King Corlagon I of Etrand

King Corlagon I was the ruler of Etrand between 0 AEKE and 17 AEKE. Corlagon is credited with being the founder of the Kingdom of Etrand, as well as the first king of the Corlagonid dynasty of Kings. He is venerated as a saint by the Church of Titanius.

Early Lie
Corlagon was born in Western Etrand, on -51.8110882957. Details on his childhood are unknown, mostly lost in history. What is most known is that his father as Chieftain Aethelmin of the Saercel tribe, and that his warden was a High Elf who taught him how to read and write, fight with the High Elven sword, ride a horse, and to administrate a province in the High Elven way. It is speculated that the High Elf was a former governor who got exiled from Froturn for various crimes.

The theory about Corlagon's warden being a former governor is disputed by the fact that other records say that he was converted to the Titanism during his childhood by his High Elven warden, who was said to be a missionary or priest by those other theories.

Regardless of the identity of his warden - or wardens, as he most likely was taught by multiple people - we know that the Corlagon assumed control of the Saercel tribe in 26 BEKE, at the age of 25. He then married Adela, the daughter of another chieftain in Western Etrand who converted to Titanism.

Records say that Corlagon's parents were both pagans, and he was the first chieftain of his tribe to embrace the new religion, even though several of the common folk probably have already converted.

Chieftain of the Saercel tribe
In 26 BEKE, Corlagon assumed control of the Saercel tribe, and secured a marriage-alliance with another tribe whose leader has converted. Ten years later, much of that tribe's leadership was massacred during a feast, leaving Corlagon as the only candidate to be their ruler. Corlagon not only assumed leadership of that tribe - uniting it with his own Saercel tribe - but also enacted vengence by declaring war on the Goern tribe which was believed to be responsible for the massacre.

Corlagon fought a short war against the tribe, and avenged his father-in-law and his family by publicly having the the male adult members of the Goern tribe's ruling family impaled in public. The children were imprisoned, and the females were forced to marry commoners.

After the humiliation of the Goern tribe, assassination attempts were made against Corlagon, mostly orchestrated by tribes who formerly had good relations with the Goern tribe. Corlagon would spend the next three years of his reign as a chieftain with spreading the religion of Titanius among his subjects, and discouraging the old pagan practices.

Even though Corlagon tried to have peaceful relations with the rest of Etrand, his ambitions to unify Etrand into one state under his leadership became known, which earned him the suspicion of the Three Kings of the North, as well as alienated several of his former allies in Western Etrand.

Unification of Etrand
As early as 13 BEKE, Corlagon had complaints about raiders from the north-east. He appealed to the Three Kings of the North and demanded that the raids stop, but - viewing him as a rival - the three kings only gave half-baked answers - the raiding did not stop. In return, Corlagon sent his own raiders to raid into their territories. Then the three Kings would call him out, he would promise not to raid again if they too stopped the raids... but the raiding would continue. This went on for three years, before the infamous massacre of pagan pilgrims visiting a holy site that happened to be located within Corlagon's territory in 10 BEKE.

That is when the war of Etrand's unification would eventually start, ending with Corlagon's victory in 0 BEKE/AEKE. After his victory in the war, Corlagon was crowned the first King of Etrand. Even though he has beaten all tribes resisting him, he would still have to face underground pagan resistance.

Reign
In 0 BEKE/AEKE, Corlagon was crowned the first King of Etrand, and he immediately ordered the building of a new city to serve as his royal capital - Grandfolk. Alongside that, his other actions were founding the Inquisition, persecuting the remaining believers of the old faith, attempts to create a centralized Etrand by giving only limited amount of rights to the all the chieftains-turned-noblemen. In the end, what Corlagon ended up creating was not a centralized monarchy like Froturn, but a feudal kingdom.

Nevertheless, religion was not the only thing he imported from Froturn: he funded the creation of new church schools - although with the ulterior motive of training more priests - to spread literacy, using the High Elven alphabet to render Etrandish, as well as learning Classical High Elven, the eccelestial language of the Church of Titanius. With help from Froturn, the Mages Guild too established itself in Etrand - first in Grandfolk - and Corlagon introduced superior High Elven technology - domestic and military technology alike - to Etrand, which was mainly spread by monks.

Even though Corlagon's reign could be deemed succesful for the creation of a relatively strong independent and unified state in Etrand, and for the relatively succesful propagation of the Titanist religion, Corlagon never viewed his own reign as truly succesful - his dream was to create an absolute monarchy and to have a legion, a standing army similiar to what Froturn has. Out of these two dreams of his, the first never became reality, not even eight centuries after his death. The second dream however was more or less realized by his successors, who gradually built up a small-but-permanent mercenary army over the centuries whose aligance was to no feudal overlord but the King only.

It is said that Corlagon was planning to make a move against Hulra and possibly annex it, then turn his attention to the North and bring the words of Titanius to the Dwarves and Gnomes, but the 68-years old king died before he could even begin making plans for his military campaigns. It is said that he had a hunting accident resulting in several bleeding wounds during Winter, and before he could be taken to a Cleric or Medic to heal him, he succumbed to the harsh winter cold - royal records say that he had a mild fever, and he was recommended not to go hunting, but he went on to pursue his hobby anyways.

He was succeeded by his oldest surviving son, Symon, who was just 22-year old at the time he took the throne.

Legacy
Corlagon is credited with being the founder of the Kingdom of Etrand, as well as the first king of the Corlagonid dynasty of Kings. He is venerated as a saint by the Church of Titanius.

Corlagon may not have been the kindest and most just kings of Etrand - as most writings about him are biased by his status as a saint and the founder of the state - but he is still remembered positively for his propagation of the Titanist religion in Etrand, introducing the Mages Guild, and various other guilds that are still alive today. He also brought the High Elven code of laws into Etrand, which helped to maintain order and quell blood feuds.

Corlagon's reign saw the transition from the old tribe/clan-based system towards nuclear families, partially separating family from state - only partially, as noblemen would still inherit lands from their parents. Corlagon created a feudal monarchy.