Duncan

Duncan, King of the Highlands, was a firm but kind monarch whose murder in 258 upended the five years of stability and relative peace he had provided his country.

Born in Connor’s Gob in 211, he was the seventh child but first legitimate heir of Kenneth II. Raised by his mother in the Autonomous Zone of Dab Ea, he spent his early years living amongst that territory’s kíndallan majority—and came to adore the people of that shapeshifting species as a result.

In 222, following the death of his grandfather, there was talk that Duncan would be named king instead of his reluctant father. His mother, fearing for Duncan’s safety, put a stop to that. She wanted her child to have an actual childhood and wanted to spare him from the growing and increasingly violent movement that supported his aunt’s claim to the throne. That was why she’d moved to the Autonomous Zone in the first place: to raise her kid in a place where he could be a kid, away from the incredible pressures of the hereditary monarchy.

Duncan continued to live in anonymity until he turned 18. That year however, he began a ten-year course of study in political science at Yesterland Academy. And from then on, the exploits of the insightful Duncan MacKenneth were followed by people across the seven kingdoms of Wonderland.

He married in 237, had sons in 238 and 239, and returned to The Highlands in 240. Soon thereafter, his father named him Lord of the Loch. And then, for nigh upon 13 years, he made certain that at least one corner of the kingdom was ruled with competence and compassion.

In 253, upon the death of his father, Duncan was crowned king. Then, in just five years, he managed to undo the damage which had been done over the preceding thirty. By that middle of that year, the year 258, only a rebellion in the east threatened the peace which Duncan had established. Luckily for Duncan, his cousin Macbeth—Lord of the North—was up to the task of quelling the uprising.

Unluckily for Duncan, victory in the east emboldened his ambitious cousin—victory, and a chance encounter with three witches. And that is how the king came to die in a well-orchestrated act of regicide that would bring an end to his hard-won peace.

King of The Highlands

Reign

253–258

Predecessor

Kenneth II

Successor

Macbeth

Life

211 258 47 years old

Parents

Kenneth II

Children

• Malcolm III
• Donalbain MacDuncan