Komui Phoenix

Komui Phoenix is a Rohelian nobleman, who served as the Marshal of Moonburg before the fall of Rohel, and currently serves as Quartermaster of Elkinir. Komui Phoenix served in the United Rohel Army during the Rohel-Kartek war, and has had the position of a military leader since the Moonburg council elections following the Moonburg Independence Raid. He is the co-founder of House Phoenix along with his brother Tito, who have played an important part in Rohelian politics since the house's inception.

Early Life
Komui Phoenix (born just "Komui") was born in the village of Constans in the far eastern reaches of Sparwood to a Kostucan father and a Tatsuhoshan mother, his mother dying shortly after childbirth. Five years later, his brother Tito would be born to a different mother, a Burgamerian fleeing Palaris. Komui spent his early days on his parents' farm, assisting his father in his blacksmith work. He received a formal education by Soleannen missionaries, being amongst the more studious in his class, along with his brother.

By age 18, Komui was a full apprentice of his father, and was in the process of becoming a master blacksmith. When he was 19, a band of horseback raiders attacked his village and razed it to the ground, killing most of the inhabitants, including his parents. Komui and Tito were among some of the only survivors. For years the two bounced from village to village doing odd jobs before parting ways.

Early Days
When he was 25, Komui found his way into Rathnir. When visiting a tavern in Maldun, a hooded man with a strange accent convinced him to come join him and his people in a city called "Moonburg", in the nation of Rohel. Being promised a free home and food, Komui took the man up on his offer. The hooded man turned out to be the Duke of Moonburg, Omara Daydream. When arriving, he was first met by Carrot Daydream, Omara's daughter and at-the-time Spymaster of Moonburg, who would be the first to show him around the city. Komui would then meet with the city's Steward, Stefanano, who would give him a house. He would come to learn in these first days that the ruling council of Moonburg was democratically elected by the populace, and anyone could ascend to the Council's ranks, not just nobles. With such great opportunity present, Komui sent ravens out to the many friends he made in the far reaches on his travels, including his brother Tito, and invited them to the city. Nearly a dozen people answered the call, and before long a tight-knit clique had formed in Moonburg around the two brothers. Most of them, including Komui, would join the Moonburg Town Guard.

Kartek Integration and the Kartek-Frosmyre War
Less than a few months (in game) after arriving, the nation of Rohel was reintegrated into the Kartek Caliphate, under Caliph 001First. Tito and Komui were still too new to the country to have any allegiances one way or the other, so they welcomed Kartek with open arms. When Kartek's reformation was met with an immediate declaration of war by the Frosmyrian syndicate, the brothers' support for Kartek deepened, as they thought it was unfair that Kartek was being denied its right to exist due to past transgressions. All of this would change when Caliph First announced his plans to invade the Grand Union of Solea-Audal, at the time the largest nation in Rathnir, with the intention of colonizing Suderen in Nieden. Komui thought the decision was suicidal, and that Kartek's resources would be better spent on the war with Frosmyre. When he asked how Kartek could win such a war on two fronts, he was met with vague insistence that victory was assured. When voicing his criticism, he was shouted down as being a defeatist. It was here that Tito and Komui's perception of Kartek for the first time became negative.

The Independence Raid
On the 24th of November, 2021, at 10:00AM EST, a meeting of the Moonburg Town Guard convened. The Marshal, Manji Thornrose, was ill, and in his stead First Lieutenant Nico Nagaheart lead the meeting. In attendance included Tito, Komui, Senator, and Stefanano. Here, Nico informed the guard that Rohel was planning on declaring its independence from Kartek within hours. The guard were struck with simultaneous surprise and relief, since now they could be excluded from both of Kartek's wars. However, Komui brought up to the guard his worry that this action would cause great anger within Kartek's ranks, and that it was sure to be met with a retaliatory action. The guard was then put on high alert, and Komui, dazed by the prospect that violence could be coming to his home yet again, began planting berry bushes outside the eastern gate as a rushed defense. When asked by Carrot Daydream why he was planting them, he replied "I don't know. We have to do something. They're coming for us." Philomena Auros who was on watch at the western gate spotted movement in the fort of Shwaize, now a Kartek stronghold. Bopra, at the time an advisor to the Duke, rang the bell signalling an attack, and urged the citizenry of Moonburg to stay inside and lock their doors. Instead, Komui urged his companions to dawn their armor, pick up their weapons, and prepare to fight. Komui then took command of the guard, or ordered them to the western wall. The first arrows were fired, and the raid on Moonburg began. Initially the skirmish was between the Moonburg garrison and the Arxellan troops in Shwaize, but soon reinforcements on both sides began to arrive. Kartek sent only one man: Norsk Hone. He single-handedly kept the entirety of the town guard at bay, and his fierce fighting ability would come to haunt Komui for many years. As the guard did their best to fight Norsk, reinforcements from Thalasii arrived, escalating the conflict further. To make matters more confusing, Kelz, then leader of the Frosmyrian syndicate, arrived, and began killing people on both sides of the skirmish, her might rivaling that of Norsk's. After most of the town guard was decimated, Norsk fled the city, to which the people of Moonburg interpreted as victory. Very little gear was lost in the conflict, and from the perspective of Komui and the town guard, the raid was a symbolic victory for Rohel's independence. After the raid, Duke Daydream held a meeting in town hall congratulating the fighters for their bravery. The following day, Moonburg's Marshal Manji Thornrose, so impressed with Komui's leadership abilities, would tell him in confidence that he wished Komui to be the new Marshal, and that he would step down from his position so that Komui could run unopposed. This would begin Komui's career as a councilor of Moonburg.

