Crown of Pridain

The Crown of Pridain is the royal institution of Pridain that claims direct lineage to the original king installed by Mrevain the Binder, Arthen Bendrax. The Crown Church claims it is the royal blood of this lineage that binds magic to the lands of Pridain, and it is this claim (along with their immense power drawn from their sorcerous blood) that solidifies their control over the region.

## **Coronation**

Of prime importance to the crown is the power of the wearer, as myths dictate that a powerful mage must always sit on the throne of Pridain in order to bind the magic of Mrevain to the land. Because of this the crown is passed down not by male or female lines, nor by age, but by arcane proficiency. When a monarch dies or abdicates the throne a grand tourney is organised during which the offspring (often including nieces or nephews) of the previous monarch compete in shows of ability and duels to decide who will next hold the position.

These tourneys are dangerous and often result in deaths.

## **Monarchs by Chronology**

### **Arthen Bendrax (0 AA to 29 AA)**

Arthen was the first king of Pridain and the receiver of the Divine Transfusion. He ruled for twenty-nine years before his death. He was killed in battle against one of the final unbound gods. Arthen is seen as a matyr and a saint in the Crown Church.

### **Dommazo Bendrax (29 AA to 75 AA)**

Dommazo was the eldest son of Arthen. He died of poisoning.

### **Aekolas Bendrax (75 AA to 126 AA)**

Aekolas was the grandson of Dommazo. He died in a riot in 126 AA.

### **Lozerra Bendrax (126 AA to 166 AA)**

Lozerra was the daughter of Aekolas. She died of disease in 166 AA.

### **Gachedan Bendrax (166 AA to 249 AA)**

Gachedan was the grandson of Lozerra. Gachedan died of old age in 249 AA.

### **Erema Bendrax (249 AA to 285 AA)**

Erema was the granddaughter of Gachedan. She died of disease in 285 AA.

### **Meoni Bendrax (285 AA to 321 AA)**

Meoni was the granddaughter of Erema. She died in a storm at sea in 321 AA.

### **Olzino Bendrax (321 AA to 405 AA)**

Olzino was the nephew of Meoni. He died in 405 AA of disease.

### **Noma Bendrax (405 AA to 445 AA)**

Noma was the daughter of Olzino. She relinquished the crown in 445 AA.

### **Anbrochio Bendrax (445 AA to 489 AA)**

Anbrochio was the nephew of Noma. He mysteriously disappeared in 489 AA.

### **Temedrio Bendrax (489 AA to 566 AA)**

Temedrio was the nephew of Anbrochio. He died of old age in 566 AA.

### **Gozino Bendrax (566 AA to 657 AA)**

Gozino was the son of Temedrio. He was assassinated by Joye Luzgin in 657 AA.

### **Malsia Bendrax (657 AA to 722 AA)**

Malsia was the niece of Gozino. She was executed for a crime in 722 AA.

### **Beadrize Bendrax (722 AA to 791 AA)**

Beadrize was the granddaughter of Malsia. She was killed by a wild animal in 791 AA.

### **Figtoria Bendrax (791 AA to 831 AA)**

Figtoria was the niece of Beadrize. She was exiled from Pridain in 831 AA, after which she fled to Fenize.

### **Villibo Bendrax (831 AA to 857 AA)**

Villibo was the nephew of Figtoria. He was killed in a duel with Gala Prasher in 857 AA.

### **Emirrianna Bendrax (857 AA to 927 AA)**

Emirriana was the niece of Villibo. She was killed in battle against the Anvillian prince Kwentoren Plize in Sombria in 927 AA. She is remembered as a hero.

### **Erezza Bendrax (927 AA to 979 AA)**

Erezza was the son of Emirriana. He abdicated the throne in 979 AA.

### **Vieroenso Bendrax (979 AA to 989 AA)**

Vieroenso was the nephew of Erezza. Vieroenso died in the production of the legendary blade of the Bendrax family, the Blade of Saint Vieroenso.

### **Kovreto Bendrax (989 AA to 1026 AA)**

Kovreto was the son of Vieroenso. He died whilst on an adventure in 1026 AA, his body was never found and with it the original crown was lost.

### **Pardolo Bendrax (1026 AA to 1073 AA)**

Pardolo was the nephew of Kovreto. He died of old age in 1073 AA.

### **Fordunada Bendrax (1073 AA to 1114 AA)**

Fordunada was the niece of Pardolo. She famously eloped with a strange otherworldly being in 1114 AA.

### **Ziriazo Bendrax (1114 AA to 1193 AA)**

Ziriazo was the grandson of Fordunada. He died of old age in 1193 AA.

### **Chenovefa Bendrax (1193 AA to 1230 AA)**

Chenovefa was the niece of Ziriazo. Chenovefa was executed for cowardice in 1230 AA after running from a battle.

