Historical Spotlight: King Gregor "Merrymaker" Sunjoy (1230pb-1311pb)

"So often it is the sins of the father than wreck the life of the child", Lord Whitecliff spoke coldly: "See here with our dear Queen, surrounded by a den of wolves all but created by her father's hand." Jorren watched the ageing lord closely as he picked at a loose thread in the sleeve of his black and silver houppelande. In the cold winter air, the words bit his ears harder than any freezing wind - what did the Lord want, and why did it feel like he was being tested?

King Gregor the Fifth is known by many contradictory names. "Merrymaker", "Rider's Bane", "The Dour King", "Hammer of the Elves" - so many of these nicknames have stuck to King Gregor's memory, so many of them paint him in widely different lights. To the common people of Rider's Ruin, he was a tyrant and a villain; to the common people of Cornay, he was a beloved ruler fond of charity and celebration, and to his small council, he was a profligate with little between his ears. King Gregor's life is one of great complexity and shifting personality, spanning over eighty years and multiple historically important events. Whether his reign was successful is largely up for debate and, like any long-ruling monarch, was rife with conflict and problems, though unlike many other kings, its effects are directly felt today through those who lived through it.

Gregor V was born in the midst of Autumn in the year 1230, during the reign of his mother, Queen Victoria the Fifth. Queen Victoria is remarked as a peacetime queen, with sixty years of little more than the rising troubles in Rider's Ruin and the odd small skirmish between minor lords, as such Gregor V was raised with the full expenditure of the throne focused domestically rather than waging a war overseas - something that allowed for the raising of a spoilt child. Gregor was the eldest of three children, with a younger sister and brother, Guinnevere and Arlan. Gregor is remembered in his childhood as a large boy, tall and wide, with a love for sports and riding, while his younger brother Arlan is remembered as small, frail and fond of being read to by the governor who raised them. Guinnevere is the subject of much debate and theory, as Queen Victoria had kept the girl isolated from her brothers all her life in an attempt to make her departure to become Prince of Lolmor and head of the Cornayan Faith (such is customary for the second-born child) easier on the girl - as such, very little is written or remembered of her before her ascension.

By the age of thirteen, Gregor was squired under one of the strongest knights in the realm and then the hammer of the throne - Ser Billian Warren. Ser Billian was a half-giant like all the Warrens before him; his skin turned grey and stone-like from the ancient bloodline that ran through his veins - something that granted him both great strength and constantly threatened to tip the scales of madness. Luckily for the realm, Ser Billian was one of the few Warrens in history more in touch with his human nature - though this did not necessarily make him a kind and caring individual. Ser Billian was twenty when he took the squire on, only recently knighted himself, but one who had already proved to be near unstoppable amongst the tourney lists. During this squirehood, Prince Gregor would prove to be a great swordsman and rider - though his temper was legendary at the tourneys he proved to lose. One such famous case occurred much later in the Prince's life, with a tourney at the famed grounds of Sprintfall where the opposing Lord Reginald Darlynton had initially refused to face off against his King in the joust for fear of hurting him - resulting in a strop from the King and an even larger one when Lord Reginald finally gave in and unseated Gregor from his horse. Once he was knighted himself, Prince Gregor opted not to don the title of Ser and instead remained Prince - on which he said the following:

Anyone can be a knight, any drunken errant could make any whoreson or wench a knight. I was chosen by the gods to be Prince of Cornay and seeing as I can have only one title - Prince it shall be.

Despite his statement, Prince Gregor would insist unofficially to be referred to as Ser Prince Gregor all up until his coronation at thirty-one. He was crowned, as is tradition, at the grand cathedral in the centre of the Skyhold, with his first wife, Queen Natalie of Mossshield, at his side. Queen Natalie was a third-born daughter of House Mossshields, a relatively unimportant house of Southshire with rich hunting forests surrounding its moderate estate. Some claim that Prince Gregor had married the girl out of love, others due to a debt he owed her mother for excessive hunting in the lands around their home - though this is largely considered a theory to discredit Queen Natalie's role at the hands of Prince Gregor's third wife, Queen Celine.

