Kardel Irongut
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Kardel Irongut (Dwarven: Kardel Khroruul, Dwinic Dwarven: Karadal Kroruli) was Grand King of Urguan and ruler of the dwarves from his election in 1547 to his abdication due to ill health in 1569. He is chiefly credited with enacting various bureaucratic legislation which ultimately led to the third reformation of the Grand Kingdom of Urguan into an autocratic, rather than oligarchic, state. Kardel's rule was marked by extensive infrastructural reform, the construction of the city of Kal'Ishtul, and a heavily isolationist policy centered around maintaining peace and internal stability. His extensive legislative actions and infrastructural work earned him the epithet "The Reformer."
Contents
Biography
Early Life
Kardel Irongut was born on the 6th of the Sun's Smile, of the year 1021 in Eastern Aegis to the known Arcanist and dwarven noble Heron Irongut, and to an unknown Cave Dwarven mother. Due to controversies surrounding his father, he was raised away from the rest of the Ironguts. He spent his first fifty years apprenticing under several blacksmiths. Kardel emerged a mediocre blacksmith and moved to Kal'Bryst to practice his trade, where he worked until the city's fall to the undead. Having lost his fortune in the city's destruction, Kardel returned to Kal'Urguan, hoping to find his clansmen and claim any inheritances to his name, but could not prove his identity as Heron's son and thus was not able to withdraw his father's estate. He then joined the Legion of Kal'Urguan, under which he served until the fall of Aegis.
Alchemy Career
Upon his arrival to Asulon, Kardel once again sought to claim his inheritance after having accumulated several documentations and family heirlooms to prove his identity, but his claim was dismissed by Tortek Silverfist as having too many discrepancies. In response, Kardel departed from Kal'Karik, discouraged, and purchased a home in the town of Somerset, where he apprenticed under a local herbalist. Proving quite gifted, Kardel opened a trade in Silva Insula, where he honed his alchemy skills before once more seeking his inheritance from his clan. Kardel's identity as Heron's son was recognized by Hiebe Irongut, and Kardel was subsequently granted part of his late father's estate, which he would later use to found alchemy enterprises in Urguan across Elysium and Kalos.
Kardel's reputation as a gifted alchemist led to his contracting by the contemporaneous Grand King Omithiel Strongbrow. Under subsidy of the Kingdom, Kardel founded the Dwarven Alchemy guild, which would prove instrumental in supplying the Legion with potions and balms throughout Anthos and the Fringe. Kardel's standing as a Guildmaster landed him a position on the King's Council as Ogradhad's Alchemist, jettisoning him into Urguani public life.
Political Career
Kardel served as Ogradhad's Alchemist to each successive monarch from Omithiel Strongbrow to Midgor Ireheart. Due to his service to the Kingdom, Kardel was briefly elected onto the Lord's Council by Grand King Midgor Ireheart in the Fringe before briefly disappearing from public life. Kardel reappeared in Vailor, where he initially aimed to restart his Alchemy Enterprise to aid the Kingdom during the Eighteen Years War, but decided to run for Grand King against Hieden Grandaxe on a ticket based on isolationism and nationalism. After a campaign marked by slander and populism, Kardel emerged victorious by a sizable margin.
Reign
Kardel Irongut's reign was one of the longest in Dwarven history, spanning 22 years from 1547 to 1569. It was marked by a long period of construction punctuated by a short period of panic and militarism, followed by a short period of stagnation during the king's illness.
Controversy, Internal Struggle, and Reform
