Brennus

Brennus had always been deigned to lead. His parents, the previous King and Blood Queen, had readied Brennus for his lot on life since the day he had hatched. To that end, he saw the Vanguard lands through the lens of a ruler and a King. He was shown the Vanguard as a people and a land to protect and to guard and to control. It would all be Brennus' in time, they had promised. But, not every contingency can be accounted for. Before Brennus was old enough to take the throne for himself, his parents were struck ill and died soon after. In Brennus' stead, a Regent was assigned.

Brennus watched as the work of his forebearers was burned. The artistocracy, emboldened and empowered by the Regency, took to consolidating their power, driving their serfs half to death with labor and the rest of the way through taxes. The Lordships began to bury a once prosperous people into a vicious feudalistic cycle, and the Nation suffered dearly for it. The Regent planned to keep it all a secret, but Brennus was far more aware than the Regent could have anticipated. Brennus planned, and he schemed with those loyal to the previous Queen and King and unswayed by the wealth and decadence of the aristocracy.. Those dragons of the Court who had sold their countrymen and soul to greed and pride were numbered and accounted for.

Then, on one fateful day, Brennus' trap was finally laid and executed. With the combined armies of his loyal Court, Brennus Marched on his palace. The plan was nearly flawless. Few of those most trecherous had managed to escape Brennus' talons, but something had gone awry. By the time Brennus and his forces had reached the Great Hall and the throne, the Regent was gone, fled to the hills of the Legion and Enclave with a wealth of weapons, artifacts, and treasures, as well as whatever army he had managed to smuggle out. Brennus took his throne that day and then proceeded over the trials of those that had so nearly destroyed his Kingdom. Blood King Brennus, on his throne, had decided that none that had soiled his family's legacy would escape the headsman.

It took years of effort to undo the damage the now decapitated Artistocracy had done. The Serfs returned to their Fiefs, now lorded over by those of a more fair and true disposition under the Blood King. The Poverty would not be so easily eradicated now that the Vanguard was rebuilding, but there was progress. However, the Regency, from the shadows and wilds, continue to harass the Vanguardian Monarchy, waging skirmishes and sabotages across the country. Though most of their tendrils had been severed, Brennus was shameful to admit that the threads of greed continued to creep through his court. Leaks and lies continue to bubble up, but he has so far been unable to find where they are coming from. Even with repeated crusades against the Regency, Brennus has been unable to rout them out.

In the relative calm that followed the War of the Regency, however, Brennus came to be known as an empathetic and compassionate king. He seemed to the people to greatly care about his homeland, much unlike the Regent who cared only for their wealth and subservience. In the wake of that bloody period of history, and the thousands of lives it had displaced, the Monarchy grew more powerful as trust in its king rose among the lowest classes of dragonkind. Brennus, in his years as King has seen the rise of three Great Khans, and the fall of two of them. He has known them each closely, and the second as was an opponent in war. He had managed to avert war with one Great Khan, but their successor Nero was undaunted. The Legion's invasion into the Vanguard brought Nero and Brennus to a bloody standstill. After the war, with the two having nearly ground each other to dust, the two came to a peace.

In recent years, however, Brennus and that Great Khan have grown apart. Brennus had seen the depravity the Great Khan was capable of, demonizing his child and driving his entire people to hate the Covenant, the Lost Legion as it was called. Brennus also recalled the thousands of lives Nero had taken in his ill-fated invasion of the Enclave and Vanguard. Brennus decided to pull his support from the Khan for that indiscretion. It would only be the Great Khan's prodige that would kindle a hope in Brennus' heart for better leadership.

Brennus got to know the Great Khan's young apprentice at various Moots for Horde business ,but it was only when the Great Khan resigned, stepped down from his lofty vantage that Brennus truly understood what the Great Khan saw. Brennus looked upon the panic that had been raised in the hall, the looks of worry and questions. Brennus was the second voice to call support for the young Khan, new blood to purify the tainted throne that Nero had left. Brennus' heart had raced in that moment. He felt as though it was a brave new world he was watching unfold. He had not felt that way with either of the previous Great Khans. He didn't just have optimism for their ideals and plans, he had hope too.

