Ilija Lagadec

**Ilija Lagadec** was a king of Birgolon who ruled for 55 years, making his reign the longest in Birgolon's history. During his reign he formed an alliance with Raivon which was the precursor to the formation of the Birgol-Raivon Covenant, which he also oversaw.

Prior to becoming king, he was an honorary member of both the Pretorian church and the Knights of Filibrande. He grew up in Sagda. He was also one of the younger rulers initially, being only 21 when he became king, in contrast to most of his contemporary rulers who were decades older than him.

## Biography

Ilija Lagadec was born on the 22nd of Opprine, 1425 SY in Astilane, Grecoa. He was born to Zala Lagadec, the at-the-time king of Birgolon and Noarita of Astilane, a Grecoan princess. As a child, he was incredibly sickly and was not expected to survive his childhood. Due to this, he spent his formative years primarily at his family's summer home in the Sesgir Valley of western Birgolon.

His mother was an important figure in his early life, and taught him how to speak Cisalian and instilled the ideas of Pretorism in him. His father continued to rule from Alziron during his childhood, only seeing his son once or twice a year. He attended school locally in Sesgir, and upon his 14th birthday he began a apprenticeship under Norace Perjaban, duke of Lacki.

### Reign

At age 21 his father died, thus making him the next king of Birgolon. He began residing in Alziron, the capital. He began his reign just after the Second Cisalian War, a nearly 10 year long conflict between Birgolon and the Kingdom of Cisalia. The first decade of his reign has regaining control of the far south of Birgolon, in the area previously part of the Duchy of Lacki. His raising of taxes made him a relatively unpopular ruler, in the beginning.

One year into his reign he married Traera of Nariscopone, who was also his cousin. Together they had three children, all of which would live until adulthood. The eldest of which, Lovro, would serve in Ilija's court during the formative years of his reign but would later become the Duke of Sagda - and much later would travel to Zedia to serve as a teacher in the capital of Igansinc.

Towards the end of the 1460s a small famine hit Birgolon, primarily caused by the event called the Great Winter of 1466. The effects were felt mostly in the valleys, especially in Ballene. Ilija attempted to use his son's position as a faux-diplomat in Zedia to import massive amounts of grain into the country, a move which his son was uncomfortable making - thus furthering the effects of the famine. Just as the famine's effects began to alleviate the king of Raivon, Gavan Manuset, approached Ilija with a proposition. The idea proposed by Manuset was to bind the two countries, both historically mistreated nations (especially by Lohn and Ahremia) in a pact.

Initially hesitant, Ilija finally agreed to the proposal after the marriage of the Raivonian princess, Rrigal Manuset, to his son Packa. The edict which bound the two nations and created the Birgol-Raivon Covenant was signed in Lindset, a city in the newly vassalized nation of Lohn in 1498 SY.

Although Ilija was excited at the possibility of a new world power to rival even that of Ahremia, he died in 1501 SY, barely three years after the creation of the covenant. This left his son to take over the throne of Birgolon.