Sozin III of Eternia
Sozin III of Eternia is the first, and (as of 1723 AN) current King of Eternia. Known as "Aquelish" ("The Ice King"), he is generally known among foreign diplomats for his cool-headed demeanor and easy-going nature. While a very deeply religious person, he is known to be very tolerant of other faiths. A venerable man, he was born in 1656 AN, and was crowned King in 1715 AN over a unified Eternia. Before this point, he was a primarily religious figure, doubling as the community leader of Vulcania before he was chosen as King by popular acclaim and by agreement of the country's regional governments.
A moderate leader, he is deeply aware that Eternia, mostly ice-bound and far removed from most of Micras, has a slow-moving economy and ancient divisions between its districts that will not resolve themselves so quickly. He uses his near-universal popularity and respect from the people to ease decision-making within the government, and facilitate the awakening of Eternia's small industrial base, to diversify its international trade beyond tourism, in a bid to generate more national income for the sake of preserving the vast, pristine wilderness of the country and contribute to its thriving population's welfare.
Already a venerable man on his coronation in 1715, his reign is not expected to last a terribly long time. If he does not abdicate, his reign is not expected to last much beyond 1750 AN, beyond which he would be turning 100 and by then be ill-suited for continuing his kingship. Rumors persist that he plans on abdicating by 1736 AN, his 80th birthday. In the meantime, however, the country entered into a quiet period during much of his reign, with steady growth and development of the interior the main focus of the country's domestic priorities. With little in the way of international affairs to directly involve itself in, the king instead steered Eternia on a path of silent neutrality, engaging in its neighbors in the Imperial Federation and other Raspur Pact members for the sake of commerce, rather than military strategy as was expected by the court early in his reign.
Biography
Early Life
Born in Vulcania in 1656 AN, little is known of Sozin's early life, or his parents. What is known is that Sozin was the third of his clan to bear this name, and so he was known as Sozin III of the Aqueli tribe (one of many with that name, as it simply meant "ice"). Sozin's Aqueli clan composed of a small family of warriors, otherwise indistinguishable from the rest of the clans, tribes, and other peoples living in Hokarae. As was tradition for members of both the warrior and priestly castes, he received an education with the local priesthood, which was still responsible for educating most of the country's elites at this time.
Given the option of choosing martial training with the tribe or pursuing higher education with the country's religious institutions, Sozin attempted to choose both, later recalling that time spent adventuring early in life was less wasteful than time spent wandering about later in life. Against the odds, he successfully took studies both for modern academics and traditional warrior training, to include arts, combat styles, and traditions. By 1619 AN, he had completed the Trials, a set of various rites of passages into both manhood and warrior status, and attained a title not unlike that of a minor knight in other countries on Micras.
Education
Having attained that knighthood of sorts, Sozin took additional time in maintaining his religious and academic studies. Especially in these days, joining the clergy as something other than a layman (especially in those days) was exceptionally difficult without formal education in one of Eternia's religious institutes, even for those devoting all of their time solely to that pursuit. As such, most warriors and knights, while they could join the clergy, were not ever technically ordained. It was for this reason that, in 1676 AN, Sozin's success in being one of the few tribally recognized warrior-knights in the region to also gain admittance to an institute of higher education was so exception to his tribe, and it helped launch his dualistic career later in life.
While Sozin began the country's equivalent of "college" studies later, he still succeeded in impressing the admissions committee at the Institute of Vulcania, itself later the site of the main campus of the University of Eternia, the first proper university in the country. Sozin's status was an unusual sight in those says, as warrior-knights tended to forgo all but basic education in pursuit of that career path, a lucrative opportunity of its own even in those days of peace. Warriors were well-respected, and full-fledged knights even more so. However, to be educated by the clergy as well was something almost unheard of in Sozin's tribe, and this was a status Sozin used to gain access to professional and clerical connections outside of Hokarae, as the rest of the country was still in the process of slowly coalescing together after several generations of relative peace between the proto-nations of Eternia.
It was due to the uncertain (albeit peaceful) security situation in the country that formal military officers were still needed. In the development of the professional military development Eternia needed to develop, such officers were in short supply. Military officer candidates in Eternia were usually educated at the various Institutes run by the various central priesthoods of the country. The tradeoff of this formal education (sometimes provided by foreign professionals at great expense) was that very few cadets went through the traditional rites before graduating, thus restricting themselves to a singular line of study so that they had a higher chance of attaining warrior status as well... given enough time. This was usually a difficult feat at best for those not physically and spiritually prepared for the Trials ahead, as they needed to possess both knowledge and skill in traditions and personal combat skills, in addition to satisfying their academic studies in military strategy. As there was no central authority at the time determining which was more important, those who failed to do both had, effectively, a useless degree unless they went abroad and took their chances. As such, there was usually a shortage of military officers both traditionally and academically qualified.
Sozin, in an unusual move, had chosen the latter and thus opened himself to a new set of career options without the need for going through the more rigorous qualification rituals. This, along with other examples during the 1670's, set the example for future cadets going through the military academies slowly growing out of these same Institutes. In that moment, however, Sozin had more personal objectives in mind. Already a traditionally recognized warrior in his tribe of the Hokarae people, he was free to focus on an entire range of disciplines outside of military arts. He graduated in 1680 AN with a degree in divinity, and was ordained into the Aqni-Qai priesthood as a fully fledged knight, collectively a rare sight indeed for anyone under 30 years of age.