His first marriage would last from his 27th to his 36th year, when Queen Natalie would die during The Winter of 1266 - a particularly cold winter that followed a particularly hot spring and summer that caused droughts, famine and disease. He would mourn the Queen for five years before his Council of Swords pushed him into his second marriage out of fear for the unsecured succession, a marriage to an Agaarian named Queen Basira, which lasted two years and ended with Basira's execution at the hands of King Gregor for a treason she likely had no part in committing. Again, the succession was unsecured, but the King refused to marry again until much later in his life.

It would be during his five years of mourning that King Gregor would make his first major shift in both personality and kinghood, beginning what is looked back on as the golden age of Gregor the Fifth's reign by the commonfolk. The ten years that followed the death of Queen Natalie would see a rise in charity work done by the King, who seemingly cast away his spoilt attitudes out of either grief or some promise made to the late Queen to be a better, more charitable man. King Gregor would throw grand feasts in the streets of his capital city and beyond, providing bread, soups and meats to the commoners and putting on his "games" to entertain them. These games largely consisted of lowborn-only tourneys, something that had never existed before this period, that allowed for Knight Errants of low birth to display their talents and earn their glory instead of being cut down by the richer, better-trained knights of noble birth. King Gregor would attend many of these games personally, though he would be largely melancholic and drunk, resulting in many examples of overspending on food and drink provided. Nevertheless, the commonfolk who grew to love him during these periods of depression named him "Merrymaker".

It would be during the later years of these games that King Gregor would fire his entire Council of Swords, who encouraged him greatly to put an end to the celebrations to recoup the losses to the realm's coffers. During this firing, he would turn to the sons and daughters of many of his former councillors or seemingly pull at random advisors from various houses - firing many of them after short periods - until he settled on the council that would guide him through his later years. Lord Rufus Darlynton, Lady Florence Asterland, Lady Rhiannon Holton, Lord Henry Graves and Lord Peter Starwick would be the council that saw the realm through King Gregor's depression, and it would be the council that saw the realm through the first war in King Gregor's reign.

The Wedrobian War began in 1276 PB, following a breakdown of the regular peace agreements between Cornay and Wedrobia, which were renewed yearly during the Wedrobian Winter Solstice. Emissaries of the four courts of Wedrobia agreed to meet with the King and his nobility at the Darlynton keep of Aureswind in Crosser's County, a meeting that had gone smoothly for as long as anyone living could remember. Unfortunately for the realm, King Gregor would arrive at these meetings in a fury - one seemingly brought on by the news of the death of his sister Guinnevere across the seas in Lolmor. In his grieving state, King Gregor would make loud and dismissive sounds at the Wedrobian religious ceremonies that occurred during the meeting - something the courtly representatives took great offence to.

Despite the efforts of Lady Rhiannon and Lord Rufus, the negotiations fell into disagreement, resulting in a violent outburst from the already furious King Gregor, who is said to have thrown a goblet at the wall when the suggestion of the elves providing aid during the winter to the people of Cornay was raised. The representatives left the meeting shortly after, and the realm braced for war.

The war was a quick but bloody affair, climaxing in the now-famous Battle of Mudwood Field of 1278 PB. The Monks of Bridkeep describe the battle as such:

