The Kings of Valoroth

The Kings of Valoroth   King George Aster (36 BD - 40 AD) Founder of the Realm. 76 George Aster was born across the Gleaming Sea to a noble house. On his 11th birthday he was gifted with a pair of dragon eggs. The world had no seen dragons in so long that most people thought they were myths.   Aster took his egg with him when he journeyed across the sea and came to Valoroth. He landed on one of the small islands to the west of Valoroth and lived there for almost a decade, building his wealth and forming alliances.   Shortly before his 21st birthday, the eggs he had carried with him for nearly a decade hatched and a two small dragons emerged. Many saw the birth of the dragons as a sign and George Aster was crowned as King George shortly after.   Within 5 years the dragons had grown massive and the female, a white coloured dragon, had already laid a brood of more than a dozen eggs. Within a decade of the first dragons being born, Aster commanded a force of 27 dragons across 3 generations.   With his armies assembled, and enough of his dragons grown to be safe as a group, King George Aster began his conquest of Valoroth. Aster and his armies swept across the land, crushing all those that stood against him. George Aster was crowned king of the unified Valoroth on his 36th birthday, and a new period of time keeping began.   King Jon (01 AD – 62 AD) 61   Dies in battle against a rebel group. King Kyran (19 AD – 62 AD) 43 The One Day King.   Crowner out in the field after his father dies. The day after being crowned he also dies in battle against the rebels. King Cuthbert (38 AD – 92 AD) 54 Kyran’s brother.   King Mathias (78 AD – 115 AD) 37   King Nicholas (93 AD – 137 AD) 44   King Xavier (123 AD – 152 AD) 29   Kind Eddard (143 AD – 235 AD) 92   King Roland I (183 AD – 240 AD) 57 King Gerrrd (207 AD – 256 AD) 49   King Jericho (224 AD – 284 AD) 60   King Edward I (247 AD – 304 AD) 52   King Edward II (274 AD – 355 AD) 81   King Roland II(294 AD – 356 AD) 62   King Harold (304 AD – 370 AD) 66   King Edmund (333 AD – 387 AD) 54 Grew ill with a lung disease and retired the crown early at the age of 50.   King William I (352 AD – 396 AD) 44 Took over the throne early.   King Steven (373 AD – 408 AD) 35   King William II (391 AD – 433 AD) 42   King Richard I (413 AD – 476 AD) 63   King Phillip (438 AD – 516 AD) 78 Grew ill after being crippled during a hunt and retired the crown early at 70. King Charles (465 AD – 511 AD) 63 Took over the throne early.   King Jeffery (481 AD – 514 AD) 43 Died in battle.   King Dustin (503 AD – 559 AD) 56   Died in battle.   King Robert I (523 AD – 560 AD) 37   Died in battle against the Half-Demon Parax.   The Knights of Mercy were formed from his captains and swore to defend the realm from evil.   King David I (546 AD – 570 AD) 24 Murdered   King Alfred (553 AD – 610 AD) 57 Brother of David.   King David II (593 AD – 626 AD) 33   King Jared (621 AD – 671 AD) 50 Jared’s Uncle ruled as Protector of the Realm until he turned 15. Died at 50 from illness with no heirs, so the line goes back down the line until it reaches a cousin.   King Barnston (649 AD – 702 AD) 53 Considered a great king and renews the strength of the crown. For almost 200 years the dragons had been kept contained and grown weak. This king releases them and focuses their entire reign to restoring the power of dragons. They are successful but are killed by one of their dragons.   King Fredric (679 AD – 739 AD) 60 Continued their father’s work. Instead of putting the female dragon that killed their father to death, Fredric breeds it and use the brood of 4 dragons that are born to finish restoring the power of the dragons.   King Thomas I (719 AD – 770 AD) 51   King Thomas II (736 AD – 795 AD) 59   King Alexander (758 AD – 805 AD) 47   King Walter (784 AD – 847 AD) 63   King Arthur (812 AD – 868 AD) 56   King Alard (832 AD – 867 AD) 35   King Dekard (852 AD – 906 AD) 54 Created the Dragonknights in 897   King Adrian (885 AD – 965 AD) 80   King Lucius (914 AD – 969 AD) 55 King Cassius (937 AD – 972 AD) 35   A noble and charismatic leader. Cassius was a hero to the people. He took part in tourneys, led armies, and was well liked by most of the realm.   When the Drow invaded Valoroth; Cassius lead and army tens of thousands strong, with a force of a thousand Dragonknights at its head to repel the invasion.   Cassius was mortally wounded during the final battle and died 2 weeks later in the city of Oaken.   