Military & Priestly Career
Sozin was an unusual example of a true knight-priest in these days. In the days where the religiously educated military officers and traditionally recognized knights tended to clash, Sozin's personal example of dual achievement immediately won respect among his peers. He was also put to immediate use by his superiors in the larger Vulcania Tribe to negotiate more permanent arrangements with the neighboring Hokarae Tribes. Eventually, the entire region was unified through diplomatic means, and Sozin gradually climbed through both the military and priestly ranks during the next 30 years due to his diplomatic efforts at using both church and state to effect peaceful unifications of the surrounding region over time.
By 1710 AN, Eternia was now a patchwork of peacefully unified states that interacted almost entirely with each other, and very rarely with the outside world. This changed with the arrival of outside powers to the region, and the growing awareness of Eternia to foreign powers, especially their comparatively vast military might. The ease with which the Imperial Federation settled traditional Eternian islands far to the north was cause for alarm in Eternia's respective countries, and research of Micras's military power proved the most pessimistic thinkers right in that Eternia's countries were, militarily, extremely weak. However, no war had come to their shores, mostly because of the harsh climate characterizing most of Eternia's mainland.
Knowing they potentially had a limited window of time, the general consensus quickly arrived to a conclusion that colonization by outside powers could erase the generations of traditions on Eternia, along with, perhaps, its people. This collective realization spurred a series of collective actions towards unification. A conclave of various religious institutions, regional governments, major tribal leaders, and metropolitan leaders was called on to discuss the formation of a united Eternia.
The conclave, taking place over various major settlements across Eternia and over five years, concluded in 1715 AN. Over these five years, a series of political agreements resulted in a patchwork constitution that would see a king from the newly united Hokarae appointed as a head of state over the new united country. Because of the near-universal respect from the elites and masses alike, Sozin had had built over a very long and illustrious career spanning politics, education, military, and the priesthood. It was because of his unique experiences, career, and universal popularity that Sozin was elected by the Constitutional Conclave as King of Eternia by popular acclaim. The rest of the conclave dealt with unifying the country and eliminating more barriers to integration that had, in the past, impeded peaceful unification efforts during past times when conditions were this favorable.
Reign
The Kingdom of Eternia was thus founded with the 59-year-old Sozin III as its king in 1715 AN, with MCS recognition coming around the same time the following year. It was also around this time that, as his first act as King in relation to a foreign power, Sozin signed a series of agreements with the Imperial Federation, ensuring Eternia's territorial integrity, beyond the land grant to the Imperial Federation in exchange for a truly princely sum of money and material aid in building up the country. In addition, the Imperials evacuated from Eternia's mainland, ensuring that the country proper could stay unified and irredentism among the population kept to a minimum.
A protectorate treaty was also signed with the Imperials for the next 30 years, expiring in 1745 AN, which guaranteed Eternia's security. In contrast to these extensive security agreements, contact with Eternia's other land-based neighbor, Floria, was not initiated for unknown reasons. Popular speculation states that the extremely harsh polar terrain in the area made contact unreasonable, but scholars generally agree that contact was simply not needed, as Floria remained a member of the Raspur Pact alongside the Imperial Federation at the time, meaning that security guarantees with one complemented anything involving the other.
In contrast to his otherwise illustrious career, Sozin's reign as King Sozin III after this initial flurry of activity to secure the nation's borders was generally peaceful, quiet, and almost serene. He still headed the Church of Aqni-Qai, one of the principal religions of the country, in the same capacity as King. Despite these dual responsibilities, he discharged his duties with both the kingship and the high priesthood to a high standard, and his popularity remained extremely high. His reign saw an explosion of economic activity within the country, and its level of development similarly skyrocketed, due to a lack of need to pursue an aggressive military-first policy.
As Eternia's first ruler, Sozin spent most of his reign attempting to set a strong precedent for future rulers. Highly respected and notably apolitical, Sozin's style of leadership tended to be consensus-based, and his guidance over otherwise-divided top officials aided Eternia's rapid integration of its many clans, tribes, and nations into a more solidly unified country. His moderate leadership also saw the establishment and solidification of the Eternian Parliament into a two-chamber body, with the upper house consisting of the original representatives that led to the country's unification, and the lower house being a popular representative body.
Given his age on his coronation (already being 59 in 1715), Sozin never expected to reign beyond 20 or more years. As such, his focus was on establishing the country's stability and stepping down in time for a successor to take his place as King. By then, he expected one of his sons to take his place, but none showed enough of that combination of interest, inclination, and aptitude to take over on his abdication or death. Instead, Sozin chose to defer to Parliament in its own selections (ideally among his numerous grandchildren) when that time comes.
With the demands of kingship beginning to normalize, it was clear that Eternia would be very unlikely to involve itself directly in armed conflict, instead being at peace with its neighbors. It was with this slowdown in the demands of the job that Sozin's health also improved considerably after the first several years of his reign. With the possibility of succession no longer such an immediate issue, Sozin instead prepared for a longer term of action in regards to the priesthood and kingship, which he planned to separate. Plans in 1730 are to pass the nation's priesthood to his eldest son, also named Sozin, with one of his grandchildren by his other son, named Jezeriah, inheriting the kingship instead (pending Parliament action on the matter).
Descendants
His heirs presumptive do not include his immediate offspring, as they hold little interest in political matters. His eldest son is more interested in continuing his place in the national priesthood only, and his other son runs a major petroleum company out of Frigia, and is uninterested in giving up his lavish lifestyle to become king, instead deferring the question to one of his own sons, of which there are several nearing adulthood.
