Hierarch Helre is the leader, and first true Hierarch, of the
Mewei Domain in the 151st Cycle. She is a cautious and wise leader, with characterically slow and precise speech. She is devout to the World-Goddess and her agenda revolves around the protection of
Nufano as well as the consolidation of Mewei society - even at the cost of the technological supremacy that characterized the Mewei before the
Great Jump.
Before becoming Hierarch, Helre maintained a small shrine in the vicinity of the Astropolis, where she trained several healers. She was known then for shunning technological arcane devices in favour of a simpler, cruder, nature-attuned style of spellcasting which few came to replicate. She truly came to prominence after being announced as the new Hierarch, following the death of Matriarch Lynne.
Despite her beliefs in technological temperance, one of her first acts was to decree the creation of the Force-Shield, the point-defence system which protects Nufano from unauthorized atmospheric landings. Unlike
Matriarch Lynne, Hierarch Helre has always favoured a worldview where the Mewei are self-sufficient and stand alone. Soon after, she signed the Wood Tax - a fee levied upon non-Mewei ships in Mewei space - into being. Later on, she called back the great expeditions that scoured Nufano for possible new colony sites after the discovery of the
Pyre-City of Kildare upon the recommendation of Matriarch Yulia. Officially, she was concerned with the possibility that wanton expansion beyond the grasp of an overstretched Domain would lead to maltech being discovered and potentially harming Nufano or the Mewei community.
Hierarch Helre has been challenged at conclaves about her conservative stance on ecological issues, unwillingness to proceed quickly with certain industrial developments, and the Domain's inability to provide adequate safety to settlements not far beyond the Astropolis has led to the rise of the
Swords of Rava as a mercenary force and pressure group.
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