Ari Humphreys

Ari Humphreys is the current Duke of Andurien and generally regarded as quite a terrible individual, willing to do anything to get more power. Strangely enough, this persona of his comes from simply taking advantage of the opportunities given to him since his marriage to Ilsa Centrella (internal) in 3137. A politician by birth and by trade, Ari Humphreys jumps on any opportunity given to him in order to actually give him more time for his true passion: the 20^th century singer-songwriter, actor and musician David Bowie.

An unnatural obsession

Ari’s mother, Evelyn Humphreys, honestly believed that her child could never take over after her, trying until the last moment possible to have a second child. Ari’s obsession with 20^th century musicians, especially Bowie, was leading him weird paths. He made up tribute bands, trying his own hand at songwriting (which he was quite decent at, all things considered) and even making a trip to Terra to visit the grave of his idol.

After succeeding his mother in 3120, Ari did show exceptional leadership, which he developed trying to “wrangle cats” with bands and artists in the 37 years of his life. Duke Humphreys had also built a network of “friends” throughout the Inner Sphere, starting with Fontaine Brett-Marik (Internal), Siobhan Sortek (internal) and Garner Kerensky, all of whom were members of his “informal formal fanclub of 20^th century music”. While a lot of pundits called him, “boring and unremarkable”, people more in the know realized just how silly, yet effective, his alliance building techniques were.

Marriage and expansion

Ari Humphreys had not been careful in his love life, however, having sired a few bastards, none of which the Duchy wanted to recognize as a rightful heir. In 3137, Ari Humphreys officially married another apparent bachelorette for life in Ilsa Centrella, already 20 years his elder. While Ari grew to love Ilsa, his feelings were not really reciprocated. Thankfully, it did allow Ari Humphreys to name one of his illegitimate children, David (obviously), as his heir.

Operation TRIUMVIR and Operation REBOUND grew the Duchy of Andurien quite a bit. Both of these were opportunistic times for the Duke, who was also pushed to action by his wife. During that time, Maskirovka operatives were often found and removed from the surrounding of the duke and military leadership of the Andurien Defense Forces. Even with Ari’s feelings toward Ilsa Centrella, it was clear she was only using him to grow her influence, along with the influence of her brother (internal).

War for Terra, part 3

As the Wall fell around Terra, the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces made their move to defeat the Wolves. Daoshen Liao sent a demand to Ari Humphreys, telling him to not take any actions against the Capellan state. While smiling and accepting, Ari Humphreys made sure to have diplomats on Liao worlds ask for secession as soon as possible. Humphreys could not trust his wife or her brother to not harm Andurien anymore, and began operations to strengthen their military forces, starting a project to build multiple Eagle–class frigates.

Having followed suite with his wife’s plan to destabilize the other rim ward periphery powers, Ari Humphreys had lost whatever goodwill he had with them. Minor conflicts with the Froncian and Aurigan allowed the Andurien Defense Force to be kept in peak condition and operational readiness, ready for the incoming Liao offensive which Humphreys fully expected once Daoshen crushed the Wolves.

But it never came. The CCAF was thoroughly beat by the New Star League, and his brother-in-law was driven mad by the death of his younger sister, Danai (internal). Ilsa Centrella-Liao staked her claim to the Capellan throne but was rebuffed by one of her grand-nephew being raised to the position.

Fall of a Magistracy

Ilsa Centrella became sick after the announcement of being passed over as Chancellor. Ari Humphreys took the first JumpShip train to Canopus. There, he spent the last month of Ilsa Centrella’s life at her side, surrounded by bouts of insanity, delusions and violence. The general population of the Magistracy of Canopus regarded him almost like a saint during that period, with him also giving a charity concert (with a David Bowie tribute band) to raise funds for Alzheimer’s awareness and treatments.

Ilsa Centrella finally passed after having mistaken Ari Humphreys for the one love of her life, Daoshen Liao. In a 6 hours bout of delusion, she revealed every criminal enterprise the Magistracy was doing both to enrich itself and to make the Capellan Confederation stronger. Drug trade, slavery, human trafficking and several war crimes were mentioned to an impassible Ari Humphreys, who was recording the whole interview. Things came to a head when Ilsa Centrella revealed the parentage of Danai Liao, which many say is what broke Ari Humphreys.

After Ilsa’s death, Ari Humphreys leaked the taped interview to multiple media outlets after claiming the throne of Canopus against the Central Committee’s decision of Isolde Centrella (internal) to be the next Magestrix. As Ari Humphreys returned to Andurien, the Andurien Defense Force was mobilized against the Magistracy of Canopus in a war of liberation and law-bringing.

Recent development

As his fight against his former wife’s realm is ongoing, Ari Humphreys has petitioned the New Star League to become at least a client state of their organization. Understanding his precarious position, Duke Humphreys does not want to be caught in a fight with the Capellan Confederation, any of the Star League Clans or the Rimward Alliance.

The Duchy of Andurien is aware of a foreign power supporting the Magistracy of Canopus, but have been unable to locate who, and through contacts with old friends, Ari Humphreys has managed to rule out any of the main Inner Sphere powers.