Harr Indi

Harr Indi was an Amarr Holder on Matar who claimed to have discovered the Ametat and Avetat. He produced exquisite forgeries of the items that fooled the Empire for close to a year. Following discovery of his deception, he vanished.

Life

Harr was born to a minor Holder family that had been given a small plantation and cadre of slaves on Matar following the Minmatar conquest. The family was on a lower rung of the Holder hierarchy, only a few steps above commoners in wealth and rank.

The plantation specialized in growing tropical fruits native to Matar, but Harr was never satisfied with his relatively poor lot in life. Ambitious and cunning, he frequently sought ways to increase his family's strength. Early in his tenure as Holder, he attempted to discredit a neighbor and claim his land and titles, but the attempt failed. His neighbor was only censured, and Harr received nothing. Similar attempts at expanding his influence similarly went nowhere.

Fraud

Seeing his plans amounting to nothing, Harr devised one final scheme to acquire the fame and power he desired: he would produce fakes of the Ametat and Avetat and pass them off as authentic. The inspiration for his plan is unknown; journals recovered from his estates began speaking of it suddenly.

He taught himself metallurgy, chemistry, mechanics, and a variety of other skills needed to fabricate the fake relics. The construction took place over a decade, with numerous poor-quality imitations discarded before he finally created what he believed to be undetectable copies. Though the fakes naturally did not have any of the more amazing mystical powers of the legendary relics, he did manage to synthesize an alloy that would not naturally tarnish from exposure to the air.

Harr then concocted a story about overhearing tribal stories being told by his slaves and, rather than punish them for telling blasphemous legends, realized what they described resembled the lost artifacts. Harr interrogated his slaves and followed their information to a ruined temple deep in the jungle. The temple was covered in Amarr iconography and contained numerous artifacts, among them the Ametat and Avetat.

Harr delivered the artifacts to the Emperor in a glorious ceremony, receiving a massive reward for his discovery. For nearly a year, the artifacts were accepted as authentic by the people. However, eventually the Theology Council determined they were exquisite forgeries. It was only by chance this was discovered, thanks to a miniscule variance in one stray rune on the Ametat that differed from seldom-seen ancient drawings of the artifacts.

Following the discovery, Harr disappeared. Imperial authorities issued a decree calling for his capture, but he was never found. It seems likely that Harr had either noticed his error or was tipped off about the discovery and subsequently vanished into the ranks of commoners. His estate and title was given to his cousin, though the family line came to an end following the Minmatar Rebellion.

See Also