Sprigs of Gold: Part 1 - 0AG to 131AG

Sprigs of Gold: Part 1 - 0AG to 131AG is a book uncovered through use of Study-related Inquiries.

## History

After ascending to the Gildhearth Throne as part of the refounding of the Kingdom of Atralran, Eldarion I Goldlor made a formal request to the scholar Ethor to look into his family's history. Building upon the names detailing in this histories, including the tome written by Adran Amastacia, Ethor compiled a six part series for the new King, and would in time be honoured with nobility and the special title of Aureate Archivist - the first of several hailing from the House of LeChaney.

This particular book is Part 1, examines the rulers of Atralran between the years of 0AG and 131AG - Gilbert I, Larkin I, Adom I, Gilbert II, Gilbert III and Leonarde I Goldlor.

## Reading

### Completed by Faustus Howell

#### Gilbert I Goldlor (0AG-45AG)

It is claimed by Atral historians that the first individual to be granted nobility by Tohmos the True during Aita's Second Gift would be the man who would become Gilbert I Goldlor, the first King of Atralran and progenitor of the House of Goldlor. Suffice it to say that the tales from the time of the Golden Child's founding are vast enough to fill a whole series of tomes itself, so for sake of brevity, their origin is included in brief.

Having given chase to a magpie carrying an apple sprig across the continent, Gilbert discovered the hill of Orchard Crest, and upon it started the construction of Chalimar Palace, aided by the Weaver of the World themselves, Gaityas. He was crowned with the Crown Jewels of Atralran, gifted to the Truetouched by divine seneschals of the gods Ilemer and Tohmos. As his lands and influence expanded, he would find himself in need of aid and support to watch over the fledgling lands of Atralran, and to his most loyal vassals land was given to rule, creating vassals to strength his Realm in times of peace and war. Supposedly first amongst these were the House of Castellan, who were long honoured for the act by the naming of the Atral army, the Silvertowers, after the symbology of the Castellan's coat of arms.

#### Larkin I Goldlor (45AG-61AG)

There was a slight delay in the coronation of Larkin I Goldlor after the passing of his father, on account of their heirs extended time spent with the Duchies of Tynd, enjoying the hospitality of the Marshsmith family, newly founded by one of the numerous children from the union of the Truetouched Otelien Silverward and Ronik Tynnian, the first Grand Duke of the Tyndian peninsula. Larkin would subsequently take a Tyndian for his partner after his ascension, that of Clar Lightvale from the Duchy of Nolheimia, dubbed the *Spark of Hunter's Hold*. Together, they would become first of many Atral monarchs to war extensively with the Empire of Codorne, the northwestern neighbours of the Golden Realm.

Shortly after the Skirmish at Coldtide, the Battles of the Black Crop and the Battle of Artanges, the first major series of victories claimed by the Silvertowers under Larkin I Goldlor's command, the city of Chalimar itself found itself suddenly and violently assaulted - not by the Empire of West, but rather by the Blue Dragon twins Izzendor and Vodundax, said to be covetous of the Crown Jewels of Atralran. The pair wrought terrible destruction to the fields and hills surrounding the city, before laying siege to the settlement proper. While the wards placed on the city by nature of being one of the Seven Greats of Gaityas protected it from the worst of the damage, it would take vast sacrifice to finally fell the marauding dragons - including that of Perrin Azais, a newly-made member of the Gilded Guard, who had acquitted themselves at the Battle of Artanges. Honouring the House of Azais with a parcel of land to build a keep, Larkin I Goldlor made no less than two dozen new noble houses that day, the acts of valour fulfilling numerous Trials of Spirit, the King and his Queen standing as testament for many themselves.

#### Adom I Goldlor (61AG-67AG)

Compared to those that came before - and after, though by no means the shortest of the Goldlor Kings - Adom I Goldlor's reign was largely uneventful. The lands claimed by his father Larkin from the neighbouring Realm of Codorne remained uncontested, save for a brief period of conflict shortly after Adom's coronation that lasted little more than a few months before the Codornian attention was shifted by a series of bloody wars with the various rulers of Kingbourne, which at that point had ballooned to nearly two dozen in number, all claiming stretches of rivers, forests and hills for their domain to varied effectiveness.

While the Goldlor Kings worship and revere all the members of the Ahlusian Sixteen, anointed in the name of each in turn during the coronation, Adom I found particular patronage with that of Emes, the Custodian of Starlight. To this effect, he ordered the construction of countless spires and watchtowers crowned in silver-white glass across the Realm, serving as Temples for the Prince of the Eclipse and barracks for the Silvertowers - the zeal protectors of the commonfolk, day, dusk or night. Tragedy would come when Adom I Goldlor sought to inspect a newly constructed spire on a particularly windy night, and stumbled and fell at the watchtower's precipice - and despite briefly finding his balance, it was reported that the weight of the Crown of Civility upon his head caused him to teeter at the last moment, and lose his footing to tumble to his demise. Subsequently, future Kings wore a different crown for day-to-day use, shirking the unwieldy and weighty Crown Jewel for sake of both comfort and superstition.

