PERSONALITY
Mr. Stephill is a high-functioning psychopath. He believes power and wealth are the only things worth a damn. If his empire isn't expanding, then he is failing. Lives hold no value to him; the community is nothing more than potential tools to him; other companies are only around so he can claim them when they're ripe. He obsessively carries out extensive diets, exercises, and a healthy dose of makeup to keep up his youthful appearance.
He is more devil than man.
TRIVIA
After nine o'clock, a phantom appears in the corners of his eyes. His niece, horribly disfigured, lets out blood-curdling screams that only he can hear. Something inside of him feels something. Is that guilt? He doesn't like it.
His mustache and goatee are fake.
XX820
Mr. Stephill operates BACKBONE INDUSTRIES. He sits in wait, plotting for the day when he can exact his revenge against Stem Tower. He doesn't fear his growing age.
HISTORY
Stephill was a well-behaved child. He stayed quiet in school and got good grades. His single mother often babied him due to his brother vanishing into thin air. Something was missing inside of him, though. He felt no strong feelings towards his clingy mother, his missing brother, or his extended family's woes.
It didn't take long for him to find out that he wasn't like the other school boys.
Young Stephill Frie's life took a major turn as his brother mysteriously reappeared as the newly appointed ruler of Stem City. Even as a growing child, Stephill only wanted to talk to Lord Frie for toys and attention.
As Stephill grew up, he desired a purpose. He had amazing grades, yes, but his family wasn't remarkably wealthy in any select sector. Taking the most generic class available, he excelled in his specialized business class. His mind was built for it.
Reviewing the inner workings of Stem City's economy for several school projects, a utopia started to form in the pure logical mind of Stephill. Like any successful businessman, it all hinged on his familial connections.
BACKBONE INDUSTRY was started as a citywide structural and electronic repair group. The marketing for the company was carefully constructed and perfectly concise in its image: They wanted the best for all the people of Stem City. Cheap prices and well-paying wages led both the majority of the off-worlder population and nobles to love Stephill Frie's practices.
In XX782, a 33-year-old Stephill Frie came to his brother with a legal proposition to boost Stem City's internal economy higher than it had ever gone before. The STABILITY ACT, and, two years later, the WHISPER ACT, were enacted shortly after.
Stephill's long-term plan for control had worked fantastically. The STABILITY ACT had put him at the top. Business owners would get a large sum of Marks if they sold their company to BACKBONE INDUSTRY. BACKBONE INDUSTRY was also put in charge of deciding if Stem City business' requests to the Nexus were approved or not.
Within years, the titan of a company systematically took control of the food market, housing market, trash market, and more by preventing any company that would not submit to its ownership from the most basic of Nexus orders. The BACKBONE INDUSTRY that everybody knew and trusted died; it was now a surrogate for Stephill to control everything.
The most important part of the STABILITY ACT was the fact that Stephill gained the exclusive right to hire people to work in the heavily guarded Marks gold mines. Using this opportunity to his advantage, the cruel Stephill took advantage of his brother's family blinded eyes and began stealing pure Marks gold ingots for his own keeping.
The later years of Lord Frie's rule were marked by off-worlders demanding freedom from Stem City's walls; they wanted to take control of their own livelihoods away from the grasp of Stem Tower and BACKBONE INDUSTRY. Stephill, having the resources of a majority of Stem City's economy, helped his brother deal with these protestors by seeding them with his noble loyalists to cause chaos and disorganization in their ranks.
As time went on, his unremarkable family desired portions of Stephill's wealth.
The emotionless Stephill felt no desire to share his profits with his freeloading family. So, the simple solution for him was to get rid of them. One booby-trapped ride out to his newly constructed Fungal Wastes vacation home and a clever criminology expert planting evidence was all it took to get rid of them.
Despite getting the best explosive expert around, Stephill did have to deal with one loose end a bit more personally during the adventure. In the fiery crash of Stephill's specialized armored bus, he beat his 6-year-old niece to death with the blown-off exhaust pipe.
Every night from then on, a distorted, ghostly silhouette would appear in the corner of his vision and shriek. She shouted no concrete words; she simply belted out white noise that sounded as if it came straight from hell. He uses it as an excuse to keep a good sleep schedule.
Time marched on with BACKBONE INDUSTRIES crippling new businesses in Stem City. All good things must come to an end. Lord Frie elected the mysterious Blema Von Voldark as the next ruler of Stem City. Stephill had a feeling a fight would have to be put up to remain in power now that his own blood wasn't the one in charge, but he felt confident.
In XX801, Stephill decided to get rid of his aging brother now that he wasn't useful. One small dose of poison in their weekly breakfast's water caused him to croak within a few months.
The next three years were hard for the last remaining Frie. XX800, Blema amended the WHISPER ACT to remove any involvement from BACKBONE INDUSTRY and offer even better benefits.
XX802's WALL ACT was Stephill's worst nightmare: the city's walls were dropped, and disgruntled aliens began forming their own economic circles separate from Stem City.
XX803's UNRESTRICT ACT legalized many historically illegal practices and opened many markets that Stephill had zero footing in.
XX804's DECENTRALIZE was the final nail in BACKBONE INDUSTRY'S coffin. It tore any and all control of the Nexus from BACKBONE INDUSTRY'S control; it removed all benefits that companies got for selling their rights away to Mr. Stephill's enterprise; and the Marks mines had Lawmen swarm in and kick out all of BACKBONE INDUSTRY's men.
Stephill was livid.
He quickly contacted the Von Voldark casino conglomerate and the Von Solstar beauty industry, enemies whom he had always kept close, to rebel. They bonded together to form the Great Nobles Union. Their group, but mostly the businesses under BACKBONE INDUSTRY's control, jacked up their prices to choke out the economy for several years.
Stem City spiraled down and down, with the homeless rate doubling. Blema would not budge and give in to the group's demands to give their companies their previous power. Many nobles, despite their own businesses starting to decline, lobbied behind this group in an attempt to restore Stem City's legislation to what it was during Lord Frie's time as ruler.
Stephill Frie had successfully propagandized them into believing that he wasn't the villain.
In XX808, Blema enacted the MONOPOLY ACT. Official weekly auctions were held to sell off the huge amount of property the main three major companies of the GNU owned. The average noble business owner's happiness skyrocketed as huge chunks of the city's land were liberated from the greedy hands of the GNU, and a more competitive market was swiftly forged.
Blema publicly stated her reasons for this ACT: Mr. Frie's group had been hurting all living inside of Stem City's wall, both noble and off-worlder, causing the number of people leaving for the Outlands to tenfold. So, to remedy these hurtful actions, Blema has done the simple thing: forced them to compete. She warned all nobles that if anybody in the future wished to hold the economy hostage, Stem Tower would come down harder than before.
Stephill sat down and took it; Blema's warnings were clear. The GNU's main bonds were broken off, and BACKBONE INDUSTRY returned to its original role as a city-wide repair group. He knew that a time would come when the people would overthrow Blema's spastic rule. He simply had to be patient and wait for that time to come.
LOYALTY
RELATIONS
Lord Frie IX of Stems - To Stephill, the older Frie was only as useful as long as he sat on the throne. After that, it was best to cut off loose familial ends.
Ann Peelo - Ann was one of many interns he tutored; he was horribly disappointed when she ended up joining Stem Tower as Nexus management without keeping contact with him.
Blema Von Voldark - His worst enemy. He hates her for disassembling his empire and embarrassing him.