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| - __TOC__ Jules Verne Durand is a linguist of Earth ancestry aboard the Daban Urnud. Due to his fluency in Orth, he is recruited to act as an envoy/spy upon the Arbran Convox studying the Geometers. He studies as to how to pose as an avout of the obscure, reclusive Matarrhite Order. A commando team from the Daban Urnud attacks and subdues the Matarrhite math soon after Orolo attempts to contact the ship. On Arbre, he takes the name Zh'vaern, a contraction of his real name. His mission is to discover if the legends of the Incanters are true. Historically the Matarrhites always covered their bodies with their bolts except for the eyes. This allows him to hide his subtly alien face. They also have an austere, odorous, unpalatable diet, which provides a cover story for his need to eat strange (Earth-originated) food. Durand was born on Fthos not long before the Daban Urnud's departure. His native tongue is French, although as a skilled linguist and interpreter he knows all the important languages of the Daban Urnud. Durand officially worked for the Pedestal, but he was sympathetic towards the Fulcrum, and he had not be totally successful in concealing this. His servitor Orhan is really his Urnudian "minder." He was sent regardless of the Pedestal's suspicions because, due to an underestimation of the importance of the Orth language, Durand was their only fluent Orth speaker. Later, Durand reveals he is the husband of Lise, who was killed on her mission to Ecba, sent by the Fulcrum. Perhaps due to this, Durand assists Cell 317 in its attack on the Daban Urnud.
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