List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Drunigzar

This is a list of Drunig monarchs, that is, rulers of the Kingdom of Drunigzar. Before the creation of the Kingdom of Drunigzar, the region was part of the Kingdom of Nogar, and thus it followed the ruling of the kings of Nogar.
== Titles of the Monarchs of Drunigzar ==
The monarchs of the Kingdom of Drunigzar use the titles of “King/Queen of Drunigzar” and “King/Queen of the Drunig” interchangeably, though nowadays the latter is barely used. They also use the title of “Lord of Panisfribio”; back when the city was the capital, though it is now combined as “Lord of Panisfribio and Tarracotennas” once the coastal city became the capital of the nation. After the economic expansion, they also added the titles of “Head of the Royal Merchant House” and “Supreme Captain of the Expeditionary Forces”. Some royal advisors have suggested to create the title of “Ruler of the Lotus Island” to secure the claim over the island against other possible nations, but until there is a way to safely colonize the island, the monarchs have refrained to create it.
== Menelaian Dynasty (2.111 ABE – 2.443 ABE) ==
The Menelaian Dynasty was the first line of rulers of the Kingdom of Drunigzar. They received the lands of Drunigzar as a feud by the nogarese king Firedian the Third in 2.111 ABE, as a way to delegate the protection of the northern waters of Nogar from the pirates established In the coast of Drunigzar. The first ruler of the Kingdom of Drunigzar, Menelao the First, used to be an old and loyal member of the royal retinue of Firedian, having served his father before him. Menelao was an old man when he got the throne, and his status as a competent knight and wise ruler was enough to keep the noble knights at the center of the kingdom at bay, though tensions between the crown and the knights would be a constant throughout the dynasty. Menelao the First, as well has his second son, Menelao the Second, set the basis for the administration of the kingdom for many centuries to come, though due to many factors (the crown’s lack of resources, tensions with the knights and their infighting and having to combat the pirate threats), the kingdom didn’t grow beyond a backwater in Eastern Giantstep.
=== Menelao I “the Old” – 2.111 - 2.136 ABE. ===
Menelao the First was the first king of Drunigzar, and the founder of the Menelaian Dynasty. His rule was marked by the constant tug of war between the drunig feudal knights and the need to create an unified kingdom, taking many elements from nogarese law and administration and applying them there. However, he was a warrior knight, and not a scholar, so this work was left to his council. Despite his age, his experience in fighting the pirates and dealing with fellow knights managed to garner him a great deal of respect by the drunig nobility, even if he had to ask for help of the nogarese from time to time to fight the pirates. 
=== Menelao II “the Truthful” – 2.136 - 2.160 ABE. ===
The second son of Menelao the First (the firstborn had died fighting the pirates before he could inherit the throne), he continued his father’s works of structuring the administration and code of law of the kingdom. A much more scholarly man than his father, he actually took an active part of shaping the legal code, strengthening the power of the cities to incentivize a more efficient taxation. Nowadays, the expression “to give a menelaian advice” means “to give reasonable advice”.
=== Sebastiaan I “the Bearded” – 2.160 - 2.188 ABE. ===
Sebastiaan I was the firstborn of Menelao II, and he cemented the power of the Crown over the knights through the sheer force of his charisma. A giant of a man, he was looked upon with awe and adoration by the knights and the people, and was extremely successful fighting the pirates. His fights against the pirates at the north of the kingdom are recorded in poems and theatre plays, especially his personal duel with the captain of the “Red-Eyes”, a particularly violent bandit attacking unprotected fishing towns, which ended in Sebastiaan breaking the warlord’s back on his knee. 
=== Menelao III “the Eloquent” – 2.188 – 2.230 ABE. ===
Menelao III was the firstborn of Sebastiaan I, and he was very different from his father. A scholar through and through, he barely partook in fighting the pirates in person. Instead, he had spent his childhood in the court of Nogar, learning in their libraries and archives, becoming a skilled orator. This made him very popular with dignitaries from other countries. He also began the construction of the Theatre of Panisfribio, perfect to receive diplomats.
