The Del Vecchio Dynasty was a line of Thannish rulers who founded the kingdoms of Valdor and Eldara.
By the late Third Age, the House of Del Vecchio had become an influential and powerful family who ruled the Barony of Dureth. From their capital of Tekrit, the Del Vecchios controlled a large coastal region of what is today Eldara.
In the year 880/3, Valden Del Vecchio fell in love with a young princess named Bröna. The two married soon after, and in 885/3, when his father, Rygas died, Lord Valden came to be the ruler of Dureth.
In the year 887/3, tragedy struck. Rival nobles, plotting to usurp control over Dureth, murdered Lord Valden. However, they underestimated the wrath of Bröna, who waged a merciless campaign against her enemies. During her quest for vengeance, she proved herself to be a skilled warrior, slaying many of her enemies.
By the time Bröna completed her mission, she had avenged her murdered husband, and conquered all the other neighboring baronies. No one could stand against her. That same year she proclaimed herself Queen of a new kingdom she named “Valdor,” in honor of her late husband. That kingdom would last for 325 years and was ruled by a line of her descendants, which came to be known as the “Del Vecchio Dynasty.”
Valden the Conqueror
The twelfth ruler of Valdor was Valden III, who was anointed King at the young age of twenty-one. As soon as he ascended the throne, Valden demonstrated he was both ambitious and greedy for conquest. He told his advisors he had dreamt of ruling over all the Thannish peoples his entire life.
For the next 45 years, King Valden III waged unrelenting warfare against all the neighboring Thannish states, until he had expanded Valdor from a small regional power into the greatest kingdom ever seen on Corwyn. Valdor controlled territories of wat are today the nations of Eldara, Orel, and Gwynne. Valden’s “five campaigns” became the stuff of legend and he earned his moniker: “Valden the Conqueror.”
The Bastard Scandal
Valden was a man of immense appetites, and his romantic conquests of women was notoriously similar to his military conquests. The king was married to Queen Anavel, who had borne him a son named Eldan, but nevertheless Valden always had a lustful, wandering eye.
Upon one of his visits to the city of Ashara, he was introduced to a beautiful young noble-woman named Naomi Mallistäer, who quickly seduced him and became his mistress. She eventually bore Valden a second son named Rhodan.
To the horror of the royal court, King Valden brought the boy to live in his castle and gave him the title of Prince. Over the next several years, an ugly rivalry developed between Prince Eldan and Prince Rhodan which would only grow worse over time.
The War of the Elanthir
In the final years of the Third Age, all of Corwyn came under the threat of invasion. Alokkair, a powerful necromancer from the East, was marshalling a huge army of Orcs and Gauth and preparing to conquer the West.
Recognizing the threat, the Council of Sorcerë came to King Valden to ask for aid. The King of Valdor answered the call and marshaled his own armies. By this time, Valden was a frail, 137-year-old man, but the Saar gave him two powerful magical swords— "Equalizer," for Prince Eldan and "Hellrazor," for Prince Rhodan. Together, both sons led the Valdoran forces during the epic battle of Thürdrum, where Alokkair was defeated and captured.
A Divided Kingdom
With the defeat of Alokkair, the Third Age ended, and the Fourth Age began. For nearly three decades, King Valden remained on the throne, before dying at the incredibly old age of 137 years.
Sadly, with his passing, the rivalry between his two sons over who would control the kingdom quickly escalated into open warfare. This conflict came to be known as the Twilight War, and shattered Valdor into two factions. The Southern faction was loyal to Prince Eldan, while the Northern Faction was loyal to Rhodan.
The war dragged on for five bloody years, until Rhodan’s forces were defeated at the battle of Ossenfort. In the aftermath, Valdor was divided into two smaller kingdoms. About two-thirds of the territory was controlled by Eldan and became the Kingdom of Eldara. One-third remined under the control of Rhodan and became Rhodara.
The Rule of Eldara
The newly created kingdom of Eldara continued to be ruled by the Del Vecchio family for another 1,233 years and 53 successive monarchs sat upon the Amethyst Throne, which had been installed by King Eldan within the great Hall of Castle Ironfist in Eldarand.
