Vashik ek Koltor

Vashik ek Koltor (2948-3116) was a Jojerykhi diasporan political and religious leader.

Early life and diplomatic career

Vashik was born in 2948 as Vashik ek Khonel-Melnik, the third child-of-the-womb of Khonel ek Jolnesh-Khalnik, a mid-ranking shareholder-count within the Nolnek Imperium. Vashik enjoyed an undistinguished career as a diplomat, and in 2974, was appointed to what was thought to be a dead-end position as head of the Nolneki consulate on Inokh. Following the final Fall of Jojerykh in 2977, however, Vashik found themself the highest ranking Nolneki official on a planet whose Nolneki-born population grew from 132,571 in 2976 to 2,788,659 in 2978. As leader of the Nolneki refugee community on Inokh, Vashik was distinguished by their arrogance, a stubborn fixation on adhering to traditional Nolneki customs and laws regardless of whether or not doing so was practical or sensible, and a total inability to cooperate with Premier Khogal's government. By 2981, Vashik had been entirely sidelined by both the Inokhi government and the Jojerykhi Refugee Council (their attempts to incorporate the refugee community as the for-profit Jojerykh-Inokh Industrial Partnership having failed to catch on), and they consequently returned to Jojerykh to join the management of Wikku Ai.

Exile

Vashik, having heard of the deaths of their progenitor and both siblings in the Fall and subsequent corporate intrigue, had been looking forward to assuming the title of shareholder-count. To Vashik's dismay, however, they discovered that most of the lesser Nolneki nobility had either died in the Fall or abandoned their shares, meaning that Vashik's title and shares meant very little, as most Nolneki nobles who were still involved in intrigues were of an even higher rank. Vashik's title was acknowledged, but nothing remained of the family fortune. Vashik attempted to engage in politiking in the traditional Nolneki manner, but they proved as ill-suited towards diplomacy on Jojerykh as they had on Inokh, and in 2983, after several failed attempts to assassinate their way up the corporate hierarchy, they found themselves reassigned to manage a Wikku Ai store on the otherwise uninhabited asteroid KL-9282 at Obscura's L4 point.

As the only employee of a store that would, during the hundred and thirty years Vashik worked there, see twenty-six customers, Vashik was left with a great deal of time to mull over their situation, and the old Nolneki legal codes in the manager's office. It is not clear what exactly happened during those hundred and thirty years, but those customers whose accounts have been tracked down report an increasingly unhinged individual, whose delusions of grandeur gradually blossomed beyond what was normal even for late Nolneki nobility.

What is known is that in 3113, Wikku Ai's corporate headquarters received an automated report stating that the franchise on KL-9282 had been unmanned for 72 business days, and a week later Vashik showed up on Thahan Station claiming to be the rightful heir, direct descendant, and reincarnation of Colthor the Free, arrived to liberate the Nolneki people and restore Jojerykh to its former glory.

Political career

Under ordinary circumstances, an obvious lunatic such as Vashik would have been disregarded. Following the Devastation of Cassavaca, however, upwards of thirty million Jojerykhi refugees and their descendants had been forced by circumstance to resettle on Thahan Station, something Varuk Mai MMCVII encouraged in order to mitigate the decimation of the station's population caused by their predecessor's extensive use of bioweapons in the final years of their struggle to remain in power. This population, however, discontent with the poor state of their accomodations and the heavy-handed measures taken to attempt to assimilate them, were drawn to Vashik's manic charisma and messianic rhetoric, and the violence of the resulting uprising in 3116 would see Vashik killed and over seven million members of the Jojerykhi diaspora flee to the Outer Belt, among them the individuals who would go on to establish Jojerykh'henlek.

Legacy

In Jojerykh'henlek and in much of the Nolneki/Jojerykhi diaspora, Vashik is regarded as a folk hero and a mad prophet and is held in high esteem by most, save for a minority of neo-Nolneki traditionalists who denounce them for promoting "collectivist" values such as nationalism and concern for others. Despite the dubious value of their leadership, their questionable sanity, and their clearly false claims to Colthori lineage, their role in the foundation of Jojerykh'henlek (seen by many as fulfilling their promise to "restore Jojerykh") and as a rallying point for the diaspora across the system and beyond has ensured that "the Last Emperor" will be revered for generations to come.

- Academician Khalnik (talk) 17:22, 14 January 2019 (PST)