Karl Lothar Graelingard
Karl Graelingard was the Emperor of the Holmgardians from 687 HR to 733 HR. Though a troubled man, he led the Empire into a golden age, recovering much of its lost power and ushering in a cultural revival known as the Karlian Restoration. His exceptionally consequential reign has been a favourite subject of historians for decades.
Above: Karl during the Ashen Crusade
Early Life
Karl was born the second son of Emperor Cardalos II during a troubled time when the realm teetered on the brink of collapse after the War of the Three Emperors. As a young man he gained the ire of his father via his love of drink and whoring and was posted to the dour burg of Grinstead in de facto exile. When Carovin fell during the early stages of the The War of the Broken Crypt and much of the west was overran by Sanguinic cultists, a group of adventurers arrived at his court and he travelled with them to Holmgard to warn his father and muster an army. He aided this group, which came to be known as the War Council. Their exploits are too great to be detailed here, but needless to say, the war was won with their leadership. When Karl's brother Thoric was slain in a concurrent rebellion, he was made the imperial heir; upon his father's assassination by the forces of Sanguine he was hastily crowned Emperor in Carovin.Reign
Karl's reign began during the closing days of the War of the Broken Crypt. His army besieged the haunted ruin of Tznchundel, where he was exposed to fell animantic sorcery. He left Tznchundel in triumph and set about restructuring high offices and rebuilding the realm; Caspar Edelweiss he made his Warmaster and lieutenant, Gerhardt he appointed as the Warden of the North and sent to found the jarldom of Neuheim. He gave the Order of Kelemvor permission to build a citadel in Carovin, and resettled many of the flagellants in the renamed city of Mannheim, previously Grinstead. Despite these early victories, the realm was in a dire state. A third of it had been overrun by undead, the Greatwood was held by beastmen and hostile Valmer, and entire provinces had been lost to rebels. In 688, a year after his crowning, he arrived in Holmgard after a long and perilous journey and gained the fealty of the Witan. He established a tenuous ceasefire with the elves of the Greatwood by providing them with tribute, but never forgot their treachery during the war. He decreed five shilling bounty for slaying undead, and ended the rebellion in Tserad through diplomacy. For the first time in years the realm was at peace. The first new crisis came in 690, when his former ally, the wizard Mordekainen, seized Aldberg and the entire Westmark in a coup d'etat using an army of magic golems. A civil war was narrowly averted when the mage swore fealty to Karl just as the Emperor was preparing to muster a response, but Mordekainen would continue to pose a problem throughout his reign. The Westmark was now held by a volatile and unpopular ruler who controlled his fief through fear. Yet a ten year period of peace and rebuilding ensued. Karl opened the realm to trade with Lumeris, Arthendain, and Paxtria, ending centuries of protectionist policies. He issued a new denomination of gold coin, the Graeling, with a higher purity. Foreign investment allowed Carovin to become the epicenter of a grand campaign of rebuilding, and became Karl's second capital. He issued the Edict of Carovin, elevating the cult of Kelemvor to a co-religion with the faith of Tyrian. These policies were controversial, but he reconciled the hardliners through his close relationship with Caspar, the bearer of the Hammer of Tyr, and with his favour towards the flagellants of St. Noro.The Troubled Years
The arrival of the 8th century brought renewed warfare and Karl's most controversial acts. With the economy recovered from the War of the Broken Crypt and a huge standing army, Karl ceased tribute payments against the elves of the Greatwood and abruptly declared war on them. Seeking revenge for their earlier treachery, he launched a devastating campaign against the region in what would become known as the Ashen Crusade. Caspar, the Hammer of Tyr, devised a cunning plan. He assembled groups of wizards on the southern edge of the forest and summoned a fiery conflagration in the height of a dry season. With conjured wind, he created a firestorm that slowly swept through the Greatwood, incinerating much of the forest, elves, beastmen, and all other life. On the northern flank, he was prepared. A great system of defensive works was created, and the fleeing elven and beastmen military was annihilated. A bloody 5 year guerilla war ensued, but the elves were ultimately defeated and their lands incorporated into the Empire for the first time. The destruction of the Rhynarian elves and their Fey allies was so complete that Karl was said to be depressed by his own handiwork, and was even rumored to have fallen out with Caspar. Worse, the Hammer of Tyr, Caspar's sacred artifact, mysteriously disappeared shortly afterwards. Yet the realm was not yet at peace. A peasant revolt in the Westmark against the tyrannical mage Mordekainen was oppressed with such savagery that Karl summoned the wizard to Holmgard. He refused the summons. A brief civil war ensued, and the mage's artifice was no match against the combined forces of the realm. In 713, Mordekainen fled West in a disheveled state, never to be seen in the Empire again.Later Reign
Karl was never the same after the tragedies of the early 8th century. He became increasingly withdrawn, overseeing several minor wars and building projects from Carovin and Holmgard. Though he had many mistresses, he proved unable to father a child. The matter of succession became open discussion; his (much) younger brother, Ragnar, became a favourite, but Karl never issued a clear declaration on the matter and his mental state soon declined. By the 720s, he was never seen in public, and travelled in a curtained stagecoach. He had reportedly become obsessed with otherworldly threats and the return of Sanguine, to the detriment of all else. Nonetheless, the political apparatus he created continued, and prosperity reigned. The final years of his reign were marked by succession disputes and increasing centralization of power by the High Priest of Tyr, Wulfgar IV, effectively an adopted son of Karl and the biological son of Noro Codsworth. Karl vanished in 733, and Ragnar was declared Emperor under suspicious circumstances.Personality Characteristics
Virtues & Personality perks
Karl was educated and cosmopolitan, yet capable of carousing with lowborn and highborn alike. It is said that Karl could lift unease in a room with a single word. He was a great patron of the arts and sciences, constructing dozens of monastic lyceums where manuscripts were copied, and even made an attempt to provide a form of universal education for the masses. Adept at manipulating popular opinion, he appeased the common folk with festivals and elaborate displays of grandeur, while pitting noble rivals against each other to maintain a stranglehold on power. Though he lacked expertise in military affairs, he had a knack for choosing exceptional advisers and delegating decision making to others.
Vices & Personality flaws
Karl was a known womaniser and carouser, struggling throughout his life with imbibing beverages to excess. It was said that at council meetings a glass of fine red wine was always at hand, though he tried many times to shake the habit with varying degrees of excess. He displayed little interest in military affairs after the events of 687, rarely leaving major cities for the frontier, delegating almost all military matters to trusted advisers.
As his reign progressed, he became increasingly withdrawn and reclusive. He was rarely seen leaving the Imperial Palace, and did so only in a covered coach. His debauched parties, formerly famous, became fewer and further between. For the last 15 years of his reign, he was never seen in public - ruling his realm through an extensive web of courtiers and exerting absolute control through a sophisticated propaganda network.
Children
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