Yvain Gloryblood

## Early Life

Yvain Gloryblood was born into a lineage of glory and luxury, being the first and only child of the then-King, Valon Gloryblood, meant that Yvain was destined to one day take up the crown and rule the Humans of the Highlands. In his early 20s, the prince had already picked up swordsmanship, training each day to perfect his technique and improving his physique, believing that only through power and will can one lead an empire as big as Luxford. It was also during this time that the young prince met a charming High Elf matron named Lyanna Whispersun, a caretaker in the royal house. Although the heart of the prince befell for her beauty and charm, the woman was already espoused to another High Elf and though she was honoured by the King's son's attempts to take her hand, she kindly refused. Whether it was heartbreak or jealousy, or a little bit of both, the Prince was stung greatly that day.

The young prince begun a selfish plot to make the girl his wife, at first attempting it with simple things like promises of gold, glory and a place by his side once he became king, but each attempt was blocked off by the true love that she had for her man, a simple peasant going by the name Zenar Plainstrider. Furious at his constant failure to get the woman of his personal dreams, the heir to the throne sought out the help of a notorious assassin's guild, the Blood Ravens, who were notorious for being criminals and thieves that worked outside the laws of the great city. He contacted the head of this criminal society with one bargaining chip - Slay the High Elf named Zenar Plainstrider and the prince will assure them that the Royal Guard shall look the other way from the Blood Ravens' treachery. Intrigued by this offer, and seeing no downside to this deal, the Blood Ravens agreed to do this one deed to the Gloryblood prince.

A few moons would pass before Yvain would notice the caretaker of the royal house in deep sorrow, unable to properly do her work. Knowing that his deal with the Assassin's went through, the prince discarded any attempts at fulfilling his own side of the bargain and instead focused upon trying to win Lyanna to his side only to be met with a harsh, hostile reaction from the Elf girl, saying she would rather die that ever replace her late love. Greatly angered by another rejection, the prince delivered a fierce blow to the girl's face that sent her down onto her knees in tears, silencing her words. Knowing now that the girl would never take him despite all that he has done to her, the mad prince would personally see his guards send her away, never wishing to see her again.

## Rise of the King

Many years later Yvain, now in his 40s, would receive dire news - His father, the King, while on an expedition into the Wildlands, has been slain. The culprit had yet to be found out and Yvain was to be crowned the new King within a month. Wishing to know more of what had happened to his father, the prince would interrogate the people responsible to finding him and his escorts' deceased bodies - Druids of the Wild Elves. He learned little from the closed-off ones, only finding out that the king had been ambushed and tortured in the heart of the forest. Hot-headed as he was, the King's immediate reaction was to place the blame on the Elves themselves, cursing them for what they had done and sending them out of his keep.

Now King of Luxford, Yvain Gloryblood begun an active role as leader, within a year of his leadership the city grew in production, military and wealth, however it came with a massive downside as well - The walls of the city were closed off, blocking any non-Humans from entering and forcing all non-Humans out unless they had a very good reason for staying. In the King's mind, the only good people of Luxford are the Humans themselves and he certainly believed the world could become greater if all continents were united under the iron will of mankind. The only race who were allowed to stay were the High Elves and the Dwarves, but the Elves were to serve as slaves to the royal house and the Dwarves as blacksmiths arming the men of the King with the best weapons and armour possible.

Over the course of the next few years, the King would order all production to go into the military, growing it up to eight times its original size. Unrest would begin to grow among the common folk as food started getting sparse and their living conditions worsening, yet this protest never reached the ears of the tyrant who now sat upon the throne.

## The Great Conquest

Now in his 50s, King Yvain Gloryblood amassed his armies and begun a full fledged attack on the other nations of the world, acting as the General himself. First he lead his armies south, into the Savage Wastelands where the Senkh resided, pillaging and raiding their smaller towns in an attempt to make them surrender fast, massacring the innocents in an attempt to make them kneel but instead the desert folk were able to retreat to their capital which was soon blocked off by the Sun God's blessing.

Unable to conquer the desert for now, Yvain redirected his forces across the sea, to the lands of Grokuur where the Ogres lived. The two empires clashed in a brutal war where both sides received many casualities in a field now known as the Bloodgrounds. Not wishing to risk another god preventing his conquest, the King ordered all Ogres that did not fight to be enslaved so that they could be used as bargaining chips. Though no god did come to aid the Ogres, a select few managed to sail away from their capital of Uroldros in time for the Humans to get there and take the black citadel as their own.

After that, the King's Armies would travel to Serena, a place of mystery and wonder. There the King met the wise and mysterious Naga who resided in the city of Jad'ir. Much like the other continents, a fierce battle would break out in the fields of Serena, the Humans fighting against the large Snake women who wielded mystical spiritual magic, ultimately unable to conquer their mountain city. However, King Yvain was never known for giving up and he wanted to make sure that Serena could be secured by the end of the year. He commissioned large encampments to be built in Serena so that his forces could have a firm foothold in the continent as they continue a long-lasting fight against the mystical Naga while part of the army split off and joined with the King to the Saber Islands, leading a smaller assault on the Fenik of Streamgear which proved to be much more difficult that the tyrant hoped it would be. Fortunately for him, the Fenik were unable to hold back the King as he personally charged in and slew the current leader of the fox people, claiming the land as his own and taking the people captive so that they could provide his armies valuable weaponry.

