Arthur Ramander of World's End

"Shrouded by night, but with steady stride. Colored by blood, but always clear of mind. Blood makes us human, makes us more than human, makes us human no more. I must spill yet more blood, so the blood already spilt will not be in vain.”
-Arthur Ramander
== History ==
Ramander was born in a dying future - a timeline in which King Bolgar was slain by an Arendurian soldier, Davin, and where Tolumvire became mankind's unchallenged ruler. The son of an affair between Tolumvire and his wife's sister, Sharra, Ramander was born with magic as powerful as might be expected with parents as mighty as his. In the future, the world was soon to fall to the armies of Xiloxi Drutreu, who could only be defeated by a chronomancer and a great warrior working in conjunction. Ramander was chosen to escape this future, and sent to warn his father in the past. Given another chance to fight the Demon Wars, Ramander did what he could to reconcile his father with Bolgar of Ragnarok, so that they might win together. At some point during the struggle against O'Rangus, he became a vampire, sacrificing his humanity for the power of undeath. After the destruction of Arendur and his father's ascension, Ramander declared himself Tolumvire's heir. Though he rules no cities and commands no armies, he works from the shadows to influence world events. He is committed to the restoration of the Arendurian Empire, and the furthering of his father's grand projects. Above all, he resents the loss of the Twin Thrones, which he sees as his rightful property. Though he pretends to care about the rise and fall of various Philosopher-Kings, he despises them all, and dreams of a future where Arendur rises out of the ashes of world war, with himself as the undisputed master of mankind. 
Following the voluntary exile of Emperor Arthur Coralis, Ramander has taken his place and identity as the Emperor of Alba Coralis. After quashing a rebellion against his rule, Ramander has transformed the country in his own image. Renaming it World's End, he has abolished the six Duchies and forced the remaining noblemen to drink from his blood and become vampires. Now the master of a great undead army, he has allied with Guilddon and the Reich Nördlich in a bitter war against Nadezhda. He has come to think that vampirism is the true form of man, and dreams of a future where everyone in World's End is either a true vampire or a spawn. On then, he thinks, will man be able to resist the arrival of the old ones. 
== Personality ==
Ramander has many noble traits, but they are being perverted by his vampiric curse. He has a great sense of responsibility and determination. This has been perverted to a sociopathic willingness to use the weak and inferior for his personal gain, as well as the need to put his own existence first. He idolizes his father and King Bolgar, and attempts to imitate them, only managing to display a staggering sense of superiority. His secrecy has soured to mistrust and paranoia. Once self-sacrificial, even to the point of having a martyr complex, that inclination has crumbled, leaving him a coward at heart. Though he is discreet and able to maintain some of his former humanity, he loves the thrill of the hunt - in time, he will be nothing but a soulless hunter.   
As the Emperor of World's End, Ramander has finally achieved his dream - to be a Philosopher-King, and to shape a country according to his designs. Even so, the dream has become his nightmare. While he does not care that none of his achievements will be credited to him - fame does not motivate him - he has finally realized that no one would ever follow him for who he is. Only through trickery, guide, and mind-control can he lead a people, and that it is only possible because he is forcing others to see him as someone he is not. Moreso, he, who did possibly more then anyone else to engineer the War of the Philosopher-Kings, has been drawn into it and consumed by it. He has begun to see the people of World's End as his people, and has realized that he wants to win the war for them. If he can do that before he dies, he reasons, he can do what his father could never do. Nonetheless, the strain of rule has begun to take a toll on him, and allowed the curse of vampirism to increasingly consume him. He has come to believe that undeath is the true form of man, and that by turning his people into spawn, they will endure the rise of the old ones.   
After his identity was exposed, Ramander's identity fractured and split into two, all the better to resemble his patron god, Kanchelsis. In his moments of lucidity, he has become convinced that only by killing Khamsa will he become whole again.   
