The 25th King of D'ni.
Biography[]
Born in 4538, Demath was the third son of a friend of King Ji, he joined the Guild of Maintainers at the age of five (as most did) and risen to the level of Guild Master. Then Ji chose him to succeed him. Some argued that Grand Master Imas of the Guild of Maintainers made that choice. Whatever the case, the selection was a surprise to most of the public, and apparently even to Demath himself. The public was generally not happy with the reign of Ji, but apparently they were pleased with his choice, although it was not a post Demath especially desired to have. He took the throne in 4692 at the age of 154.
Almost immediately, Demath ordered the Maintainers to enforce a ban on all unnecessary links. The Council carried out emergency meetings, trying to decide their stance on the outsiders. It was concluded that relations with them would continue with much stricter restrictions and guidelines. The list was long that Demath signed into law and included the restriction of any outsiders operating D'ni machinery or Linking Books.
In the same time, and more importantly, the Council and King sent a clear message to all of the isolationist factions who were against outsider involvement with D'ni, that the "Loshemanesh Laws" (rules previously established by King Loshemanesh) would be strictly enforced, and extremist ideas would not be tolerated if they led to any infractions. Consequently, the Relyimah (though it was not stated publicly) was apparently ordered to double its membership and find any and all who were carrying out illegal activities with the outsiders.
While explaining the findings of the meetings to the public, Demath denounced the words of the Watcher as pure rubbish and nothing more than "a desperately lonely man seeking attention."
By that time, the Major Guilds had become extremely expensive and a large majority of the population, even if qualified to join the Guilds, had no way to afford it. In 4721 Demath pushed an amendment forcing the Guilds (and was the first such action in history) to accept a percentage of students who passed all entrance exams, even if they could not afford the steep prices. Many seemed to question this decision, especially the Guilds themselves. Demath convinced them that it was a necessity for the society.
By 4784 there were several convinctions for violating of the "Loshemanesh Laws". On that year an assassination attempt was carried out against the King, and 2 members of the Relyimah died saving his life in the process. The perpetrators were found and two years later, Demath ordered their execution by linking into a Death Age. It was the first execution of its kind and met with little resistance from the public or the Council.
In 4815 Demath had imprisoned Goshen, one of the leaders of the Blood of Yahvo who wrote against him.[1]
Demath was rewarded for his efforts pertaining to the opening of the Major Guilds to the public. In 4826, the first of the "non-paying" members of the Guild of Stone Masons headed the effort to devise early fusion-compounding technology (which would lead to the eventual development of Nara). At the public announcement, Demath praised the Guild and the numerous opportunities that all citizens of D'ni now had to benefit their society.
In 4843, at the age of 305, Demath passed away leaving the throne to his first-born son Yableshan.