House Irevos
Assets
Castle Irevos
The Family Castle of House Irevos is Castle Irevos located in The Thauros Spine a bit northwest of Vobranas. Back when Kupria was established this was the first royal residence of the kingdom, as the first Monarchs of Kupria belonged to House Irevos. After losing the crown to House Menteri, it kept being the main spot for the House, and where the administrative seat was situated. After becoming the leading House of Kupria again, however, the administrative seat moved to the Royal Citadel in Vobranas. Castle Irevos now functions as a vacation home for the members of the House, waiting for the time when a different house claims the throne of Kupria.
Townhouses in Vobranas
House Irevos owns several townhouses in the city of Vobranas which is inhabited by various members of the House. The largest of these houses is Griffin House, named after the House Crest. It was initially built as a House headquarter to make sure their interests were considered in the Hall of the People's Voice, but is now inhabited by the King's brother, Lord Tagas Irevos.
History
The history of House Irevos is in many ways the history of the Kingdom of Kupria, as they were the first and are the current rulers of the kingdom.
The Beginnings of a House
House Irevos has existed for a long time. The first historical record about an individual with the surname is Talis Irevos in AE 872, as he forcefully took over the area around Vobranas and claimed the small Kingdom of Kupria as his own. He was known as King Talis the Conqueror as he slowly moved the northern borders of Kupria to just south of where the Crossroads lies today.
When Talis died in AE 933, his daughter Alenia took charge of the House. She held the position for four years as she expanded Kupria's borders further south along the Thauros Spine. The only break she had from her conquest were the months she was too pregnant to lead a conquest and the time she had to take care of the baby. She was killed by Vulborish defenders in AE 937 as she tried to claim the Drylands for Kupria, leaving the seat of power to her two year old daughter Sirena.
Here the history books get vague. A two year old can't rule a country. Some historical sources state Alenia's brother Mendas ruled Kupria while Sirena grew older. Others say an unknown aunt of Alenia made sure House Irevos kept the rule of Kupria. Others again say a dragon decided to lead the House while Sirena was still a child. The theories are numerous, one more outrageous than the next.
The Fall
No matter how it started, Queen Sirena's reign was long and prosperous for Kupria. During the 81 years she lived, her rule officially lasted for 79 of them - though her actual rule probably lasted closer to 65 years. Still, she is one of the Kuprian Monarchs in history who ruled for the longest. During her rule the displeasure in other Kuprian Houses was rising, especially among the Houses that had previously ruled their own small nations before being conquered by Kupria. In AE 1018 House Menteri managed to enter Castle Irevos, murdering most of the Queen's family, including the old Queen herself. Only Sirena's granddaughter, the daughter of her youngest son Kervel, was allowed to live. The three year old girl was delivered to a different, less noble part of House Irevos.
The Menteri could've easily ended the Irevos line right there and then, yet chose not to. It's unsure why, but some historians think they wanted to see what would happen if they let the girl live. A mistake, some said. However, House Menteri ruled Kupria for more than a century after this event...
Rising form the Ashes
House Irevos spent some generations as an almost forgotten and small House, yet still considered nobles. Then slowly, but surely the name Irevos started to be heard more frequently in the rumor mills of the other Houses.
Regaining the Throne
In AE 1986 the current monarch King Aldin died, and as the last living person of House Karthos the throne was without a heir. By Kuprian law the next Monarch would be voted on by the people if there was no heir. One of the viable alternatives were Lady Virena Irevos, who had held a position in the Council of Kupria for three years by then. She was young, only twenty-three years old, but she had already shown herself as a steadfast, yet calm presence in the council. As most of the people who voted appreciated this kind of personality in a Monarch she won the vote, despite several of the other houses running heavy propaganda campaigns for themselves and against everyone else. At the end of summer she was crowned Queen Virena of Kupria, putting House Irevos back on the throne.
The Kuprian-Asharian War
Queen Virena ruled for 32 years before she died in AE 2018 and her son Lavin inherited the crown. Her last years as regent saw an increased tension between Kupria and the nation of Asharia to the east, as the Asharians seemed to want to claim Kupria as theirs. This looming threat also hung over King Lavin, though the young king refused to be bullied into submission. This eventually lead to the Kuprian-Asharian War, which started with Asharia invading Kupria in AE 2032. King Lavin was killed by the invaders.
Lavin's son Rennan wasn't in the country when the invasion happened since he was a student at the Academy of the Arcane. He left the Academy as soon as he got the news about the invasion and started mustering up a small rebellion army. After almost a year under Asharian rule, Rennan and his army of rebels managed to reclaim the country, killing King Lazar of Asharia as they beat back the invaders. King Rennan of Kupria was crowned shortly after liberation.
During the following years the two neighboring countries were ruled by kings who had both gotten one of their parents killed by the other side. Despite Asharian troops trying to claim Kupria again both in AE 2055 and 2065 King Rennan's kingdom stayed free. House Menteri did take some offense when, in their own words, House Irevos let a Menteri in their care die in the war. This was prompted by the death of Ilyrana Menteri, the wife of Rennan's brother Tagas Irevos, who was killed during the attack in AE 2055 after joining it by her own will.
