High King Leucarys

Valryn Leucarys outside of his palace

High King Leucarys, first of his name, is the current reigning Valryn, or king, of the Zyrestes Empire and it's reigning head of state.

Leucarys inherited the throne some 60 years ago at the age of 100 (the Zyrestes equivalent of a teenager) after his father, Vanarys III, was slain in battle against a Dronox horde at Mycon-3. Though the job had caught him unprepared, Leucarys did the best he could and has become one of the most well respected monarchs of the Zyrestes people. His reign has been characterized with his campaigns against the Sirken and Dreadweavers, which halted their advance into Zyrestes space, the entry of the Zyrestes into the Cordredium Alliance, and the opening of trade relations with the Squillmin, Frangalos, Varmroel, Gavii, and Avigol and several other species. In recent years, Leucarys has also given funding to the Freedom Guild via one of it's founders, his cousin Vaegon, and granted greater rights to the peasant class of Zyrestes society. Leucarys is known as a kind hearted, just, and highly competent yet beleaguered king. However, several members of the nobility, including his own brother Victarion, have publicly taken issue with Leucarys' opening of the Zyrestes kingdom to outsiders and his son's rebellious nature and general lack of responsibility.

## Early Life

Leucarys was born on the Zyrestes homeworld to Valryn Vanarys III and Lady Dresenia of Alcor-9. As the heir to the Zyrestes throne, Leucarys enjoyed a privelaged life and recieved a fairly standard education for a Zyrestes prince, including Varmroel tutors. When Leucarys was 100, he recieved the news that his father, who had taken several warriors with him on an expedition to Mycon-3, had been slain by the Dronox horde. Vanarys' body, however, was never found by the surviving Zyrestes warriors at Mycon-3, let alone any instructions for his sons or the kingdom. Despite this Leucarys, as the eldest brother, was hastily crowned Valryn that afternoon, as the youngest Valryn to ascend to the throne. This left Leucarys, who had already been reeling in shock from hearing about his father's death, placed in a role that he was utterly unprepared for, as he never expected to assume the throne for many more years, and caused greater resentment from his brother Victarion, with whom his relationship had already been strained from childhood.

## Campaigns against the Sirken

Amidst this time of uncertainty, the Sirken, who for much of Zyrestes history had been assumed to be violent primitives, had continued to carve a powerful space empire for themselves despite having only achieved spaceflight within the lifetime of Vanarys III. Now the nearly unstoppable tide of Sirken expansion had arrived at the feet of the Zyrestes, still largely in dissarray from the death of their previous king. It was at this moment that Leucarys, realizing there would be no time for mourning, called many of his Teyrns to the great hall and announced a great campaign to beat back the Sirken menace. Leucarys had managed to rally 3000 Zyrestes knights to fight under his banner this way, and together the Zyrestes battleforce under king Leucarys ventured to the besieged Zyrestes colony world of Telos. With the aid of Leucary's warriors, the zyrestes-at-arms of the planetary defense force at Telos were able to hold off the Sirken ground forces from taking the planet for a full week before the Sirken commander assigned to take the planet was forced to retreat. The Zyrestes were victorious, and the victory helped to unite the whole of the kingdom to support their new Valryn. The Zyrestes were no longer as uncertain of their future.

Not content to simply bask in this glory, Leucarys decided to press on, blocking other Sirken advances and pushing into Sirken space to reclaim lost Zyrestes worlds, ruins from the days of the old empire, from the Sirken that had swept in to colonize them. Eventually, the Sirken Chancelor was forced to concede defeat, and sued for peace with Leucarys' realm, much to the dismay of the various Sirken admirals in the fleet. The Zyrestes Kingdom, having largley been an isolationist, secluded realm for much of it's history, had truly asserted itself on the galactic stage for the first time since the fall of the old Zyrestes Empire.

## Reaching out to alien races

In the aftermath of the Sirken wars, Leucarys realized that his kingdom simply could not survive forever in it's isolationist state. Though many in the council of nobles were reluctant to reach out to aliens unless it was absolutely necessary, Leucarys was more open to interacting with aliens, having been educated by various Varmroel court tutors. The Varmroel had long been a common sight in Zyrestes castle halls and courts, but it was Leucarys that initiated official diplomatic relations with the Varmroel. It was at this time that he also reached out to the Fragnalos government, particularly for access to their Warp Networks, allowing the Zyrestes to be more connected to the galaxy at large. The Zeep had also begun selling their goods to the Zyrestes during Leucarys' reign, providing nobles and commoners alike with all manner of luxury and consumer goods while giving ZeepCol greater influence in Zyrestes society. Leucarys also formed a military alliance with the Squillmin in the event that the Sirken attempted another attack on the Zyrestes realm. This alliance would set the stage for the Zyrestes entry into the Cordredium Alliance a few years later.

Through his cousin Vaegon, Leucarys also gave funding and other resources to the Freedom Guild, assisting in the construction of it's bases and it's various networks.

## Appearences in adventures

### - Zyrestes Negotiations

The captain is brought by Ambassador Anthrok of the Antheran Empire to convince Leucarys to render assistance to the Antherans in the ongoing war. The captain accomplishes this by convincing various alien diplomats, Zyrestes Nobles and Knights before speaking to Leucarys. The captain further wins the king's favor when Victarion challenges Leucarys' right to rule with an Anthrantus representative as his champion in a duel which the captain wins. In gratitude, Leucarys agrees to initiate a military alliance with the Antheran empire against the Anthrantus.

### - Dead River, Part 3

Leucarys, as well as his son Jaeharys, arrive on Dead River moments after agreeing to fight the Anthrantus. There, Leucarys commands the forces of the Zyrestes to intiate the siege on the Dead River city while the player infiltrates the colony to rescue Captain Fort'ee.