Reign: 21 years (ongoing)
House: Valos
Father: Alexios II Valos
King Alexios III Valos was born during a time of cautious stability, the eldest son of King Alexios II Valos, a ruler remembered for consolidating borders and strengthening the Crown’s authority over its vassal houses. From an early age, Alexios was groomed for rule—not merely as a warrior-king, but as a thinking monarch.
Unlike many princes of Adellond, Alexios spent as much time in the Royal Archives as he did in the training yards. There, he formed a lifelong bond with Brundon, a prodigious scholar of humble birth. The two were inseparable in youth: Alexios learned history, medicine, and statecraft from Brundon, while Brundon gained access to the inner workings of power through the prince.
Chroniclers often remark that Alexios’s reign would be unthinkable without Brundon’s influence—and that Brundon’s fate would later become Alexios’s greatest trial.
Alexios ascended the throne as the 39th King of Adellond following the death of his father, Alexios II. His coronation was marked not by grand conquest, but by vows of restraint, unity, and reform. He inherited a realm at peace, yet vulnerable—surrounded by old threats, fragile alliances, and the slow decay that creeps into even the strongest kingdoms.
At the age of accession, many doubted his temperament. He was known to be introspective, even reserved. Yet within his first decade, Alexios proved himself a capable sovereign, balancing noble ambition with royal authority and maintaining firm control over the kingdom’s western and southern borders.
Alexios III is often called the Scholar-King—a rare title among medieval monarchs. He expanded the authority and funding of the Royal Archives, unifying recordkeeping, education, and healthcare under one crown-appointed institution. At its head stood Archscholar Brundon, his childhood friend and most trusted advisor.
Together, they established standardized healer training, plague-response protocols, and the first kingdom-wide census of disease and population. These reforms saved thousands of lives during lesser outbreaks—long before the current crisis.
Alexios was never content with superstition alone. He tolerated faith, respected tradition, but believed the survival of Adellond depended on knowledge.
The defining tragedy of Alexios III’s reign began in its twenty-first year. The Gaunich Flu, a swift and deadly disease, spread across Adellond with terrifying speed. Entire villages were silenced within weeks. Worse still, the King’s only daughter and heir, Princess Vasilia Valos, succumbed to the illness.
Court physicians failed. Clerics prayed. None could halt the fever. And then came the revelation that shattered the court: Archscholar Brundon had vanished.
His apprentice revealed that Brundon had journeyed west, into the Fearful Forest, in search of an artifact tied to the ancient lost city of Pagnarion—a civilization said to have surpassed even modern understanding four thousand years ago. Brundon believed its relics held the knowledge to cure the Flu.
For King Alexios, this was not merely betrayal—it was terror wrapped in hope.