Venerated as “the father of modern Ashland”, Modris Valerins resides at the pinnacle of Ashland’s greatest historical figures. Once a newspaper writer some 90 years before, Modris’ words inspired Imperial Ashland’s everyday people to rebel against the autocratic regime. His legend only grew when he laid down his pen to take up arms with the famed White Stripes resistance movement. Having sided with the victors, Modris was sworn in unanimously as modern Ashland’s first democratic Premier. The rest, they say, is history. 

For those who care to dig behind the legend, however, lies a little-known truth: that actually, Modris Valerins didn’t do much at all to advance the White Stripes’ cause. Far from the eloquent man of steel portrayed on Ashland’s currency, Modris’ personal papers reveal a man deeply paranoid about his security, caught in the midst of an insurrection his words ignited–an insurrection whose violence, and ramifications for the future, disturbed him more than he could publicly admit.

It seems Modris has a penchant for being shrouded in mystery. Created in 2015 for Faces In The Night, Modris (then known as “Rurik”) was more of a memory than a person: he had been the mastermind behind the rag-tag Auseklis resistance group, before his untimely death at the hands of the Soviets. According to my personal notes from the time, even his name alluded to his mythical existence: “Riurik” was the name of the legendary Varangian warrior prince who crowned himself the Prince of Rus in the 9th century.

Since then, Modris has leaned into his identity as a man perpetually looking over his shoulder. More recently, Modris’ status as Ashland’s “founding father” is based off the plethora of literature about America’s own founding fathers, and how they became cultural icons throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. War correspondence sent by George Washington during the American Revolution, paired with the innumerable local legends about Revolutionary-era heroes I’ve uncovered at the Wayne Museum (found in local newspapers from the 19th and early 20th centuries) further developed the modern-day view Ashland’s have of their favorite war hero.

You can thank the early iterations of Modris for the bad blood between Emils and Sviats. Between 2016 and 2020, part of the story-world’s narrative structure focused on a decision Rurik made to name Sviat as Auseklis’ next leader, instead of his friend and right-hand man Bruno (now Emils).

Modris currently doesn’t have a doll.

Songs whose lyrics and/or melody call to mind scenes involving Modris; character development and beliefs; or general moods and themes from over the years.

Emils

Sviats