World Leaders in UNS

The Continent and surrounding provinces in *the Unnamed Story* are led by a wide array of leaders. These leaders are divided into two categories: monarchs and non-sovereigns.

A monarch is the traditional head of state over a united country, the tite hereditary, with succession dependant upon placement in a line. Most monarchs maintain some form of court, comprised of advisors, lesser nobles and soldiers, all of whom play a part in keeping the country running. In other places, leaders are sometimes holders of hereditary title, but are more often elected by critera established by their respective cultures. Monarchs are universally recognized as the voice of their people, where the recognition of other leaders varies from place to place.

## The King of Kyravelle

The position of King or Queen of Kyravelle has been held almost exclusively by the House of Forstat, one of the country's founding families, and the Continent's second-oldest dynasty. There are writings that suggest the Forstats were ousted briefly by the disgraced House Montpar in the 900s, but the occupation lasted less than fifty years before the Alderan Bariykatcha removed them from power, restorting the original House to the throne.

### The Silver Rose

The first King of Kyravelle was Roselie Augustine Graciana, the family's eldest daughter, who led the unification of the south in the year 508. A military leader from a young age, Augustine was widowed during the conflict by an assassination attempt intended for her, and made history when she crossed Alderan borders to recruit the magiborn barbarian tribes to her cause. Augustine rejected the role of Queen, having no intentions of remarrying, and she scorned the weakness implied in the lesser title. She is to date the only female ruler to do so. Her noble husband's surname, d'Mariere, was carried by much of the first line.

King Augustine is most well-known for unifying Kyravelle, and settling the Malvarian Conflict with the writing of the Auroran Accords. She was both the youngest and longest-ruling monarch in Kyravellan history, until the most recent king broke both of these records.

### Notable Others

Some of the most influential Forstat monarchs have been Andrian Renee and Percival. King Andrian--son of Augustine and Renee Kyrav--cemented the position of Kyravelle as a world power by starting construction of the trade routes and instituting programs for their protection. King Percival, predecessor of the current king, made a name for himself by establishing regulated trade and diplomatic relationships with Corva, and was the first Kyravellan monarch to do so.

### The Revenant King

The throne is currently held by King Tarrant, of the Forstat-Montivere line. He is the thirty-second King of Kyravelle, and the twenty-nineth member of the Forstat family on the throne. His full title is His Royal Majesty, Tarrant Varnoll Lanenbane Forstat-Montivere, King of Kyravelle, and Lord Protector of the Malvary Isles.

#### An Unpopular Choice

Originally *third* in line of succession, Tarrant became Crown Prince following the childhood death of his elder brother Aurelian, and the disappearance of his younger sister Rosalie. The seventeen-year-old prince ascended the throne in 1210PC to harsh opposition from the congress of lords, who felt his meek demeanor and persistently poor health made him unfit to lead. A minor uprising began in the ranks--and was promptly suppressed, as the notoriously gentle Tarrant broke character, and proceeded to have the dissenters publically executed, their forces reduced and relatives placed under royal guard. Members of the royal knighthood replaced those executed, and further opposition ceased, the lords recognizing that they had mistaken the new king's abilities.

Rumors that he had played a role in his sister's disappearance were quickly silenced as King Tarrant dedicated most of the kingdom's military and resources to the search for her, a campaign that lasted for more than a year. When evidence was uncovered implicating magical interference, the King's focus turned sharply to locating the force responsible. To this end, he charged the Temple of Divine Revelation with the cataloguing and moderation of magical forces, as until this point there was little knowledge of the types of craft and those who wielded them.

#### Legacy

King Tarrant is single-handledly responsible for the increased power of the Temple, an empowerment that led to the creation of the Order of Adavarion, and began the ongoing war on magic in Kyravelle. His policies on the control of magic are some of the most stringent in the settled world, dictating the legal limitations of those who use the craft, and instituting harsh punishments for violators. This focus has inadvertently weakened the country's law-keeping presence, with most resources going towards arcane regulation.

King Tarrant married Lady Catherine Arabelle Lourne of Lourne Province in 1213PC, amidst rumors that his ongoing courtship with her over the years had resulted in a bastard pregnancy. Despite this, the couple produced no heirs, and the King was determined to be sterile in 1238, owing to lifelong illness that left him bedridden for months at a time. In recent years, he has gone on record refusing to name an heir in the absence of children, though his reasons for doing so are unknown.

Now nearly 67, holding the title of longest-lived monarch, King Tarrant's perpetual sickness has left him permanently bedridden, leaving the country to be run in his stead by his court advisors, Seneschal Atticus Quartermaine, High Commander Lindsey Korth, and Royal Archmage Duncan Faire. His long, destructive rule and a life lived on the edge of death-like sickness earned him the moniker of *the Revenant King*.

## The Empress of Corva

The Imperial Family has been in command of the Empire of Corva since it was a Kingdom, in the first year PC. With their names strictly guarded by law and taboo, their dynasty is built of grand deeds, with their ranks holding some of the most powerful wizards and sorceresses in history. Relatively little is known about them outside of the Corvite court, but their power has been felt in every corner of the world.

