Blaine Talakar Mardrein is a king of Atlania from the Talakar line, remembered less as a beloved royal ideal and more as a stern, disciplined, and brutally practical ruler who repeatedly tried to avoid the throne. Two generations removed from Samuel Talakar III, Blaine was the eldest son of his line, but originally abdicated in favor of his younger brother Michael, preferring service as an admiral or treasurer to the ceremonial burdens and political misery of kingship. He was a skilled negotiator, naval mind, and businessman, a man who understood ships, coin, logistics, and leverage far better than courtly performance. His brother accepted the throne, but not without forcing Blaine into a political marriage with Hanna Aileanach of the Guardian Mountains, a decision that bound Blaine more firmly to the realm he had tried to step away from.

Blaine’s life was shaped by the Valarnan war and its aftermath. After years of Valarnan isolation, their sudden attack on the Atlanian mainland brought ten years of devastation, forcing Atlania into a war of survival. Blaine and Michael both emerged from that conflict with no remorse for the later destruction of Salain, the cultural capital of Valarna, believing the act justified after a decade of indiscriminate Valarnan slaughter. In the peace that followed, Michael’s declining health eventually forced Blaine back onto the throne, where he attempted to rule Atlania like a business, a treasury, or a battleship: with discipline, efficiency, strict command, and as little tolerance for useless politics as possible.

His reign saw both promise and disaster. Stanzgar and Atlania formally met and joined under the Treaty of Unity, opening the way for a new political era, but Blaine’s own household became the center of a crisis when his eldest son, James Talakar, began to grow violently erratic. The truth proved far worse than ordinary instability: James was being manipulated and possessed by the long-thought-destroyed Grand Emperor, returned as a profane lich. Because the Sword of Drakes Wrath would answer to James and prove his royal legitimacy under ancient law, the lich was able to use him to divide the Atlanian nobility and ignite civil war. Blaine’s response was characteristic: cold, calculated, and focused on survival over sentiment. The lich was defeated and James was kept alive, but left a ruined shell of himself. Rather than cling to power, Blaine abdicated again, allowing Robert Dùghlas LeTreis to be crowned king and removing his family from the center of the disaster.

Blaine is not a warm man, nor an easy one to love from a distance. He is disciplined, strict, emotionally cold, and deeply distrustful of Valarnans. Yet he is also loyal in his own severe way, capable of friendship, and far more attached to his family than he often appears. His treasured wooden coin from Michael reveals more about his heart than his public manner ever would. Blaine survives kingship by refusing to romanticize it. To him, the crown is not a sacred dream or a glorious destiny. It is a dangerous office, a burden, a liability, and occasionally a weapon best handled by someone who knows exactly what everything costs.

Admiral Talakar, Richest Man to ever live, Banker of Bankers

King of Atlania

in his forties

Male

Blaine wears a thin, neatly maintained mustache, kept as precisely as the rest of his appearance. It gives his face a stern, officer-like quality without making him look flamboyant or overly fashionable. Like his haircut and uniform, his mustache reflects discipline, control, and a preference for sharp presentation over softness or ornament.

Blaine keeps his hair short, neat, and tightly controlled, usually combed back or held close enough that it never interferes with his work, uniform, or command presence. His haircut reflects his naval discipline more than courtly fashion: practical, precise, and maintained with the same strictness he brings to ledgers, fleets, and government. There is nothing wild, romantic, or careless about it. Even under stress, Blaine prefers to look composed, as if allowing his appearance to fall into disorder would be the first step toward letting the rest of the realm do the same.

Blaine’s hair is a steady brown, though faint hints of grey have begun to show, especially near the temples. Rather than softening his appearance, the grey adds to his stern, authoritative presence, making him look like a man worn down by command but not weakened by it. It suits his image as an admiral, treasurer, and reluctant king: disciplined, experienced, and carrying more responsibility than he ever wanted.

6'

170

none

Blaine is tall and still carries a well-maintained physique, shaped by his years as an admiral and by the discipline expected of an Atlanian nobleman. He is not soft, but age, stress, and a more sedentary life of rule, negotiation, and treasury work have begun to show in him. His build has started to thicken slightly through the middle, giving him the look of a man who was once more active and martial, but now spends more time behind desks, in council chambers, and managing the machinery of the realm. Rather than making him seem weak, this adds to his presence: Blaine looks like a seasoned commander turned statesman, still controlled and formidable, but no longer pretending to be a young campaign officer

Blaine has darkly tanned skin, fitting his southern Atlanian heritage and his years spent around ships, ports, and open sea air. His complexion gives him a warmer, more weathered look than his cold manner might suggest, reinforcing the sense that he is not merely a palace-bound king but a former admiral and working treasurer accustomed to travel, command, and practical labor. The dark tan contrasts well with his sharp green eyes, brown hair, and severe naval uniforms, making his disciplined appearance feel distinctly Atlanian rather than courtly or delicate.

