King Stefron Koopa

**King Stefron Koopa**, also known as **Stefron The Bald**, due to his lack of hair, or The Usurper, was the fourth monarch of the Koopa Kingdom. While not the designated heir to the throne, he was convinced by his wife Maria to take the throne for himself, following the death of his Uncle, King Edrick Koopa I. Edrick's heir Mariah was not at all happy, sparking the civil war known as the Klash of Koopas. Stefron spent much of his reign trying to keep himself and his family on the throne, and spent most of 1055 imprisoned by Mariah, until Maria freed him. Maria also attempted to install their beloved but ill-tempered and angry son Prince Augustus as co-king, to ensure his succession, but this was firmly refused by their subjects. After Mariah's son Edrick defeated Stefron's forces in battle, Stefron agreed to make Edrick his heir, being succeeded by him after his death.

## Extended Lore

### Early Life

Stefron was born to Lord Stefron Von Bohnenblau and Princess Adela Koopa. His father was the current Count of Bohnenblau, but was known to be a fool and coward, having ran away from a Crusade by sneaking off into a boat and feeling the scene. His mother was Princess Adela Koopa, the sole daughter and fourth child overall of King Alfred Koopa, giving Stefron a claim to the throne. Stefron had two elder brothers, Alfred, who was considered unstable and an unsuitable candidate for the throne, Theobald, who became the Count of Chambohne, and a younger brother, Dolphus, who became a Bishop and a member of Edrick I's council. Stefron Sr., as brother-in-law to the king, was named King Edrick's King's Claw, who he worked closely with, however he was strongly opposed to Stefron naming his daughter Mariah as heir to the throne, wanting the younger Stefron to be named as heir instead. Edrick frequently turned this down however. Stefron himself was popular among the Koopa Kingdom noblemen, as he appeared regularly at court and had close ties across the Kingdom.

### Marriage

While his father was more focused on his own influenced, Stefron's mother Adela wanted to increase her family's influence, and so had Stefron married to the heiress Maria Von Dornbohne, who was the daughter of the current Count of Dornbohne, at this time a flourishing meadow, August Von Dornbohne. Maria agreed to this proposal knowing of Stefron's claim to the throne. When Augustus died, Stefron became the new Count in the right of his wife, and the couple had three children, Marie, Alfred, and the the eldest Prince Augustus Koopa, a raging and psychotic child who was prone to frequent bounds of rage and anger, and despised going to Church despite his Uncle Dolphus being a bishop. Stefron often struggled with educating Prince Augustus, as he only listened to his mother.

### Rise to the Throne

As his father was the King's Claw, Stefron and his brother held a lot of power in the Kingdom. Several of King Edrick's subjects did not believe in Edrick's daughter Mariah, and felt Stefron would be a far better successor to the aging king. Mariah was married to Lord Klayton, the Count of Bohnenrotte, and Mariah was currently residing there, away from the Koopa Kingdom. Thus, when Edrick died in 1045, Mariah was currently not present, and Stefron's wife Maria saw the opportunity for she and her son to rise to a higher position of power. Stefron was reluctant to invade, but following his wife's pleads to become Queen, he travelled to the Koopa Kingdom and pressed his claim to the throne. With little opposition, he was crowned King Stefron Koopa. A single Lord protested the following day, stating Mariah was chosen as Edrick's rightful heir, however his Queen Maria and son Prince Augustus had him beheaded.

### Klash of Koopas

Stefron and his family had received notice that Mariah was not at all happy with him claiming the throne, and was coming with an army. Luckily Edrick's eldest illegitimate son, Lord Benjen Blackswann, the new Earl of Painted Pipeland, was loyal to Stefron, and successfully repelled incoming forces, being rewarded the position of King's Claw for this achievement. The alliance unfortunately was not to last however, as Prince Augustus would constantly barge into council meetings to whine about trivial issues such as knights cheating in jousting tournaments. Blackswann demanded Stefron punish his soon, but was constantly ignored. As a result, Lord Blackswann deserted his position and joined Empress Mariah's cause. Queen Maria was furious of this betrayal, and was desperate for revenge on her former ally.