“It was a slurry of blood and churned soil, a decimation of thousands of bodies at the swords and spears and bows and bolts of the Cornayan and Wedrobian armies. Lord Kharis would lead the elven vanguard, meeting the young Lord Almeric Asterland in the centre of the foggy field. Neither side would align properly due to the thickness of the fog, leaving both to wrap around violently and create a pit of violence in the field's valley. Lord Reginald Darlynton, a boy of fifteen, would take command of his father's unit after an arrow dipped in poison struck Lord Rufus through the throat. The young Darlynton would take the left flank down hard, cutting off Lord Kharis from his support and crushing the Wedrobian Vanguard. Lord Henry Graves too would be slain at the Battle, though none are too sure of how. His body was found later by Asterland footsoldiers some fifty yards from the fighting, seemingly running from the conflict but struck down with multiple arrows along with a small host of Graves' soldiers. King Gregor's right flank would be met violently by the Winter Elf Sahleen, the king's cavalry rendered nearly useless by the muddy conditions and instead reduced to fighting on foot. Lady Elfa Starwick, daughter of Lord Peter, would lead in the reinforcements an hour into the fight - running up and backing up the right hand side that had fallen to Lord Sahleen. Lady Elfa would be caught in the initial fight, but neither commanding noble would fall in the melee. Eventually, when the soil of the once fertile field had been churned and the fallen had either been cut down or drowned in the liquid mud, the fighting came to a finish. Lord Sahleen would retreat his remaining elves across the border under a flag of surrender and Lord Kharis would lie dead amidst the chaos. The Battle of Mudwood Field would see rise to House Mudwood, a noble house risen by the young Lord Reginald who granted the land to one lowborn William Mudwood in exchange for leading the crossbowmen to save his life when the young Darlynton was caught in the bloodshed.”

After Mudwood Field, King Gregor again seemed to shift in personality. Some consider it regret for causing such a bloody war, others call it pride in ending it so quickly - either way, King Gregor seemed to have awoken from his depressive state. Instead, he became a firm and dutiful king set on quelling any opposition to his power. He would remain unmarried, though he would name his brother Lord Arlan as his heir and grant him the family seat at Oldreach - a castle that had remained in the hands of the throne for centuries. Oldreach itself was a castle surrounded by vineyards and a town of roughly four thousand residents, famous as the production site of one of Cornay's staple white wines. The castle would remain in Lord Arlan's hands to this day, though major modifications to its layout and defences would come in the years preceding Queen Guinnevere Sunjoy's reign.

The Council of Swords was remade with new entries to its number, with Lord Reginald Darlynton replacing his father as the youngest member of The Council of Swords in history and Lady Malory Longreed replacing Lord Henry Graves. The realm would remain at peace for another twenty years, with only rising dissent in the northern county of Rider's Ruin to potentially threaten it. Lord Brucard Holton had replaced his mother on the Swords Council at her death, a replacement that did not bode well for the realm. Lord Brucard had the fervour of freedom in his heart, as did many nobles of Rider's Ruin throughout the centuries - only a unified realm could stand against that fire.

The period that followed would come to be known as the Dance of Suitors, for again it was time to push King Gregor to wed. Now in his mid-fifties, the King remained healthy and fit - but his brother and heir did not. The Council of Swords looked upon Lord Arlan to see a man growing less and less suitable by the day, a Lord who spent as much time tasting his own wine supply as he did lounging and watching other people hunt for him. There were rumours of his homosexuality amongst the courts, though others claimed he was far too in love with himself to even consider loving another. With the threat of another hapless, drunkard monarch on the horizon, the Council of Swords encouraged King Gregor to marry again.

Many suitors were presented, ranging from Southshire ladies of ancient houses to foreigner nobility from across the Great Sea. Notable suggestions around the Council of Swords featured Lady Eleanor Highrock, Lady Joanna Featherblade and the three daughters of Lord Brucard Holton - though the last idea was shot down heavily by Lord Reginald and Lord Brucard. Eventually, King Gregor would marry Lady Celine Tar after a lengthy period of courting. Lady Celine was a proud and strong Queen, deeply concerned with the religious matters of the world. King Gregor and Queen Celine would have one daughter, Princess Guinnevere, in the year 1292 PB.

