Jacob Owl

**Jacob Azurov** was a high ranking official in Bardonia, wealthy merchant, Tsar of the province of Westreach within Bardonia until finally being elected as Prime Minister of the newly independent Ryzan and serving until his death . Despite being of common birth Jacob worked his way up the ranks of Bardonia thanks to a mixture of his industrious attitude and ability to make friends in high places. He founded several business with the most prominent being The Amavos Market located in Eldham. He was the founder and head of the Azurov Dynasty which was created upon his ascension to the Tsardom of Westreach.

## Early Life

Born in Volkoregrod to a family of no real importance Jacob lived a unremarkable life suriviing through various small side ventures. The man who would come to help shape Syltor would begin to take shape when Ryzan was annexed by Bardonia and became the Second Freeholds of Westreach. During this period Jacob, a young man at this point, sided with Bardonia in an attempt to increase the station of himself and of his family. While he briefly succeeded in this it backfired gravely when Bardonia released Ryzan and retreated from the region. Forced to flee from his home Jacob went off alone and became a refugee in the small farming town Port Solanum. It would take years of backbreaking labor but eventually he saved enough to start a small book business and invested in the farms of Parajon which eventually both became successful enough to make him a small fortune as well as friends in the business community. During this time he would unknowingly have a son (Icey) with a unnamed Kumiho woman.

## Mavos

Not content to settle for a comfortable upper-middle class life Jacob risked everything a few years later and created the trading port town of Mavos on the island of Yulara. The land was claimed by Bardonia but had remained unused and undeveloped for years even as great cities of Lennox began to rise nearby. Mavos benefited early on from political support from Grand Lieutenant Icei ae Avel (I\_ce). Mavos quickly became a hotspot for many upcoming young bardonians who had drive and ambition but were widely unknown. Personally Jacob ended up benefiting immensely from the creation of the town as it's port and market would greatly expand his own personal wealth and ruling a town gave him much political influence within Bardonia. Mavos was critical diplomatically for The Bardonian Empire as it gave them a foothold in the region that they already had claimed but hadn't settled. Finally the creation of the town opened up even more doors for Jacob as he began to work with influential bardonian leaders including members of the Grand Council.

Mavos would become a center of Anti-Royalist sentiment as Jacob would wage a public campaign against the royal family of Bardonia in order to sower public opinion. This campaign would eventually be successful as the royal family of Bardonia was eventually disbanded although by sheer chance Ceibi Dandelion, head of the royal family, would move to Mavos and the two would eventually fall in love. Given their public political differences and the fact that Ceibi was married they kept their affair a secret. Soon they had a child (Kino) who they sent to live in Volkoregrod in order to keep their relationship a secret.

## Eldham

The new world of Eldham would be discovered when Jacob was 38 years old and he would engage in several business ventures including the creation of The Amavos Market and The Drunk Bard which were, respectively, the largest shop and the largest casino in all of Eldham during the early years of colonization. Thanks to his many successes both in Mavos and in Eldham Jacob would be promoted to the rank of official within The Bardonian Empire where he would act as an Industrialist and trusted advisor to the Emperor himself. As official he would frequently engage in fierce debates with other leaders often in defense of pragmatism, caution, and peace.

## The Brother's War

While, in general, Jacob was against wars he did make an notable exception in the case of Ryzan whose government, he believed, had treated him wrongly and had govern Ryzan poorly for decades. So when Bardonia declared war against Ryzan with the aim of total annexation Jacob whole-heartily supported it and even took up arms to join in the battle. This caused great tension as Jacob and his, at this point estranged, son Kino fought on different sides of the war and as the war dragged on Jacob began to lose faith in the righteousness of their cause.

However it wasn't until the climatic battle of Tossagrad that Jacob was forced to seriously confront his divided loyalties. For it was during this battle that several pivotal things happened. Firstly it was the first battle that his son Kino was actively fighting on the opposing side and so drastically influenced Jacob's state of mind and focus. Partly because of this Jacob was easily defeated in an duel shortly after storming over the walls by a ryzani warrior by the name of Berd. Jacob's story would've ended there had Berd not decided to spare his life due to a seemingly meaningless joke made before the war in which Jacob had asked Berd to spare him if they came to blows. Finally it was the intense brutality of the battle and the devastating lost of life for both sides that, in addition with the other factors, fundamentally changed Jacob's view of the war and of Ryzan. Rather than seeking to punish Ryzan for things done decades ago Jacob swore to do everything he could to preserve ryzani culture and protect the ryzani people.

## The Tsardom of Westreach

Following the surrender of the Republic of Ryzan several events happened in quick succession. Most notably Jacob argued against most of the Bardonian Grand Council who wished to see Ryzan divided into 2 provinces with its government completely dismantled. While not successful in getting everything he wanted Jacob emerged from the meetings largely pleased with his success as Ryzan would be kept as one, largely autonomous, province with its own local government. Jacob would also see himself assigned as a leader on ryzani integration and was poised to work with Ibris Tossva and Greentoss who were initially slated to run the province. However it quickly became apparent that the average ryzani, while not exactly in love with, was actually more supportive of Jacob than of the Toss family and so Jacob would be assigned as the leader of the province with the toss family working closely with him. This tepid "support" or perhaps begrudging acceptance was mostly a result of...

1. Ibris and Greentoss being seen as outright traitors.
2. Jacobs dovish political stances and ties to Ryzan which saw him as a moderate force within the hawkish Bardonian Closed Council.
3. As the Grand Industrialist of Bardonia Jacob the richest man in Syltor and expressed a willingness to commit his resources to Ryzan's benefit.

The Prophet and Emperor of Bardonia (Uni) at this point elevated Jacob to Overseer which gave wide oversight and broad powers over Ryzan. Free to largely pursue his own ambitions set about what would be his great work. That being the rebuilding of Ryzan and the peaceful integration of Ryznai into the Bardonian Empire. However at this time Ryzan presented a host of challenges.