Daffyd Ap Brendan
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Daffyd Ap Brendan | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Rim Worlds Republic |
| Profile | |
| Title(s) | Baron of Gwynedd |
| Profession | Noble |
Daffyd Ap Brendan was a local baron on the Periphery world of Gwynedd in the Rim Worlds Republic.
Contents
History[edit]
The Fourth Amaris Legionnaires, a regular line regiment from the Rim Worlds Army, were stationed on the Apollo Province world of Gwynedd during the Rim Worlds Republic civil war. In 2575, Daffyd Ap Brendan used the chaos of the civil war's beginnings to have the senior officers of the Fourth Legionnaires assassinated, and replaced them with officers loyal to himself.[1] This included installing Colonel Samuel Baraou as the new commanding officer of the regiment.[2]
First Consul Gregory Amaris had appealed to the Star League for support when the Rift Republican Army subverted half of the military forces on Apollo and formed a new government, the Rim Provisional Government. The Star League eventually decided to intervene on his behalf and assembled Task Force MAILED FIST, a multinational force headed by the Star League Defense Force, but atrocities such as the one performed by the Draconis Auxiliary Corps when they captured Nightwish in mid-2584 resulted in the Rim Worlders putting aside their differences to focus on the common enemy.[3]
In April 2590, the Sixteenth Mechanized Infantry Division landed on Gwynedd to secure the world,[4] only to discover Daffyd Ap Brendan in control of both the planet and the Fourth Amaris Legionnaires and professing his loyalty to the Amaris family. However, despite Baron Ap Brendan's friendly welcome and unwillingness to fight the SLDF, the local population was actively rebellious; the arrival of the Sixteenth quickly caused fractures to appear amongst both civilians and the Fourth Legionnaires, followed shortly by open conflict. The net result was an eleven-month peacekeeping operation to try and separate the various warring camps and restore order.[1]
Notes[edit]
Daffyd Ap Brendan appears to be a Welsh name, but there is no "Daffyd" in Welsh; there is the name "Dafydd", but the Welsh alphabet makes both sound completely different despite the apparent similarities in spelling in English. Dafydd sounds like David (day-vid) whereas Daffyd sounds like Dafith (da-fith or possibly da-fifth), but the spelling mistake when written is extremely common among English speakers. It is therefore possible that Daffyd is actually a typo for Dafydd. The surname Ap Brendan means "son of Brendan" and is an old-fashioned and unconventional form; Brendan is not a Welsh name - making Ap Brendan sound as odd to Welsh ears as "de Johnson" or "de Smith" but Brendan is an Irish name, indicating that Baron Ap Brendan may be from a mixed Welsh/Irish family.
When asked, the BattleTech Line Developer endorsed the idea that Gwynedd was populated by enthusiasts of Welsh or Welsh/Irish culture who may not necessarily have had any access to actual Welsh speakers.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Historical: Reunification War, pp. 135–136: "Illium to Barcelona (March 2589—August 2591)"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 131: "The Rim Worlds Army Loyalties"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 134
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 153: "Rim Worlds Republic Front (2588–2596)"
- ↑ Ask The Writers thread: Historical: Reunification War - Daffyd Ap Brendan