In the following weeks, as the Great Khan got to know more intimately the Khans of the various Masses, she had only cemented Brennus' trust in her. She was young and inexperienced, but she had passion, ambition, and the sheer will to do what no other dragon at the moot could. "She can do it." Brennus thought to himself. It was during that time that he really got to see the true face of Cadmus, the Khan of the Core, as well. His soul was much like the Great Khan's, but only as a result of her. It was a spark that Brennus had never seen in any Archmagister. Whatever effect the Great Khan was having, Brennus was proud to see it. A new world order indeed.

With a new Great Khan, and a new world at their talon tips, Brennus found something else he had not expected. He had found a companion in the Legion, a woman whose presence made his heart flicker. Maybe it was the sentimentality that the Great Khan had awakened, or maybe it was because there was a massive weight off his back, or maybe because he had finally realized the loneliness he had, but Brennus felt a pang of mortal terror that one only gets when they realize that their years are rapidly disappearing behind them. Brennus met this dragon, a herald of the Legion, as she brought messages back and forth between the Great Khan and Brennus. The attraction seemed mutual, and soon enough, Brennus was sure that it wasn't just because of his social status. Eleri was a wonder the likes Brennus had never known, and had never known that he wanted, and he did want, so sorely that his heart felt empty as he waited for her to return once more.

During the final days of that year's Horde sessions at the Karakorum, Eleri delivered her marriage proposal to Brennus. A slight breach of etiquette, but one that Brennus was willing to overlook. Quite joyously at that. In good Legion fashion, as soon as the Great Khan had learned of the proposal, she set about readying the customary Legionnaire bonding gifts, kittens, flowers, and a lot of food. The marriage ceremony was simple but binding. Eleri, alongside Brennus' personal guard, returned swiftly to the Vanguard for preparations back home while Brennus concluded his business in the Legion.

Along the way, however, the convoy was assaulted as it left Legion territory, set upon by dragons wielding the standard of the Regency. The Royal Guards, trained just for this eventuality, fought bravely, driving back the Regency forces and rushing Eleri, who had been specifically targeted and maimed in the assault, to the Vanguard for treatment. Another Herald returned to the Legion with news, and Brennus, infuriated at the gaul of the Regent, set off with his remaining forces. The Great Khan, armed to the teeth as well, asked to accompany Brennus and he accepted the proposal. Alongside the Legionnaires, Brennus was able to cut a bloody swath through the remaining vestiges of the Regency forces that had not yet disappeared into the hills, capturing dozens of mercenaries and a few members of the original Aristocracy. The Moot had been concluded then and there and the other Khans returned home themselves.

When Brennus returned to the Vanguard, he found Eleri injured but alive. Interrogations of those few survivors detailed a vile plan, a plan that had been brewing for a long time, to assure that there would be no heir. They originally meant to kill Brennus but found Eleri a good alternative, and the plan was to either render her unable to have children or to kill her. That final piece of information needed a bit of squeezing to get. The new Queen, despite the frantic welcome, however, was immediately quite popular. The King and Queens' plight moved many hearts in the Vanguard, and in other Masses such as the Legion and even the Core.

After Eleri recovered from her injuries, it was not long before she and Brennus got busy. Their first children hatched safely and without incident, bringing three little Mirror girls into the world. Eburo, Moria, and Cassia. Though Eburo is the eldest, she has seemingly been looked over as heir to the Blood Throne. Moria, who is her younger sister, is more even keeled and humble and is both more compassionate and empathetic. Cassia, too, is more balanced than Eburo, but Cassia is too timid to rule effectively. Eburo has developed a resentment for this state of affairs, which goes to show that she is unfit to rule. Moria, like Brennus before her, is being readied to take over after his passing. She is, so far, well on her way to being a great Queen some day.

To this day, Brennus continues to deal with the growing boldness and aggression of the Regency's plans and schemes. Brennus believes that they are waiting for some sort of misstep, some way to erode the people's trust in Brennus. Some sort of political failure that they can use to gain any sort of legitimacy in the public eye. Brennus fears what might happen to achieve that end, perhaps continued terrorism to sow doubt and fear. Or maybe they are trying to drive Brennus to madness over years of stress. In any case, Brennus fears the Regent's willingness to kill anyone, to sacrifice the whole Vanguard, just for a semblance of comfort. That sort of evil chills Brennus to the bone. Even with the Legion, and even with all his connections, the Regent continues to evade him. Perhaps some day that will change.

Hopefully, however, it won't be the Regent who is the last one standing when the trap snaps shut.