Demavend III

Demavend III, also spelled Demawend or in Elder Speech Demaewn, was the son of Virfuril who succeeded his father as the 16th King of Aedirn. He had one legitimate son and heir, Stennis.
Much of his reign was marked by a centuries-old dispute with Kaedwen, ruled at the time by King Henselt, over the fertile land of Upper Aedirn. Apart from that, Demavend fought in both the First and Second Northern Wars against the invading Nilfgaardian Empire. After the second war, he was one of the negotiators of the peace treaty.
Demavend wasn't very trustful of mages, calling them "devious old windbags", and preferred royal messengers for communication. He nonetheless had Radcliffe of Oxenfurt as an advisor and informant, and also called Yennefer for help from time to time.
== Biography ==
=== Childhood ===
At some point in 1226, agents of the Temerian Secret Service who infiltrated Aedirnian Special Forces stationed in Aldersberg, made an attempt on the life of underage Prince Demavend, an act meant to be Medell's revenge for the shameful defeat Virfuril handed him near Hagge. Although it was unsuccessful, Virfuril flew into a rage and executed an entire third of the special forces including the Commissar Vilmerik Moebius.
=== First Northern War and after ===
In 1263, upon learning about the atrocities perpetrated by the Black Forces in Cintra, Demavend joined the rest of the Four Kingdoms with his army to avenge Calanthe and drive the invaders back. Led by Vizimir II of Redania, the united forces of the North managed to defeat Nilfgaard in the battle of Sodden Hill. A truce was negotiated shortly after the battle, which Demavend signed.
This concord among the North's great powers disappeared just as soon as Nilfgaard retreated. Demavend and Henselt renewed their quarrel over the Upper Aedirn which, however, they stopped in spring 1267 when Demavend summoned Henselt along with Vizimir II, Foltest of Temeria and his staunchest ally Meve of Lyria and Rivia to Hagge.
=== Meeting at Hagge ===
In the beginning, Demavend corrected Henselt it wouldn't be sergeants but young officers who were going to lead Nilfgaard's armies in wars to come, following Emhyr var Emreis' military purges. Later, when they discussed the spreading of a pro-Nilfgaard prophecy in the North, Demavend revealed he once had a cleric tortured to find out how much Emhyr paid him but the cleric expired before revealing a thing. This prompted Vizimir II to warn him against such methods to avoid making martyrs. He also eagerly agreed with a major campaign to root out Scoia'tael and momentarily considered a punitive expedition to Dol Blathanna.
As the monarchs agreed Cintra should be conquered back, Demavend proposed for it to be a joint protectorate but was persuaded it should be a free country once more. He quickly guessed that the mysterious force searching for the lost heir of Cintra, Ciri, was Emhyr who wanted her to legalize his conquest. Another proposition he came up with afterward was a morganatic marriage of Ciri to Vissegerd as a puppet king, but this was turned down by others present. In order to get ahead of Emhyr, the kings eventually silently agreed that the Cintran heir had to die.
=== Second Northern War ===
Right after the summit, Demavend began the war preparations. He launched a large-scale persecution of nonhumans and an offensive against the Scoia'tael simultaneously with Henselt, in order to clear the rear before striking Nilfgaard. Teaming up with Meve, Demavend redistributed around third of his men into forts along the southern frontier, as close to the enemy as possible. The plan was to provoke Nilfgaardian rangers stationed in Dol Angra to attack Lyrians or Aedirnians who could then call it a casus belli, cross Yaruga in full force and call others for help.
By June 1267, Demavend began to send messengers to Foltest and Vizimir II, informing them soldiers disguised as Nilfgaardians were ready for July 2nd night. Foltest replied first, asking Demavend to withhold until the mages' assembly was over. Vizimir then wanted the same, adding what the Redanian Secret Service found out – that there had been a betrayal, Emhyr knew about the plan and moved a massive army under Menno Coehoorn to Dol Angra. Alas, the reply never reached Demavend as the messenger was shot by Yaevinn in the woods of the Pontar Valley.
Category:Characters
Category:Human
Category:Aedirnian
Category:Monarch
Category:Aedirnian Dynasty