=== Filippo I “the Alchemist” – 2.230 – 2.280 ABE. ===
Filippo I was the third son of Menelao III, and out of his seven children, the only male heir Menelao III had. Filippo saw his father as a great role model, but unlike his father, he focused his tenure in studying the arts of alchemy. His rule was marked by a creeping weakness that saw the pirate raids steadily increase, and tensions with the drunig knights began to arise once again. His biggest contribution to the drunig code of law was the “Decree of the Wise”, which allowed the full rights to the king to change the line of succession. In practice, this allowed the drunig kings to choose which of their heirs would be king, be they their sons or other family members, ignoring the natural line of succession.
=== Filippina I “the Regal” – 2.280 – 2.305 ABE. ===
Filippina I was the first daughter of Filippo I. Since he had no male heirs, many believe his “Decree of the Wise” was made with the intent of guaranteeing his daughter’s rule before his passing. Filippina was, much like his grandfather, a scholar, but with a much sterner character, something she demonstrated by the stoic way she dealt with the deaths of her sons during childbirth. She focused in fixing the deteriorating ties between the drunig knights and the Crown. To that end, she adopted a more modest and frugal court life, to appease the more austere tastes of the knights. At the same time, she made great efforts to renovate the capital of Panisfribio, to make it justice as the capital of the kingdom. The Royal Castle began its construction during her tenure. To this day, Filippina I is a revered figure in the city, seeing her as a stern but fair queen that favored them greatly.
=== Perdicas I “the Mad” – 2.305 – 2.308 ABE. ===
Perdicas I was the only surviving son of the queen Filippina I. His other two sons died during childbirth, and so Perdicas was the only possible heir she could choose. A man of bloodthirsty temperament, his clear mental problems and made obvious for everyone he was unfit to rule. His violent tantrums against his court and his vassals were quickly brewing major discontent in the kingdom, both within and with Nogar. Fortunately, he died very soon after an accident with his horse, who kicked him in the head after it had taken one too many whippings by the king.
=== Philiscus I “the Almost Sane” – 2.308 -2.318 ABE. ===
Since Perdicas I had no heirs, the crown went to Philiscus I, the grandson of one of Filippina I’s sisters. This was done after much politicking, and thus it led to Philiscus owing too many favors to some of the more powerful knights of the realm, which opened a door for corruption within the court. Philiscus also suffered from debilitating bouts of epilepsy, which left him bedridden for days afterwards, unable to articulate coherently. Unable to fix the growing problems of the kingdom and physically weaker by the day, he abdicated in 2.318 ABE, leaving the rule to one of his cousins. 
=== Paolo I “the Humble” – 2.318 – 2.361 ABE. ===
Paolo I was the cousin of Philiscus I, and his rule was marked by the great efforts of the Crown to push back the piracy at the coast. Due to the corruption that had grown in the Court during the previous kings, he had to ask for help to Nogar very frequently, gaining the surname “the humble” due to the many letters of thanks he sent to the nogarese kings. 
=== Filippina II “the Dancer” – 2.361 – 2.414 ABE. ===
Filippina II was the firstborn of Paolo I, and her rule continued her father’s work of cleaning up the pirates from the coast. She also was a very skilled socialite, organizing great balls, festivals and tournaments to sway the knights, all while pushing them against each other to reinforce royal authority over them. This did lead to private wars between some of them, but the weakened knights were swiftly punished by breaking their bows to defending the land, and their lands were seized and shared between the Crown and more loyal knights.
=== Menelao IV “the Chaste” – 2.414 – 2.443 ABE. ===
Menelao IV was the fifth and youngest son of Filippina II. A reclusive man, borderline on the crippling, he was nevertheless a gifted administrator and lawmaker, and this talent was what made her mother choose him as king before her other sons. His reform saw the recovery of the much-depleted treasury he had inherited from his mother, and he managed to do so while reducing taxes to the farmers and cities, making him extremely popular despite his strange life habits. Rumors said that his shyness was so hampering he could never even look at other member of the opposite sex in the eyes. Even though he married (mostly forced by his advisors), he never fathered any sires. To avoid a succession crisis, he decided that the next king of Drunigzar would not be anyone blood related to him, but rather one of his trusted men, Aeropo of Avinoa, starting the Avinoan Dynasty.