The Glorious Conquest
The reign of King Aron, the fifth Eldaran monarch, brought dark times to Eldara. Like many Thannish rulers, Aron was greedy and yearned for conquest. In the fateful year of 179/4, He ordered his eldest son, Daghon, to lead as expedition across the sea to conquer the Kratheri Peninsula.
At that time, the peninsula was home to a peaceful nation called Kerathos, and was ruled by King Nek’var Barshem. Daghon’s army soon captured much of the peninsula and advanced on the Kratheri capital of Jareesh.
The Siege of Jareesh lasted eight years and cost thousands of lives, including Prince Daghon. King Aron was so enraged over the loss of his son, he ordered the entire population of Jareesh put to the sword and the city was burned to the ground.
Even with King Nek’var dead and their cities captured, the Kratheri continued a guerrilla war for another thirty years. King Aron ordered his younger son, Prince Raynor to crush any resistance.
During the occupation, Prince Raynor earned his moniker; “Raynor the Cruel.” He ordered the executions of tens of thousands of Kratheri men and women and ordered the entire native population to be permanently enslaved.
The, so-called “Glorious Conquest,” was one of he most horrific atrocities ever committed in the history of Corwyn and has remained a dark stain upon House Del Vecchio.
The Dynasty Divided
After the last remnants of organized Kratheri resistance were crushed, the Peninsula was renamed “East Eldara” and became a royal province. The Eldaran monarchs would rule from Eldarand, while their eldest son would rule the province from the growing settlement of Durendar.
This arrangement continued for many years until the reign of King Arathar IV. The king’s eldest son; Castenar, chafed under his father’s rule and in the year 1202/4, declared himself the ruler of an independent kingdom called “Thûle.” This rebellion caused a bloody conflict called the “First Eldaran Civil War.”
During that conflict, Castenar’s forces actually invaded several coastal regions of Eldara and burned the city of Ordana to the ground. King Arathar then sued for peace and Thûle became an independent nation.
Castenar’s descendants ruled for another 131 years, until the death of King Caronius at the Battle of Ralansyr in the year 43/5. The eastern branch of the family was then succeeded by House of Mankhari.
The End of the Del Vecchio line
The Del Vecchio Dynasty of Eldara outlived the eastern dynasty by only 48 years. In the year 1257/4 King Hagar II was slain during a Vilzari ambush without a living heir.
Rule of Eldara then passed to King Dareon Arellani.
The twelve Del Vecchio Monarchs of Valdor (325 years)
- Bröna
- Brüenor
- Valden I
- Isolde
- Bröna II
- Galiron
- Valden II
- Gildan
- Anirax
- Crispin
- Galiron II
- Valden III 1096-1179/3, 1-33/4 (116 years)
The Fifty-three Del Vecchio Monarchs of Eldara
Eldan 33-68/4 *
Lorelei 68-94/4
Daghon 94-125/4
Dareon 125-159/4
Aron 159-194/4
Raynor 194-222/4
Morgan 222-258/4
Damion 258-278/4
Alexia 278-299/4
Hagar 299-336/4
Raynor II 336-357/4 †
Ethan II 357-372/4
Shankara 372-393
Arathar 393-398/4 †
Eldan II 398-436/4
Agathar 436-467/4 †
Aron II 467-505/4
Raynor III 505-531/4
Ragnar 531-568/4
Eldan III 568-590/4
Ariella 590-607/4 †
Trystan 607-642/4
Ragnar II 642-673/4
Arathar II 673-679/4 †
Ragnar III 679-702/4
Aron III 702-735/4
Agathar II 735-779/4
Aden 779-828/4
Morgan II 828-849
Radovan 849-871/4 †
Damion II 871-900/4
Castenar 900-936/4
Robard 936-963/4 †
Iskara 963-997/4
Arathar III 997-1026/4
Robard II 1026-1052/4 †
Daghon II 1052-1069/4 †
Aden II 1069-1081/4
Eldan IV 1081-1106/4
Lorelei 1106-1137/4
Castenar II 1137-1162/4
Dareon II 1162-1199/4
Arathar IV 1199-1225/4
Agathar III 1225-1246/4
Hagar II 1246-1257/4 † **