Tobias

King of Kona and the western world. Tobias has ruled for over half a century thanks to the alchemy in the world which has extended his life far beyond what is expected from a normal lifespan. He has two living sons, Hadrian and Karadin and a daughter Gearldin named after the woman that raised him. Tobias generosity, deeds and sense of honour earned him the title King of Kings by other regional Kings, Queens and Lords. In recent times he has suffered from a mysterious illness that seems to worsen the more he uses his power. He sacrificed himself during the battle for Lucere and was succeeded by his son Hadrian.

Early Life

Tobias story begins over half a century ago. His parents unknown, it was assumed he was abandoned because he was thought to be cursed or worse as he did not seem to age perhaps his mother could no longer afford to support him. Abandoned him at a children's home within the city of Ceres. The nuns at the children's home also cared for the sick and it wasn't uncommon for disease riddled souls to pass through the doors and share the same lodging as the orphaned children. Finally after several years and dedication of the carers within the orphanage, the eternal child dubbed Tobias finally showed signs of progress.

Years passed and other children came and went. Tobias could not understand why he could not leave and why others were growing up around him. He could not grasp why he was different and the nuns looking after him did not have any answers beyond that they believed him to be special. One nun in particular was especially nice to him always giving him extra food and taking him out for walks around the city. Her name was Geraldin but she too got older and began to look different but still she smiled all the same. But Tobias continued make little progress.

In Sickness and In Health

Years later, Tobias now the size of a regular teenage child was helping out around the nunnery when famine had broke out in the region. a swarm of locust had devastated crop in the matter of days and which caused an inpour of refugees into the an already packed city. All seeking aid provided by the crown or by charity. The aid did not come and a mass starvation began to cull the residents of the city. First the beds in the home were filled and quickly the bodies spilled onto the floors and into makeshift tents outside. All too quickly some of the other children got sick around him and others perished to the diseases that now riddled the rooms of which he grew up in. The women kept working and so Tobias noticed how some of the women there for the longest time vanished, them too falling to illness. The sickness effected all... all but Tobias. In fact he noticed how he was fortunate never to have ever been sick. Tobias took the time to write to far away towns and cities requesting aid but all his letters ignored.

The Special Child

After years of watching people die, Tobias had become normalised to the cycle of death that was coming in and passing through their building. The numbers were thankfully slowing up, but this was more so due to the fact that a person cannot die twice. In the years since he first wrote his letters, he finally received some funds by means of donations from outside settlements. It wasn't a lot but it helped with purchasing medicine and supplies and with Geraldin getting older and the the number of nuns dwindling he found himself running the day to day of the orphanage.

One day Geraldin had a fall which she seemingly was destined never to recover from. Bed ridden, weeks passed and her situation never got better until Hadrian got the call he didn't not want to hear but knew was coming. Called to the bedside of the motherlike figure that reared and cared for him for years. Geraldin had caught the illness and had lost her sight. Her health was failing by the day and her appetite was gone. She asked to see her special one as she caressed his hair and he finally broke to tears. But then a miracle happened and a bright light expelled from his hand as he touched her. In an instant her pain was gone and the warmth of the glow of his hands soothed her fever. Touching her head, her vision returned and the very next day she found she had the strength to walk.

A Rare Peace Indeed

A few years passed and Geraldin finally died naturally. Content that she got a few more years in peace Tobias left the orphanage now a grown man where he had spent the last sixty years of his life but he had decided that his work was done. The famine had cleared up and for the next few years the city began to prosper which meant less orphaned children. But peace in the capital was a rare thing to behold and sure enough before long, fighting had broke out over the succession to the passing of the Queen as her two sons Athol and Aydon, twins vied for the seat on the throne. The Queen came to a solution and began construction of a second empire that would equal the current. For a time the fighting stopped as both sides were appeased but when talks came to who would sit where began the bickering started again. Neither son wished to concede the ancestral home.

Two Titans and a God

There was only one way that the despite was going to be resolved. Both Athol and Aydon where proud warriors and so a fight to prove who was superior was the only way it would be decided - In the colosseum, a stadium large enough to house the entire city it would be decided once and for all in front of the entire city. On the day of the fight guards led Tobias and the rest of the populace into the stadium to witness the fight. it was a day out that was not optional and after some build up the fight began. The fight concluded with both men landing near fatal wounds, in a draw with no winner with both challengers on the verge of death.

There came a scream from the queen demanding for the healer to be located and before long Tobias was pointed out and dragged into the arena. After a few moments working on the fighters, it was clear that they would live. As the crowd cheered and the Queen wept with joy, it was clear that all that doubted Tobias power in that moment were converted. They had witnessed the power of a god.

