Riley Grey

Riley Grey is a Changeling of the long forgotten Grey dynasty. They are also the leader and sole member of the Silent Kingdom Of Sigland. After a failed attempt to revive the Silent Kingdom Of Sigland Riley signed the Treaty Of Eastern Vikings, which vassalized Sigland under the The Skjöldan Dipsomonium of Roðinnbrók. Since this event Riley has been seen less and less, only making brief appearances once every week or two. It is rumored that their disappearance and sudden change may have been due to a possible infection of Neihernspried but there is no proof of this fact.

Early Life:
Riley Grey was born the heir to the great Grey dynasty, a lost dynasty of changelings whom where pushed into hiding deep underground inside of the Great Grey's Labyrinth hundreds of years prior to the discovery of Rathnir and Eldham. They were born first in line to the throne meaning they received the best education that the underground Grey kingdom had to offer. This superior education coupled with their natural curiosity and dedication lead to them quickly becoming one of the most knowledgeable people amongst the Grey dynasty. This natural curiosity also led to a desire to travel to the surface, which to the Grey was considered a sin due to their distain for the world above's treachery.

Riley was the oldest sibling in line for the royal throne out of their 3 siblings. Their youngest sibling Sutton Grey being born just before their entrance into school at age 10, and their middle sibling Salem Grey being born just a year after they were. Despite spending most of their time inside the royal chambers they never saw their parents more than once a year leading them to despise their parents regardless of their reasoning.

Riley was almost always seen with a book in hand or researching what little information was available in the royal library's public section about the world above the ground. The other children also thought of Riley as a traitor for their interest in exploring the land above even if it was to restore the Grey dynasty's rightful place as ruler and protector of all.

Teenage Years:
During their early teenage their infatuation with the surface world grew more and more obsessive leading to the higher nobility and royal family to begin attempts to dissuade this interest as much as possible. these attempts included increasing Riley's schooling difficulty, attempts to get them more interested in the sciences or botany, and teaching Riley many different skills ranging from diplomatic etiquette to basic survival training and architecture.

One evening on the eve of their 17th birthday Riley successfully gained access to the restricted section of the royal library and read through almost every written account made by the Grey's and their predecessors about their "Rightful Claims". The information they gained shattered their very way of thinking. This lead to Riley confronting their parents in an irrational rage about their lies and deception to which they were greeted with an armed guard unit that attempted to capture them and "Dispose" of the disgruntled heir.

After escaping the guards Riley returned to their chambers were they and their siblings lived and left their prized amulet imbued with ancient magic to their sibling Salem and left their amber ring that contained an ancient beast to their sibling Sutton. They also grabbed the sword that they had personally forged for themselves dubbed Shroudbreaker. Shortly after arriving Riley was forced to flee due to the heightened patrols and security in and around the royal chambers.

With nowhere else to go Riley decided that the only place that they could turn to was to head to the surface out of the labyrinth. having read up on the exact paths out Riley managed to escape the labyrinth without encountering as much as a single trap.

When they emerged from the cavern they were greeted by the dawn of the glowing sun, a foreign sight to this cave dweller who had grown accustomed to the light of the torch and the sea lantern. They had come out in the land that had been dubbed "Eldham" and had nothing but the clothes on their back and the sword at their hip.

A New Life:
Upon their arrival in the lands of Eldham, Riley wandered aimlessly looking for any signs of sentient life amongst the vast wilderness. Eventually when they were on the brink of starvation Riley came across a man in royal garbs named Hoskerr, the lone diarch of the Konungsríki af Sigland, who offered to take Riley in and help them begin to make a new life in this new land.

As time went on Riley began to see Hoskerr as the parental figure that they never had. Though little is really known about Hoskerr or their true feelings on Riley Grey it is believed that they saw Riley as if they were their one and only child. During their time in Sigland Riley would befriend many people such as Sandy Rovin, Cam Da Man, and Merc Brewtaker. This state of happiness and safety in Sigland and for Riley would last for only a few short months.

