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Help[Games] Re: Nyx' Royal Congrats - Sign Up (first 18 only) - Finished + wordy : 3
in reply to a message by Nyx
King: Vincent Theodore Dmitry Solomon [23]
Queen: Octavia Lucienne Constantina Valeria [20]
From the Royal House of Valdimere
In the Kingdom of Nighlin
Welcome to the kingdom of Nighlin. It used to be Terra Incognita before the founder of Nighlin, conveniently remembered as being a member of the Valdimere family, came along. It is conveniently forgotten that there were people there before then, with their own societies and worlds and cultures and communities, but such is diplomacy. Legend says that Nighlin was named after Nighlin Valdimere, the wife of the great founder of their nation, who much like her husband died by her sword. According to historians it's not that unlikely; Nighlin, they say, is a barbarian invader name, and Valdimere is probably the literal translation of a barbarian surname, and we all know that fictitious barbarians like their women wicked. Nonetheless, it suits the House of Valdimere well. They like the myths that say they have a claim to a land they probably never conquered, and they feed the myths about Nighlin itself, painting it to be a dark, gloomy, forested land haunted by night-walking monsters and ghouls. It is a cold, ghost-soaked land to which revolution and technology has never come easy. The Valdimere family still even live in leaking old castles in wolf-infested forests, like some rotting old monsters rattling around their crypt.
Vincent Valdimere is a break in tradition. He came to power after the death of his father, King Cyrus, was assassinated. It was probably his mother, he knows that much, because the crazy old bat is about as safe to be around as a rabid wolverine, but that's how it works in Nighlin. He'd quite like the change that. He'd be able to care for his children and hug them without worrying about them stabbing him the back. His own memories of his father are of a distant and inefficient father figure, authoritarian and bumbling, a puppet to his mother and the aristocrats, vaguely loathed by his inferiors, who was paranoid about his children usurping him. Vincent doesn't want to be like that. He's hardly a liberal figure, but he knows stupidity when he sees it, and if anything he likes modernity. He likes the idea of science, technology, innovation. He doesn't dislike people, he simply doesn't understand them, but he likes books and intelligence and his bright plans for the future which unfortunately bring into sharp definition the maverick, cutthroat traits he inherited from his mother, his father's favourite concubine and second wife.
There was some controversy surrounding him inheriting Nighlin. While nobody was going to get on the wrong side of the Dowager Queen Theodosia Valdimere, there was, needless to say, some competition. The issue was that Theodosia wasn't a queen when Vincent was born; a mere concubine, a pretty maid who caught the king's eye. Vincent's older brother, the second youngest and the son of the first queen, contested his throne. While others in the Valdimere line would have slaughtered the offending party and his family, Vincent merely took him aside and quietly explained that while he was keen for Nighlin to move away from its bloody past, that hadn't quite happened. He knew that if his brother kept on challenging him, Nighlin could face civil war...
Fortunately that didn't happen. Vincent's brother quietly moved his family away from the royal capital, and Vincent Valdimere was made king. But for how long? There was unrest in the family, and it was bound to spill over sooner or later.
It wasn't long before Vincent's mother announced that he should have a bride. Vincent, happy to brood in his castle with his books, maps, science and plans, found himself swept through social circles which failed to amuse him, and engaged to a young Countess, Countess Crece Ivanova. She was beautiful and charming, yes, but Vincent was far from charmed. He already knew the future the Dowager Queen had planned for him, and it was the same path as his father had walked; he would marry a controlling woman, be the puppet of his wife, his mother and his court, and die a pointless death. Nighlin wouldn't improve, it would sink further into its own mire. He would surround himself with velvet drapes, food and concubines, his mother would sweep his books and plans under the carpet... Vincent felt suffocated. He didn't want any of that; he couldn't let it happen.
