Name: Charonvale Azura
Title(s): The Mad King
World: The Songlands
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 58
Power/Talent/Skills: Charonvale is a song-mage of incredible power, as were all his ancestors before him. His voice, strong and deep, can mold stone and conjure the elements with ease; truly a force to be reckoned with though his declining health has certainly drained his ability.
What They Rule Over: The Azurian Empire, a kingdom whose borders stretch farther than any nation before it: from the shores of the Lake of Tears in the west to the great Crystal Sea in the east. The Empire's unmatchable armies have driven the barbarians deep into the north and hold dominion far over the sands of the Scorching South. With their carefully crafted weapons of Myrite, a rare element holding an incredibly strong resonant power, no other nation could hope to stand against the forces of the Azurian Empire alone and can only hope that they are no the next target for 'liberation'.
Personality: Charonvale has always been a cold and calculating leader of incredible cunning and wit. He rules with a fist of iron, smashing any form of resistance with ruthless efficiency before it can even dream of springing up. He cannot tolerate fools and beggars and chooses to show his nation's might on the battlefield against any weak foe. Over the years, the king has become more and more reclusive: often spending days upon days locked within his chambers with neither food nor water, even turning away his own wife and children. Paranoia cannot begin to describe the way he regards his advisors and councilmen, always fearful of dissenters and traitors within his midst. It seems the only one he trusts is Councilor Ferrin, a spiteful and abrasive man with clear ambitions that everyone fears. With the king's ear, he has gained untold power over the other leaders of the council and with but a word the king would see his rivals brought to execution without a moment's thought.
Appearance: Old and decrepit, the king's health has declined rapidly over the past several months; his hair receding to grey, stringy wisps while his pock-marked skin clings tightly to his boney frame and gives him a terribly sickly pallor. Intense blue-green eyes have since faded to a milky grey, often holding a dark and sinister look. As a king, his clothing is extravagant with finely crafted rings and bracelets of gold and Myrite, an elegant mantle of gold plate holding a flowing purple silk cape embroidered with gold-thread and lined in white furs.
Biography: Charonvale was born the second male child of his line, destined for a position as a councilman or military leader beneath his elder brother. A cold and ungrateful child, he was deeply despised by most caretakers and peers for his selfish attitude and hateful demeanor. When he was 18, his brother died rather mysteriously during a sailing trip and Charonvale became the heir apparent to the throne. Some six years later, his father also died suddenly in his bed, though no suspicions were raised, and the young heir immediately seized power despite the protests from the Council and from his mother. Vastly ignoring their instruction, the new king set about systematically stripping the government of its powers over the course of twenty-odd years; transforming the previous republic into a clear monarchy that none could hope to oppose without fear of death.
Before long, however, a particular councilman started rising through the ranks of influence and soon found himself the right hand to the king in all matters of state and governing. Councilman Ferrin had somehow gained the very ear of King Charonvale, becoming his chief advisor in all matters and quickly eliminating his competition by presenting them as 'traitors to the Empire' and overseeing their kidnapping, torture, and execution.
Goals: To purge the Empire of all dissenters, partisans, and rebels through any means necessary in order to secure his family's rule.
Enemies: The Council of the Azurian Empire, the barbarian tribes of the Frozen North, the Kingdom of Osteran to the west.
Family: No living parents. No living relatives. He has one wife, Misbeth Azura; a faithful and unquestioning spouse who is far too involved in the nurturing of their only son, Charonor Azura.
Predecessor: Before Charonvale was Charonvasy, a somewhat distant and uninvolved king who took few steps to preserve his Empire's stance of freedom, development, and democracy. He died at the age of 52 from a sudden and untreatable illness that took his life in a matter of days and left his only remaining son, Charonvale, for the throne.
Plot:
The Myrite Crown
Ordered to be forged by the early leaders of Azuretha, the crown remains one of the most finely made objects of Myrite in existence. The greatest crafter in recorded history, Kassadin, was tasked with the job of making a crown worthy of the king and he promised it would be his ultimate creation. For years he poured his knowledge and expertise into his forge until finally it was finished: a single crown of pure blue-green Myrite, shaped in an elegant twisting of strands that seemed to be wrapping endlessly around the wearer's brow and that came to an elegant peak just above the forehead. The design was not only solely for fashion: the masterwork craft could channel and amplify the song of its wearer and produce powerful effects. With it, the Kings of Azuretha gained incredibly influence, as their magical abilities knew no rival, and under their leadership the kingdom's armies swept across all opposition.
However, the crown did have one fatal flaw that no one ever expected. When wearing the crown one's mind would be open wide to all sorts of magical influence. Before long, after a dozen generations of kings, one would discover a way to exploit that weakness to nefarious ends, using their own song to plant subtle thoughts and suggestions into the King's mind without their knowledge.
And so came the age of King Charonvale, the last King of the great Azurian Empire.
The king's chief councilor chanced upon the discovery of the flaw and sought to use it to promote his own position within the Empire. He began to whisper suspicions and warnings into the King's ear, hoping to turn him against all other competition, but he did not expect how effective his deception would be. Slowly the King's sanity was stripped away as he became more frightened and paranoid of those around him until finally he ended his reign at a great feast that all powerful and wealthy were required to attend. Here the leaders of the grand Empire were slaughtered like cattle by the King and his personal guard until not a single one was left standing. Not one person was safe from their blades; a surprised Councilor Ferrin and even his own wife and son counted amongst the victims.
In the end the castle was stormed by the hastily mustered armies but by then they were too late, for in his death throws; surrounded by the butchered bodies of his victims; the Mad King Charonvale would cast a final spell that would forever taint the great capital of his nation. This song was so powerful and so full of hatred and madness that it immediately killed all within earshot, though the resonance continued to spread out across the entire city. There it seeped deep into the earth and was held by the great Myrite constructions the Azurian's had built and taken such great pride in. Forever vibrating with the 'Death Song', the Myrite trapped and projected a sort of spectral image of the dead kingdom, twisted by King Charonvale's will. Ghosts and shades would prowl the streets, foul and dangerous things haunting the corners of every ruin as the once glorious capital became the city of the lost and damned. Rumors would state that the Mad King himself could still be found within his throne room, feasting upon the bodies of his long-fallen brethren and treating any interloper with rage and murderous intent.
Only the foolish would dare tread there again