== War of the Philosopher-Kings ==
By acting in accordance with his father's plan, Ramander could be thought of as a catalyst for the war. It was he who convinced Annakiya to dispatch Janissaries to Atlantis, freeing two prisoners of great importance - Khamsa and Philoktia - and sparking war between Aglazdere and the Final Empire. He would act next in Alba Coralis, guiding Khamsa towards the throne and aiding him in his coup, bringing about war with Nadezhda. Khamsa would swiftly grow disgusted with the mantle of Philosopher-King, and abandon his throne, granting Ramander permission to take his identity and mantle. As the Emperor of Alba Coralis, Ramander would triumph in the Alban Civil War, defeating the rebel Dukes and consolidating his power. He would rename the country World's End, begin the process of sharing the curse of Vampirism among its highest noblemen, and make common cause with Guilddon and the Reich Nördlich. Now going by the name Arthur, he would lead his troops - increasing formed of Vampire Spawn - in the defense against the Nadezhdan army. He would lose a great deal of ground, with the capital of Scarbantia falling to the enemy. After the fall of Jotunheim, and the loss of the giant contingent of the northern alliance, Arthur and his allies would turn the tide of the war, driving the overextended Nadezhdan troops out of World's End and mounting a full scale invasion of Nadezhda. Arthur would push for a grim battle of attrition, taking many Nadezhdan captives and transforming them into Vampire Spawn. Abi Eodauga would retreat to his capital of Torzhestvo, and stake everything on a decisive battle. Arthur would emerge victorious, and Abi Eodauga would fall by the hands of Franz Forrawyn. Upon King Raine's attack on Guilddon and the islands of Karres, Arthur and his men would retreat to defend World's End, where the Atlantean forces would push them back to Scarbantia. This would coincide with the fall of Aglazdere, giving Arthur to reveal his identity as Ramander. Having been cheated of his revenge against Khamsa, but satisfied with the fall of Aglazdere, King Raine would withdraw his forces. Arthur would emerge from the war as the only Philosopher-King standing, the ostensible victor. It was a hollow victory, for he was no true king, merely standing in for one, the ruler over a guttered kingdom of the dead. 
Ramander's identity would be exposed shortly before the end of the War of the Philosopher-Kings, leading to him being ejected from the Holy Council and deemed a pariah in the eyes of the world. 
== After the War ==
After the War of the Philosopher-Kings, Emperor Arthur's true identity as Prince Ramander would be revealed. Unconcerned, he would go about the task of transforming everyone in his kingdom into a Vampire Spawn, determined to protect them from the Great Old Ones by making them undead. He would keep a few civilians alive to serve as blood bags for the vampires. 
Having been exposed, the Emperor of World's End would fight a war in his own mind to determine his identity. He would eventually come to the same conclusion that his father did, and shed his humanity entirely. embracing his undead curse. Appearing before his assembled nobles, he would proclaim that he was indeed Prince Ramander of Oranor; that he had been charged by the true Emperor Arthur to continue a charade. The War of the Philosopher-Kings was over, and thus the myth of Arthur Coralis was over. Ramanader announced his intention to marry the true heir of the kingdom that was once Alba Coralis - Galla Livossa-Coralis. In doing so, he would finally step out of the shadows, and rule World's End as its true monarch. 
== The Great Awakening ==
When the Great Awakening occurred, Emperor Arthur Ramander briefly emerged to affirm that World's End would fight on the side of mankind. The gods, he declared, feared mankind and denied them their true form by making undeath taboo. Only by becoming undead would man reclaim his soul from the divine, and be truly free.
Arthur Ramander would meet his death by traitor's hands, when Roger Adler and Khariton Markov would use the power of the god Quachil Uttaus to bring down his empire, capture him, drag him into sunlight, and stake him through the heart. Category:Monarchs
Category:Mages
Category:Undead
Category:Arendur
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Category:Illuminated
Category:Player Characters
Category:Vampires
Category:Shield Campaign
Category:World's End
Category:Branch of the Word
Category:Neutral Evil