### The Grandmaster

By far the most infamous ruler in Corvite history was the 13th Emperor of Corva, referred to in many texts as the Grandmaster, in deference to his superior skill in the arranging of situations to his benefit. This specific Emperor--known only to be Elysian--was deeply involved in the politics of both the Continent and the Isles, having enforced the trade embargo with the Malvaries, and opposed Kyravelle's expansion in the south. A scholar of great renown, he was responsible for the formation of the Sentinelle in its current form, and his strategic use of their force made them greatly feared at home and completely unknown abroad, until they were dispatched to halt the Kyravellan military at Havishath. Towards the end of his rule, the 13th set out plans for the future of the then-untapped province of Caspaine, assumed to have involved colonization and the implementation of proper structure of government. His untimely death interrupted these plans, and much of the proof has been lost.

### The Black Empress

The current ruler of the Empire is the 43rd Empress of Corva, the 48th imperial ruler to sit the throne in its 1200 year history, and only the 9th woman to rule alone. Her father, the 39th Emperor of Corva, left his only daughter with a bloody legacy, his regime having been witness to the infighting of the highborn families, and the decimation of several ancient lines in an attempted coup that was mercilessly silenced. Not much is known about her personally, save that she was formerly the 12th Grand Duchess, and that her arcane powers are unprecidented. The *nature* of these powers, like many things, is unknown--but in an empire populated by Gifted, *her* Gifts are some of the the most feared.

Dubbed the Black Empress for her mystery and the unseen destructiveness of her will, the 48th has been on the throne since 1232PC. Her husband, an Elysian noble, served as her consort from her ascension to the time of his death in 1249. She has been sole monarch since then, and rules from the shadow, with the Ministry of Corva enacting her will. The First Minister of Corva is one of the only people who has ever stood in her presence, and whenever he is summoned to her court, grand plans are put forth shortly afterward.

### The Heir

The Black Empress had four recorded children with her Elysian Prince Consort. Her eldest son is the 124th Grand Duke of Corva, known simply as every one before him as the Grand Duke. The title passes to the eldest male heir of each Imperial succession, with the newly-crowned Emperor's first son taking the following number along with the title at birth. As is customary in Corvite culture, the Grand Duke is largely unknown as a person, with the only facts available being that he is of age to succeed his mother upon marriage, or at the time of her death. His presence at court is said to be consistent, but his involvement and responsibility are minimal, with all other information about him strictly guarded. At the time of his ascension, he will be known as the 40th Emperor of Corva. The mark he will leave on the world remains to be seen.

## The Prince of Oredes

The Malvary Isles were once a small Empire, but those days are long behind it, and now it is considered a Principality, controlled by a governing body called the Conclave. Though originally little more than an elected official, the Prince of Oredes has had a bigger hand in political matters in recent years.

### A Puppet Government

The first Prince of Oredes was Astrius Lucind Blacknight, chosen by the Conclave to act as a figurehead for the rest of the world to look to. As one of the few remaining descendants of the House of Troy, the original Imperial family of the Malvaries, Prince Astrius was put into office in the hopes of garnering respect from both the common people and fellow rulers that the Conclave itself could not obtain alone. His only true achievement was the part he played in breaking the Corvite blockade, which he managed by involving the King of Kyravelle in their ongoing dispute with Corva.

Successive princes were chosen from the remaining nobility, the title more often being awarded by the Conclave as opposed to becoming hereditary. Many of them followed a set pattern, being relatively gentle of nature and obedient to the Conclave's will. Those who best served the panel's interests were allowed to pass the rank down to their children, who were in turn conditioned to be the same way. This was the case for most of the subsequent Princes of Oredes, until fairly recently.

### The Merchant Prince

The current serving Prince of Oredes is Prince Fabian, nephew to the prior prince, Joseph Blacknight. He is the twenty-eighth man to hold the office. His full title is His Royal Highness the Prince Fabian Astrius Keilos Escarion-Troy of Oredes, High Chancellor of the Conclave of Lords, in Aeslyn's Name.

#### An Unprecedented Successor

Crowned in 1252PC at the age of 25, Prince Fabian was the first in seventy years to inherit the title, as his uncle's failing health prevented the completion of his service, and no better suited candidates existed in the remaining nobility. No more had he taken office than the Prince set himself apart from his predecessors by taking interest not only in the political climate of the Malvaries, but by exercising what powers were given to them only in facade. Said to have been a sailor in his youth, apprenticed to a merchant trader, Prince Fabian proved to have an enlightened perspective on commerce, with insights on trade and economics unheard of in former heads of state. It was a distinction that would mean change for the Malvaries.

In his first year alone, Prince Fabian made vast and sprawling alterations to the laws and regulations that governed Malvarian commerce, loosening restrictions on the guilds and reallocating government resources to benefit traders. When opposed, he exercised a poised but vicious sort of will that quickly decimated his opponents. Subsequent years have found him wealthy and wildly popular with the people, having earned the loyalty of the merchants guilds, facts that have thus far prevented the Conclave from removing him from office. And not for lack of trying.

#### Legacy

The Prince's work to strengthen the lower and middle classes has had rippling effects on the upper class, which has earned him no small number of enemies. There have been to date three assassination attempts, some of which are thought to have been the doing of his own lords. Whether due to his own skill or that of the Rudainian bodyguard at his heels, none have been successful. To date, Prince Fabian has neither a wife nor descendants--but he shows no signs of stepping down, and with no political rivals, it is likely that he will be in power into the near future.

## Non-Sovereigns

The Matron of Alderon

The High-Elder of the Riverki

The High Priest of Fortana

The Blade of the Rudaine