the rulers of the past

In the long history since the rise of the Kings and Queens of Dawn and the Wasteland Monarchs, the two warring factions have been numerous rulers over them. Here, you may read a little bit about these former rulers.

[smear:77045d]The Kings and Queens of Dawn[/smear:ac050d:1]

Xerxes: This impressive stallion will live forever in infamy by the two factions as the one who began the long history of conflict between them. A pale crimson beast, he had within him a great and fierce love for the mare Tiara, who never gave him any attention. Many believe that love was the downfall of the centuries of peace that had been upon them since long before the birth of those four foals. It can hardly be surprised that it was so easy for Bathsheba to manipulate him as she did, or so the histories tell. Xerxes lived to a great age and bore many ancestors, many of whom live today and can trace their lineage back to him and the wicked hellion who had brought about the ruin of all.

Bathsheba: A troublemaker, a gossip, a liar, a master manipulator - these are all things that history remembers of Bathsheba. An incredibly beautiful mare in her time, striped in hues of inky black and pale sapphire on an overall white coat, she possessed about her a certain aura that drew everyone to her. It made stallions want her and mares hate her. She was known to have loved Alastor, but upon realizing that the Tiara adored him so, abandoned the younger stallion for the elder. The exact reasons why may never be known to anyone, but there are speculations. She and Xerxes had many children together, whose ancestors can still be seen today.

Kyros: One of the sons of the original King and Queen of Dawn, Kyros inherited the throne when his father passed away later on in life. A kind stallion, named such for the brilliant red-orange sheen of his coat, he fell deeply in love with the mare that became his queen, a beautiful ebony mare named Vanada. He and Vanada ruled over the Dawnlands for nearly two decades before a wolf pack slew her. Kyros, driven mad by the grief of losing her, walked into the waters of the Coast and was never seen again.

Vanada: The lover and Queen of Kyros, she was an ebony mare with a heavy set form and flashing green eyes. Playful and gentle, she was a loving mare who soon found herself to be infertile. This never dimmed the love that Kyros had for her, however. They were to name an heir shortly before she was tragically killed by a pack of wolves that came down from the Wastelands. When Kyros vanished, a new leader took over the Dawnlands in their stead.

Aeron: There are many who believe Aeron to be one of the many grandsons of Bathsheba; the only true word that describes him with any real perfection is insane. He took over the Dawnlands following the deaths of the two previous rulers, and there are some who think that the real animosity felt between the two factions came from his ascension to power. It was Aeron who began to sow the seeds of hatred within the equines of the Dawnlands. Indeed, it was he who began to lead raids across the Strip to attack the Wastelands. Aeron was eventually killed in one of these raids by being pushed over the edge of the Abyss. His bones lie there even now.

Reginar: For some, Reginar and his Queen, Ruxandra, are spoken of with affection and love; for others, they are infamous and loathed. With Necalli they worked to put together a peace treaty that lasted for several decades following Aeron's Mad War (as it was called in later years) against the Wastelanders. There were many who disagreed with the choice to allow the Wastelanders to grow; part of Aeron's charm had been his skill with words and he had done well in making the Dawnlanders see the Wastelanders as villains to be reviled and hated. Regniar and Ruxandra also helped in shaping the boundary of the Strip, which had been disputed by Aeron as being part of the Dawnlands. It is thanks to them and Necalli that the Strip exists as a neutral area now. Furthermore, when strife hit the Wastelands from within, it was Reginar and Ruxandra who made the decision not to attack but instead to simply watch.

Ruxandra: Wise and beautiful but with a fiery streak, Ruxandra was a good match for her quiet and aloof King. She had a tendency to be a combatant mare and often could be found sparring with the younger colts. Despite this, she agreed with Reginar that the need for peace between the Dawnlands and the Wastelands was of the utmost importance and worked with him to attain that peace. When Reginar died later on in life during the Unrest in the Wastelands, she took another mate whose name history has forgotten. They were both killed by the two stallions who became co-Kings after them.

Cog: Partnered with a stallion named Hurricane, these two will live forever in infamy for being the ones to kill the beloved Ruxandra. Much of the hatred towards them is likely undeserved, largely owing to the sudden warfare between the two units thanks to Roshan and Valdis. Cog, who had a mind geared towards strategy, managed to cobble together a rough army, but all in all did very little to help against the attacks and raids that were done against the Dawnlands. Both he and Hurricane were killed in the fighting.

Hurricane: The only real fame Hurricane can claim is that he was part of the first co-Kings to ever rule the Dawnlands as equals. Otherwise, very little good can be said of him. He was a sadist with a taste for young blood and often could be found tormenting young Wasteland horses he caught. Cog often used him as muscle, as Hurricane was quite a bit larger than Cog himself was. Like Cog, he was slain in the fighting during the time of Valdis and Roshan.

Ashtaroth: Ashtaroth and his mate, Calixa, took the throne of the Dawnlands after Cog and Hurricane were killed, and though Calixa did not want to fight, Ashtaroth did, and with good reason. Wastelanders had killed his parents and sister. He might have listened to Calixa, but the blood was running too thick by then to truly be stopped and the only thing the King and Queen could do at that point was to continue it. Ashtaroth personally led dozens of attacks on the Wastelands with a carefully chosen party of powerful fighters, both male and female, many of whom live now. A huge battle was had between the King and Queen of Dawn and the Wasteland Monarchs in the Sand; Ashtaroth slew Cathedral, the king of the Wasteland, but Calixa was also killed. With her dead, Ashtaroth vanished. No one knows if he is alive or dead.