Marshal of Moonburg
After being elected Marshal, Komui set out to fulfill his campaign promises of reorganizing the town guard, hosting regular training sessions, and keeping the guard supplied. Komui quickly discovered that the town guard was effectively bankrupt, relying entirely on individual citizens supplying their own weapons and armor. To rectify this, Komui and Tito began fishing in the Moonburg swamp for discarded enchanted books. Komui's skill as a blacksmith proved useful in solving the town guard's supply issue, as day and night Komui would spend his time manufacturing weapons and armor for the guard. Komui having never been much of a fighter, was not nearly as effective at training the guard's troops, or organizing them. While the old Marshal gave Komui the job due to his ability to command troops in the heat of battle, his fighting ability was severely lacking.

The town guard's barren armory lead Komui to inquire more deeply about the economic state of Moonburg as a whole. Him and Tito would go on to discover that the Duchy's treasury was nearly empty, and its economy non-existent. On top of this, the towns infrastructure was incredibly poor, many buildings were abandoned, and the city's space was not being used efficiently. Instead of addressing any of these problems, the Steward began work on expanding the city to the south, nearly doubling its size, despite the fact there were still many abandoned buildings not being used.

Both Tito and Komui deemed the situation so bad that they began working together on economic reforms, and a total overhaul on the city's real estate and infrastructure. The plan was called "The Apollo Program", and it would consume most of the brothers' time, especially once Tito was made Treasurer of Moonburg, a brand new council position only created due to the brothers' insistence on splitting off the Steward's economic duties into a separate council position. The Apollo Program would cause internal disagreements during its implementation due to the scope of the changes being made, as well as miscommunication between House Phoenix and the rest of the Council. The Apollo Program would never be fully implemented due to the Kartek-Rohel war, but it's legacy would be felt when many of the proposed changes would later be implemented in Ironthorn.

Founding of House Phoenix
Per royal decree of King Vashonn Thornrose, any citizen of Rohel could found a noble house if they met certain criteria, one of them was being a councilor. Komui decided to jump at the opportunity, and after much deliberation, Tito and Komui settled on the house name "Phoenix", symbolic of the two brothers' rise after the destruction of their old home, their house motto being "First from the ashes". The rising notoriety of House Phoenix would draw the attention and paranoia of Duke Omara Daydream, who viewed them as possible competition to his own house, House Daydream.

Relationship with Omara Daydream
Komui's opinion of the Duke was originally quite positive. Although he largely blamed Moonburg's sorry economic state on Omara's lack of leadership, as long as Omara allowed House Phoenix to enact the Apollo Program, Komui was able to look passed it. More over, Komui ultimately believed that the Duke's heart was in the right place, and that he still cared about Moonburg first and foremost. A turning point in the relations between the Phoenix brothers and Duke Omara came when Omara requested House Phoenix pledge loyalty to House Daydream. The brothers outright refused, and were insulted by the notion that their loyalty was in question. Moreover, the brothers believed that their loyalty should be to Moonburg itself, and not the royal house. As Omara became more withdrawn as sickness began to take him, the relationship continued to sour, as Komui believed that the Duke was shirking his royal duties, including not showing up to meetings, focusing more on his house than ducal matters, and a general lack of communication with the council. This souring relationship would reach its fever pitch during the Kartek-Rohel war.

The Craftmas Festival
In December of 2021, Komui's suggested to the Chancellor at the time, Nico Nagaheart, to hold a festival celebrating the Craftist holiday of Craftmas, a celebration of the winter solstice. Gifts were exchanged, drinks shared, and songs sung. What was notable about it was the presence of members of Kartek's leadership, including Barend Kramer. At this point tensions were still high between the Rohelians and Kartek, yet at the festival both people's were able to spend time together as brothers, and not enemies. It was this festival that gave Komui hope that perhaps Kartek and Rohel could live together peacefully.

