold their attention while the adults decide what happens. And thus you get the House of Scions…''|Chancellor Kalvin Liao<ref name="HB:HLp93">''Handbook: House Liao'', p. 93: "The House Of Scions"</ref>}}

{{Quote|''Morality be damned...ain't I got the power!''|Kalvin Liao, [[2525]]<ref name="HL(TCC)p36">''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'', p. 36: "Kalvin The Devourer"</ref>}}

==Notes==
[[The Periphery (sourcebook)|''The Periphery'' (First Edition)]] implies that [[Ariana Calderon]] was Kalvin's first wife, but ''[[House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)]]'' indicates she may have been one of his first three wives.  There is no record of any children by these wives surviving.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Handbook: House Liao]]''
* ''[[House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)]]''
* ''[[Paladin (short story)]]''
* ''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)]]''

[[Category:Capellan Confederation Characters|Liao, Kalvin]]