Foril Obarskyr I

King Foril Rhigaerd Dhalmass Obarskyr, commonly referred to as Foril I, was a king of Cormyr and member of House Obarskyr in the mid-to-late 15 century DR. He was born in the Year of True Omens, 1409 DR to King Azoun V and Nalara Marliir. He married Jemra Rhindaun, niece to Queen Sybille of Tethyr, in the Year of the Stalking Horses, 1430 DR and she gave birth to Irvel Obarskyr in the Year of the Lashing Tail, 1431 DR. He was coronated in the Year of the Godly Invitation, 1449 DR after the death of his father, and ruled until passing away in his sleep on Eleint 5, the .
==Personality==
As a monarch, Foril was patient with royal servants whose loyalties were clear. On the other hand, he had little tolerance for those who stepped past their authority or presumed to speak in his name .
Unlike the way his father liked to reward nobles and courtiers, King Foril didn't commonly grant titles or praise. His preferred reward was giving faithful servants further opportunities to serve the nation .
He wasn't the champion Azoun IV was, nor the great lawmaker that his father had been, but he was a skilled strategist and administrator 
In his old age, he started leaving the fighting to others, as he understood he was too important to the kingdom and could not afford to act recklessly.
== Possessions ==
=== Heraldry ===
King Foril's personal standard was the symbol of the purple dragon emblazoned on a black field. 
==History==
===Prince Foril===
Foril was born in the Year of True Omens, 1409 DR and was the son of King Azoun V and Queen Nalara Marliir, as well as younger brother to Crown Prince Emvar Obaskyr. He was named after his great-grandfather's only son Foril who perished at the hands of a Fire Knives assassin at the age of 2.
As a second son, and not heir apparent, Foril's youth was dedicated to scholarly pursuits, including a basic understanding of magic, though he did train with the Purple Dragons in his late adolescence. Not being constrained by the same responsibilities as his older brother, Foril passionately studied both warfare and diplomacy, which led him to move to Tethyr in order to study under the Red Fellowship.
It was during this time that Foril met and fell in love with Jemra Rhindaun, who was the niece of the Queen of Tethyr, Sybille II. The young couple was quickly engaged and married in the Year of the Stalking Horrors, 1430 DR, a match that was not well liked by Cormyr's nobility. The following year, Foril and Jemra had a son, Irvel Obarskyr.
After years of small-scale conflicts between Cormyr and Sembia, Prince Emvar Obaskyr was killed by Sembian forces in an ambush south of the Vast Swamp. A couple of months later, an assassination attempt orchestrated by a Sembian faction and aimed at King Azoun V ended up taking the life of Jemra Rhindaun instead. These unexpected deaths left Foril as the Crown Prince and a widower, and paved the way for all-out war with Sembia, which ran from 1439 DR until 1441 DR.
In the , Foril went into battle carrying the ensign of the Purple Dragon, which could only be borne by a member of House Obaskyr.It is unknown whom Foril went into battle against: as the war concluded the previous year, it shouldn't be the Sembians, so it's likely another group, perhaps the darkenbeasts of the year name. The text in Dragon #365: "Backdrop: Cormyr" is also ambiguous, as it refers to the king while he was still a prince and says this is "recently" from the perspective of 1479 DR, 37 years later.
===King Foril===
Later, with the death of Azoun V in the Year of the Godly Invitation, 1449 DR, Foril I became King of Cormyr.
In the Year of the Heretic's Rampage, 1473 DR, the Purple Dragons discovered unprecedented and wide-spread worship of Shar in the city of Wheloon, alongside evidence of them being allied with Netheril. Fearing that the entire city was a front for Netherese spies, King Foril ordered the sealing of the city, closing it off with both brick and magic, and its conversion into a prison camp by royal decree.
By 1479 DR, nearing seventy years of age, Foril received multiple requests to abdicate in favor of his son, the Crown Prince Irvel. He ignored these entreaties.
Finally, King Foril died in his sleep in Suzail on Eleint 5, the , having ruled the Forest Country for 37 years. He died as Cormyr was fighting a new war with Sembia and Netheril, and was succeeded by King Irvel I, who only ruled briefly.
==Activities==
The deaths of his wife and brother would shape Foril's future style of rulership. He took every action and decision while trying to avert the possibility of Cormyr fighting another war it was not ready for. 
Much like his father before him, King Foril was staunchly in favor of the Suzail Writ, in spite of the existence of a few dissenting nobles who wanted to return their houses to their "rightful prominence". Also in line with his predecessor, Foril vigorously put down criminal activity in Suzail, preventing thieves' guilds and smuggling rings from establishing themselves, though of course some crime still existed in the city.
Foril left the direct administration of Suzail to his Lord Magister, who up until at least the 1480s DR was Edwin Morahan.
The king had the Royal Palace west side expanded, absorbing older structures into the complex and having new ones constructed to supplement the rest.
His studies of magic under the War Wizards, as well as his knowledge of the Purple Dragons' structure and traditions shaped his opinions of these organizations. Foril actively reformed the War Wizards into a more militarized organization in comparison to their past, though they would continue to work as spies and agents of the crown. Foril's plan was that when war inevitably broke out again, Cormyr's enemies would face both the Purple Dragons and the War Wizards serving as magical artillery.
In his early rule, Foril made extensive use of Castle Irlingstar, a secret and remote magical prison constructed under the orders of Royal Magician Vangerdahast a century prior, in order to imprison murderers, Sembian agents and dangerous noble traitors. This was a shift in relation to Azoun V's policy, as he rarely jailed individuals there. During Foril's reign, the existence of the prison slowly leaked, infuriating nobles who learned of it.
==Reputation==
King Foril was a respected monarch for his competency as an administrator, strategist, and statesman. The farmers of Cormyr were extremely loyal to him.
However, nobles who learned of his continued complicity in the use of Castle Irlingstar as a prison nurtured genuine anger towards Foril.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===References===
===Connections===
Category:Kings of Cormyr
Category:Kings
Category:Rulers
Category:Humans
Category:Members of the Obarskyr family
Category:Inhabitants of Suzail
Category:Inhabitants of Cormyr
Category:Inhabitants of Interior Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of the Eastern Heartlands
Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of Toril
Category:Inhabitants
Category:Inhabitants of masculine gender