Aylesa I Wolfheart

Portrait of Aylesa by Zaphyron

**Aylesa Julina Wolfheart**, also referred to as **Aylesa I** (Sengael: "*cidblyn*", meaning "red wolf"), and also called **The Red Wolf**, was the queen of Northgard from 827 AL to 869 AL, and the first monarch of the second founding which began with her reign. She was the youngest child of Branel Wolfheart, the son of King Calran II, and Verani Leaf. Her epithet of "The Red Wolf" was in reference to her hair, and was a name carried by her in life and long after her death.

Although unexpected to ascend the throne, Aylesa gained the title of queen following the assassination of her older half-brother Cade, which prompted the Velathon Empire, which had been pressing Northgard's borders for almost a century, to invade. Aylesa formed the Great Northern Army to push back their enemies, which eventually led to their success in 829 AL where the Velathons were forced out of Northgard. Shortly afterwards, Aylesa married a field medic, Jossard, whom she had met during the Velathon invasion, and gave birth to five children: Cade, Annwyn, Ayleson, Helena, and Sara.

Following her success in pushing out the Velathons, Aylesa spent the majority of her reign restabilizing Northgard and issued many new political reforms, legal systems, and better quality of life her her citizens; most notably of which was the construction of the Queensroad to link the province together. Aylesa died on 3 Ellvin in 869 AL, and the throne passed to her eldest child, Cade.

## Biography

### Early life

She was the first, and only at that, granddaughter of the Northgardian ruler Calran. It was clear as soon as she exited her mother's womb that she was blessed by fire, evident with her hair that quickly demonstrated to match her personality.- Caela Blackwood c. 827, *The Red Wolf*
Aylesa was born in 805 AL, as the second child of Branel Wolfheart, who was the son of King Caelon II. Aylesa had one older half-brother from her father's earlier marriage, Cade. Her mother, Verani, was from House Leaf. Aylesa grew up close to and idolized her older brother. Due to Branel's high authority in the Kingdom, as advisor to Caelon, he was often busy with diplomatic duties, leaving Aylesa mostly in the care of her mother or servants. However, Verani died in 811 AL due to a fever, which crushed a young Aylesa.
### Adulthood

Upon turning 16 in the year 821 AL, Branel suggested marrying her to Gerald Mud, the firstborn son of Lady Jayne Mud, a close friend of Caelon II. However, Gerald outright refused the betrothal and instead married a peasant girl Jilla of the Redstones, much to Caelon's anger.
Caelon himself died later that year, and Aylesa attended his funeral. She was also present for the coronation of her uncle Eddon II. A year later, in 822 AL, Branel briefly resigned from his position as High Chancellor due to feeling ill and complaining of a pain in his side. A few months later, Branel collapsed while ascending a stairwell in Blackspire, and was rushed to his bed. Aylesa herself was at Norasil's point with her brother Cade under the watch of their cousin Willard, and therefore was not present when Branel succumbed to his pain later that same night. When Aylesa discovered, she allegedly wept for days until she arrived back in Blackspire with her brother and cousin.
Eddon died in 825 AL, and the throne passed to Willard. Aylesa was outspoken over the fact that Willard had not yet sired an heir nor married yet. To which Willard named Cade as his heir. Willard also organized the marriage between Cade and Helen Branders. He promised to find Aylesa a husband, but remarked that she seemed to scare off any potential suitors. Aylesa brushed off his comments.
### The Velathon Invasion

The Red Wolf had invoked the name of Andrasa to secure her victory.- Darionus Anton c. 827, *Velanian History*
Although Northgard had become an ally of the Velathon Empire since Artur Morningstar failed to conquer the region, the empire continuously pushed their forces into the region, though ever slightly. After the death of Aylesar the Broken, Caelon II took the throne and, according to *Stormqueen* under veiled threats from Velathon spies, granted various southern territories to Velathon. After the death of Willard in 827 AL to a pox, Aylesa was named heir to her brother Cade until he could produce a child of his own.
### Ascenion to the Throne

Cade intended to take the throne. While on his way to Blackspire, the Velathons captured the to-be King and demanded to renounce Northgard's independence and client state to join the empire. Cade refused, and so, Cade was executed. Aylesa's sister-in-law, Helen, was raped and then hanged. Willard had stated in his will that he wished for Northgard to remain independent, something that Cade also told Aylesa before his death. As Cade's heir, Aylesa, a woman of twenty-four at the time, was announced as the new queen. Upon hearing of Cade and Helen's death, Aylesa swore vengeance and declared that she would drive out the Velathons. Aylesa travelling under the cover of darkness to Blackspire, and, upon reaching her home, she was crowned as Aylesa I. Aylesa took immediate action, gathering Northgardian forces to quell the invading Velathons. She also took an active part in the fighting, leading several charges. In modern times, the revolt has come to have been known as the Aylesian Rebellion.
### The Great Northern Army

