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UN: JN316

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King Joseph Wilhelm Louis Conrad Octavian (16)
Queen Cecilia Elizabeth Helena Mathilde (15)

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From the Royal House of: Tyrian
In the Kingdom of: Kyrn

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Kyrn emerged in the aftermath of the War of the Sons (as historians have termed it), fought centuries ago over who would rule the Jacaranda Peninsula. Everyone wanted this particular spot on the map due to its fertile countryside, its access to the seas, and its location at the crossroads of vital trade routes. Prior to the war, a man named Amias the Fair was emperor of the entire region. On his deathbed, he divided his empire into equal kingdoms among his eleven sons, but not one of them was satisfied with his share. The fifth son, Thane, was especially vengeful, for he had been allotted the mountainous lands, where nothing grew and which saw but a month of sun every year. Thane, who had a cunning but dark mind, had always been prone to violence, and he saw his father's death as an opportunity to seize power for himself. He gathered his well-trained military forces and crushed the kingdoms of eight of his brothers, consolidating their lands -- including the precious Jacaranda -- into provinces in his own kingdom of Kyrn. Only two brothers, Cadmus and Jabez, were able to withstand Thane's assaults; nonetheless, they retreated to the mountains, where they combined their kingdoms to form the land of Solandra.

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King Joseph Wilhelm directly descends from the line of Thane, and he shares his ancestor's proclivity toward warfare. As the eighth and youngest child of the late King Magnus the Bold, from birth Joseph Wilhelm was the first in line to inherit the Kyrnian throne. He received the best education available, with a special emphasis on military tactics and strategy, which he picked up with amazing ease. He routinely outperformed his peers and by the age of 12 had mastered every weapon in the army's arsenal. Court advisors whispered amongst themselves that such a shrewd mind had not existed since Thane himself.

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When Joseph Wilhelm was 15, his only sister, Princess Eleonara, was found dead in a town near the hinterlands. She had been bound and gagged, raped, and then brutally killed. An investigation soon concluded that Solandran rogues were to blame. Joseph Wilhelm's brothers flew into a rage, departing immediately for the mountains to exact revenge for their sister. They walked straight into a trap: the Solandran army ambushed the brothers on the road, killing them and sending just their heads back to Kyrn. The old king was so distraught over the sudden loss of all but one of his children that he could not eat; he died a month later, and Joseph Wilhelm inherited the Kyrnian throne. His first act as king was to declare war on Solandra.

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But he realized that he could not win this war without sufficient forces supporting him. He enlisted the help of a trusted court advisor and childhood friend, Ozias, to inquire about an alliance with the House of Loden, a wealthy noble family that controlled the far-flung northern province of Xolan. Ozias returned with good news: the eldest daughter of Sir Oberon, Lady Cecilia, was a pretty girl of marrying age, and her father was in favor of the match. Joseph Wilhelm sent for Cecilia immediately. But the girl did not come without protest, for she had fallen in love with the young stablehand, Breccan Pike, and the two had planned to elope. Only when Oberon threatened to kill Breccan and his whole family did Cecilia finally agree to move to Kyrn and marry Joseph Wilhelm.

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Joseph Wilhelm wed Cecilia on his sixteenth birthday. The ceremony was a lavish affair, and every province sent emissaries bearing gifts for the royal couple. As per custom, Joseph Wilhelm spent the night with his new queen, but at the break of dawn he was back in the war room with his generals, planning an attack on Solandra. Cecilia, meanwhile, explored the dark citadel of Kyrn and dreamt of home.

This message was edited 8/16/2011, 10:27 AM