Biographies: Masra

On this page: Masra • Korden Jaara • Yaryen of Delthûm

Masra (38 BE – OA 23)

Masra was the only son of Aukar, the last king of the Arêndron kingdom, and his wife Molôca, who died giving birth to him. Perhaps because of this, he was very much cosseted by his father, and, when Aukar refused to arrange a marriage for him, he proposed to his second cousin, Jessa of Selenca, more to get away than anything else. Which is not to say that the two did not get on; but it was a marriage based more on friendship than on romantic love. The couple had two sons, Ingar in 21 BE and Agus in 18 BE, and a daughter, Jessa, born in 20 BE.

Masra was too young to take part in the war of 20 BE, but hearing of it made him want to become a soldier, and he began training in Malkor, one of the fortresses protecting Endros. It was in this war that Veukar's son Agus, who had been expected to inherit the throne, was killed, and when Aukar became king in 18 BE, Masra knew that the kingship would come to him next – a responsibility he felt far from ready for. He took himself and his family away to Veukar's court in Urnathel, where he completed his military training.

In the second Vardeu war of 12 BE, Veukar gave Masra command of his army, knowing that he needed a chance to prove himself. The victory at Vardi required no particular skill on Masra's part, as his role was just to provide reinforcements for Kêu, but he showed competence and the ability to learn. It was Veukar who, after the war, arranged for Masra's son Ingar to marry Kêu's daughter Serissa, a marriage that took place in 6 BE. The other notable event of the years of peace was a sad one: Masra's daughter Jessa died in 9 BE of a sudden illness. She had been intended for Xirna of Tusloiva's son Lôris, but after her death Masra proposed a second marriage, between his son Agus and Lôris's twin sister Khûna, and this took place in 3 BE.

Masra commanded Veukar's army again in the Urgundran war of 2 BE, and was responsible for brilliant victories at Carma and Tjarlin, where he defeated Kêu and took him prisoner. After the war, Veukar convinced Masra that the kingships of Urnathel and Endros needed to be reunited, and so Masra returned to Endros to demand that Aukar give up his throne.

Masra was a capable ruler, and his reign was peaceful for the most part, although many of the Vardûrans resented being ruled by Endros, and there were small rebellions breaking out nearly every year. Masra was able to deal with most of them by a combination of gentle force and negotiation, but the rebellion led by Kêu's son Balenhu in OA 14 was more serious. Several of the Vardeu cities declared their support for Balenhu, and it was only by sending in an army and executing Balenhu and the cities' leaders that Masra was able to re-establish peace.

Masra also re-opened trade routes with Khalgatêr and along the north coast of the Great Inland Sea, and the Empire prospered. Peace was established with the Empire's western neighbours, Shorauca and Tilœna, by means of a trade agreement and the marriage of Ingar's son Voreun to Eltra Tilœnai, a granddaughter of the musician Eltar. Masra died in OA 23, and his wife continued to live with Ingar and Serissa until her death in OA 29.

Korden Jaara (39 BE – OA 26)

Korden was the son of Kêu Jaara, from the merchant clans of the Beladron Sea, and grew up helping his father trade between Beltar and Vardeu. He was Kêu's fifth son, and his brothers inherited their father's ships and trade route, while Korden settled in Xavarta and took up a diplomatic career. He had had a number of on-and-off relationships in his trading years, but left them behind when he moved to Xavarta, as he could not afford to consider marriage.

Korden was a man of considerable quality and rose rapidly in the esteem of Frith, the duke of Beltar, and in 13 BE Frith chose Korden as his successor and made this official by marrying him to his daughter Cossa. Korden viewed his marriage purely as a business arrangement, and never attempted to establish much of a relationship with his wife; it was rumoured that he preferred to visit prostitutes. They did, however, have two sons, Câsus in 11 BE and Ôras in 7 BE.

Korden was a great favourite of the Beladron people, partly because, unlike Frith, he was of Vardiscêan ancestry; and when war broke out between Vardeu and Endros in 2 BE Korden's favouring of Endros brought them widespread popular support in Beltar. Frith had taken a neutral stance, as he was in a position of trust on both sides, but when Korden rallied the people to support Endros, Frith had no choice but to pass on the dukedom, and so it was Korden who sailed the Beladron fleet to Carma. Frith was killed in the battle, but it was the arrival of Korden's reinforcements that helped Masra win one of his most famous victories and take the king's brother Jaadis prisoner. Korden brought a large number of troops into Laurêa to help shore up the defences, and encouraged his soldiers to take Arêndron wives by offering housing to those that did so. Many of these soldiers returned to Beltar with their families after the war, helping to complete the infiltration of Arêndron culture.