During one such battle, she met a peasant named Jossard, who had been captured by a party of Velathons. After freeing Jossard, she invited him into the Northgardian forces, where the two become close companions. Jossard, whom Aylesa began to refer to as "Joss", eventually asked for Aylesa's assistance in helping the wounded after the Burning of Bristlegate. It was there while amputating a leg that Aylesa admitted her feelings for Joss, which he reciprocated. The two pledged to marry once the rebellion had pushed out the Velathons.

Aylesa assaulted the town of Aldersfield, where she confronted the son of Emperor Adorin III Harodred, Reldus Harodred, in open combat. Aylesa defeated Reldus, but Reldus had managed to split the Spear of Aylesar in two. Although Aylesa kept the upper section of the spear, the lower section was lost. Many considered the weapon useless, Aylesa argued that it was a symbol of her history and continued to use the broken weapon. She captured Reldus, and although her High Chancellor Adalyn Thorn argued she should execute him. *The Red Wolf* tells that Aylesa refused to execute Reldus, and instead kept him as a prisoner of war until he died in the Blackspire dungeons in 845 AL. Conversely however, *Stormqueen* tells that Aylesa beheaded Reldus following Adalyn's suggestion, and then sent his severed head in a box to Adorin. Braedyn Marth, the local historian at Iconard, believes the former to be true, and *Stormqueen's* entry to be nothing more than possible anti-Northgardian propaganda from Velathon.
### Early Reign

Aylesa's first act following the excursion of the Velathons were to help rebuild the destroyed cities and lands; among the first was the town of Bristlegate. It was upon visiting the reconstruction of Bristlegate that she realized there were no true roads within Northgard, unlike those south of their territory in the Braydal kingdoms. Aylesa spoke with Symund Underhill, and began laying down foundations for one unified road system, named the Queensroad. The road itself was completed in 854 AL.
### Marriage to Jossard and early motherhood

On the 13th of Mercius, 830 AL, Aylesa and Joss married at Blackspire. She bore their first child, a son named Cade after her half-brother, in early 831 AL. A second child followed in 833 AL, a daughter named Annwyn.
### Queen of the North

In 835 AL, Aylesa bore another son, named Ayleson, whom was nicknamed "Alyn" by his father. However, the young Alyn was described with weak and brittle bones, most notably in his legs, rendering him unable to walk properly. This resulted in him garnering the nickname of "Alyn the Boneless". Several doctors advised Aylesa to give Alyn a "merciful end", as his inability to walk who severely impede his future life. Margan Amber, a priest at his temple, suggested that Alyn could feasibly become a priest, though did not expect him to live long as it was. Aylesa refused, and issued that any person who talks ill of her son would lose their tongues.
### Fight for the throne

Mid-841 AL, a man named Arren of Blackridge claimed to be the son of Cade the Uncrowned and Helen; born the same year of the Velathon invasions.
### Thellan Raids

On the 17th of April, 846 AL, Northgardian intelligence reported that the Summercoastian church of Mistburrow was raided by a group of folk from the east known as Thells. Aylesa brushed off the encounter as a simple skirmish from raiders, but her stance on the matter changed when Haldan's Post, a temple dedicated to the Elder Gods, was sacked by raiders with the same description as Mistburrow. Aylesa ordered increased patrols along their eastern shores, and the Crownsguard to arrest any potential suspects who may have been involved in the attacks, though they failed to find any evidence of Northgardian influence.
Another raid by the Thells occurred on the 23rd of Arianl that same year, this time at the Temple of Dana on eastern Northgard. Cade suggested to his mother to follow the Thells back to their homeland, though Joss refuted the argument. Instead, Sir Lambard Stoneman, Captain of the Crownsguard, captured a Thellan raider known as Vandil. Lambard held Vandil at the temple for questioning, but the other Thells returned for him, laying siege to the temple in which Lambard was killed, and Vandil escaped with his people.
### Later Reign

