Nero Vashar

Nero Vashar is the current Prince-Admiral of Myr and the Patriarch of the Vashar Family. Born the secondborn son of Idris Vashar and his wife, Nyla Adarys, despite the freedoms the Free Cities provided, he was not granted with the boon of being named heir.

Yet nevertheless, where his older brother faltered, Nero succeeded. From marriage to having to take on Ezra Vashar's responsibilities even before his overthrow and exile, Nero has long been forced to shoulder the heavy burden that Ezra could not.

Appearance and Character
As a younger man, Nero was the very image of strength. Built like a bull and strong as an ox, few could doubt his prowess upon anything other than the field of battle. Yet, as time progressed, and things changed, as all things do, he gradually found himself inundated by his elder brother's responsibilties.

Ezra had been ever the frivolous type, and with the responsibilities of ensuring his family's future thrust upon him, a previously unforeseen side to Nero was brought to the forefront. Governance suited him well.

Nero's natural aptitude for governance would continue to grow as he increasingly worked alongside his youngest sister, Rania Vashar, as they endlessly tolled to keep Ezra from failing and falling by the wayside. It was a task that took a great toll on Nero and drained a great portion of his energy from the more vigorous passions of life. For Nero, notably such was his love for combat.

Nevertheless, while Nero's talents for governance and statesmanship were newly found in the grand scheme of things, his had always been a charismatic personality. Never had one been to say that Nero Vashar had been a shut-in, nor one to avoid active converse.

But fate is cruel. While responsibility had restricted Nero's time, Ezra's failings would restrict him for the remainder of his life. At four and forty, just a year before Ezra's ousting and exile in 425 A.C., in what can now via hindsight only ben described as a "failed assassination attempt", Nero Vashar's horse was felled, with him atop it, sundering his right leg in the process, and thereby removing his last hopes for the active lifestyle he had once possessed.

In light of his fate, Nero's character grew into a type more suited toward the more unforgiving and ruthless side of politics. It was now, with a crippled leg, that Nero Vashar truly began to shine as some might say, and to darken as others might contest.

Ruthlessness suited this Vashar, and would see him well through the tumultuous times ahead. From Jasmine Vashar to a great many political opponents whom rose and fell as Nero dragged his House back up the political ladder of Myr, those still with tongues to voice words can attest to how Nero Vashar did whatever was necessary to see himself into the position of Prince-Admiral and his family back to the place of foremost prominence.

381 - 418 A.C. Ezra, and Nero
The earliest of Nero's years were much and the same. He was of noble blood, and his father, Idris Vashar, was a man of tireless determination who worked to see the Vashar restored to their rightful place amongst the wealth of Myr. In this, Idris was indeed most successful. And while Idris' eldest child and firstborn son, Ezra Vashar, would never himself see such frugal traits come to fruition within his own repertoire, such was where his siblings Nero and Rania stepped in.

Further so, Nero's earliest years were much so defined by his martial prowess. As a young man he quite naturally found notable prowess in the art of swordplay and its like. And while he held traits that endeared him toward economic management, as a youth, he focused most so on other pursuits.

Yet while Ezra kept a defiance in the face of such noble pursuits as marriage, Nero readily stepped forth into such binds at the age of seven and ten, coming to father his first and only child later the next year in 399 A.C. To say Nero Vashar and his wife Vellona Sarmyr had an unhappy marriage would be a distinct lie, as the two remain to this day happily wed, but to say their marriage was plentiful in its fruit, would also be a distinct lie. Their failure to produce further children after their son Ordello was not for lacking of trying, but instead, for the toll the birth took on a young Vellona. At the time she had been but a girl of nine and ten, and the pregnancy had been most hard on her, with learned men ordering her to bed for the final moons of her pregnancy.

While Nero never grew to anger toward Vellona over their inability to produce further children, he undoubtedly grew angered toward his elder brother Ezra at times, a man whom acted so freely and irresponsibly. Bastards. Nero would never be that kind of man, nor would he place them into the succession. It was only right to take a wife, or a few, if one so wished, and father legitimate children. Not bastards. That was not right.

So when Ordello grew to age and eventually came to father a son by his own wife in 417 A.C., Nero was most pleased. The boy was named Aeneas, and while in many cases grandsires are distant if not already passed on, Nero was a most attentive grandsire.

