Sat upon an ornate throne was a young human man of but the tender age of 20. His hair reached but to his ears and was of a luscious golden color. His eyes bore the color of his forefathers a brilliant blue which bears the ever so slight glow of magic. His beautiful features and fair skin were in simplest terms could be best described as flawless. This man was King Rudlag the unprepared of the most exalted dynastic bloodline Varnnse; they whom were chosen by God to hold the divine right to a rule… Or at least that's what the Varnnse say. The only thing cannot be denied though is that they appeared to be blessed with a flawless appearance and great magical prowess.
King Rudlag was reading through a report... a report upon the revolt of the entirety of the roughlands March led by Jonh of mulgar, former head Knight and Regent for the late Margrave. It appears that the populace of the roughlands didn't take too kindly to the execution of their Lord and now were vying for King Rudlags head.
[… Even in death…joc.. You seek to make my life miserable... I thought I was finally rid of you… rid of the constant headaches… THE constant preaching…. THE NEVER ENDING CHALLENGE TO MY RULE…. 'YOU CAN'T DO THAT'…'STOP BEING A FUCKING FOOL'…'DON'T SPEND ALL THAT COIN ON FRIVOLOUS THINGS'… 'RETURE THAT SILK BLOUSE, ONLY A FUCKING DUMBASS WILL WASTE TAXS ON SUCH THINGS.'… 'YOUR RULEING IS FUCKING RETARDED CHANGE IT'… I WAS AND STILL AM THE RULER OF THIS LAND… But no that didn't matter to you… joc… you didn't give two shits… you acted like YOU were the king… you usurped my rightful power from me… you constantly would drone on and on about being the 'ideal noble'… for 11 long years you ruled over my life… Now even after I was able to kill you joc… you're Specter still looms over me... ] King Rudlag thought while his hands shook in rage.
"Duke Talson… I thought you had told me that THIS wouldn't be a problem, I DISTINCTLY remember you telling me you will make sure that the roughlands would not rebel… Does your word mean nothing? "Rudlag spoke, his words dripping with venom.
The kneeling Duke Talson shifted uncomfortably "... About that my king… The fault lies not with me... for I made those guarantees based upon sir Zalera and lady Rander testaments, Which now have become apparent to be incorrect. They had told me in confidence that the late Margrave joc was held in mixed esteem among his vessels. Both the lady Rander and sir Zalera informed me of the supposed fact that the Margrave's vessels would regularly complain behind his back about their treatment as well as his many character flaws, Many a times calling him a quote unquote 'slave driver'.
The both of them also had told me that the Margrave made many a unpopular law, for example they had brought up the supposed fact that he had outlawed brothels, many different articles of promiscuous clothing, any act of what he considered sexual which includes but is not limited to showing skin in the attempt to arouse, speaking in a quote unquote 'seductive voice' and kissing, within his presence.
They also said that he outlawed unisex bathhouses, banned the trade and ownership of slaves within his lands and last of all that he had banned the church from building anymore temples within his territory; As well as setting a maximum tithe that could be collected.
Both the lady and sir Zalera told me that that these were simply the most prominent examples. Now my king as you know... I have known the late Margrave for a considerable time as have you, your Majesty. Does this not sound like something joc would do? I for one at the time believed quite so and having a fair understanding of the common folk.
I understand that such laws would be extremely unpopular, so unpopular in fact that many if not most of the folk would welcome with open arms anyone who would repeal such draconian laws. So under such an assumption I had believed that the roughlands march would happily accept the ascension of sir Zalera to the position of Margrave. I had even made sure to have some of my men spread unflattering and delegitimizing rumors about joc... The simple fact is your highness is that the ones who are at fault here is sir Zalera and Lady Rander, they had either made a convincing half-truth or failed to inform me of critical information." Duke Talson explained.
King Rudlag in response simply glared down upon the still kneeling Duke Talson, his face twisted in irritation.
"Your... Majesty?" Duke Talson asked tentatively his eyes unwilling to meet the King's. But King Rudlag refused to respond and none of the King's advisers nor any other members of the court wanted to speak... And so silence ruled the throne room for a time. But finally a certain count Rander built up the courage to speak. "My king if I may speak… I think the fault lies with not Duke Talson or my sister; I instead believe the fault lies with the late Margrave's brother sir Zalera. I am convinced of the fact that he is a… Well an idiot braggart. It is evident at least to me that sir Zalera has over stated his popularity and understated his late brother's... Sire something you must comprehend about the populace of the roughlands... is that they are a people who are under the constant… Or was under the constant threat of demons. The late Margrave had proven himself in battle against the demons countless times and was the man who had slain the demon King, while on the other hand sir Zalera is little more than a big talking coward.
No matter how much we or anyone can try, this fact can simply not be removed from the consciousness of the people of the roughlands. The thing is my king I believe that Sir Zalera, as a native of the roughlands, he should've understood the importance of the late Margrave's achievements to the people of the roughlands.
as such he should've informed Duke Talson of this fact but he did not… Sire i do not want to sound unloyal or ungrateful for freeing my sister from that bastard eunuch… But I believe the decision to execute Margrave joc was extremely unwise especially considering who his heir was, sir Zalera who I've come to believe is the epitome of egotistical incompetence. The Margrave was already up there in years and horribly crippled, he was most certainly was not long for this world. I believe it would've been a much better option to simply ignore him…" Count Rander was unable to finish as the many members of the court exploded in rage "IGNORE HIM!!! YOU THINK IT WAS BETTER TO IGNORE HIM!!!" " COUNT ARE YOU AN IDIOT I TRIED THAT!!" "YEAH THAT DAMN PREACHY CUNT, WAS NOT SOME ONE WE CAN JUST IGNORE!" "COUNT RANDER DO YOU THINK I LIKE BRING COERCED INTO BEING HIS 'IDEAL NOBLE' " " THAT DAMN MADMAN NEED TO BE PUT DOWN!!" "HE WAS DESTROYING THE TRADITIONS OF THE NOBILITY "
The mere suggestion that it may have been better to ignore Margrave joc enraged and incensed the nobility. No one had actually liked the man although some may of been friendly with him. That was purely for pragmatic reasons, after all the Margrave had one of the one of the largest territories as well as the largest army in the entire realm… And the reason why nobody liked him was that he was quite willing to use his army to intimidate the nobility into acting as proper 'ideal nobles'.
Simply put he had tried to force his ideas upon the rest of the nobility and was succeeding. Many of the weaker parts of the nobles were essentially forced to give up their luxurious lifestyles for ones much simpler. It appeared as if the very idea of living a life in luxury to be abhorred to Margrave joc.
What's more during his time as Lord Regent had tried pushing through a law setting a strict limit upon how much of the taxes the Noble were allowed to spend on themselves, mandating the majority of taxes should be reinvested into the territories; To say the least the nobles did not allow it.
But the thing was Margrave Joc had made the realm prosper. as hated his actions were, they were effective; He had cleansed the realm of a great deal of corruption and promoted development.
The sad truth is many of the nobility recognized that his ideas worked and that he was a true paragon of rule… But they did not want to give up their way of life… To try as hard as him… They simply did not have his drive.