== Avinoan Dynasty (2.443 ABE – 2.509 ABE) ==
The Avinoan Dynasty was the second dynasty who ruled the Kingdom of Drunigzar. They came from the House of Avinoa, one of the most successful noble houses. Having grown quite rich and influent at the service of the Menelaians, they quickly gained fame of being brave and trustworthy, something that was shown with the first of the Avinoans, Aeropo I “the Bold”. However, his successors were seduced by power, and quickly drove their house, and nearly the entire kingdom, into ruin.
=== Aeropo I “the Bold” (and “the Bald”) – 2.443 – 2.479 ABE. ===
Aeropo of Avinoa was crowned king in 2.443 ABE, and quickly proved to be an efficient king. During his rule, he launched multiple raids against the pirates in the coast and reinforced the defenses at the border, coordinating with Nogar to bring bandits and criminals to justice. He was also famous for being bald from a very early age, having lost his entire hair before his 20s. He got his nickname when he saved a couple of servants who had been trapped in a fire in the Royal Castle, jumping into the flames to bring them to safety, and losing all his hair in the process. 
=== Aeropo II “the Sad” – 2.479 – 2.485 ABE. ===
Aeropo II was the second son of Aeropo I. His rule was marked by personal tragedy. His lover and wife, Queen Nitalia, was a potter who worked at the castle, and the two had fallen in love when they were kids. Despite their different origins and class, he managed to hide her lowly upbringing by crafting and fabricating many titles and noble origins for her. Needless to say, the entire Avinoan family opposed the marriage, but Aeropo was a determined man, and managed to pull it through. However, Nitalia died during childbirth a year after the wedding, and their daughter died a week later. This completely broke Aeropo, and began falling into deeper and deeper bouts of depression, incapacitating him from ruling efficiently. Under this absent leadership, corruption and fights between the knight houses became common, and the country’s economy worsened by the day. He appeared dead in his room in the year 2.485 ABE, having consumed a powerful poison, and rumors still debate to this day whether he was assassinated or if he had committed suicide.
=== Maria I “the Vain” – 2.485 – 2.499 ABE. ===
Maria I was the niece of Aeropo II, and right from the beginning of her rule she proved she wasn’t meant to wear the crown, and she was only there due to Aeropo II’s depressive apathy. Vainglorious and self-centered, she only cared about granting to herself the most luxurious life possible, emptying the coffers of the kingdom at a frightening rate. Corruption run rampant, and the cities became havens for crime. 
=== Sebastiaan II “the Arrogant” – 2.499 – 2.509 ABE. ===
Sebastiaan II was the firstborn of Maria I, and he inherited all of his mother’s vices. Arrogant to the point of derangement, he was well known to be a lascivious man, lusting over his knights’ wives and daughters. Running the treasury to the breaking point, he was ousted from power after he forced himself to one of his knight’s young daughters. This led to an internal revolt, and Sebastiaan II was taken down by the knights, who set their differences and rivalries aside to punish the affront. The knights executed him by throwing him from a window of the castle inside of a bag, to rob him of any honor.
== Engolina Dynasty (2.509 – 3.161 ABE) ==
The Engolina Dynasty was the third and current dynasty ruling the Kingdom of Drunigzar. They were the chosen dynasty to occupy the throne after the successful coup against Sebastiaan II “the Arrogant”. Since the state of the kingdom at the time was dire, the engolinan kings had to take dramatic measures to make sure the country stayed in place. This would turn out to be a great thing, since due to the decisions of some of their more brilliant monarchs, and thanks to the tide of history, Drunigzar would not only recover, but also become one of the biggest powers in Eastern Giantstep, becoming a trading powerhouse in the seas of the east. This new state of affairs would change many things in the lives of the drunig, and the nation had to evolve quickly to take advantage of these changes. The engolinan kings managed to lead their people with great skill, and the Engolina House has gathered now a prestige never before seen in the history of the kingdom, even if there have been a couple of bad apples along the way.
