Hasimir Fenring/DE

This article or section refers to elements from the Dune Encyclopedia. There are separate pages for this subject as it appears in the other canons, the reasons for this are explained here Hasimir Fenring as it appears in Original Dune Hasimir Fenring as it appears in Expanded Dune

Hasimir Fenring
Political Information
Titles	Count, Assassin
Great House	House Harkonnen
Biographical Information
Born	10133 AG
Died	10225 AG
Physical Characteristics
Eyes	Dark grey
Hair	Dark
Height	Short
Behind the Scenes
First appearance	Dune

Count Hasimir Fenring (10133 AG - 10225 AG) was a renowned assassin and political tactician, almost Kwisatz Haderach, and the adviser to Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. He was also a prominent member of House Fenring, a House Major that had long been aligned to House Corrino.

Fenring was a genetic eunuch (sterile male), a small man with oversize dark eyes and a weasel face. He was also a relative to Dalak Fenring who married Wensicia

History

Hasimir was born on Kaitain to Cirni, (sister to Elrood IX) and was raised in the Imperial Court and was a childhood friend, of the na-Emperor, Shaddam. In his youth, he loved the sea and was a fine amateur sailor and a surpassingly skillful athlete in many pursuits.

He acquired, at a very early age, the necessary combination of wits, charm, and ruthlessness which enabled him not only to survive but to flourish in the intrigue-saturated atmosphere at Court. In so doing, he attracted the attention of many of the most powerful courtiers, who recognized his potential and managed to refuse all approaches made to him without antagonizing anyone beyond bounds.

In 10147 AG acting on reports from one of her household spies, Reverend Mother Zoe Partherin (Elrood's Truthsayer), tested him with the gom jabbar and reported only that the na-Count had acquitted himself well during the ordeal, but appeared to be lacking in certain qualities essential to his use in the Bene Gesserit plan. She later revealed that the delay in the boy's development was because he was a genetic eunuch (sterile male), however he was not dismissed.

County

A proven fighter with successful duel behind, in 10153 AG Hasimir succeeded his father when the old Count died.

In 10155 AG he laid out before his friend, the details of an assassination plot against him schemed by his father, and advised Shaddam that, rather than trying to take action against the plotters himself, to bring their scheme before the full Court, and protect himself by a display of preparedness. This move would also make public knowledge of the existence of the hunter-seeker, a secret assassination weapon of the Corrinos.

Within a year, Elrood was dead by chaumurky and Shaddam IV succeeded him; the poisoning was theorized to be plotted by Hasimir by anonymous authors and whisperers (cf. Pirate History of Corrino). It is certain that Hasimir's fortune was assured from the very beginning of Shaddam's reign, adding enough estates, shares in CHOAM and Hasimir became as wealthy as many of the heads of Houses Major.

Hasimir became his vital adviser, often guiding him away from foolish political decisions and handled several problems such as Landsraad inconveniences and Houses going renegade. He became known pejoratively as the "Emperor's errand boy" which Fenring found an amusing recognition.

Marriage

In 10173 AG the Count married Lady Margot, a recent graduate from the Bene Gesserit school on Wallach IX in an arranged marriage. On their wedding night, Margot fed him a residual poison and administered the antidote thereafter in his food, thus foiling the poison snoopers.

Shortly after this, he was assigned as Imperial Agent to Arrakis to spy on the Harkonnens and maintaining the flow of melange to Shaddam IV's stockpile.

During that time Margot trained him in many of the Bene Gesserit ways of observation, control, and philosophy and Hasimir learned how to adapt himself to the roles of benign cuckold. Margot implanted a hypnotic suggestion, activated by the Voice, that would paralyze the Count from the neck down.

Eventually she revealed her assigned duty as a breeder. She bore three daughters: Cynthe, Yana, and Lianne. All of them were sent to the Wallach IX school at age five.

Siridar-Absentia of Caladan

During the transition of power on Arrakis between House Harkonnen and House Atreides, Fenring served as interim Governor, between 10191 AG and 10193 AG as Siridar-Absentia of Caladan, no doubt finalizing some of the elements that would later be instrumental in the fall of House Atreides.