419 - 425 A.C. I Shall Do Your Job Then
Ezra Vashar had long passed off his responsibilities spare for those regarding the martial practices of the city to his younger siblings Nero and Rania. Long had it been since Ezra had truly even made attempt at governance. In truth, it both annoyed and pleased Nero that he had to do his brother's job. Half so it nigh made him pray to Gods norm and queer that his brother might take up his post and responsibilities with more vigor, for while the Prince-Admiral's task was largely served on the field of battle, Ezra was still the uncontested Patriarch of their House.

Yet ever so, Nero Vashar was a second son, and as the way of all second sons goes, jealousy is ever ripe. Having his brother's duties thrust upon him gave him the opportunity to see prosperity for his House and his own closer kin. Truth be told, Nero oft half considered 'borrowing' amounts from the Vashar coffers - from zra's coffers - and investing it elsewhere, where only he could touch it. The thought entertained him many a day, that with a few flicks of his quill, he could deprive Ezra of what enabled him to be so utterly useless, his coin.

But he did not. He served his family and House diligently. Like Ezra never could. And so those next years passed as largely uneventful years, save for the birth of his second grandchild, Vorina Vashar.

However, come 425 A.C., Ezra's failings came to affect Nero in a more personal and direct sense. Little time did he have left to himself nowadays, but that little time he did have he either spent with his family or out riding. He still enjoyed the fresh air outside the city, and not even Ezra's incompetence could take all his leisurely pursuits from him, albeit that he had already been forced to give up much of his sparring and the like. That was when it struck. His horse took arrows and fell back on itself, trapping Nero beneath its weight. He heard the sounds before he felt it. The cracks were loud, and numerous.

While Nero Vashar would not lose his life this day, and would manage to survive the assassination attempt upon his person, he would carry its mark for the remainder of his life. His right leg, for all the learned men whom worked to heal it, could not, and it healed a weak and out-of-shape thing. He was to be a cripple.

He was four and forty, but in his eyes he was - had still been - a young man, with much ahead of him. But all that changed with the loss of his right leg. The attempt, it was later discovered, was only one of the first moves in an eventual coup against his brother, no doubt the conspirators had deemed that without Nero at his side, Ezra would be greatly weakened and left open to assault. In the end it mattered not, Ezra would fail all the same.

426 A.C. Disgrace and Failure
Destiny. A queer concept. But it suited all the same. Ezra Vashar's destiny was to lead his House and kin to near ruin, whereas Nero's, Nero's was to rebuild from the ashes that Ezra left in his wake, to make a stronger House, to ensure that the work of their late father, Idris Vashar, was not to be lost to the pages of history books, like so many before them.

There was no saving Ezra Vashar that night. The Prince-Admiralty was to pass to another, and as fate would have it - or as Lys and Tyrosh would have it - that other was the man's own son Myles Vashar. Or at least, was for a fortnight. A fortnight after Ezra's exile from Myr, Myles Vashar was found dead in his manse, his wrists and throat slit and left to bleed out. Where his father's ousting from power had been a peaceful affair, Myles Vashar's utter incapability had seen him remiss of his life. Nero Vashar is said to have remarked that it was a thorough waste of life and that the boy should simply have fled with his father. Later he would be heard saying the same of Jasmine Vashar, Ezra's daughter and Designated Heir.

Mar Noyne proved decent enough in his post. Better than Ezra and Myles. But that was no challenge. And so with two Vashar seats vacated with the deaths of Magister Mose Vashar, and then the exile of Ezra and later the death of his son, Jasmine Vashar was first chosen to fill Ezra's, while Nero would take up the other.

427 A.C. The Last of Ezra Removed
Alas, Jasmine Vashar proved less than tactful. Hers was a great achievement, truly, riding on the coattails of her father's failure and disgrace, she managed to draw the ire of her kin and Conclave via her absolute bluntness and complete failure to comprehend the intricacies of the realm of Myrish politics. And so, come 427 A.C., by which time Jasmine Vashar had been a Magister for nigh on a year, Nero Vashar did as was needed of him to ensure the survival of his House, and so with the support of his kin forced the young heir of Ezra the Exile into bonds of matrimony with a wealthy Tyroshi nobleman, although not so wealthy that he might grow to oppose Nero's own interests.