=== Manuel I “the Hero” – 2.509 – 2.529 ABE. ===
After the uprising that took down Sebastiaan II, the knights decided to crown Manuel of Engolina, a particularly unexceptional man in the eyes of most knights, they saw him as a weak enough to be puppeteered from the shadows, while granting more power and land to the nobility. To the surprise of many, Manuel I would prove to be anything but that, and would end up being a very well respected man in the eyes of the common folk. Knowing that his power base was tenuous, he invested quite a lot in the recovery of the urban economies, especially those at the coast. He reduced spending at the court and sold many of the more extravagant acquisitions the Crown had done during the avinoans. He also led many raids against pirate hideouts in person, depending more and more in a combination of his knights and urban militia. He gave back all of the treasure he rescued to the poor and the needed in the cities, gaining him enormous support, enough to use it as leverage to keep some of the more ambitious knights in check. Some tales spoke of a rogue knight who tried to rally up the population against the king, only to be rushed by the crowd and hanged upside down in the city’s bell tower. While he was able to stem the financial bleeding of the kingdom, he was not able to make a dent on the enormous debt they had acquired.
=== Manuel II “the Fisherman” – 2.529 – 2.559 ABE. ===
Manuel II was the firstborn of Manuel I. His experiences alongside his father in the coastal cities made him fall in love for the sailing life. He pushed hard for the creation of a stronger navy, to prevent raids to the fishing towns and trade routes near the shores. This was harder than it sounds, since Drunigzar’s barren lands barely had any wood to begin with. Manuel II bought many old nogarese ships, and then refurbished them to work as fast coast guard. Manuel II would be the first to send emissaries to the Woodcutter Cities in Littlestep, something that would have tremendous consequences later down the line.
=== Menelao V “the Pious” – 2.559 – 2.581 ABE. ===
Menelao V was the third son of Manuel II. A very religious man, he invested quite a lot in building many temples for the cities. He also pushed for the opening for many quarries, since the growing fishing fleet meant that wood for constructing buildings was becoming more rare. This would let to the discovery of some marble and granite mines, though they wouldn’t be fully exploited until much later.
=== Hippias I “the Brief” – 2.581 – 2.582 ABE. ===
Hippias I was the second son of Menelao V. He barely got to rule a couple of months when he decided to migrate to the Lotus Island and join its inhabitants into the consumption of the black lotus. To this day, nobody knows why he did it.
=== Marissa I “the Architect” – 2.582 – 2.639 ABE. ===
Marissa I was the sister of Hippias I and fourth daughter of Menelao V. Marissa continued with the renovation works of his father, shoring up the docks and renovating the coastal cities. She pushed for the expansion of the docks of the city of Segaltar, to build the fishing ships and to repair the purchased warships. Her biggest contribution was the Great Watchtower of Segaltar, used as both a lighthouse and as a lookout against pirates and raiders. 
=== Rita I “the Desired” – 2.639 – 2.670 ABE. ===
Rita I was the third daughter of Marissa I. A woman of exceptional beauty all throughout her life, she was considered to be blessed by the gods. Many knights and nobles dueled to the death just for the chance of courting her, and this spiral of violent attention around her is thought to be the reason she never married or had any children. She was also an extraordinarily charismatic speaker, able to convince anyone to do her bidding after just a couple of minutes speaking to them. This combination managed to distract many in the court of the fact that during her rule the piracy began growing again, beyond what the recently acquired fleet could handle.
=== Paolos II “the Shipbuilder” – 2.670 – 2.705 ABE. ===
Paolos II was the nephew of Rita I. One of the most important kings (some say the most important king in the country’s history) he spearheaded the changes that would led the Kingdom of Drunigzar from a backwater to a thalassocratic power. During Rita I’s rule, piracy had grown to intolerable levels, and the nogarese authorities were more disinterested in helping their neighbor. Despite the growing coastal fleet, there were not enough vessels to protect the entire coastline, and by the time the fleet arrived, the pirates had sailed into the Southwest Sea. Fearing a collapse of the economy, Paolos II scrambled to buy as many war vessels as possible to push back the pirates. By 2.680 ABE, he had gathered enough ships to push back most of the pirates to other waters (causing a flood of piracy in the neighboring countries as a side effect), and by 2.690 ABE he had pretty much cleaned up the shores of the kingdom from pirates and bandits, something no other king had managed to accomplish. This effort, however, had left the kingdom horribly in debt. Seeing a collapse that could cost him his kingdom and his head, he took every single vessel he could spare, both from his navy forces and the many ships captured from the pirates, and began hatching a plan. He knew the resources of Drunigzar were hopelessly limited, and so the riches he needed to pay back the loans had to be found elsewhere. Therefore, he organized all the artisan guilds in the kingdom to produce as much as possible, to sell then elsewhere. Anything with any value would be accepted, from flowerpots to weapons. He also pushed for many exploration trips for any unearthed treasure, which mostly centered on the ruins of the Merfolk Empire.