Civil War

The Queen ultimately decided that Aydon would inherit the throne and she would have the name changed to reflect his name whilst Athol would be relegated to the second Kingdom. Athol upon hearing the news assassinated his mother and usurped the throne, taking the city. Athol his larger following and support from the lords within the city easily remove Aydon and his supporters from position of power causing a disturbance within the capital. With causalities on both sides. Tobias found himself in the middle healing members of both sides as the civil war raged on and it was at this time he met his future partner. As the disruption in the city came to a close, Aydon conceded and accepting defeat ending the dispute off who was the rightful ruler. Athol's next problem was with the man considered and whose name was spreading like wild fire. People came far and wide to meet the man with the healing powers. Some, even without ailments of their own who just wished to lay eyes on such a man. Athol did not take kindly to anyone more popular than the crown and had Tobias chased from the on the day he was due to get married. Anyone that choose not to fight in the civil war were neither welcomed within Athol or Aydon and thus exiled from the city along with Tobias.

West in Search of a Home

Tobias travelled west with his followers not knowing what he was looking for. On the road he heard that the great King of Lionsford was sick and thus set his sights for there. During his time in the orphanage, he remembered one of the settlements that supported him via donations was Lionsford and so Tobias felt he could repay a debt and so set his sights for there. On the outskirts of the town he was captured. Upon explaining who he was he was brought to the bedside of the King. The King offered to grant a wish of Tobias asked to have a small amount of land to start a settlement that he could dedicate to helping refugees of the war in the east and so Kona was established with the King of Bestowing Tobias with the title of King.

For fifteen years, The healer of Kona helped people who had fled the various conflicts in Lucere healing all types of ailments and providing meals and helping the poor find a place in the world and the village had become a beacon of hope in a land of chaos. House Cilbaen which were the major power in the west at the time and tired of the endless conflict were happy that finally there was some sort of peace and order within the region and thus supported the new settlement.

Threat from the East

Taxes were implemented only on the rich to help contribute to the settlements growing pains and soon the humble village became a bustling town. People flocked in from all corners of the known world fleeing from lords and Kings in the east that demanded high taxes and offered little freedoms in return. It wasn't long until these nations fearing what the exponential growth of Kona would mean to them that Athol sent both a threat and then an army that looked to bring the peace in the west to an end. Athol had captured and beheaded his wife who had been lured east in a false letter she received about illtreated children. Whilst her death shook Tobias to the core it did not come as a suprise knowing very well the nature of man

House Cilbaen who did not want the chaos to return if the Kona were to fail wrote letters to the The great King of Lionsford who did not need much convincing and so the two rulers quickly amassed an army that met the marching Atholian's outside the walls of Kona. The eastern army, fearing the risk a pincer attack should Aydon choose to also join the fray backed down and returned east. It was decided that Kona's walls of wood were not suffice and House Cilbaen knowing how important Kona could be to the realm contributed vast amounts of gold to the development of the settlement.

Tobias, The King of Kings

Several years passed and once again Tobias found himself journeying to Lionsford to aid the Great King. This time it was for his aging wife who was in great pain. Tobias unable to reverse the course of time was only able to ease her suffering. Having sat at her bedside for two weeks until she finally passed without pain. The Great King of Lionsford broken by the loss of his wife but enterally grateful for the extra time she was given dubbed Tobias, the King of Kings and swore fealty to the humble healer.

Years Later

The Snow Elves of Leuven

Years passed and Athol along with his successors came and went. For a time there was even a peace between east and west as the old empire dismantled and settlements liberated. Tobias, who finally felt enough time had passed remarried had three children, Hadrian, Geraldin and Karadin. Hadrian who was wise beyond his years and seen as a true successor to his father wished to learn more of the world he lived in and thus set out with his fathers permission. Geraldin helped as a healer within the city whilst Karadin took up the sword and shield to learn to fight knowing very well such a thing would be needed one day. Hadrian's travels took him to Maipe where he trained for a year with the monks to better understand his ability to use alchemy. There he met the Snow Elf Darnell Tassinari and over the next following years studied alchemy in the Snow Elven ancestral home of Leuven under the Darnell's son, Dalzell. Tobias supported his sons willingness to learn of the ways and culture of a people that up to that point were very much distanced and hidden from the world citing that as long as we break down walls with words rather than weapons then roads we build will not lead to war.

