Empress Mariah Koopa

### Marriages

Holy Rural Emperor Ludwig V (m. 1028, died 1037)Lord Klayton Kayenne (m. 1038, died 1058)

### Children

King Edrick Koopa II
Prince Klayton Koopa
Prince Alfred Koopa

**Princess Mariah Koopa** was the daughter of Edrick I and the granddaughter of Alfred I, becoming the heir to the throne following the death of her older brother, Alfred. Despite her rightful claim to the throne, her cousin Stefron travelled to the Koopa Kingdom faster in order to get coronated first, resulting in a civil war breaking out in the Koopa Kingdom, known as the Klash of Koopas. She briefly took back control from Stefron for roughly 8 months in 1055, but never had an official coronation. Her son, Edrick, defeated Stefron and the latter signed a treaty declaring the former as his heir.

## Extended Lore

### Early Life

Mariah was the first monarch born in the Koopa Kingdom, born in 1016 to Prince Edrick Koopa and his wife Princess Maiya. She had an older brother Alfred, as well as many half-siblings through her father's mistresses growing up. She mainly grew up in Bright Valley and was present for her grandfather Alfred's funeral, at which she was eight-years old.

### First Marriage

Her father arranged for Mariah to marry Holy Rural Emperor Ludwig V, to increase Edrick's own power outside of the Koopa Kingdom. Mariah was sent to the Rural Kingdom, the central Kingdom of the Empire, to marry the 32 year old Emperor, despite Mariah only being 12 years old at the time. While her father reaped all the benefits of being allied with the Empire, Mariah herself was confused and didn't even realise it was supposed to be a marriage until their wedding in the Rural Kingdom. Mariah remained in the Rural Kingdom for the next nine years, and grow up as Empress, and came to enjoy the position of power, finding she was doing most of the work. Ludwig V died in 1037 however, after choking to death on a slice of cake. As the two had produced no children, Mariah was returned to the Koopa Kingdom, to the court of her father.

### Edrick I's Reign

Edrick had spent most of his time training Mariah's older brother Alfred to become king, however now that Mariah was back he needed to find her a new husband. He chose to marry her to another ally in the Bohnenkraut Kingdom, to ensure his influence in the Kingdom didn't die, and settled on Lord Klayton Kayenne, the current Count of Bohnenrotte. Klayton was much closer to Mariah in age, and the Princess was enamoured with him. Together they had three children, Princes Edrick Koopa, Klayton Koopa and Alfred Koopa. Klayton joined the court of King Edrick, but unfortunately the king and Klayton did not get along, mainly due to Klayton's growing influence on the cabinet, and openly criticising the king's less popular decisions.

### Ghost Ship Disaster Aftermath

Following the deaths of Princes Alfred & Benjen in the Ghost Shipwreck, Mariah was now the heir to the aging King Edrick. Klayton had attempted to become the King's new Lord Secretary, but was passed over in favor of another of his subjects, Lord Stefron Von Bohnenblau. Despite this, Edrick was brought closer to Mariah following her older brother's death, and ensured her she would succeed him following his death.

### Klash of Koopas

Edrick I died in 1045, while Mariah was currently still in Bohnenrotte, alongside Lord Klayton. At this time Mariah was said to be ill herself, possibly due to being pregnant with an egg. Lord Stefron had died and his son, also named Stefron, was another grandson of Alfred I through his mother Adela. Stefron's wife Maria urged Stefron to claim the throne himself, wanting the title of Queen over Mariah and wanting their young son Augustus to become king someday. Stefron eventually gave in to his wife, and travelled from the County of Bwahar Beach to Bright Valley, in which most of the council appointed by Stefron's own father, including his brother, approved of him and crowned him King Stefron Koopa. Mariah learned of the news soon after, and was horrified. Once recovered, Mariah returned to the Koopa Kingdom to confront the new king, but was not allowed to enter the Kingdom at Queen Maria's orders, wanting to block the rival to throne at all costs. Queen Maria sent Lord Benjen Blackswann, the current Lord of Painted Pipeland and Mariah's own illegitimate half-brother, to intercept Mariah and send her back to Bohnenrotte. Mariah swore she would return to take back her father's throne.

### Battle of Alpine Pass

In 1055, several of the noblemen who had initially support him were now starting to feel their king wasn't rewarding them as much as they expected. Mariah's half-brother Blackswann had fallen out with Stefron for his own reasons, as Stefron's son Prince Augustus was bankrupting the economy and constantly yelling at people. Blackswann deserted his position as Lord Secretary and secretly sent Mariah reinforcements to invade the Koopa Kingdom. While her husband Klayton kept Roffel Ruins occupied, Mariah and her forces met Blackswann in the Koopa Kingdom and invaded with an army. King Stefron brought his army, and the forces met at Alpine Pass. Stefron didn't expect Mariah to put up much of a fight, so amassed a relatively small force to counter she and Blackswann. The battle ended up being a huge success for Mariah and her forces. Stefron had shown up drunk to the battlefield and left his shield at the castle by mistake, so it took Mariah's troops less than an hour to capture him. Queen Maria and Prince Augustus were furious, and Maria begun writing to her allies to gather more support.

