Ernst "Ja" Ganara

From Scandia

Ernst "Ja" Ganara
Ja Ganara
Born	July 6, 1421 Abaco
Died	30th December, 1501 Reluriaa, Valania
Occupation	{{{occupation}}}
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In office {{{start_date}}} - Present
Preceded by	{{{preceded}}}
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Ernst "Ja" Ganara, commonly known as Ja Ganara was a Niverian populist revolutionary, politician, and guerrilla fighter who helped to bring independence to much of the Valanian Theocracy's former territory.

Born in Abaco to a Valanian father and Abacan mother, Ganara and his parents fled from the communist regime when he was just four years old. They found shelter in the Valanian territory of Labella.

As Ernst Ganara grew up, his mother's Abacan education showed through in him, and his first language was always Teuvian. Even his Valanian speech was frequently punctuated with the Teuvian interjection "ja"(meaning yes), and so this became his nickname.

By 1452, Ganara had become fully immersed in Labella's fight for freedom from Valanian rule. He rapidly rose through the guerrilla hierarchy until he had become the leader of the largest faction in northern Labella. His suicidal bravery was soon recognised, notably in one incident when he single-handedly held back an entire cohort of the Third Legion in order to allow his allies to escape.

When, in 1456, Labella received its independence, the unsatisfied Ganara crossed the border into the unsettled Valanian provinces of the Taeroc Mountains (later Taereoca). His reputation had preceded him, and he was enthusiastically greeted as a hero, and made leader of the rebel forces.

It was not long before the Valanian Patriarch was forced to place a reward of a hundred thousand denarii on Ja Ganara's head. Ganara remained stubbornly alive, however, but was forced to watch as more and more Valanian troops poured into the region. His fighting was not without merit, however, and eventually Ja Ganara led the fateful attack which captured the cross of the Twentieth Legion. To add insult to injury, he also hacked into the legate's telegraph line to smugly inform the Patriarch of the cross's loss. Independence, in exchange for the cross's return, soon followed.

Ja Ganara was then acclaimed as leader of the new nation of Taereoca, but a rival faction, led by Marcus Philidor, threatened the survival of Ganara's developing republic. The arguments between the two became increasingly bitter, until one dark night a group of Philidor's supporters surprised and massacred most of Ganara's supporters, including his wife and son.

Ganara was forced to flee for his life across the Valanian border. Unfortunately, one November night he stumbled into a border patrol. After a trial in which the Patriarch repaid Ganara's previous insults, Ernst "Ja" Ganara ended his life, aged 60, before a Valanian firing squad.