King Royard III

> "*Our gods live here, in the glades and the rivers, in the stones and the farms, in the flowers and the beasts. They live in the laughs of children, the smiles of maidens and the swords of men. No Dragon can ever take them away from us.*"
> ― King Royard III of Loquienne
>
>

## Royard vou Chans-Loquienne

### Parents

Piémand vou Chans-Loquienne (Father), Juelle Sebiardaine (Mother)

### Occupation

King of Loquienne (133-182)High King of Roulonne (146-182)

**King Royard III**, also popularly known as **Royard the Great** in his home country, was King of Loquienne and founder of the modern state of Roulonne, winning the title of High King of Roulonne by leading a successful revolt against the Dragons from 143-146 AD (1643-1646 INC). Alongside casting off the Draconic yoke, he abolished the caste system and the institution of slavery within Roulonne. He is often described as the most famous and beloved man in Roulonnais history besides King Roul himself.

Royard is known not only for his revolt against the Dragons, but also his management of Roulonne after winning the war, putting an end to the ugly mess of conflicting polities and organising the country into a clear and efficient hierarchy split between the historic kingdoms of Loquienne (which, of course, he ensured was the most powerful), Bourron, Serrou, Auvonde and the realm of Ribalouse, split between the twin duchies of Viëroy and Selibarde. He also settled newly freed Orcish slaves into their own cities to avoid racial clashes, most famously the city of Écourron in his own realm of Loquienne, which remains the largest population centre of Orcs in Roulonne to this day.

## The Matter of Luela

Although King Royard was by all accounts a devout Asarebian, he appeared to have no concern for the divine commandments regarding monogamy. He was known to have a mistress, a Ruawi Orcish ex-slave named Luela, who he met before marrying his wife Marielle vou Chans-Serrou, and who he continued to have a romantic relationship with until her death. It was an open secret during his life that his true love was Luela, and he only married Marielle (one of the many daughters of King Avierre of Serrou) to produce heirs and secure the allegiance of the Kingdom of Serrou.

Luela was originally Royard's slave, purchased by him at an auction when both of them were still young. According to the traditional story, Royard recognised that Luela's remarkable beauty would inevitably make her a sex slave to any other master, and he desired to save her from this fate. Mainstream historians have no doubt that Luela was a *castevour* (from *casté*-*evour*, "bond[ed]-free", usually translated as "free slave"), an Orc who was purchased by a kind master to allow them to live freely; since under Draconic law an Orc was always either the property of an individual or the state as a whole, never a free individual, the only way for them to be "free" was for them to be the property of a master who allowed them to live as such. Royard owned several Orcish slaves who lived as *castevours* in addition to Luela. The unanimous consensus amongst contemporary sources is that he never once leveraged his legal authority over them and never forced them to work, instead employing them as servants if they wanted to work for him, just like Humans.

### Royard's Opinion

By all accounts, Royard and Luela did truly love each other; their relationship was not purely one of lust. His decision to marry Marielle was seemingly an incredibly painful one for him, and he privately told his closest advisors that he would not marry unless Luela consented to it. On the matter of marriage, Royard felt that his hand was forced, and most historians - contemporary and modern - do agree that he essentially had no choice but to marry, but the judgement on whether he should have ended his relationship with Luela before then is a far more controversial matter.

Royard was not the sole surviving member of his house, but he was very close to being that. The combined devastation of the War for the World, a sudden plague (which was likely demonic in origin) and a major suspicious accident had exterminated almost all of the Chans-Loquienne dynasty. Royard was not the last, but he was the last who could realistically continue the family line. Under traditional Roulonnais law there is no such thing as a matrilineal marriage; the bloodline always passes through the father, and the only male kin that Royard had were all either too elderly or were literal infants. Traditional Roulonnais law also does not permit adoption for the royal houses; though adoption has always been practiced in Roulonne just like every other Inecurian country, the royal houses are defined by the fact that they are descended from King Roul by blood, and adopted heirs are not permitted to inherit royal titles.

