King Richard II

The Sigil of House Tallheart, the Spiked Flower

 King Richard II is the current ruler of the human kingdom of Foltis, the largest kingdom on Agnia.

Richard is known to be an incredibly skilled tactician, and a more than competent fighter on the battlefield. The crown was passed to him after his father, King Johnathan I, was killed during the First Ostan Rebellion, which began when the Lord of Ostan, Culder Fisk, started a plot to kill King Johnathan. Both King Johnathan and Lord Culder were killed in the Battle of Bleak Pass, despite this, it was a clear defeat for Ostan. After the war, Richard was crowned King of Foltis, but has still yet to marry.

Richard has a younger brother and sister, Brandon and Sarah. Brandon is the current rightful heir to the throne, as Richard has no children as of now. He has fathered one bastard however, but this was more than twenty years ago, and no one is entirely sure of his current whereabouts.

## Biography

Richard was the first son of Johnathan Tallheart and Linya Tallheart. He was born during the reign of King Richard I, his grandfather, as were his two siblings, Brandon and Sarah, who were born 8 and 12 years later respectively. Richard was never particularly close with his father, though he loved his mother dearly. His grandfather saw in him what he had never seen in Johnathan, that he was born to be a king, and saw fit to raise him to rule.

Richard would often take care of Brandon and Sarah when his elders were busy with other matters. He was close with his sister, but his younger brother grew jealous of him as they got older, not only of the fact that Richard would rule one day, but the affection and attention he received from their grandfather, which was seldom spent on Brandon.

Richard grieved long and hard when his grandfather died, as did all of Foltis. When his father was subsequently crowned, Richard's dislike for him only grew. He had spent the years before his coronation, and much of Richard's childhood, drinking and whoring and throwing constant parties, with little regard for anything else.

Richard couldn't help but sympathize with Lord Culder somewhat, when he rebelled over the ludicrous taxes King Johnathan had set, almost of all of which was being used to fund his vices and throw pointless expensive celebrations over anything he could think of. When King Johnathan's short reign came to an end, Richard made a promise to himself to live up to his Grandfather's legend, and restore his family's name as the greatest rulers Foltis had ever seen.

After punishing Ostan harshly, but fairly, he went on to lower taxes and increase trade throughout the realm, actually ending up with more gold than his father had amassed, due to his thrifty spending of it.

His legendary strategic ability came in handy for both Ostan Rebellions, the second even more so. Despite Ostan's large army and abundance of gold, King Richard II managed to crush Lord Jorred's fearsome assault mainly through his cunning, guerilla-like tactics, but the better training and sheer numbers also helped.

However all is not entirely well. The King is well past middle-age, and his hair is already beginning to turn white from stress. With no wife and no heir, the crown is in a dangerous position. The last thing the lords of the realm want is the throne to go to his jealous and wrathful younger brother. Some have took interest in finding his bastard, and attempting to put him on the throne instead, though this could prove difficult. His advisor, Lord Serill, has been attempting to find him a wife for some time, but Richard seems to have little interest, and not many suitable brides have yet presented themselves.