In place of Jasmine Vashar, Nero's own son, Ordello Vashar was raised to the post of Magister, a position that he would come to thrive in. Where Jasmine had been tactless and unable to weave her way through the political machinations of of Myrish politics and the Conclave, let alone dealings with the other cities and foreign dignitaries, Ordello proved most adept, and fast became a key partner in ensuring Nero's own rise throughout the next decade.

428 - 436 A.C. Ambition, and the Ladder
Nero Vashar was not his brother, he was more, he was greater, and look at what Ezra had achieved. Nymon Mar Noyne would need go, but in due time. To remove a political rival who enjoyed the support of Lys and Tyrosh, now that would take some maneuvering.

The Drahar were to be first. As the only magisterial family of Myr with greater wealth than the Vashars, if Nero was to successfully steal back the Prince-Admiralty for himself and his family, he would need to ensure they did not support Mar Noyne. For if they did, he had no doubt that the other magisterial families of Sarmyr and Mercor, followed by the easily swayed new blood of Othomere, and Selloso, would prove most amicable allies of the Mar Noyne.

But thankfully, the Drahar were not a family unknown to the Vashars. Ordello had himself wed the daughter of a prominent and well-positioned Drahar Magister, Ilora Drahar, and through her by 428 A.C. had Ordello sired by a son, Aeneas, and a daughter, Tirina. And so while the negotiations proved strenuous at times and quite lengthy, lasting well into the year 430 A.C., by which time Ilora had grown thick with child for the third time, the Drahar eventually agreed to pledge their support and wealth to the election of Nero Vashar as Prince-Admiral, provided they retained high office within his regime, a guarantee they had not with Nymon Mar Noyne.

Luckily though, the Mar Noyne had overlooked Nero as an aging Magister, and a man whom merely sought to see the survival of his line rather than its growth. Through his sister Salma's marriage to Elyas Mar Noyne, on th surface, all was peaceful within the Conclave of Myr.

Sarmyr was next. Nero's own wife proved most useful in bringing the Sarmyrs into the fold, who, unlike the Drahars, proved most eager to see one tied to them by blood upon the great seat of Myr. But alas, the Sarmyr would prove the last of the proud and ancient Magisterial families to support Nero Vashar, for all knew the Mercors as stalwart supporters of the Mar Noyne, having thrown in with them the very instant Ezra Vashar was gone, having sought to make themselves more than the fifth of the five great Magisterial families.

Yet even with the support of the Drahar and the Sarmyr, Myr was more than its great families. And that, Myr itself, would prove a tumultuous beast, one that seemingly changed over night and without warning, and so Nero Vashar set about increasing the patronage of the Vashar tenfold, ordering each and every member of his House of age six and ten and above to take from the family's accounts and do as they saw fit to gain the support of the people and the city. But that was a lengthy task, and only by 433 A.C. had it truly begun to return reward upon the Vashar.

From there, the issues of Lys and Tyrosh had to be addressed. Nero wagered, mayhaps for the only time in his life, that the House Rogare would prove amicable and open to a Vashar Prince-Admiral, as his own sister, Rania, had returned them their ancestral blade, Truth, gifted her by the fool, Tya Lannister. Nero still remembered fondly the laughs he had over the Lannister's giving up the blade so readily with naught in return. ''Never before had the Magisters of Myr made such a well-struck bargain. Something for nothing.''

But Tyrosh. . Tyrosh would prove a less reliable creature. For his own informants and his son's vast network of informants, they had failed to truly infiltrate Tyrosh, save for the nobleman Jasmine Vashar had been wed to. He would prove unreliable at best, and so the Vashar were forced to sate themselves with the knowledge that Tyrosh would be an unknown entity.

And then it came one fateful night in the first moon of 436 A.C. Some say Nymon Mar Noyne was abed with a whore, others say he was abed with one of those exotic zorses, but the truth is plainer still. Nymon Mar Noyne was abed with his wife, lustily enjoying his rights as he sought to rid himself of the scar he held great that night, he never saw his killer, nor the blade that cut his throat as he was busy at task making children. Yet nor would his wife survive the night, for in the wake of her husband's murder, she foolishly tried vengeance upon his killers, an act which saw to a knife in her belly, and her blood upon the stones. The people of the city still oft say they hear the screams of Lady Mar Noyne on those nights most dark, as she mourns over the loss of her husband, with his blood still unwashed upon her.