If Royard and Luela could have children together, there is no doubt that they would have married, but it is completely impossible for a Human and an Orc to bear a child. Royard was therefore forced to get a Human wife to have Human children in order to ensure not only the survival of his own direct bloodline, but the continued existence of his house. The destruction of a royal house could have all sorts of catastrophic consequences, ones which the Dragons would most certainly pounce upon to enforce more direct rule.

### Luela's Opinion

The historical sources are generally not concerned with Luela's own personal perspective on matters, but several things can be gathered from clear implications present within the sources. For one, she did ultimately approve of Royard marrying Marielle, since it is known that Royard refused to marry unless she consented to it. However, it is totally unknown how she actually felt about this on a more private level; it is possible she may have genuinely had no issue with it, and it is also possible she hated it and only begrudgingly accepted because she, like Royard, understood the practical necessity of it. She was, at the least, willing to tolerate the fact that Royard intended to produce multiple children with another woman.

Many historians have argued that Luela's treatment of Marielle is the best method for shining light on what she thought about the marriage. She bore no particular ill will towards Marielle, and by all accounts treated her in a courteous and friendly manner, never once attempting to leverage the fact that she was Royard's actual true lover. However, this approach has been met with significant criticism; after all, relationships are usually not as simple as that. Luela could have hated the marriage and hated the fact that Royard was lying with Marielle whilst simultaneously understanding that none of it was Marielle's fault; her friendly treatment of Marielle is not necessarily indicative of her thoughts on the marriage.

### Marielle's Opinion

Out of all three parties involved in the matter, there is the most controversy about what Marielle vou Chans-Serrou thought about the marriage. Even the contemporary sources fiercely disagree about how she felt concerning the debacle, and much of what they wrote is merely speculation.

It is likely that Marielle did not actually know of the relationship between Royard and Luela until after she was married. There is no evidence to suggest that she knew about it beforehand - on the contrary, some sources state that she was greatly taken with Royard when they first met, and thought him to be a "mightily handsome and virtuous fellow, altogether truly deserving of the title of king", as one author wrote. Many historians argue that she would not have felt this way if she knew who Royard's true lover was.

The question of when Marielle learnt of the relationship and who told her shall eternally remain a mystery. The sources give many varied answers, and none of them are based on any evidence. Some state that she learnt after the birth of her first child Wouliard, others state she learnt after the wedding night, and others state that she learnt on the day of the wedding before the newlyweds retired to their bedchamber. Some state that Royard told her, others that Luela told her (and that she did so after learning that Royard had not yet informed his new wife, something she was supposedly furious about), others state that she heard from rumours in the court, and one source insists that she found out by walking in on the two sharing an intimate moment.

In any case, it is hard to justify an assertion that she still did not know by the time of her second child, Louen. She was clearly willing to bear more children after finding out about her husband's lover - she had four children in all, and at least three of those were conceived while Marielle knew - but her degree of affection for Royard is difficult to ascertain. It will likely never be known whether she continued to bear children for Royard because she actually wanted to, or whether it was merely out of obligation.

The contemporary sources are divided into two clear groups. One group insists that Marielle was discomforted at first, but soon accepted her husband's infidelity as she understood the peculiar nature of the situation. This group believes that Marielle and Luela were friends who mutually felt no jealousy towards each other. A small minority of modern scholars, largely western ones, have gone as far as suggesting that the two may have even had some kind of lesbian relationship between them, but this is pure speculation that is wholly dismissed by mainstream academia; most historians consider such a belief to not be actual history, but merely a projection of the perverted desires of a select few.

The other group characterises Marielle as only barely tolerating the relationship of Royard and Luela. They insist that she quickly lost any affection she once had for Royard after she learnt of the affair, and that she only continued to uphold her duties as a wife for as long as was necessary; she considered four children to be more than enough, and never went to bed with Royard again after that. This group characterises Marielle's and Luela's supposed friendship as nothing more than obligatory politeness, a mutual effort to avoid humiliating themselves or the other; they certainly did not actively dislike one another, but they had no real friendly feelings and generally stayed out of each other's way.