Inner Circle Exclusive: Royals of Galifar (Patreon)

In my last two articles, I've talked about the nobility of Galifar in broad terms. Here, I want to tell the tale of a few specific members of the royal family—kings, queens, and princes whose deeds are still celebrated or cursed in the present day. I haven't set dates to any of them; while Cyre and Galifar the Dark are already set in canon, part of the point is that these others can be dropped into the untold history of Galifar wherever you need them to be. I've suggested that the Sun Queen inspired Tira Miron, but was she the daughter of Galifar the Dark, or was she still alive when Tira first took up her sword? The main point of these characters is that these are examples of what the rulers of Galifar could be: scholars, paladins, tieflings, traitors. Which each, I've tried to suggest ways that their stories could matter—how adventurers might encounter their relics or tales in the present day. 

Cyre ir'Wynarn

Casual students of history may be confused by contradictory accounts of the namesake of Cyre. In some accounts Cyre was Galifar's oldest daughter, a mere minute beyond her twin sister Aundair. In others, Cyre is described as the youngest son of Galifar I, who ruled as king after his father stepped down. Both accounts are true; it was Princess Cyre whose vision of unity shaped her father's kingdom, and King Cyre who ascended to his throne. 

The twins Aundair and Cyre were the most mystically gifted of the Wynarns. Aundair specialized in evocation and conjuration; she negotiated with celestials and fiends, and bought down her enemies with storm and fire. Cyre was devoted to divination, illusion, and transmutation. Her interest was always in understanding the true nature of a thing... and exploring the ways it could be expressed. Where Aundair was bold and often reckless, Cyre was thoughtful and empathetic. Cyre's motto is "What our dreams imagine, our hands create," and it was her motto before it was the nation's. She sought to understand the people of the Five Nations, and it was her vision of all five working together—of harnessing the best in all of them—that drove the development of her nation and the foundation of Galifar. 

Cyre's mastery of transmutation was unprecedented in the Five Nations. Their greatest creation was Cyre's Mantle, which used principles of transmutation and divination both to alter the form of the wearer and imbue them with new knowledge. Cyre didn't use the Mantle as a disguise, but rather used it to create unique personas reflecting different  aspects of their identity. Their subjects grew used to "The Five Faces of Cyre," and Cyre considered each to be as much their true face as the one they were born with; few who knew Cyre were surprised or disappointed that they chose to rule as a king, using a confident, decisive persona that embodied their strongest leadership qualities. After their coronation, Cyre used the Mantle less often; King Cyre wanted the people to have a clear and consistent image of their king, only using their other personas in private or with close advisors. 

Those who are familiar with changeling cultures may recognize elements of traveler philosophy in Cyre's use of personas. While the truth is buried beneath centuries, some tales say that Cyre had great respect for the Children of Jes and helped them establish havens across the united kingdom. In some of these tales, Cyre didn't actually create Cyre's Mantle, but rather received it as a gift from the Traveler. Whatever the truth, both Cyre's Mantle and a number of their advisors disappeared after the king's natural death; there have been a number of tales of the Mantle being used at various points in history, but its current location remains a mystery. 

Prince Dyran ir'Wynarn, "Clever Dyran"

Dyran ir'Wynarn was a Khoravar born of the union of the King of Galifar and the Duchess of the Duskwood. As a child, he spent a great deal of time on his mother's estates; some whispered that he was visiting his grandmother, an archfey whose domain lay on the other side of the Duskwood. Whatever the truth of this, there is no question that Dyran was remarkable. When he was appointed as governing Prince of Aundair, he was an Enchanter of the Third Circle; many believe that his true power was greater still but that he choose to conceal it. He was a brilliant orator, blending natural charisma and supernatural gifts. He strengthened the Arcane College considerably during his reign, but his life's work was tracking down and identifying Thelanian manifest zones, following up on obscure tales and walking forgotten paths. Aundairian bards know countless tales of Clever Dyran—how he won the crown of the Count of the Barren Marches, danced with Lady Perilous in the Palace of the Moon, and stole arcane secrets from the Mother of Invention. Some say that he surely could have stolen the throne of Galifar from his human brother Dolan, but that Clever Dyran had no desire to rule. Prince Dyran disappeared when he was 111 years old; the tales say that he surely went to claim a seat in the Palace of the Moon, and that he might be there still today. 

While the details aren't known to history, Prince Dyran negotiated with many of the archfey of Thelanis, both on his own behalf and for the good of his nation. Dyran's journals could provide insight both into the location of Thelanian manifest zones and secrets of the archfey; perhaps he made bargains that could still be invoked today. His vaults surely included treasures of Thelanis, and an unusual trinket could turn out to be a fey heirloom of Clever Dyran. 

King Galifar ir'Wynarn II, "Galifar the Dark"

Young Galifar was born in Vult, on the darkest night of Long Shadows. The common story says that both his mother and the attending Jorasco chirurgeon were found dead in the birthing room, the silent child still cradled in his mother's arms. The servants whispered that the child was cursed, that plants withered in his shadow. But it seemed Galifar could sense those who carried death in their heart; when a would-be assassin sought to kill King Cyre, the boy called out the killer's name and the assassin fell dead at Cyre's feet. While others still feared the prince, Cyre embraced him and the two were inseparable until the King's death. 

