Hask'Endek

*"Only the force of arms of your knights will provie us with the strenght to stop the fall of our kingdom. Together, as one, we will rid ourselves of the weakness which slowly dragged us into oblivion. To arms then, knights of Yadra and may the unrighteous fear our wrath!"*

**Enlightened Queen Hask'Endek I,** named the "Liberator" by her allies and servants and "The turncoat" by her enemies, duchess of Ra'Tagrass, summoner of Banners and supreme ruler of the Enlightened Kingdom of Ra'Tagrass is currently a pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Yadra. Since 2289, she has led a coalition of nobles against Empress Hask'Valgam, in the conflict now known as the Yadrani civil war.

## History

As a member of House Endek, Hask'Endek did not ever expect to be given any position of power and responsability, much less to step up and challenge the Empress of the kingdom. Born in a family of minor nobles, she as still young when the Commonwealth took Fal'Kaboss, a battle which saw the end of many blood lines of great importance.

Living in the planet of Ra'Tagrass, House Endek managed to escape much of the horrors of the war and fill the void left by the dead, high noblemen and women. A Karthemas of great charm and a naturally shrewd mind, Hask'Endek found herself in her natural element as the struggle to become the high lord of the planet ensued. Giving as many favours as those she asked, and always trying to seem like a generous noblewoman, she managed to catch the eye of the then newly-crowned Empress Hask'Valgam I. Impressed by the achivements of the rising noble, the empress (then secretly in conflict with nearly half the other noble families in Ra'Tagrass) gave Hask'Endek the title of High duchess andd protector of the world. This way, the queen expected to have a close ally who would follow her orders to the letter and, for more than a decade, that plan worked. Both empress and duchess became allies, and even friends, as they tried to rebuild the lands of the Kingdom of Yadra.

There was one aspect of the empress's rule however which Hask'Endek never agreed with and would end up causing her rebellion. Trusting little the nobles houses for their refusal to follow her strict orders and regulations, Empress Hask'Valgam I led a series of attacks to keep order and depose a number of important families, some of them more than three-hundred years old. Time and time again, Hask'Endek asked the Empress to change strategy, to use guile, promises and diplomacy instead of brute strength and weight of arms. Unwilling to trust her treacherous and corrupt nobles however, the empress refused.

As the struggle between empress and nobles reached its Zenith, a group of those remaining nobles of importance traveled to Ra'Tagrass, promising fealty to Hask'Endek if she rose up and challenged the cruel empress before she crushed the last remains of what had once made the Kingdom of Yadra great. Some say the future queen showed doubt at first about betraying a close friend, others whisper she had been the one to summon the nobles, sick and done as she was of trying to patch up all the things the empress broke.

Either way, in 2289, hundreds of nobles proclaimed their "Enlightened Queen" as sole ruler of the Kingdom of Yadra. With them and their banners at her side, Hask'Endek sent a message to the empress, hoping that she would give up without a fight. Once she did not however, the Enlightened Queen summoned what armies and fleets were available to her, thus starting the Yadran Civil war.