Elias de la Rosa

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Duke Elias Gabriel Monhala de la Rosa

Duke Elias was a laid back man known first for his good sense of humor and later for being an incompetent leader of the Monhalian Union, the country he inherited and helped create. After the Razing, he retreated to his family villa and retreated from public life.

Appearance

In his youth, Elias was known for his striking looks. His wide-set nose sat above a rugged moustache, a rougher look offset by the attire and carefree smile of royalty. By the time of his disappearance, he'd grown his facial hair into a well-kept beard, and silver hair spread back from his temples.

The War Duke

Duke Elias took the throne at a younger age than many before him. His aging parents chose to pass on the title before their deaths so the country could have a lucid leader during the trying time. Elias' choice in duchess helped this decision, as his wife's decisiveness and strategic mind were useful traits during potential wartime. As a respected member of the guard, people tended to trust her. Leading up to the start of the Monhalian War of Independence in 3186, the duke and duchess exercised every diplomatic route they could. However, the concessions they were able to get for what was then South Abraia weren't adequate, and they chose to go to war to build a better future for their incoming child. In war table discussions, the duchess focused on strategy while the duke focused on morale. Concerns about their ability to keep up with the war during the duchess' second pregnancy proved unfounded, and the duo worked through the birth of their second child.

Eternal Mourning

After the Razing took his city, his wife, and his son, the duke had no fight left in him. He signed the peace treaty with Abraia with little argument over its terms, even though it meant losing what remained of Monhal. He retreated to the de la Rosa villa outside Elsion, turning the vacation home into a permanent residence. Once there, he only left once for the public funeral for his family. He stopped engaging in politics aside from issuing occasional propaganda posters. If he had concerns about the country or the rising anti-royalty rhetoric, he never expressed or acted upon them. According to his surviving child, Max de la Rosa, he refused to accept a world in which half his family was dead and his city was lost. Since he was in his vacation home, he must be on vacation, and acted every day as if he was. He read and dined, relying on staff to keep the house stocked.

Relationship with Max

Anything that happened that he didn't like, or didn't match the way he wanted the world to work, he simply ignored. As part of that, he refused to see Max as growing up into their own person. To him, they remained his young daughter despite their assertions otherwise. He would order his small staff to get her dresses and similar items Max enjoyed as a child, and acted like he didn't hear them when they said they didn't want those things anymore. He seemed ignorant to the growing rift this created between him and his only child. Though he cherished them more than anything else he had in the world, accepting them as the adult they were growing into would require he also accept that their mother and brother were gone. Max believed he could overcome this, with the right pushing, but they never got a chance to try.

Disappearance

At the time of the duke's disappearance in 3208, the villa had a small staff and was surrounded with Reyla's hidden cameras. The cameras primarily faced outwards, to deter aggressive anti-royal activists from threatening the family. The footage from every camera has been reviewed numerous times and scoured by forensic VIs and no evidence has been found within. No staff member nor Max heard or saw anything that could have been of use, as has been determined through interviews and telepathic investigations. The most popular theory is that an Emerald Legion teleporter invaded the home and forcibly removed the duke to a Legion outpost elsewhere. Some believe he was held captive on one of the Legion battleships destroyed in the Battle for Talmar. Others believe there must be some hidden place on Devali where he was taken. However, few people believe he may still be alive after twenty years.

Timeline

3157	Born
3181	Marries his childhood sweetheart
3183	Assumes the role of Duke
3186	Has his first child
3192	Has his second child
3199	The Razing destroys Monhal and kills his wife and oldest child
3208	The duke disappears from his villa without a trace
3210	He's officially decreed as deceased