Draeg'ar X

Draeg'ar II & X is the current King of South Valora. Born in 1707 AN, he was the only surviving legitimate son of the then-reigning Emperor of Valora, Draeg'ar I & IX. The heir to a diminished state coming of age only in its total defeat at the hands of its nemesis, Draegar II & X's reign began ignominiously in 1720 AN at the age of 13, under a regency. As of 1739 AN, he is 32 years old.

While he was officially crowned in 1725 AN on his 18th birthday, he remained under a regency as he continued his education, per ancient traditions in the greatly extended House of Ral. He formally assumed the throne in his own right on New Year's Day of 1732 AN, his 25th birthday. He is currently unmarried, and with no known sons.

Biography

Early Life

Born in his father's very old age, he was the nominal solution to a state in deep crisis. This status as a wealthy prince didn't last long, however. Valora fell in 1715 AN in a near-total loss to the Imperial Federation during the so-called Conquest of Valora, the government that had ousted Draeg'ar IX after the Ralgon War of Succession.

At 8 years old, the child Draeg'ar II & X was this the prince of a rump state, bereft of even carrying the pretense of a defeated empire. The aftermath of these events saw the cession of the far southern frontiers of Valora into the Mondosphere in the wake of these events. In the aftermath, his father Draegar Ral IX abdicated the throne as King of South Valora in 1720 AN in a bid to retain his household's place on the throne, passing on a remnant of the prestige that had diminished near-totally from its glory days.

Regency

The young prince, only 13 years of age, was then placed under a under a regency led by his mother. While he was officially crowned in 1725 AN on his 18th birthday, he remained under a regency as he continued his education, per ancient traditions in the greatly extended House of Ral. Unlike many other princes of the realm, he stayed in the Mondosphere, choosing to remain in friendly territory to familiarize himself with the political environment he inherited from the last days of his father's reign.

He is expected to formally assume the throne by 1732 AN, his 25th birthday.

Legal Status as King

Draegar II & X holds two titles. He is the second King of South Valora, and the tenth Imperial Prince of the House of Ral named Draeg'ar in his line. While he is officially known as Draeg'ar II on official documents, his personal name is still Draeg'ar Ral X, and his Imperial Prince of Ralgon title is still legally recognized within the Imperial Federation, even if his rights to succession there are not. As he is internationally recognized as possessing both titles, he is styled Draeg'ar II & X of South Valora.

Within South Valora

Per official documents in both the Imperial Federation and the Mondosphere, he reigns over South Valora as Draeg'ar II, as he was simply the second person named Draeg'ar on the throne. Traditionally, he would either change his name on assuming the throne (as in the case of Nobunag'an IV of Ralgon, or assume his own name and numerals in both formats. He chose the latter, wishing to assume the throne with his own name and use his (now-obsolete) imperial title in a bid to retain prestige to use within the still-shattered government of the region.

Within the Imperial Federation

Despite the loss of imperial rank after 1715 AN when Valora lost its independence, he still retains his imperial princely rank per treaty, as will all his descendants who take the throne in South Valora. While the title of "Imperial Prince of Ralgon" no longer grants him and his line any rights within the Imperial Federation (basing its line off Masamune II's descendants), he is still Imperial Prince by virtue of his father's brief tenure on the throne before his ouster from Ralgon in 1705 AN in favor of Anarion. Being the tenth Imperial Prince in his family lineage to bear the personal name of Draeg'ar, he was thus styled as Prince Draeg'ar Ral X until his coronation as King of Valora, upon which he shed his ceremonial princely title for a recognized royal one, still retaining the additional numeral in his royal name.

He was not recognized in his royal titulature by the Imperial Federation initially -- at best, he was only recognized as de facto lord of only of the southern, sparsely populated part of that country under the auspices of the Mondosphere. In 1733 AN, his royal status was finally recognized by the court of Emperor Anarion on condition that he was recognized the King of South Valora, to deter irredentism among his population -- as small as that might be, in exchange for giving up designs on ever reclaiming the more strategically and economically valuable northern portions of his former realm. This was agreed to, and so the legal matter was eventually settled, as part of a normalization of relations between the Imperial Federation and the only Ralgonese-related peoples politically hostile to its government.

Reign

Draeg'ar X assumed the throne formally as King of Valora on New Year's Day of 1732 AN, with his coronation later that month on his birthday. While his royal title would change to the King of South Valora in return for full recognition from the Imperial Federation the following year, this did not change the political reality that he was still king of a state entirely dependent on another polity for its survival and success. After the long wars endured by its population leading to the events of 1715 AN, South Valora was in desperate need of any chance of peace and prosperity it could get, and making political sacrifices was an adequate price to pay for once again opening free movement between itself and the Imperial Federation -- the only Raspur-Pact territory not open to such privileges at that point.

Before he took the throne, he vowed to put marriage off the table until his small country could get itself back on track. He borrowed heavily, but in a short span of time managed to rebuild the shattered polity and turn Korzan from a backwater town into a proper capital for his relatively small polity. Valora, given its location at the edge of anything, was of relatively small influence to the wider Mondosphere, a status which suited the new King just fine, due to a lack of desire to involve himself in the politics of the day. Lacking the political ambitions of his predecessor in Draeg'ar IX, the new king was instead determined to see his kingdom return to a period of quiet prosperity not seen since Alexandria collapsed and significant temporal hemhoraging had warped the area many years ago since those days.