List of the High-King Emperors of the House of Irenaeus

The chronicle of the High-King Emperors (and, in one case, High-Queen Empress) of Faerie are listed below.

1. Irenaeus the Bloodthirsty, aka "Lacktail" "Fuma's Sword" Semi-barbarian conqueror who subdued Faerie and founded the Mephitist Empire. Sired numerous progeny, mostly legitimate.

2. Athanasius the Intemperate. Continued in his father's footsteps. One of his nieces became Duchess Catherine O'Daisies, ruler of the Gladsome Antglade.

3. Yngvar the Cunning. During his reign, Gladsome Antglade was sanctioned for Unseelie practices. The Antglade rebelled; the rebellion was violently suppressed.

4. Thorwald the Cautious. Codified the existing laws & judicial practices of the Empire. Established the Office of Definitive Veracity. Died without a male heir.

4.5. Greta the Feminine. Thorwald's wife. After the death of Thorwald, in order to preserve the Irenaeid Dynasty, Greta married a cousin - Svengalius of Persoc Tor. She ruled as Queen Regent until their son came of age.

5. Lotharius the Skeevy. An uneventful reign, marking the start of a thousand-year period which historians call "The Dull Ages."

6. Roland the Dutiful. During his reign, the Skönk family (distant kin to the Royal family) were sent to preside over a remote province on the Eastern frontier, at a place called Skeorle Tor.

7. Carl the Adequate. In the last years of his reign, the river Athafon changed course, submerging part of the town of Athstead.

8. Otho the Negligent. "Thin Spots" and Gaps in the fabric of Faerie were first officially observed during his reign.

9. Sartorius the Dissolute. aka "Wine-Sack." The Dull Ages come to an end. Sartorius squandered the resources of an Empire on "riotous living." He sired surprisingly few children, considering. His legitimate offspring (aside from the heir to the throne) were Prince Roland and a daughter, Stella, who did not survive long into adulthood.

10. Adler the Prudent. In contrast to his father, he ruled with wisdom and restraint. The Empire thrived & expanded, and the Royal Treasury almost recovered from Sartorius' extravagances during Adler's reign. Adler is High King during most of the Winterbough Saga.

11. Gawain the Quiet. aka "Lacklove." He was cool, calculating, and slightly cruel to those who knew him best. He authorized the Ferifax Arch program, which his father had refused to consider. His wife, Persephone, vanished under mysterious circumstances shortly after giving birth to the Prince. The bereaved King afterward had a dalliance with a palace servant, Mavis, which resulted in the birth of a bastard, Adler Young. Gawain himself was assassinated later via a slow-acting poison. He is High King during the first part of the Ballad of Adler Young.

12. Estmere the Unfortunate. aka "Hooflover" "The Dude." Immediately upon ascending to the throne, Estmere dismissed his father's entire Cabinet and replaced them with a herd of ungulate Floozies. The population of Albric Tor declined alarmingly during his reign. He married Princess Edessa Tulani of Caer Adland, much to the chagrin of his subjects. He is High King during the middle part of the Ballad of Adler Young.

13. Adler Young. aka "Adler II" "The Pretender" "That White Bastard." The legitimacy of his claim to the Crown is questioned by many. He remains *technically* High King up til the present day, though the state of the Empire at this time is uncertain..

**Naming Conventions**

Each king's surname is the name of his father. The first four generations of Emperors used the old traditional Balemist tribal term "mac," meaning "son of." Thus, Irenaeus' proper name was Irenaeus mac Waftvapr. His son was Athanasius mac Irenaeus, and so on.

After the Death of Thorwald, and Greta's re-marriage, Svengalius' descendants adopted the Persoc Tor tradition of appending the "-son" suffix to their names, thus: Lotharius Svengaliusson, Roland Lothariusson, etc.

**Chronology**

No-one has yet attempted to draft a concise timeline of the Imperial Succession. Dates are vague, records are imprecise, memories are hazy. It is generally agreed that a period of 1200 years encompassed the kings from Thorwald to Otho, and the average length of a king's reign throughout all of Imperial History was 250 years. Five rulers are known to have had "short" (i.e. significantly shorter than average) reigns: Irenaeus, Greta (her Regency was only for 20 years), Lotharius, Gawain, and Estmere. Adler II's quasi-legitimate reign has lasted far longer than any previous monarch's.