Bolig Avati

Bolig Avati was the Lead Administrator of the Ixian Technocrat Council, the body of advisors that governed the day to day affairs of Ix beneath its ruling house. Together with his fellow technocrats, Avati conspired to wrest control of the planet from the royal family of Rhombur Vernius, pressing for an Ix unencumbered by the noble traditions he regarded as obstacles to commerce. His scheming brought him into conflict with the Atreides, and after the rise of Paul Atreides to the Imperial throne it ended in his execution.

Conspiracy against House Vernius#

Avati and the other Ixian advisors repeatedly attempted to assassinate Earl Rhombur Vernius, the ruler of Ix, by staging accidents, so that the Technocrat Council could take the planet for itself. When Rhombur survived one such attempt, left damaged but alive, the advisors changed tactics and harried him constantly, threatening to disrupt his rule.

The pressure provoked the cybernetically enhanced Earl. In a fit of anger Rhombur struck Avati hard enough to send him flying across the room, and his fellow advisors helped him up and withdrew to the House frigate. Later, when Rhombur found his wife Tessia paralyzed, he furiously summoned Avati, believing him to be behind it. The interrogation turned up nothing incriminating, though Avati allowed that business would proceed more smoothly if Ix were unencumbered by archaic noble traditions. He and a party of Ixians afterward suggested it would be better if Vernius temporarily retreated from public life, a suggestion Rhombur refused to dignify with an answer.

On a later occasion Avati carried the Council's weekly report to the Grand Palais, a report that contained an intercepted communique between two members of House Atreides. Rhombur was infuriated and demanded that any such intelligence reach him at once. When a representative of the Spacing Guild arrived seeking information, Rhombur threatened to halt repairs on a Guild Heighliner until he received answers, and Avati protested that the Earl's decision was plainly not in the best interests of the Ixian economy.

The Atreides garrison#

When Duke Leto Atreides offered his personal army to ensure stability on Ix while Vernius was off planet, Avati was thrown into a panic, knowing that an Atreides garrison would make assassinating Rhombur far harder. Rhombur, however, judged the offer sound and thanked Leto, who specified that a battalion or two would suffice. Avati cried out in dismay, and the Earl ordered him to cooperate fully with the Atreides and to welcome the troops upon their arrival.

Confederacy and execution#

After Rhombur was killed, his son Bronso was inducted as Earl of Ix. Avati and the Technocrat Council seized the moment to propose an independent confederacy in place of the royal family. When Bronso publicly denounced Emperor Paul Atreides, the Council disavowed any knowledge of his heretical actions. The Atreides nonetheless detained the Council members and had them interviewed by Qizarate priests, who found their denials unconvincing. Many of the Council were put to death, Bolig Avati among them.