Senator
THE HIGH REPUBLIC · AT ATTIN
ELIAS MERROW
SENATOR · HISTORIAN · POLITICAL & ECONOMIC HISTORY
REPUBLIC PERSONNEL RECORD
ELIAS MERROW
AT ATTIN · HUMAN · 25
POSITION
Senator
FIELD
Labor History
EDUCATION
Political & Economic History
MINOR
Domestic Law
ALIGNMENT
Independent
PERSONAL PROFILE
AGE 25
SPECIES Human
GENDER Male
HEIGHT 1.78 m
BUILD Lean
EYES Brown
HAIR Dark brown
COMPLEXION Fair
HOMEWORLD At Attin
OCCUPATION Senator
FORCE SENSITIVE No
-
ELIAS MERROW
At twenty-five, Elias Merrow is an At Attinian historian and Senator of the High Republic.
He is the product of a comfortable upbringing a family collapse, years of academic study, manual logistics work and an eventual entry into public life.
He is generally easy to speak with, fond of conversation and quick with sarcasm, though prolonged interaction tends to reveal a certain intensity beneath the surface.
"I was going to make tea. Somehow I ended up reorganizing an entire shelf. I'm choosing to call that productive."
-
A LIFE IN MOTION
AT ATTIN
Elias was raised on At Attin within a comfortable upper-class household.
His parents worked as Republic trade analysts, and their professional position gave Elias a pretty secure upbringing.
THE FALL
That security ended when a larger corporate firm undercut the contract through which his parents made their living.
The family's finances collapsed.
The experience fundamentally altered his understanding of economic security and social position.
UNIVERSITY
Elias pursued higher education off-world, majoring in Political and Economic History with a minor in Domestic Law.
His political radicalization developed primarily after returning to At Attin instead of being fully formed during his studies.
THE PORTS
While studying, Elias supported himself through logistics work and manual shipment handling around At Attin's spaceports.
The work brought him into direct contact with people whose labor he had previously encountered primarily through historical study.
THE HISTORIAN
His academic work became focused on labor history and historical materialism.
His principal historical interest became At Attin's prosperity and the people whose labor sustained it.
THE THESIS
The Hands Behind Prosperity
His work arguments primarily as a historian: conventional accounts of prosperity frequently preserve the achievements of institutions and those who directed them while leaving ordinary labor in the background.
RETURN HOME
After completing his studies, Elias returned to At Attin.
He spent a year serving within the government of the largest city-state, as mayor.
THE SENATE
When At Attin required a representative to assume the Republic's senatorial role, Elias was put forward before the federation of city-states.
A simple majority judged him fit to represent the world.
He became a Senator at twenty-five.
His political radicalization accelerated once historical questions became matters of immediate public responsibility.
-
APPEARANCE
GENERAL
Elias Merrow is a young human man of average height and a lean, lightly built frame.
At twenty-five he has a slightly unfinished appearance, somewhat like a rough portrait draft.
His features are young but mostly defined, in a way. with a narrow jaw, straight nose, dark eyebrows and a mostly serious expression that tends to soften and warm a lot once he starts talking.
His hair is dark brown, thick, and naturally unruly, usually falling forward in loose, uneven strands and almost never styled. His eyes are a deep brown. He has fair skin, with a few signs of ordinary wear around the face.
CLOTHING
Elias dresses practically. His usual clothing consists of grey-green shirts and dark pants. His shoes are mostly reliable walking boots or sneakers. He has very little interest in fashion and generally prefers clothes that are comfortable and easy to wear repeatedly. When travelling, he carries an old backpack containing his datapad, notes, books and whatever he has accumulated during the day, which can be a lot.
PRESENCE
His appearance is antithetic with his position. Nothing about him immediately says he's a Senator, aristocrat or career politician. He looks more like a university researcher who has just come from the library.
He has a habit of gesturing while speaking, Elias occasionally becomes animated when talking about something that interests him, and has a habit of looking mildly distracted when his thoughts have moved from the conversation.
-
DOCTRINE
DEMOCRACY
Democracy should give ordinary people meaningful influence over the institutions governing their lives.
ECONOMIC LIFE
Political democracy cannot remain complete if economic institutions remain entirely outside meaningful democratic control.
COUNCILS
Worker and community councils should provide direct democratic participation and federate upward within a decentralized Republic.
THE CONTRADICTION
Elias believes that what he defines as the the vanguard should eventually disappear.
He is increasingly convinced that society is not yet ready for that to happen.
"Eventually, they must be able to do this without us."
-
THE REPUBLIC
A BELIEVER
Elias genuinely believes in the High Republic and its founding ideals.