Atlanian

Green

Blaine is extremely distrustful of Valarnans, a prejudice shaped by the devastation of the Valarnan war and the years he spent watching Atlania fight for survival against their invasion. He does not view this distrust as hatred without cause, but as practical memory: Valarna attacked suddenly after years of isolation, slaughtered indiscriminately, and forced Atlania into a brutal war that ended only after terrible escalation. Because of this, Blaine is slow to believe Valarnan promises, suspicious of Valarnan diplomacy, and unwilling to treat their suffering as equal to Atlania’s losses. He also has little patience for anyone who romanticizes Valarna or expects him to feel remorse over Salain, because in his mind the destruction of that city was the cost of ending a war the Valarnans began.

none apparent

Blaine is disciplined, strict, and economical in both speech and movement. He rarely speaks unless he has something worth saying, and when he does, his words tend to be direct, measured, and difficult to argue with. He carries himself more like an admiral on the deck of a warship than a courtly monarch, favoring clear orders, sharp observation, and controlled silence over grand speeches or emotional display. Even in private, he gives the impression of a man constantly weighing costs, risks, and outcomes. His restraint can make him seem cold, but it also gives him a steady authority that unsettles more theatrical nobles.

surviving being king with his sanity intact, keeping his family safe,

Blaine’s greatest flaw is his emotional coldness. He feels more than he shows, but he often buries grief, affection, fear, and guilt beneath discipline, calculation, and duty until even those closest to him struggle to know what he truly thinks. His merchant’s mind and naval command instincts can also make him overly transactional, causing him to treat politics, alliances, wars, and even family crises like problems of cost, leverage, and acceptable loss. He is controlling, slow to trust, and deeply unforgiving once he believes someone has proven dangerous. At his worst, Blaine can justify terrible decisions if he believes they preserve the realm, as seen in his lack of remorse over Salain. He is not cruel for pleasure, but he can be frighteningly cold when he decides a hard action is necessary.

Blaine’s greatest talents are negotiation, finance, logistics, and command. He has the mind of a treasurer and admiral more than a traditional courtly king, able to understand trade routes, naval supply, military funding, treaties, debts, and political leverage with unusual clarity. He is especially skilled at turning limited resources into practical advantage, whether through fleet organization, treasury management, investment, or hard bargaining with foreign powers. His strict manner and emotional restraint also make him difficult to intimidate in negotiations; Blaine does not bluff theatrically or posture for glory, but calmly calculates what each side needs, what they can afford to lose, and where pressure should be applied. His talent is not inspiration in the romantic sense, but disciplined management: making a realm, fleet, or treasury function even when everyone else is panicking.

Venture Capitalism

Stern and well disciplined

Blaine is a connoisseur of the fineries of life.

Dogs

The royal treasury

A wooden coin given to him by Michael when they were young

Teal

Blaine’s occupation is best understood as king, admiral, treasurer, and merchant-statesman, though he is most comfortable with the latter three. He was born into the Talakar royal line and eventually ruled Atlania, but he never treated kingship as a romantic destiny. To Blaine, the realm is a vast machine of ships, coin, food, treaties, debts, ports, armies, and obligations that must be kept functioning whether anyone enjoys the process or not. Before and beside his time as king, he served as an admiral and financial mind, preferring command, trade, investment, and treasury work to the performance of monarchy. Even on the throne, he ruled less like a ceremonial sovereign and more like a hard-eyed administrator trying to keep Atlania solvent, defended, and politically intact.

Blaine disdains politics in the courtly sense and prefers to run Atlania like a business, treasury, or battleship: efficiently, hierarchically, and with as little wasted motion as possible. He has little patience for noble vanity, factional games, ceremonial obstruction, or arguments made for pride rather than practical benefit. His political instincts are pragmatic and transactional, focused on stability, solvency, defense, trade, and leverage. This makes him a capable ruler in crisis, but not a naturally beloved one; he is far more interested in whether a policy works than whether it flatters tradition. At his best, Blaine is a disciplined reformer and administrator. At his worst, he treats the realm like a ledger where human suffering can be weighed as an acceptable cost.

Atlanian Mysticism

Blaine’s practical job is treasurer, even when his formal title is king. He is the man most comfortable managing the money, fleets, contracts, investments, ports, taxes, and supply lines that keep Atlania functioning. While others may focus on ceremony, bloodline, or royal image, Blaine sees the realm through its material realities: what it can afford, what it owes, what it needs, and what risks it can survive. Even after being forced back onto the throne, he continues to behave like the kingdom’s chief financial officer, treating kingship as an unpleasant extension of treasury work rather than a glorious calling.

Early rainy season

Two generations removed from Samuel the third, the eldest son of the Talakar line, Blaine did the unthinkable and abdicated to his brother preferring to either maintain his position as an admiral in the Atlanian navy or move himself to be the treasurer of Atlania. His younger brother Michael took this in stride, but not without taking his jabs at his brother by forcing him into a political marriage with Hanna Aileanach of the Guardian Mountain. Unfortunately The good times did not last, and the Valarnans, after years of isolation suddenly attacked the mainland in a devastating war killing Atlanians indiscriminately. For ten years the Atlanians fight for their existence finally pushing them off the mainland and launching a counter invasion. A slow war inevitably resulting in the destruction of Salain, the cultural capitol of Valarna and the end of the war. The following years saw the declining health of Michael and his eventual death, forcing Blaine back to the throne. Several years of relative peace followed, with Stanzgar and Atlania formally meeting and joining together under the Treaty of Unity. Until Blaine's eldest son James Talakar started to become increasingly more erratic. Eventually leading to the discovery that he was being possessed by the long thought Grand Emperor now returned as a profane lich. The lich used James to drive a wedge into the Atlanian nobility as it was common knowledge that the Sword of Drakes Wrath would respond to James thus proving him as having right to rule under ancient law. Civil war ensued to remove the lich and destroy it once and for all while keeping James alive. This plan succeeded but left James a shell of his former self and his Cousin (who just happened to be the illegitimate several great grandson of Prince Albert) was crowned king.

Well educated, is a renowned businessman

None

age is at the time of the treaty of unity being signed