Piter de Vries/DE

Piter de Vries (10138 AG-10191 AG), was the infamous Twisted Mentat and Mentat-Assassin for Siridar-Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. He began working for the Baron in 10168. De Vries was an ambitious and impatient sadist whose evil rivalled that of the Baron. The only mistake in his calculations he ever made was that Lady Jessica would bear Duke Leto a daughter, not a son.

Early Life
Piter de Vries was born on Gwandali, a small planet located well off of the major spacing routes. His mother was Thra, who was a daughter of the planet's powerful Olman clan. Piter's mother was a sickly woman, though doted on her only son, denying him little. Records indicate that she lived to an old age. Little is known of Piter's father, due to obliteration in Tleilaxu records. Only the letters "ibb" are legible, and their position in his name is not known.

Due to financial difficulty, Piter's father sold him to the Tleilaxu for mentat experimentation.

Tleilaxu Experimentation and Training
De Vries' mentat training began normally, close to that of any regular mentat. He learned how to absorb impressions and data and then use the material to calculate, analyze, extrapolate, and compute answers. Piter had little interest in being stranded in what he thought the backwater of the universe, listening to stories from his fellow students. When the time was right, he had decided to leave and set out to become successful and gain power.

His original designs did not go as planned. When the Tleilaxu received an order from Baron Harkonnen for a Mentat Assassin, Piter was the ideal candidate for the purposes. The Tleilaxu soon fostered and enhanced the evil in de Vries, as well as sought to destroy what human emotions he possessed, except what was required in the order. De Vries was twisted to lose his faith and confidence in authorities, loved ones, and those in positions of power. A significant part of his training included witnessing Face-Dancer counterfeits of important persons in his life committing and experiencing horrific atrocities. Piter was subjected to multiple horrific episodes as these, including one that included a Face Dancer impersonating his mother being raped by a trusted mentor. Despite this, certain parts of Piter's original personality remained, such as his lust for power and cleverness. De Vries was not without flaws either, and sometime in the course of his training and being sent to Harkonnen, had developed an addiction to spice melange.

Harkonnen House Mentat
After de Vries' training was complete, he was delivered to the Baron Harkonnen in 10168 AG, around thirty years of age. The Baron initially thought Piter the perfect mentat, due to his sadistic, unfeeling, and addicted personality. De Vries by this time was a natural killer and felt morbid delight in erotic depravity and inflicting pain and death upon others.

During the course of his employment, he machinated the destruction and weakening of many Minor Houses. De Vries also drafted the oppressive policy that House Harkonnen used on Arrakis to make the maximum profit.

He excelled in creating methods of torture and the development of poisons. De Vries' poisons ranged from the subtle to the painfully obvious. One of his notable and twisted inventions was a sophisticated residual poison that required periodic antidotes to be administered. Baron Harkonnen rewarded Piter for his efforts by allowing him an unlimited supply of melange, as well as promises of future spoils.

Appearance
Piter de Vries was a small slender man with dark hair and effeminate features. He did not reach the average height for men from his homeworld. Order receipts from House Harkonnen indicated that his preferred footwear were cothurns, a high thick-soled boot, which he likely wore to compensate for his height.

Питер де Врис/ЭД