Sareariel Lelya-Earcala

Sareariel Lelya-Earcala (Lelya-Earcala Sareariel in traditional Aurlûnorean naming conventions) is an elven warlord, stateswoman, prophet, and the first and current Velereth of Aurlûnor. Known as the "Divine Empress" and the "Dragon Empress", Sareariel is seen as a Goddess among many people due to her mythical appearance by the end of the Warring States period.

Validations of her origins are usually varied, as Sareariel is rather secretive about her life, and not many people know her behind closed doors. And those who usually do, don't share who she actually is, nor her origins being confirmed. It is not really truly known if she is actually immortal, as there has been instances of Sareariel receiving injuries, but has since said she is not invincible. This immortality may as well only apply to her life, but reports of her getting sick are not all common, and would of fought off a vicious disease when she was young that would of certainly should of killed her.

She was married to Tsar Toss I of the Second Tsardom of Ryzan, and ruled Ryzan through the Aurlûnor-Ryzan Empire until it's break up a year into it's inception. In addition to her titles, Sareariel would possess the old title as Yimmu-Audal Empress following her possessing the the Crown of Yimmu-Audal for a year and a half, as well as Calipha of Ardat-Mosul from her marriage to Dalatra Mosulia, and Pharaoh of Old Talawa through succession of possessing a Golden Axe and Golden Khoseph of the old Kings and Queens These titles would all be titular, as she does not have any claim to these lands, due to their usage being defunct following the establishments of Theios-Essukdal, integration of Ardat-Mosul into Bardonia and Old Talawa no longer existing as a nation.

Early Life
Official sources indicate that the Velande was born well over 930 years ago, and co-insides with her being the same age as the foundation of the Empire itself. It was said that she was born already full grown, as she descended on Rathnir from the Vale. Her birth was virgin, with no mother nor father, and was said to be forged from the stars itself. The beam that appeared came as she materialized from matters of Starlight, Void and Soul itself, swiveling her form into a female Celestial Elf to help guide, and lead the lost people of the bygone age of the Almadorian Kingdom. She was predicted as early far back as the first King of Almador, Maxion as a "Paragon who will rule the land for a thousand years". Her childhood is not recorded in official records, as she would be the one who chose her people to serve her, and would always be that of an adult, with childhood being a mere concept to her.

Actual accounts are usually rare, and are only told by the most trusted and closest to Sareariel. According to the true accounts of Sareariel, she was born in a village known as Dun, located north of modern day Lhûmar to a peasant family of little significance. It's not clear when she was actually born, but given how long she lived, it could very well be that it was around 970 years before the colonization of Rathnir. Her mother had close connections to a prominent minister in the decaying Almador Royal Court, while her father made a living selling mats and sandals. As a child of six, Sareariel would grow up during an era of chaos in her home of Almador, as multiple factions would start to tear it apart, central authority no longer being obeyed, and many of the governors breaking up into warlord states. Famine and sickness would strike her village, as well as multiple areas of the Kingdom, but her family managed to get off well as private owners of an estate in the village.

Sareariel sharing aspirations to one day wanting to be a Velereth, and was usually seen as some sort of troublemaker, usually getting herself into all sorts of trouble, such as speaking too much, asking too many questions, and rejecting societal norms such as attending religious ceremonies, adventuring far from the village, and playing around with live swords. Her parents would constantly worry about her well being of coming off as brash, and overzealous.

Sareariel joined the military when she became 50 years of age, and would find herself rising up quickly in the military, and through the ranks of the Royal Court. It would not be known how she managed to reach such heights so fast, but she would say that she would eventually become a minister, in command of a small force of volunteers. She eventually became a growing power, where she eventually was given military command. This is where the sources became a bit more unclear, as it was said by her, that the King died from natural causes as soon as she was given the will to take control of the remnants of the surrounding area of Lhûmar, while other say she raised her own army, betrayed the King, and formed her own state, using Dun as a base of operations.

