Daniel Sebastiaan Krüger

Daniel Sebastiaan Krüger is the current Doux of the Alkeban city of Cyren. A veteran of both Bush Wars and a staunch nationalist, he has spent the last four years of his tenure as Doux ensuring that his people can stand alone without Dorminian interference. Throughout Krüger's life, he has searched for a goal-- a purpose. From the dangerous southern jungles of Alkebu, to the blood soaked fields of the Alkeban Bush Wars, he has found worth in his abilities as a leader and visionary, as well as in his own son, Arno.

Early Life
Daniel Krüger was born in 1708 AE to a modestly wealthy noble family in Pollikarand whose name is not known. As a young man, Daniel was impulsive and selfish, acting out frequently in defiance of a father who was obsessed with the success of his family after the death of his mother. In 1725, Daniel's actions lead to the death of a nobleman's wife and his father disowned and exiled him to Cyren. Alone and with a relatively decent amount of family money he was able to steal on his way out, Daniel found himself moving from pub to pub in much the way he always had, until in one establishment he overheard an old man ranting about the southern lands and the deadly riches that lay there. He became interested in the stories of the unknown, as well as the possibility of making his own fortune. With little experience of his own in the jungle, Daniel hired his own crew and, rather impulsively, set out for Sangaan to hire guides. It was in the native capital that he became acquainted with aspiring Cyrenic student Frederick Finck. The two were instant friends, bonding over their shared love of native culture, but they separated as Daniel moved further south and Frederick traveled back to Cyren to submit his thesis. Daniel and his party discovered that stories of untold wealth to the south were widespread, but that the Halta-Banu and other northern tribes refused to disturb the lands of the Kwa and Kru tribes, dubbing them "seeping shadows" that tainted the jungle. Though eventually they were able to hire a guide to take them upriver, the expedition ended in disaster with most of the crew dead of native attacks or disease, and Daniel himself lost his left hand to a large croc and had to be carried back to Sangaan for recovery during which he contracted fever. During his recovery among the Halta-Banu, Daniel became fascinated by their people and culture, and when his sickness broke and a rudimentary prosthetic was fit on his wrist, he stayed in the city for a time and worked among the people. In particular, he struck a friendship with the chief's son who was his same age, and the two shared a bond of friendship they would eventually carry through two wars and into the Cyrenic government.

The First Alkeban Bush War (1727-1730 AE)
During his recovery time in Cyren, Daniel learned of the precarious political situation that the city found itself in. It was embroiled in a brutal war with New Varenth under the direction of the Union States of Dorminia, and the native Alkeban tribes were pushing back in the wake of their lands being used as battlefields. After he recovered from the replacement of his hand, Daniel was conscripted into the Alkeban Expeditionary Force as a Corporal and sent to the front lines with the 5th Rifle Battalion. Although he joined after the battle of New Albertsville in September, Daniel was present at the battle near Simbak-Sun where he served with distinction for taking up his platoon's leadership in the wake of Lieutenant Jameson's demise. Subsequently, he was promoted to First Sergeant and placed in the 22nd Infantry Company led by Captain Longhurst. Nicknamed "The Jungle Snakes" for their use of guerrilla-style, stealthy approach to combat. During their time together as Daniel rose through the ranks, he and Longhurst became inseparable friends. Though the man was older, they shared many ideals and experiences that served them well through the battles that followed. By spring 1730, the Varenthian offensive had pushed the AEF and Dorminian forces back to 'Little Hill', a massive encampment deep in Cyrenic territory. For days, the defending forces were hammered by rifle fire and artillery but they did not give in as they awaited support. Finally, after almost a week and a half, the 24th Artillery Company led by Captain Martinius Steyn arrived. Fire reigned down from the hill as one last charge was signaled, and the Cyrenic and Dorminian forces drove the Varenthian Colonial Brigade out of the area, ending the offensive.