Many drunig, especially in the coastal cities, saw this as a great opportunity to improve their lot in life, unaware that the kingdom was at the brink of financial ruin. This saw tens of thousands of volunteers partaking in these voyages of discovery, which did indeed prove successful. Not only they would unearth quite a lot of treasure, they would also find many pirate hideouts, and after informing the navy of their locations, they took their accumulated wealth as well. While many of the neighboring countries saw this as grave robbing, they tacitly accepted it, since they had to get their loans paid somehow, and ancient Merfolk gold could be sold at a great price. Meanwhile, the trading projects were also successful, since they were willing to accept much lower prices than more established merchants were. The more they sold, the more they could buy and sell elsewhere at a profit, and they began needing to acquire more vessels, mostly from Anchovia, Nogar and the kingdoms from the Pinewood Peninsula.
This process was surprisingly successful, surprisingly fast. Paolos II had expected to pay his debt in around 100 years, but by 2.700 ABE the debt had reduced significantly, the economy of Drunigzar was booming, and the fleets of the nation (both the crown’s and private ones) were growing fast. The drunig people had proved to be very competent, if ruthless, merchants and traders, outcompeting many of their neighbors in the area. This wasn’t done without some unsavory dealings and dark deeds, especially once the drunig began gaining momentum, but the newfound influence of the kingdom made those willing to complain think it twice. Seeing this, in 2.700 Paolo II ordered the start of a massive project to push Drunigzar into a massive trading power: he invested heavily in the expansion of every dock of the kingdom, the creation of many shipyards, they sponsored the construction of new and modern trading and navy ships… Paolo II also became the founder of the Royal Merchant House, which would focus on some of the most profitable products of the kingdom, and hire some of the most skilled sailors and merchants. This enormous investment attracted many outsiders to the kingdom, and many of them began opening banks in the region, seeing as loans were needed to fuel this quick development. Many experts believe this rate of growth was, under normal conditions, unsustainable, due to the many tensions brewing against drunig traders, lack of a proper legislation and lack of their own resources. If the neighboring nations would had created customs against the drunig merchants, the burgeoning economy would have collapsed quickly, and many believed that the reasons behind the lack of action against this aggressive growth was due to interests and corruption on the part of the other nations’ officials, who saw these new merchants as easy sources of bribes.
By the time Paolo II died in 2.705, he had ended the pirate threat that had bled the kingdom for centuries, fixed the crippling economy of the nation turned one of the poorest nations in Eastern Giantstep into a burgeoning power. His personal title, “the Shipbuilder”, it references not only his great push towards the sea, but it is also meant as the father of the nation, and the title cannot be bestowed upon anyone else.
=== Rogelio I “the Admiral” – 2.705 – 2.733 ABE. ===
Rogelio I was the second son of Paolo II. A man who saw the changing tides of the nation, Rogelio I continued the reforms of his father. In particular, he saw the need to create a powerful navy to defend the trading ships, especially once they leave the waters of Drunigzar. To that end, he created the Royal Navy Academy, to prepare future captains and admirals, as well as the Royal Engineering Academy, to avoid depending on foreign ship designs and manufacturing. Rogelio also pushed for a more effective organization of the army, but these efforts were mostly blocked by the knights. He also had to deal with the effects of the war between the Gnoll Empire and Nogar. The crippling defeats suffered by Nogar at the hands of the sea of gnolls caused a mass exodus to Drunigzar, making the population of the kingdom skyrocket. This would turn out to be a boon for Drunigzar, since the first ones to seek refuge were some of the richest men in the regions in the path of the gnoll, looking to save themselves from the hordes. The growing economy of Drunigzar was a very alluring proposition for them, and many of them began establishing themselves in small coastal towns, making them grow into true metropolises. They also brought alongside them many capable personnel, from lawmakers to artisans to bankers, all capable minds that were useful for the growing kingdom. Rogelio I received them with open arms, and many towns and cities founded by nogarese immigrants still have the effigy of Rogelio I engraved in the public square.
