Shet Sheveti
| Shet Sheveti | |
|---|---|
| |
| Interrex | |
| In office 13 Metrial 1956 – 10 Sation 1963 (V: 2:184:3:16 – 2:192:1:36) | |
| Preceded by | S. Zbivoy Nekhmatov |
| Succeeded by | Mlakusdek shelTeyvas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 Petrial 1880 (V: 2:106:5:45) Tartajtō, Lacre |
| Died | 10 Sation 1963 (V: 2:192:1:36) (aged 83) Prysostaic Citadel |
Shet Sheveti (12 Petrial 1880 – 10 Sation 1963; V: 2:106–2:192) was a greatly influential Lacrean externalist, metaphysicist and theoretical machinist who helped to establish the field of experimental metaphysics and formulated many of its fundamental tenets. He was appointed Experimental Metaphysicist to the Prysostaic Council in 1935 and served as Interrex of the Prysostaic School from 1956 until his death in 1963.
Early life and career
Sheveti was born on 12 Petrial 1880 (2:106 Creation 45 by the Vaestic calendar), the son of the minor landowner Guran Sheveti. After displaying considerable potential at his local mokykla, Sheveti moved first to the provincial School of Zapor, and thence in 1901 to Kozrat to study at the Lacrean Banner-Shrine. He was invested as a Scholar in 1906, but continued to research in Kozrat, officiating at a minor School within the capital. His initial research was compiled in the Commentary on the Metaphysics of Substances in 1915; this text is regarded today as one of the founding works of experimental metaphysics, and is routinely included among works of Elucidation as recognised by most banners. This work, which focused on seemingly anomalous properties such as "hidden light" or nuclear radiation, established the nature of radiation as a metacosmic interaction, and formalised the concept of fragments; this was enough for Sheveti to receive a research office within the Prysostaic Citadel in 1915. From that point on, Sheveti expanded his research, setting down a number of fundamental principles in experimental metaphysics, including the Principle of Transfinite Reflection.
The outbreak of the Long War did not defray Sheveti's research, and he continued his work on the theory of fragments throughout the period. In 1935, he was recognised as a member of the Prysostaic Council. Though his theories were used extensively in the construction of the first metacosmic or atomic weapon, Sheveti did not participate in any of these projects and did not publish on the subject, ostensibly so as not to become involved in the labyrinthine politics of the Long War. By all accounts, however, he was informed of their progress by others in the field to the extent that state security permitted, and in 1950 he was present at the first successful nuclear test, conducted by the Azophine government. His reaction is not reliably recorded, but it is alleged that he merely nodded and left; an unattributed statement suggested that Sheveti “didn’t need to stay any longer; he had seen this moment in his mind so often, and for so long, that its actually happening before him was no more than proof of concept.” Sheveti himself later said that he had forgotten his response: "It is for me the discovery of Knowledge, not its reproduction, which is most important".
Tenure as Interrex
Sheveti was appointed as Interrex in 1956, succeeding in the office from the Azophine-Chuz nobleman S. Zbivoy Nekhmatov. By all indications there were no other serious contenders for the role, and there had even been some reasonably serious suggestions that he be formally appointed as Universal Prophet, the first person to be so elevated since the death of Zohyr II in 1926. Such a development would perhaps have represented the final rehabilitation of the Strong Externalist school of thought, which had been steadily coming back into favour within contemporary Vaestism in recent years as the demands of the Long War fuelled greater and swifter technological development. However, this did not completely exempt Sheveti from criticism after his claims in 1957 to have drawn inspiration for parts of his work from the earlier efforts of Daeena shelKevnu, a Terophite mathematician. ShelKevnu, as a leader of the Savant movement, had been a key figure in the Strong Externalist uprising in Kiy in 1876 and the soi-disant “Empress of Kiy” until 1881, and was then still something of a controversial figure.
Sheveti continued his researches as much as the demands of his new position allowed, and with the beginning of the Sea of Flames campaign in 1958 he set aside concerns over the horrors unleashed by the assault to assemble data on the practical effects of spirit-bombardment. This work was interrupted only briefly by his forced evacuation, along with most senior officials of the School, as the Prysostaia was attacked and captured by Lacrean soldiers in Dominy 1958 at the beginning of the Thrall. The leadership of Vaestism would spend the next few months in exile on the island of Solniai before Zemayan forces recaptured the Red Palace and executed the usurper Zamor the False.
Sheveti was present at the 1959 Congress of Kethpor in his capacity as Interrex, and nominally presided over the character analysis of the Lacrean state apparatus which was conducted there in response to the events of the Thrall, although, as a Lacrean himself, he recused himself from active participation in proceedings to avoid possible allegations of bias.
For the remaining years of his life after 1960, Sheveti retreated from the public eye, but continued to lead research at the Prysostaic School's fragment incarnation laboratory, publishing a series of new experimental elaborations on the theory of fragments. In a congress of Scholars in 1960 after the end of the Long War, he made a widely circulated statement on the use of metacosmic weaponry:
Manipulation of the metacosm is, I agree, a dangerous affair, but it is no different to any other form of machinism. As Scholars we ought not let ourselves be blinded by the blanket of panic and ignorance which may shroud the minds of lesser men. The steps taken by Emperor Vsevolod are, I believe, an appropriate measure, and I expect they shall be imitated elsewhere. It is a powerful tool, as we have seen, it ought to be regulated. But contrary to certain delusions of impending disaster—I may almost say heresies, such as have plagued our pursuit of Knowledge from the days of the Prophet—it is not the end of the world. Our responsibility, after all, is the grand increase of Knowledge, not the petty worries of peasants.
Sheveti died on 10 Sation 1963 (36 Purity 2:192) in his chambers within the Prysostaic Citadel, after a short illness, at the age of 83 years; he was succeeded as Interrex by the Terophane Scholar and administrator Mlakusdek shelTeyvas. A statue of Sheveti was erected at the Prysostaia in 1969, below which is inscribed the following quotation:
Did the Prophet not say that "with Knowledge you shall open the world itself"? The world has now been opened: a great fulfilment of the truth of Knowledge.
