The 'New Kings' of Hawthrone

During Hawthrone's two and a half centuries of existence, the Altimir
dynasty was never broken. Many great rulers like Auris the Noble, Yancha
 the Wise, and Harold the Harmonious ruled and brought prosperity to all
 residents within the kingdom. Peace, however, was almost broken in 2598
 when Oswald the Old died with only a daughter for an heir. No woman had
 ever ruled Hawthrone before, and most members of the King's Council
preferred to stick with tradition and have a male sit the Haw-throne.
Sinus of Altimir, the nephew of Oswald the Old, proposed that his 22
year old son, Stannis, should take the throne, but the Council rejected
the idea due to Sinus' cold nature and infamy as a self-proclaimed
atheist. Even though Stannis was a Harmonist, the Council continued to
refuse him. For a full year, the Council ran political affairs without a
 King.

In early 2599, a magical explosion on the streets of Dolec
 killed 127 citizens and wounded another 256. The explosion resembled
the yellow flames used by the Yongori to draw moomagi out of forests.
The attack was blamed on the Darii-Yon, the largest of the Yongori
tribes still in existence. After two months of deliberation by councils
at all levels of government, Sinus decided to take matters into his own
hands. He and his son Stannis gathered a militia of nearly 10,000
citizen-volunteers and magicians to attack the Darii-Yon heathens. It is
 said that the tribe's warriors were defeated in the battle of Jagi
Hill. Sinus' militia took almost 9,000 casualties, but the Darii-Yon
tribe was seemingly wiped from existence. Most of those who survived
were magicians, also.

At the conclusion of the battle, Sinus'
marched on the King's Keep in Altimir and protested with citizens
outside the gates against the King's Council for failing to provide
justice for the victims of the Dolec Massacre. Fearing that they would
lose their new-found power, the Council ordered the City Guard to dilute
 the crowd, but the attempt only ended in violence. Some 500 citizens
were slaughtered in the Keep Riot, along with nearly 200 guardsmen.
Sinus also lost his life. Stannis, a young man and fatherless, chose to
find justice through peace and harmony. Using his faith in Harmonism, he
 won the support of the common citizenry. After four petitions to demand
 the Council's resignation, Stannis of Altimir lead some 500,000
citizens in a siege against the King's Keep. After five months, the
guardsmen turned against the Councillors and opened the gates to
Stannis.

On the first day of the new year, 2500, Stannis I
Altimir was crowned and a new council was elected by the citizenry,
ushering in a "New Era" of peace, according to Stannis and his
followers. As first order of business, the King of Hawthrone was granted
 new constitutional powers to "defend the nation" against "elites and
fortune seekers" to prevent future abuse of councilors across the
kingdom. Many citizens, however, noticed that the new powers simply gave
 the King the ability to ignore the will of the people, as represented
through the King's Council. Some dared to speculate that all the events
surrounding Stannis' rise to power had been a ploy of his father's to
grant more executive power to the King, but most found this notion
preposterous, despite the evidence...

Stannis I founded the Royal
 Guard, a personal army of 1,000 men highly trained in martial
disciplines and sworn to answer only to the rightful king. Stannis also
passed new agricultural subsidies and funded horse-breeders to mass
produce the stocky, yet swift Hawthrone breeds of horse. Additionally,
Stannis allowed magicians who had served his father to establish the
Central Mages' Guild of Avaron in the city of Rott. Stannis I martial
and magical exploits won him great renown, but also great controversy
among staunch Harmonists who found the notion of a personal army
dangerous to peace and harmony.

Stannis II Altimir, crowned in
2560 followed his father's footsteps in both action and controversy. He
added the amount of men to the Royal Guard until it numbered 5,000
skilled warriors. Stannis, additionally, founded the first public army
in Hawthrone's history to counteract his decision to increase the size
of his own. Following his father's footsteps in his interest in horse
and mounted combat, Stannis II made the army consist of three cavalry
units of 2,500 men and horse each. The Hawthrone Mounted Men-at-Arms, as
 they were called proved extremely useful in hunting down rogue Yongori
tribesmen when raids against villages began in 2574. Interestingly,
Stannis II took a huge interest in arcane arts as well. He granted
funding for the founding of not one or two, but five magical colleges in
 the realm, the greatest being the Altimir School of the Arcane based in
 the capital. Stannis allowed two new magic guilds, the Merdaxes Men and
 the Hawthrone Conclave, to form also. Two brand new alchemy guilds were
 started independently of Stannis' actions, but he granted them funds
all the same. Near the end of his reign, Stannis II formed his own
personal council of Seven Mages to consult him in arcane matters. For
the first time in its history, a King of Hawthrone also enlisted the
service of a Court Wizard, to entertain guests and threaten enemies with
 magic alike.

After Stannis II Altimir died of a pox in 2589, his
 son, Stannis III, was coronated. During his first nine years, he chose
to continue the same reforms as his father and grandfather. These
controversial economic, arcane, and martial changes in Hawthrone
politics and society has earned these descendants of William of Altimir
the colloquial dynasty known as the "New Kings". Although many citizens
are unsure of what direction their country is moving in, they are glad
that the changes have not been sudden and that peace and prosperity have
 remained predominant in all aspects of life... for now.