Pelias Kostides

Pelias Kostides was an unpopular King of Ilaka, known for his ‘reign of terror’ and subsequent death at the end of his reign. He is one of the contributing factors that led to the Ilakan weakness during the War of Revenge.

## Early Life

Pelias was born in **531PR** to King Apelles Kostides and an unknown mother. It is believed he was one of the only Ilakan Kings by this point born outside of the capital, Kras, but sources remain unspecified.

As a future King, Pelias remained within the holds of the capital, sticking close with family and spoiled by his father. By the age of 10 he was already acting as if the world owed him something, which caused many internal conflicts with staff, leading to their firing or execution.

When he was old enough to step into the shoes of Prince he continued to anger others, seeing his future position as near-godlike. Many of the nobles were concerned about the Prince eventually taking over once Apelles finally passed, and pressured the King to name another heir. In the end this backfired, Apelles, seeing his son could do no wrong, instead cemented Pelias as the heir, naming him Crown Prince and letting him take over most tasks.

## Reign

### Taking the Throne

In **550PR** King Apelles passed away from old age, aged 79 at the time. This left the throne to Pelias, who immediately began to seize power. Thanks to his father, most of his old guard and soldiers were now loyal to Pelias, who violently entered the throne room and took the crown for himself. When his steward tried to stop him in order to plan an official inauguration, he was killed.

Pelias at the time was backed by a wealthy noble named Helendon who planned to use the young monarch for his own gain. Through Helendon’s influence and the remnants of his father’s influence, Pelias was able to stand unopposed to the throne.

### Reign of Terror

After a year of quietly waiting, Pelias came out in force in **551PR**. Most of his time had been spent upgrading his own Royal Guards, increasing not only their number but their training and espionage. Now that they were completed, he unleashed them.

On a list, now known as ‘Pelias’s Death List’, the King wrote out the names of any political opponents he found threatening, along with their family and heirs. Then, he sent the Royal Guards to go and kill them, finding a sick pleasure in the act.

#### Bloody Night

During the night of Janu 18 (Known as the ‘Bloody Night’), the Guards slipped in and killed their targets.

The nobles that were targeted included many family heads, overwhelming their guards and killing the house head before killing the heir as well. By the next day their assets were seized. Some managed to escape with their lives, seeking refuge elsewhere, most ironically ending up in Gonarundu or the Carto Empire.

Other targets included military generals, either by ordering their immediate suicide or a trial with the King, where they were killed on the way. In the aftermath, the next in line were either to kneel to Pelias or share the same fate as their predecessor until one would. For some armies this caused mass desertion, also punished by death.

The church was not exempt from the list either, killing some Novus bishops and priests, forcing the rest to flee or swear loyalty to the King before their god (which led to many more deaths).

#### Aftermath

By the next day some hundreds to near thousands of individuals had been slain, leaving the power solely in the hands of Pelias and Helendon. Out of fear, many of the remaining Kostides family members fled elsewhere, swearing to return to their Kingdom when Pelias was either tame or dead.

While Pelias had little idea how to rule a nation, Helendon did, filling many of the vacant positions with his own supporters and helping ease the initial chaos.

After hearing about the act, many members from the religious sector left and went elsewhere, refusing to lower their faith to some mortal rather than the gods themselves. This angered a lot of the people, believing that their King had tampered with fate and made the gods furious. Again, Pelias ended their protests with more violence.

### Sole Ruler

In **556PR** Pelias led another round of murders, making a second list. In honour of the success of his first time, he made sure that it happened again on Janu 18. Through the night his guards searched the street, killing any who got in their way or were on their list.

One of the names was Helendon, who was staying in his estate. When the guards found out they surrounded it, slowly moving in and killing anyone. This included children and women, Helendon’s own son dying first when he went for a midnight stroll. Helendon was eventually found and captured, dragging him to the throne.

Subsequently occurring was the death of Helendon’s advisors, the ones who had filled the roles after the previous Bloody Night. Believing that they would remain loyal to Helendon first, Pelias got them all killed, though this time left their heirs in order to instill fear and gain some respect.

When Helendon was brought to the feet of Pelias he had him beaten and maimed, cutting off his tongue and hands. Pelias then called for a cleric to come heal his victim so he could torture him more but when he found out they were all gone or dead, he killed both the messenger and the noble.

#### Aftermath and Increasing Tensions

Once more, the people were furious about the bloody murder that occured in their streets, calling Pelias a tyrant and a killer. Rather than argue back he wore the names in pride. Later, he would name himself Tyrant King Pelias, naming his right-hand man the Murderer of Ilaka.

During the next year, Pelias remained silent, ruling the nation with his own advisors this time and keeping the fractured Kingdom from falling apart. While he wanted to war elsewhere, he was still scared of the Nirvan Republic, knowing if he did declare war it would break their agreement made after the Asger War.

Instead he focused his bloodlust again on the people, claiming that all Orcs of any type were evil. But, seeing their use, he enslaved them and forced them to fight in his army, increasing the numbers back to where they were after the first Bloody Night but building more tension.

## Death

In **564PR** Pelias was eventually toppled by his own anger and need for blood. Growing increasingly untrustworthy of his own advisors, Pelias began to write a list for another Bloody Night. When the Royal Guards heard of this, most having had friends that died during the first one, they stormed the throne room.

Pelias immediately ordered the guards to remain where they were, adding their own names to the list. Yet this time they didn’t listen, instead seizing the King and taking him outside. When the public heard of his capture they were ecstatic and a mob began to form near the castle, all hoping to get a piece of him.

The guards were happy to oblige and brought the King closer, only for Pelias to stab one and escape back to the Castle. Despite using his guards for everything, Pelias was quite the fighter himself and at points many believed he was Awakened. But still he was surrounded.

In the castle, Pelias knew he only had two options, either escape and abandon his castle or die as ruler. So, in his final act as King, he took his own life, just as the Royal Guards broke through the gate and entered the Castle.

## Succession

Pelias never cared for marriage and while he did have lovers, none bore children (rumoured to be by force). So, after his death, there was no direct heir in which to take the throne. This problem was furthered by the lack of nobles or relative ties to the Crown, all killed during one of the two Bloody Nights.

Fearing that their Kingdom would topple, the remaining Kostides returned from their self-imposed exile, and placed Pelias’s cousin, Borus, on the throne.

## Legacy

Pelias is seen exactly as he was, a horrible and bloodthirsty ruler. None of his policies actually helped the nation, only keeping together what he himself had fragmented. After the same thing had happened with Nasos, Pelias was the final straw to many of the Ilakans, realising that just because they were born from the current King didn’t mean they had to be the King.

This would later cause many of the next King’s to actually be adopted into the family, seen for their better qualities rather than just their blood.