Calixa: The soft at heart are killed quickest in times of war, and Calixa was one of these. She quickly had no choice but to harden herself lest she die in the fighting. She understood her mate's desire to war even if she did not want to, and no one can ever say that she shied away from a fight. Indeed, the little mare had numerous kills under her own belt by the time the Battle of the Sand happened. It is not clear who killed her; many think that Delphi might have been the one to strike the final blow but it is disputed by Wastelanders even now. But die she did without ever baring a single foal with Ashtaroh.

[smear:b6ab37]The Wasteland Monarchs[/smear:acaba5:1]

Alastor: Though never called a Monarch in his lifetime, any list of famous equines would be incomplete if he was not listed. A rich palomino with black mane and tail, he was a handsome creature who drew the attention of Bathsheba almost at once. Many believe that the troubles began when he did not return her affections. Upon the banishment laid down by Xerxes, he and Tiara left to the Wastelands, where they assisted in establishing what is known today as the Wasteland Monarchy. It is not known if Alastor and Tiara had any children together.

Tiara: As with Alastor, the list would be woefully incomplete without this mare upon it. A gentle soul, painted in a solid white pigment from head to hoof, she possessed an almost otherworldly beauty to her: graceful, lithe, and elegant. It is hardly a wonder, from what is known of her today, that she was so beloved by all and why the shock of her banishment came as it did. She, too, was never called a Monarch whilst living, but she was essential in the shaping of the Wasteland Monarchy.

Demetria: For nearly a decade following the deaths of Alastor and Tiara, the Wastelands were ruled by no one as the horses there fought only to survive. Right around the eleventh year or so of Kyros and Vanada's rule, however, a grey mare named Demetria stepped up and began to lay into place the foundations for how the Wastelands would be ruled from there on out. She and her mate, another mare named Necalli, were pivotal in the formation of the four Wasteland herds and the forming of the boundaries of these herds. She and Necalli helped to teach the leads of the new herds how to govern and police their horses, and played a part in solidifying a common boundary with the Dawnlands. When Aeron took over, both Demetria and Necalli tried to reason with him to no avail. Demetria was slain in battle with Aeron shortly before his own death.

Necalli: Lover of Demetria and a force of personality in her own right, Necalli played a great role in the shaping of the Wastelands as they are seen today. It is very widely believed that, following the death of her mate, Necalli was the horse to push Aeron into the Fissure where he fell to his death, though no hard evidence of this exists. Following his downfall, Necalli helped to establish a peace between the Dawnlands and the Wastelands with the new King and Queen of Dawn. She died a few years later after being the first Wastelander to name an heir to their slowly growing kingdom.

The Unrest: Necalli's chosen heir found herself quickly overrun by a group of four stallions, all related by blood through way of being cousins. The mare, whose name has been lost, was brutalized and slain by them before they took over. These four stallions were named Solomon, Chronicle, Cauldron, and Ozymandias. They and the horror they caused are known now as the Unrest or the Time of the Unrest, owing largely to the severe infighting that they brought with them. The horses of the Wastelands were torn between the quad of rulers and could never really pick one to follow. Solomon killed Ozymandias and then Cauldron slew Chronicle. The two stallions attempted to work together for some time but soon enough fell to fighting as well. They were both murdered in the dark of night by the two horses who history now calls the first true Wasteland Monarchs.

Roshan: Roshan and his lover, Valdis, in cohorts with a few other Wastelanders who had never agreed with the Unrest stallions, slew them and stepped up to take over the Wastelands. This proved, in time, to be the best thing for the Wastelands and their inhabitants. Roshan and Valdis put an end to the infighting that was common amongst the Wastelanders following the Unrest and put back into place the herds with leaders picked by them who were loyal. Roshan in particular was careful to only pick horses who could be counted on in a fight and a fight was what he had planned. Against the wishes of Valdis, he began to lead raids on the Dawnlanders. It is believed that this was in vengeance for what Aeron did a few generations back. It was Roshan and Valdis who were called the Wasteland Monarchs in their time, though how the name came to be, no one knows.

Valdis: Well known for being the one to kill Cauldron, Valdis put herself in the history by reestablishing the old heirs of the Wastelands with her lover. Despite this, they disagreed on how to go about with the Dawnlanders; Valdis wanted peace but Roshan only wanted war. For most of their lives they fought over this and many believe it was this strife between them that kept the pair from producing an heir who might take the newly named throne of the Wasteland Monarchy. Despite this, both Valdis and Roshan are well loved by the Wastelanders today.

Cathedral: The next Wasteland Monarchs after Valdis and Roshan were a brother-sister pair who swept in from the Taiga and took over the Desolation before anyone living in it could do so. Cathedral, the brother, quickly worked to calm the hatred between the Dawnlanders and the Wastelanders but the problems brought on by Roshan and Valdis were sewn too deep for it to be taken care of. Cathedral and his sister Delphi worked hard to keep the peace and renew the old treaty, but the King and Queen of Dawn had none of it. In a battle that remains fresh even a few years later, the Wasteland Monarchs and the King and Queen of Dawn met on the Sand and battled it out. Cathedral and Calixa, the Queen of Dawn at the time, were slain in battle; Delphi perished shortly after, and no one knows what happened to the Dawn King, Ashtaroth.

Delphi: Sister to Cathedral, Delphi was a wicked mare who had the plan to bring together all the Wastelanders together and rule them in one mighty herd but the war got in the way of such a plan. Thus she and Cathedral ended up having to go to war even though they both wanted peace. It is believed that it was Delphi who decided to take the battle to them and thus was the reason for the Battle of the Sand. When the two kingdoms clashed, more blood was shed than had been in generations. Delphi was badly injured, but many think that she went insane upon seeing her beloved brother murdered, and died shortly after of a broken heart.