Reyjad Solgal

Reyjad Solgal is a Niedene of Soleannen faith, Akesor (mayor) of Falkeame, and Overseer of the Watch. Although his early years are all but unknown, his recent history is intertwined with the rise and fall of many great nations. In the modern day, under the Kingdom of Creed, he works as a Kesefor (advisor) to the monarch, helping to maintain the Kingdom by managing interior issues, such as writing legislation, including the constitution, as well as expanding the role of the Watch and Soleannen faith across the Nieden continent.

Early life
This period is shrouded in mystery, as nobody really knows where Reyjad came from as his family and surname were all but unknown. What is known is that one day, during his late teens, Reyjad woke up amongst the fields and flowers outside the recently abandoned canal town of Chileambore. Unaware of where he was, and knowing only his age and forename, Reyjad wondered into the town, completely lost. Upon entering the town, Reyjad quickly realised he was alone here, in a ghost town void of life; the shattered windows, looted homes, and ruined roads made this all very apparent. Noticing that he seemed to be the only person in the empty town, Reyjad took advantage of the situation and looted the last remaining supplies in the settlement. After a little more exploring, Reyjad stumbled across the town centre, full of scribbled notes to and from previous travellers passing through. While scanning the notes and leaflets, one perked his interest. In the centre of all the notes lay a prominent sign, stating that Chileambore had been abandoned, and that the author of the sign, Valendaesu, had moved to Galitz, advising others to follow his footsteps. Under this were a set of coordinates, and without a family nor friends to assist him, Reyjad went in search of the mysterious place known as Galitz.

Arrival at Galitz
After recording the coordinates left on the sign, Reyjad set off for Galitz. The journey passed with a spirit of adventure, and Reyjad took note of the landscape and lay of the land as he went. Eventually, Reyjad came across the town of Galitz. Its sheer, gleaming walls looked down upon him, preventing him from exploring the town. As he navigated around its perimeter, Reyjad noticed a distant sound of murmuring and conversation. It was clear that it came from inside the walls, and Reyjad yearned to see who it was. After navigating to one of the gates, which he found open, he spotted one of the residents. Risking apprehension, Reyjad darted inside the compound, fleeing the area in which the resident was busy. Once he was inside, Reyjad took in his surroundings.

Once there, Reyjad fell in love at first sight. The intricate architecture and feeling of the environment spoke to him, and in that instant he knew he had to call the place home. However, once he approached the town hall, he was shaken by the presence of spikes adorned with the heads of trespassers, a sign displayed the context of their executions. Fearful that if he were caught by the citizen lurking nearby, he'd share the same fate as the trespassers, Reyjad fled the city by hopping the walls. After retreating from the city, Reyjad ran across the plains dominated by the city walls until he reached a small ridge. As the sun had begun to fall below the horizon as the day came to a close, Reyjad sheltered in the entrance of an abandoned mineshaft entrance. There, he pulled a blank diary he had taken from the ruins of Chileambore and scribbled out the events that had just transpired. But the more he wrote, the more tired he became. Eventually, Reyjad slipped into sleep, snuggled up to the jagged rocks.

