Damian Regal I

Damian Regal I, (known also as Damian the Good, the Old King and Grandfather to All Nations,) is the current reigning monarch in the Kingdom of Selathon. At ninety-one years old, he is the oldest monarch in Engelain, along with the monarch with the longest reign, (69 years.) His predecessor was his father, King Adrian IV, and his heir is his eldest child by his first wife, Crown Prince Dominic. He had two brothers and four sisters, though all of them predeceased him. Their names are, in order of birth: Malcolm, Phineas, Louise, Merrigold, Penelope and Victoria.

Damian Regal was born the fifth child and third son of Adrian IV, and as such was not anticipated to be taking the throne. For much of his youth he lived a quiet life outside of the political maneuverings of the royal court, instead taking on a studious lifestyle whilst his two older brothers were tutored in combat.

Prince Damian was twenty-one when the Err at Erringshall took place, where Damian's youngest sister, Princess Victoria, was very publically shamed by Prince Benedict of Rigdon, the younger brother of Rigdon's king. This event triggered the War of Red Rigdon, a campaign of vengeance waged by King Adrian IV against King Alexander VII of Rigdon. Although Damian's brothers fought in this war, Damian himself did not partake and therefore was guaranteed his ascension to the throne, as Prince Malcolm and Phineas, along with their father King Adrian, all perished in the war.

Before his coronation had even taken place, Damian had secured a peace treaty with King Alexander of Rigdon, who wasn't the aggressor in this conflict and had no desire to continue it either. Despite this, Damian was crowned into a rather tumultuous kingdom. He was an outsider to the court, without any nobleman friends, without the military training of his brothers and the least loved son of his father who was king before him. And given that it was likely he would have to wed Princess Adelaide of Gaules, his brother Phineas's fiancée to fulfil that marriage pact, it meant that there was little political leverage the other lords could have over him, or else that he might be manipulated by a foreign power.

In order to rectify this, Damian put aside Princess Adelaide, instead promising his first-born son to her first-born daughter, (allowing her this honour served to placate the then-Kingdom of Gaules, which would have otherwise responded quite haughtily to this shunning,) and marrying his sister Penelope to Adelaide's younger brother, a fifth son. He then arranged a marriage of his own with the Lady Bethany Gladstone of Gladshire, the daughter of a powerful Selathite lord. The two were married within a week of Damian's coronation- it is said the two never met before the wedding. This granted King Damian the allegiance of a powerful ally, which was enough to revert an all-out ousting, though it would take much more than that to keep the high lords happy forever.

A year after his marriage, Damian was gifted his first child: Dominic, the crown prince. As was previously arranged, Dominic would end up being married to Princess Felicity, daughter of Princess Adelaide of Gaules. Another year after that came Princess Alania, who would, (quite controversially,) go on to marry the genius innovator and once-pirate Sarath Dral. The later disappearance of Sarath Dral and his wife launched a great kingdom-wide manhunt, which spread to neighbouring kingdoms until most of Engelain set sails in search for the missing princess and her manic husband, to no avail. Their abrupt departure and inability to be found has sparked many conspiracy theories, especially when one considers the implications that Sarath Dral was somehow involved in the dark arts.

After Alania was birthed the twins, Riella and Richard. And last of all came Phillip, for with his entry into the world came Queen Bethany's untimely death. Despite having lost a great connection to the Gladstones of Gladshire, by this stage King Damian's rule was secured- it seemed that the lords of Selathon had grown quite fond of having a learned ruler instead of a sword-swinging king, and the common people too rejoiced of King Damian the Good, who tried his best to improve the living standards of all.

King Damian was in mourning for some years, until he came across and fell in love with Princess Margaret of Rigdon, the eldest child of King Alexander IV whose forces had slain many of Damian's family and countrymen. Margaret was the heir apparent to the throne, as Alexander had failed to sire any male heirs, but the tensions felt between their peoples meant that marriage was unthinkable, as the merger between the kingdoms of Selathon and Rigdon would cause far more chaos than good. However the love between them rang true, and Margaret decided to abdicate her position in the royal inheritance in order to marry King Damian.

The two became married four years after the death of Queen Bethany, and this marriage is often said to be the most fruitful of all King Damian would ever have. The couple had seven children together: Catherine, Arthur, Edward, Mary, Alice, Dame Josephine and Anne. Yet when Princess Josephine was very young she caught the Shaking Plague, and this passed on to Princess Mary and Anne, who both perished, and then onto Queen Margaret as well, who had refused to leave her daughters' side and therefore too suffered the same fate, (though Josephine herself would miraculously recover.)

The death of his queen caused serious mental anguish to Damian, who became more reclusive and spent many years in mourning. In this period he would begin to neglect his duties and his children, until the point where it was almost certain that there would be open rebellion in his lands. It seemed that the thought of war finally spurred the king to his senses, for he once again became married, to Lady Annabelle Manepride. This marriage would however not last so long as some might have hoped, for Queen Annabelle gave birth to only three children; Abraham, Maximillian and Adrian, before she too succumbed to death by childbirth.

The king's fourth wife would be Selyse of Burroughland. Though the two were married for a significant period of time, their union never brought about any children. With the king's own fertility a guarantee, it was widely suggested that Queen Selyse was barren, although others harboured the idea that King Damian was unwilling to consummate the marriage due to the abrupt deaths of his first and third wives, or else for lingering feelings of affection towards his second. This was a thought shared by Selyse's own father, for when Selyse finally passed away Lord Solomon immediately rose up in rebellion against his king.

This rebellion would however end preemptively, for one of Lord Solomon's own vassals turned against him and slew him. In order to reward his services, King Damian raised this lordling up in the nobility scheme, and also married his daughter, the Lady Letitia Bowman. Together they had only a single child, Prince Caspian, and Queen Letitia lives on to this day at the side of the king.

King Damian's rule has been one of prosperity and merriment, where there has been no war between Selathon and its neighboring realms, (due to Damian's sound policy of marrying off his descendants to various other royal families, earning him the moniker 'Grandfather to All Nations',) and very few rebellions of any significance. Most inhabitants of Selathon have been born, lived and died under the rule of Damian, and not a soul could imagine how life would be without him on the throne.