Anais Mundro

The Queen of Exilés

Anais Mundro was the so-called Queen of the Exilés, as the first to truly lead them to Ortoise and help found the Exilés nation. However, she did not like being called a Queen in any way other than as a form of respect for what she did, as she did not want to lead as a monarch, seeing the monarchy as the biggest problem for her people.

History

Anais Mundro was born in Camor, the capital of the Elven Kingdom, as a poor citizen towards the outer edge of the city. Her parents had little money, but they did everything they could to get her an education, ultimately sending her off to a place where her money wouldn't matter as much: the forest.
Here, Anais studied with Wood Elves, learning Druidry and finding that she could use her magic to control plants.

The War of the Beards

When she returned to Camor, as the War of the Beards began. Here, Queen Macvara Nerifir asked for Anais's help to defend the forest, but Anais did not know what she could do. It wasn't until Macvara's brother Arazion Nerifir killed her and took her place that specific instructions were sent to Anais.

Arazion Nerifir by Jarhed

Arazion was a man of ruthless efficiency. While Macvara was violent, Arazion knew how to use as little resources as possible to do as much damage. If he could block off the Elven Forest, he could halt the Dwarven advance.
Anais's job, then, was to create obstacles for the Dwarven advance. She was a noncombatant, but still she gained experience in the war, and even ultimately decided by the end to join the army. It was too late to fight in the War of the Beards, but Arazion let her know that she would have time to fight soon enough.

Draco-Elvish War

As a new recruit in the First Corps of the Elven Guard, Anais was often put in dangerous situations during the next conflict, the Draco-Elvish War against the Draconians. Most notably, she was part of multiple raids on the village of Yirthum.

Captain Commander Arandon Vonar by Jarhed

She served under Captain Arandon Vonar, the Captain of the First Corps, who would eventually become Captain Commander some time after the war.
He was a capable commander, and reported directly to the Captain Commander Wallis Nalo. This gave Anais hope that she would be promoted.
During the war, she saw horrors in Yirthum. The Elves starved out Yirthum, lit it on fire, tortured civilians, all in the name of provoking the great Kilprax Ildial to attack, which he ultimately didn't do until he wanted to. He was not provoked, he simply desired to fight.
All of that torment was pointless, all because Yirthum held a symbolic meaning to Draconian unity. A meaning that, when the Elves won the war, meant they took Yirthum over as a puppet state and made it their own, removing any Yirthumite culture and trying to push it down to destroy Draconian morale and shatter their nation.
Anais didn't fight in any battles after that war. The idea disgusted her, and she even had her face tattooed with druidic symbols that warded away violence. She wanted to be peaceful, but still at this point she did not officially leave the army. Because instead, she was invited to the Magic College, a Draconian school for people to grow as mages and establish connections with influential world figures.

Tobor Tuldad by Jarhed

The Magic College

Anais had been part of the reason they were able to go the Magic College. The Draco-Elvish War was fought under the pretense that only Draconians were allowed to attend, and Elves wanted a fair shot. In truth, Arazion wanted to conquer the Draconian Villages, and used the Magic College as an excuse.
But the puppet he had installed in the position of leadership over the Draconians, Tobor Tuldad, had met Anais and had heard good things.
When he and Arazion were discussing new students, both of them landed on her due to her promise as a soldier and potential Captain in the future.

The Class of -688

Anais Mundro attended the Magic College when she was a little over 300 years old, being promoted over others because of her prowess in magic and skill as a leader.

Classmates

Not all of her classmates ended up as prominent figures, but still all were listed in a class register kept by the Grand Wizards. The other fifteen aside from Anais were:

• Dalias Alderfond- An Elf and close friend of Anais Mundro.


• Tistuash Nesdaar- A Draconian from Yirthum very familiar with the oppression of her people under Elven rule.


• Lildoth Arhazar- A Draconian from Bortan, one of the most feared combatants of her time.


• Arabaster Thistrivinn- A High Elven noble who was considered the prodigy of Camor at the time of his studies.


• Drornin Zorvull- A Draconian Necromancer from the Village of Evity.


• Panrarta Kovan- A Wood Elf who pretended to work for the Elven Monarchy to gain intel for a rebel group, she was killed not long after graduation.


• Marmorn Stillcrown- A High Elf who was known for his absurdist bardic antics.


• Thankas Prighull- A Draconian alchemist from Tamd.


• Myuuncenshtad Caluwrakire- A Draconian bard from Ealla.


• Embiduas Neslesar- A Draconian puppetmaster from Evity.


• Hatiyr Vastrasse- A High Elven necromancer who sought to learn a secret to cheat death.


• Belston Philuil- A Dark Elf who betrayed his people to support the Elven Kingdom.


• Elyore Aidha- A Gnome Beastmaster with a love of birds and the wind.


• Revulsion- A Devil who came to Totania to learn of all the horrible things on the surface.


• Peebin Fliliril- A young Elven genius admitted to the Magic College at the age of 12.