Peacetime and Family (1730 - 1736)
Between the two conflicts, Daniel spent much of his time on leave traveling between Cyren and Sangaan, cementing his friendship and eventual membership in the Banu tribe. He gained the respect of their chief at the time Nyasa, by defeating his son in combat. The two young men would later become tribal brothers and lifelong friends. Daniel’s time back in Cyren was marked with a noticeable change from the frivolity of his youth. Rather than skirting the nobility for female conquests and causing trouble just to keep busy, the adult Krüger was haunted by his experienced in both the southern jungles and the First Bush War. His friendships with his comrades continued during this time, and when Daniel attended the Military Academy at Simbak-Sun in 1731 to earn his officer commission. He later graduated in 1735 with the rank of Major. Not long after returning from the military academy, a courtesan named Bonnie approached Daniel on the street asking if he remembered her, and when Daniel admitted he had no recollection she angrily reminded him they shared several drunken nights together upon his first arrival in Cyren in 1725, and one of those nights had produced a son, whom she named Arno. At first in disbelief of the woman's story, Daniel reluctantly met the boy and was convinced, as the two looked almost exactly alike. Daniel and Arno grew close rather quickly much to the pleasure of Bonnie, as she soon left the city altogether without him. Daniel did not marry between the wars, but did take a lover by the name of Heather Bracken. Heather was a Spark from the local Alchemy Guild chapter in Cyren, and the two experienced a blossoming relationship between each other and with Arno, who came to like the woman and took a great interest in alchemy himself. Daniel and Heather were almost inseparable until the attack on Cyren in 1736 in which Daniel led a successful defense of the tavern district made up of AEF troops and citizens alike. In the wake of the city's sacking, he joined up once more with the AEF and his comrades in order to defend not only the city, but his family. He barred Arno from signing up to fight and ordered him to stay in the guild hall with Heather until his return, though Heather herself was livid with him for leaving. He wrote to them every chance he could, but after Daniel's capture and Cyren's occupation, the letters stopped. In the aftermath of the war and upon retaking Cyren, Daniel learned from his son that Heather had perished in the initial defense of the city in 1737.

The Second Alkeban Bush War (1736 - 1738)
With the outbreak of the Second Bush War, Daniel took command his original 22nd Infantry Company as a Major. In the first few months, Daniel's battalion served with distinction at the Second Battle of New Albertsville and at Evelyn Falls. He quickly earned a reputation among his men as a fierce but fair leader, and regained acquaintence with many old friends of the previous conflict. During the Third Battle of Xhona Valley in May of 1737, Daniel fought bravely through the steep incline on the outside of the valley itself. After spending a month charging, retreating, and sleeping in disease infested trenches surrounded by unending barrages of artillery fire, Krüger was severely injured. During one such barrage, a shell landed next to his company and detonated, sending him into a nearby crater where he lay until the dead of night when Varenthian forces pushed forward to collect their dead. He was found and taken to their field hospital, where he spent the rest of the battle in the care of Varenthian nurses, including who come to be known as Königin Colette III Sordeau of Varenth. It was there that doctors discovered Daniel’s right leg below the knee was damaged beyond repair and had to be amputated. During his week-long stay in the hospital tent, Colette and Daniel held many conversations on the nature of the conflict between their people and Cyren’s growing disillusionment with their Dorminian overlords. One such conversation stayed with Daniel even after the war, and convinced him that to enact any true change for his city, he would have to take on the most powerful position possible; the position of Doux. He would not realize it at the time, but his admiration for the Prinzessin-turned-nurse would one day blossom into a great affection.

With the AEF victory achieved on May 20th, the Varenthian forces moved to abandon their positions and began evacuating the hospital that housed Daniel as well. Luckily, his comrades which included Longhurst, Falkner, and Cervus were able to find the man before he could be moved, and while Krüger informed them to hold their fire and allow Colette and the other medics to escape, Daniel was in the hands of his own men once more. Word came not long after of the capture of Cyren by rogue Varenthian soldiers, and Daniel and his men were left without command or a nearby base to return to. Word reached the field troops that the Major General of the AEF, Hendrik Steyn, had perished along with most of the high command. This left Longhurst, Krüger, and Steyn's surviving sons Martinus and Ruen as the highest ranking AEF officers in the field.

During this time, Krüger’s amputated leg was replaced with a prosthetic and took on a new command role in the field for the AEF. Though his days in in the blood and disease soaked trenches were over, Krüger quickly came to realize his talents for subversive, sabotage warfare. Dubbed “The Occupation” by the Cyrenics, Midsummer’s Eve to late December of that year was spent predominantly raiding supply caches and taking out important Varenthian targets using hit and run tactics devised by Krüger and his officers. By December, they had liberated prison camps and ended the second siege at Simbak-Sun, allowing them to plan an attack on the Varenthian-controlled Cyren in relative peace.

