King Zrykosi III

King Zrykosi III (Zrykosi Peter Sadzmond-Lethwick), son of Zrykosi II and Queen Astelle Lethwick of Norhald, ascended to the throne in 506 as the last king of Hetland.

As the sole heir to the throne, his ambitions of a military career in his early life were curtailed. Nevertheless, he went on to attend the Bressian Imperial War College at a young age, where he earned the title of Honorary Lieutenant, and gained a keen interest in maritime studies. This was believed to have influenced his later attempts to establish Hetland's own oceangoing navy, and while that may be debatable, his interest in sailing and naval history was apparent in his personal life, demonstrated in no small part by his frequent boating and fishing trips. He would marry Duchess of Krast Anna Rothken in 498, making him the first of his line to marry within Hetland itself, and ingratiating himself with a number of other prominent Hettic noble houses.

The early years of his reign coincided with the foundation of the Syrvanian Republic to the west, the aftermath of the Lavinian revolution in the east, and the tensions that flared across Altirus as a result. Moreover, the popularity and stability of his immediate predecessors placed a great deal of pressure upon him, putting him under especially heavy scrutiny. Just as Hetland found itself wedged between the Commonwealth and the League, forced to abandon its policy of neutrality, Zrykosi himself often found himself at the mercy of a divided kingdom.

With his predecessors' emphasis on bolstering the nation's economic prosperity, the influence of the aristocracy could not be ignored, and their fears of a military coup meant some risky compromises would have to be made. Moreover, the Urczek Correspondence conducted during the Lords' Uprising in Syrvania cemented Hetland's alliance with Chergaria and the Sovereigns' League. Although this would be met with general public approval, it was seen by many in the capital as a violation of principle, and potentially, the undoing of House Sadzmond's work. When Chergaria launched its invasion of Syrvania in 524, the rifts within the kingdom would be further widened by his agreement to lend troops from the Home Army, and his agreement with General Ifan Litcwermenn to bolster the nation's defense, the latter interpreted as a sign of mistrust of their Chergarian allies.

Zrykosi remained in Lingaen during the early months of the Second Leersog War, despite making several plans to visit the troops, which were often thwarted by Syrvania's unexpectedly rapid advances. Finding himself powerless amidst the bickering of the Central Staff, the aristocrats, and the Home Army's field officers, he, his family, and a handful of his servants and close friends, would be moved to a secret underground bunker, where they intended to spend the duration of the war. While Syrvanian propaganda depicted this as an extravagant "underground palace", conditions were in fact very Spartan. Meals were often limited to the same emergency rations distributed to Home Army personnel, and when Zrykosi's son Ilan became ill, the royal family had to flee the country by ship, as no medicine or doctors were available.

The secrecy of the royal family's evacuation resulted in very few details being available. During what was most likely the last leg of the trip, aboard the Bressian destroyer HIMS Ildridge, Zrykosi would suffer a fatal stroke. Upon arrival in Fallesdam, he would be declared deceased. With the death of his son two years later, after being thrown from a balcony, and Queen Anna's death by suicide shortly thereafter, House Sadzmond - and the Kingdom of Hetland - would ultimately end there in the Bressian capital.