Lesser Father Theodore William Gramm

Overview
Lesser Father Theodore William "Bill" Gramm is the de facto leader of Awesome City. His leadership has been characterized as cruel, corrupt, and unscrupulous.

History
Gramm was raised by his mother in Riverside, who had escaped an abusive marriage with his father. Having witnessed episodes of the abuse at a young age, Gramm was haunted by the memories of his mother's screams since her death when he was at the age of eleven. Devestated and confused, Theodore was easily converted by the Great Father and quickly became one of his most loyal and influential disciples.

After the death of the Great Father, Theodore was again struck with grief for which he had no consolation. He became the new "Lesser Father" of the cult, leading the rest of the surviving children to the abandoned city of Briggs to establish Awesome City.

Politics
Gramm's style of government is highly reflective of his age, his childhood trauma, and his lack of experience in politics. Unable to read or write, he has established no written constitution, and relies on his own subjective judgement or that of his council of close friends. Gramm is envious and fearful of literate people, and thus refuses to enlist a scribe to help him. The city has no system of currency, the local economy dependent on the trade of ammunition and goods in a bartering-style system.

Gramm is well known to keep a harem of female residents in his chamber, many of whom are the mates of his courtiers, or those of lower-class citizens. The influence that these young women have on his dictatorship is unknown, but it is certain that none of them are literate.

Punishment under Gramm's regime can span from temporary imprisonment to banishment, beatings, or even execution. For the majority of infractions, public humiliation is his favored sentence. Notably, Gramm does not directly subject these victims to beatings, but forces them to watch a significant figure of them beaten pubicly. This is likely a reflection of his experiences of abuse as a child.