The Attack on the Elvish Glades

Unprovoked the new Atholian King Mateusz ordered a raid on the Elvish Glades and destroyed the mystical spring that lay there. Unaware of the attack Tobias is powerless to help and the whole forest surrounding the spring is burnt and the people within raped and slaughtered. Tobias blaming himself for letting down his guard orders the construction of various garrisons at the edge of his border and stations men to repel any future attacks. No more attacks come but he learns that Mateusz has annexed parts of the eastern world and is rebuilding a second coming of the empire his ancestors once held. Reports of similar attacks on the other mystical springs in the world reach Tobias and without the healing springs, Hadrian, having learned of their culture knows that Snow Elves are unable to safely give birth without the risk of the mother and so begins the era known as the great depression within Leuven and starts a conflict known as the 14 year war.

A Darkness Uncovered in the east.

The Alami tribe who live on Falaj uncover a cache of barrels containing a mysterious liquid that is being guarded by guards of Athol. Taking one of the barrels with them, the tribe leader travels to Kona to consult with the King. There, Tobias sure that this must be the same water as within the Elvish spring sets a plan in motion to uncover the rest of the cache and save the Snow Elevens from their demise. He writes a letter offering a peace treaty and delivers it to Mateusz and in secret organizes a force that will drive into into the enemy territory to recover the waters. Mateusz upon receiving the letter sends a message of his own to Leuven in an attempt to gloat of his victory to the angered Snow Elves. Darnell confused by Tobias's reasoning travels to Kona to question the King.

Darnell arrives and Tobias shows off the precious water that he has hidden in the dungeon, explaining that there is more and he has a plan to claim it. Tobias along with Hadrian are going to travel with an army towards Athol to meet with Mateusz meaning the Atholian's focus will be on the eastern capital. Darnell agrees with to go along with the Kings plan and that he will go with Karadin and the Alami chieftain to retrieve the water.

Whilst in the dungeon, the pair hear commotion going on above and a young black haired snow elf is dragged into the dungeon by Hadrian. Darnell recognising the boy explains that despite the boys strange hair, he was indeed one of them. Andris Galati had followed the Maester to Kona and upon hearing that Darnell was taken to the dungeon thought his Maester was in danger. Reacting the strange elf stormed the castle injuring the Prince and various guards before being subdued. Whilst the plan was put in motion, it was agreed that Andris would have to stay in Kona until someone could take the child back to Leuven.

The Return to the East

Darnell and the royals who are travelling part of the way together head east. The Maester tells Hadrian of the boy who is intrigued in his different hair explaining that his father was one of the men that raped an elven maiden 14 years prior. As Darnell diverts south, Hadrian discovers that Andris was asleep in the back of the cart all along. Knowing of Andris dark past and hate for Athol. Hadrian tells Andris that he will only be brought into the city if he behaves himself and stays hidden. Andris promises he will and traveling group finally reach the eastern capital. For Tobias, it is the first time he has been in the city since he left, several hundred years prior.

Riding in, Andris asks the King why does he feel sad and Tobias points out the streets he was brought up in saying he had spent a lifetime here and despite the darkest days, there was some moments of light to be had. Riding throughout the town square, Tobias points out the statues of Kings that sat on the main street. Tobias notes how Aydon's statue was defaced explaining the origin of the name of the city and explaining that he has outlived every King that has come since. He notes how mighty the warriors of the bloodline were citing how Athol and Aydon were titans of men.

Hadrian is welcomed by residents of the city who have dared break the curfew in the city to see the King of the West. Andris confused, growing up thinking that all Atholian's were evil harkens back to the messenger that came to Leuven who wanted peace. Tobias explains that all good men want peace, and good men are found everywhere. The group finally come to a stop and Hadrian apologises to Andris as he binds his hand and hits him in the back of the cart citing that from what the Maester told him, he could not risk an outburst from the boy.

The Black Snow

Whilst the royals are holding talks. Atholian guards ransack the carriage and Andris frees himself by burning the rope that binds him and chases off the guards that were trying to loot the items within. Among the items is the Princes precious Alami sword which Andris takes with him and storms the talks to tell the Prince of the looters. Embarrassed Tobias tells the boy to back back to the carriage and Hadrian tells him to let the robbers take what they want but Andris cites that he will kill any man that treads on the Kings possessions.

Mateusz takes notice of the boy and his apparel and realises that the boy is none other than his own offspring. Laughing, he mocks the boy giving him the moniker black snow and reveals to the boy of his identity. Angered Andris rushes the King but is stopped by Mateusz's true heir Saturoz. Besting his half brother and threating to kill the Atholian Prince. Mateusz laughs and tells him what does he think will happen to the King and Prince of Kona should he kill his son. Andris lets the Prince go.

