#the war starts with the slaying of a beloved firstborn royal and ends with the slaying of a beloved firstborn royal. is this thing on

[that-faerie-in-the-corner]

broke: Polites holds Astyanax in the underworld woke: Hector holds Astyanax in the underworld (or yknow any member of his actual family who love him) bespoke: Iphigenia holds Astyanax in the underworld

[grandschemed]

the original blaiddyd and his most famous descendants.

mikhail & his wife, galina — the original blaiddyd.  he served in nemesis’ army and received the gift of the blaiddyd crest from the goddess, sothis, herself.  he was a dark knight and wielded areadbhar, the lance that was also known as the slaughterer and atrocity.  he was the first tempest king and lightning struck upon the ground he walked upon.  beautiful and golden, he was half a god himself, divinity mantled upon him like cream and he was the paragon of justice.  easily, mikhail could’ve been mistaken for a lion were it not for the great wolf furs he wore draped around his broad shoulders.  it was said that galina, his beloved wife, was a wolf herself, a powerful match that resulted in their divine offspring.  before loog, founder of faerghus, house blaiddyd was always remembered as a house of wolves.

king koschei & his wife, marya — the firstborn son of mikhail with the major crest of blaiddyd.  blood still strong and as a direct descendant from mikhail, koschei was the second tempest king and inherited his family lance, areadbhar.  he too would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a dark knight, riding atop a blood-red horse to seek his own wolf bride, marya, who was a heroine in her own right.  after overcoming baba yaga’s trials, koschei and marya were wed and fought to protect their territory together.  it was said that koschei was immortal as was his queen, marya.  their heroic and unheroic tales are recorded throughout history and now serve as fairytales to read to young children at night.

baba yaga — koschei’s twin sister, younger, with the major crest of blaiddyd.  while koschei became a dark knight, baba yaga was a powerful gremory.  none would surpass her talent.  she traveled the realm in a mortar and pestle, residing in the deep heart of the winter forest in a hut standing on chicken legs.  like koschei, she has appeared in history and fairytale books as a grandmother, benefactor, friend and villain, but always, she is associated with the forest wildlife.

countess yelena the first & her husband, vladimir — a famous dancer with no crest.  so beautiful was she that men would kill themselves for the opportunity to watch her perform.  it was said that she was so cold she could hold ice in her mouth and it would never melt.  she spent her childhood years living on the street as an orphan, but soon joined a traveling dance company and rose swiftly through the ranks.  eventually, yelena stole the hearts of many across the kingdom but ultimately won the attention of count vladimir, a noble with a minor crest from a well-respected family who dabbled in black magic.  yelena and vladimir raised several children together, but her firstborn son, morozko, and lastborn daughter, svetlana, became the most famous of all.  while her husband was completely forgotten, yelena was remembered for her beauty and dancing, said to inspire countless artists, poets and musicians to this day.  today, many academies of art and dance stand in her honor.

morozko, otherwise known as “father frost” — yelena’s firstborn son.  a traveling mortal savant said to carry and bring winter with him wherever he goes.  it is said that morozko is a demon of winter and he is neither malevolent or benevolent.  as legends go, if he is treated with respect, then he will always guide lost travelers home and keep them safe.  however, if he is treated poorly, then he will eat their soul and they will never be seen again.  morozko has many forms, but the snow is his domain that he shares with his sister, svetlana, otherwise known as the snow queen.

queen svetlana, otherwise known as “the snow queen” & her wife, vasilisa — yelena’s firstborn daughter is a legendary gremory.  she is queen of the snow bees, which are snowflakes that resemble bees and she is seen where the snowflakes cluster the most.  it is said her first kiss will numb you from the cold, her second kiss will make you forget about your family and friends and her third kiss will kill you.  queen svetlana, alongside her beloved wife, vasilisa, ruled her territory for many years with an iron fist and it was said that during her rule, every day was winter and every day was snow until the birth of her first daughter, odette and then the long winter melted into spring.

queen odette, otherwise known as “the swan queen” & her husband, king siegfried — odette’s birth signified the beginning of spring and was widely celebrated throughout the territory after enduring many years of a brutal winter.  however, lord rothbart was not invited to her nameday feast and he cursed odette to transform into a swan.  as the story goes, siegfried stumbled upon her dancing and saw the lovely maiden that she was and broke the curse, slaying rothbart despite his trickery and married odette, his one true love.  theirs was a happy marriage and odette was recorded as a benevolent, gentle queen and greatly beloved ruler.  it was said that her dancing was greatly reminiscent of her grandmother, countess yelena.

