Allen Privett
Lord Allen Privett
Allen Privett was born into one of the lesser houses of Jakonia in the wake of the Great Northern Rebellion. His family had lost significant tracts of land to the Columban rebels, turning their territories over to new rulers who had aided in the rebellion. All they were left with was the town of Hernando and some of the surrounding region. To make matters worse, their influence continued to decline, as the Imperial Army became more and more in charge of the area surrounding Hernando, with the construction of new border fortifications. Even as he was receiving a strong local education, Allen witnessed the wealth and power of his family influence decline exponentially.
When becoming an adult, Allen chose to avoid the traditional path of nobility, instead embracing a life at sea. He took on a struggling shipping charter in Hernando, and proved to have the acumen to make the business profitable where others had failed. It became an open secret that these efforts were predominantly due to turning a legitimate shipping business into an institution of smuggling. Wielding the remnants of his family's influence as a cudgel, he was able to dominate numerous other shipping families in the town, and establish new wealth for the family, all while maintaining the façade of a man of the seas.
Allen's efforts were profitable, and his father actually chose to step aside when his son was only 38, enabling Allen to take over management of the family's finances and affairs. While his father retired to the family's home in Oldmar, Allen stepped up his efforts to reclaim the prosperity of his house. For nearly fifty years he married well, grew the shipping empire, and ruled with a just and fair hand. His smuggling empire in Hernando has helped supply thousands of soldiers with desired contraband, and he has grown in popularity among the rank and file, as well as the working classes. Although he has struggled to find friends among other Jakonian aristocrats, he has built international ties and remains firmly in the coalition against the expansion of Imperial power.
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