### **Finjente Bendrax (1230 AA to 1309 AA)**

Finjente was the son of Chenovefa. He died in a duel against his own son Enirio Davami during the One Horned King's Revolt 1309 AA.

### **Ammarisa Bendrax (1309 AA to 1359 AA)**

Ammarisa was the daughter of Finjente. Ammarisa died in 1359 AA from the lingering effects of a spell that was inflicted during the Ascension Tourney where she won the crown.

### **Alliko Bendrax (1359 AA to 1437 AA)**

Alliko was the grandson of Ammarisa. During his lifetime Alliko commissioned and began construction on the Border Wall of Fowkverton, a wall designed to protect the city from invasion. The wall had a troubled time being constructed from the outset as the Guild of Arcanotects refused to participate in its construction after he granted the contract for an extension to the palace to the independant arcanotect Nadiz Schuddnam. This slowed down construction a considerable amount, which was only made worse by the Guild monopolising materials whenever possible. To appease the guild Alliko commissioned them for a high price to construct new royal estate on the obscure island of Winesaile. This act drained the royal purse and effectively put a halt on the wall project, and when the king began to attempt to reinvigorate it some time down the line the Charmament refused the levy a tax to pay for it out of fear of angering the populace. Alliko left Fowkverton in shame in 1410 AA and lived the rest of his life on the island estate with little to no say in running the country in the years leading up to his death in 1437 AA. Alliko is the only monarch of Pridain who is not buried on the Isle of Rest, he was instead interred in a catacomb beneath the estate under his own command.

### **Velizida Bendrax (1437 AA to 1497 AA)**

Velizida was the granddaughter of Alliko. She was a well loved monarch who spent much of her time travelling the country and speaking to the common people. She was a terribly talented enchanter but rarely used her gifts, she is also well known for her distrust of the Charmament. She was assassinated by 1497 AA by an unknown assailant.

### **Zinome Bendrax (1497 AA to ~1526 AA)**

Zinome was the son of Velizida. In his short time he replenished the coffers of the Crown and proved to be a skilled and shrewed leader, loved by the commonfolk and nobility both. After putting the crown in a comfortable position Zinome abdicated and left the country to become a trader. He is thought to have settled in one of the Fenizian midsea islands and to have died around 1526 AA.

### **Galfino Bendrax (1526 AA to 1590 AA)**

Galfino was the nephew of Zinome. Galfino is the king who finally brought Cornumbra to heel, crushing the pagan land in a matter of days. He was a warrior king, fighting on the frontlines and personally besting the Queen of Cornumbra in open combat. He died in 1590 AA after being injured at a tourney when his opponent's blade was poisoned. His own wife was blamed, with common knowledge being that she wanted her own grown children to inheret the crown rather than one of Galfino's many infant bastards.

### **Nezdore Bendrax (1590 AA to 1640 AA)**

Nezdore was the grandson of Galfino, and the son of the previous Oxwallian Queen Klenta. After her death Nezdore became king of Oxwall, and not long after succeeded in taking the Crown of Pridain after Galfino's death. This made him the first monarch to ever preside over both nations at once, which of course caused many problems. At the time he took the Pridish throne the empire was in a state of general stability and the two nations had been at peace for some time. However, Nezdore was obsessed with the unification of the lands and began to push policies that offended the population of Oxwall, such as trying to implement the state religion of Pridain as the new religion of Oxwall. When the population broke out in revolt against him he used the Pridish Army to suppress them at the border, and thus began the Vanity War.

The war lasted for a decade and took place in the lowlands along the Oxwallian border, where the Pridish never gained much ground. At every turn the Oxwallian Army stopped the Pridish's assault and caused heavy losses, but the stubborn king refused to give up and threw as much money as he could tax from the people and take from the reserves. This caused innumerable deaths and the near bankruptcy of the Pridish Empire. As the king grew more desperate his own Oxwallian son Bastivilus Oswerlen rallied the nation around him and took the Oxwallian throne for himself, an act that would break Nezdore and lead him into a desperation deep enough that his advisors would lock him away in his own castle, branded as a 'madman' until the day of his death in 1620.

### **Eudoxia Bendrax (1640 AA, Currently Ruling)**

Eudoxia is the daughter of Nezdore and was the only eligible royal to accept in invitation to tourney upon her father's death. By default this made her queen. Eudoxia is a bastard born to a minor noble from Rutshire during the early years of the Vanity War and was eighteen when she took the throne. Eudoxia is well known for her kindness but lack of initiative and being overly reliant on her advisors. The early years of her reign have been difficult due to the state her father left the nation in, especially economically. Much of the weight of her father's debt has been eased by Eudoxia selling off much of the royal lands and estates to rebuild the treasury.

Eudoxia married Dazido Mokuela, a prince from the Isle of Song, in 1641.

In 1642 Eudoxia and her entourage fled Fowkverton after the South Areworth Unrest.