He met his future bride, Tavia Zrkic, by accident. Shortly after becoming king he decided to call many of the great scientists, inventors and thinkers of Nighlin to the royal capital. Most did not arrive. They had been cruelly persecuted by King Cyrus and feared the royal rule. Among the motley crew who turned up was Octavia Zrkic, the only child of the great inventor and scientific pioneer Vadim Octavius Zrkic. She was not there in any professional capacity. She was there, afraid of a future purge of intellectuals, to plead for her father and his fellow scientific minds, although perhaps plead is not the word. She had lost her fiance, a general, several years previously in one of King Cyrus' fierce border disputes, and her parents were aging. She defended them as the only things left to defend. Most rulers, faced with such pride, such shameless brashness and rude rage, would have taken sadistic amusement, had her killed or thrown her in a dungeon. Octavia was lucky. Vincent was intrigued with the young widow, who was infinitely more impassioned and genuine than any of his court.
Their courtship was awkward and genuine. At first a long distance friendship was forged, then a cautious camaraderie, and then Octavia accepted the king's offer to stay, when she wished, at his court. Cautious friendship blossomed into warmth and then into romance. Before two years had passed, Vincent announced his intent to marry Octavia, despite the confusion of the court, the anger of his betrothed, the bewilderment of the public (a Valdimere? Marrying the daughter of a man of science?) and the fury of his mother. Countess Crece was dismissed in a fury from the court and ran off to a far corner of Nighlin to lick her wounds; the Dowager was, with difficulty, momentarily appeased. The couple married a mere year ago in an autumn ceremony. It was uncustomarily large, even for a royal wedding - everyone wanted to be there to see the unusual event, even the enemies of the dark and warlike country.
So it was that a widow and a scientist's daughter became queen. All her usual bravery and charisma deserting her, Octavia was the stereotypical blushing bride as she accepted her new, decorated name - Queen Octavia Lucienne Constantina Valeria of the house of Valdimere, wife of King Vincent Valdimere and Queen of Nighlin. It was the kind of day fairytales are based on.
Things aren't over yet, though. Even though they've only just married, there are difficult times ahead. Nighlin is changing, its friends and foes looking on, and within the court, it seems the new king and queen are surrounded by enemies... who knows what could happen?
Queen: Octavia Lucienne Constantina Valeria [20]
From the Royal House of Valdimere
In the Kingdom of Nighlin
Welcome to the kingdom of Nighlin. It used to be Terra Incognita before the founder of Nighlin, conveniently remembered as being a member of the Valdimere family, came along. It is conveniently forgotten that there were people there before then, with their own societies and worlds and cultures and communities, but such is diplomacy. Legend says that Nighlin was named after Nighlin Valdimere, the wife of the great founder of their nation, who much like her husband died by her sword. According to historians it's not that unlikely; Nighlin, they say, is a barbarian invader name, and Valdimere is probably the literal translation of a barbarian surname, and we all know that fictitious barbarians like their women wicked. Nonetheless, it suits the House of Valdimere well. They like the myths that say they have a claim to a land they probably never conquered, and they feed the myths about Nighlin itself, painting it to be a dark, gloomy, forested land haunted by night-walking monsters and ghouls. It is a cold, ghost-soaked land to which revolution and technology has never come easy. The Valdimere family still even live in leaking old castles in wolf-infested forests, like some rotting old monsters rattling around their crypt.
Vincent Valdimere is a break in tradition. He came to power after the death of his father, King Cyrus, was assassinated. It was probably his mother, he knows that much, because the crazy old bat is about as safe to be around as a rabid wolverine, but that's how it works in Nighlin. He'd quite like the change that. He'd be able to care for his children and hug them without worrying about them stabbing him the back. His own memories of his father are of a distant and inefficient father figure, authoritarian and bumbling, a puppet to his mother and the aristocrats, vaguely loathed by his inferiors, who was paranoid about his children usurping him. Vincent doesn't want to be like that. He's hardly a liberal figure, but he knows stupidity when he sees it, and if anything he likes modernity. He likes the idea of science, technology, innovation. He doesn't dislike people, he simply doesn't understand them, but he likes books and intelligence and his bright plans for the future which unfortunately bring into sharp definition the maverick, cutthroat traits he inherited from his mother, his father's favourite concubine and second wife.