He considers the Republic worth defending because its ideals are worth believing in.
A CRITIC
He is concerned by concentrated political and economic power, corporate influence, bureaucratic centralization, and the possibility that ordinary citizens become spectators instead of participants.
COMPROMISE
His instinct is generally incremental.
"It's a step in the right direction."
He will tolerate an imperfect measure when it produces meaningful progress.
There are, however, compromises he considers so destructive that refusing them becomes preferable to accepting them.
-
THE MAN
PERSONALITY
Sarcastic, talkative and funny.
Socially capable rather than awkward.
Occasionally clumsy.
CONVERSATION
He is very talkative, he can talk to anyone on any subject, in any setting.
He also can get very curious, and has been describe as having an intense need to understand.
He enjoys genuine disagreement and becomes more interested when challenged.
HABITS
Elias is easily triggered by the saying: "That's just how it is.",
People who confidently cite completely wrong history,
Being called naïve because he's young,
Among other things..
He also has several habits. For exemple, Elias collects odd historical facts,
He carries a datapadand habitually records interesting observations, quotations, names, or ideas. His notes are much messier than his academic work suggests,
He also can get increasingly animated when discussing something he's interested in, occasionally knocking into or moving things without noticing.
CONTRADICTIONS
Mass democracy versus doubts about political consciousness.
Anti-elite politics versus an upper-class upbringing.
A temporary vanguard versus the continual discovery that it is still "necessary."
-
REPUTATION
AS A HISTORIAN
Elias has very little reputation as a historian, he is known by the more
academic crowd of At Attin for his controversial thesis, however his
essays aren't read by many and are rarely discussed in papers or in
daily life.
His only real success was his thesis, which had circulated and had been the subject of intelectual dicussions within At Attinia. Mostly because of his vocation to become mayor at the time, which went successfully.
ON AT ATTIN
The Attinian community in general sees Elias in a good way, he has been mayor of one of the larger suburbs of At Attin, and has been regarded as very competent during his time there.
IN THE SENATE
[PLACEHOLDER -- TBD iRP]
-
CONNECTIONS
FAMILY
Elias is the only child of the Household.
He has two parents, Ezekiel Merrow and Ada Merrow with whom he is in ocassional contact with, when his busy schedule permits
ACADEMIA
In the academic circle of History, Elias isn't very known and has authored
very little texts. However, he has kept close contacts with authors and
professors from his homeworld.
POLITICS
[PLACEHOLDER]
PERSONAL
Elias has few friends and old colleagues in his Homeworld, he hasn't talked
much to them since departing for the Senate however.
-
ARCHIVE
SELECTED WORKS
The Hands Behind Prosperity
Major Thesis · Political & Economic History
A historical examination of the development of At Attin's prosperity and the role of ordinary labor in sustaining it. The work focuses on those absent from conventional historical narratives: workers, logistics personnel, maintenance crews, agricultural laborers, technicians, and others whose work allowed At Attin's institutions and prosperity to function.
The thesis does not really advocate a political program. Its argument is instead that a history of prosperity which neglects the labor underlying that prosperity is necessarily incomplete.
However, the thesis has been controversial due to it's inherent political subject and implication. Sparking debates and discussion within the political and academic sphere.
On the Hands We Forget
Historical Essay
An essay examining the tendency of official histories to preserve the names of administrators, politicians and prominent institutions while reducing the people who performed the actual work to statistics or anonymous background figures.
Notes on At Attinian Labor
Academic Paper · Unpublished
A collection of observations and research compiled during his university years, drawing upon historical records alongside Elias's own experiences working in logistics and manual shipment handling.
Elias is always adding upon his previous notes, one way or another.
QUOTATIONS
"It's a step in the right direction."
His usual answer when imperfect progress is still preferable to inaction.
"If you want to know how a society became prosperous, you should probably ask the people who kept it running."
A sentiment that increasingly informs both his historical work and his politics.
"Eventually, they must be able to do this without us."
His ideal of the vanguard.
TIMELINE
Childhood, At Attin
Raised in a comfortable household by Republic trade analysts.
Adolescence, The Fall
His family's financial security collapses following the loss of his parents' Republic contract to a larger corporate competitor.
University Years
Studies Political & Economic History with a minor in Domestic Law while supporting himself through logistics and manual work around At Attin's spaceports.
Following Graduation
Returns to At Attin and spends a year working within the government of its largest city-state.
Age 25, The Senate
Put forward before the federation of At Attin's city-states and approved by simple majority to represent the world in the High Republic Senate.
NOTABLE EVENTS
This section will document notable events as they occur through RP.
AT ATTIN · HIGH REPUBLIC · REPUBLIC SENATE
Last edited: