Moon-Brightened leaders

by Eron12 with Heroforge

Zajac of the Fumayan Lanterns, part-time thespian, part-time priest, and part-time historian

"The Kingdom of Fumaya is currently on our fourteenth king, and I can spout trivia about all of them.   On the whole, I would say Fumaya was blessed with a good line of kings relative to the rest of Scarterra. I don't think any of them would qualify as cruel tyrants, but we've only had five kings that earned the title "moon-brightened". The first to be so honored was King Ziven the Second, better known as "Ziven the Wise". Of those five Moon-brightened kings, four of them received the title posthumously .

  The only king who received the title while alive was King Casmir the Just. It makes perfect sense that a king best known for being just would receive a reward given to just rulers. Casmir had a relatively short reign as king, but he acted as his father's right hand for most of his adult life, and Prince Casmir became known for his sense of justice well before he became King Casmir, so this goodwill carried over.   I will be very surprised if King Henryk the Third does not become the sixth Fumayan king to become Moon-brightened. If I have any say in the matter, I will make sure he is alive to enjoy it.   We had a lot of good kings that unfortunately weren't able to cement the title moon-brightened. Fumaya's king, King Ziven the First, was generally well-liked by the Lanterns of his era, but he had to make some compromises with Fumayan warlords in order to cement his throne, and this rubbed some[ Lanterns the wrong way.   By all accounts, King Teos the Unlucky was a good man, but he was only king for a year and a half, so he couldn't exactly boast about years of just rulership. I think King Domingo probably deserved the title moon-brightened, but he was unpopular in his own time because of his alleged foreign sympathies.   Some have argued that King Henryk the Second, better know as "Henryk the Orator" did not deserve his moon-brightened title but instead he bought the title by being a patron for the arts in order to curry favor with the Lanterns. I looked into this and believe that's an unfair criticism. His reign was marked by peace and prosperity and he didn't seem to make any major mistakes. The fact that he was a lover of music is hardly the only reason he earned the Lanterns' respect.   In Fumaya at least, kings and queens usually received the title moon-brightened at the same time, but Fumaya has had six kings earning the title of moon-brightened, but we have had seven queens earning the title. Queen Bronya, wife King Arwid the Warrior Scholar, earned a title that her husband did not. This was probably exactly what Arwid wanted. Arwid and Bronya operated as a team and they each played a role. You can negotiate with nice gentle Bronya or you can negotiate with cold and unfeeling Arwid.   My knowledge of history about nobles below the rank of king is admittedly limited. I believe slightly over half of Fumaya's barons have earned the title moon-brightened. As the lowest landed tier of the nobility, barons and baronesses are physically and hierarchically closer to their subjects, and this usually breeds humility and compassion which we Lanterns always support.   Mid-tier rulers have a harder time earning the title moon-brightened. Not many counts or countesses have earned the honor in Fumaya. Dukes have a slightly easier time, but they are still proportionally fewer moon-brightened dukes than kings or barons   Mid-level nobles don't have as many eyes on them as kings and queens, so their good deeds often go unnoticed. At the same time, their misdeeds are heavily scrutinized because they are often stretched between the demands of their lieges and their vassals, so they face criticism from both directions.   In Fumaya, The most recent award of moon-brightened that I am aware of was to Baron Fyodor Deorac the Fourth. Most impressively, he got the award while he is still breathing, though he is and old man. The Lanterns gave him the title of moon-brightened as a sign of support after a failed assassination attempt against him., but it's not just pity. Fyodor has been beloved by his subjects for entire reign as Baron, so the title is well-earned."