Rya Kasparov (REIO KESPEROV)

Overview

Queen Rya Kasparov is the current ruler of Collome, though her throne is in Bril rather than the country's capitol, Backstock. She is a Kintoki human who, despite her looks of a roughly late-30's- or 40-year-old woman, is centuries old.

Biography

It is said that Queen Rya Kasparov was once part of the old Courts. Born as REIO KESPEROV, the last of the KESPEROV (Kasparov) royal family in Kintok, Rya was crowned STERSIS (Stersis, or empress) of the country at age nineteen. She was known as the Dark Queen in those days, and she sat on the throne in ∩OSPON (Xospon). From there, she ruled not only Kintok but the whole of the Dark Court, which consisted of an alliance between Kintok, Perch, the Outer Reaches, and Cantiivilan. While she was at direct odds with the centaur King Kalamus, who ruled the Light Court, the two entertained a healthy rivalry (while some even say they were romantically involved). Rya was also friends with Kalamus' brother, Alamaeus. They often wrote letters to one another containing witty jabs and messages encoded in word games, though the topics themselves were serious. The two often wanted to exchange resources between their courts, though political red tape found these efforts frequently thwarted. Rya and Alamaeus shared a deep frustration over this. Rya's royal family, the Kasparovs, was deeply religious, as most of Kintok is to this day. The Kintok religion centers on its singular death god, PONOROS, and much of its philosophy is about the permanence of death and accepting inevitability. Rya took issue with this from an early age and was terrified by the concept of death. While Lord Alamaeus sought the resources of the Dark Court for mainly scientific and medicinal reasons, Rya took an interest in the magicks and religion of the Light Court. Perhaps too openly, she sought a way to extend life artificially. This was a forbidden practice in Kintok and resulted in her being called a heretical queen among her people. She and Alamaeus worked together in order to find a means of extending life and, with the Bishop's help, were eventually successful. When Alamaeus told her of his plans to unite the courts in a coup, she was among the first to join him, knowing that most of her country and court would disagree with her decision. Not only was this due to her acceptance of life-extending magicks; it was also because, by allying with Alamaeus, she explicitly accepted the possibility of other gods, while Kintok's religion was strictly monotheistic. Rya's aid, which included a small faction of Kintok's military and treasury, as well as sway over Perch as part of the Dark Court, was a decisive asset to Lord Alamaeus' and the Five Point Authority's victory three hundred years ago. The Queen, exiled from Kintok after her betrayal, was given Collome to watch over. This was done as a show of trust and competence, but she now wonders if the job was simply a means to keep her out of the way. Luckily, she doesn’t mind being left alone in the mountains. She now quietly and patiently rules over Collome (about as far from Kintok as you can get).