Her first grandchild, Aylesara, daughter of Cade, was born in 848 AL and named after her.
Jossard died in 864 AL after suffering a stroke. Aylesa, in her grief, secluded herself away from most duties with her son Cade unofficially taking over from then on. In Annwyn's journal, Aylesa once told her daughter that the world seemed a darker shade without her "beloved Joss". Aylesa herself died five years later in 869 AL at the age of sixty-four. Cade then ascended the throne and organized his mother's funeral at Norasil's point, cremating her and eventually intertwining her ashes with that of Jossard's. It was said that the whole realm wept the loss of Aylesa.
### Legacy

In 874 AL, Thaelyn I's daughter Aylesa was recorded to have been named after her great-grandmother. Lagan Clay, a historian in the eleventh century, suggests that Aylesa's son Ayleson was also named after her, with Alyn being a nickname to assist in differentiating the two. This began a long line of similarly named characters who were allegedly named after Aylesa.
Aylesa is generally remembered as a symbol of Northgardian sovereignty, and her reign after solidifying her nations' independence has had many regard her as one of the realm's greatest leaders. Many contemporary historians place her as one of Northgard's best rulers. A poem titled *The Red Wolf* was written in the late ninth century and details Aylesa's victories against the Velathons. It was later adapted into a song and a play by the year 1113 AL.
Aylesa's presence was also not limited to Northgard. Gwenliana Grydafa, a Westlander woman in the late eleventh century, was inspired by The Red Wolf's tales and later formed her own rebellion against the invading Jorrmans in 1097 AL. In her personal journal, Gwenliana saw Aylesa as the prime example of a warrior woman.
A statue of Aylesa exists in the courtyard of Blackspire, depicting her leading a charge against the Velathons. It was ordered to be constructed by Aylesa's son and successor Cade, though it was postponed by the Thellan Expansion. It was completed under the reign of Cassinal I Wolfheart, who uncovered the plans during his reign.
## Personality and traits

She was a woman of ferocity. Tangled and thick auburn hair down to her waist as fitting per her culture, and had an icy glare of blue. Tall, terrifying, and an aura of contrary that matched her indignant elder brother. On her body she bore a plaid garment with colors detailing her allegiance to the northern wolf tribe, but also ones honoring that of her maternal line. When greeted, she spoke simply and harshly, interestingly an utter reverse of her more well-mannered sovereign.- Vanitionus c. 826, *The Annals of Velanian Northgard*

Aylesa was described as tall, broad shouldered, and powerful in appearance, traits she shared with her older half-brother Cade. She was described with auburn-coloured hair; a feature that earned her the nickname of "The Red Wolf". Aylesa had blue eyes that were said to reflect to coldness of Northgard, and received a scar on the side of her cheek during the Burning of Bristlegate. She also wielded the Spear of Aylesar, an object she decided that served better as a symbol of Northgard rather than a weapon for monarchs. Her best and most closest friend was Sorra Ashwood. Some historians suspect that the two may have been in love, though this claim is disputed.
As a young girl, Aylesa was feisty and argumentative, though was most kept in balance by her brother Cade, whom she was close to. This was a trait that carried into her adulthood. Upon learning of Cade's death and being crowned queen, Aylesa formed the Great Northern Army and her rebellion out of mostly revenge towards the Velathons, though aware of their mistreatment of the populace, she considered her personal glory to outweigh the needs of the many. During her early reign, most considered her arrogant and foul-tempered. Sorra commented that Aylesa seemed to want the respect that came with being queen, but not the responsibility. It was only after the Burning that Aylesa realized the folly of her actions, which resulted in her questioning her legitimacy as queen due to the mass casualties, including the loss of Caelon Thorn, one of her generals. Following the Burning, Aylesa displayed a considerably more matured attitude, acknowledging her impulsiveness and clouded judgement.
Despite her short temper, Aylesa proved herself patient and compassionate when the need arose. After the death of Caelon Thorn, Aylesa, wracked with guilt, postponed the siege of Ironhaven to stay with Caelon's brother Jossard, and paid dowries to House Ashwood following the death of Sorra.
Despite receiving little to no training in leadership, she proved herself an adept strategist and was described as a naturally gifted ruler. This of course, only came after the Burning of Bristlegate as well as no small part due to Jossard's influence on her.
## Trivia

* Queen Boudica, William the Conqueror, and Henry I of England serve as inspirations for Aylesa I.

## Notes

1. ↑ Harlelyn being appointed as Aylesa's first heir is only noted in *Stormqueen*.
2. ↑ While other sources do note the closeness of Sorra and Aylesa, only *Stormqueen* outright claims they were in a relationship.

1. ↑ Gwylla: *Aāylesia Blāidhjārtír*