The Legendary Dragoon

Upon hearing of Darnell's success in securing the magical water and off his legendary deed in mounting a dragon. Tobias orders the creation of a unique gift to be presented to Darnell should he ever return. With no body found, it becomes apparent that the hero perished and so Darius mourns the death of the hero.

The Second Snow Elven Migration

Nearly 30 years have passed and it has become apparent that whatever the enemy was doing on mount falaj, they had succeeded and the world was in decline. Dalzell who had been exchanging letters to Tobias explains how the weather is getting worse on the mountain and perhaps it will no longer be a suitable dwelling for them. Dalzell later asks Tobias to be housed in the Alpine Garrison. Instead of replying by letter. Tobias sends his Hadrian and Geraldin along with others to help in the migration off the mountain. Karadin and Astrin, Geraldin daughter are to secure the fort.

Hadrian brings the news to the Maester personally. Dalzell afraid that he isn't strong enough to lead such a change steps down as Maester as Damani succeeds him and Hadrian gifts Andris Galati's son Galrion his precious blade and so begins the move off the mountain. It is revealed that Tobias is ill from an unknown disease which Dalzell can only link back to the sealing of the alchemy stone.

The Siege of the Alpine Garrison

During the siege of the Alpine Garrison from the fiends and the Atholian's, Tobias, sick from illness rides to the aid of the Snow Elves. Despite arriving too late. The allied forces had already arrived driven back the enemy and Tobias leads the Snow Elves back towards Kona in an event known as the third Snow Elven migration. Confused why Mateusz is once again starting war, Tobias agrees with Damani that the threat in the east needed to be dealt with once and for all. The re-emergence of a dragon however sparks some hope however to the possibility that their may be another source of magic that previous thought.

A Kings Request and A Departing Gift.

As the lords and leaders are contemplating whether not not to go to war, Darius gives a rallying speech to the table that spurs them on. Upon hearing that Darius is to travel and seek out the Alami to learn of why a dragon has appeared to him, Tobias thinks it fitting to present the chosen one with the armour he had made for his grandfather. Having based the design on old drawings from ancient Alami dragoon warriors. The armour will prove his ancestry to a race that has since gone into hiding somewhere in the vast wetlands to the southeast having abandoned their home on Falaj.

The Kings Demand's

Just after receiving news that his son Karadin's horse had been spotted with no rider Tobias was furious that there would be cowards on his table who refuse to back him in the coming battle of Lucere, the sick King's shows his strength and resolve knowing he has not got much time remaining. He demanded that those under his dominion will fight for him, the King of Kings or face retribution after the war. He snaps at the warlord of Sovos, Nakari who is one of the first to voice his complaints. Despite having the largest army, Tobias stands firm, citing that should Kona fall then there would be nothing to stand between Mateusz dominion and Nakari's lands. After the meeting, Galiron shares of his distrust in Nakari and Tobias agrees citing that he hopes he did not regret telling Nakari of their plan but they could not win the war without his support. At the table there is talk of the Kings sickness and who should succeed should the royal family all befall the illness. Hadrian disputes such claim suggesting that there was still strength to be found in Kona.

A Royal Gambit

As the battle came to a stalemate. Tobias advanced along with Hadrian, Damani, and Galiron to talk to Mateusz with hopes of snaring his counterpart. Knowing his nemesis was easily roused and of his own impending death by means of his illness. The King of Kona purposely left himself open to be struck down by the Atholian Prince which in turn left Saturoz open for attack. Galiron did not hesitate to lunge at his uncle, the man that had killed his father. When Galiron asked the mortally wounded King why he, a King sacrificed himself for a pawn. Tobias explained that it broke him to stop Andris exacting revenge all those years ago which would have been justified. it was all he could do to repent, citing no King's life is worth any more than his loyal subjects. At that moment a blue horse approached and it was Karadin who had survived the attack at the marshes. Tobias embraced his sons and told them if they are destined to perish due to infliction they should look to Cilbaen for a successor citing the house was always it's oldest and most loyal retainer. He told Hadrian to find someone that was brave, skilled with a blade and has dedicated his life to his Master, of which Hadrian responded and 4 is a little bit stupid. These words were a play on the sentence Hadrian used to describe Galirons father his younger days suggesting Galiron should be made King should the worse happen.

Legacy

After alchemy was unleashed the mysterious illness cleared up. It was understood that during the time the magic was sealed, anytime Tobias used his power, it was at the cost of his life. It is thought he knew so an yet continued to help people up until his death. Hadrian finally succeeded him becoming the next King of Kings in the west.