Keal Qamron Osvar

Keal Qamron Osvar was a Ferrarian noble from Erdas Proker of the new-blood faction. He was a close friend of King Durwn the First, saving his life during the War of the Dragon and forming the Ghosts of the Cyraic with him. Osvar then went on to become the Chief Adviser to Durwn during his reign, helping him increase his power over the kingdom. However, in early 451 PT, Osvar declared himself King of East Ferraria, exacerbating the Fourth Ferrarian Civil War. Osvar defeated Durwn's son in battle but was forced to flee the country, leading to his death.   Childhood   Qamron Osvar was the son of Iol Osvar, a member of the Woodgyt family of Erdas Proker. Iol was the town's representative to the Hirths of Hirthurdea, whom recognised Iol's skill as an administrator. Iol was sent by the Hirths to the Ferrarian colony in Desilica to serve as an administrator. Iol became a skilled political operator, working closely with the tribes and land-owners of the region.   Qamron grew up in the city of Taraq, however he was kidnapped by the local temple at an early age due to his status as an infidel. His father had failed to pay the Gezyah tax, the duty required on foreigners to live in Taraq. Qamron was branded to show he had been taken as payment. Qamron was ransomed alongside his sister after several weeks in captivity. Whilst held, Qamron began receiving an education in languages, geography, and maths.   After Qamron was ransomed, he begged his father to get him a tutor and so his father hired a local master to teach Osvar and his sister mathematics, medicine, history, astronomy, the local language, and the tenets of several religions. However, for the rest of his childhood Osvar was forced to remain in the family villa by his parents lest he were taken from them again.   Iol's mission came to an end after another incident involving Qamron. The tutor had taken Qamron out to the harbour to procure a small sailing ship to take the pair out on, but an argument broke out and the tutor was killed. Qamron fled the scene but got lost traveling through the city. When he returned home, he discovered that the local guard had already visited the family to tell them that he had been kidnapped. Iol, seeing his son, was outraged at the failure of the city to protect his family. Iol told his Hirth masters that Taraq would be inhospitable for Ferrarian trade, and they allowed him to leave the city, cancelling all trade relations with the city.   During the voyage home, Qamron was allowed to help navigate the ship after a storm injured part of the crew. Upon arrival, Iol was rewarded for his actions in Taraq by Lar Herad Thomarr Hirth with a new role in Nevana. Hirth also offered to fund Qamron's education at the Rothan school near Erdas Proker. This enabled him to continue the education he had started in Taraq. At the school, Qamron learned the Ghasscari arts of oration, grammar, and rhetoric. Osvar also learned how to fight with a sword, spear, and shield, as well as the basics of magical study.   Early adulthood   ​ After his time at the Rothan school, Osvar was invited to attend the College of Malburn in order to continue his studies. Qamron initially debated whether to go or to return to his father in Nevana, however he was convinced by a friend to continue his education. When he arrived in Malburn, Osvar came under the tutorage of Nattil Tain as the two shared many similar areas of interest. Nattil was an associate of Bauxtice Pellon, the new Chancellor of King Pulus the First, who was searching for skilled operatives to join the new government service Pellon was building. Nattil left the College not long after Osvar arrived to become the assistant spymaster, but his skills had already been noted to Pellon.   For the rest of his study at the College, Osvar focused on studying philosophy, magical artifacts, and foreign affairs, spending a year on a diplomatic mission for the Oboror family in Naraqaq (still effectively a foreign country in The Sheet). Towards the end of his studies in 424 PT, he was approached by Cerulin Ular, another ally of Pellon. Ular had recently been promoted to Most Civil Servant in the Ironmoot despite his relative youth, and he offered Osvar a deal: Osvar could join Pellon's inner circle if he went on a diplomatic mission for a year to Kamelzark. Osvar leaped at the opportunity- less to join Pellon and more to go to such a distant outpost.   He left for Kamelzark just before the end of the sailing season of 424, travelling to Litanholm, Abergren, Velaire, Lavirra, Buzghasar, Lasos, Shaizan-gar, and then finally Kamelzark. During the journey, he explored many of these ancient and famous cities, meeting with dignitaries on behalf of Ferraria. This intervention was particularly important in Buzghasar, whose Grand Prince recognised Osvar's scar. Osvar arranged for the Grand Prince to host Prince Durwn of Ferraria, who was slowly travelling through the region.   