Jarkko Salomäki

Jarkko Salomäki (b. 20 May 1983) is the Canadian-born Tribal Chief (Finn. Heimopäämies) of Uralica, once member nation of the Christian Coalition of Countries. It was originally his idea to bring members of all the Uralic ethnicities together under one banner, which led to the Uralicist Movement and inevitably the formation of the nation Uralica when he and members of the academic and/or social elite of the other ethnicities banded together in Komi land around the city of Syktyvkar. When voting for councillors, he votes within the "Finn" ethnic group, since he is half-Finnish by ethnic group, with his father being a prominent Sointula Finn. Since becoming leader of Uralica he has become fluent in all three major languages of Uralica - English, Finnish, and Russian - as well as Plautdietsch and claims to want to learn all 27 other languages spoken in the nation due to his keen interest in languages and linguistics. A recent spate of tests he has done shows he has base knowledge in eight of these - Hungarian, Komi, Karelian, Estonian, Nenets, Udmurt, Veps, and Permyak. He also speaks French, German, and Bashkir.

Jarkko and the Military
He held the field rank of Captain in the CCC's "Knights Templar" military order after his leadership and willingness to aid another CCC nation during the Ionized-Jelly War. This meant that he was, for the purposes of the Knights Templar, third on the chain of command behind Grand Master Max Sage and then-Minister of Defence The Kaiser. This was between the end of the Ionized-Jelly War on 3 April 2008, and 7 May 2008, when a restructuring of the military orders of the CCC meant he became a "Knight Hospitaller." He was given the rank of Captain again on 11 May by Hospitaller Grand Master Bolak, and three days later, The Kaiser offered him the Grand Master job for the Knights Templar, which he was quick to accept. On 8 July 2008, Jarkko was named the CCC's Minister of Defence, only the third person to hold the position.

Jarkko's Other Involvements in the Coalition
He was CCC's Minister of Records, meaning it is his role to keep member lists up-to-date and to keep backups of all CCC documents on-hand. He maintains an ambassador list for the CCC as well.

He was also CCC's ambassador to 3 alliances - The Order of Light, The German Empire, and the Orange Defense Network. However he is naturally not at the headquarters 24/7, and has appointed three representatives to take care of more mundane matters and to notify him of anything more pressing:


 * to TOOL: The Honourable Petteri Ahola (Finn)
 * to TGE: The Honourable Ralf Giesbrecht (Mennonite)
 * to ODN: The Honourable Jesse Tusk (Livonian)

Finally, he was a point of co-ordination between the militaries of the CCC and her allies, particularly the New Polar Order.

He is always willing to lend a hand in other areas as well, and this willingness is shared by his people. There were temporary refugee camps set up near Trakt at KingJarkko's order when Long Rifle was attacked in the A Tale Of Two Ghosts campaign.

Jarkko Away From Politics
A fan and player of soccer (football), he is a left-back for Sikkivukarin Palloseura (SiPS), having been named to the team on 10 June 2008. He also enjoys all the other "regular" spectator sports in Uralica - ice hockey, team handball, tennis, basketball, and winter solo sports, most notably speed skating and biathlon, the latter of which he sometimes partakes in. KingJarkko is also an avid musician, novellist, and poet, and composed the music to the Uralilainen Laulu, Uralica's national anthem. He has a pet cat named "Ruutu" (diamond), named for the white diamond on his forehead, and his home in the Nizhnyy Chov district of Syktyvkar also borders on a bird sanctuary which is home to many Eurasian Eagle-Owls, which he contributes to financially.

Personality
KingJarkko has a rather eccentric personality, due in part to his Asperger Syndrome condition, but always tries to be friendly. He is known to come up with odd terms for things ("tapping-up" for attempting to recruit a member who is already part of an alliance, "going shotgun" for declaring peace with an enemy aggressor without being ordered to do so, "hoolie" for a CN bully in general, and so forth) and can also come up with some obscure jokes that often end up backfiring on him, usually resulting in him getting a nickname. The best examples of this are "Simon" (from a bad CastleVania joke) and "Pizza" (from talking about a little-known Norwegian football (soccer) club that makes its own pizza).

When in charge of combatants, he is known for being quite strict. He likes to do things "by the book," and to disobey an order usually brings about a serious tongue-lashing from the Uralican Chief. However, he is also known to praise noteworthy combatants, with examples from the past having been l1jake1 of La Fleur and CVTWayne of Hintonia.

When doing the actual fighting, he is feared for having "a nasty streak longer than the Volga." Much the same as he wants his orders followed when in command, Jarkko always makes sure his actions are square with his commander's orders, as well as the CCC Charter. He also prefers to attack at night, and this fact combined with his almost predatory nature has garnered him the nickname, "Huuhkaja," which is Finnish for "eagle-owl," a nocturnal bird of prey that has range throughout most of Uralica and is the national bird. However, this mean streak has also garnered him the contempt of some, who call him "That Bloodthirsty Finn," although few who call him that are from nations that still exist. He is rumoured to have ordered five top aides to the Ionicion dictator, Ionizer, executed as retaliation for the deaths of 221 Mennonite civilians in Pazhga, since Ionizer himself had fled the nation. (It was later found out that Ionizer was killed near Long Rifle, having been mauled by a female polar bear.)

Jarkko is fiercely loyal to his allies. He even went so far as to call alliances that had at least MDPs with the CCC "brothers and sisters." He has a particular fondness for the New Polar Order and The Order of Light, and feels a certain kinship with KingRich of Blancos Dos, who is also both a military official and a diplomat. He also has soft spots for several other alliances, as mentioned in the following interview questions.

Interview With The Eagle-Owl
In a recent interview, he listed a few of his favourite things:

Favourite...

...activities: squashing rogues, helping his alliance, making his nation stronger, executing Midnight Surprises, making new friends, trolling Rebbilon. ...colours: blue, green, white, gold. ...alliances (no order of preference, of course): the CCC, the NpO, the GPA, TOOL, Dunder Mifflin, Greenland Republic, FARK, Ragnarok, Wolfpack, the Invicta, The Legend of the Einherjar, The Grämlins, The Order of the Paradox, The Templar Knights, Xanadu, Random Insanity Alliance, The Global Order of Darkness, Argent, The Sasori Initiative, Mostly Harmless Alliance, and any other alliance displaying what he feels to be "true honour." ...animals: cats, eagle-owls, and lynxes. ...soccer (football) team: Sikkivukarin Palloseura. ...hockey teams: HK Jokerit, HK Syktyvkar. ...place: The Filharmonia in Syktyvkar. ...music: Classical, Christian metal, symphonic electronica. ...hobbies: making music in any way form or fashion, playing football (soccer), biathlon. ...musical instrument: besides his computer, the gigantic pipe organ in the Filharmonia. (Is also an avid metal keyboardist/guitarist, bass-clarinetist, and percussionist) ...woman: the only hint he's given is that her initials are LS. (Although he has been rumoured to have taken a fancy to one of a number of female diplomats as well!)