Antoine Nouveau

Antoine Nouveau de Fontaine
Culture	Fontanian-Diryn
Religion	Non-denominational
Gender	Male
Race	Water Spirit
Ethnicity	Fontanian-Diryn
Nationality	Sanean
Title(s)	High Councilor Nouveau Praepositus of Fontaine Son of Lunaqua (Former) His excellency, Chief Justice Nouveau (Former) Chief Justice of Sanéa (Former) Senator Nouveau (Former) Prefect of Fontaine (Former) Prefect Nouveau
Age
Birth	Born in the village of Sferracavallo to a Diryn father and Proto-Fontanian mother.
Death	{{{death}}}
Player	Joaobr34

Antoine Nouveau de Fontaine is a member of the High Council of Sol in the Diryn Imperium. He was a Sanéan politician and the Chief Justice of Sanéa for all of it's history. He was famously the leader and founder of the Reformist Party of Sanéa and pioneer of Sanéa's judicial system. He is also the founder of the city of Fontaine in southern Dirynum.

Early life

Antoine and his sister, Maria, were born in the small village of Sferracavallo before it became a part of any organized state. Their father, a Diryn, died while rescuing Testifikans from a house fire when he was only four years old. This forced their mother, a Proto-Fontanian (a group of people originating from the far east beyond Cinder), to raise the young Antoine and Maria by herself. When Antoine reached the age of 7, him, his sister, his mother moved to the city of Palermo in what at the time was the Duchy of Dyrenar. It was in Palermo that Antoine began to grow an interest in the areas of law, politics, history, science, and the arts. His mother, through her incredible and cunning wit, managed to rise her and her children to the rank of nobility within the duchy. This allowed Antoine to have unfettered access to be best forms of education available in the duchy.

Antoine was largely considered a polymath, easily understanding a variety of topics and even being able to expand upon all of them. By the age of 11 he was fluent in Diryn, Danuvian, Fontanian, Barbacenan, and Ritannian. He was respected by his professors and classmates alike for his great intelligence and compassion for a noble. But Antoine's life would come crashing down when he was 13. Another fire would wreak havoc in Antoine's life as he was stuck inside of his family's burning manor. When all seemed bleak and he felt as if death had reached him, his mother ran to him and shield him from the fire. This act caused a bright flash of light to overtake the night sky and soon after a sudden torrential rain poured down on the city completely putting out the fire. Antoine's mother had been the successor to the divine title of Lunaqua without her ever knowing, and her selfless sacrifice and undying desire to protect her son unleashed her divinity. But, due to her becoming a divine being, she was no longer allowed to live among mortals for extended periods of time, therefore she was forced to leave her 13 year old son alone in an unforgiving world. Additionally, as a side effect of Lunaqua's powers being unleashed so close to Antoine, he was stripped of his humanity and turned into a being of pure water capable of taking on any shape and hydrokinesis.

After those events, Antoine went through a long period of depression. Due to losing both his father and mother to fires, Antoine became antagonistic towards fire and deities that ruled it. Antoine was never the same after this event, some say this is what brought about his snarky attitude. But, despite all his suffering, Antoine kept going and succeeding, eventually graduating from Tintorini University at the age of 17 with a major in political science. After graduating he would resume his role as the head of House Nouveau and begin to truly establish himself in the world stage.

Career

Dirynum

Founding of Fontaine

After coming back from Tintorini, Antoine decided to leave Palermo and establish a new city based on Diryn and Fontanian cultures and ideals. He would found the city Fontaine at the southern most point of the Vita River where a small Testifikan village lied. With financial assistance from Palermo and support from his friends Sol Aureus and Gabriel Dante, Antoine began the creation of a great city. Gabriel specifically began to live in Fontaine being the chief architect in the construction of the Cathedral of Fontaine.

Overthrow of Quentin Kazymir

Antoine Nouveau and Duke Quentin Kazymir during the Duke's trial

What is probably Antoine's greatest early achievement: he was chosen to be the judge during the trial of Duke Quentin Kazymir. Though Antoine had his personal grievances with the Duke, Antoine knew that honesty and justice were crucial in the court of law and that a new Diryn nation could not be founded on a foundation of lies. That is why he promised himself to hereinafter to never allow for his personal bias to affect his judgement and that his decision would be purely based on the arguments presented at trial.

