Borbas I

Dreamer

Friendly

Indicisive

**Borbas I** was the successor to the throne of Queen Olivenna the Great, which died in 213 AGC at the respectable age of 99, after having ruled the Kingdom of Lihanna for 84 years. For the first time in the successive line of royal inheritance, the throne didn't pass from parent to child. Because Olivenna's son had a barren wife and was impotent himself (and she also outlived him) there was no way of appointing an heir. The direct line from Giacaumo the Founder died with Olivenna. Borbas was the first eligible descendant, so the crown was offered to him. At first he was very apprahensive, because he wanted to start his studies to become a scholar at the newly founded Academy of Adalborno. Nevertheless, he decided that other priorities were of a higher order, and in that he foresook his own dreams and became king.

## Reign

He was crowned on the first day of spring in 213 AGC, one day after Olivenna had passed away. People saw this as a good omen, but things would play out differently. Borbas may have had given up his dreams, but he would be plagued by periods of severe depression, and he was a dreamer at heart (which landed him his second nickname, the Dreamer).

He was a long way from the cold pragmatism of his predecessor. Borbas I was a people pleaser, and most of his advisors manipulated him, and he was openly defied several times during his reign. Nevertheless, his reign didn't know a lot of struggles, except for the fact that slowly but surely the grip of the crown on the other nobles lessened.

In the late summer of 229 AGC, a delegation of strangely dressed foreigners appeared at Borbas' court, and wanted an audience with him. They told him they came from the east of the continent, beyond the Eshabid Steppes, and requested refuge. They said that they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs there, and longed for tolerance. The elderly leader of the group, Minmarjo Salamandra, even offered his services as an advisor. The man had such an charismatic effect on Borbas that, despite his other advisors' concerns, he took the stranger to be part of his Outer Council.

In 234 AGC, the Forest Wall was finally finished, after 22 years of building. Borbas felt safe, now that his weakest borders had been taken care of.

By 240 AGC Minmarjo had served him well, so the man got promoted to a seat in the Inner Council by Borbas I himself. In 244 AGC, Minmarjo was even one of the major factors that was able to prevent the outbreak of a civil war. Biulanca was the site of a clash between loyalists and republicans that wished to oust the king, since they felt he wasn't fit to rule. They were of the opinion that it shouldn't be possible to inherit such an important title. Even though Minmarjo was able to extinguish the flames of rebellion for a while, stronger dissident voices would haunt Borbas for the rest of his reign.

In 251 AGC a second outbreak transpired in Meirtatan, the second city of the Kingdom, on the edge of the Westernwood. This time however, the royal forces weren't there in time. The Bloodbath of Meirtatan came to pass, where parts of the city was utterly destroyed and people were killed, robbed and raped. Borbas' reputation took a permanent hit. Riots would be frequent for the coming seven years: up until his death.

## Death: the Final Uprising

In the fall of 258 AGC, an angry crowd stormed the castle hill in Adalborno, and tried to get inside the courtyard. They demanded the deposition of the king, after an incident whereby a local lord had imprisoned all local women, for them to serve as his harem. Instead of punishing him for his deeds, Borbas chose to ignore the matter, knowing full well he wasn't in the position to challenge the clan to which the lord belonged. This clear sign of weakness was the last straw for a lot of people. Among the insurgence sympathisers was the nephew of Minmarjo; Norjandas Salamandra. Dagger in hand, he approached the throne. He ran for the king, but his uncle came in between. Norjandas showed no mercy, and pierced the dagger through his chest. As his own uncle bled to death on the stones of the throne room, he lunged for the king, who closed his eyes and looked down. The king died there, sitting upright, with a puddle of blood, dripping from the throne.

When Norjandas wanted to exit the throne room, he was grabbed by the arms and was stabbed in the back: it was his cousin, Berjo. Berjo had silently been operating in the insurgency for ten years, and had more internal support than Norjandas. They all understood he could not be trusted, whereas Berjo was seen as a natural leader. Berjo was crowned, five days later. With this, the 1st Dynasty ended, and the second began. Celcedric, the crown prince, had fled through the sewers, and made his way to the Moavan Republic, from where he would be a king in exile.