In Kamelzark, Osvar established the diplomatic outpost in the foreign sector of Kamelzark, making arrangements with the local governing council. They initially resisted Ferrarian intrusion, seeing them as an extension of the Quentari guilds. However, Osvar convinced the council that Ferrarian iron and steel were far superior to local and Quentari products by cutting through a stone pillar with a Ferrarian blade. Impressed, the council approved for Ferrarian iron to be imported for use in the tool-making industry. Whilst Osvar awaited further orders, he explored the city and wrote letters to several dignitaries of the other embassies. Coincidentally, this included Aleecha Boditer. Before his next mission arrived, he received troubling news of conflict back home.   The Dragon War   Whilst wandering the caverns of Kamelzark, Osvar heard the town-crier announce that civil war had broken out in Ferraria, and Chancellor Bauxtice Pellon had brought dragons from the Cape of Dragons to oust King Pulus I. Osvar was struck with a dilemma, especially when, a few days later, a message arrived from Pellon telling him to remain in Kamelzark and convince the local council to lend aid to Pellon's cause. However, this did not sit well with Osvar, as he had always been taught by his father to remain loyal to his home rather than to people. Osvar decided to return to Ferraria and decide what to do once he got there and he learnt the full facts of the situation, rather than hearsay from town criers.   Osvar left the way he had come, but before he reached Buzghasar, he was informed that Prince Durwn was still there, and he ought not to intervene. Realising the prince was in danger, he rushed to the city. Not long before he arrived, assassins sent by Nattil Tain had arrived and slaughtered Durwn's guard. Durwn and his butler were hiding in their apartment and assassins arrived not long after. Before they found them, Osvar managed to break into the apartment with some of the Grand Prince's guard and stop the assassins. The butler was killed, but Osvar managed to save Durwn. Osvar disguised himself and the prince and, with the help of the Grand Prince, left the city under the cover of night. Unsure of where to go, Osvar decided to take Durwn southwards, a direction the assassins would not suspect.   Osvar found Durwn difficult to deal with due to his youth and Durwn's self-entitlement. Likewise, Durwn found Osvar to be self-righteous and disrespectful. Their travels brought them to Q'rac, a desert trading city. Osvar tried to arrange passage across Desilica to a port where they could return to Ferraria by sea. He could only arrange transport by way of Taraq, much to his annoyance. He also hired Filp Ugbo to act as a bodyguard for Durwn. Meanwhile, Durwn met with Nattan Srorwin, an orphaned pauper wandering the streets of the city.   The caravan left the city by the west gate and traveled across the desert for forty days. Along the way, the caravan was attacked by raiders and went through two sandstorms. During the journey, Osvar made friends with a fellow traveler, Aleecha Boditer- the deposed pirate-queen of Anthria. Once in Taraq, Boditer and Osvar used Durwn's reputation to buy a ship. Before they left he city, they helped repel an attack by a rival city that had blockaded the port.   Osvar acted as navigator whilst Boditer piloted the ship. On the journey through the Cyraic Ocean, the group built up a reputation as The Ghosts of the Cyraic. They visited several islands in the archipelago, raiding towns, attacking pirates, and interfering with Pellon's plans. They faced several adversaries during their travels, including ships from the kingdom of Osgau, but the ghosts defeated them all. Notably, Pellon sent Nattil Tain, now the royal spymaster, himself to stop Durwn's return. Osvar boarded his ship and killed his former tutor.   During the time in the Cyraic Ocean, Osvar had come to bond with the Prince and the rest of the crew quite closely, saving each other from numerous deaths time and time again. Eventually, after breaking a blockade of Pellon's ships, the Ghosts landed in far south Ferraria, where King Pulus I had established his field headquarters. Fighting had paused for the winter, but Pulus was eager to take back his kingdom as soon as possible. Durwn's arrival at first surprised Pulus, as he had assumed Durwn was dead, but then angered him that neither Durwn nor Osvar had notified him of his survival.   Osvar found himself relegated to a very minor role in the royalist faction. Before the war, his work for Pellon had gone unrecorded and, because most of the government was loyal to Pellon and so had turned against the king, many of the nobles distrusted him. Osvar was put in charge of camp latrines and water, much to his chagrin.   