The trial proved to be a tense and long ordeal. The stakes could not be higher. As prosecutor Dante presented her arguments and Duke Kazymir defended his dignity, Antoine watched and listened to every detail formulating a decision based on every word and action made by the two individuals. The events of the trial were televised and reported throughout all of Cinder, the world stood still waiting for Antoine's decision. In the end, Duke Kazymir was declared guilty on all accounts and sentenced to death. The Duke would soon be executed publicly by guillotine as spectators from all over Cinder watched. In these events, Antoine found himself as the judge, jury, and executioner.

“But, before we start, I’d like to welcome you all here today to witness, in this great hall of justice, the full might of the majesty of justice, for justice is blind and does not see class or titles, it does not see wealth or power, all are equal in the presence of justice. Today, as the Duke of Dyrenar is brought to trial, will be a shining example of the power and might of justice and the law.” - Antoine Nouveau

Chief Justice of Dirynum and Minister of the Interior

After the overthrow of Kazymir, a new duke was selected: Cyrus the Benevolent. The new duke gathered all the noble houses of Dirynum and built from the old regime a new and even more powerful Diryn state. From these gatherings, Antoine found himself with the positions of Chief Justice and Minister of the Interior. This would mark the first time Antoine held political positions. This period was rather uneventful for Antoine, with Sol Aureus and Cyrus taking most of the international spotlight, but Antoine was content with bidding his time.

Sanéa

Unification of Sanéa

On the 12th of March, 2024, a proposal was brought to the Diryn Government by the Messinians for the unification of the two states. The noble houses of Dirynum were called together by the Duke to discuss whether or not to go forward with the unification. Antoine was highly skeptical of Messinia, viewing them as imperialistic in nature, and felt that this unification would leave the Diryn people as a junior partner in this new state. But, after assurances from Duke Cyrus, Antoine said he would accept the unification and sign the constitution if Fontaine was promised its autonomy as a thema. The Constitution of Sanea was ratified on the 17th after the last remaining signatures (Nouveau, Aitherós, and Virentila) were acquired.

The First Reign

During the first reign (the period of rule between Cyrus the Benevolent and Tarasius of Ephesus), Antoine began to become a very active political figure: winning a seat in the senate, passing the commonwealth's first amendment, and being appointed as Sanea's first Chief Justice. Antoine quickly rose as one of Sanéa's most prominent political figures. It was also during this period that the first Supreme Court case, Thematic Duty V. Haartmann, took place. The first reign was marked by political infancy, with the government more focused on polishing the system than bringing about change.

The Second Reign

The Second Reign was brought about by the death of Diarch Tarasius and the ascension of Luis Kazymir (cousin of Quentin Kazymir) to the throne. During this period, Antoine became one of Sanea's two most prominent politicians along with Ivan Elvstrøm. Soon after the ascension of the Liberal and Golden Eagle parties, Antoine founded the Reformist Party of Sanéa, a party built on the principles of equality, cooperation, collectivization, democracy, and monarchy. The early period of the second reign was marked by rising political division within the commonwealth, especially between the Liberal and Reformist parties. The Golden Eagle movement was disbanded after its founder, Licht Kalradoi, left to found the Empire of Ashannar. This left Sanea's political stage split into only two parties until the formation of the Freedom and Solidarity Party by Bca.

The second Senéan elections ended with a Reformist sweep with them receiving 58% of the vote, the FSP receiving 25%, and the Liberals receiving 17%. Despite the clear popular support for the Reformist Party, they only received two seats in the senate. Antoine, understanding the problems brought about by political division, decided to nominate Bca to the candidacy of Consul believing her to be a neutral party in the Reformist Liberal divide. With the support of the Reformists, Bca became Sanéa's third consul. Her consulship had a shaky start as she became severely sick soon after being elected leaving her unable to carry out her duties. This was the first signs of the inefficiency of Sanéa's current system and Antoine was fully intent on fixing it. After Bca's recovery, her consulship was mostly calm and served the purpose it was meant for with bipartisan cooperation becoming increasingly common.