The Libra Incident
When a small group of farmers in the eastern parts of Rohel declared their independence and claimed large swathes of Maldun and Osdrok as there's, also known as the Libra Incident, Komui immediately began preparing for war. Komui drafted the War Measures Act, and had it passed into law by unanimous vote of the Council and the Duke, that gave the government sweeping emergency powers in the case of war. Tito and Komui also began an ambitious Nether mining campaign to raise funds to support the war effort. All of House Phoenix and its associates were mobilized, with people either fishing, mining, fortifying the city, or gathering supplies. Komui would begin to go nights without sleep, as he toiled day and night preparing Moonburg for the inevitable war that was to come.

Declaration of War
On December 30th, 2021, the newly crowned "God Emperor" of Kartek declared war on Rohel, using the Libra incident as their casus belli. All of Komui's fears had been realized; Kartek's first target would be Moonburg. As an emergency measure, Komui drafted and passed the 'Total Mobilization Act', which officially conscripted all able bodied members of Moonburg into the new United Rohel Army. While continuing to participate in the emergency mining campaign, Komui, with help of Senator, began making large scale arms deals with merchants to supply the Army for the upcoming battle. At the same time, he managed the incoming donations from various foreign contributors, as well as organize foreign volunteers into the Allied forces.

The Battle of Viodoxa
Due to political machinations beyond his purview, Komui and the URA found themselves fighting on the side of Hazel's forces during the Battle of Viodoxa. Due to unfortunate scheduling, on the same day, Komui would take his long time lover, Iaera, to be his wedded wife. As soon as the wedding celebrations drew to a close, the members of the URA dawned their armor, sheathed their swords, and headed for Viodoxa. The URA, lead by Grand Marshal Lucas DeGamers, was placed by the Viodoxans in a tower containing the Viodoxan Army's potion supplies. Immediately, Komui noticed that the tower would be impossible to defend, as there were no openings for them to fire arrows through. He brought the matter up to the Grand Marshal, who agreed, and so, minutes before the battle commenced, the tower was hastily converted into an archer's sentry tower. After the Vidoxan army was massacred (which the Rohelians were not aware of), the Archonal Union forces descended upon them. The URA rained down hell on the Union forces, keeping them at bay as they built makeshift cover. Eventually, Union forces closed the distance and made it to the tower, stabbing their swords through the slits of the walls. Unable to enter, they resorted to using dynamite to blast their way in, but the Rohelians rebuilt the walls just as quickly as they destroyed them. The violent chaos persisted for (in game) hours, until eventually, the Union forces made their way in, and the Rohelians were forced to surrender the tower. Loic's forces, impressed by the display of Rohelians, spared them execution, and instead stripped them of their gear before sending them on their way. After the battle, Commander Ryou Bakura of Viodoxa personally congratulated the Rohelians for their bravery during the battle, as (unbeknownst to them until this point) they held out longer than the rest of the Viodoxan Army. He assured them that their actions would forever be remembered.

Eve of the Battle
With Loic now assisting Kartek in the war on Rohel, and Aldovir now declaring their military support as well, the walls began to close around Rohel, and Komui. He and the rest of URA worked tirelessly laying traps for the invaders, and delivering valuables out of the city. It was clear to him that the war was unwinnable, but he remained determined to put up a fight. As the hour drew nearer, claims of Rohel's 'toxicity' floated around Rathnir, as Kartek used the claim as further reason to invade. Most of the evidence of this 'toxicity' lead back to the the Duke of Moonburg, Omara, who, among other things, levied numerous insults against Kartek's people, and placed their citizens on a "Kill on Sight" list. To prove that, while the claims were indeed true, that Rohel was willing to take action against its toxic people, King Vashonn ordered Omara Daydream to step down as Duke. When Omara refused, Komui approached him in his chambers to attempt to convince him. By this point, Omara's illness had kept him sequestered in his royal residence. He had failed to make comment when Kartek declared war, and rarely if ever made communication with the outside world, with the exception of organizing elections, which baffled most, considering the emergency situation Moonburg was in. Komui spent hours arguing with Omara, pleading with him to abdicate as a show of good faith; after all, the Duke had abstained from governing since he became bedridden. No matter how Komui approached the argument, he was each time met with flat refusal. Komui left enraged, and later would petition to the King that the Duke be removed by force. However, with the battle fast approaching, Vashonn refused, both fearful that the move would shake faith in Rohel internationally, and believing that Omara was owed the chance to serve as Duke one last time. Begrudgingly, Komui capitulated on the matter. The night before the battle, he did not sleep, instead opting to finish the defenses, and running the last valuables out of the city.