=== Rogelio II “the Little Admiral” – 2.733 – 2.745 ABE. ===
Rogelio II was the firstborn of Rogelio I. A near identical man to his father, he continued with the reforms began by Rogelio I. He also managed to convince finally the knights to accept the new reforms to the military organization of the kingdom, giving the weight of the defense of the nation to the navy, and leaving the knight houses as secondary lines. This was done in exchange of giving them a say in the formation and organization of the new Drunig Army (which would eventually be sidelined once again to be a garrison force, with the Expeditionary Force being the main land forces of the kingdom). He also moved the capital to Tarracotennas, finding the coastal city a much more adequate place to direct the nation from than the old fortress city of Panisfribio.
=== Maria II “the Banker” – 2.745 – 2.777 ABE. ===
Maria II was the third daughter of Rogelio II. A woman more interested in business than any other affairs, she focused in creating a strong economy first and foremost, sending as many dignitaries and emissaries to the nations of Eastern Giantstep, so that the kingdom could conduct business there. She also tried to create a coin with guaranteed value, but the lack of precious metals to account for all the trade made that impossible.
=== Filippina III “the Mother” – 2.777 – 2.791 ABE. ===
Filippina III was the firstborn of Maria II. A small and sickly child at birth, she had somehow grown to become a brawn, muscular and tall woman, overshadowing even some of her Royal Guard. Legends tell that she had been kidnapped by the God of Action when she was a kid, and had been blessed by the deity after she survived the god’s trials. Despite her frightening appearance, she spent great efforts in improving the conditions of the poor and downtrodden in the growing slums of the drunig cities. She invested in the reconstruction of part of the capital to make it more hygienic and avoid epidemics. She was not a businesswoman, though, and mostly left the handling of the economy to the king, a small man from a nogarese noble house with great experience in business and money loaning. 
=== Filippina IV “she of Red Eyes” – 2.791 – 2.839 ABE. ===
Filippina IV was the firstborn of Filippina III. Cold and ruthless, she lacked any of the charms of her mother. It was said that her stare could make a man freeze in place, and she used that aura of intimidation to great success to cease many attempts of the new nogarese fortunes to meddle beyond their remit, as well as the many knight houses complaining about the changes in the way of life of the drunig. She also dealt a lot in weapons, taking great advantage of the disintegration of the zemylander nations at the time and the expansion of the Princedom of the Platinum Strait to build a massive fortune. This gained her a reputation of being a bloodthirsty woman, even though in reality she never even held a sword.
=== Jus I “the Wise” – 2.839 – 2.860 ABE. ===
Jus I was the second son of Filippina IV. A taciturn and silent man, he was the first to realize the growing problem of the drunig population. Since the beginning of the economic expansion and the nogarese migrations, the population had been growing at an accelerated rate. And while they had managed to provide for the increasing numbers of people through food exports and increased fishing, there was little to no way this was going to be sustainable. If anything happened to the food supply, or if the fortunes of the drunig suddenly turned, starvation would run rampant in the nation. Thus, he set his efforts into optimizing food production. He made many reforms to guarantee the storing of foodstuffs in case of emergencies. He also set to make a census to calculate exactly how many people lived in the country at the time. His most important contribution, however, was his agricultural work. He gathered some of the most brilliant minds he could find, as well as many masters of the mystical arts (from magicians to alchemists) and set them to find a way to create a solution to the food problem. The result of this was the creation of the Drunigzar’s Institute of Agriculture in the city of Mibridor, an organization with the singular goal of making the mostly barren lands of Drunigzar capable of growing something. This has led to admittedly poor results, with many guanomancers still struggling to enrich the lands in enough quantities to be viable to this day. Their biggest success was the “alchemical bubble caves", small structures inside of which one could recreate the exact conditions to grow a species of plant. The system is quite successful for production of rare species needed in small quantities, but it utterly fails to provide enough food to feed the population reliably.
