Mercy D’marna

Mercy D’marna, Queen of The Realm, was a shy, reserved, and exceptionally anxious woman who wanted no part of the throne which was her birthright. Elevated to the position upon the early death of her mother, Mercy struggled with the burdens of leadership for sixteen years before taking her own life in the year 227.

Born in 178 in the Reekian megalopolis, Mercy was thrust into a life of overstimulation that did not suit her one bit. She was an incredibly unhappy baby and didn’t find peace and contentment until her mother sent her to live with relatives on a farm in the Mira’s Well region of The Realm.

Out on the farm, from age 2 to age 33, Mercy lived a life which was much more her speed. Though she still appeared alongside her mother on occasion, especially once Amarna took the throne in 193, Mercy kept her visits to the city to a minimum. And whenever her mother sought to prepare her for her eventual ascension to the throne, Mercy would suggest that Amarna have herself another child or find herself another heir.

In 201, at the age of 23, she married a farmer’s son from down the road. The next year, she had a son. And then, from 202 to 211, Mercy lived what she would later call “the best years of her life.”

Tragedy struck in 211, however, and upended Mercy’s peaceful life for good and all.

Following the murder of her mother by shady creditors that year, Mercy was coronated and thrust into a spotlight she’d never wanted. The Crown’s Assembly, seeing Mercy as a better alternative than her pushover aunt Auset or her too-young cousin Ivan, pressured Mercy not to abdicate. And so, with the encouragement of her husband, Mercy took the job. But she did so only under the condition that she be allowed to spend most of her year living outside of the capital.

The Assembly agreed to Mercy’s terms, but it became increasingly apparent over the years that peace in The Realm could only be maintained when the monarch ruled from the Crimson Keep in person and with authority. That is how Mercy came to live there full-time. And that is when her anxiety gave way to depression, which gave way to desperation, which gave way, in the end, to suicide.

The note she left behind broke the hearts of her husband and son, but eventually led to the passing of numerous reforms designed to improve the mental health of the kingdom.