Aldren Tremar

Aldren Aleksandr Tremar (the First) was a Rumynski monarch, political leader and military leader. Best known for being the second king of the Tritonians, he led Tritonia through the devastating fifth World War, which saw him overthrown and succeeded by his own wife, Alana Csabay, and locked in a vault beneath Palladia. His reign was a dark and controversial time in Tritonian history, marked by famine, mass starvation and genocide.
== History ==
Aldren was born into a peasant family in Flamingia in 24 CE. Around two weeks after his birth, the infamous August Revolution occurred in Palladia, which was quelled by the puppet rulers of the country, and his parents were among the rioters. From the riots emerged the Tritonian nation, who would go on to oust the Iujado puppet rulers by 34 CE. Due to the unstable final years of the country, Aldren’s early life was marked by hunger, discontent and poverty.
Following the successful coup in 34 CE, an intense power vacuum appeared which started a civil war. Aldren’s father Anoasc joined a militia in the lead-up to the war in a bid to get more food for his family. Ultimately, he rose through the ranks and through his leadership united many of the scattered militias to form an army. The civil war ended when Anoasc’s army marched on Palladia Castle, almost completely destroying the building, and then storming the parliament, where Anoasc proceeded to crown himself king. Aldren’s fortunes changed massively as a result, becoming the crown prince at the age of 10.
=== Life as the Crown Prince ===
After his father assumed the newly-created throne, Aldren resided in the royal palace in Palladia. Growing up, he enjoyed geography, maths and archaeology. He also enjoyed war studies, especially studying generals and tactics in detail. The country lacked an established nobility, meaning that Aldren had no other friends amongst his social standing; furthermore he was an only child, which further exacerbated his loneliness. At the age of 24, he met Alana Csabay in a public engagement at the Parliament building, and the two formed an exceptional bond. Two years later, their marriage was announced.
The couple had two children - Ioanis and Elia Tremar, who were twins born in 56 CE. Aldren grew increasingly concerned for Anoasc’s physical health around this time as the king grew increasingly fatigued and lethargic. In 57 CE, the news of the queen consort’s infidelity went public, revealing the existence of Aldren’s step-father, Oliver Crescido. This deeply shook Aldren, especially the revelation of his step-siblings that were not much younger than him. Angry at his mother for choosing to live such a lie all his life, he ordered his father to disown her immediately. Surprisingly, Anoasc complied, and Amalia had all her possessions and titles stripped.
Following years of ill health, King Anoasc died in 65 CE due to heart complications, leaving Aldren to ascend to the throne alongside Alana.
=== King of the Tritonians ===
Aldren was an immensely popular crown prince, however the first few years of his reign were tumultuous. Bad harvests in 66 CE had a domino effect on the food supply, creating widespread shortages that almost led to a famine, though Palladia was spared any trouble. In 67 CE, the first laser towers were constructed, which Aldren refused to condone despite the desperately low public support for such technology. Food shortages would sporadically appear over the next two decades, but despite investment the situation showed no signs of improvement.
In 87 CE, due to his status as the nation’s leading figure, and while facing major scrutiny from the public, the government asked official permission to test laser technology to alleviate persisting food shortages by fertilising the soil. Aldren gave his approval, however the effects were disastrous. The laser technology had annihilated any trace of arable soil on a farm near Zaporozhye, causing a famine to be declared in the surrounding region, causing 56 deaths from starvation. This called into question the integrity of the government and their ability to provide decentralised support, (i.e be less “Palladia-centric.”) Riots emerged across the country demanding snap elections and the abdication of Aldren, who they thought had blood on his hands.
In 88 CE, the riots came to a climax when several towns began to refuse trade towards Palladia, thus the city began to feel the effects of food shortages for the first time. In a dire attempt to diffuse the situation, Aldren agreed to enter a political and economic alliance with Yetia, Tritonia’s western neighbour, in an attempt to secure an additional source of food. This temporarily alleviated the hunger crisis, but it dragged Tritonia into the devastating Fifth World War. Committed to secure his nation’s future, Aldren fully co-operated with Yetia and their plans, but his fortunes turned when the counter-offensives began - this warranted mass conscription.
=== Descent into madness ===
As the tides of the war turned, Aldren grew incessantly paranoid. Fearing for her children’s safety, Alana evacuated Ioanis and Elia to Corestias. In June, a huge riot broke out at the parliament criticising the government’s policy of conscription and their willingness to enter a deal with Yetia. In response, Aldren declared martial law and, assuming his ceremonial role as the general of the army, assumed absolute power over the country. Determined to protect Tritonia, Aldren ordered a second wave of conscription that targeted rail workers and minorities. The Turkish minority in Palladia marched onto a military base in protest, blocking all the runways. In response, Aldren ordered the razing of several villages near Zaporozhye and proceeding to build military bases on top of them - this act of ethnic cleansing marked the beginning of his final 6 months as the reigning monarch, known as the Reign of Paranoia.
To enforce conscription, Aldren resorted to scare tactics, establishing a secret network of blackmailers in each and every community. This allowed him to conscript a third wave of citizens - resistance was met by a wave of massacres, many of which were interpreted as genocide. By the time the fourth wave of conscription occurred, roughly 75% of all able-bodied men in Tritonia were actively serving in the war. A mass exodus began out of the country, and in response Aldren dedicated a significant portion of the army to garrison the borders, ordered to shoot any people attempting to cross. In the meantime, top government officials were preparing to evacuate to a mysterious vault under Palladia, designed as a contingency.
=== Final stand and retreat to the Vault ===
The weak and exhausted army began to falter as food supplies from Yetia dramatically collapsed. Famine was widespread and starvation was killing more soldiers than combat was. In an attempt to boost morale, Aldren led an army eastward to lead a counter-offensive. There was some initial success, however he then came face-to-face with Alana, who was guiding a Linelandic army. She watched as Aldren’s army was dramatically defeated by a superior force. Aldren himself narrowly escaped the battle, escaping on a horse he found on a nearby farm back to Palladia, where he was hidden in the Vault. On the surface, Alana was declared queen regnant, albeit only reigning in her own right for a year before tragically dying, being succeeded by her children as dual monarchs in 90 CE.
Living in the darkness of the vault below Palladia, Aldren spent the remaining 8 years of his life in a rudimentary shelter behind the vault door. Supplies were smuggled in occasionally however after the old canals and railways were sealed over during Palladia’s reconstruction, the smuggling ceased. Desperate for food, Aldren resorted to cannibalism - for a while, his position owed him his life as his life was deemed the most important in the event of rescue. However, the aforementioned rescue would never arrive and Aldren would die of starvation in 96 CE. With all residing citizens dead, the Vault went forgotten until it was rediscovered along with Aldren’s dead body in 139 CE by a group of explorers commissioned by the Ellarian and Tritonian governments.
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