=== Menelao VI “the Great Knight” – 2.860 – 2.899 ABE. ===
Menelao VI was the second son of Jus I. A more brash and adventurous man than his father, he partook in many of the raids against bandit hideouts in the mountains, as well as fighting pirates in the sea. He was highly popular with the knight houses, and he garnered upon them a lot of social prestige, though this did not translate into tangible power. He also reinforced the old nogarese fortresses to the south, which now were the purview of the Kingdom of Drunigzar.
=== Rogelio III “the Goat Herder” – 2.899 – 2.917 ABE. ===
Rogelio III was the third son of Menelao VI. He greatly admired his grandfather and his projects to secure food production, and he pushed for even more aggressive reforms and research in the field. However, his projects were much less successful than his grandfather’s, with the only remarkable thing during his reign being the push for increasing cattle heads in the land.
=== Paolos III “the Explorer” - 2.917 – 2.951 ABE. ===
Paolos III was the firstborn of Rogelio III. Like his father and grandfather, he was quite worried about the growing population and risk of failing to provide for them. Unlike them, however, he was much more proactive than they were. Instead of starting projects that would take decades, if not centuries, to give fruit, he reasoned that the simplest way to solve Drunigzar’s problems was to expand the land of Drunigzar. This would translate into the colonization projects, which would mark the drunig colonies for decades to come. In addition, since the drunig fleet had become at that point one of the most powerful in the entire eastern seas, now was the perfect time to expand its influence to the south. However, this project would not begin until many decades after its initial draft. Paolos had to prepare many things before even thinking of taking land, from diplomatic training to preparing the armies and navy in case of war, to getting enough resources and volunteers to begin the project. The protests from within were plenty, but the successful creation of the drunig colony of Novo Porto in 2.942 ABE silenced most of those, even with the complaints from Nogar. Paolos III was also infamous for being the first king to establish relations with the Gnoll Empire (besides the Necrocracy of Okhost), something that horrified and appalled many neighboring nations. The safety that this granted, however, was great, since the Gnoll Empire was many magnitudes bigger and more dangerous than Drunigzar could combat if they ever became embroiled in war. This guaranteed that the only thing Drunigzar would have to focus on is their sea borders.
=== Jus II “the Patient” – 2.951 - 2.994 ABE. ===
Jus II was the firstborn of Paolos III. He pushed to make Novo Porto as much as a successful colony as possible, granting it fiscal bonuses and cheap housing, which made it grow very fast. The success of Novo Porto, however, did not mean that the colonizing project was going smoothly. The infamous incident with the Otamlar people costed Drunigzar an entire region’s worth of trade, which became a national scandal. Jus II pushed for more rigorous training and education for diplomats, to avoid something like this from ever happening. Jus II also stopped the (official) sale of drunig ships to the gnoll, to avoid creating conflict with their neighbors.
=== Jus III “the Healer” – 2.994 – 3.022 ABE. ===
Jus III was the third son of Jus II. His rule was marked by an epidemic that ran rampant throughout the kingdom, and spread fast due to all the sea trade. Jus III was able to keep the damages low, but thousands died in the cities, especially in the poorer slums. Jus III founded many centers of healing and treatment, having to push back the colonization plans until this problem was resolved.
=== Philiscus II “the Silent” – 3.022 - 3.033 ABE. ===
Philiscus II was the only son of Jus III. During his childhood, an accident damaged his vocal cords, leaving him unable to speak above a whisper. To compensate for this, he avoided most public showings and speeches, something that frustrated many in the court.
=== Rogelio IV “the Pirate Slayer” – 3.033 – 3.050 ABE. ===
Rogelio IV was the second son of Philiscus II. A man much unlike his father, he was boastful and vain, but he proved to be a great leader of men. He is famous for destroying many pirate holdouts in the ruins of the Merfolk, leading the expeditions in person. He also fought against the pirates of Künt very effectively, but never managed to move them from their holdings.