This is a popular story, but as with so many elements of history, the concrete facts are shrouded in mystery. Many scholars believe that Galifar II was a tiefling with ties to Mabar; but others say that the king had an aberrant dragonmark in a place easily concealed. It's said that when Galifar looked at someone, he knew exactly when and how they would die. But while it was these eerie gifts and his cold demeanor that earned Galifar his sobriquet, Galifar II was a good ruler who strengthened the bonds between the Five Nations, reinforcing the Galifar Code of Justice and overhauling the calendar; it was Galifar the Dark who established the Year of the Kingdom still used today. 

Aberrant dragonmarks were rarer in Galifar II's time than in the present day, and if Galifar's "gift" was a dragonmark, it was a strong one. If Galifar the Dark did have an aberrant dragonmark, he may have done research into these marks during his reign; it's possible that he sheltered other aberrants, or developed focus items for his or other aberrant marks. If aberrant-marked adventurers in the present day could find conclusive evidence of Galifar's mark—or a cache of journals or tools—it could have interesting repercussions for House Tarkanan and the Twelve. 

Queen Hala ir'Wynarn, "The Sun Queen"

Hala ir'Wynarn never expected to be Queen of Galifar. The fourth child of the king, she was appointed Princess of Thrane. She devoted herself to Dol Arrah, studying the arts of war and vowing to live a virtuous life. When cruel fate slew her older siblings and placed her on the throne, she began her reign by purging corrupt elements within the royal court and the Army of Galifar. She quickly turned her attention to the ongoing conflicts in southern Cyre and western Breland, and insisted on leading campaigns against ogres and worgs. She was celebrated by the common folk of Breland and advanced the borders of the nation. Stories say that it was her younger brother who convinced her to pursue a grander threat than any mere ogre or troll. At that time, Sora Maenya had been credited with the destruction of a number of small villages on the edge of Aundair, and the Sun Queen led an elite force of trackers and hunters into the Towering Wood to finally end this threat. Hala was only 24 when she led her troops into the Wood, and had yet to produce an heir; her brother claimed the throne when she was finally declared to be dead. 

Hala ir'Wynarn is a legendary champion and an inspiration for paladins; Tira Miron was likely following the example of the Sun Queen. Only Sora Maenya knows her final fate, and it's possible that the hag still has Hala's arms and armor—or that they are hidden somewhere in the Towering Wood. A gruesome possibility is that Maenya has bound Hala's soul and has the queen's skull among her trophies; adventurers could be charged to recover the relic and finally allow Hala to rest. 

Queen Marala ir'Wynarn, "The Hand of Aureon"

Princess of Aundair before ascending to be Queen of Galifar, Marala ir'Wynarn devoted herself to strengthening the Arcane Congress, but also to improving schools and universities across the united kingdom. Much of the common traditions of education in Galifar are the direct result of Marala's efforts, leading the people to call her the Hand of Aureon. 

In addition to her public works, Queen Marala took great pride in her personal library. She collected tomes from across Eberron, and was known to possess rare texts and spellshards from Aerenal, Ohr Kaluun, and even a massive codex written by a Cul'sir wizard of ancient Xen'drik. The tales say that her library was hidden in an invisible tower; modern scholars believe that this was probably some form of magnificent mansion. She died under mysterious circumstances, and her trove of texts wasn't accounted for in her will; it's quite possible that her invisible tower is still out there in the ether, waiting to be found. 

King Sarath ir'Wynarn, "The Serpent King"

Prince of Breland, Sarath was last in line to ascend the throne... and yet, one by one, his siblings fell prey to misfortune. In The Serpent and The Crown the playwight Miala Shol claims that Sarath orchestrated all of these deaths, that he even worked with a shapeshifting fiend to clear his path to the throne. Sarath's culpability in these early deaths is conjecture, but when his fourth and final sibling Laeran took the throne, Sarath stepped into the light. Laeran was a Khoravar, and it was Sarath who first asserted that no half-elf could claim the mantle of Galifar. Laeran was well-loved in Thrane and Aundair, but Sarath succeeded in poisoning the minds of many. While Laeran's Khoravar blood was an early pretext, Sarath found other faultlines that had formed over the centuries, amplifying these and using the anger and frustration of the people to strengthen his position. These schemes ultimately brought down Laeran and set Sarath upon the throne, but in the end he reaped what he had sowed. The fires of hatred that he'd lit continued to burn; there were uprisings across Breland, and his reign was finally brought to an end by a swift civil war led by the Archdukes of Thrane and Aundair.

Sarath is just one example of the Wynarns who placed personal power and ambition above the public good. His short reign is surely invoked by the Swords of Liberty and others who say that the monarchy does more harm than good, and the poisonous lies he spread are still told by those who hate the Khoravar. A critical question is whether he was working with the Lords of Dust, as Miala Shol suggested in her play; Bel Shalor revels in the suffering of innocents, and Eldrantulku would delight in a brother murdering his siblings and sowing strife across his kingdom. It's quite possible that Sarath claiming the throne was a crucial point in the Draconic Prophecy, that securing the power of the Serpent King was a victory for one of the overlords; but did Sarath's fall undo that triumph, or was this just one piece of a plot that will finally come to fruition in the present day? 

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