Marrc Jakobbsen

Marrc was the only son of Carles Castiligoni and Beki Jakobbsen. Immediately following his birth, the Succession Act of TE 410 named him as Imperial Heir's Heir in lieu of Thomas Carroll (who had been named Heir's Heir in the Succession Act of TE 406.)

Marrc grew up as a pampered prince, darling of the populace. He was educated at the Palace, and spent his formative years in the company of various Idara.

When Marrc was nine, his father ascended to the Throne. At that point, the boy began training for eventually taking over the Throne. At the same time, he watched his father age under the pressures of rule, and he began to develop a deep-seated antipathy to the duties of the office of Emperor.

During Marrc's adolescent years, the political atmosphere of the Empire was based on two opposing camps: the Carroll-led Bubs, who wanted to pursue all-out war with the Patalanian Union, and the Chen/Lütken-dominated Tarcs, who wanted to come to a peaceful division of the Galaxy between Empire and Union. Carles carefully steered a course between the two extremes, with the Bubs his most vocal opponents.

Prehaps predictably, Marrc was fascinated by the Bubs, and was courted by Thomas Carroll, a distant cousin and most prominent voice among the Bubs. Thomas had a grandson, Jamez Carroll, who was a year younger than Marrc -- Thomas made sure that the boys had ample time together, and they obliged him by forming a strong attachment.

Marrc was slow in achieving adulthood; he avoided taking adulthood tests until 428, when he was 18 years old. After passing, he entered an informal family arrangement with Jamez Carroll and Karen Wuorio, serving as godparent to the couple's infant daughter, Kythran Carroll. When Thomas Carroll died that same year, Marrc stood with the Carrolls rather than the Imperial Household, a signal that was not lost on anyone.

Carles did his best to prepare Marrc for his upcoming rule, but Marrc resisted all his father's efforts and instead continued the indulgent, playboy lifestyle which had been his all along. There is some evidence that Carles was considering an effort to disinherit Marrc -- if so, his plans did not advance very far before he fell ill. Through the autumn of 430, Carles lingered in increasing discomfort and enfeeblement, then on 17 November 430 he died.

Marrc received word of his father's death at a casino on Leikeis, and (as the story has it) stayed to finish his game and collect his winnings before returning to Laxus to take up the Crown.

Almost immediately, Marrc dismissed his father's advisors and replaced them with ones chosen from the ranks of the Bubs. On 1 December 430, he issued orders to the Navy to begin the reconquest of territory conquered by the Patalanian Union. The Empire, at the peak of an economic boom, began the shift back to full-scale war. He also named Jamez Carroll as his Heir, a choice that was confirmed by the Imperial Council in the Succession Act of TE 431. It was clear to all that Marrc was shifting the Empire's balance of power in favor of the Bubs.

Unfortunately, unknown to Marrc and his advisors, an event had already occurred that would frustrate their efforts and have a much greater effect on the course of the Empire's history. On 23 November 430, the Hlekkar L4 gengineering laboratory belonging to Hlekkar Geneotech Ltd. was holed by a meteor strike. Proper decontamination procedures were not followed, resulting in the release of the virulent disease which became known as the Hlekkarian Plague.

Within a month, the Plague had spread along trade lanes through the Empire and into the Patalanian Union.

The next ten years were a constant struggle against the Plague. Frederik Carroll, the father of Jamez and leader of the Bubs, died of the Plague in 436, the highest-ranking victim. The economy was in crisis, and Marrc's emergency decrees (wage and price freezes, martial law in some areas, etc.) did little to stabilize things. Although the war continued, it was only in a desultory fashion, and the Navy was busy with rebellious planets and pirate operations that grew up throughout the Empire.

The Galactic nightmare finally ended in 440, when Taglierre scientists developed an effective vaccine. The vaccine was distributed by the Navy, and within four tendays the Plague was declared over.

The cost, however, had been high. Over 13% of the population had died; about 570 planets were abandoned in the course of the Plague. In 417 there had been 11,659 inhabited planets -- in 443 there were only 11,217. (Settlement of new worlds, which had continued through the Plague years, accounted for the difference.)

Following the Plague, Marrc lost all interest in even a pretense of governing -- he was seldom on Laxus and paid little attention to his formal duties. Jamez Carroll and Marrc's other advisors picked up the slack and kept the government running.

On 24 March 444 Marrc, at the age of 33, drowned while swimming on Promethia. He had been drinking and drugging heavily, and although his companions summoned medical aid immediately, by the time he was resuscitated there was irreversible brain damage.

Marrc was succeeded by Jamez Carroll.