Morthaine Industries

Morthaine Industries was a powerful shipping combine whose chairman, Altinol 111, used his executive skills to become the leader of the Fire Patrol after the Nightfall catastrophe, turning the abandoned university Sanctuary into a base for a new quasi-military government that sought to restore order by monopolizing the right to light fires.

Nature and Structure

Morthaine Industries was a large shipping combine, as Theremon 762 recalls when he recognizes Altinol 111 at the Sanctuary. Theremon remembers that Altinol had been in the news a year or two earlier for allegedly using improper government influence to develop a huge real-estate tract on government land in Nibro Province, a deal that had nothing to do with shipping. The implication was that Altinol had offered lifetime passes on his cruise line to senators to secure the contract. Theremon notes that the combine no longer exists after the catastrophe, and that there is no more real-estate developing to be done, nor Federal senators to bribe.

Key Members and Opponents

Altinol 111, the former chairman of Morthaine Industries, is the undisputed leader of the Fire Patrol. He is described as a tall man radiating authority, in early middle age, trim and in prime condition, well dressed in sturdy clothing, with the air of someone accustomed to being obeyed. Theremon observes that Altinol had always wanted to be Prime Executive, and that he now effectively rules what is left of Saro City, at least the area around the forest and the university. Altinol's main opponents are the Apostles of Flame, who have seized control of the entire north side of the city and the territory beyond, placing it under religious authority. Altinol acknowledges that the Apostles will not be easy to displace.

Major Actions and Development

After the Nightfall catastrophe, Altinol and his followers wander into the abandoned university Sanctuary and take possession of it. The Fire Patrol has fifteen to twenty members, all in pretty good shape mentally, and they establish their authority over about half the area of the forest and some surrounding territory of the city where people are still living. The Patrol's mission is to stop the fire-starters—crazies who go around burning things down—by disarming them and reserving to themselves exclusively the right to light fires. Altinol's group operates under an Emergency Code: Article One prohibits fire-starting, with severe punishment for violation; Article Two allows the Patrol to take any precaution deemed necessary to prevent unauthorized fire-starting, including immediate and summary execution of those who resist Patrol authority. Siferra 89, who joins the Patrol for a few days, describes Altinol as highhanded but not evil, someone who thinks the times call for strong measures and decisive leadership. Theremon, however, is wary of Altinol, noting that little dictators do not give up power voluntarily and that reinventing the feudal system is not a useful solution.

Significance

Morthaine Industries itself is a relic of the pre-Nightfall world, but its former chairman's rise to power illustrates how the catastrophe has enabled ambitious and ruthless individuals to seize control. Altinol's Fire Patrol represents one of several competing power structures emerging from the chaos, alongside the Apostles of Flame and the various petty provincial overlords along the Great Southern Highway. Theremon ultimately rejects Altinol's offer to join the Patrol, choosing instead to head for the provisional government at Amgando, which he sees as a more legitimate and less authoritarian alternative.