Matt Marmaduke
Full Name:
Matthew Jonathan Boone Marmaduke
Date of Birth:
September 11, 2397, 12:00 PM (Earth Central Time)
Titles/Affiliations:
– Freeholder, Marmaduke Freehold LLC
– CEO, Boone-Marmaduke Holdings
– Trustee, Marmaduke Family Trust
– Founding Partner, MM Agri Solutions Inc
– Founding Partner, Freehold Logistics Inc
– Primary Human Delegate to the V’ren Refugee Fleet
Current Location:
Central Missouri Freehold, Earth
Background:
Matt Marmaduke is the twenty-sixth in direct succession to hold his family’s farm, a legacy stretching back to Matthew Marmaduke—a Revolutionary War officer who moved to Missouri after the Louisiana Purchase. He also descends from Daniel Boone, as do many locals. The famous, infamous, and wealthy litter his family tree all the way to the Domesday Book. Like most who descend from historical power, his lineage loops back on itself—more Christmas wreath than tree.
Yet Matt takes more pride in the less celebrated: generations of farmers, war veterans, immigrants, refugees, and quietly competent patriots. Born into a post-collapse America governed by the Confederated Corporations Agreement of 2123, he inherited not just the land—but the rare legal status of one of the last true sole proprietorships in the Americas.
A reluctant public figure and private intellectual, Matt earned undergraduate degrees in botany and business management, followed by a master’s in agricultural engineering. He quietly consolidated inherited assets into a streamlined logistics and agribusiness empire. Though he avoided the spotlight, his reputation grew across freight, agriculture, and restoration ecology circles as a man who kept his promises—and delivered, at home and abroad.
Turning Point – First Contact:
On June 1, 2440, Matt’s Freehold became the site of humanity’s first confirmed alien contact when a V’ren refugee ship crash-landed in one of his northern wheat fields. Rather than defer to governmental or corporate authority, Matt exercised his sovereign rights under the Confederated Corporations Agreement of 2173, granting immediate sanctuary to the displaced aliens.
His decision—simultaneously moral, legal, and logistical—catalyzed Earth’s first stable interspecies relationship, earning him both acclaim and condemnation. What followed was a transformation of Missouri from flyover farmland to the center of a new interstellar alliance.
Personality & Leadership Style:
Matt is known for his calm, steel-eyed pragmatism. While not overtly charismatic in the traditional sense, he commands trust through consistency, quiet conviction, and a refusal to condescend. He is a student of history, fluent in multiple languages, and equally at home quoting Shakespeare, repairing machinery, cooking for whoever shows up in his kitchen or watching over the lechon.
He is neither utopian nor cynical—he believes in earned trust, negotiated peace, and that power should be used sparingly and with care. His background has made him fiercely protective of those under his roof, regardless of species.
Notable Traits:
– Refuses to salute power he does not respect
– Known for honoring contracts down to the comma
– Combines rural charm with strategic brilliance
– Holds deep loyalty to both human and V’ren kin
– Occasionally quotes Monty Python or paraphrases Gilbert & Sullivan in negotiation
– Keeps bourbon, not blood, in his diplomacy cabinet