Prince Farquhar
The Prince is known to be a telepath and he is said to control a network of telepaths who control the state with an iron rod. It is believed that the Prince has a phobia against the sea and does not care much for it. Prince Farquhar came to power some twenty years ago. At that time Maard was a fairly liberal society, but it was a weak city state. Slowly Prince Farquhar has squeezed the populace, making his control over them stronger and stronger.
He personally trained the first of the Thought Guard - who were at the start simply his personal bodyguards. Now their numbers have swelled such that they control the whole city. They are fanatically loyal to the Prince. Two years ago the Prince had a son called Ethan. He has not been named heir yet - possibly so as to afford him some protection from people who might wish to see him harmed and possibly because Prince Farquhar has no intention of ever releasing his grip on the country. It is generally considered likely that he will name Ethan heir if and when his telepathic potential becomes realised. It is also considered that if Ethan shows no such power his life expectancy may well shorten considerably.