There was some controversy surrounding him inheriting Nighlin. While nobody was going to get on the wrong side of the Dowager Queen Theodosia Valdimere, there was, needless to say, some competition. The issue was that Theodosia wasn't a queen when Vincent was born; a mere concubine, a pretty maid who caught the king's eye. Vincent's older brother, the second youngest and the son of the first queen, contested his throne. While others in the Valdimere line would have slaughtered the offending party and his family, Vincent merely took him aside and quietly explained that while he was keen for Nighlin to move away from its bloody past, that hadn't quite happened. He knew that if his brother kept on challenging him, Nighlin could face civil war...
Fortunately that didn't happen. Vincent's brother quietly moved his family away from the royal capital, and Vincent Valdimere was made king. But for how long? There was unrest in the family, and it was bound to spill over sooner or later.
It wasn't long before Vincent's mother announced that he should have a bride. Vincent, happy to brood in his castle with his books, maps, science and plans, found himself swept through social circles which failed to amuse him, and engaged to a young Countess, Countess Crece Ivanova. She was beautiful and charming, yes, but Vincent was far from charmed. He already knew the future the Dowager Queen had planned for him, and it was the same path as his father had walked; he would marry a controlling woman, be the puppet of his wife, his mother and his court, and die a pointless death. Nighlin wouldn't improve, it would sink further into its own mire. He would surround himself with velvet drapes, food and concubines, his mother would sweep his books and plans under the carpet... Vincent felt suffocated. He didn't want any of that; he couldn't let it happen.
He met his future bride, Tavia Zrkic, by accident. Shortly after becoming king he decided to call many of the great scientists, inventors and thinkers of Nighlin to the royal capital. Most did not arrive. They had been cruelly persecuted by King Cyrus and feared the royal rule. Among the motley crew who turned up was Octavia Zrkic, the only child of the great inventor and scientific pioneer Vadim Octavius Zrkic. She was not there in any professional capacity. She was there, afraid of a future purge of intellectuals, to plead for her father and his fellow scientific minds, although perhaps plead is not the word. She had lost her fiance, a general, several years previously in one of King Cyrus' fierce border disputes, and her parents were aging. She defended them as the only things left to defend. Most rulers, faced with such pride, such shameless brashness and rude rage, would have taken sadistic amusement, had her killed or thrown her in a dungeon. Octavia was lucky. Vincent was intrigued with the young widow, who was infinitely more impassioned and genuine than any of his court.
Their courtship was awkward and genuine. At first a long distance friendship was forged, then a cautious camaraderie, and then Octavia accepted the king's offer to stay, when she wished, at his court. Cautious friendship blossomed into warmth and then into romance. Before two years had passed, Vincent announced his intent to marry Octavia, despite the confusion of the court, the anger of his betrothed, the bewilderment of the public (a Valdimere? Marrying the daughter of a man of science?) and the fury of his mother. Countess Crece was dismissed in a fury from the court and ran off to a far corner of Nighlin to lick her wounds; the Dowager was, with difficulty, momentarily appeased. The couple married a mere year ago in an autumn ceremony. It was uncustomarily large, even for a royal wedding - everyone wanted to be there to see the unusual event, even the enemies of the dark and warlike country.
So it was that a widow and a scientist's daughter became queen. All her usual bravery and charisma deserting her, Octavia was the stereotypical blushing bride as she accepted her new, decorated name - Queen Octavia Lucienne Constantina Valeria of the house of Valdimere, wife of King Vincent Valdimere and Queen of Nighlin. It was the kind of day fairytales are based on.
Things aren't over yet, though. Even though they've only just married, there are difficult times ahead. Nighlin is changing, its friends and foes looking on, and within the court, it seems the new king and queen are surrounded by enemies... who knows what could happen?
This message was edited 8/15/2011, 7:02 PM
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