#### Gilbert II Goldlor (67AG-98AG)

During Gilbert II Goldlor's reign, a number of wars with neighbouring Realms would erupt - most notable amongst them the War of the Five Typhoons with Gawylthlan and its culmination at the Siege of Dimans, as well as War of the Dry Plains with Codorne. The ever-shifting borders demanded constant construction and fortification - not just for castles, keeps, walls and towers, but also for homesteads, stables and barns, and it would be some fifteen years into Gilbert's reign that a novel building material, having long since been known to the Gawylthlian people, was procured in steady supply by an otherwise relatively unknown noble, Gerdus Galliard. Within another half decade Audrockian Sandslate was found throughout the Realm of Atralran, and the desire for steady trade all but staved off further conflict between the two nations.

It was whispered however, despite public efforts and actions declaring otherwise - for Gilbert II Goldlor was very generous to the House of Galliard, who quickly grew to be immensely powerful, holding the title of Baron within a decade - that behind closed doors Gilbert II lamented the figure that would go onto be known as the Siegebreaker, although Gerdus would outlive the King by nearly half a century, in spite of - entirely unsubstantiated - reports that Gilbert II Goldlor ordered his removal from court (in the kinder rumours) or assassination (in the more disparaging ones) within his Will and Testament. Regardless, Gilbert II Goldlor was remembered favourably by his successors, and some of the structures built during his lifetime still exist in some capacity to this day.

#### Gilbert III Goldlor (98AG-114AG)

Brother of Gilbert II - one of four Gilberts born unto Adom I Goldlor - Gilbert III Goldlor was crowned after the passing of his brother's heir in suspicious circumstances between Gilbert II Goldlor's passing and the date of the coronation. Details are sparse, being all but unpublished and unreported in meaningful manner, but the depths of my research suggest that it seems to have something to do with some form of telepathic or trance-induced state of vegetation that would lead to his passing - although this information is merely from comments made half a decade later, during Gilbert III Goldlor's involvement in the religious purge known as the Cleansing of the Glare. It is uncertain the level of deliberateness in the coordination of their actions, but in 103AG, Gilbert III Goldlor, alongside the Ivory Emperor Utultar, the Sunderer and Duke Bertrand Bromont sparked a campaign of legal decrees outlawing worship in the form of the Path of Light, the escalating firestorm of response culminating in the burning of chapels, with people forced to convert or be put to the sword. It is now known, with retrospect, that it was during this time that the Legacies of Distant Reverie that played such a critical role in recent years that led to the Battle of Manifestation's Return were scattered and lost.

Gilbert III Goldlor was also remembered for his appetite, and quickly came to be known as Gilbert the Gourmand, originally as an insult, but readily embraced by the King themselves when it eventually was let slip in his presence. Gilbert III founded the Pride of Goldlor Cheesery, as part of the celebrations of a "religious and cultural victory" over the Path of Light insurrectionists. While it changed owners several times over the years, it had remained a consistent producer of at least four varieties of cheese and continued to do so even after the fall of Atralran and its subsequent capitulation to the Astedian Empire. Throughout all, it maintained its name, garnered from a decree upon the portly King's lips at the celebration feast - that more its knights or spellslingers, more than its forests and hills, it was the food of the Atralran that was the true "pride" of the House of Goldlor. Beyond cheese, Gilbert III Goldlor also secured the future of its other great culinary cornerstone, giving Stalrose Vineyard over to the House of Alderstaff after the demise of all but a pair of daughters of the House of Osvine, both of which found partners amongst the Alderstaffs.

Curiously, busts of Gilbert III Goldlor's head, most commonly made of various types of marble, Audrockian Sandslate and alabaster are particularly common, in spite of the millennia that has passed since the end of his rule. Writings from the time seem to suggest that the King was rather fond of sending them as a gift, and commissioned somewhere in the territory of a few thousand over his reign.

#### Leonarde I Goldlor (114AG-131AG)

The first few years of Leonarde I Goldlor's reign were a grand and splendid affair, with a continuation of the opulence of his father after his passing in 114AG. Leonarde I did not exclusively rest upon Gilbert III's laurels however, instead building on them further, and thus is amongst those credited with driving demand for Atral produce across the continent - none more so than the Duchies of Tynd to the east, and neighbouring Lachlen to the west - achieved through donations of sample caskets just before significant events, festivals and gatherings, as well as an extensive culinary propaganda scheme facilitated by merchants travelling between the southern Realms.

Trouble would rock the Realm in 119AG however, with the shifting of the Wandering Worlds that the Windswept Depths of Pandemonium would shift to become coterminous, the conjunction seemingly greatest so to the northeast of the capital of Chalimar. Maddening winds ravaged the Realm for the best part of a year, unpredictable and vicious, and capable of carving through home, hall and hill alike. Cave-ins caused by the storm eroding stone were common, forcing the Atral people, unable to mollify the effects, to shut down mining and quarrying efforts for a time, relying on costly imports from neighbouring Realms. Worst still, the coterminousness seemingly empowered the magics that maintained the sandstorm walls at the border of the Realm of Anorcor to the north, billowing tempests of dust dozens of miles long shredding fields and farmhands alike - and then raising those slain into a state of undeath again, a baleful and dismal curse with uncertain origin. It would take the best part of three years for the Realm of Atralran to find itself on the path of recovery, but in time, by Leonarde I's final years, the Golden Realm revelled in a golden age of prosperity once again.