Life

1010 AE 388 AE 622 years old

Anais was torn on whether to accept, but ultimately she did, deciding that no matter what her plans for the future was, she could use more training in Magic.
At the Magic College, she made some friends and other enemies, though she kept her promise of never fighting. During mandatory sparring matches with classmates, and the class graduation tournament, she refused to fight, therefore always getting last place in the class, despite the fact that she had incredibly potent magic and high intelligence, being the academic valedictorian of her graduating class.
She was questioned on what she intended to do, but the answer for her was simple: retire. At this point, she was well over 300 years old. She wanted no part in wars, and thought it would be fine if she settled down.

Called to Action

This would not be possible. She settled down with a group of friends from her Magic College Class who she had connected with, including Dalias Alderfond and Panrarta Kovan. They had begun to notice that, since capturing the Draconian Villages, the Elven monarchy had started paying less and less attention to their citizens.

Zenster Nerifir by Jarhed

To the Kings of Camor, the Elves were nothing more than recruits to throw into the army so Camor could conquer more land. They had no say in what they did, they just had to follow orders.
When Arazion died and his son, Zenster Nerifir, took over, things became worse. While Zenster was not a warrior and had no grand dreams of conquering, he began passing laws to increase hours for the average worker in Camor and to pay them less, implementing higher taxes to pay for his lavish lifestyle.
Anais began giving speeches around Camor and even the Elven Forest speaking out against this behavior from the Monarch.

"It is embarassing to live in a golden city where we are forced to empty our pockets so the shining King on his gilded throne can buy a new cape made of Welf fur instead of that money going to help the poor who are starving and in need of public aid."

— Anais Mundro

Many supported Anais's message, but few wanted to vocally support it. For their fears would come true when Zenster tried to have them killed. When he failed and Anais escaped with her friends, he had them exiled.
This idea of exile led many others to speak out, creating an entire population that became known as the Exilés. All inspired by Anais's bravery and conviction. They declared her their Queen, looking to form a new nation, but when this group found her, she gave a passionate speech.

"Queen? I am no Queen, nor should you want one. The Elves of Camor had a Queen or a King for over a thousand years, and the people never got a say, for the people never sat on the throne.
Want not a Queen! Want a voice! If we are to make a land, we shall not make one where we are oppressed because of one inspiring figure. I admire Meiriris Nerifir, but she had the flaw of letting power get to her head. I want no power, for I wish to keep my senses intact and my feet on the ground amidst the people.
Let us make a land beyond monarchy. Let us make a land for us Exilés! Let us make a democracy, where the voices of each and every one of us may be heard!"

— Anais Mundro

Exilés Nation

Anais delegated many tasks to others she deemed capable, who were then voted to help her find a place to settle. They landed on the Northern tip of the continent, building the city of Ortoise.
Voted into the parliament by a landslide majority of 99%, Anais was just the same as every other representative. She spoke for her constituents, but not for all of the people.
She found that many still called her Queen, even if there was a National Assembly of representatives. She decided to not hate the title as long as it was used with knowledge that she was not Queen, just a single representative with a larger platform than some others.
She was initially against expansion of the Exilés nation during her time in office, but after a hundred years in office, she changed her position, saying:

"If it can be done peacefully, in unclaimed land, or in places where we are given permission to settle, then I would like more land for our people. More land that may stand freely against tyranny and spread our message to the world.

Death

Anais was tired from her years of service to the people, with age taking effect on her earlier than it did many other Elves. She was only 600 when she became bedridden, but even then, she did not let this stop her from speaking out at rallies to promote democracy, and even supporting candidates who carried on her will.
She did retire from politics almost immediately after being stuck in bed. She said she was too old to represent the people now, saying that she wanted to pass the future onto the next generation.
Politicians would make a show of visiting Anais as a show of good faith, even if they disagreed with her stance on major issues, because she was an icon, the so-called "Queen."
She spoke out against this in one of her last speeches, saying:

"They call me Queen and shake my hand or kiss my cheek because I haven't the strength to push them away, nor the desire to fight. But these words are merely empty gestures from even emptier men.
One must beware the shallow politician, for they will use your dreams to fill their pockets and crush your hopes. They do not speak for you until they fight for you, even if they have sworn off violence, they must fight. Even if they have sworn off breathing, they must push through for you.
To be a true leader, they must give their all for you, not make you give everything to them! That is a tyrant... that is what this nation was founded to oppose!"

— Anais Mundro

Not long after this, she died. Not of age, but of poison. There are many suspects, with some saying it could have been the doing of spies from Camor or even a rival political faction of Exilés.
Her will lived on for the remainder of the Exilés nation, with an entire political party fashioning itself after her ideology, the Paix Party (Peace Party). When the Exilés nation dissolved, a statue of her was left in Ortoise, and her story was passed onto the Kingdom of Man, who honor her as a proponent of true freedom.
Monarchs around the world fear her image, but the common folk see her as a hero. A politician that knew what her power meant and how it needed to be used. Rarely has there ever been a public figure like Anais Mundro.