King Gaspar III of Pelayo
In recent generations, the Kingdom of Pelayo has come to rule over the largest transcontinental on Terrace. In addition to ruling over the bulk of the Sea’s Edge Peninsula, Pelayo also controls colonies encompassing the vast majority of land on the western continents following a large wave of conquests and settlements in about a century and a half after these continents were first sighted by Realmgardian explorers. Pelayo also controls several minor coastal colonies in the eastern continents of Laodike and Solar. The reigning King of Pelayo, Gaspar III, also controls several cities in Natalis as his part of his personal feudal domain, due to the tangled nature of inheritance and nobility in Realmgard.
Although Pelayo is in the midst of its Golden Age — to the point that it is now a common turn of phrase that “Even the gods themselves are Pelayan” — Gaspar himself had an unlikely ascent to the throne to oversee this Golden Age. As the third son of the former King, Gaspar would not have become King if his eldest brother had not renounced his titles to marry a commoner and his middle brother had not been killed in a jousting accident.
Expected never to get anywhere remotely close to the throne, Gaspar did not receive the same education as his elder brothers. Although Gaspar displayed an aptitude for poetry and writing, he received a minimal education in matters of statecraft and warfare. Though his natural intellect and work ethic proved him a quick learner when it became apparent that he would become Pelayo’s next King.
Indeed, Gaspar soon proved himself a capable and energetic monarch. Almost immediately after his coronation, Gaspar led the Pelayan forces in the last major battle against the pirates of the Wandering Coast who had been a major threat to the Pelayan coasts in previous centuries. Following the decisive Pelayan victory in the strait, a local ruler friendly to Pelayan interests was installed as a vassal of Pelayo, after first fighting on the Pelayan side in the battle.
Securing both sides of the strait between Realmgard and the Wandering Coast thanks to his alliances an cordial relations with the Duchy of Tanith and the new ruler of the Wandering Coast is regarded as a major political victory for Pelayo. Pelayan ships and coastal settlements are now the safest they have been in centuries.
Competing ambitions in Natalis have put Pelayo in conflict with the Kingdom of Gallicantu. Although the relations between the both Kingdoms remain frosty, neither Gaspar nor King Aldéric of Gallicantu have shown any intention to commit their resources to an open war in Natalis and the two Kings have made overtures to improve relations between the two Kingdoms and establish a long-term truce in Natalis.
Gaspar retains his longtime interest in literature and poetry and still devotes much of his free time to writing and he is generally regarded as talented writer, even outside his own Kingdom. The most extensive chronicle of his reign is being undertaken by Gaspar himself.
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