The rule of King Rennan ended abruptly in AE 2072 as assassins managed to enter the castle, killing the king, the queen consort and the queen mother. Rennan's daughter Talanashta survived by not being home that day. She was crowned Queen Talanashta of Kupria soon after. Everyone was slightly worried about having Talanashta as queen since she seemed soft and not all that resolute. This worry was obliterated after a short while as the new Queen proved to be surprisingly resolute if she felt it was needed, and quite able to make tough decisions. Queen Talanashta's reign only lasted for fifteen years before she died of a mysterious illness in AE 2087.
Now both House Irevos and the Kingdom of Kupria had an interesting problem. Queen Talanashta had no children and no siblings. There wasn't one person who was the next in line of succession - there were two. The younger brothers of Rennan, Ilmonar and Tagas, are twins, and by Kuprian law of succession the people should vote for which of the two they wanted as a monarch. After a rather short but intense campaign where both brothers got to speak their case in panels open for everyone, it was time for the people's vote. It was very close in the end, only a couple percent difference in the number of votes between the two choices, but the laws were clear - the winner was Ilmonar. He was crowned two weeks later, in the autumn of AE 2087.
The End of a Long War
King Ilmonar of Kupria never liked the war, and although being at his father's execution that started the war in the first place he was against the senseless killing and all the money being thrown at a conflict that should've ended years ago. As soon as he had gotten comfortable in his new role as monarch, King Ilmonar begun the long and exhausting diplomatic work to end the war. King Erelim of Asharia was reluctant to even discuss the end of the war in the beginning, but after a year he agreed to meet King Ilmonar in person to see if they could come to some sort of agreement. They met several times a year, trying to solve it in a way both nations could live with. Finally, in AE 2091 the discussions were over, and the announcement of peace was spread through both nations.
Disaster struck in AE 2095. King Ilmonar died in an accident. The details are vague, and there seems to be a reluctance to give out any information about what actually happened. His son Ellarian was next in line, but he was busy finishing his education at the Academy of the Arcane. There were some pretty fierce discussions in the Hall of the People's Voice as the Council tried to agree about what they should do now, until Ilmonar's brother Tagas agreed to become a Regent until Ellarian was done with his studies. Although reluctant to just let the next heir shirk out of his responsibilities in this way, the Council agreed.
Crown Prince Ellarian spent a total of ten years finishing the Academy of the Arcane. Usually this is done in five years. Why did the Prince spend twice as long as normal to finish his education? Is it a matter of his intelligence, or rather lack of intelligence? Is that a person we want as a king?
Five years after the death of King Ilmonar the city of Vobranas is attacked by an unknown enemy of strange beings. Nobody seems to know exactly what these creatures were, or even where they came from, but they were beaten back with some sort of powerful magic. The day after the attack was over King Ilmonar returned, seeming a bit too alive to be dead. It had all been a misunderstanding, and the King had been somehow unable to come home. Again, no real information was given about this, and the people of Kupria have come up with several rumors about what really happened.
It's been twelve years since then. King Ilmonar is still king at 87 years of age, though not looking a day past 40. This has made people suspect he's an Elder-blooded - or something else - and that he will be Monarch for a really long time. The information not given to the people about what actually happened in the five years between AE 2095 and 2100 makes the people wary. The lack of other Great Houses as spouses in the royal family is also a reason for concern. Distrust and skepticism among the people is spreading, and might soon become a problem for House Irevos.
Family Tree
Of the Descendants of King Lavin of Kupria
Strength, Pride, Honor
Maps
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House Irevos Family Tree
Monarchs of Irevos
Strength of the Claim
Among the Great Houses of Kupria the concept of Strength of the Claim is well known. A House's Strength of the Claim is how many people they have in the current line of succession including the monarch, which means how big a buffer they have before the crown goes to a different house in the unfortunate case of death.
Currently House Irevos has six people in the line of succession, which means their Strength of the Claim is seven.
Crest
Current Diplomatic Issues
Usually there are at least one spouse from a different Great House married with someone in the line of succession. Currently there are none. This has made several of the other Great Houses displeased. The only spouses right now are either foreign nobles, or even worse, not noble at all! Just think of it, the next Queen Consort of Kupria might be a simple commoner!
The concerns of the withheld information about certain events in recent history don't make things better.
You make good use of article blocks for your sidebar, and your theme has such a nice pen and ruler sort-of feel. I like it ^-^ Your family tree is also outstanding; I especially enjoy that you included the crests of other houses marrying into this one.
Thank you so much for the comment! I'm so glad you like it! I was really unsure about using crests on the family tree, so it's good to hear it wasn't a bad idea! :3
On the contrary, it really livens the thing up. Family trees are always such a dry affair, which is why I tried to make my own colorful and artistic as well. No need to assault the readers with facts, right? That's what we have packaging for. ^-^