Girhaith II the Father

*By the grace of Lorfea and the Four Creators, King of Oxway*

**Girhaith II** (c. 32 – 13 September 93) was the King of Oxway from 87 to 93. He is the founder and first king from the Bolrachugs dynasty. The son of the powerful duke Garhon of Orville and his wife Serta of Gearstone, he was elected as the successor of the last king from the line of Fintorf Oxway, Kræthif the Conqueror. Girhaith was descended from Fintorf's sons Trevalth and Harman of Bobiken, and was also a descendant of first Human tribes from outside Oxway Woodland.

## Election

Kræthif the Conqueror, following Zefronth I and Girhaith I, declared that he would take the counsels of the duke of Grafton for his policies. It seems the new king wished to launch an offensive against southern counties of present-day Troutford. Sources are vague on Girhaith's role at this time, but it would be his interest to limit the king's excessive pretensions. Kræthif summoned the lorfeon of Oxway at his residence at Bobiken Town to answer for his actions. But while hunting in the forest of Yolksdale, the king was killed in a riding accident on 3 March 87.

In April 87, chroniclers wrote, that in Yolksdale "died the race of Fintorf". Girhaith was elected and crowned King of Oxway at Sanctuary of Oxway on 19 May 87, by the lorfeon of Oxway, the first of the Bolrachug dynasty. Immediately after his coronation, Girhaith began to push for the coronation of his son Girhaith III. The lorfeon, wary of establishing hereditary kingship in the Bolrachug line, answered that two kings cannot be created in the same year. Girhaith claimed, however, that he was planning an expedition against the Hectorian armies harassing Maargel II, Count of Axton (a vassal of the Oxwayan crown), and that the stability of the country necessitated two kings in case he dies while on expedition. His son, Girhaith III was eventually crowned on 25 October that same year.

Girhaith spent several years fighting Hectorian invasions from the far West. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Safaaren in 88 and made an agreement with the Hectorian chief, Arfiktor. He defended his kingdom against the Hectorian attempt at conquest, becoming the dominant ruler in Oxway.

## Reputation

The king had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be conducted in Old Oxwayan rather than tribal languages and improving the legal system and military structure and his people's quality of life. During his reign, people began to call the capital of the kingdom "Town of Oxway" instead of "Colony of Lorfea" as the city expanded.

**He was given the epithet "the Father" in the chronicles written during the reign of king Fitelheith II, as Girhaith begat the longest dynasty in the history of Oxway.**

Girhaith also suggested building a crypt underneath Sanctuary of Oxway, where his predecessors and successors were meant to be buried. The remains of Fintorf Oxway and his descendants, earlier buried beneath kurgans in northern edges of Oxway Woodlands were transported to the crypt in 92. This inspired a tradition to extend the crypt's corridors and bury every single king of Oxway.