Valekryn Liadon, Earl of Flintshire

Valekryn Liadon, Earl of Flintshire is an Eryngyrian elf and son-in-law to Geford Derringer, King of the Human Kingdom of Aryinn. He is married to Elisabeth Derringer, second daughter of the King and his first wife Queen Meridith Jaunah-Derringer, Duchess of Liebstant. Valekryn was granted his appointment as Earl by the human king when he uncovered a treasonous plot against the king led by the prior Earl and acted to protect the king and the threat against the crown.

A Path to the Top

Valekryn first became employed in the human kingdom after leaving his homeland of Erengyre in the Echovad Forrest soon after hitting his majority. He is young for an elf, only two hundred and sixty years old, and he spent the first hundred and fifty years of his adulthood exploring the world outside. Valekryn and his sister Bughuula Liadon were visiting the local community of Earlmeyer, the seat of the Earl of Flintshire, when the city sustained an attack by a rogue clan of bugbears. This uprising occurred at the end of the Great Spell Plague. The two fighters distinguished themselves in the battle with their fighting prowess, and were invited by the commander of the local military troops to join under contract to the crown. Valekryn accepted this offer while his sister did not, and the two parted ways.
Valekryn worked his way quickly up the ranks and established himself as commander of the royal military under the Earl of Flintshire, the king's brother-in-law when the position became vacant. From this position, he was privy to most of what occurred at the seat of the Earl.
Twenty years into his reign, King Derringer established a new military levy, raised taxes on nobles, and established new restrictions on the power of the nobility to control trade within their lands and make contracts between the noble houses without the intervention and oversight of the crown. This infuriated most of the human nobility and caused general civil unrest in the population.
Valekryn became aware of a plot to split off from the human kingdom led by the Earl and supported by a number of nobles in the western region of the human kingdom. This did not sit well with him as it was against the oath of loyalty he swore when he became a soldier in the human kingdom's military. When he further uncovered that the Earlof Flintshire planned not to actually separate from the kingdom, but to kill the king and take the throne for himself he moved swiftly and decisively. He secured evidence of the Earl's treason, then acted to secure the kingdom, killing the Earl, imprisoning other implicated nobles, and reporting their nefarious plans to the king.
In gratitude, King Derringer awarded the title previously held by his treacherous noble to Valekryn, along with the hand of his eldest daughter Elisabeth.

A Controversial Appointment

The appointment of an elf as a noble of the human court was not a popular move though it was not without precedence given the hereditary service of the Duke of Frostmane to the human crown. The Frostmanes were mercenaries to the human throne since the settlement of the survivors of the Cataclysm on the main continent of Arrhynsia during the Fifth Wave. While the precedence had been set, the Duchy of Frostmane was granted to Kievan father of the current Duke Krian four human generations ago - not within the memory of any living humans. The move to appoint such a high office to an elf, regardless of the nobility and usefulness of his service to the crown (which was in fact substantial) was highly controversial.

That damned elf is just using her, biding his time to take over the kingdom.

— Rensem, Viscount Cathcart

Valekryn Liadon

by Stepan Kapl

HRH Elisabeth Derringer

by Lia Koltyrina

Valekryn asked for and was granted the hand in marriage of Princess Elisabeth, the king's daughter, another controversial move. Elisabeth is second in line to inherit the throne, though it is highly likely that her older brother Richard will remain healthy and inherit. The marriage was desired by both the Princess and Valekryn, but it was considered unsuitable for a potential heir to the throne to marry a "commoner".

Heritage

It is not at all clear that Valekryn is a "commoner". Erengyrian lineage is a murky business for humans to decipher, though it appears crystal clear to the Erengyrians themselves. Erengyrians do not marry, and there is no concept of bastardy in their culture. Their females predominantly bear female children such that ninety percent or more of the population is female, and both males and females typically look for partners to breed with outside the community. On the non-Erengyrian (male) side Valekryn's bloodline should be extremely impressive to humans as his great grandfather was Forestia, the first High Palidan of Guldari, his grandfather was Deratona, the first Viscount of Breshnok, and his father was Kievan, the first Duke of Frostmane which makes him half-brother to Krian the current duke.
On the Erengyrian (female) side, his lineage is impeccable. His blood mother is Ba'alta Vistera, and Zeparana, the current Clan Mother, leader of the Erengyrians, is his grandmother by blood. His "War Mother" Lamiana Liadon who raised him is a famous warrior and held in highest esteem among their people. A erengyrian's war mother is considered more important than the birth mother as evidenced by children taking the last name of their War Mother rather than their birth mother. Valekryn has a "sister" through his War Mother, Bughuula Liadon who was his second in command in the war against the bugbears.

Rumors of Conflicting Loyalties

There are rumors that Valekryn owes allegiance to an obscure and possiby evil elven goddess and is a practicing Eldritch Humter. These rumors seem to have no basis in fact and are probably spawned out of jealousy and court politics. Rumors of loyalty to Ligeoa are almost certainly untrue as the dark goddess has been imprisoned in the Dark Caverns and cut off from any external contact with any but the Dark Elves for much longer than any elf from the Echovad Forrest has been alive. No external attempts to free her from confinement have been made since the Betrayal an action which one would expect if she had any followers who were not entombed with her.
If Valekryn is, in fact, an Eldritch Hunter, this would be no legal obstruction to his holding the estate and title of Flintshire, but his political opponents use it to call his loyalties into question. This challenge has made some headway among some humans who believe Valekryn's loyalties are already questionable because of his elven race and ethnicity. Eldritch Hunters are bound to protect the land of Arrhynsia from invasion from eldritch abominations, and this is a traditional occupation for Erengyrians. Valekryn's supporters argue that this "divided loyalty" argument makes no sense, given that a world-wide defense from all sapient life on Arrhynsia would be required to defend against an eldritch invasion.

Marriage & Children

Elisabeth and Valekryn were married thirty-two years after the defeat of the bugbears with suitable pomp and circumstance as befits a royal wedding. They seem to be of one mind and are amicable partners in marriage, friendship and rule. They have divided responsibilities of governance between them, with Elisabeth focusing on land management, legal, and internal political aspects of the lands in their control, while Valekryn focuses on military, financial and international political interactions. Their lands are well managed and stable, their tenants are productive and well fed with no more than the normal levels of complaining to be heard, and their borders are secure.
Valekryn and Elisabeth have one daughter, Kalyn, who appears to be growing into a serious and responsible young woman, fit to follow in her parent's footsteps as ruler of the Earldom. Unfortunately, and nonsensically, her half-elven heritage may prohibit her from inheriting her parent's offices due to meddling by her father's political opponents who are challenging her succession rights in order to "preserve the purity of the kingdom" due to her mixed elven blood. Legal experts see the possibility that Kalyn would be prohibited from succeeding to her fathers title and estates as unlikely, but the challenge against her inheritance of the human throne as a serious legal matter.