King Cyrus Auredel

Pre-Monarch
Cyrus was born to Queen Kanekh in 3E20. He grew up helping his mother, and training with the militia in his free time. He wanted to be a great leader like his mother so he did all he could to learn from her. He became a cunning strategist and excellent fighter. He ascended to the throne at the age of 25, when his mother stepped down in 3E45.

King Cyrus
King Cyrus took the throne in the Spirng of 3E45 and began inspiring a new sense of nationalism among Adenians. Cyrus proposed a plan to do four campaigns in the hopes to expand and share the Adenian way of life with their neighbors. In order to start a campaign though, he had to upgrade the militia into a military. He worked tirelessly to standardize their training. He also established an elite group of fighters called the Cyrean Guard. His campaign began immediately following the completion of their training. The Northern Campaign began in 3E 49.

The First Campaign
The campaign was fruitful to start, they moved northward for several weeks mapping, and cutting a road as they went. They came across a small town that called itself Arenthia. The town was at the very edge of the thick forest. Just beyond was a flat field of tulips that met the edge of a fast flowing river. Arenthia was an old town with an ancient temple at its center. King Cyrus went inside and met with the town leader. He proposed the Kingdom of Adenia would give their town a spot on the council, protection, and free trade if he joined them. He happily agreed as the town had fallen on hard times. The leader of Arenthia then became the First Consul of Arenthia. King Cyrus asked the Arenthians what was further north of their city. The Arenthians reported that beyond the river was the nation of Sentinel which had been friendly with the Arenthians. The Arenthians welcomed their new leaders with open arms and allowed the soldiers to stay there for the evening.

The next day, King Cyrus, a detachment of soldiers and the consul of Arenthia rode up-river to the city of Sentinel. King Cyrus met with the ruler of Sentinel and was welcomed as an honored guest. The ruler had no wish to join Adenia but he was willing to negotiate a trade deal and a peace treaty. Interestingly enough, the nation of Sentinel was uninterested in what lied to the south and signed an accord that set a straight line that would extend east to west forever that neither nation would cross. King Cyrus agreed and signed the accord. Pleased with himself, King Cyrus returned home from the Northern Campaign feeling successful.

The Second Campaign
King Cyrus used the inspiration from the first campaign to push the second campaign into action. His sight this time, set to the West. The group left quickly and marched for weeks following the Pearl.The first thing they came across was a small patch of land that they realized lied between the two major rivers in the area, the Pearl and the Cephesus; which ran through Sentinel and past Arenthia. King Cyrus thought it would be an excellent place for ships to cross in order to trade with Sentinel. The soldiers dug a large canal between the two rivers and named it the Cyrus Canal. Just north west of the canal lied a half buried temple. Beyond the temple was a town called Trieste. King Cyrus helped stage a coup to overthrow the corrupt leader. Upon their liberation, they were renamed and joined the nation. Once King Cyrus was satisfied with the state of Biscay, he headed back to Aden for some time off.

Peacetime
During the years between the second and third campaigns, Aden experienced a time of peace. King Cyrus had two daughters and a son, and trade flourished between the four cities he discovered. He gave a famous speech to his children saying:

"'What makes a nation great is everyone finding their calling and then perfecting it.'" "-King Cyrus Auredel (3E60)"His two daughters wanted to play a part in their government but his son chose to become a regular citizen and live his life out of the spotlight.

The Third Campaign
The third campaign of Cyrus the Great began in 3E62. The soldiers moved south of Aden and marched for weeks. The forest turned to tropical jungle. After several weeks, they reached the edge of a vast sea and began walking along the shore. The cartographer noted the soldiers marched around an inlet that was C-shaped and they ended up directly across the sea from where they began. King Cyrus planted the Adenian flag and called the spot Aichian. The soldiers then began building the structure of a town-to-be. The campaign ended and the city of Aichian was abandoned when one day while cutting the timbers, a venomous snake bit King Cyrus in the thigh. He died before he made it back home. The soldiers carried his body back around the sea, and up to Aden to be buried next to his mother in the Royal Masoleum.

Legacy
King Cyrus left behind a thriving Adenia to his then 19-year-old daughter Camille. He encouraged and enabled Adenia to grow far beyond what his mother had envisioned.