### Reign as De Facto Queen

The remaining nobles, one of which was Stefron's brother Lord Dolphus, who had waited to see the outcome of the battle were now awaiting Mariah's arrival. When Mariah entered, everyone bowed at her feet and welcomed her with open arms. Dolphus then got out a scroll, stating Stefron was crowned to restore peace and security to the realm, before denouncing his brother as a piss poor excuse for a king with a furious brat of a son. He then declared Mariah the rightful Queen of the Koopa Kingdom in her own right, to much applause. Lord Blackswann was appointed Lord Commander of War under Mariah for his service, and Mariah's husband Klayton was preparing to join her in the Koopa Kingdom along with their young son Edrick. Mariah restored the economy by gathering revenue from estates across the Koopa Kingdom and Roffel Ruins, and proved to be an effective ruler. Mariah was far more focused on centralising herself as head of state compared to Stefron, however, which caused the noblemen to fear that Mariah was growing too powerful. Several, including Dolphus, then switched sides once again, and begun to secretly return to Queen Maria's side.

### Stalemate

The Klash of Koopas had become a stalemate for both parties. Stefron and Maria had their own struggles trying to convince their subjects to name Augustus as heir to the throne officially, while Mariah attempted to rebuild her court at a small castle in Desert Hills. Mariah managed to maintain control in the south of the Koopa Kingdom, but was unable to amass enough power to win back the throne. Things worsened in 1076, when her husband Klayton died, likely as a result of a bad headache caused by the heat of the Desert. Mariah had now been widowed twice, and mourned the loss of her husband and ally. Their youngest son Alfred had been captured and executed by Prince Augustus, however Edrick & Klayton remained alive. Edrick, the eldest, was now the Duke of Roffel Ruins and Bohnenrotte, and Mariah was determined for Edrick to become King of the Koopa Kingdom. A year later he married the ex-wife of King Johann VII of the Bohnenkraut Kingdom, Lady Vanessa, the Duchess of Kustenbohne, one of the largest duchies in the Bohnenkraut Kingdom, who Johann divorced for giving him two daughters in a row. She married Edrick and thus brought even more territory to his cause. Mariah's second son Klayton was madly in love with Vanessa, likely due to the land she was set to inherit, and his jealousy of his elder brother. Prior to Edrick & Vanessa's marriage, Klayton attempted to kidnap Vanessa, and attempted to convince her to marry him instead. This failed however, as it turned out Klayton had mistook another woman for her and thus wasted all his time. Mariah greatly scolded Klayton for this betrayal, and demanded he yield to his brother, which he did out of fear.

### Conclusion to the Klash of Koopas

Edrick arrived in the Koopa Kingdom with a large army, made up of several troops amassed from all his territory. With Mariah and his wife Vanessa at his side, Edrick sieged Bright Valley and cut down King Stefron's men easily, eventually capturing the king once again. This time, Empress Mariah captured Queen Maria to make sure she couldn't plan anything again, and the four sat down for negotiations of what should happen next. The parties came to a conclusion, Stefron would remain king until his death, but Edrick would be his heir. Stefron was more than happy to agree simply to end the war and keep his throne, while Maria was hesitant, still wanting Augustus to inherit the throne. However, Maria eventually agreed for the safety of her own family, that Edrick could be named as Stefron's heir. Prince Augustus choked on an eel in a fit of rage soon after the event, and Edrick & Vanessa bore Mariah a grandson, the future Junior King Edrick, that same afternoon. Stefron died shortly after in 1061, and Edrick succeeded Stefron as King Edrick Koopa II.

### Later Life

Mariah was appointed Lord Secretary to her son, and would run the Koopa Kingdom in Edrick's place while he was in the Bohnenkraut Kingdom. She was greatly close with Edrick as well as his wife Vanessa, deeming them a perfect match for each other. She tried to intermediate between the feud of Edrick and Klayton, convincing Edrick to pardon Klayton for his schemes. She lived to see the birth of her three next grandchildren, Prince Richard, Prince Klayton and Prince John, and Mariah had a hand in raising the children at court. Mariah died in 1089, at the age of 72, and was buried alongside her father and grandfather in a hidden tomb in Bright Valley. Mariah stylized herself as "Empress Mariah" all the way up until her death, despite no longer technically being an Empress after Ludwig V's death.

## Trivia

* Princess Mariah Koopa was based on Empress Matilda in English History.