king radomil, otherwise known as “the rat king” & his wife, marie — radomil will always be remembered to be the most wicked, vile king in all of blaiddyd history.  he was a petty man and started wars for every slight, real or imagined and mistook caution for cowardice and dissent for defiance.  he was cruel and greedy, a regular womanizer and ordered the gautier family to execute whomever he wished regardless of the crime.  he was ultimately executed by the adrestian empire for his crimes committed against the crown, but perhaps most famous and peculiar of all was that the head they beheaded did not belong to a man, but a monstrously sized rat.  radomil was the last wolf of blaiddyd and his firstborn son, loog, casted them into a new century — the era of the blue lions.

king loog & his wife, anastasia — the son of the cursed king, radomil, and beloved holy knight with a major crest of blaiddyd, loog and his resistance army sparked a rebellion against the adrestian empire in imperial year 747 and emerged victorious in 751.  the church of seiros intervened and house charon served as mediator, resulting in the founding of the independent holy kingdom of faerghus.  loog was crowned as the nation’s first king and has been hailed as the king of lions ever since.  he remains a popular figure long after his death, with books such as "loog and the maiden of wind”, which recite his many chivalrous exploits and the great love story between loog and his wife, anastasia.  while completely lost to history, it was known to a select few that loog actually loved none more than his precious advisor, kyphon.

king klaus the first & his wife, tatiana — an early king of faerghus with a minor crest of blaiddyd.  he reigned until his death in imperial year 861.  his three sons, princes with competing claims to the throne, agreed to become archdukes and divided the faerghus between them into three separate territories.  these were the eastern kingdom, the western kingdom and leicester, the last of which had been annexed from the adrestian empire by faerghus after a rebellion in 801.  this arrangement precipitated leicester’s secession from faerghus after the mysterious death of the archduke in 881 and the formation of the leicester alliance in 901.

archduke evgeni & his wife, yuliya — king klaus’ third and youngest son with a minor crest of blaiddyd.  after the death of his father, he yearned for the faerghus throne, reluctantly agreeing to divide the kingdom into thirds with his older brothers and ruled leicester until his untimely death in 881.

king lambert & his wife, yelena — as a crest bearer, lambert ascended to the faerghus throne over his older brother, rufus, who did not bear a crest.  he loved his queen and wife, yelena, dearly despite the fact that their marriage was arranged ( and rumors surrounding him and his advisor, lord rodrigue — the nature of their relationship was often compared to the legend of loog and his beloved advisor, kyphon ), but lost her to the plague soon after his son, dimitri, was born.  around 1168, lambert personally led a campaign to subjugate the peninsula of sreng with lord rodrigue serving as his right hand.  the conflict resulted in the kingdom’s annexation of the southern half of sreng.  during the insurrection, lambert accepted patricia von arundel’s hand in marriage and welcomed her daughter, edelgard, into the royal household.  in 1176, lambert was assassinated in the tragedy of duscur.  with crown prince dimitri too young to ascend to the throne, lambert’s elder brother, grand duke rufus of itha, assumed regency over the kingdom.

king regent rufus & his wife, radinka — rufus, lambert’s older brother, lacked the family crest and was passed over in the line of succession as a result.  instead, he was given the title of grand duke of itha while his younger brother inherited the crown.  when king lambert and various other nobles were killed in the tragedy of duscur, rufus assumed regency over the kingdom.  during his regency, however, it was speculated that rufus had taken part in his brother’s assassination.  these rumors were never confirmed nor denied.  under rufus’ rule, the kingdom declined due to negligent government on supposed account of his womanizing.  sadly, he is not close to dimitri and avoids being involved in his life.

king dimitri & his wife, queen byleth eisner — upon the end of the war, dimitri and byleth were married as the newly-crowned king and queen of faerghus and gave the people of fódlan much to celebrate.  the two were devoted to the war restoration efforts, improving life for people and reforming the government and church from the inside out.  most famously, dimitri and byleth, in particular, devoted their efforts to helping the lives of war orphans and broken families.  at times, dimitri and byleth engaged in heated debate, but friends and family remember dimitri and byleth fondly as a couple desperately in love for the rest of their years and raised several children together.