The Great Expanse

A middle-aged human male with a regal bearing, short graying hair, sharp blue eyes, and a stern expression. He wore finely crafted royal armor adorned with the sigil of Veridian, and a heavy cloak embroidered with gold thread.

A stern and rigid ruler, he valued order and control above all else, often dismissing creativity and individuality as weaknesses. He was authoritative, unyielding, and haunted by the consequences of his own decisions.

He inherited a powerful kingdom, but harbored a deep-seated suspicion of unpredictability. He believed that true strength lay in standardization, a philosophy he disastrously applied to Veridian's famed Eldritch Knights. Around a century ago, driven by a desire for a more uniform military, he issued his infamous decree: a strict list of acceptable weapons and a rigid curriculum of approved spells, stripping the knights of their unique, individualized combat and magical styles. He saw their varied abilities not as strength, but as chaos he could not command. He then sent them on a grand military campaign, a gamble that backfired catastrophically. The vast majority of the Eldritch Knights, stripped of their unpredictable essence, perished or vanished, leading to the near-total loss of their unique fighting traditions. He died a bitter man, having inadvertently dismantled the very army that made Veridian legendary, leaving behind a legacy of lost power and stifled innovation.