### Battle of Alpine Pass

Prior to 1065, the Duchy of Nordskal Ridge had fell under the control of Empress Mariah's husband Lord Klayton, who was a rival of sorts to King Stefron. In their earlier years Stefron had beaten Klayton in the finals of a jousting tourney. Stefron was confident he would beat him again if they ever met on the battlefield, so was incredibly annoyed to hear that he had won over the Duchy. Queen Maria, who by this point was obviously the real power behind the throne, was alerted by the king's brother, Lord Dolphus, that an invading army lead by Empress Mariah herself was on the way, and went to warn her husband, only to find him at a bar, incredibly drunk drinking beer from his shield. Queen Maria told him of the battle, and thus he went. He was warned by his brother Dolphus that he should perhaps sober up, however Stefron didn't see Empress Mariah as much of a threat, believing she would be weak and easy to put down, and thus arrived to the battlefield early, unprepared and without his shield. The defeat was one of the most embarrassing yet in the entire Koopa Kingdom, as Stefron was captured by Mariah's forces in less than an hour and thus imprisoned.

### Imprisonment

While imprisoned, several of the nobles, including Stefron's own brother Dolphus, swore allegiance to Empress Mariah, allowing her to take control of the Koopa Kingdom herself with Stefron as her own prisoner. Whilst imprisoned, Queen Maria took it upon herself to restore her husband to throne, while Stefron made no attempt to escape. Queen Maria made an alliance with King Johann VII of the Bohnenkraut Kingdom, with the agreement that her son Prince Augustus would marry his daughter Princess Johanna. The agreement was reached and the two were married, with Prince Augustus humiliating his wife at the wedding feast by beating a servant who gave him the wrong flavor of Chuckola. After Dolphus switched sides once again, due to Empress Mariah being far less reliant on him than Stefron, Queen Maria and her forces successfully captured Lord Blackswann, who was Empress Mariah's acting King's Claw as well as her strongest ally. As a result, both parties exchanged prisoners and Stefron was released. Following this, the Empress was easily driven out of the Koopa Kingdom and Stefron was restored to the throne.

### Stalemate

The Klash of Koopas had begun to become stale for both parties. While Mariah had maintained support in the South of the Kingdom, her son Alfred and husband Klayton both perished during the war, the former of whom was beheaded by Prince Augustus' men, as Augustus badly wanted to upset his rival Prince Edrick, the son of Empress Mariah. Stefron had secured control over the North and Middle of the Kingdom, however Queen Maria was desperate to ensure their son Augustus' succession, who at this time had demolished a Church for not allowing him to hold an expensive wedding feast there. To please his wife, Stefron proposed that Augustus be crowned as Co-King, to ensure he will succeed Stefron as heir to the throne. The thought of Augustus ever becoming king and giving him this much power horrified the other lords however, and they refused to support this decision. Augustus was outraged, and burst into a fit of rage, throwing a wine cup into one of the castle windows causing it to shatter, before then destroying another Church.

### Defeat

Following the death of her husband and son, Empress Mariah was pushing for her son Edrick to become king, now that he'd become of age and was easily able to compete with the unpopular Augustus. Edrick sent letters to King Stefron, proposing that he be made Stefron's heir. Queen Maria was set on not letting this happen, and tore up the letters in a rage. With no other choice, Prince Edrick arrived in Bright Valley alongside his mother Mariah and his new wife Lady Vanessa Von Ozeanbohne for support. While Queen Maria was strong and held her ground, Stefron had grown tired of the war, and fled the castle desperately not wanting to go back into captivity. Edrick successfully besieged the castle and took Queen Maria prisoner, forcing Stefron into negations with Mariah and Edrick. Maria was furious with Stefron for abandoning her, beating his bald head several times when she saw him again. Stefron & Edrick came to the agreement that Edrick will be made his heir. Prince Augustus was furious when he found out about this, and spent the entire day red with rage. While in the middle of a rant on how much he hated his father, he shoved a giant piece of cheese into his mouth, and wound up choking to death in front of everyone present, including his wife, who was less upset than someone would normally be watching their husband die. Augustus' rival, Prince Edrick, and his wife's eldest son Alfred was born the same afternoon.

### Death

Queen Maria was most upset by the loss of her eldest and favorite son, and the heartbroken Queen herself died shortly after hearing news of her son's unfortunate fate. Stefron himself was broken up by the loss of his wife and son, who as far as he was concerned were the only reason he took the throne in the first place. He begun drinking heavily and took many mistresses, and was often distant and untalkative in council meetings. The young Prince Edrick, despite their rivalry, made peace with the aging king, and effectively acted as a surrogate son to him, much to Stefron's youngest son Alfred's dismay. Stefron died in 1061, and was succeeded by Edrick, who became King Edrick Koopa II.