The Rise of King Vylarius Tyrelia

Political event

In an age ago, forgotten to most, ruled a just and noble king of the ancient elven people known as the Tyrelians. His name was Vylarius Tyrelia- and he came from a proud line of apt leaders and great figures. So great was his heritage, in fact, that his father, King Emanarion Tyrelia, could not choose which of his offspring would be the most suitable heir to his throne. Vylarius, you see, had a twin sister; Romoriel- who was no less the leader he was.  

---

Since seniority could not favor a victor, King Emanarion proposed a set of challenges to decide his heir. A ruler must be resourceful, resilient, and inspiring - to this end, the siblings were set to accomplish a task with three stipulations within two weeks time:

• Granted only 1 gold each, they were to amass some form of resource beneficial to the kingdom.
• The siblings would be beset by various unknown setbacks and inconveniences while performing this task.
• The siblings would use their stockpiles to leverage support and make a case to their father as to how it would serve the kingdom and themselves as its leader.

  Immediately, Romoriel took to figures of power and prestige. She sought Guild Leaders, craftsmen of high renown, and military commanders- using her name and position in society to forge alliances and make deals. With her single gold, she began a series of trades and investments. She would buy goods at a modest price from one group and resell them at a slightly higher rate to another group- turning a small profit each time By the end of the first day, Romoriel had turned one gold into twenty.   Vylarius pondered the task at hand while his sister widened the gap between them by the hour. He took his single gold and traded it for ten silver pieces. He went around the kingdom of Tyrelia and used this silver sparingly, to support the working class craftsmen and merchants. He would buy their wares and offer those goods to others in exchange for nothing more than a story and a smile. When the first day of the trial came to an end, Vylarius held no coin in his coffer.   The siblings went on this way for the majority of their two week timeframe. Every so often, royal hired thieves would be sent to raid the coffers of both siblings, taking as much as 50% of the wealth within. But each time this happened, the thieves found Vylarius’ coffers empty- not a single coin. They thought he must have some immensely clever place he hid his fortune, but could never find out where. Still other times, the king would pay off large groups of actors to play out unrest among the people. Never violently, but still, it fell to the nearest sibling to quell the people. Romoriel spoke like a ruler- powerful and with disciplined authority. The people heard her, and they listened- dispelling with neither a positive nor negative feeling permeating the crowd. Vylarius, on the other hand, spoke as a leader. He addressed the situation and those who were not actors echoed his sentiment- making his voice seem that much stronger and his message that much clearer. When the crowd would disperse, the mood would not be negative nor uneasy.   Finally, the day came to present their cases to their father, King Emanarion. Romoriel stood proudly before the court and stated… “Thank you, father- for this opportunity to prove myself. Though I know my brother is a worthy heir to our line- I have forged close relations with the various guilds leaders of Tyrelia- and through them, guilds outside our borders. I have the favor of the finest craftsmen throughout the kingdom. I have turned the single gold you granted me into a great wealth- including arms, armor, tools, supplies, and liquid wealth of over 4,000 gold, despite multiple… mysterious losses of fortune. I feel this more than aptly proves myself the correct choice to carry on our legacy.”   At her presentation, King Emanarion nodded, then looked to Vylarius with a quirked brow. “Vylarious- can you hope to match your sister’s accomplishments here?” Vylarius stood with no court politicians beside him- no wagons filled with coffers or supplies. Vylarius stood alone. With a soft, silent bow to his father he held up one finger to say ‘just a moment’, as he walked to the balcony just outside the chamber. Vylarius turned to his father and motioned his arm back out over the kingdom. There, gathered en mass as far back as one could see, were the people of Tyrelia. They cheered uproariously at the motion given by Vylarius- and King Emanrion smiled.   “You gave us a challenge, father. To see who would take your place upon that throne. My sister- admirably- sought to be their Queen. I, on the other hand, set out to be their leader. Romoriel could certainly rule them; but I have inspired them. They may certainly go to war for her; they would give their lives for me- for this kingdom. What better resource has a kingdom than its own people? What good is the resilience of a King without the faith of those he serves? What royalty would we be without any of them…”   And King Emanarion smiled...