Diederick-Gobel von Lichtenfelts

Title(s)	Kaiser of Hadriana, Imperator et Attia and Protector of the Realm
Nickname(s)
Born	1492 AFS
Rule	1534 - Present
Realm(s)	The Hadrian Empire
Race	The Attian Humans
Culture	Hadrian

Physical Description:

Diederick is a tall Attian Human that stands at around 198 centimeters (6’6). He has short brown hair and eyes combined with a magnificent large beard and mustache that easily are his most recognizable features. He has quite a muscular build that he maintains even now that he spends most of his day in the city instead of the wild. When outside the palace, he is usually seen going around wearing his signature personal outfit made up of padded leather with light plate armor over it. The outfit is topped off with a fine red cape decorated with the Imperial Griffin. This has become the standard for him outside the palace since a Helstein mercenary, Argyle, tried to assassinate him outside the tavern in Adelsburg. He always wears his crown unless in his personal chambers and tends to decorate himself with tons of medals. Diederick doesn’t wear a lot of jewelry, only wearing an Alderist nine-pointed-star necklace and the occasional ring. When inside the palace, he tends to wander about in simple robes in a wide variety of colors.

Characteristics

Diederick never wanted nor expected to ever wear the Imperial crown and bear its titles and thus lacks a lot of the education a crown prince received. Instead, Diederick preferred the frontier, spending most of his life in the wild in the Imperial province of Lünburg. There he lived a hermit’s existence, never interacting with many people, and that way of living shines through extremely obviously in his ruling. He tends to avoid big gatherings of people and is very straightforward in his answers, leaving little room for diplomatic manipulation of his words. Due to his upbringing, he has developed into a rather pragmatic person who prefers to tackle his issues head-on and personally.

Despite seemingly being quite an isolated soul in the Lichtenfelts family, he is a prideful Von Lichtenfelts who is very aware of his heritage. Due to this, he did not hesitate a second when the duty of restoring the Imperial Throne fell upon him after his brother who despite their differences, he loved unconditionally, was brutally murdered in his palace by usurpers and mercenaries. Due to his simpler nature, he came off as very relatable to the average man which allowed him to quickly gather a big following of friends and loyalists around him when he came out of hiding to reclaim the throne for his house.

History

Early life

Diederick was born as the second son of King Wilhelm I of house von Lichtenfelts in the town these days known as Norbbüren in the year 1492 A.F.S. He was the younger brother to Philipp and thus deemed the spare of the family. He went to local education and trained to become a knight of the kingdom from a young age, sparring with his brother on an almost daily basis to determine who would be the stronger knight. Other than his brother, he was left out of any training to become a ruler and instead was destined to become a commander of the Hadrian forces. However, his dreams of leading the nation’s troops were quickly shattered as the Rotting Plague and the Withmond rebellion were around the corner.

Trouble arose in the Kingdom of Hadriana in the year 1512. As the rotting plague that was raging at the time put an early end to his father’s life and made way for a power-hungry noble of House Withmond to take power from the Lichtenfelts in a swift but bloody civil war. Diederick together with his brother hid away from the public eye until the Veronians put an end to the Withmond rule was in turn killed by the citizenry of Adelsburg after only a single year, making way for the far more lenient king in the form of Matthias Joseph Withmond who formed the Hadrian Empire and granted the Lichtenfelts brothers an Imperial Pardon and eventually allowed them to become high-standing officers in the Imperial Army.

Restoration of Lichtenfelts rule

Emperor Matthias died a few short years later due to a severe illness, leaving the Hadrian throne vacant once more as he had no children. It was then that Diederick’s older brother, Philipp, took to the throne and restored the Lichtenfelts rule within Hadriana. He would stick around the capital for a little longer before heading north to the Hadrian northern frontier under house Tzyrnowski. He ultimately made this decision because he simply was not satisfied with court and city life and wished to return to a time similar to his youth where he would be out in the isolated wildlands of Hadriana once more.

During his time in Lünburg he developed a strong bond with its Herzog, Janczyck, and alongside it created a passion for woodworking. He would build his own shack in the woods of Lünburg and build furniture and toys for local children. Little is known about these years of isolation as Diederick didn’t speak much of it. What was known is that he had little contact with other people except a small circle of friends and never found love.

Life in Exile

His voluntary exile would turn into a forceful one in the year 1532 when news reached him of a bloody coup towards the end of the Raevendrecht-Hadrian war. His beloved brother, Philipp, was ruthlessly slain by Sine Verrador and his co-conspirators, and his house was considered a hostile force once more. Diederick due to his absence at court went relatively under the radar and managed to escape the purge of his family. Herzog Janczyck decided due to his unwavering loyalty to the von Lichtenfelts to not bend the knee to the usurpers. It was at this moment that Diederick decided that he needed to rise from the shadows and mount a resistance movement. The Hadrian rebels failed to retake Lünburg and eventually sold the land off to Raevendrecht. Diederick used this newfound freedom to slowly gather all exiled and fled forces of the old Empire before the coup and swiftly formed a strong force with which he would retake his throne.

The Spare Emperor

Diederick, Albert, and Markvart at the funeral of Philipp after their return to Adelsburg. 1536

Diederick’s campaign was a swift but bloody one. His loyalist armies easily swept away the disorganized remnants of the rebels and Adelsburg was taken without a fight. From there Diederick would proclaim himself Emperor and hosted a coronation swiftly after. Not much later was the last bastion of the rebels, Schloss Helstein, taken and brought under imperial rule. The last retaliatory strike from the rebels came in the form of an assassination attempt carried out by one of the last few Helstein elites that were still around. The mercenary in question, Argyle, would attack Diederick in the Adelsburg tavern in a suicidal charge during a victory celebration. Argyle failed to strike the Emperor down with his opening blows and was quickly cut down by the Kaiser’s bodyguards and bystanders. In retaliation, Diederick ordered the execution of all remaining Helstein mercenaries in captivity and had them displayed in cages outside of Adelsburg to ensure everyone would know that Diederick was not one who tolerated any disloyalty to the Hadrian crown.

There was a relative period of peace after this, The Empire slowly returned to normal under Diederick’s rule and the capital ravaged by years of turmoil was renovated. It was at this time that he would properly reconnect with the last few surviving von Lichtenfelts family members. He welcomed them back in Adelsburg and the Imperial Palace and ensured they had a bright future ahead of them. Shortly after this, he would finally meet his first love interest. At another Adelsburg tavern night he would attend he was approached by a mysterious figure in simple clothes. After a brief interaction, Diederick would offer the woman a tour of the city and palace. As they reached the end of the tour in Diederick’s personal quarters, the mysterious woman unveiled herself as Catherine Vahlen and they would enter into a relationship shortly after, announcing their wedding not much later.

It seems like there is a bright future ahead for the Emperor, yet that chapter is yet to be written.

Trivia

• Diederick is a very talented woodworker who uses his wooden toy-making skills to develop miniatures for a wargame he came up with during his exile that is often played in the Adelsburg tavern.
• Due to Diederick’s many years around commoners during his time in the North, he has become a relatable person who has a liking of being among the common folk.
• Diederick’s big build and hairy appearance have granted him the title of “The Bear of Adelsburg” by his love interest, Catherine.
• Diederick devoted himself to Volker, Sentinel of Change and Destiny.