The Sanéan State and Inefficiency

Half way through of Bca's administration, Consul Bca (again) and Diarch Cyrus both came under serious afflictions and were bed ridden for many months. In those months a crisis emerged that would shift the course of Sanéa forever.

On that fated day, Sprusius Aemilianus overthrew the rule of Aleksy Zerzan in the Lendisti Tribe. In response, Zerzan fled to Sanéa and the Sanéan government scrambled to figure out what to do. With the Consul and the Diarch both unable to discharge their duties, the Sanéan government was left at a gridlock with no way to function. In this chaos, an emergency council was formed between the Senate and Diarch Cyrus who was able to communicate with the council via letters. Despite the formation of the council, Sanéa's government still couldn't deal with the absence of its heads of state and government. When all seemed bleak, the government looked to the only person left to take charge in this crisis: Antoine.

Le Dictateur

Dictator. That's the word historians refer to Antoine during the crisis. When thrust into that office, Antoine was not ready to lead the greatest empire the world had seen at the time, but he knew that didn't matter, he knew that his nation needed him and he was not going to let it down in its most vulnerable moment.

Three days after Zerzan was overthrown, Antoine declared all Lendistis enemies of the state. This declaration has been met with much scrutiny by historians as it caused for the arrest and expulsion of thousands of Lendistis from major Sanéan cities. A week after that, in response to the murder of innocent civilians by Aemilianus and his forces, Antoine declared war on the Lendisti Tribe declaring a full state of national mobilization.

"Earlier this week, the Lendisti revealed to the world a new level to their depravity and violence, brutally attacking three of our countrymen. We, the Sanean government, in response to this transgression declare war on the Lendisti Tribe. We will depose the illegitimate rule of Aemilianus and bring back order to the Lendisti! Aemilianus fancies himself a revolutionary and leader of the people. In truth all he is is a weak and frail shell of a man. We willl show that decadent fool what it means to fight a superpower."- Antoine Nouveau

Zerzan, The Coward Chief who this entire war was for, refused to volunteer for the fight. In response, the emergency council voted to force Zerzan to fight for his throne and his people. But, instead of fighting, The Coward Chief fled to the Crescent Union and left his people who he claimed to love. Two people forced to fight. One decided to fight for the security of his people and the liberation of another, while the other decided flee his duty.

"Zerzan drags us into his pointless war and then is too spineless to fight. He is a coward not deserving of his throne or his people."- Antoine Nouveau

The War

The declaration of war and mobilization brought about unprecedented cooperation and industrial output between the Sanéan Themas. In just a month, while holding off incursions and raids by Aemilianus and his forces, Sanéa had mobilized and equipped a formidable fighting force. The army was led by Senator Chrassus, Senator Haartmann, and Antoine.

When battle came, the tribal Lendisti forces and the Sanéan Army met in the outskirts of the Kothmirian Swamps. After a tense standoff, the battle started. Chrassus, Hartmann, and Antoine all led the army while pursuing Aemilianus through the fighting. Eventually the three, and Hartmann's bodyguard Ollie, would catch up to Aemilianus. Aemilianus proved himself as a skilled fighter and military leader, holding off all four of them at the same time. But, it was only a matter of time when he would succumb to fatigue. He was able to deal a powerful blow to Senator Chrassus before Antoine dealt him the same. Aemilianus, now to weak to stand and his army being slaughtered, surrendered and was arrested.

The Trial

Sanéa News coverage of the trial. Antoine sits at his stand as Scarlet looks in from a window.

A few days after the battle, Aemilianus was brought to trial by Sanéan government. He was charged with four counts of violating Article 8.1 of the Sanéan Constitution, one count of domestic terrorism, one count of violating Article II of the Nouveauan Amendment.

Antoine served his role as Chief Justice. The Coward Chief, Zerzan, somehow reaching never before seen heights in cowardice, served as the attorney for Aemilianus, the very man that overthrew The Coward Chief. In the prosecution was Apollo Sunsmith, Geno Rodolfus, and Dante. Despite Zerzan's best efforts, he could not beat the mountains of evidence brought against Aemilianus. Finally, Antoine declared Aemilianus guilty of the four counts of violating Article 8.1 and one count of domestic terrorism and innocent on one count of violating Article II of the Nouveauan Amendment. Aemilianus would be sentenced to death and executed soon after.