Kings of Vintermor

In the 214 years of Vintermor's existance as a unified nation, there have been eleven Kings of Vintermor. All but three have come from the current ruling family, the Thorvalds.

Issai Gyflear
Crowned King of Vintermor in 5014 TA, Issai Gyflear was a Taldaran royal who led the expedition that initially established Vintermor as an Imperial holding, and unified/conquered the nation. In 5049 TA, he was crowned Emperor of Taldara, and left the throne of Vintermor to his illegitimate son Marthis.

Marthis Gyflear
The half-elven bastard son of Issai Gyflear and a morthidar named Kendra, Marthis served his father politically and militarily, and was acknowledged by his father shortly before assuming the throne. Unfortunately, he proved both corrupt and incompetent, and commanded none of the personal loyalty his father had held from the Eorls of the Vintermori clans. In addition, he was a religious Zealot, seeing his father's success in Vintermor as a sign of Aria's ascendancy over the local faiths, and forbade the worship of the tribal totems. His excesses and corruption gave rise to the Ulfvig Rebellion of 5097, and his death. Following the death of Marthis Gyflear, Gautr Ulfvig led a Council of the Clans in ruling Vintermor, but was never crowned King.

Turir Wieghorst
In 5098, Imperial Legions, assisted by Clan Wieghorst, finally put an end to the rebellion and smashed the Eorls' remaining forces. Following this, for his service to the Empire, Eorl Turir Wieghorst was crowned King of Vintermor. It was not a happy match. As cruel and vindictive to those beneath him as he was ambitiously unreliable to those above, Turir Wieghorst never attained any true peace in the Kingdom, and many of his actions earned him the ire of the Imperial Court, including the consistency and regularity with which the Imperial Taxes would be 'lost to pirates'. Finally, in 5123, Wieghorst went too far, signing a trade treaty with the Empire of Algahar, with whom Taldara had been at war for over a century. He was removed by Imperial Decree, a decree local forces were only too happy to comply with, for once. The end of the Wieghorsts' reign was finalized when the Emperor met with the assembled Eorls to crown a new King, one the clans would rally behind.

Magnus I 'The Uniter'
Crowned in 5123 by almost unanimous consent from the other Eorls, and given imperial blessing, Magnus Thorvald quickly and quietly settled the disputes between the Eorls and the Crown that had so often led to uprising under King Turir Wieghorst. In 5132, he secured from the Empire the rights of the Eorls, now formally made Dukes of their respective holdings, to legally raise small defensive forces to withstand increased activity from frost giants. He was succeeded upon his deadh in 5135 by his son, Hargrave.

Hargrave
Taking up the throne upon the death of Magnus the Uniter, King Hargrave continued his father's attempts to bolster the duchies' ability to defend themselves from the marauding giants, as well as encouraging cooperation and assistance from Brimlad and Worrill for the northern duchies. In 5136, the frost giants attempted to seize the trade artery of Helgegard Pass, sparking a period of open, organized warfare. King Hargrave fell in battle in the opening months of 5139, defending his people.

Thorfin
The shortest reign of any of the Thorvald Kings, King Thorfin ruled over one of the darkest periods of Vintermor's history. In three short months following his father's death, the giants pressed southward enough to beseige the city of Vintermor itself. Leading the Royal Guard in a number of skirmishes, King Thorfin was slain during a major offensive into the city that laid waste to everything from the port up through Hawk Hill. He fell defending the archmage Dregen from several giants while the hero cast the long spell that broke the back of the assault, and turned the tide of the war.

Magnus II
The son of Duke Uri Thorvald, King Hargrave's younger brother, King Magnus the second came to the throne in 5139, following the deaths of his uncle and cousin against the giants. Rallying fresh troops from the southern duchies, Magnus II pressed his renewed offensive, and over the next four months reclaimed all of the territory claimed by the giant clans, forcing them to surrender in the closing days of the year. He would rule in relative peace and stability until his death in 5152.

Harald
One of only two Kings of Vintermor to rule entirely during peacetime, Harald's reign lasted from 5152 until 5175 TA.

Meric I
Live his father, King Meric's rule was one of peace, with much of the responsibility for the defense of the nation shifting from the various groups of Ducal Guards to the Imperial Legions, who began to be deployed to Vintermor during this time. He ruled until 5202.

Magnus III
Though much of his reign was a continuation of the peaceful prosperity of his father and grandfather, in the closing years tensions with Empire began to arise. In 5223, an expansion of logging operations for the Imperial Navy triggered a backlash of attacks against the capital city by a druid calling herself ‘The Steward’. Though quickly tracked down by a group of brave adventurers, this incident planted seeds of discontent, and following the death of the emperor, those seeds took root, leading to indiscretions on both sides, culminating in the early 5224 assassination of King Magnus III during a public address in which, ironically, he had been calling for patience and reconciliation with the Empire.

Meric II
Upon his coronation, King Meric II declared Vintermor to be an independant State, free of Imperial Rule, and at war with the Empire of Taldara, and ordered all Legion forces to vacate the Capital immediately. In the following months, King Meric successfully led and prosecuted the war, leading to the acknowledgement of Vintermor's independence by the newly-crowned Empress in early 5215, and a statement that the war had been fomented by traitorous elements within the Taldaran Court. The ensuing treaty maintained Imperial trade interests, while leaving the Kingdom free to rule its own affairs.