After the breakout from Bartholm and the arrival of reinforcements, the loyalists were able to go on the offensive. Pulus' advisers proposed a three-pronged attack- through the Brumanix mountains, along the River Troacher, and across the Coast of Grass to divide Pellon's forces and give them a shot on Ferran's Hold. Amylar Yordt was given command of the west attack, Pulus took command of the northern wing, and Julk Vet Halok the east, with Durwn allowed to go with him. Durwn managed to convince Vet Halok to allow the Ghosts to take a more leading role, and Osvar was placed in control of logistics.   During 426, the war went very well for loyalist forces. Durwn's forces took Naranval, Vemdal, and then Deybria in the Sacking of Deybria. Durwn's army was almost routed at the Battle of Dagenholm, when Pellon attacked the army with his dragon. Osvar and Boditer managed to ward off the dragon through the use of their ship's mounted crossbow. From Dagenholm, Durwn and Osvar planned to wait out the winter of 426 whilst Pulus and Amylar continued to fight on their fronts. After Julk's injury, Durwn took control of his forces and, along with Srorwin, moved to assist his father on the attack on Glorbam.   In spring 427, Osvar led the final push on Pellon by attacking the Hyrame delta, the centre of Ferrarian infrastructure. Pellon redirected most of his surviving forces from other fronts to the delta region to protect it. The ports were vital for bringing in mercenaries from Quentar and were the home of the Ferrarian guilds. The Siege of the Throat of Fire brought Osvar's army to a halt and nearly caused his front to collapse. However, Osvar and Boditer brought their ship through the delta's marshes under the cover of night and rammed it into the central gatehouse of the city, causing an explosion that destroyed the town's defences.   After the siege, Osvar received word that King Pulus' forces were closing in on Pellon. Not wanting to miss out on the end of the war, Osvar, paying off several of Pellon's mercenary companies, boarded his troops onto the Hirth's remaining fleet and sailed up the River Hyrame to Lake Yekar. Osvar accepted the surrender of several towns as he sailed down the river, but he used his ships' speed to avoid any battles lest they slowed him down. As Osvar approached the city, he found that Durwn and Pulus had built their siegeworks some distance away from the city, in fear of the dragons that were still flying around the city. Osvar, seizing the initiative, sailed at full speed towards the city's port, which appeared unguarded, initiating the Battle of Ferran's Hold.   Pellon's dragons swiftly responded, sinking several ships. Osvar dived into the water with Boditer and Ugbo and swam into the city alongside his remaining forces. At the same time, Durwn and Nattan led the charge on the city's walls, overcoming the defences whilst the dragon's were distracted. Once the troops were inside the city, Pellon found he couldn't use his dragons effectively without severely damaging the city. After several hours of fighting, the Ghosts reunited in the city square and prepared to make an attack on the Iron Halls. King Pulus ordered them to wait for his arrival, but after seeing Pellon preparing to take to the skies, Durwn decided to attack immediately.   Attacking the palace from different angles, the Ghosts managed to defeat all of the Nine Hands of Bauxtice Pellon in battle, as well as Pellon's dragon. Durwn and Osvar confronted Pellon in the throne-room of the Iron Halls, and Pellon questioned Durwn about how long he thought his rule could last in a world that was slowly coming to reject the likes of his family. Durwn replied that it would last as long as he had people like Osvar by his side. Pellon then turned to Osvar and commented that he knew Osvar would come to power one day, and that Osvar had Pellon to thank for him. Osvar told him that he had made him too effective. Osvar and Durwn then proceeded to kill him, Durwn out of revenge and Osvar out of fear someone else would do it.   After the war, Durwn was popularly regarded as a hero and the saviour of the kingdom. Osvar did not receive such public veneration, but Pulus was forced to recognise his efforts had been vital to the war effort. Durwn persuaded his father not to trust the old nobility, as they had betrayed him during the war and had turned against their family in the past, and to promote his allies to form a new nobility. Osvar became the face of this movement, and Pulus appointed Keal Acanth Bolls to watch over these new nobles.   Reign of Durwn I   For the rest of Pulus' I reign, Osvar served as the Most Civil Servant on the Ironmoot. After Pulus died in 430, Osvar was in charge of the coronation, using the opportunity to strengthen his power further. After the coronation, Durwn decided to go on a tour of his kingdom in order to visit his nobles. Keal Bolls was made regent and Osvar initiated a political struggle with Keal Rinac, a prominent noble, with the promotion of Beurn Nahgeir. Osvar was nearly sent abroad as governor of Nevana, but he managed to re-engineer the political situation to eliminate Rinac in the Service of Tears.   