A massive funeral was held for him, and 2 months of the calendar were renamed in his honour. The city of Oaken was also renamed to Hero’s Barrow. King August (962 AD – 1021 AD) 59 Following the war with the Drow, King August set about building up the military strength of the realm once more. He adjusted the borders of Ironhall, granting the barony more lands to increase the production of arms and armour. He also sent his Green Dragon, Ferrus, to the forges of Ironhall to create a new type of steel.   Dragonsteel is much harder than even the best hardened steel, and keeps a much keener edge.   In the years since its creation, dragonsteel has become a rare and valuable commodity.     King Gabriel (989 AD – 1026 AD) 37   King Jacob (1019 AD – 1087 AD) 68 Lost his sight in his early 60s and gave up the throne.   King Julian (1038 AD – 1088 AD) 50 Took the throne early. Terrible King. This marks the beginning of the decline of dragons. Without a strong ruler the dragons don’t get out and over the following decades they begin to grow weak.   King Robert II (1080 AD – 1094 AD) 14 Born late into Julian’s life after everyone thought he would would have no children.   A sickly child who died of a cold at 14.   King Castor (1082 AD – 1108 AD) 26   The second son of King Julian. Smaller and more feeble than his brother this king reigned from the capital. He was a cripple without the use of his legs. He married a woman of good stock and was able to give her one son.   King Stuart (1104 AD – 1170 AD) 66 Mother was Protector of the realm until he came of age. After decades of weak kings it looks as though the realm may have a strong king once again. Though he never lives up to the hopes of the people he is a fine king who presides over a period of peace.   During this peace the dragons continue to wither.   King Lysander (1129 AD – 1191 AD) 62 There is peace during most of their realm. When they are 55 war breaks out when a necromancer raises a huge army of undead.   The few dragons that are still alive are taken to the field for the first time in over a century. They cut swathes through the undead host, but aren’t as strong as they were. The 3 out of the 4 remaining dragons are slain over the course of the war.   King Arius (1147-1202 AD) 55 King Arius, the last dragon rider, is a noble king, the likes of which the realm hadn’t seen in generations.   He leads a vast army against the undead following his father’s death. He rode to war atop the last living dragon, burning his enemies.   When Arius died, his dragon, Torax also died as if from a broken heart. Thus ended the dragons.   King Valentine (1177-1236 AD) 59 Valentine was second in line to the throne after his brother Cain, who was killed by a Vampire during a skirmish in 1186.   Following his father’s death. Valentine launched one of the largest campaigns in Valoroth history. A total of eighty thousand additional troops were mustered and Valentine went on the offensive, pursing the undead across the land. This campaign lasts 36 years, with the King in the field for most of that time. Eventually Valentine was able to drive the undead from Valoroth, but instead of withdrawing his forces, the King followed them. Thousands of troops are slaughtered as they are assaulted by superior numbers in unfamiliar terrain. Valentine is captured and executed by his brother, Cain, who is now a vampire.   During Valentine’s campaign, the realm was ruled by his 3 sisters, Elizabeth, Aoife, and Sofia. The three sisters were so beloved that following their deaths they were canonised as saints.   King James (1213- 1243 AD) 30 King James’ rule is a tale of tragedy. Living in the shadow of such a great rulers, James became resentful of his father’s success. The first four years of his rule were filled with mistakes and fumbles as he attempted to avenge the death of his father.   He became loathed by his people as taxes continually increased and he took more and more land from the peasants in the name of the crown.   James tried to curry favour with the people by announcing he would be the one to break the undead host. Within a year James was dead and the army was broken. His younger brother, Carter, took the throne.   King Carter (1235 – 1282 AD) 47 Carter’s rule was filled with war. He spent his first eight years as King battling Nalgar’s undead host. Eventually he was able to defeat Nalgar, slaying the necromancer in single combat, but the war left him tired and weary.   