Yasmina the Siren

**Yasmina the Siren** (15 May 436 3E - 27 February 513 3E), numbered **Yasmina I**, was Queen-Consort of Elarta from 455 3E, the Siren Queen of Khayad from 459 3E and Queen-Regnal of Mahuat from 470 3E, crowned the Great Artisane of Khayad the same year. During her reign she continued her father's legacy of a conqueror, expanding Khayad's borders significantly. Known as an avid artist and philosopher, Yasmina reshaped her state into something she called a "Great Work" - a way of governing based on her philosophy of artisocracy.

Born as the oldest daughter of Gathaspar II and his wife, Priya, Yasmina formally became queen in 460 3E after two years of fighting with her mentally ill mother for the throne. At the time of donning the crown, Yasmina had already been married to Youshas II, King of Elarta. This meant that her coronation tied the two states together in an unofficial personal union that would soon become a real union with her son Gathaspar's ascension to the throne. In 470 3E, Yasmina expanded the borders of her state even more by crowning herself Queen of Mahuat, making her the *Thrice-Crowned Queen* she's often known as. It was also then that she reformed the government of Khayad and hailed herself as the Great Artisane of Khayad while also becoming the religious leader of Sirenism, the country's new state religion.

Yasmina was also involved in the I Khayadian-Ishean War of 480 3E. Having won the conflict, the queen conquered the northern islands of the Ishean Archipelago, gaining control over the straits that connected the Inner Sea with the Yaluvian Sea and the southern coasts of the continent.

Besides territorial expansion, Yasmina developed her realm's economy and trade, thus dominating the Inner Sea not only militarily, but also diplomatically and economically; all trade that wasn't going north had to pass through her ports and her markets. In fact, it is Yasmina's reign that earned the Khayadian traders their reputation as one of the craftiest and brightest in the world. Yasmina's reign also saw the revival of Khayadian art, especially painting and literature, with her being a recognised poet herself.

When Yasmina died in 513 3E she left behind one of the most powerful states of her contemporary world, united through money and naval strength. Having expanded Khayad almost triple it's size and strengthened it economically, Yasmina is remembered as one of the greatest monarchs in history, far surpassing her already renowned father.

## Appearance and character

Yasmina has been depicted in various ways by various artists. Some details, like the colour of her skin have been known to change depending on the source and as such it's difficult to describe what she could have really looked like. The most popular depiction, fixed in popular consciousness mainly by works such as *"The Syren of Khayad"* or *"A Syren with her Lions"*, presents a relatively light-skinned woman of high stature, silky black hair and shapely figure. More reliable sources, such as Dawadal's *"Asinid Dusk and Dawn*", describe Yasmina as a small woman that would be fairly unremarkable but for her high cheekbones and extremely bushy hair.

The same author describes Yasmina as a patient and decisive ruler, if not ruthless and uncompromising; as a person of high intelligence and equally high levels of knowledge, Yasmina was already back then considered a great stateswoman and diplomat. Privately Yasmina was known as a rather delightful woman, fond of art and culture, but also of excessive partying and promiscuousness. Yasmina's love of the pleasurely side of life and the toll it took on the royal treasury has always been one of the points brought up by Yasmina's critics.

## Biography

### Early years (436 3E - 458 3E)

Yasmina was born in Khadarasta, Kingdom of Khayad on 15 May 436 3E, the eldest child of King Gathaspar II and his wife Priya. Yasmina's father had taken the throne just a few years earlier, pressing a claim that he had inherited through his father, bastard son of Asiman I. When Yasmina was born, Gathaspar had already dealt with rebellious nobles and any people opposed to the new conqueror, making succession for Yasmina quite easy.

Tutored by renowned scholars and grammarians, Yasmina turned out to be a talented child with a passion for knowledge and adventure; when she reached the age of 9, Yasmina, at her request, was taken under the wings of Dawadal the Elder, a renowned strategist and amateur poet. It is his education that turned Yasmina into both an excellent warrior and a passionate adept at poetry. Yasmina would stay under Dawadal's care for the remaining 6 years.

In 451 3E the young princess married her betrothed, Prince Youshas of Elarta, and moved into the Elartan court. It is there that Yasmina gained important experience in rulership, oftentimes employed by the Crown for diplomatic missions or administrative work. Historians also speculate - based on incisive philological work made on the early versions of The Artistic Society - that it is during the time spent in Elarta that Yasmina began to lay the foundations for the doctrine of artisocracy she would later champion in Khayad, having drafted the first two chapters of her treatise sometime between 452 and 454 3E. In 455 3E Youshas succeeded his father as King of Elarta, which marked the beginning of Yasmina's rise to power - she became the Queen of Elarta.

### War with the Mad Queen (458 3E - 459 3E)

The year 458 3E brought about the death of Gathaspar II, King of Khayad. In early March, Yasmina departed from the Elartan capital of Alsahaba to attend her father's funeral in Khadarasta. At the same time, Priya, Yasmina's mother, assumed formal control over the Khayadian Royal Guard and introduced the Khadarastian Guard into the order, thus also taking control over them and, in effect, militarily seizing Khadarasta for herself. When Yasmina arrived in the Khayadian capital on 20th March, Priya's soldiers attacked her envoy in a bid to capture the princess. The Royal Guard was unsuccessful, and the Queen of Elarta fled north, down the river Ashtar. Priya crowned herself the Mother Queen of Khayad immediately after Gathaspar's funeral, on 23rd of March 458 3E.

Yasmina eventually arrived in the coast city of Ashamarad, from where she sent a missive to her husband in Elarta, describing her mother's coup d'etat and requesting military aid in reconquering the country. In the meantime, she would reside in the offices of the Ashtar Trading Company whose administrators sympathised with the exiled princess.

King Youshas himself led the Elartan war campaign which began with Elartan soldiers arriving in Ashamarad on 20th April. Over the course of the following 8 days, Youshas' warriors clashed with the Royal Guard which - previously stationed in Castle Rabad, on an island adjacent to the city - entered the city in order to keep the important city in the sphere of Priya's influence. On 28th of April, Elartans under the leadership of Youshas and general Mashai Illadi captured the island and the castle, which - since then renamed under the sobriquet 'Palace of the Siren' - would become Yasmina's court and capital until the end of her reign.

Soon the war would come to a standstill. The Elartans found themselves capable of withstanding several Khayadian assaults on both the Delta area and Elarta proper, but unable to venture deeper into the country. What finally broke the stalemate was a debonair coronation of Yasmina as the Siren Queen of Khayad, conducted sometime in January 459 3E in the Ashamaradian Munairivan. The princess invited all of the Khayadian vassals and to those that came she promised a slew of privileges, including lenient taxation and smaller levy contribution demands. She also promised to personally lead the Elartan divisions to battle in order to encourage them in their expeditions down south.

Yasmina's charisma, gregariousness and diplomatic bravado won the sympathies of several royal vassals, which allowed her to pool soldiers and resources from most of northern and eastern Khayad. This crucial support allowed Elarta to break outside the Ashtar Delta, conquering the city of Estairad in March and arriving at Khadarasta by May 459 3E. The siege of the capital took months - mainly due to both sides' being careful not to destroy any parts of the iconic and symbolically vital settlement - but was eventually won by Yasmina and Youshas. Priya was captured on 3rd September 459 3E, and Yasmina was once again coronated as the Siren Queen of Khayad on the eve of Am Daia.