Arnald Riciere

**Arnald Riciere**, born **Arnald Riciere Kory** was a Lohnian nobleman who was the count of the city of Chacon up until 1272 SY. He is most famous for his betrayal of his homeland of Lohn, and he is considered responsible for Ahremia's seizure of the counties of Chacon and Ulrox, which would later become the province of North Lohn.

Riciere was born under the surname Kory, a name which he would later leave out of most of his signatures. His father was a wealthy banker and loan shark who did business in the city of Chacon, a northern Lohnian city near the Klenax River. After his father's death, Riciere worked his way up in the court of the count of Lohn and would marry the daughter and only child of the count of Chacon. In 1270 SY he was offered a large sum of wealth and protection by the king of Ahremia, Phylacus Lamme Kranor in exchange for disabling the local militia and allowing Ahremia to seize the city. He relented, but later got in hot water with the Ahremians and would poison himself.

## Biography

Arnald Riciere Kory was born in 1225 SY. He was the eldest son of a wealthy banker named Nouelle Kory. His father ran the largest bank in county Chacon and had been running his business for at least ten years before Arnald's birth. He made the majority of his money lending to other noblemen and collecting interest from them. He also owned a few plots of land outside of the city on which at least three hundred serfs worked on collectively.

Arnald grew up in Chacon where he apprenticed under his father and spent the majority of his childhood learning to run his father's business. At age seventeen he was drafted to serve in the army of the Kingdom of Lohn, specifically in a campaign near Tecurea. While at war he assisted in the destruction of many villages as well as the rape and murder of its inhabitants. He continued fighting in Birgolon until he recieved notice of his father's death in 1245 SY.

Upon returning home he found his father's business partners ruthlessly fighting for control of his business. It is rumoured that Arnald paid assassins to kill the business partners, but in any case the situation had been resolved no more than a year later. While running his father's business he was a ruthless and shrewd businessman. He treated his serfs poorly, and carried a commanding presence wherever he went. During his business dealings he became close with Count Rumin of Chacon and his family - especially his daughter Juliette.

A marriage between Arnald and Juliette, the only child of Rumin was arranged in 1251 SY. Although the marriage was initially purely political, Arnald and Juliette grew to enjoy each other. They had a daughter together, Algnes. Soon after his marriage to Juliette, Rumin died making Arnald the Count of Chacon. He sold his father's bank to a man from Cielle to focus on his new position as count.

### Betrayal

By 1270 SY, Arnald had squandered most of his wealth. Arnald was an inexperienced ruler, a fact which his subjects took note of. His misdeeds and fallacies were going to boil over at some point, and an angry population of rebellious peasants awaited him when that day came. In the fall of 1270 SY an Ahremian man arrived at the count's court and made a proposal. He offered Arnald a comfortable position and housing for his family in the Ahremian city of Euritas in exchange for him temporarily disarming the local military and allowing the Ahremian to seize the city. His difficult position caused him to accept the offer. The invasion went through, and Chacon was taken swiftly overnight by Ahremian forces led personally by King Phylacus Kranor.

Immediately after the invasion, many locals were suspicious that Arnald had sold the city out. While his residence in Euritas was being prepared, he resided at his country property. As Arnald began to realize the amount of hate his subjects had gained for him, he began demanding more protection and money from the Ahremian in exchange for what he had did for them. Phylacus began to see Arnald as a annoyance, a reputation that worsened as Arnald began to grow more frantic. Phylacus ordered the ceremonial execution of Arnald's wife and daughter in the courtyard of their country home, a execution which Arnald was made to watch. His last remaining property was then seized and he was exiled from Chacon. Arnald would decide to enter Lohn, a kingdom in which he was a wanted criminal. He secretly traveled to his cousin's townhouse in Cielle, where he would live in secret for multiple months.

After living there for a time the death of Arnald's family and the loss of his wealth got to him. On the 13th of Lihonis, 1272 SY, he commited suicide by purposely ingesting poisonous flowers. His body was found the next day and his death was celebrated by the betrayed Lohnians.

## Legacy

Prior to Arnald, Chacon was one of the most powerful cities in Lohn. It is thought that Chacon would not have fallen if not for Arnald. For this, Arnald is remembered poorly by Lohnians. To Ahremian scholars his historical significance isn't as important, but he is remembered as a coward nonetheless.