Nicola

Nicola, Queen of Motherland, was the third-born child of Vladimir II and therefore never supposed to be the monarch. But after the tragic deaths of her two older brothers, the burden of ruling was thrust upon her. Fortunately for the people of Motherland, Nicola was up to the task. Her twenty-year reign was marked by peace and prosperity.

Only in the mean streets of Watersmeet did trouble persist. The capital city had always been a visible reminder of the bitter class divide in Motherland, and no matter how much work Nicola did to improve things—and she did a lot—some folks couldn’t let go of the memories of how they and their ancestors had suffered under so many of Nicola’s ancestors.

One of Nicola’s most well-received initiatives was her highly publicized alliance with The Sisterhood, a recently established union for sex workers in the capital. She saw the women in charge of the operation, particularly its founder Maeve Murphy, as a force for positive change in their community. After running their abusive madam out of town, The Sisterhood had begun working with other community groups to tackle corruption and inequality throughout Watersmeet. And once Queen Nicola threw the weight of the crown behind their efforts, The Sisterhood was able to even more effective.

The conservative group known as the White Mages were not happy about this, but Nicola did her best to ignore them as the bigoted luddites they were.

Trouble is: the White Mages didn’t like to be ignored. And so, they continued to be a thorn in Nicola’s side until her death in 261. As hard-working as she was and as caring and thoughtful as she was, Nicola could only handle so much of the Mages’ meddling. And that’s how she came to die at just 57 years old.