In early January of 1738, eight months to the day after the start of the First Siege of Cyren, Daniel’s AEF forces along with allied natives from the Banu, Xhona, and Oromi tribes surrounded and attacked Cyren with a combination of close quarters fighting from the jungle and artillery bombardments from atop Cyren’s scenic table mountain. A Dorminian naval contingent shut down the harbor while the land troops made their way into the city and overran the Varenthian defenses in two days’ time. By the end of what would be known as “The Reclamation”, half of the city’s council lay dead, as did Major-General Hendrik Steyn of the AEF.

In the aftermath of the battle, the incumbent Doux Lukas Aten awarded Krüger with land grants and a sizable salary to stay in the service as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 5th Rifle Battalion. He stayed in for a time and assisted the newly appointed Major-General Martin Longhurst reorganize and rebuild the AEF from the ground up before retiring in 1740, just before Doux Aten's death. For His Distinguished Service in the Alkeban Bush Wars, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Sebastiaan Krüger was awarded; The Kings Cross 1st class, the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the Cross of Distinguished Gallantry 2nd Class, the Kings Colonial Cross 1st class, the Cross of Honors and the Orange Heart. For His Distinguished Service in the Name of Cyren and Her People, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Sebastiaan Krüger was awarded; Order of Cyren 1st Class, His Grace's Wheel of Distinguished Service 1st Order, Doux's Cross 1st Class, His Grace's Bush War Medal of Honor, Cyrenic Wheel of Gallantry 2nd Class, Wheel of Distinguished Service 2nd Class, Bloemfeld Medal of Gallantry 1st Class, Cyrenic Distinguished Honors of Simbak-sun (Silver), Cyrenic Distinguished Honors of Xhona Valley (Gold), and the '''Alkeban Heart. '''

The Doux of Cyren (1740 AE - Present Day)
With the death of the childless Doux Aten on June 3rd 1740 AE, Daniel mourned the death of a dear friend and leader but also saw an opportunity to put his ideals into action. He campaigned fiercely throughout the city with anti-war and anti-Imperialist messages, and in the process came to work alongside Frederick “Freddy” Finck, who was not only a veteran of the Bush Wars and the most lucrative purveyor of refined fuels in the territory, but also the Minister of Business and Trade. With Finck and Longhurst’s support, and his reputation as a common man and a hero of The Reclamation on his side, Daniel eventually won the position of Doux on July 17th 1740 AE, and took his oath only a day later. Though the colony was allowed relatively autonomous governance, taxation increased each year and the East Alkeban Trading Company continuously encroached on native land in order to take advantage of the wild’s great abundance of resources, even in the face of the 1719 Peace Accord.

In the last four years, Daniel set about reforming city infrastructure with new building projects and public transport, he reduced some restrictions on businesses that allowed for more refineries and increased workers’ wages and benefits as incentive to bring businesses from all over the world to Cyren’s marketplaces. Tariffs were imposed on imports and exports alike, as Daniel’s council wanted to be certain that the Alkeban resources they exported were paid for properly and were not simply taken advantage of. By 1743, Krüger’s government had set the stage for plans on expansion of Cyrenic territory in order to protect neighboring tribes and secure the ownership of resources for Alkeban natives instead of foreigners from Dorminia or Arrakanium.

Later that year, a summit was called in order to determine what should be done with the vast continent of Alkebu by the major governments of the world. It was there that Daniel and his delegation unveiled their plans for expansion and need for more freedom from Dorminian rule, as well as reconnected with the now Königin of Varenth, Colette III Sordeau. The borders of New Varenth stayed the same, while Arrakanium did gain several small tracts of land in the far eastern reaches of Alkebu, on the far shores of the Great Bitter Sea and its tributary. Cyrenic land was increased to include Halta-Banu and Apele lands for protection, though Daniel’s wishes for expansion and freedom were by no means sated.

By 1744 AE, the Minister of Native and Foreign Affairs Derrick Kramer had been found dead in his study supposedly of natural causes, and was soon replaced by the former chief of the Halta-Banu tribe, a long time friend and ally of Daniel’s since his early days on the continent. Since the First Bush War brought so many losses to the AEF forces, Native Alkebans had been allowed to serve in the military, but this was the first government position held by such a man in the history of Cyren. It managed to cause a bit of controversy, mainly drummed up by Daniel’s critics, but he proved to be quite adept at bringing together Cyrenic and Native interests.