Eliza has proclaimed June Villain month! Of course, I had to join in. After much thought on my part, I introduce to you some of the (non-spoiler) villains from The Aldersgate.

Queen Maelys I

“I cannot abide by the superstitious ramblings of feeble minds. My people will be taught to value their own decisions, their own consciences, rather than rely on archaic writings and fairy tales about goddesses.”

“It is not, as some have implied, an easy task to be a Queen.”

From the moment of her birth, Maelys has been celebrated. Earena suffers from two significant problems as of late, a sharp decline in the birth of females, and a strict matrilineal line of a ascention to the Throne. After the birth of three boys and two stillbirths, Carine III gave birth to a healthy raven-haired baby girl, Maelys Carine. This was cause for much celebration, for Maelys’s birth meant her claim to the throne was more direct than her cousin, the Lady Felice Vezina.

Maelys I has reigned Queensland for forty-three years, having ascended the throne two weeks after her blossoming. She married her cousin Edgar Vezina–who was twenty years her senior–and they produced six boys before an illness rendered her incapable of bearing children again. None of her sons produced girls, but her brother and his wife, the Lady Belleview, had a daughter named Ellinora, to whom Maelys has pledged the throne upon her death.

Maelys is revered throughout the Continent and the Isles as a warrior Queen, having seen the continued growth of appropriated lands on the Continent, and more recently, in the Northern Archipelago of Nans. Her reign is defined by a new age of technology, as well, contributing greatly to the success of the knighting orders abroad. Maelys’s fleet of airships–including her own, the Arabella–are considered one of the greatest modern wonders of the era.

As deep as her love of technology runs, Maelys is also a staunch Dranist. She adheres firmly to the teachings of the philosopher, Drana, who taught that religion is but a figment of men’s minds, devised to control the weak and elevate the strong. In the last century, all Queens have worked to eliminate any connection between the throne and the past religions of the Continent and Isles, but none so enthusiastically as Maelys. Though no official reports have ever surfaced, locals in the Territories and abroad attest to most unusual disappearances of priests, seidcrafters, and even local herbwomen.

In spite of the advances and prosperity much of the kingdom has experienced, one issue Maelys has been unable to escape. Her niece, Ellinora, the claimant to the Throne, has–for all intents and purposes–gone mad. In order to preserve the line of current women in the line of succession, Maelys called upon the Aldermen of the Territories and Queensland to send their daughters north to her, for safekeeping, and schooling.

This was met with resistance, and so, Maelys sent out the Order of the Oak, a group of taskmaster knights, to retrieve the girls with force, as they deemed necessary.

“They do not realize the gravity of the situation. I do not wish to take any of these girls from their families; if I believed there was another way, I would see to it. But here, I can protect them. Here, I can keep them safe.”

A reported three-hundred girls were taken to Hartleigh Castle, and are now under the careful eye of the Order of the Rose–the Queen’s personal guard. Any incidents involving violence against townships in the Territories have been attributed to an uprising against the Order of the Oak by the Order of the Asp, led by Sir Din and Sir Gawen of Fenlie, both of whom are wanted for treason, murder, and a long list of other sundry behaviors.

Profile: Maelys Carine I

  • Height: 5’1″
  • Eye Color: Hazel
  • Hair color: Black/gray (favors wigs these days)
  • Age: 56 Years
  • Hobbies: An avid horticulturist and patron of technological arts, has three terriers
  • Issue: Lord Grayson Vezina, Lord Alexander Vezina (deceased), Lord Carl Vezina, Lord Elgar Vezina, Lord Geoffery Vezina, Lord Hortense Vezina (deceased), three stillbirths
  • Husband: Lord Edgar Vezina, deceased
  • Fashion: favors lavish dresses; known to own at least two hundred various gowns.
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