Despite the birth of their child, Queen Celine and King Gregor were far from a perfect match - with Queen Celine's open disdain for both of the King's previous wives proving to be a cause of regular argument. King Gregor had no issue with her disdain of Queen Basira, but it was her hatred of Queen Natalie that seemed to cause the most strife between the pair. When the pair were not arguing, Queen Celine made for a great stateswoman and Queen Consort - raising Queen Guinnevere to be a devout follower of the Cornayan Faith and creating a series of reforms that allowed for a much greater budget. Much domestic success in the later years of King Gregor's Reign can be attributed to Queen Celine, though her religious fervour only amplified the troubles brewing in the North. King Gregor saw the rising trouble there and arranged marriages between Lord Reginald Darlynton and Lady Olga Holton, and the young Lord Declan Starwick and Lady Aethelwyn Holton to quell the rising tension - he additionally attempted to arrange a marriage between his brother Lord Arlan and Lady Morag Houndcall, though both refused after meeting. The weddings of the two couples occurred in 1296 PB, with an eighteen-year-old Lord Declan and a thirty-three-year-old Lord Reginald marrying a twenty-two-year-old Lady Aethelwyn and a twenty-nine-year-old Olga Darlynton. Many thought Lord Declan would marry Lady Bathilda Holton, who was only a year younger than him and clearly much happier about the prospect than her sister, but King Gregor was clear it was to be the older two sisters - leaving the youngest to carry on the Holton line rather than the oldest.

The year 1300 was here, and with it came the first whispers of the brewing northern rebellion. Lord Brucard Holton, father to the four Holton children, made a formal request to King Gregor to recognise the lands of Rider's Ruin as the Free Nation of Hilinor and that, in exchange, he would continue to sit on the Council of Swords and swear an oath of non-hostility towards the Cornayan Empire. He claimed to have the backing of the northern nation of Wasnord, who would support him with troops in exchange for marrying their Chieftain's son to the would-be Hilinorian Princess Bathilda Holton. King Gregor refused the declaration and, to add insult to injury, revoked Lord Brucard's position as Sword of the Rocks and instead folded the responsibility into Lord Harlan's position as Sword of the Fields - as he was the only Sword on the council outside of Southshire who was not wed to a Holton.

Hilinorians claim the rebellion began that moment, but, despite several small-scale skirmishes and raiding parties between the forces of Rider's Ruin and Oakenshire across the next three years, it is more commonly agreed that the rebellion began with open conflict in 1303.

He believed he had everything to gain and nothing to lose, that's what made Lord Brucard so dangerous", Lord Reginald thought to himself as he looked over the map of jagged rocks and steep hills that made up the Ruin. "But what of his daughters? What of his son?" Lord Reginald grimaced as he remembered the young Ser Glyn on the battlefield, a boy not much older than he had been at Mudwood. Did so many children have to die for the pride of bitter old men?

The initial stages of the two-year war would see involvement from almost all the Great Houses in service of their King, with even Starwick and Darlynton fighting against Holton soldiers in open combat in northern Oakenshire and Crosser's County. The initial stages of the war were a clean sweep of victories on behalf of the rebellion - who leveraged their familiarity with the terrain to their advantage. Unused to riding in these conditions, the attacking loyalists were slow and struggled to mount serious cavalry attacks - severely limiting their ability to fight back against the superior riders of the rebellion.

At the Battle of Crowtown, Glyn Holton led a cavalry charge alongside Lady Emma Crowe that resulted in the shattering of Lord Almeric's vanguard - with Glyn killing a far more experienced knight, Ser Jason Highrock, in the process. The loss forced Lord Almeric and his troops to retreat further west, taking Houndcall and establishing a foothold there. With the aid of approaching troops from Lord Reginald Darlynton walking the Trident Road, Lord Almeric could reinforce his numbers and - whilst the newly knighted Ser Glyn Holton and his father turned their riders to retake the Houndcall seat - turn their attention to the Holton seat at Coldcrest.

