Zolanda of Frennia

Empress Zolanda Berengaria Obenauf frá Frenne is the Empress of Frennia. She is said to be if not the most powerful person at least the most powerful woman. She is a capable leader and a cunning ruler that has given Frennia peace that has lasted over 40 years. As a pact between Frennia and Sveenia, Zolanda proposes a marriage between herself and Keimo Kalla making him her fourth husband and a prince of Frennia.
== Appearance and Character ==
Portraits of young Zolanda reveal she was once a beautiful woman with tall neck and fair skin. However, now in her late fifties and after multiple pregnancies and child-births she has gained weight and has now a waist-less bloated body with heavy breasts that are each as big as her head. She has thick dark brown hair that has grey stripes on it and dark eyes that still have a playful and intelligent gaze in them even though they seem to lost into her fleshy face. She's always wearing flinging necklaces made of dragon stone in order to hide her multiple chins. Her enemies and rivals sometimes mock her because of her weight calling her "Zolanda The Great". She used to love riding horses when she was younger, an activity she greatly misses.
Zolanda is smart, quick-witted and confident lady with lively and open-minded nature for her age. Unlike many others she is interested and fascinated by Keimo Kalla, his ancestry and blood magic, something that is usually viewed with disgust outside Norden. She is accomplished and politically savvy leader. She gathers trusted advisers around her and says only a wise man accepts he doesn't know everything.
Zolanda has buried three husbands, with whom she has four sons and six daughters. In addition, she has held multiple lovers, who have rumored to have fathered at least some of her children. The most famous of her lovers is probably Ser Berril, her childhood friend, with whom Zolanda however doesn't care to share the bed anymore. Because of her numerous affairs and marriages, some regard Zolanda as promiscuous and depraved, even if her behavior does not in itself differ from her male predecessors and current counterparts. Her eldest son Prince Rainard wishes she had remained as a widow after his father died and strongly opposes her marrying again, this time to a lot younger man. There are several nasty rumors circling around her, such as that she is willing to "test ride" every young man attending the court and is so insatiable that even a Frennian black stallion is unable to satisfy her. Zolanda herself is fully aware of the rumors, but insists they are meaningless as long as they take place as cowardly whispers behind her back. In official relations Zolanda is respected and even feared. The feature, which according to Zolanda, greatly irritates men and took her a long time to achieve.
Zolanda is very aware of how her gender effects on what people think of her and she is adept at getting her enemies to talk against themselves. Zolanda's intelligence has earned her the admiration of both men and women alike. Dowager Queen Ereija thinks Zolanda is a remarkable woman. Besides being a somewhat motherly figure to Keimo Kalla she is also greatly admired and respected by him. While considering taking his place as the heir of Norden, Keimo tries to recall all the things Zolanda has taught him about ruling.
== History ==
Zolanda was the only living child of Emperor Nithard of Frennia and Empress Berengaria of Frennia. After Zolanda was born her mother suffered several miscarriages until she finally gave birth to a son. However catching a child-bed fever Empress Berengaria and her infant son died soon leaving fourteen-year-old Princess Zolanda motherless. Grief-ridden Emperor Nithard never remarried and decided to name Zolanda his heir. After Berengaria's death the emperor spent his final years grooming Zolanda to become the first ruling Empress of Frennia. This caused great disdain between Emperor and his brother, Prince Arnoul, who had hoped to be named his brother's heir instead of his niece and even made a marriage proposal over Zolanda. Emperor was disgusted upon his brother's proposal deeming it unnatural and instead decided to follow Berengaria's wish and betroth Zolanda to Thadnas Zirksena, a cousin from the empress's side even though his house did not have any notable political power. Despite the love she felt towards her father, Zolanda regards him as an incompetent ruler who after her mother's death let his emotions affect political decision-making. According to Zolanda the marriage between her and her uncle, although being an unpleasant one, would still have saved the lives of thousands.
Within a year of marrying Zolanda became pregnant. When she gave birth to a daughter, Princess Brenna, her father had fell seriously ill. If Zolanda had birthed a prince instead of a princess her claim to the throne might had been secured. Being bed-ridden for a fortnight Emperor finally died leaving 19-year-old Princess ascending to the throne with increasing political turmoil raging in the Empire. Zolanda was still on her father's bedside when the word came that her uncle Arnoul had proclaimed himself an emperor and the great houses of the Plains had rallied behind him. Zolanda had only river folk from her mother's and husband's side backing up her claim against her father's side of the family. Arnoul offered Zolanda terms of surrender that included letting her, her husband and their daughter exile to Sveenia. However Zolanda knew her uncle better and that if she someday gave birth to a son that would be a great threat to Arnoul.
Bloody civil war lasted three years, but Zolanda's army managed somehow hold it against Arnoul's thanks to Farvoodian warriors Zolanda had purchased from Sveenia by selling the Empire's dragon stone mines. During the second year of the war Zolanda become pregnant with a child that was rumored to have been fathered by Ser Berril since Prince Thadnas was almost all the time fighting on the Plains. On the same year Zolanda miscarried a fetus that was determined to have been a boy. Prince Thadnas and Zolanda were devastated over the loss of their son. Thadnas blamed Prince Arnoul for Zolanda's miscarriage believing the stressful war to have caused his wife to lose the child. A year later Thadnas made a daring move against Prince Arnoul despite the war council and his wife advising against it. During the battle Thadnas was slain by Arnoul himself leaving now a 22-year old Zolanda a widow. Zolanda, who had just find out she was pregnant again, miscarried after learning her husband had perished.
After the death of Thadnas, Prince Arnoul renewed his marriage proposal to Zolanda believing she would soon comply and surrender her army. Instead Zolanda made a secret visit to one of his most powerful generals of the Plains, Vulmar Landau of Kerkesia, and made a proposal of her own. On the next morning the plain folk led by Vulmar attacked Arnoul's castle and slit his throat and led then rest of the the great houses of the Plains to Valenburg to swear loyalty to Zolanda. A week after Zolanda married Vulmar. Even then malignant tongues rumored that Zolanda had been afraid she would go through her mother's faith with the husband who was too weak to sire living children so Zolanda had arranged his death in order not to just win the war, but to get a new husband with strong Kerkesian seed. Vulmar ended up fathering six of her living children including four princes despite the marriage been difficult and an unhappy one.
== Marriages ==
Zolanda has married four times burying three of her husbands.
Thadnas Zirksena
Zolanda's marriage with Thadnas was a happy one despite being arranged from their birth and they staying more
Vulmar Landau
Marriage between Zolanda and Kerkesian general was troubled right from the start. Vulmar had a great thirst for power and despite signing a marital agreement that reaffirmed Zolanda's position as the sole leader of the empire, Vulmar continuously tried to rule as a self-governing emperor. Vulmar whose official status was merely a prince consort had hard time adapting himself under the rule of a woman since that was seen as a great masculine weakness in Kerkesian culture. In the marital agreement Zolanda had made the children fathered by Vulmar have a priority over Thadnas' daughter Princess Brenna, but still Vulmar saw Brenna as a threat as far as Zolanda decided to send her away in order to protect her. Vulmar was known to have held multiple mistresses, but was still overly jealous of his wife. It is believed he might have actually been responsible of rumors about Zolanda's sexual appetite. According to Zolanda he was once so drunk that couldn't remember next day if he had claimed his rights that night and after Zolanda announced another pregnancy Vulmar became aggressive believing the unborn child was not his and tried to attach Zolanda just ending up being subdued by the Royal Guardmen.
== Recent Events ==
Zolanda marries Keimo Kalla after the death of her third husband.