Henry II of Wyrsia

***“**The Naerisi deserve none of your worthless pity. If they can't defend themselves, they don't deserve to exist.**”***
— Henry II

**Henry II**, also known as **Henry the Cruel**, born **Henry Mitthel**, was the King of Wyrsia from 736 AW until his assassination in 749 AW. He went against his father's final wishes, granting more power to the Wyrsian military and ultimately launched the Wyrsian-Innyrian War in 746 AW.

While Wyrsia would end up as the victors alongside the Kingdom of Fühlgart, Henry II proved to be a very cruel ruler for his new Naerisi subjects, banning their cultural practices and language and killing large amounts of them without justification. This led to him being assassinated by the Ghosts of Innyria, a group of Naerisi agents operating under the newly formed Duchy of Western Innyria.

## Biography

### Early Life

Born in the royal court of Woodhall to his father, also named Henry, the young Henry II is described as a troublemaker and a bully. He would sneak away from the Wyrsian Royal Palace and into Woodhall itself, where he would beat up other kids seemingly at random. This got him in significant trouble on multiple occasions, yet it didn't stop him from continuing.

As a teenager, he joined the Army of Woodhall as a squire, later being knighted at the age of 18. However, he picked up little in the ways of chivalry. Instead, he created his own band, mostly consisting of mercenaries, and began "patrolling" the countryside, charging protection money from the locals.

Ultimately, Henry's father recalled him to Woodhall to serve in the Wyrsian Royal Guard, hoping that by keeping him close he could control some of Henry's more aggressive tendencies. Yet, this proved to be of little use in the long run. As his father grew older and neared his death, he pleaded with Henry to not drag Wyrsia into any wars when he took the throne. Henry reluctantly agreed, and when his father died in 736 AW, he took the throne as Henry II of Wyrsia.

### King of Wyrsia

When Henry II was crowned in late 736 AW, he was immediately bombarded on all sides by the nobility and military. They had begrudgingly tolerated the peaceful politics of Henry I, yet his son proved to be a lot more acceptant of their ideas. Henry II quickly agreed that invading the Freehold of Innyria to the south would be the best way to expand Wyrsian influence. However, he first wished to change internal matters before declaring any wars.

Henry II is infamous for his heavy-handed and authoritarian rule. He raised taxes significantly and cut most of the funding dedicated to public health that had been put in place by his father. He increased tariffs, weakened trade as a whole, and reintroduced the levy, conscripting people into Wyrsia's armies. With these new sources of income and fresh recruits, Henry II prepared Wyrsia for war. In 746 AW, a decade after taking the crown, that fateful war would come.

### The Wyrsian-Innyrian War

*Main Article: Wyrsian-Innyrian War*

In 746 AW, the Kingdom of Wyrsia launched a surprise attack on the Freehold of Innyria. However, the surprise attack was not a surprise at all, and the Innyrians had long gotten wind through their spy network and prepared a defense. This made Henry II paranoid and somewhat nervous about the members of his court, and he began interrogating his own courtiers seemingly at random.

While the war wasn't fought by Henry II personally, he was heavily invested in its outcome. When it proceeded in Wyrsia's favor, he personally traveled down to Innyria to assess the state of his new subjects. However, the Naerisi are a proud and ancient race, and most of them refused to bend the knee, let alone even respect the Wyrsian monarch. This enraged Henry II, who gathered a large warband and began ransacking Naerisi villages without a second thought, slaughtering their populations and burning down all the buildings, before moving on to the next village. Naturally, any hope of peaceful coexistence between the Wyrsian Humans and the Innyrian Naerisi ended there, as guerilla warfare became more and more common.

After the Siege of Innyria ended in 747 AW, what remained of the Innyrian army rallied under general Hyllion d'Avyni in Asyus, where he held off the combined forces of both Wyrsia and Fühlgart. With no end in sight, and with the Innyrian position in the Grass Sea unbreakable, the war ended, with both Human kingdoms reluctantly allowing the continued existence of an independent Duchy of Western Innyria. However, what neither knew is that d'Avyni was already plotting revenge.

The Ghosts of Innyria were a group of spies, saboteurs, and assassins operating solely in Wyrsia and Fühlgart, tasked with finding those who had committed crimes against Innyria's civilian population and putting an end to them. With Wyrsian officers and soldiers being assassinated in the hundreds, Henry II became even more nervous, remaining in the Royal Palace at all times and doubling the guard. However, it would be of no use, as the Naerisi are excellent at sneaking through the dark. Furthermore, the guard didn't take the Naerisi threat seriously at all.

When servants entered Henry II's bedchambers on the 60th of Nyara's Summer, 749 AW to wake him for breakfast, they discovered a horrific sight. Henry's body had been mutilated beyond recognition. Doctors determined that his throat had been slit to kill him, his ears were cut off as a trophy, and the rest was done to send a message. They determined that, after dying, Henry II had been stabbed 137 times across all areas of his body. He would be succeeded by his son, Gerald, who would play a large role in mending the relations between the Humans and the Naerisi inside of Wyrsia.

## Career

Kingdom of Wyrsia

* Prince (689-707 AW)
* Heir Apparent (707-736 AW)
* King of Wyrsia (736-749 AW)

## Awards

* Innyrian Victory Medal - Kingdom of Wyrsia (awarded by himself)
* ~~Hero of Wyrsia Medal - Kingdom of Wyrsia~~ (awarded by himself, later revoked)

## Personality

From a young age, Henry is described as someone who enjoyed preying on the weak, which remains a trend throughout his life. Once he was crowned king, these tendencies only became worse, as he became extremely authoritarian and showed no restraint in executing anyone who wronged him in the slightest. However, Henry was a nervous and paranoid man, always seeing threats from every direction. He spent most of his final days in fear of Innyrian retaliation, which most of his guards dismissed as more pointless nervousness at the time. Ironically, this mentality allowed the Naerisi to assassinate the man and prove him right in the process.

## Relationships

* Hyllion d'Avyni - Hyllion d'Avyni! It's a name I hear over and over at court. That dog, that upjumped peasant! How dare he humiliate me! Once I get my hands on the subhuman, I will make him wish he was dead.

## Stories

*Main Article: Stories*

* Story: Henry II of Wyrsia - Revenge