Ethelbert Landon Morriss

About
Ethelbert Landon Morriss was a former general within the Free Bistonian Army and the former governor of the State of Bistonian Shingleton, from 1989 to 1997, which lasted for 8 years. Ethelbert Landon Morriss came to power in Bistonian Shingleton during the Free Bistonian Army intervention in the island. After the Shinglederry Agreement, Ethelbert Landon Morriss began consolidating his power over the island, and he was accused of corruption and scandals which eventually contributed to his downfall in the year of 1997. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison for war crimes and several crimes he had committed during his career as a general and his career as a governor. He died in prison in the year of 2013 of a heart attack, 6 days after his 58th birthday.

Early life
Ethelbert Landon Morriss was born on April 23rd 1955 in the city of Londonberry, the capital of East Bistonian Shingleton, Crimsonian Bistonia. Not much was known about his childhood. Weeks prior to the beginning of the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, Ethelbert Landon Morriss migrated to mainland Bistonia to the city of Kriadavia in order to look for work, but it came to no avail.

Free Bistonian Army
Somewhere around 1988, Ethelbert Landon Morriss was enlisted in the Free Bistonian Army, and out of luck, he rose to the top of the ranks as a general within the Free Bistonian Army. However, he wasn't as active, until his intervention in Bistonian Shingleton.

As the Crimsonian-Bistonian War was on the brink of ending in the year of 1989, the Free Bistonian Army decided to begin its intervention in regions that remained unstable, with rampant conflict still ongoing. They began directing their attention towards Bistonian Shingleton, which had been in conflict for over 2 years, and over hundreds of thousands of people had died due to genocide. As they had planned out their intervention, several commanders within the Free Bistonian Army opposed against the idea, and became reluctant to intervene, as they were currently fighting in the frontlines of Northern Bistonia, and they did not want to redirect most of their manpower and resources to open another front. However, they proceeded anyway, and Ethelbert Landon Morriss was forced to go to Bistonian Shingleton to fulfill their orders.

In the aftermath of the Battle for Bistonqwerty International Airport, the Unionists in Bistonian Shingleton were informed of the decisive victory aided by the Free Bistonian Army, and proceeded to open negotiations with the Free Bistonian Army command to aid them in the conflict. An alliance was forged with the unionists afterwards. Ethelbert Landon Morriss then saw this as an opportunity and used it to seize power in the ungoverned territories in the central regions of Bistonian Shingleton, in the epicenter of the conflict, marking the beginning of Ethelbert's rule over Bistonian Shingleton.

Crimsonian-Bistonian War aftermath
In the aftermath of the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, both the Bistonian Armed Forces and the Free Bistonian Army began cooperating with eachother for the last time and began a series of stabilizing Bistonian Shingleton after years of civil conflict, and as a result an operation was launched by both the BAF and the FBA, detaining former veterans from the Bistonian Shingleton Conflict, from both Unionist and Seperatist fronts under the pretext that they were involved in terrorist attacks abroad. This resulted in veterans from both Unionist and Seperatists into blaming Ethelbert Landon Morriss, since he was involved in the crackdown. Unionists and Seperatists which were not arrested were given orders to provide the youth with weapons, in an attempt to carry out attacks to overthrow Ethelbert and replace him with a better governor.

During the aftermath of the war, there were projects and attempts by the Bistonian government to rebuild the cities of Shinglederry, New Jefferson and Londonberry, as they had been partially destroyed in the conflict, however it had failed, mainly due to Ethelbert and his administration stealing most of the funds from the projects to fund his private assets and expensive lifestyle, becoming one of the most richest people in Bistonia. Eventually, in 1991, things would turn into a boiling point, as seperatist remnants and the remaining youth brigades belonging to the Unionists began clashing towards eachother in major cities which would result in hundreds dead and more BAF forces deployed to the main cities. Eventually, both cities which were partially destroyed in the conflict were rebuilt, which costed over a million dollars, however, rampant corruption continued, and Ethelbert continued to rule the island.

Shinglederry Agreement (1992)
In 1992, the Shinglederry Agreement was signed, by both unionist and seperatists fronts in order to settle peace within Bistonian Shingleton, marking the end of the decades long conflict which had rooted from the Federation War, and a brief period of stability began. The agreement also promised peace, stability and amnesty for Bistonian political prisoners, including those which had been arrested for alleged involvement in terrorist activities, remaining seperatists and unionist forces were disarmed, and prisoners were released from prison. The agreement also promised rehabilitation of those who had been traumatized during the war, and aimed to recover most of them. Highways, railways and infrastructure which had been damaged were also planned to be rebuilt.