Citizenship within Galitz and Gertonia
With the birth of a new day, Reyjad peered out from the ledge he'd slept under the night before. Rather unexpectedly, Reyjad's gaze was met by a stunning set of buildings which lied outside the perimeter of the walls. Cautiously, Reyjad approached the structures, noting that many were open and free to enter. It struck Reyjad that these buildings served as hubs of worship to gods unknown to Reyjad. Unknown to Reyjad at the time, this would be the first time he'd be exposed to the Soleannen faith. After scouting the other buildings, Reyjad came across a large board covered with public messages. Just like in Chileambore, Reyjad looked through the notes pinned to the sign's wooden planks until he came across familiar handwriting. Addressed by Valendaesu, the mysterious figure who had previously travelled to Galitz, the sign listed a time and place to meet him for any wandering visitors. Consoling his diary, Reyjad noted how to reach Valendaesu, and waited patiently to meet him. After a few hours of waiting, Reyjad finally met Valendaesu, who introduced him to the townsfolk of Galitz and informed Reyjad of the wider nation Galitz existed under - the Holy Kingdom of Gertonia. Valendaesu told Reyjad of the nearby towns of Herbgrus and Thanutabad, and after Reyjad was settled into a grand townhouse neighbouring the town hall, he set off to explore the other towns of Gertonia. Whilst travelling throughout Gertonia, from Fredonia and Castillon in the south to the capital, TortuinKrieg, in the north, Reyjad learned about the nations monarch, Kaiser Jeremy, and the political landscape his nation found himself in. Names such as the Simulami Empire, Soleannan Imperium and Alamayn became familiarised to Reyjad as he traversed Gertonia's roads. Throughout his time as a Gertonian citizen, Reyjad would help to expand the institutions and commerce within Galitz. Although he had faint ambitions to reach the Galitz town council, Reyjad found himself entrenched within private businesses. Oak Industries took up a vast majority of Reyjad's time during his early days, and he helped the business to expand branches to Thanutabad and eventually Solitude; with plans to reach Yham. His growing experience with trade and merchanting helped propel Reyjad to become deputy head of the company up until its effective disillusionment with the fall of Gertonia. During the time that Oak Industries was expanding into Thanutabad, Reyjad became acquainted with its mayor, MrBank. After touring around the fast-developing town, Reyjad was invited to become an honorary citizen, a proposition which is still treasured even today by Reyjad.

However, the good times were not to last within Gertonia, and as tensions grew under the surface, it became apparent to the increasingly uneasy Gertonian citizenry that all was not well within the nation. Even though Reyjad did not understand the full scope of what was happening, he knew that tensions were growing. The first instance of internal instability within Galitz were the accusations levelled against one of its residents, Tihv. Originally hailing from Borhammer, a nation far south of Gertonia, Tihv existed in limbo as an unofficial half-citizen within Galitz. Reyjad and Tihv had became friends and Reyjad admired the work Tihv had put into her own small-scale cheese business operating at first from her house's basement then the restaurant built outside the city walls. That is why when the news came that Tihv had been banished and exiled from Gertonia for the attempted assassination of its leader Kaiser Jeremy, Reyjad was rather taken aback. At first, he was hesitant to believe the news; he was sure Tihv was not capable of such as act. However, after being convinced by multiple Gertonians that Tihv along with a few other culprits had been plotting the assassination of the Kaiser, Reyjad's opinion turned and he began to assist the Galitz town council in evicting the last remnants of Tihv within Galitz. As Tihv's cheese restaurant lay abandoned, Reyjad was tasked by the town council to repurpose her home as the new post office for Galitz. At the time, Reyjad passionately believed Tihv was the criminal she appeared to be, and so worked away at transforming her house into the new post office, opening it in time with conjunction with the neighbouring branch in Yham.

As talk and speculation about the plot began to die down it seemed as though things would return to normal. Yet, this was far from the case. During this time, Reyjad bore witness to the lower branch of Gertonia's government becoming increasingly estranged from its higher counterparts. Reyjad saw the dismay of town's mayors at their overlords in the high government, believing the mayors had become annoyed at the lack of responses from their inquiries. The Holy Kingdom of Gertonia was renamed to the Holy Gertonian Empire by this time, but the rebranding would not save the nation from the lack of unity between all classes of Gertonian society, which had begun to take its toll. The only time that Reyjad had ever spoken to a member of the high Gertonian government was whilst he was farming the fields outside of Galitz. All of a sudden, a Grand Duke passed by him mounted on a majestic horse. As the Duke slowed to a stop, Reyjad raised his guard, unaware of the identity of the mystery figure. Reyjad demanded to know who he was, and the Duke introduced himself as a "Duke of these lands." Realising he was out of his depth talking to someone clearly above his position, Reyjad stepped to the side of the road, allowing the Duke to pass and continue his way towards Thanutabad.

Following this event, the mayors of Gertonia had began to become progressively rowdy. The Kaiser announced he would be absent for an unknown amount of time, with no plans to leave a regent or any other official form of leadership behind. Angry that they had been ignored up until now, the mayors demanded to know when the Kaiser would return and tend to his towns. But alas, before these answers came, the Kaiser disappeared. Alone, Gertonia became weakened, and then Simulami rule began.