He returned to Court and Lady Margot joined him after a brief visit to Wallach IX; he laid the groundwork for the massive system of bribes and coercion which would eventually serve to keep the emperor freed of the Landsraad's suspicions on the slaughter of the Atreides on Arrakis. It cost him over a billion solaris in spice bribes, slave women, royal honors, and tokens of rank.

However his wife, left a warning message for Lady Jessica, (a fellow Bene Gesserit) concerning dangers to the lives of her family. Her warnings conveyed too little information and came too late.

In early 10192 AG, Count and Lady Fenring were sent as official observers to Harko, on Giedi Prime, to witness the birthday celebrations for Feyd-Rautha, the na-Baron.

The actual reason to visit the Harkonnens was to assist his wife's Bene Gesserit plans to carry the child of Feyd. On the night of their arrival, on a sufficient number of occasions thereafter to be certain of her pregnancy and her control over the boy, Hasimir engaged Baron Harkonnen in a series of arguments and mentioned he was aware of his lies and half-truths to the emperor; and advised him to stop his deceptions. Having already moved surreptitiously, against the Atreides, the Emperor would not fear to attack again at need.

During the days of Fenring's visit, the Baron was kept in a constant state of confusion concerning his status with the emperor, his rights involving appointment of Feyd-Rautha as his heir, and other topics the Count was certain would keep tight hold of his attention.

Final battles on Arrakis

His next — and last — function as servant to the emperor was to accompany his master during the final battles on Arrakis, culminating in Shaddam IV's abdication (10196 AG). The Count willfully disobeyed Shaddam for the first time by refusing to kill Duke Paul. After he had won Feyd-Rautha thereby winning Irulan's hand and ascension to the throne, the Count knew what was expected of him and studied, with the Bene Gesserit techniques of observation, the young man he was being asked to murder.

He recognized in him all of the traits and abilities that he himself possessed and also was full man. He also realized that Paul recognized and understood him. That understanding was a gift no one else had ever gave him.

The Emperor viciously cuffed him. He counseled his former master through the painful details of setting up the Regency for Irulan, and took charge of preparing Shaddam's household in the exile on Salusa Secundus.

Fenring returned briefly to the Court and transferred his holdings, cared of Margot's youngest daughter, Elissa until she reached the age of admission for the Wallach IX school, and for passage for himself and his wife to Salusa Secundus, where they joined Shaddam in his exile until his death in 10202 AG.

He remained in exile spend his later years in further study of the Bene Gesserit techniques and described him as "more Bene Gesserit than human". He died in 10225 AG.

Legacy

Margot left in 10226 AG to serve as a teacher at the Wallach IX school and her students often remarked on the number of her teachings for which she gave credit to her late husband.

The 10296 AG Hasimir by Harq al-Harba was written in his legacy.

J. T. Duub in his book Half-a-Dozen Harbas theorized that Hasimir Fenring did not die, but became al-Harba. Actually, Hasimir died 21 years before Harq al-Harba was born but the skeptics claim that Fenring hid underground and his death was faked to forestall inquiries, living another 88 years, writing plays. Since the climate of Leto II's reign made the voicing of unorthodox political opinions of the historical plays very risky (see Nine Historians), and their author needed the protection of secrecy under another identity.

Supporters of this theory say that writing openly for the theater was beneath the dignity of a nobleman, and knowledge of his authorship would have lowered his prestige at Court. However this seems like selective thinking since Duke Mintor Atreides, performed publicly many times in the bullring and, in fact, died there; Feyd-Rautha killed over a hundred slaves in public gladiatorial contests, many of them while he was na-Baron, and often with members of the Royal House in attendance.

According to Duub's Fenring headed a group which wrote the plays collectively, and relies on the reminiscences of Shishkali, one of Leto's early chamberlains, about a conversation with the emperor shortly after a rebellion led by al-Ataud in the early years of his reign. Fenring came close here to losing his life, and only Leto's remembrance of Fenring sparing the life of his father saved the Count from imprisonment or worse.

When Fenring "actually" died in 10313 AG, his fictitious cover identity was fictitiously moved to Fides, there to die a fictitious death four years later.