Nymon Mar Noyne was only the first. That night proved most bloody. From slaves owned by Nymon Mar Noyne to a number of his own kin who thought to name themselves Prince-Admiral or lead slave forces through the streets toward the manses of the other magisterial families, and even to his own son, Tormo Mar Noyne, a youth of five and ten, who was last heard proclaiming his intent to burn down the Vashar manse with sword in hand once word spread of who the magisterial families were rallying around in the dawn hours. The boy would never be seen, nor heard from again.

Yet nor were the Mar Noyne free of blood-stained hands, for theirs was a House in which jealousy ran deep. From brother to daughter, the Mar Noynes proved themselves a disloyal bunch. Whether it was opportunism or blood ties, none truly know, but when word reached Magister Elyas Mar Noyne through his wife, Salma Vashar, Nero's own sister, whom had years previous been passed over for the Prince-Admirality, Elyas joined the coup on the promise of being named Patriarch of the Mar Noyne Family in the wake of his younger brother's death. But death has never been free of cost. Later that night Elyas Mar Noyne would be found dead, with his neck a mangled mess amidst the streets of Myr.

More so, had it not been for Nymon's own daughter, Norah Mar Noyne, who some whisper was vengeful over her being passed over in favour of her younger brother for the position of heir, the chances of Nymon having been found so efficaciously and without grave collateral for the city of Myr would have been considerably high For when the Mar Noyne manse had been taken, with Mar Noynes Norah and her youngest brother Corlys inside, Norah Mar Noyne readily offered up her father like a lamb to the slaughter, and ultimately, her mother too.

The next morning with the Conclave convened, the Magisters of Myr elected Nero Vashar to the post of Prince-Admiral, whereupon his first decree was that the Prince-Admiral henceforth held the right to name his or her own successor. A controversial act to say the least, but with Drahar and Sarmyr in support, neither the ambitious Mercor nor the blood-soaked Mar Noyne, with but one incumbent Magister present, and the newly appointed Norah Mar Noyne, whom gained her post for her sacrifice of her father on that fateful night rose to replace him as a Magister by the grace of Nero Vashar.

436 - 438 A.C. Arise Once More
With the Mar Noyne forced to their knees and the Vashar finally returned to the post of Prince-Admiral, they commenced their task. Nero had done what he had needed in order to secure the support of the other magisterial families, but now he had to ensure it remained stalwart. Thankfully, Drahar came rather easily and amicably with the naming of his son, Ordello Vashar, as the heir to the Prince-Admiralty, with his son, Aeneas Vashar, intended after him. Sarmyr was much the same.

But Mercor, they needed more than just words and so were promised a Vashar bride, in due time. That placated the Mercors, for now. While the lesser magisterial families simply required bribes, after all, with the past night in recent memory, a night that would come to be known as "the Night of Vasharii Vengeance", few were eager to stand up against Nero Vashar for fear of seeing their own kin, and themselves, executed summarily to Nymon Mar Noyne and his kin.

Although, even with the fall of the Mar Noynes, they have not seen themselves entirely remiss of attention. For in Norah Mar Noyne, Nero Vashar has seen somewhat of a mind, a talent, and a great many futures, and so for the time, cultivates her for the future. Further so, Nero has also been known to do what he can to affirm his nephew, Darion Mar Noyne's allegiance to his ascent.

The Lineage of House Vashar.

 * Idris Vashar, b. 354 A.C. d. 415 A.C.
 * m. Nyla Adarys, b. 355 A.C. d. 406 A.C.
 * Ezra Vashar, b. 378 A.C.
 * w. Nadine of Lys, b. 380 A.C.
 * Jasmine Vashar, b. 399 A.C.
 * Myles Vashar, b. 402 A.C.
 * Nero Vashar, Prince-Admiral of Myr, b. 381 A.C.
 * m. Vellona Sarmyr, b. 380 A.C.
 * Ordello Vashar, b. 399 A.C. d. 438 A.C.
 * m. Illora Drahar, b. 397 A.C.
 * Aeneas Vashar, Magister of Myr, b. 417 A.C.
 * Eleni Silkborn, b. 436 A.C.
 * Vorina Vashar, b. 419 A.C.
 * Tirina Vashar, b. 427 A.C.
 * b. Fredo Rogare, b. 430 A.C.
 * Idris Vashar, b. 431 A.C.
 * Salma Vashar, b. 384 A.C.
 * m. Elyas Mar Noyne, b. 382 A.C.
 * House Mar Noyne
 * Rania Vashar, b. 392 A.C.