=== Philippina V “the Spendthrift” – 3.050 – 3.053 ABE. ===
Philippina V was the firstborn of Rogelio IV. The decision to choose Philippina to rule instead of her more capable younger sister baffled everyone in the court, and many argued this was because Rogelio IV never spent too much time with his daughters to know them well enough. She spend a massive amount of money from the treasury in luxury and pleasure for herself, ignoring any kind of responsibility or queenly duty. She was ousted from power by her younger sister without much resistance from anyone in the country. She was quietly sent to the Lotus Island by orders of her sister to avoid any future claims to the throne.
=== Maria III “the Botanist” - 3.053 – 3.097 ABE. ===
Maria III was the second daughter of Rogelio IV and younger sister of Philippina V. Living in the barren lands of Drunigzar, she was obsessed with tales of green forests and colorful flowers from distant lands, which made her travel a lot in diplomatic voyages to get an excuse to see the plant life beyond Drunigzar. She started the collection of plants that would become the Royal Gardens. During her rule, the famous drunig galleons were introduced in the Drunig Navy.
=== Aeropo III “the Popular” – 3.097 – 3.120 ABE. ===
Aeropo III was the firstborn of Maria III. During his rule, the colonization project began taking steam once again, with the founding of the colonies of Cabakapa and Cabakrotiro, starting Drunigzar’s colonization of the Pinewood Peninsula. The access to another source of wood other than the oak wood from the Woodcutter Cities was greatly appreciated, even if there was a lot of mistrust from the cursed of the Forest of Bloody Vengeance. The end of his rule saw the beginning of the third wave of colonization, with a massive push to instate the colonies of Cabakritinnii, Cabakonninni and Bibile in 2.114 ABE, while Paolotera, Bibiferno and Crysanferno created in 3.120 ABE.
=== Aeropo IV “the Burdened” – 3.120 – 3.129 ABE. ===
Aeropo IV was the firstborn of Aeropo III. His rule was marked by the War of the Lord Descended, a major conflict to defend the recently created colonies in the Pinewood Peninsula from the crazed cultists of the Lord Descended. To fight the war, he had to levy considerable taxes, something that granted him a lot of criticism from the general public. Despite this, he managed to fund the colonies of Thalasoverme in 3.124 ABE and Megarotera in 3.129 ABE.
=== Menelao VII “the Pioneer” – 3.129 – 3.151 ABE. ===
Menelao I was the second son of Aeropo IV. A man obsessed with expanding the kingdom, pushing the colonization project further than anyone before. The discovery of the Terrania Freeholds was a godsend for Menelao, who managed to find a massive area in which expand without real pressure from any neighboring nation, nor the risk for war. The richness of the new colonies in the freeholds quickly attracted a lot of population, growing fast as a result. This also helped Drunigzar to expand their reach to the kingdoms in Southern Giantstep, since now they had a base of operations nearby. The long distances were still a problem, though, and deals with Okhost had to be made to allow the drunig ships to rest and resupply in Vukasin before continuing their travel. Menelao also pushed the colonies into near the southern border of the step, with the founding of Kinalonga. To keep up with this expansion, he used the great amounts of precious metals obtained from trade with the Runaan, which allowed him to coin the “escudo rei”, coins of gold or silver to grant liquidity to the transactions within Drunigzar, as well as to increase their influence in the kingdoms to the north, like Elanxa or Avangar.
=== Menelao VIII “the One-Eyed” – 3.151 -3.161 ABE. ===
Current king of Drunigzar. Firstborn of Menelao VII, he was pecked in the eye by a bird when he got too close to a nest, something that costed him the use of his right eye, something considered by many as a bad omen. During his rule, Drunigzar explored the Eldritch Jungle to see if he could reach a route to the western seas through the wilderness, something that was seemingly possible after the discovery of the Map of the End of the World. However, the arrival of the Great Plague to Kinalonga forced to set those plans aside to stabilize the situation in the island. He has invested a lot of resources to control the plague and to make Kinalonga safe again, more than the profits obtained from the colony altogether. However, he refuses the advice from those from his court that argue for abandoning the colony, since that would cause a terrible precedent that could break the colonies’ trust in the kingdom forever.
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Category:Drunigzar