Whether or not she betrayed him, she would eventually become known as the Queen of a state known as Aur, and start a campaign against the more powerful Kingdoms of Melwende and Linren. Under her command, Aur would quickly absorb much of the smaller states, through a series of victories and defeats. Her biggest one was against Melwende at the Battle of Helemar, which she would use the advantage of big numbers, but completely underestimated the enemy. Eventually though, she would defeat the other Kingdoms and start the path of unification of the land, until the invasion of the Crow People in the east. The Crow Wars would become among the most devastating battles for both the warring Elven Kingdoms and the forces of Sareariel. The Kingdoms of Cara, Mara, Juen and Marca would be lost to the hordes, and become incorporated into the future Takumakken Empire. This is where mostly the actual accounts end, as conflicting sources and stories cover the many accounts of Sareariel, leaving all of them to be taken with a grain of salt.

Velereth of Aurlûnor
Upon unification, Sareariel would declare herself to be the Velereth of the Aurlûnor Velande, or the Empress of the Sun Dragon Empire, bringing her prestige and glory to her name. She would establish a Theocratic Divine Monarchy, where she is viewed as a Goddess, and a child of the Vale. Her first acts as Velereth was to re-write and establish a new penal code for Aurlûnor, re-organizing the system of governance, completely abolishing Court Eunuchs, and re-organizing the titles to four higher ups of the Empire, and the Four Important Ministers. The Imperial Capital was established in Lhûmar, with moving of the old Almadorian court from Silamar to the new location. A lavish ceremony of unification would occur for the week. However, as soon as it ended, the treasury was placed on a strict watch, with a budget namely poured toward infrastructure, rebuilding processes, and the labor pool. Much of this period focused on the nation rebuilding from the devastating 600 years of war, famine and starvation throughout. New farming programs, as well as initiatives begun throughout the land, so much so, that there was a period of time where it was mandatory that the price of millet, grain and rice was not allowed to reach past a certain amount of silvers, and was kept cheap, as well as soldiers being used as farmers, tilling the soils, and many cities having an accompanying farmland. Agrarian lifestyle has begun to show throughout the land, and it assisted the starving villages greatly, raising public support of the new government. Meat-eating in the court was banned, and even the Velereth herself was said to have ate like peasants during this time. The aristocrats were questionable about these policies, but the Velereth made a promise and pledge great rewards and titles upon those who managed to survive these trying times. The scheme worked, and much of the court was rewarded handsomely for assisting in adverting further rebellions and carnage.

Multiple conflicts against the Crow People of Takumakken and the Celestial Elves would occur throughout the period of Sareariel's reign. She would personally lead her troops out to defend the borders from the east. Despite her valiant attempts, it would end in faliure, as much of the lands that would be to the east of the borders of the Velande would start to fall to these barbaric invasions ceding portions of the swamp lands and parts of the southlands including territories of the Kumiho to Takumakken.

A series of tense relations between Sareariel and the reiging Emperors up until Reggie would follow. Takumakken dominated military affairs, as many Celestial Elves and rebellious Kumihos would fight against the onslaughts of the Crow conquerors. Reggie would however, be the first Emperor to negotiate a settlement between the Velereth and the Emperor. The Treaty of Smaugonik was signed, where would see a revision of the swamps being ceded to the Velande, allowing passage for citizens of their new settlement, Sokalis, and autonomous rights for the Kumiho living in the Hampo Region. Despite this treaty however, many Kumihos would continue to fight the rulership of Sokalis, which Sareariel would secretly support.

In the 900th year, Sareariel would marry a Lamiatrophus by the name of Dalatra Mosulia of Ardat Mosul, a rich foreign Caliphate that was located on Ummaru. This marriage would see her entering the harem. This marriage would also make Sareariel the Empress of Yimmu-Audal as, after the marriage, Dalatra would be crowned as Empress of Yimmu-Audal. This would make Sareariel, by right, be the Princess-Consort of Yimmu-Audal, which shared a lot of power by right. The two wouldn't have any children due to their body parts not being compatible, however, this marriage would last a few years, until the fall of the Yimmu-Audal Empire, in which, she would commit suicide.

