BLO | Zhoya Bonworth
MrKaji
Queen Zhoya Bonworth (a.k.a. The Absolutist, The Eternal)
With Mirabella Bloodscale dead, royal advisor Zhoya, who had done much to curb the tyrant's excesses, was crowned to public acclaims. Rumours she had set up the Queen's possession went unproven.
To her fellow Counts of the East shock, she affably courted the peasants' support; yet, privately, she was Eastern to the core, and too firm to be split from her advisors.
Zhoya had all Grandees of the South involved in their still-going conspiracy hanged “as Mirabella should have”.
The Kingdom eagerly moved on. Nobles competed to grow the best chili peppers, and a miraculous desert source was used to water crops. The realm grew ever greener, and The South became the “Breadbasket of the Ninth”.
The Coast, however, grew suffused with the “Eighth Chapter”: a cult founded by a rogue archaeology professor, Etraveon da Operi, to worship a huge mechanical arm he had dug out. Drawing magic from the “Arm of the Eighth”, the warlock planned to take Coastal lands in which to be free from the Church. Zhoya sympathized, but would not antagonize The Council. Etraveon was assassinated.
Studies of the arm itself led to the creation of the Royal Bombard, an eldritch cannon ensuring The Coast's martial supremacy.
Taking the Queen's refusal to get an heir as a sign of undeath, nobles came to support the fanatical Grandees' goal of having a mob slay the “lich-queen”. While eager to burn witches, the commoners were undecided about Zhoya, who had opposed a peasant strike but also given them much.
Her steadfast support to a necromancer Conte tipped the scales: she had to be evil, or possessed.
The people converged on the Palace, steeling themselves for what had to be done; but Zhoya launched into her best speech yet, and won back their support. Now Church and nobles were scared of 'the Absolutist' siccing a mob on them: a tense calm settled on the realm, which thrived under her talented rule.
Now confident in her power, Zhoya could, at last, shed off her "gentle" mask.
Later years
Queen Zhoya 'the Absolutist' once had mobs at her fingertips, and nobles running scared; but now she was old, tired of ruling. Her mother had passed, then her beloved wife. Even knowing what was sensible, grieving Zhoya could not bear remarrying.
The Kingdom saw an official end to the Calamitous Famine; yet the Queen had enough of humouring peasants. Before passing on the crown, she wanted to be recognized, at last, as the greatest Queen who ever lived.
But while her grip on the court servants was unshakable, her realm-wide popularity was running out. Peasants whispered that the Queen hoarded riches while victims of the crab bubble crash offed themselves. Coastal mutineers were threatened with the Royal Bombard, Southern strikers beaten up. Nobles enjoyed Zhoya's “Day of Kinship” parade; commoners threw dung at the royal couple's float.
As it became clear schemers were fanning up the flames of uprising, the Queen tried slowing down on the executions and having hospitals built. It mattered little: the Kingdom thrived, but the agitators made use of any incident to drum up anger.
It was then that Zhoya was offered a way out: joining the ranks of the ageless Ascended of The East. Trusting the Counts, she eagerly took this promised second chance.
She stopped worrying about plotters turning the Kingdom against her. Her curt dismissal of The Inquisition's concerns proved the last straw: for the second time, a mob converged on the Palace, intent to burn the “possessed” Queen.
They found the throne empty: grateful for their leader's past help, the Counts of the East had kept their word and spirited Zhoya to safety. Entrusting regency to her relative Luda Bonworth, the once-Queen bade farewell to her late wife, and embraced immortality.
Her unexplained “retirement” and replacement caused much confusion, but most were simply glad to see an end to the interminable reign of Zhoya 'the Eternal' -only Counts knew how fitting her nickname truly was.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Social
Mannerisms
Relationships
Legal Status
First Marriage
Ambitious Vassal
- BLO | Event 0031 - A Nightmare
- BLO | Event 0032 - Coronation
- BLO | Event 0033 - Council Introduction
- BLO | Event 0034 - The Path to Victory
- BLO | Event 0035 - An Untimely Death
- BLO | Event 0036 - A Dangerous Cult
- BLO | Event 0037 - The Honour Guard
- BLO | Event 0038 - Finding a Spouse
- BLO | Event 0039 - Blood Money
- BLO | Event 0040 - The Spymaster's Investigation
- BLO | Event 0041 - The Warlock Operi
- BLO | Event 0042 - The Southern Conspiracy
- BLO | Event 0043 - Eligible Options
- BLO | Event 0044 - The Royal Wedding
- BLO | Event 0045 - Red Hot Chillies
- BLO | Event 0046 - Parley with the Cult
- BLO | Event 0047 - An Invitation
- BLO | Event 0048 - Requisitioning Rare Reagents
- BLO | Event 0049 - The Battle of the Arm
- BLO | Event 0050 - The Eighth Chapter
- BLO | Event 0051 - The Crimson Vigil
- BLO | Event 0052 - About your Heir...
- BLO | Event 0053 - The Iron Limb
- BLO | Event 0054 - A Sacrilegious Request
- BLO | Event 0055 - Noble Kidnapped
- BLO | Event 0056 - A Miraculous Discovery
- BLO | Event 0057 - Horror in the East
- BLO | Event 0058 - Workers on Strike!
- BLO | Event 0059 - A Mercantile Complaint
- BLO | Event 0060 - An Invitation
- BLO | Event 0061 - Your Heir
- BLO | Event 0063 - The Monster Slayer
- BLO | Event 0064 - A City in Flames
- BLO | Event 0065 - The Rewards of Prosperity
- BLO | Event 0066 - Escaped Experiment
- BLO | Event 0067 - Ambition: Beloved
- BLO | Event 0068 - Coronation
- BLO | Event 0069 - Council Introduction
- BLO | Event 0070 - The Path to Victory
- BLO | Event 0071 - A Risky Wager
- BLO | Event 0072 - The Honour Guard
- BLO | Event 0073 - A New Trend
- BLO | Event 0074 - An Island Discovered!
- BLO | Event 0075 - Finding a Spouse
- BLO | Event 0076 - Crop Blight
- BLO | Event 0077 - Mutiny
- BLO | Event 0078 - The Crab Bubble Bursts
- BLO | Event 0079 - Eligible Options
- BLO | Event 0080 - The End is Near
- BLO | Event 0081 - Red Hot Chillies
- BLO | Event 0082 - A Booming Crop
- BLO | Event 0083 - An Invitation
- BLO | Event 0084 - Workers on Strike!
- BLO | Event 0085 - A New Festival?
- BLO | Event 0086 - The Day of Kinship
- BLO | Event 0087 - The Crimson Vigil
- BLO | Event 0088 - The Seeds of Rebellion
- BLO | Event 0089 - About your Heir...
- BLO | Event 0090 - Prying Eyes
- BLO | Event 0091 - A Mysterious Ship
- BLO | Event 0092 - The Deceased
- BLO | Event 0093 - The Songstress
- BLO | Event 0094 - Falsely Accused!
- BLO | Event 0095 - An Irksome Legacy
- BLO | Event 0096 - Experimental Research
- BLO | Event 0097 - Devotion
- BLO | Event 0098 - The Eternal Monarch
- BLO | Final 0001 - The Counts are Victorious!
- BLO | Final 0002 - The Monarch is Victorious!
- BLO | Final 0003 - The Counts are Victorious
- BLO | Scheme 0001 - Possession
- BLO | Scheme 0004 - The Counts and the Crown
- BLO | Scheme 0062 - Your Ambition
