User:The Beard/Stories/Willan I of Anglia

King Willan I of Meridot (born Willan of Wentonshyrr; 9309 - 9400 CE) was the seventeenth king of the Meridian Kingdom and the unifier of the districts of East Gallorum. In 9331 CE, in Duré Paladin, he was crowned the rightful Emperor of the Armidian and Meridian Empires by the spirit of Durán.

Childhood
Willan Morley was born to a cobbler and his weaver wife in the hamlet of Wentonshyrr, Fieldon of Hargrave, in Ianu 15, 9309 CE. This area then belonged to the Anglian Kingdom. Unlike Durán, no priests or prophets ever foretold his ascent to greatness. One important and related prophecy, however, was made long before he was born, at the dawn of the Second Age. All the prophets in Greater Gallorum simultaneously uttered the cryptic prophecy in High Duranian:


 * ''"A wind is blowing from the North,
 * ''The ships sail in from the East.
 * ''Soon, a shadow shall fall o'er Galorn
 * ''And make all the men as beasts.


 * ''"A force shall rise in the North,
 * ''Pirates shall attack from the Orient,
 * ''But, come the Fox to the battlefield,
 * ''And all their efforts shall make no dent."

Or, in High Duranian:


 * ''"I ché á luthniór tarnen seryin,
 * ''Tól kirinós ut mirnen á pernién;
 * ''Mók volhiló Gallé o purenien
 * ''E esnes til wofné barenien.


 * ''"Borómin armá ut luthniá tambrin,
 * ''Pirtós á pernién vashnein,
 * ''Sé venin i puliré thu bareshnión
 * ''E fortiné iyos nu parin mil neté."

This prophecy was to eventually change the life of young Willan.

At the age of 16, Willan joined the King's Army. At that time, the Anglian Kingdom was a weak power, battling for supremacy with nine other fiels (district leaders). King Moran VII was assembling a grand army strong enough to crush the resistance of the hostile fiels. It was here that Willan grew up, becoming a skilled warrior and being promoted to the rank of commandeur in three years. Battles did not corrupt young Willan, and his virtue was spotted by the king himself, who appointed Willan as his Philosophical Advisor.

Quest for the Ring
Six years after it began, the war had still not progressed and strange things were happening in the north, so Moran assembled a fellowship to retrieve the legendary Ring of Duran in the ancient castle of Duré Paladin. The ring, shrouded in legend and mystery, would supposedly grant the wearer ultimate power and wisdom, and he hoped that with it he would be able to destroy his enemies. Three men were chosen to do this task: Gillian Suffrey, a naval captain who knew the whole of Gallorum, a young commander called Peregrin Walfric, and Willan himself.

The three Paladins set out from Campleton Castle on Springleaf 18, 9331 CE. On this same day, ghostly horsemen were seen riding south through Berthal, a northern city. As they continued their journey, the three heard of more and more sightings of these "Mercenaries of Darkness"; on Springleaf 21, they intercepted the horsemen at Hargrave. Here, they learned about the legend of the horsemen from an old farmer. These riders signaled the rise of a great power, one that was not of this world. They were said to come from the North and were supposed to gallop around Gallorum until finally settling in Duré Boromin. From there, they would search for three relics and return them to their master in the North, who would then rule over the whole world for ten thousand years.

Alarmed, the Paladins left Hargrave at full speed, headed for Duré Paladin. On the way, they passed the town of Borchart, whose inhabitants had been brutally and mysteriously massacred. Enlisting the help of an eccentric hermit, they finally arrived at the castle on Springleaf 27. To their dismay, the castle was locked - the hermit was fortunately knowledgeable in High Duranian, and opened the gates with incantations. Upon entering, the Paladins were ambushed by 500 skeleton soldiers; the hermit was killed, but the other three emerged unscathed. The Guardian of the castle then challenged Willan to a duel, and, Willan having successfully disarmed him, admitted defeat and led them into Durán's Hall. Here, the spirit of the former emperor revealed that Willan was the Fox in the ancient prophecy, proclaimed Willan the rightful Emperor of Armidia, Anglia, and Meriavincla, and, in a solemn ceremony attended by the good spirits of Gallorum, crowned him and gave him the Ring. He promised Willan the full support of his Armidian armies, should the new king ever need them.

Returning home, the Paladins passed by Duré Boromin. They challenged the Black Horsemen to a duel, which ended when Willan managed to destroy three of them, sending the remaining four fleeing to the North. The Paladins then continued homewards but were arrested on Lurnien 1 at Walliwaithe by soldiers who mistook them for deserters. When they were brought before the king, they tried in vain to convince him that Willan was now Emperor of Anglia, and were nearly going to be executed until Duran appeared at Campleton with ten thousand of his personal bodyguard. He persuaded Moran to hand over the crown to Willan, to the joy of everybody present.

Reign
Willan quickly proved to be a good and effective king. In four months, he overcame the armies of all nine fiels in what is known as the Anglian Unification War, during which he renamed the empire after the new capital, Meridot. In 9332 CE, the evil sorcerer Mordin marched from the North with his army of Gorans. Willan, with the help of Duran's ring, resisted the assault and imprisoned Mordin in the bottomless pit of Xabuvio. After this, with all threats eliminated, Willan turned his attention to the well-being of his people.

Willan gave the Fieldon of Hargrave to his fellow Paladin, Gillian and made Peregrin Walfric Commandeur of the Armies. He established trade with the eastern land of Arkanros, presumably the first westerner to do so. Though his invasion of Galicia was unsuccessful, the economy and culture of Meridot prospered. He managed to repel a ten-stage invasion by the Serdians in 9354 CE due to the recent discovery of mortar pulver and the refinement of diamond lenses mined on Unicorn Island.

Willan had two sons, Peregrin Walfric and Forthran Ruely, and a daughter, Sophié. Peregrin became king after his father died and Forthran gained the Fieldon of Covertan. Sophié married a young knight, the brave Eniac of Keyswaithe, son of Fiel Gillian. Upon Peregrin's death, the empire was led by Eniac's older namesake from Winthan.

Titles

 * Paladé Arminié Nolbissimié Paladinió Armidiát E Angeliát E Meriawinclit (Emperor of the Royal and Most Noble Empire of Armidia, Anglia, and Meriavincla)
 * Letyrr yff Kinitun Anglie (Ruler of the Kingdom of Anglia)