Ta'ael Myrth'nddare

Ta'ael Myrth'nddare - also known as Taéru Mitandare in Wood Elven  - is a High Elven magician, former politician, former advisor to King Cael'mus of Froturn, one of the two consuls of Froturn (the other being Sim'vara) between 809 and 818.

Despite having retired from politics for good, Ta'ael is viewed as one of the most influential figures of the century, playing a pivotal role in the history of Froturn before 818.

Childhood and upbringing
Ta'ael was born on 694.6468172485, as the daughter of the sister of King Cael'mus of Froturn, and spent much of her childhood in the custody of her godmother, Queen Hirória of Dragoc - as such, it was no surprise that she was brought up in Wood Elven customs: their mentality and spirituality became much more determinative to her than home-grown wisdoms from Froturn.

The weak and fragile girl was incapable of handling the bow or swinging the sword, and she has not mastered these arts even to this day. But those who are weak in body turn their attention to other fields of life, and become capable of much more impressive feats than the ordinary. This is how it happened that while her relatives were busy riding horses, practicing archery and singing in the forests and the hanging gardens of the cities, the young Ta'ael spent her time surrounded by scrolls, druids and wise sages - she drank all the knowledge that her ears heard and her eyes saw. By the time she returned to her homeland Froturn at an age that is considered fully adult by Elven standards she was much more prepared to what was waiting for her, and yet she was still youthful, like a Wood Elf.

The King's advisor
Ta'ael often consulted with high men and women of the court, diviners and foreigners - as a result, her uncle, King Cael'mus of Froturn recognized her as a talent: she was raised to the high circles over and over, until eventually all of the smaller problems of the King ran through her hands, making her uncle's job at governing the country much easier. Unfortunately, King Cael'mus's lifespan was destined to be shorter than that of his predecessors: just before his mid-life began, his strength started to abandon him, but Ta'ael was there to step next to him, hold his hand and controlled his steps - as such, during the last years of the King's life, she became the only person he trusted. The King became unwilling to speak with anyone without having Ta'ael present as a witness, and he refused to even consider passing edicts without consulting Ta'ael first.

Strange years fell upon Froturn, as the priests of Titanius did not receive as much support from his royal majesty as before, and to make matters more suspicious, the Nature-cults of the Wood Elves seemed to have begun making home at the royal court, and there were whispers about many of the foreign visitors being Druids. The Senate slowly and gradually lost all its power. Everyone was rightfully guessing that the king's one and only advisor was whispering everything into his ears, but the King's prestige and orders remained unquestionable - as he his mind was considered clean by the public, despite the fact that he has grown sickly and outworn - therefore, all his words remained commands. Eventually however, it became frequent that the priests of Titanius and the King's own relatives began making implied snide remarks on the King, questioning Ta'ael's advices in their front. Rather than listening to thier worries, the ruler estranged from their even more, seeing a conspiracy behind every one of their intents.

Froturnish Civil War
This is how it happened that several nobles and senators began meeting in secret, slowly turning the King's once false alarms into reality: a conspiracy began to remove Ta'ael and her circles from the King's presence, as they did not have the right to directly stand up against a king who still had his divine mandate. When all of this finally reached Cael'mus's ears, he was terrified and immediately ordered Ta'ael to eliminate the conspirators, promoting her to the rank of both Royal Regent and Second Consul, in order to fully authorize her to deal with the problem at hand. However, the conspirators were also notified of this, so the Hierophant of Titanius sent word to King Calhoun I of Etrand and the Knights of the Blood Red Light, asking for immediate military assistance.

Meanwhile, pandemonium has broken out back at home in Froturn, when the royal guard began arresting the conspirators one by one: many rebellious officers, nobles and their warriors began an organized retreat towards the borders between Etrand and Froturn in order to unite with the promised Etrandish intervention teams. The royal army off course continued pursuing the rebels, even through the Etrandish borders. Thirty miles from the place where the forces of Fathred the Great once destroyed the Froturnish armies two millenia ago, the three armies met - so began the Second Battle of Ancestors Field.

Despite their valiant efforts, the Etrandish and Rebel armies lost the battle. Crown Prince Bryant of Etrand and his company just barely escaped with their lives. After the the news of the victory reached the capital, it was a clear message to all the dissidents on who won the civil war. Etrand however received the news differently: King Calhoun sent word to Froturn, apologizing for his son's "unauthorized actions", ensuring his neighbor of their unbroken friendship.

Because the successor, Ivahó was put on the throne at an early age that was unheard of in Froturnish history, in his stead governed the consuls Ta'ael and Sim'vara, the earlier of which became the young heir's eyes, ears and off course mouth.

Consul of Froturn
High Elves never believed in the concept of blood vengeance, and compared to humans, to them, fraternity was an unimaginably strong bond - therefore, they forgave all the conspirators who surrendered, including those who voluntarily went into exile. An age of slight reforms came about: the army was strengthened by more regular soldiers, while the number of conscripts was lowered. The monopoly on everyday life that the Church of Titanius previously had was abolished by a "royal edict", allowing people of other faiths to practice their own religion more freely than ever. The sewer systems of the cities found themselves repaired, and the previously unused lands north of the capital were filled with fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, maintained by farm hands mainly migrating out of Etrand into Froturn - the harvest was nominally collected and counted by inspectors entrusted by the Senate, although in a much fairer way than in any human-ran country.

Despite the relative prosperity between 809 and 818, many were still bitter about the fact that Ta'ael, Sim'vara and their inner circle had an absolute monopoly on power.

This is how it happened that, in sharp contradiction with Elven traditions, the masses went out to the streets in protesting, demanding to "crown" the true king, Ivahó already in 815, when he was so young. As a response - after much consideration by the inner circles -, the royal bodyguard went out to disperse the protesters (an event that would be later exaggerated by detractors of the regime as a "bloodbath", despite the very low number of fatalities), and the king was placed under tighter "protection": real house arrest.

Downfall and self-exile
Three years later, in 818, the capital exploded with riots again, and "in the king's name", the inner circle's grip on power was broken bloodlessly - the royal bodyguard that was led by Sim'vara defied the consul's orders to do what they did in 815, and instead started a coup against Sim'vara, formally removing him and Ta'ael from power, restoring royal rule.

Sim'vara could not bear the loss of his titles - the depressed general laid into his own spear, while his cronies retreated into the peripheries of political life. Ta'ael started walking the path of wanderers, escaping into "youth" and turned her head away from the politics that have become poisoned by hypocrisy.