Thufir Hawat
| Thufir Hawat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Character Type | Major Character |
| Affiliation | Atreides |
| Status | Alive |
| Has dialogue | yes |
| Added in Version | 1.1.0.0 |
Thufir Hawat is the Atreides Master of Assassins. A veteran Mentat serving as the faction's tactical mastermind on Arrakis, working against his Harkonnen counterpart, Piter de Vries. He acts as a primary contact for players associating with the Atreides faction.
Lore
Thufir Hawat is a renowned Mentat throughout the Imperium and currently serves as the Master of Assassins for House Atreides. He has served the Atreides family since the time of Duke Leto's own father and is greatly coveted by the other houses of the Landsraad for his strategic talent.
On Arrakis, Thufir Hawat served Duke Leto Atreides as his primary adviser in the transition of power between the Harkonnen and the Atreides. He advised the honorable Duke that an attack by the Harkonnen was all but guaranteed and even concluded that the Emperor's own personal forces, the Sardaukar, would secretly assault the Atreides as well. Despite his preparations, there was one person that escaped his suspicions of betrayal. House Atreides' Suk Doctor, Wellington Yueh. This traitor amongst the ranks of the Atreides was discovered by Lady Jessica and is the primary reason the Atreides were able to survive the Battle of Arrakeen, though deeply bloodied.
Now Thufir Hawat's attention is focused entirely upon the War of Assassins between the Atreides and the Harkonnen. A bloody game plays out between him and his Harkonnen counterpart, Piter de Vries, the Twisted Mentat and Master of Assassins under the employ of Baron Harkonnen.
Mentat and Master of Assassins
The articles of the Great Convention forbade the use of atomics and established strict limitations on how warfare was conducted in the Imperium in the aftermath of the Butlerian Jihad. Because of these limitations and of the proliferation of Holtzman Shields, the Great Houses of the Imperium engage in Kanly and settle their vendettas in the form of the War of Assassins.
The Great Houses employed Mentats, human supercomputers, to oversee these operations as a Master of Assassins. Thufir Hawat serves as the Master of Assassins for House Atreides, in his position he oversees the corps of assassins and the many temporary and permanent agents who serve House Atreides and its clandestine operations. He also maintains the security of House Atreides, ever watchful for both external and internal threats.
Arrakis and Battle of Arrakeen
Ahead of the arrival of Duke Leto and most of the Atreides military, Thufir Hawat was sent to Arrakis to ensure the transfer of power went smoothly. House Harkonnen left many spies and agents among the population of Arrakeen, all of which posed a threat to his House, a threat which needed to be neutralized before his Duke stepped foot on the planet.
The threat posed to the Atreides did not begin and end with subterfuge left in the wake of the Harkonnen's departure. Thufir Hawat and Duke Leto knew well enough of the trap that was laid before them before they had left Caladan. The Harkonnen's vendetta against the Atreides and the Emperor's fear of Leto's growing popularity amongst the Landsraad were clear motivations. Hawat calculated that not only would the Harkonnen stage an attack upon them, but that the Emperor would commit his own fearsome Sardaukar forces to destroy House Atreides. Later when the Harkonnen and Sardaukar attacked, it was clear his calculations greatly underestimated the sheer size of the force that was brought down upon them. Additionally, careful manipulation by the Master of Assassins for House Harkonnen, Piter de Vries, had misled Thufir Hawat to believe that Lady Jessica was a traitor. In reality the Suk Doctor for the Atreides family, Wellington Yueh, had been tortured and had his imperial conditioning broken by Piter de Vries. The complete absence of suspicion on Doctor Yueh was the secret blade by which the Harkonnen planned to catch the Atreides off-guard, influencing Yueh through duplicitous means into disabling the city shields defending Arrakeen.
The inflection point at which the Alternative Timeline branched off was when Lady Jessica detected Doctor Yueh's deception before he could act, which allowed the Atreides to prepare for the ambush, subsequently surviving the battle.
War of Assassins
The Atreides only narrowly survived the Battle of Arrakeen, the city was left in ruins and both House Atreides and House Harkonnen were left in a greatly weakened state. This weakening has only grown worse as the War of Assassins between the two houses has continued for over eight years. Thufir Hawat recognizes that, as the war continues with no end in sight, he must plan beyond Arrakis itself and gather what he believes is the only thing that will allow the Atreides to both survive and win the war with their morality and identity intact, leverage. He seeks this amongst the many secretive endeavors taking place on the planet and mobilizes a small army of independent agents and an additional cadre of sworn Atreides agents to uncover what lurks beneath the hidden dunes of Arrakis.
From his post outside the Arrakeen residence, Thufir Hawat organizes and deploys these forces, receives reports on current happenings, and conducts the silent game of spying and counter-spying. The Atreides do not have the strength they once did however, there simply isn't enough resources available to root out the plentiful spies and saboteurs that are sent against them. Hawat has determined that the Atreides cannot afford to continue spreading what limited forces they have chasing down every trouble spot that arises. It's clear to Hawat that triage is necessary, some level of disruption must be tolerated or else the House will succumb to attrition outright.
Dialogue
Gallery