The Disappearance:
One early Autumn morning Riley awoke to the sounds panic echoing through the capital city of Horskjarrfjord. They later learned that their beloved father figure Hoskerr had disappeared from the royal chambers during the night and had not been found. This power gap led to the complete downfall of the social hierarchy of Sigland. This collapse lead to the eventual abandonment of all of the Siglandic cities. Out of grief and out of possibly anger Riley disappeared for a two month period after Hoskerr's disappearance. Their whereabouts during this time are to this day unknown but it is speculated that they had attempted to find and reconnect with their younger sibling Salem Grey.

Later it was discovered that Hoskerr in a assumed drunken craze or out of a sudden act of religious piety decided to dawn a sacrificial gown and willingly gave himself onto a wild polar bear. The actual cause of death is debated to actually have been to the elements with a polar bear later feeding on the body but it is mostly up to debate. This event later lead to Riley's loss of faith in Ættaðr as a whole due to them blaming the gods for taking their adoptive father away from them.

Upon both Hoskerr and Riley's disappearance Cam Da Man, in Hoskerr's stead signed a protectorate deal with Sigland's sister nation the The Skjöldan Dipsomonium of Roðinnbrók in order to preserve a level of safety for the few remaining peoples of Sigland. This deal lead to the essential total abandonment of Sigland by its people and the one great streets of the nation fell silent. Squatters later began to attempt to steal the lands of Sigland in the absence of any level of authority or defenders to stop them.

The Reconstruction:
About two months after the disappearance of Hoskerr, Cam Da Man was approached by Merc Brewtaker who was the leader of Mercury with an offer to help "revive" the nation of Sigland under the banner of Mercury which was later found to be a attempt to claim Sigland as its own. Cam agreed to this seemingly innocent offer and sought out the help of Riley Grey to help run the nation as the second rightful Diarch. Upon agreeing to help Riley Grey was granted the role of Konungr of Sigland.

In their attempt to revive Sigland as a whole Riley and Cam were tricked by Merc into becoming a vassal state of Mercury under the guise that it would allow for a revival of their once great land. Luckily for Sigland a outbreak of war between Mercury and Rodinnbrok for other reasons lead to the independence of Sigland. Shortly after they gained independence Riley was challenged to a duel to the death by their close friend and brother figure Cam Da Man. The reasoning for this is unknown but this lead to the death of Cam at the hands of Riley's sword. This death left Riley as Siglands sole denisen and as its sole leader.

Also around this time Riley began to have nightmares that the old gods of Sigland where laughing and mocking them and that they had orchestrated the death of both Hoskerr and Cam through evil means. These dreams eventually led to Riley abandoning the faith for a short time. After forsaking their faith Riley began to have visions of amethyst and a great goddess. It was later realized that these were the calls of the Junicist goddess Juni. This led to Riley converting to Junicism and making it the Sigland state religion.

Riley's attempts at revival seemed to be beginning to bear fruit for a short time when many new faces began to appear in Sigland along with the reclamation of the lost city of Myrkvidr where Riley now resides. This time of life was to be short lived though.

Sigland Falls Silent:
As time went on the new faces in Sigland began to fade out of prominence more and more and the streets once again began to fall silent. Eventually all that remained was Riley Grey and their close friend and personal ally Silver Suzuki, a fisherman who had brought great wealth to Riley and themselves through the sale of mending books.

It was during this time that Riley became infatuated with the Neihernspried Infection and more specifically the individual named Cab. Cab Varen was the creator of the infection and Riley sought them out to obtain a way to become infected. It is unknown if they actually obtained a sample but eventually Riley began to appear less and less in the streets of Myrkvidr.

As they grew more and more absent, Riley decided that the best course of action for them and Sigland was to merge with their sister nation of Rodinnbrok once more. This took form in the Treaty Of Eastern Vikings which united these two nations into one. Since the merger Riley has remained in and out of the spotlight and still attempts to raise the nation of Sigland from the ashes once more.