He spent almost the entirety of his remaining years as King within the palace in Dragonford. In the later years of his rule, the Drow began attacking the outlaying settlements. The Everglade Elves leant aid but Carter refused to leave the inner cities vulnerable by committing his own troops. In 767 AD, a Drow assassin slays Carter in the night. The Barons take up rule but still do not commit any troops to defend the outer settlements.   King Mathew (1272 – 1341 AD) 69 When he came of age, King Mathew reformed the Barons to have less power and puts in place the system for selecting the new King that is still used today. Two years later, after extensive negotiations with the Elves and Dwarfs, Mathew declares war on the Drow and marches out at the head of an enormous army. After a ten year war, Mathew returns victorious with a half-Elf bride and immense wealth from the conquered lands. He returns land to the peasantry and lowers taxes. The sixty year decline of the Empire is ended and Mathew is hailed as a great leader. He begins to send troops to be permanently stationed in the outlaying areas of the Empire and introduces the conscription bill to protect the borders.   Mathew enjoys a thirty year period of peace in which Valoroth continues to grow in wealth and power. Mathew dies in his bed at aged sixty nine.   King Martin (1319 – 1369 AD) 50 Despite the progress made under King Mathew, there are some who felt his actions, particularly marrying a half-elf, made him a weak king.   After Mathew’s death, his brother Aaron raises an army and attempts to usurp the rightful king Martin and seat Martin’s brother, Eric instead.   The following 5 years are filled with bloody civil war which end with Aaron’s army being defeated on the plains outside Dragonford. As a show of strength, Martin had his uncle and brother stripped of their family names, and had his uncle executed, but cannot bring himself to do the same for his brother.   Instead he gave his brother the castle of Falconvale, which sits as the only defence on the road leading through the Grey Mountains. Martin tasks his brother and his men with defending this pass from the undead for the rest of their days.   Since that time, criminals, traitors, and volunteers have given up their names and travelled to Falconvale to defend the realm for the rest of their days.   In 1358 AD, Martin leads a force to aid the Dwarves in their fight against an invading an invading force from across the sea . Martin dies of illness in 1369 AD, aged 50.   King Marcus (1354 – 1409 AD) 55 Marcus takes the throne after his father’s death. He maintains the peace his grandfather began for twenty years until Nalgar invades for a second time. Nalgar had uncovered the secrets of the Lich and preserved his life essence.   Five years after Nalgar reappears, Marcus leads an army to take part in the battle of Falconvale. The battle of Dragonford is one of the most bloody in the history of the realm.   Nalgar himself attacks the fortress, still reeling from the death of Karnack, one of his necromancers. A host of nearly 200 thousand undead lay siege to the city. The Valoroth forces hold the pass for twenty days until the Everglade Elf army arrives.   At the same time, forces from the Dwarf kingdom arrive and Nalgar’s horde is caught between the three armies. Despite heavy losses, the allied army manages to defeat Nalgar’s force and drive them Away.   Marcus is killed leading a counter charge beyond the walls of Falconvale.   King Marius (1387 – 1442 AD) 55   Often hailed as the greatest King the realm has seen. Marius was a fair and just ruler, loved by his people.   After his father’s death, Marius takes up the throne and launches a campaign to recover his father’s body. He rides at the head of a vast host who go beyond Falconvale and deep into enemy territory. Marius is able to recover his father’s body, break the undead forces, and personally slays 3 of Nalgar’s lieutenants. During peace time, Marius would travel to many settlements across Valoroth and visit his people. He would work in the fields with the farmers for a day or help the miners extract ore from the earth.     Prince Balian (AD) 15 Prince Balien was thought dead when the King and his family were murdered. He was actually spirited away by the Dragonnights. He has been living with them in the mountains until now and the time has nearly come to reclaim his throne.