Korden meanwhile re-opened trade with the Arêndron mainland, showing the Beladron people the virtue of Arêndron ways and introducing the Arêndron gods. He was, however, unsuccessful in his attempts to marry his sons into ruling Arêndron families, as they looked down on his (relatively) humble origins. Câsus married into a Beladron merchant family, while Ôras married Kâla of Giltal, one of Yaryen's adopted daughters, in OA 11.

Korden began to spend a lot of time on the mainland, and on one occasion when he returned home in OA 7, he discovered that his wife had been having a series of affairs with a court singer, a palace guard, and a Khalgwâran merchant, Jaril Sareini. The last of these had become a serious relationship and produced a child, who had been smuggled out of the palace with the connivance of his own steward. Being dependent on public opinion for the success of his trading, he was not prepared to initiate divorce, but while he was away on his next trip to the mainland, he sought out some old contacts from the merchant clans and arranged for Cossa and her child to be kidnapped. On his next return to Beltar he pretended to be shocked by their disappearance, blamed the steward for failing to keep the palace secure, and had him executed. As for Cossa, the merchants ransomed her to Jaril, who took her back to his home in the islands.

Korden's popularity waned after the incident, and there were many rumours going around about what had happened to Cossa, some of them much worse than the truth. Masra decided to help keep the peace in Beltar by replacing the faithless steward with one of his own most trusted diplomats, Gailin Carmai. To pave the way for Gailin to succeed to the dukedom, Masra married him into the royal family by giving him the hand of Balma Delkeris, the daughter of Frith's son Kaidis, who was Frith's next heir after Cossa. The Beladron people approved of Balma, as she was half-Vardiscêan, but Korden's son Ôras felt that he had a better claim to be his father's heir, and organised a rebellion against Korden in OA 12. Masra, realising the situation was precarious, sent in troops to help put down the rebellion. Ôras was executed in Xavarta, and Korden was forced to resign in Gailin's favour or risk Masra's displeasure. He chose the former option, and returned to his first career as a trader, operating together with his son Câsus, with the generous allowance Gailin left him. He died in OA 26, probably of pneumonia.

Yaryen of Delthûm (24 BE – OA 14)

Yaryen was the second of Veukar's two sons by his second marriage; his older brother was Norden. After the capital of Vardeu moved to Velêra in 12 BE, it became essential to install a new duke of Vardeu province who would help keep it under Arêndron control. To achieve this, Veukar arranged for both his sons to marry the daughters of rich Vardeu families, so that Norden would be accepted as a governor by the Vardûran people, and Yaryen would be able to succeed him if he happened to leave no heirs.

The marriages took place together when Yaryen came of age in 9 BE. The two brothers were very close and liked to get up to mischief together, and were not happy about being forced to assume adult responsibility so soon, but in one final act of defiance they assumed each other's identities when travelling to Vardeu. Norden thus married Yaryen's fiancée, Baalis of Giltal; and Yaryen married Norden's, Enssa of Delthûm, aged seven cargôm. Yaryen thus became the Duke in name, but the two brothers governed together. Yaryen and Enssa came to love each other well enough, though he had to accept sharing her affections with a female lover, a dancer called Baina Kelaara. They had two children, Baina in 5 BE and Orker in 3 BE.

Kêu, the king of Vardeu, went to war with Veukar in 2 BE, and, unable to trust the brothers' loyalties, ordered them both imprisoned. Norden, however, resisted arrest and was executed for treason. Kêu tried to use Yaryen as a hostage, threatening to execute him too if Veukar did not make peace and grant Vardeu independence; but Masra took Kêu's brother Jaadis prisoner at Carma, and Kêu was forced to agree to a mutual release of hostages.

After the war, Masra restored Yaryen to the dukedom. Norden's widow had returned to her family and wished to remarry; but her husband made it a condition of their marriage that he not be expected to raise Norden's three children. Yaryen felt partial responsibility for this as it should have been he who married Baalis, so he took Baina as his second wife – merely for formal purposes – and adopted the children into his second marriage.

Yaryen's daughter Baina was married to Kêu of Envallândra, the son of Jaadis and his second wife Narga (the daughter of Jûvor of Eugras), in OA 8; Orker married Cênar, the daughter of Masra's second son Agus and a granddaughter of Xirna Tusloivau, in OA 13.

In OA 14 Balenhu's rebellion broke out. Delthûm was one of the cities that supported the rebellion, but Yaryen and his family opposed it. Balenhu laid siege to Yaryen's palace and set it on fire; Yaryen and Enssa were killed while trying to escape. Baina's fate is not known; Yaryen had arranged for her to be removed to a place of safety, but it was rumoured afterwards that the guard he chose to command her escort was secretly in the pay of Balenhu. After the rebellion had been defeated, Masra restored Yaryen's son-in-law Kêu to the dukedom.