The
Owl Archives

Public sentiment speaks highly of their monarch. King Fenric's rise to authority was unexpected given his youth, but welcome to a kingdom whose court had elected older and harder monarchs in the past. His reign has so far targeted civic reforms and order, rule of law supporting the people, and municipal reforms. He appointed to his side individuals who he believed would bring Adern forward into a better future - Archmage Veylan Caelan, Count Josiah Lyndon, and High Commander Garrick Voss, who also brought Field Commander Elias Varne and the Second Knight Order with him.

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The events of the narrative began before the war for Fenric. Early in his reign, a rash of murders plagued Bastion's Reach. The public records attribute these horrendous actions to a minor noble called Brennan. Fenric took a hard, fast stance against his actions, erasing Brennan’s household from the peerage and striking its name from all civic and noble registers.​ However, the truth remained unproven. Fenric's choice to remove the threat from Adern quickly resulted in a proxy taking the fall and allowing the true criminal, a magister by the name of Varos, to go free. While Fenric, Veylan, and Lyndon were able to banish him thanks to minor connections to Brennan that implicated his involvement, it was not enough to gain his arrest and execution.

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"The incident remains one of my greatest failures as monarch," Fenric has said in his personal interviews. "It has taught me that sometimes speed and efficiency are not as important as care and thoroughness. I do not regret the lives that were saved. I do regret the lives that we could have saved."

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The Adernian–Savidorian Conflict began following Fenric’s refusal of what Adern formally recorded as an insulting and strategically dangerous proposal for its western lowlands and remaining fertile fields. While framed as negotiation, the offer was widely believed to be made in bad faith, and Adern, still weakened by territorial losses sustained during the Seven Year Demon War and Atalan’s subsequent reclamation claims, possessed little land it could concede without jeopardizing its survival. Fenric declined to negotiate under such terms, leaving Adern with few viable alternatives. Contemporary accounts suggest the kingdom entered the conflict from necessity.

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King Fenric's involvement in the events surrounding the Monster of Savidor might reasonably have remained limited to royal authorization, except knowledge of Varos' involvement and his past guilt proved too overwhelming. In his personal interviews, he admitted he would not have gotten close to the situation. When his high commander proposed study over execution, Fenric's approval was reluctant yet forthcoming, wanting to give Garrick every possible advantage during this situation. He elected continued engagement through regular reports and facilitating the resources necessary to sustain the effort. This oversight was what placed Fenric among those present when the true nature of the situation was ultimately revealed. He choose, in not a small part thanks to the past, to assist Garrick in rehabilitation of Luka.

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When Luka's true origins were revealed to the public, Fenric chose to publicly affirmed his decision to place Luka under royal protection, framing the matter as one of responsibility. His stand has since remained unchanged, signaling a deliberate commitment to Luka's preservation despite widespread opposition. Further access to records remains restricted, thus the statements here remain speculation.