Back on Serena, the King's finest Commanders did well to keep the Naga at bay, their mystical and ancient magics proving to be a true challenge for the Human forces and the fierce, stalwart and downright dangerous Naga Blademasters held a solid advance over the Humans but with the aid of the captive High Elves' own magic, the Naga were soon unable to hold back and were forced back to their capital of Jad'ir. It was then when the King, now with newly-acquired Fenik siege weaponry, returned after months of being away on his conquest of the Saber Islands. The weapons crafted by the fox people were just what was needed to burst through the last defenses of the Naga capital, allowing the Humans easy access to claiming them. Annoyed by how much the Naga put up a resistance, King Yvain personally saw to slaying Empress Veeli in front of her followers, draining the rest of the Naga of their positive spirits.

## The Great Fall

Highlands, Grukoor, Serena and Saber Islands, the King's Army had proved to be just what he had envisioned all those years ago... but one final push was still required to be made - The Wildlands, home of the Wild Elves. If he could claim their capital, then the rest of the world will easily follow suit in bowing before the one true race. He gather his armies and sailed north-east, landing at the coast of the Wildlands just miles away from Nytlerei, capital city of the Wild Elves, but as the King and his forward army marched forth through the woods, an unexpected attack would strike them from the shadows. Ogres, allied with the Wild Elves, ambushed from the tree tops and from the bushes when the King's men were at their weakest, one by one cutting through the forces and surrounding the Warrior King from all sides. Warlord Grunok, leader of the Ogres, was there to greet the King personally, axe in hand he challenged the lone King to a duel to which there was no choice but to accept. Yvain begun the fight by lunging forward, attempting to disarm the large, red-skinned Ogre, but he would quickly be met by a counterattack by the Warlord's fist, immediately after the axe of the Ogre swung forward attempting to behead the King but he dodged out of the way in time to stab his spear into the side of the brute, laughing coyishly and taunting his foe with belittling comments even as he stood surrounded. Fighting through the pain, the Ogre stood back up and kicked the smaller man away, immediately striking him with the blunt side of his axe to ground him, stomping his foot onto the King's chest to pin him down and shatter his chestguard. Resiting the Ogre's desire to end the battle now, the King pulled out a dagger and impaled it through the foot of the beast, giving him that chance to get back up and strike a wound into the exposed chest of the Ogre, attempting to execute the Warlord but before he could, the head of the spear was grabbed by Grunok, twisted and shattered, the tusked monster grinning as he saw the red in the King's face wash out in horror, suddenly becoming powerless against him. Immediately, Warlord Grunok grabbed the man by the neck to lift him up, his throat slowly crushed as the Ogre made sure he suffered for his crimes, then throwing him against a nearby three and following it up by burying his mighty axe into the neck of the false king, ending his life in a brutal show.

While this took place, the rest of the King's army became locked in a battle against the Wild Elves who had been warned by the Ogres of their coming, the two empires clashing on the shores of the Wildlands, the Humans having no king to lead them, leaving it up to the Commanders to do what they did best. However, when the large Ogres emerged from the forests, the decapitated head of the king in one hand, the Humans' morale swiftly dropped, leading them to be easily defeated.

Taking the chance to counter attack, the Wild Elves and the Ogres worked together to free whoever was taken hold of the Humans, traveling to Streamgear and liberating their city before sailing to Serena and aiding the Naga in restoring peace in their capital and then traveling to Grokuur where the Ogre Warlord himself slew the Humans left behind to hold the Black Citadel, the Gloryblood Crown now on the head of the enemy, the Humans fell fast.

Finally, the Wild Elves aided the High Elves in pushing into the Highlands, claiming the Kingdom of Luxford piece by piece. Soon their resistance stood at the gates of the Grand Capital itself, where the allies of the Humans, the Dwarves, stood honouring the pact they made with the Humans long ago, fighting for their lives to protect the city only to be crushed. The united Elf armies were unstoppable, their combined magics and combat skills proved invaluable as they raided Luxford city and slew the last of the royal court in the name of liberation.

Though the Wild Elves desired the entire extinction of Humans, the High Elves defended them, many knowing the simple people who lived in Luxford who were not as evil as the King was. It was then decided, in the name of peace, that the High Elves would be placed in charge of the kingdom from henceforth, the Wild Elves trusting no one else but the race that they shared a common ancestry with, on that day giving Humanity one more chance at life.

## Legacy

King Yvain Gloryblood is written about differently throughout the world, but he is commonly seen as a bloodthirsty and mad tyrant who wished to see the world under complete servitude of the Humans. There are, however, still those that see his legacy as good and continue to preach his ways whenever possible.