Exile from Gertonia & Arrival in the Soleannen Imperium
Rather suddenly, Reyjad awoke to the news that the Simulami Empire had vassalized Gertonia. Initially unsure on what was happening, Reyjad inquired with his fellow townsfolk, learning that Simulami had taken over the administration of the nation. Almost immediately, Galitz became a hotbed of anti-Simulami resistance, and in a frenzy, Reyjad had been coaxed into supporting the resistance. Unfortunately for him, Reyjad didn't quite understand the influence that its leader, Imperare ZenoHUN Maestro, held over Gertonia. After a series of disagreements and what seemed like the inevitability of civil war, Reyjad suddenly received news that he himself, just like Tihv before him, had been exiled from Gertonia. Utterly shocked at this news, he reached out to others and found that a vast majority of the Gertonian citizenry had faced the same problem. Slowly, Reyjad came to find out that multiple leaders of Gertonia had been kicked in an effort to totally overhaul the demographics of leadership. This mass-exile forced Reyjad to work with his fellow ex-nationals, where he found himself applying for citizenship within the Soleannen Imperium. Reyjad knew very little about the Imperium, but came to recognise the scale it operated on at the time of his joining. At the time when Reyjad applied for citizenship, the great nations of Escharia, Yimmu-Audal, and Bardonia all co-existed under the banner of the grand Soleannen Imperium, a true juggernaut that dominated the Nieden continent. Upon entering the giant, Reyjad relied on the help of his fellow exiles in guiding him to their new home. After battling through the administration of the Imperium, Reyjad found himself at the quaint town of Solitude. By the time of his arrival, many of his friends had already made great strides in building the town, which Reyjad learned was being jointly ran by a few people he were familiar with: Valendaesu, Puma von Degurechaff, and M'aiq Do'virr. After being settled into a small house, Reyjad set to work establishing himself within the new community and learned about the context of why they were there. Reyjad was told that when the Gertonians were exiled, the Imperium were considering making moves to reintegrate the province of Tymarat from Gertonia as it collapsed. In doing this, Imperium officials would work with the Gertonians. However, once Simulami achieved total influence over Gertonia, this plan fell through, but the Imperium still retained connections to the Gertonian citizenry, whom they allowed into their Escharian lands by gifting them the abandoned town of Solitude, which was subsequently rebuilt.

Escharia Politics and Akesorship
During the collapse of the Imperium, the state collapsed and split into its three core territories. As Solitude's population began to steadily decline as the former Gertonians moved out and integrate further into Escharia, Reyjad remained. Instead of moving on like his peers. Reyjad focused on expanding his wealth through trade and merchanting. Unfortunately for him, however, Oak Industries began to shut down after suspending all operations during the fall of Gertonia. Disgruntled by the declining population and poor local economy, Reyjad began to take an interest in local politics, hoping to campaign for a revival to trade and influence within the Duchy of Reykara, the region in which Solitude came under. In an effort to achieve these goals, Reyjad became increasingly friendly towards members of the local elite.

It was only with the gift of Falkeame from Amir an Averroii did Reyjad first enjoy the prospect of real political change. As leader of the Watch, Amir wished to set up a headquarters within western Escharia. Amir chose Reyjad as the candidate to take over Falkeame because he was one of the few dedicated Watch members present in the underdeveloped west. After arriving at Falkeame, known as Falkenhayn at the time, Reyjad was given official Akesorship over the territory and tasked with restoring the half abandoned fortification. Falkeame remains Reyjad's personal domain to this day, and with the title of Akesor bestowed upon him Reyjad was allowed to enter the newly formed Escharian Senate.

The national politics of Escharia were wildly different from anything Reyjad had experienced before. Here, he was not only introduced to his peers but some of the most influential individuals across the Nieden continent. Reyjad enjoyed the Escharian Senate nonetheless, and even had plans to introduce legislation alongside an offer from the speaker of the house and leader of the Soleannen Church, Oracle, to become the Senate's scribe. However, Reyjad's time in the Senate would be limited to just a few sessions before the total collapse and dissolution of the Escharian state into the Simulami Empire.

Reconciliation with the Simulami Empire
''To be continued... WIP so PLEASE do not edit!''