Erlkönig

Preceded by: Yuandi Emperor

Head of State of Jingdao 5489 –5719

Succeeded by Haigui Emperor

Erlkönig
Full name	Simon II of the House of Erasmus
AKA	Erlkönig, Goburin Emperor
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color and style	Blonde
Eye color	Grey
Skin color	Light
Biographical information
Father	Jinken Emperor
Mother	Unknown
Date of birth	1596
Place of birth	Shanbao
Date of death	/
Place of death	/
Residence(s)	Nebelstadt, Erlgau
Nationality	Erlgau
Allegiance(s)	Erlgau
Occupation	Monarch of the Erlgau

Erlkönig is the monarch of Erlgau, because of his long rule he is only known by the name of his office and not by his personal name, Simon II of the House of Erasmus which is controversial.

According to one of the legends surrounding him, he was born as Simon II of Erasmus, as the first son of the Jinken Emperor. He became a captain in the Jingdaoese expeditionary submarine fleet, and used his submarine to gather personal riches which he stored in Leng. He was indifferent to commands that were given him from his admiral and at one time simply decided to turn his radio off and became a privateer. He was assumed dead by the Admiralty and when his father died the Feixing Emperor ascended to the throne. The Feixing Emperor died while giving birth to the Yuandi Emperor, who died only a few years later and only to prevent the line of the Erasmii from being permanently extinguished did Simon assume the imperial throne as the Goburin Emperor.

The Goburin Emperor quickly lost interest in governing the Jingdaoese Empire and returned to his former life in the submarine service while the empire crumbled. As the emperor retreated under the ice shelves of Leng, together with the rest of the nuclear submarine fleet the unthinkable happened. Accidents with the reactor caused the crew to be exposed to extreme levels of radiation and also the freezing cold. Experimental medicine kept them alive but at a terrible cost. The emperor who had been a tall and handsome man lost over half his height, the same thing happened to his crew. Recognising that Leng was no suitable location for the Jingdaoese civilisation to thrive he moved his fleet and his stash to caves in the three small islands north of Gong in Shirerithian Apollonia, which are named Erlgau. His younger sister, the Haigu Emperor who had assumed that her brother had died under the ice had assumed the throne for herself. When she found out that her brother was still alive and where he was hiding, she formed an alliance with him and with Barend Barentsz, the Shirerithian minister of military affairs to bring all of Shirerithian Apollonia under the control of the Great Jing. The Goburin Emperor kept his half of the bargain, supplying the empire with fine parts for the Obedience Machine that human hands could not produce. With the Jing dynasty secure, he saw no reason to appear in public however and continued to live in the caves of Erglau where he and his crews continued to gather gold and precious stones. The Goburin Emperor still received a considerable sum from the Imperial Palace each year to cover his expenses and for a long time his, outdated, nuclear submarine fleet was still maintained by the Tianchao Haijun.

Another legend surrounding the origin of the Erlkönig states that at the time of his birth, Erlgau was divided in three free tribes which inhabited the islands of Blumenstrand, Nebelstadt and Wolfgang. Like his father, Erlkönig worked as a weapon smith. One day Warner Barentsz, a messenger from Empress Sisera of Jingdao, visited the islands, he recruited Erlkönig to manufacture fine parts for the Empress' doomsday weapon, which were impossible for large human hands to produce. Erlkönig in turn requested from Sisera that she would help him to subjugate the people of the Erlgau, she accepted this request with the condition that a yearly festival would be held where humans would be sacrificed in her name. Two hundred drones swarmed the skies over Erlgau after Erlkönig issued a declaration which abolished the freedom of the goblins of Erlgau, some goblins rebelled but their houses were destroyed by the drones. After the demise of the Holy Empire of Jingdao, Erlkönig worked together with Barend Barentsz, Minister of the Military Affairs in Shireroth and Count of Te Gong Li to maintain his access to an air force. After Mordechai Kraut took over as Minister of Military Affairs and developed the RasmOS defense operating system on Te Gong Li, that system got infected through a Jingdaoese terminal and renewed its alliance with Erlkönig. After the independence of Kildare through the Apollonian Republic, RasmOS, Count Cabbage and Erlkönig decided that they would keep the entire county of Te Gong Li independent from both Shireroth and the Apollonian Republic. Some historians believe that the story that states that Erlkönig was born in Erlgau was fabricated because of the fear that the Erlkönig had that he would be asked to return to the Jingdaoese Imperial throne. The Erlkönig refuses to accept visitors who are not of a suitable rank to visit him, in practice only accepting the Heavenly Light, the Duke of Kildare and the Kaiser of Shireroth.

The Erlkönig has shown himself to be indifferent to the various political changes in the Apollonian Republic, later Jingdao, and much later the reintegration into Shireroth. To all rulers over Kildare he has made the same offer, indifference to each others policies, and the opportunity for the ruler over Kildare to purchase precision parts for weapons of mass destruction and other highly advanced military equipment. Since 1707, much of this trade has been done through Goburin Imports and Exports.

Business

The Goburin Emperor is a shrewd and ruthless businessman who was the founder of Gong Shipyards. The company built corvettes and patrol boats for the Jingdaoese and Alriggian government using old blueprints of the South Batavian navy and corvée labour, achieving high margins. In 1679 the Goburin Emperor sold his company to Sokoku Industries, he was paid in cash and in stocks. The deal was celebrated with large quantities of fine spirits from the Erlkönigs cellars which were said not to give hangovers. Sokoku Industries' board of directors did however experience a hangover, they learned that in their delirium they had given half of Sokoku's shares to the Erlkönig in return for a shawl that had been worn by a former Heavenly Light. The Heavenly Light in question turned out to be the Goburin Emperor himself.