Durian
Durian, ambassador of Sezuan, later governor of Tanto, then Witch Prime of Sezuan, was a power-hungry individual who sought to rule Sezuan, Tanto, and Jura.
Biography
Misson to Tanto
As the Sezuans were frightened about the possibility of an impending war with Jura, Durian was employed, as the ambassador of Sezuan, to enter diplomatic talks with the island nation of Tanto, which lay between Sezuan and Jura. He brought no weapons to the meeting, but over the course of it he gradually took on a more threatening stance, and ended it by invading Tanto. He therefore became very powerful. (AUDIO: The Pointed Hand [+]Loading...["The Pointed Hand (audio story)"], WC: The Minister of Chance: Prologue [+]Loading...["The Minister of Chance: Prologue (webcast)","The Minister of Chance: Prologue"])
Having completed his invasion of Tanto, Durian moved into the King of Tanto's castle. (AUDIO: The Broken World [+]Loading...["The Broken World (audio story)"])
Visit from the Witch Prime
Worried that this might be the start of a war with Jura, Persidian III, Witch Prime of Sezuan (PROSE: The Minister of Chance [+]Loading...["The Minister of Chance (novelisation)"]) visited Durian in Tanto. Worried by Durian's popularity back in Sezuan, he considered killing Durian, but advised by Lord Rathen, he decided to attempt to ride Durian's popularity and make him the governor of Tanto. The Witch Prime left Rathen to watch over Durian. (AUDIO: The Broken World [+]Loading...["The Broken World (audio story)"])
Capture of Cantha
Durian heard of professor Cantha, and that the Second Minister of Chance and Kitty seemed to know of her. He told his men to go looking for them.
They returned having caught her, and Durian threatened her into working on a rocket for him that could kill many, many people. (AUDIO: The Broken World [+]Loading...["The Broken World (audio story)"])
Return to Sezuan and attempt on his life
Durian returned to Sezuan for a short while, and was surrounded by the press, who asked him many questions. Neither the Witch Prime nor the Seer were happy about this. The Witch Prime managed to convince the Seer that Durian needed to be assassinated, and so they hired the assassin Polichar to assassinate him. Unfortunately, Lord Rathen had teamed up with Durian, and returned to Sezuan along with him, and so the assassination attempt was unsuccessful. Durian and Rathen then blamed the assassination attempt on Jura, so as to start a war. The Witch Prime was powerless to stop them. (AUDIO: Paludin Fields [+]Loading...["Paludin Fields (audio story)"])
Ascension to Witch Prime
Broken by Durian's plotting, the Witch Prime threw in his hat and retired. An election was held to decide the new Witch Prime, and Durian won. With his new power, he began plotting the war with Jura. (AUDIO: The Tiger [+]Loading...["The Tiger (audio story)"])
As Witch Prime
One of his first actions as Witch Prime was to declare an invisible wall around Sezuan and Tanto, to prevent Jurans from entering. Along with Lord Rathen, he then conspired to force a Juran rocket to crash-land inside Tanto, to further provoke the war. (AUDIO: The Tiger [+]Loading...["The Tiger (audio story)"])
Peace summit with the Juran queen and death
Once the rocket was crashed, he visited a peace summit with the Juran queen, who did not wish for war. He, however, was eager to gain more power, so, though he entered the summit unarmed and apparently peacefully, his real intent was far from innocent.
When the queen refused to comply with his request to hand over Jura to him, he threatened her with the destruction of Jura's second city. She did not believe he could, so he ordered the detonation of the Cantha rocket on a remote uninhabited island. However, Lord Rathem was revealed to be an evil being with the power to destroy worlds, and did not destroy the island but the second city of Cantha itself. When Durian protested he too was destroyed by Rathen, and Rathen became Witch Prime in his stead. (AUDIO: In a Barque on the River Hex [+]Loading...["In a Barque on the River Hex (audio story)"])
Personality
Though outwardly kind, pacifist, charming, and charismatic, Durian could turn on a pin to threatening and murderous. (AUDIO: The Pointed Hand [+]Loading...["The Pointed Hand (audio story)"], In a Barque on the River Hex [+]Loading...["In a Barque on the River Hex (audio story)"], WC: The Minister of Chance: Prologue [+]Loading...["The Minister of Chance: Prologue (webcast)","The Minister of Chance: Prologue"]) He had no qualms about killing or torturing people, (AUDIO: The Pointed Hand [+]Loading...["The Pointed Hand (audio story)"], The Broken World [+]Loading...["The Broken World (audio story)"], The Forest Shakes [+]Loading...["The Forest Shakes (audio story)"], In a Barque on the River Hex [+]Loading...["In a Barque on the River Hex (audio story)"], WC: The Minister of Chance: Prologue [+]Loading...["The Minister of Chance: Prologue (webcast)","The Minister of Chance: Prologue"]) but because of his pro-war stance was very popular amongst the people of Sezuan. (AUDIO: Paludin Fields [+]Loading...["Paludin Fields (audio story)"])
