Hendrik Grimm IV
Sarna News
Hendrik Grimm IV | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Oberon Confederation |
| Profile | |
| Profession | General |
Hendrik Grimm IV was (supposedly) the heir apparent of king Hendrik Grimm III of the Oberon Confederation.
However, it is not entirely clear from the context if a real person by that name actually existed. There are indications that "Hendrik Grimm IV" may have been an assumed identity or even a hoax; see below.
Character History[edit]
Hendrik Grimm IV was implied to be a descendant, possibly son, of Hendrik Grimm III.
A WolfNet report dated 07 January 3050 mentions General Hendrik Grimm IV as the leader of the Oberon Confederation who at some point between 3032 and 3037 allowed the One Star Faith group to emigrate to the Oberon Confederation protectorate world Elissa in the Elysian Fields if they paid 100 million C-bills for the privilege. However, by the time the One Star Faith had managed to raise the money twelve years later, the Inner Sphere had reportedly lost contact with General Hendrik Grimm IV, with internal dissent within the Confederation speculated to be a possible reason.[1] (This seems to tie into the notion elsewhere in the same report[2] that ComStar lost contact with Oberon VI and subsequently the Elysian Fields for unknown reasons in 3045.) The report's unit roster[3] lists General Hendrik Grimm IV as being in command of the 1st Oberon Guards, stationed on Oberon VI, though at the time the report was published that information was already out of date: The regiment had been vanquished shortly before, when the Oberon Confederation was overrun in short order in the Clan Invasion in 3049.
The WolfNet reference to Hendrik Grimm IV as "leader" of the Confederation at a point in time no later than 3037 should presumably be read as "a" leader, not "the" leader, since it is confirmed that Hendrik Grimm III remained king until Clan Wolf crushed his realm in 3049. Notably, Hendrik IV is consistently referred to as a general, not king.
A 3067 report[4] similarly described Elissa as having been "under the dominion of Hendrik Grimm IV of the Oberon Confederation" at the time.
A later report by Interstellar Expeditions as of ca. 3095 describes General Hendrik Grimm IV in retrospective as having shown "vision beyond his pirate roots", and credits him with industrializing Oberon VI and establishing mature diplomatic contacts with other powers.[5]
Existence of Hendrik Grimm IV[edit]
While it is confirmed that Hendrik Grimm III had two sons (Karl Grimm and Johann Grimm) and a daughter (Ella Grimm), there is no actual confirmation of a third son or other relative or heir named Hendrik IV. The short story Grimm Sentence features two living sons of Hendrik III after Clan Wolf conquered his realm and makes no mention of a third son.
At one point, Hendrik III explains that he had been paid handsomely by the Draconis Combine for a covert mission to Arluna to bring exiles from there back to Combine space. Hendrik III secretly double-crossed the Combine by bringing only half of the exiles back, selling the other half to the Free Rasalhague Republic underworld for yet greater gain. As part of the cover-up, he spread false reports that he had died and that Hendrik Grimm IV was now in command, thereby suggesting internal upheaval within the Oberon Confederation which would in turn lend credence to the misinformation that it had been Morrison's Extractors, and not Hendrik III's forces, who had carried out the raid.[6]
This leaves open the possibility that Hendrik Grimm IV never actually existed, or alternatively, may have been an assumed persona in the sense of a placeholder name, filled in by Hendrik III himself or whoever was his heir-apparent. It is also possible that Hendrik IV was a real person who, however, by the time of the conclusion of the Clan invasion had either died or had otherwise been banned, exiled, and/or stripped of his name in some form or fashion.