Geronus Family/Rowan

The Birth of a Realm

The next oldest brother of the Geronus family after Asturius, Rowan fled Atamara with some of the other Darkan rebels and came of age in the realm of Astrum on Dwilight. At that time, Astrum was the youngest realm on Dwilight, and there were many opportunities for distinction. Rowan proved himself to be an able soldier and was soon recognized for leadership potential. Eventually he was promoted to second in command of the Austere Order, the ducal army of Eidulb Duchy, under Justin Greystone. He continued to serve under Marshal Ysgarren Addonwy and was elevated to Marshal himself after the promotion of Ysgarren to Strategos of Astrum. Rowan led the Austere Order to numerous victories in defense of Eidulb Outskirts and Duil. While under his leadership, the Austere Order successfully added the city of Chrysantalys and the region of Chrysantalys Mines to Astrum's dominion. Rowan was rewarded with the title of Baron of Chrysantalys Mines.

War with Everguard

After the acquisition of Chrysantalys, Rowan successfully persuaded Astrum's leadership to adopt a more confrontational stance with its longtime neighbor to the north, Everguard. Faced with persistent food shortages and limited room to expand to the west due to the huge mountain range of northwestern Dwilight, Rowan argued that it was necessary to seize lands long claimed by Everguard, Sabadell and the Shrine of Seeklander. These lands were rogue at the time, and it was hoped that they could be quickly seized by Astrum before Everguard could react. Unfortunately, monster attacks delayed the necessary redeployment of the Austere Order allowing Everguard to annex Sabadell and march on the Shrine. The result was war. Astrum achieved decisive victories over Everguard in the Shrine, Gelene Outskirts, and Gelene while adding Gelene Outskirts and Ammando to Astrum's dominion. The Everguardians held out in Gelene itself for several months before the city's peasantry elected to join Astrum in the wake of mass starvation. Unfortunately, Astrum was not in a position to hold the city, and it went rogue. The remaining Everguardians dispersed around the continent, though a small group of them participated in the founding of Averoth.

One consequence of the war with Everguard was a rift in the relationship between Rowan and his longtime friend and ally Boreal Arrakis, the Duke of Chrysantalys and a former Strategos of Astrum. Dismayed by Astrum's failure to notify Everguard of its hostile intent, Boreal denounced the war, leading the normally level headed Rowan to defend it. In the course of the argument, Rowan forsook his allegiance to Boreal, taking his region with him. Boreal then threatened to challenge Rowan to a duel to the death, though by that time Rowan had already decided to step down as a region lord. Rowan continued to lead the Austere Order and was offered the lordship of Ammando some months later, which he accepted. Prior to Boreal's departure to found Niselur, the two men were reconciled and remained friends until Boreal's untimely death.

Strategos of Astrum

When Vasila Alexandria Dwarvenite stepped down, Strategos Ysgarren Addonwy was elected the new leader of Astrum. Rowan ran for and was elected to the position of Strategos. He subsequently organized Astrum's armies in delivering aid to Corsanctum, something he has had to do on several occasions. After campaigns to annex Zereth and Ygg d'Rahzuul, Astrum found itself drawn into a war with the Raivan Empire and the Libero Empire in the east. Alongside their allies from Xinhai, Astrum's armies participated in crushing the Raivan army in Aegir's Deep. At the end of the war, the Raivan Empire was destroyed and the Libero Empire made a separate peace.

Towards the end of the war, Astrum's one time colony of Niselur collapsed completely, leading Rowan to suggest that the homeless Niselurians come to Astrum in order to take the duchy of Gaston and build it up as the foundation of a new realm that would be Niselur's legacy. In recent days, Astrum has successfully seized Gaston Farms as the first step toward achieving this goal.

Vasilif of Astrum

After some time, Rowan was elected to be a Consul of Sanguis Astroism, from which position he was ultimately elevated to Light of the Auspicious. Around this time, Vasilif Ysgarren retired and Rowan was elected to rule Astrum. He ensured Astrum's participation in the war with Thulsoma, and when Averoth ambushed Morek at Storm's Keep, he declared war on Averoth. This led to unexpected saber rattling from Caerwyn. Rowan then joined peace talks with Averoth at Caerwyn's request. The talks went on a long time, but Averoth was unresponsive. All proposals met with either rejection or silence. Eventually he canceled the cease fire that had been in place and went back to war. Not long after, Caerwyn suddenyl declared war without warning, having been deceived as to Astrum's intentions. In the ensuing conflict, Rowan was killed in battle with Averoth, and so ends his story. However, he may have had children in Astrum...