However, there were many setbacks within the agreement. Ethelbert Landon Morriss, which should've stepped down from power, refused to step down, and as a result he became the governor of Bistonian Shingleton, without holding an election, which officially began his spree of rampant corruption across Bistonian Shingleton. This led to many influential people within both of the sides and veterans claiming they've signed the agreement and received nothing in return, but more failures for the bistonian government. More setbacks included that facilities which were proposed were not constructed and former child soldiers and veterans denied any treatment or rehabilitation, the most devastating of them all was that many seperatists forces continued to exist throughout Bistonian Shingleton, mostly through youth gangs across small towns in Bistonian Shingleton, including several urban cities, most of these youth gangs had been influenced and nostalgic for seperatist propaganda, and in order to counter them most Lithuanian youth gangs in West Bistonian Shingleton were founded to counter the spread, and sent death threats towards opponents and cracked down on drug dealers.

Governor of Bistonian Shingleton (1992 - 1997)
In 1992, in the aftermath of the Shinglederry Agreement, the Bistonian government demanded Ethelbert Landon Morriss to step down from his position as lead commander over control of the island, instead, Ethelbert Landon Morriss denied their demands, and proclaimed himself as a governor in opposition. However, the Bistonian government decided not to intervene and overthrow him, and as a result he was left alone to assert influence over the island for another 5 years. Over the years, Ethelbert Landon Morriss became one of the most corrupt and unpopular governor in Bistonian Shingleton, as he stole millions of dollars from the population and got involved in scandals.

During his early years in power, Ethelbert halted the construction of facilities meant to treat over thousands of veterans from the conflict, and as a result thousands of them awaited treatment by the Bistonian government, and Ethelbert began stealing funds from the Bistonian government, and used them to buy luxurious cars, including a mansion outside New Jefferson, as people in urban areas and local villages struggled in the aftermath. Crime was rampant aswell, with the majority of them being attacks from youth gangs in urban areas, however Ethelbert bribed police in those cities to not intervene, claiming that the police only served to protect the state. He was involved in major scandals aswell, and began cracking down on opponents and sometimes in other cases, he would have them killed.

1997 Bistonian Shingleton Protests
On July 17th 1997, during the morning rush hours, factory workers emerged in the city of Shinglederry and demonstrated against Ethelbert Landon Morriss, calling for him to step down or otherwise overthrown from his position as the governor of the state and for him to provide better working conditions. As a result of this, several other cities in Bistonian Shingleton began following along, and factory workers from those cities began demonstrating, civilians followed aswell, and in 5 days, the small demonstrations would eventually grow into protests which spread all across the island. As a result of this, Ethelbert Landon Morriss was quick to take action, and riot police was deployed to the cities in the afternoon to crack down on the protestors and it came to no avail, which forced riot police to spray at civilians using live rounds on July 21st 1997.

In the aftermath of the massacre which had occurred in the hands of riot police, the protests began turning violent, and eventually protestors began flocking to several police stations throughout the cities in Bistonian Shingleton and raided them, resulting in 10 dead. Eventually, protestors began seizing arms and outnumbered and overpowered police, as violence was rampant throughout the city. Because of this, the Bistonian government became completely aware that a civil war was bound to happen in Bistonian Shingleton and began plans to deploy the military in the region. 11 days later, the Bistonian Armed Forces were finally deployed to Bistonian Shingleton on August 3rd 1997, and the violence stopped immediately once they arrived, however it was too late, as the damage had been done. Eventually, the Bistonian Armed Forces arrived to the government building where Ethelbert Landon Morriss was requesting help from, and he was then detained and overthrown from his position as governor, marking the end of the conflict. After he was overthrown, elections were held, and a new administration and governor was assigned to replace his position. After he was overthrown, anti-Bistonian sentiment among seperatists began reigniting, contributing to the rise of the seperatist and unionist movements later on in the future years.

Aftermath and trial
After he was arrested by the Bistonian authorities with the help of the Bistonian military, Ethelbert was forcefully placed in a prison outside New Jefferson, where he would spend his life there without serving trial for around 11 years, until in the year of 2008 a trial was held after there were accusations of him committing genocide, including being involved in scandals and rampant corruption. After he was found guilty, he was sentenced to over 35 years in prison without any possibility of parole.

Incarceration and death
After his sentence, Ethelbert was transferred to another prison complex, this time located in the outskirts of Shinglederry. During his incarceration, he had remained silent, and had barely talked according to prison guards. On April 23rd, Ethelbert celebrated his 58th birthday, and continued his routine for another few days. On April 29th 2013 in the morning, when prison guards were waking up most of the inmates, they happened to find out that Ethelbert was not responding and still laying on the bed. As the prison guards attempted to wake him up, they opened his cell and found out that he had passed away. They then took his corpse afterwards to an autopsy, where it was confirmed he had died of a heart attack, and that he was already dead for an hour.

After his death was announced, mass celebrations occurred across several cities in Bistonian Shingleton, including the city of Londonberry, where he was born and raised. Ethelbert's body was then cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Bistonian Sea.