Grand Duke Urho II
Grand Duke Urho Ilkitala (a.k.a. Grand Duke Urho II)
Urho Ilkitala, who would later assume the throne of the Grand Duchy of Canyndor, was born in Huhtika Castle in the year 7555 to his father Armas, the then son of Grand Duke Tapani "Young-Arm" VI. Urho would ascend to the title of Grand Duke at the age of 16 after the passing of his father, his 16 year-long reign from thereon would mostly be consumed by war, the Redcrest Reclamation War averted his attention in his early rule before a swell of small revolts that took place regionally within Doria.
The most extensive of the small revolts that beset Doria was the Bolomar Uprising, during which many of those of the Osteruna Dynasty and their banners took up arms against the Grand Duke to re-establish the old Ardic Kingdom of Bolot under their rule. Urho became highly involved in the conflict, using his own forces and that of a locally powerful noble family, Vahlapja, to combat attempts by the Bolomari to sever the Grand Duke's influence in the region. The conflict would turn on its head for Urho as the main belligerents of the Osteruna Dynasty conceded defeat, however, those of the Vahlapja family sought retribution and the revocation of the Osteruna's familial holdings, during which time Urho largely lent his support to the latter.
Urho's reign would unfortunately be a taxing one on the Duchy's coffers, despite his penchant for military campaigning he would insist on having grand households both in his personal train, his estates and at the castle residences of Canyndor. His contemporaries often noted that he always had a dozen squires buzzing around him like flies. At the same time, on campaign, his sleeping quarters would take thirty men to erect and deconstruct (especially aggravating due to Urho's paranoia at remaining camped for too long), and servants for every manner of need imaginable within earshot at all times. It is no wonder that he accrued considerable debt, owing considerable sums to the Laspura and Kappeli houses domestically and a great deal more to various Sarbrynian banks. Whispers at court, should you believe them, asserted Urhos marriage to the Lady Laspura was little more than an economic arrangement - silver for influence.
The Great Coughing Plague came to Doria during the final years of Urho's reign, a terrible disease that would see him become yet another one of its victims. It appeared in the southern provinces of the Grand Duchy in the year 7583, coinciding rather unfortunately with much of the fighting of the Bolomar Uprising. The disease was highly deadly and caused desolation in many urban settlements, only further fuelled by the ongoing conflict. Urho began demonstrating symptoms of the sickness during the winter of 7586 when a cough began to rattle his body. As a younger man of good health, it took time for the disease to break down his health but not before a year had passed it would take his life. While on route to Pilkala to rest there for the summer while the conflict in the Surcounty of Ilkweir drew to a close, Urho decided to seek shelter with his brother-in-law Fyodr Torajoki at the town of Paybridge due to a particularly bad onset of the disease. It would be there that Urho would finally succumb to the illness that had ravaged Doria.
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Species
Ethnicity
Life
7555 PA
7587 PA
32 years old
Circumstances of Death
Birthplace
Huhtika Castle
Place of Death
Spouses
Grand Duchess Suonja of Canyndor
(spouse)
Siblings
Children
Gender
male
Nuro
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