Following the death of Dalatra Mosulia, on the beaches of the Gulf of Heaven, Sareariel would come into possession of the Crown of Yimmu-Audal. This powerful artifact, and signifier of the throne of Yimmu-Audal had made the Dragon Empress become the Empress of an Empire no longer existing for a good year and a half, before the Council of Yimmu-Audal sent a representative negotiating a return of the crown back to their hands. Being in a good position to play Kingmaker, Sareariel would have the Council summon forth their contenders for the throne, and had her choose who will succeed. In this case, Carpicious would be crowned as Yimmu-Audal's Empress. Regardless, when Sareariel had them dismissed, she would not mention she was giving up her titles, and to this day, carry on the title as the Empress of Yimmu-Audal, as well as Calipha of Ardat-Mosul, but would never persuit to reclaim the land that was lost.

The decline of the Takumakken Empire has bought forth momentum throughout the Empire, and Sareariel, who sought to once and for all, solidify her legitimacy as the successor to the old Almadorian Kingdom, and called for full unification. She would take apart of the division of the Takumakken partitions together with Viridian, Huitca, and Ryzan. However, one slice of the empire was not enough to satisfy her. She would start to draft up eventual plans to unify the other parts, despite getting a rather large part of the deal out of the other member states. One of the ideas was the eventual invasion of Ryzan, however, this invasion plan was scrapped, as military advisors tell the Velereth of their well known tactic to throw as many soldiers as possible to defend their land. Knowing that this would not fair well, Sareariel would have her court come up with different plans. Orwa Sinawis, one of Sareariel's most trusted diplomats, would suggest that she should form a union instead with the Tsar, and then take opportunity to find ways to carve the empire from there. This would become known as the "Dual Union Strategem". Liking this idea, Sareariel would present herself to the courts of Ryzan to marry the Tsar, and join together in a dual monarchy, in which, it was agreed, as the Tsar, Toss was reportedly delighted with the idea of seeing his nation become the largest and most powerful on the contienent.

The union would then be formed following the marriage between the two, and Sareariel would reign as the Empress of this new union between the two. According to disputed sources, this whole union was not at all legitimate, as Sinawis was said to have been scheming to break apart the union to benefit her master's wish to unify old Almador, and was said that Sareariel and even the Bardonians were in on the plan to completely dismantle Ryzan, which Bardonia was an enemy of. However, Imperial sources seem to deny this, as the union would begin to fall apart due to the declining relationship between Sareariel and Toss, as well as arguments over running the Kingdom from both the Tsar and the State Leaders of Ryzan. Upon the end of the union, Ryzan would be invaded by the Bardonians, and Sareariel would achieve the chunk of the Kingdom that she desired. She would claim that it was through divorce proceedings, and Bardonia was not involved at all, though, regardless of what she said, Sinawis' ploy was a complete success. The following day, Sareariel would proclaim that Almador was officially unified, with it's core territories back into the hands of it's rightful masters.

Following the Union's breakup, Sareariel would begin to make a long pilagramage to the lands of the Old Kingdoms of Talawa. Upon reaching the lands of Talawa, she was approached by the last Pharaoh of New Talawa, in attempts to bring back the Talawan Empire of Old, but failed. She would succeed the Talawans, taking the titles of Pharaoh and Protector of the Talawan Dynasty.

Personality
Sareariel is described as a rather strict person, someone who values martialness, honor and righteousness above all costs. She is a morally ambitious person, seeking talent from all corners of her empire regardless of their social status. Most of her most valued advisors come from the more humble origins, and had seen themselves become some of Sareariel's most closest friends and valued assets to her ambitions. Sareariel usually looks down on foreigners, seeing them as no good troublemakers, and will usually not act very kind toward them. She has very little tolerance for those who waste her time, and will usually tell them as such if they are wasting her time or not through her bluntness.

Sareariel is intolerant of those who are against the Twin Dragon faith, and takes it very seriously. She is devoted to the Gods, and will usually pray every single day, surrounding her palace and gardens with statues to their likeness, as well as dedicate her resources to make Lhûmar and her other cities look nice, even the more poorer locations. She is also the one who does not easily forgive those who disobey the law, and punishes them accordingly, acting as judge, jury and executioner in certain cases herself.