Zecharius Talino

## Early Life

Not much is know from Zecharius' early life before he was adopted by Libinus Talino, all that is known was that he was one of the refugees from Pyke. One day Libinus Talino just walked into the castle with Zecharius and hiw twin sister Clelia and loudly proclaimed that they were his children and heirs, and while they might not be they should be treated as blood of his blood.

Zecharius was known for being a studious and at the same time mischievous child, while he wasn't studying the arts of diplomacy and statecraft he was out leading his group of friends or ploting some of his schemes. In one particular instance he would steal some gold from the treasury and blame it on one of his friends that had made fun of him. Much to his father's relief his mischievous nature seemed to subside as he grew up.

He wasn't particularly close with his sister, while she preferred to learn the arts of fighting he would rather spend time on the lybrary or scheme, but while they didn't have a close relationship he didn't seem to dislike her either.

## Meeting the Witch

Everything was not all as it seemed, for while Zecharius pretended to be a good son for his father and the ideal heir to the kingdom he actually was painfully bored. Everything was the same, every single day over and over again. His plots helped a bit with his boredom but they stopped giving him the high they once did, they were too small, too petty to satisfy Zecharius' adult self. When he was a kid planting a vial of poison inside a maid's cabinet and watching she be arrested for attempted assassination was thriling, giving him weeks worth of excitment. But now it was just a little bright spot in a otherwise boring day.

No, he needed something grander, something more important, something that would shake Vieunneuven to the core, and that was when he came across a old witch in the woods behind Ventruvia, who realising he was the Prince offered her services to him. As a Moonchild Libinus Talino couldn't be killed by natural means, the moon would not permit that, but maybe, just maybe this witch could change that. That was when a plan began forming on his head, something that would shake Vieunneuven's foundations, something that certanly would leave it's mark in history. Zecharius' heart began to beat faster.

## Night of Flames

The Sun had just set on the horizon when men dressed as Clelia's guards walked into the throne room of the Palace, followed by a cloacked Zecharius. Surprised his father asked why he wasn't using his own guards, asking if something had happened, to which Zecharius responded that he had decided to end the King's reign. As he said this he unveiled a dark blade. The blade had a shape of a normal shortsword, but it was twisted in such a way it looked like many pieces had been chipped off, but at a closer observation one could clearly see a immaculate edge all along the blade. The hilt was made of silver adorned with amethysts, diamonds and rubies, and the guard seemed to be made of the same material as the blade. Zecharius' men would attack the king and his men, killing them but setting fire to the castle in the process. Libinus would nearly kill his rebellious son, but in a moment of hesitation he was stabbed in the chest by his son.

> "Have you ever considered me your father?"-Libinus Talino's last words, after being stabbed by his son, Zecharius Talino.
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After muttering his last words Libinus Talino would explode into a puff of black smoke, going back to the Moon. After killing his father and seeing the only way into Clelia's chambers in flames Zecharius decided to not follow the original plan and instead let the fire kill his sister. He would be dragged out of the building by some of his guards (who were dressed in their normal orange uniform, instead of Clelia's blue). He would instruct his guard to form a perimeter outiside the castle, trapping everyone inside, including the men he used to kill his father. He would then send a messanger into the city with the following message:

> "I regret to inform you, my citizens, that I have failed to protect my father, shortly after sunset Clelia and her men marched into the palace and killed my father, the honorable King Libinus Talino. In their foolishness they ended up setting fire to the palace, destroying centuries worth of history. I arrived to late to save him, so I decided to let the traitors burn in the flames of their misdeeds, I directed my guard to guard every single possible exit, let the flames cleanse my sister's misdeeds. But don't think this is over, my sister still has supporters among the nobility and the citizens, we cannot let these traitors live, but I can't do this alone. So I ask you, please help me avange my father!"
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What followed were 3 straight nights of rioting, where a angry mob supported by the city garrison killed every single known supporter of Clelia, The Night of Flames and the following purge installed Zecharius as the undisputed ruler of Vieunneuven, even if Clelia’s body was nowhere to be found.

## Reign

To repair the damages of the fire Zecharius would use the fortune of Clelia's supporter's he had confiscated during the riots, at the same time he would use this money to reform Ventruvia into a "Capital worthy of Talino!" as he put it. He would then reign peacefully besides a crisis with the Fideans and the Mrrgles, where he would ally the Mrrgles against Fidea. This crisis would be resolved by diplomacy establishing the current status quo of relations between both countries.

When the Mrrgles started their genocide against all living things Zecharius would condemn their actions but not break his alliance with them, and when Luca was executed he would declare his executioners criminals, guilty of torture, starting another diplomatic incident between Vieunneuven and Sjur, he would then meet Sjur's king Hodelia Dumskalle, one of the criminals, to discuss the situation, but the meeting lead to nothing, even if tensions seem to be dying down.