The attack at Coldcrest took the Holtons by surprise; long had the castle been known as impossible to siege - its winding roads and mountainous terrain made it nearly impenetrable to any approaching army. Unfortunately for the Holton rebels, siege weapons from the Trident's Road had been sailed up the river and built in the south-eastern valley - allowing Lord Almeric to rain fire from his trebuchets upon the keep. Due to its natural defences, less effort was taken to maintain Coldcrest's walls in recent years, resulting in a quick breaching of its outer walls.

At Houndcall, Ser Glyn and Lord Brucard heard news of the siege and rode north to their home - meeting Lord Declan Starwick's host at the river. The battle was short and ended with Lord Declan's surrender, being taken prisoner by the Holton host, but was long enough to delay their forces and weaken their reinforcements so that the coming battle at the Valley of Coldcrest ended in the first major loss for the rebellion. The surviving rebels, accompanied by Lord Declan as their hostage, fled to the nearby woodland clearing at Bleakbell - a forest of hawthorn and pine. Here the rebels would camp, protected by thick woodland on either side that made a direct assault nearly impossible. Again, however, the clever Lord Asterland had a plan.

The water came down like the force of a thousand riders, crashing through the forest and levelling trees. The tents and firepits and makeshift stables were swept away with the chorus of a hundred drowning horses, each screaming and thrashing at the muddy onslaught. The soldiers too were swept away, impaled on jagged timber or stuck on rocks beneath the waves. Those who survived took to arms and sluggardly fought their way through the carnage, but it took no genius to see the war was lost.

By redirecting the Bleakbell river, Lord Almeric crushed the rebellion not with steel but with the land they so desperately clung to - turning their very advantage against them. Ser Robert Warren would deal with the survivors, beheading Lord Brucard against the wishes of King Gregor and chasing Lord Glyn off into Crosser's County to be burned alive at what would come to be known as The Ghostkeep Massacre. Lord Declan would be rescued by Lord Darlynton, who refused orders to stop Lord Glyn from fleeing the battle over issues of honour, whilst Lord Almeric captured Lady Emma - though her mind was already destroyed by the massacre she had witnessed at Bleakbell.

News of the end of the rebellion, and the bloody methods it took to do so, would reach King Gregor back in Skyshire soon after - who would be pleased to see an end to the rebellion but disgusted by what it took to achieve it. As an apology, he would free Lady Emma and the Crowe children and refuse the counsel of Lord Asterland to disinherit the Holtons. Instead, King Gregor returned the Sword of the Rocks to their only living and unmarried member - Lady Bathilda. She would sit, seething with bitter fury, on the council alongside Lord Declan, Lord Reginald, Lord Harlan and Lord Almeric for the remainder of King Gregor's reign.

Come 1308, the final shift in King Gregor V's personality was upon the realm - once a man of selfishness, turned a man of sorrow, turned a sometimes cruel and authoritative king, finally became an old man. His long years had finally caught up with him, reducing the King to a man of confusion. The signs of his deterioration were there from the midst of the Rider's Revolt, though all attempts to strengthen his mind and body at the hands of the court's physicians came to nought.

It was said in his final days that the King would mistake his councillors for long dead nobility of the realm, or would be found wandering the corridors of the Skyhold in nothing but his nightshirt. Great efforts were taken to hide the King's frail state, but there was little else that could be done.

In 1311, King Gregor was found dead in his bedchambers at the age of eighty-one. He would be succeeded by Queen Guinnevere Sunjoy, First of Her Name and last of her family to sit the Cornayan throne. King Gregor's reign is believed to have caused most of the problems that led to Queen Guinnnevere's removal at the hands of now Queen Olga Darlynton, with his actions in allowing the cruel treatment of the Holtons and his weakness in allowing Lord Almeric Asterland's power to go unchecked leading primarily to the turning of the cogs that worked together to usurp his daughter at the fateful Tourney at Oldreach. King Gregor V is remembered as a Merrymaker, A Dour King, the Bane of Riders and the Hammer of Elves, but what he may come to be remembered truly as is the man who doomed a centuries-old dynasty and plunged a nation into civil war.