Alexander II, Holy Orenian Emperor
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Alexander II (High Imperial: Alexandrus Stephanus; New Marian: Aleksandr Stefan) ( 23rd of the First Seed, 1713 - 3rd of Sun's Smile, 1731), also known as Alexander Stephen, was Holy Orenian Emperor. He was personally selected by High Pontiff Daniel VI to wear the imperial crown in a successful attempt to stabilize Oren, which had been thrust into a state of near chaos thanks to the efforts of two opposing pretenders: Adrian Sarkozic and Charles Alstion.
Contents
Birth and upbringing
Alexander was born on the 23rd of the First Seed, 1711, to Cesarina of Marna. His father was disputed. A couple of months after his birth, he was forcibly taken away from his mother’s holdings in Angoulême and was made to live with his official father, Alexander Frederick in his secret estates in Pronce. Soon after he took up residence with Alexander, he was abruptly kidnapped by agents led by his claimed father, Laertes de Falstaff, under the orders of his maternal uncle, Joseph de Marna, who was believed to have feared the use of his sister’s children in war against him. The aforementioned Falstaff smuggled the young Alexander all the way to Oren, where he would be raised amongst his first cousins as if he was their very own brother. It was attested by many of Joseph’s former compatriots that the boy was largely referred to as “Prince Alexander”, and he was even regarded as his uncle’s second heir, seeing as Joseph was only blessed with one legitimate son. Both of Alexander’s parents were vehement on his abduction, especially as Cesarina’s and her brother’s relationship worsened from her second marriage, and the scandal added fuel to the feud between the Marnans and the Alstions over Johannian succession rights.
For most of the duration of the War of Two Emperors, Alexander was moved from location to location, ranging from Nenzing, Leuven, and Ves, where he stayed in the Varoche Palace. His tutoring was left largely neglected when Laertes left to the warfront early in the conflict, and he was instead placed into the direct care of knight Thomas de Geligad. After his uncle’s failed Siege of Helena, the majority of the court fled into hiding, including Alexander, who taken by a returning Laertes and Alexander’s bastard cousin John Balain, where he was taken to Ravensburg and lived for a year in the court of Marnan loyalist James de Ravensburg. John refused to have the boy sent off upon the victory of Emperor Godfrey II, and it is unknown why Alexander was not immediately sent back to Aeldin, seeing as even his own uncle had apparently fled Oren by this time. However, John’s reluctance to send Alexander back home would later work in the boy’s favor, as High Pontiff Daniel VI would soon discover Alexander’s whereabouts, and quickly ask for the abandoned youth to be put under his tutelage at Varoche palace. Alexander’s caretakers swiftly obliged the Pontiff’s demands, and he was sent to Varoche palace with almost nothing to his name. At this point in the boy’s life, he had been robbed off of all of his luxuries by multiple turncoats, and his mother’s funds were continuously intercepted.
The clerics Sinjin, Cardinal St-John and Msgr. Simon Basrid coordinated most of the efforts of Alexander’s tutoring, teaching him a multitude of languages including Flexio, Marian, Levonian, and rudimentary Magian Rhenyari, basic geometry and mathematics, and statecraft, an arrangement which continued till he reached the age of majority. For most of this period, Alexander was confined strictly to Varoche Palace, and tended to only by priests and the pontiff’s close confidants. When the empire was thrust into a state of anarchy after Emperor John VII's sudden abdication, Adrian Sarkozic quickly usurped the throne, only for Charles Alstion to claim it as well as an act of retaliation. During this political maelstrom, the High Pontiff had a dream that Alexander, the penniless boy under his care, sat proudly on the imperial throne, with Adrian and Charles at his feet. To this day, it is unknown how Alexander reacted to his caretaker’s holy dream, many assume that the future emperor was simply too young to fully interpret what the dream truly meant. Nevertheless, Daniel successfully convinced the many opposing parties to accept the idea of a boy-emperor at the Election of 1725. Within two months, Helena was surrendered over to the Alexandrine forces under command of Bruno de Capua, and the boy was summarily baptised and crowned with in the city by the pontiff Daniel.
Reign
Early days
Titles
- 1711-1725: Lord Alexander Stephen de Joannes
- 1725–1731: His Imperial Majesty, the Holy Orenian Emperor
Full title as the Holy Orenian Emperor
The current titles of Alexander II is: His Imperial Majesty, Alexander II of House de Joannes, Holy Orenian Emperor, King of Cascadia, Marna, Mardon, Salvus, Seventis, Savoy, Courland and Santegia, Prince of Helena, Duke of the Crownlands, Roden, and Frederica, Count of Helena, Alamar, Frederica, Thelen, Lorath, and Cantal, Baron of Darkwood, Gravelhold, Fidei Defensor, Protector of the Heartlanders, Highlanders, Farfolk, etcetera..
