Hwenua was a merchant and Vizier of Shallam during the reign of Sultan Petureceh. He wrote to his father, Relio, about a conspiracy among the leadership of Shallam to rig the results of a referendum to rename the city after Shallai, the child of Petureceh who died to a mysterious plague. When he confronted Petureceh with evidence of his misconduct, the paranoid Sultan denied all allegations. He suspiciously chose to replace members of his Paladin guard with Syssin mercenaries, and Hwenua was devastated to discover days later that Molik, the Registrar who had concealed the results of the referendum, was found dead and therefore unable to verify Hwenua's claims.