This led to him being known as 'Qreon'- the just tyrant. Durwn exiled him temporarily for the action, but then rewarded him with the title 'Lord of Owl', giving him control of the Awyhi Peninsula. This took away some power from the Yordts, who had de facto control of this region beforehand. Osvar remained in the region until 439 PT, when Durwn invited him to return to Ferran's Hold to serve as the Chancellor with the mandate to reform Ferraria's defences.   In 441 PT, construction of the Iron Lines began, a series of earthwork fortifications built along the Coast of Grass up to the River Troacher. The Iron Lines would effectively create a moat around Ferraria's economic heartland whilst also walling-in the Guilds, limiting their official influence to within the protection of the Iron Lines. This caused severe disruption elsewhere in kingdom, as the Guilds were evicted and their property confiscated. On the surface, this seemed to restore some sovereignty to the Decarchs, but in reality this deprived them of a key source of taxable income and their main economic engine. Additionally, this move increased the power of Durwn and the central administration.   The Iron Lines did not finish construction until 454 under different leadership, but the majority of the work was done by 449. During this period of construction, tensions rose around the rest of the kingdom between various factions, including between Osvar and members of the king's family themselves. Osvar became more distant from Ferran's Hold, especially some of his fellow new-blood nobles. He moved his family abroad, to an estate in Osgau. He then returned to Awyhi to continue building his holding.   Fourth Ferrarian Civil War   In 451, the Ironmoot declared war on the Guild of Sailors in Shir for attempting to blockade the Throat of Fire. After the deaths of several prominent nobles and minor skirmishes on the fringes of the kingdom, this was the spark that set off the tinder-box that was Ferraria. Osvar returned to the Iron Lines where, in his personal keep of Anspekot, he performed the Ceremony of the Twining Branches upon himself. He declared himself King of East Ferraria, with lordship over the Yordts, Hirths, Qhaces, and Qrorces. Some of his new 'thassals' did chose to join him, as he portrayed himself as a conservative, trying to restore the power of the local lords whilst removing the influence of the guilds.   Osvar used his army to first quell internal rebellion, as he defeated the King of Cundaria in the Battle of Iacundar Hill. Iacundar's Qrorce allies then defected to Osvar's army. He then led the army into Yordt territory and ravaged and raided the countryside to force them to join his side.   Osvar then took his army north and began to attack the Hyrame basin. He captured his home town of Erdas Proker and fortified it to act as a forward operating base. Prince Qamron Oboror moved towards the Ford of Cessik to cross into the Coast of Grass. He set up a camp at Cessik and began razing the country to prevent Osvar from being able to keep his army in the field.   Osvar, from his base in Erdas Proker, launched a full attack on Oboror's camp at the Battle of the Ford of Cessik. Oboror was defeated and the bridge at the Ford collapsed, leaving the Prince stranded and Osvar able to move freely. However, when Oboror attempted to resupply at Shir and subjugate the guilds there, they rejected him, leading to the Sack of Shir. This caused a rift between the Oborors and the guilds, escalating the conflict further.   After winter 452, Prince Oboror and a coalition of other factions moved to attack Osvar at Erdas Proker. The Siege of Erdas Proker resulted in the destruction of Osvar's army by disease, but Osvar managed to escape and simultaneously destroy the coalition through deception. Osvar led a small force around the back of the siege camp, attacking them in the rear and forcing them up against the town's fierce defences. This caused the siege to collapse, but Osvar found the position untenable. Oboror sacked the city but was unable to give chase due to conflicts starting out elsewhere.   Osvar left the remainder of his army at the Iron Lines, ordering them to hold the defences and attack any guild or rebel forces that moved against them. Osvar himself tried to return to Awyhi, but found the naval route was cut off, forcing him to go through Ogre's Gap. Whilst passing through, he began to be pursued by Ageryc Yordt.   Osvar reached the badlands, but was unable to shake off his pursuers. After his bodyguards were killed, Osvar began to flee on foot. However, his Yordt pursuers managed to catch up to him. From across a small valley, they launched a hail of arrows at him, piercing his back and causing him to fall to his death on the valley floor below.