Manfriedreich von Slothjem: By the tender age of 16, the first King of Slothjemia had established himself as a Count in the service of the Diosian Lodge in the foul swamps that lay in the heart of the Kragalian Alps. On a rocky little piece of land in the northwest quadrant of his domain, he built a small castle, “Boardûm Keep“, and began to amass a loyal cadre of followers. For twenty years he built up his army, and solidified his hold on the whole of what would become the Slothjemian Coreland. At the age of 36, he overthrew the weakening lich lords hold on his lands, and became Manfriedreich I. The first city to be built by the new king was the fortified citadel of Jordrakenschloss, and it became his capital. Other castles were built to keep the young realm from being assaulted by hostile and wary neighbors. He married a peasant jorish woman, who bore him five children, the first of which was a son, Beoreich. At the age of 56, Manfriedreich I passed away due to the many injuries he had suffered as an adventurer. Most of the first king’s descendants refer to the first Slothjemian ruler as Papa Slothjem.

Beoreich I: Known throughout the realm as “The Organizer”, Beoreich was as much of a bureaucrat as his father was a warrior. Only 15 years old when he ascended the throne, Beoreich set about to codify the laws of the land to reflect the ideals his father had instilled in him. He sought out masterful individuals to take important roles in the Royal Bureaucratic Council, and rallied the nobles in and around the swamps to form one clan, that of the Midnight Skull. He revamped the tax code from the ground up, and began construction on the causeways that ran across the swamps. Jordrakenschloss began to be even more heavily fortified under Beoreich’s rule and the city took on the look of a single enormous castle. Not quite the adventurer that his father had been, Beoreich did take to questing but with the aide of a squire, a kobold named Petaar Orangeblade. Every successive king has had a member of the Orangeblade family as their squire. As a general Beoreich was no slouch, and managed to assert the power of Slothjemia as a viable threat against the northern counts as well as the Romillians to the east. Trade began with both of these neighbors and flourished. Beoreich fathered eighteen children with his half-jorish wife, Gayliendy. The firstborn of his children was the Crown Princess, Maliendy, but she died in childhood. This placed her brother Manfriedreich II as the heir to the throne. Beoreich I ruled for 35 years, passing away at the age of 50.

Manfriedreich II: While a good king by most measurable standards, Manfriedreich II was a consummate explorer and adventurer, impatient with the complexities of court life and the minutiae of governing a nation. Therefore he spent a good deal of his time questing for fame and fortune at home and abroad. The realm came to a virtual standstill as the king travelled from one end of the earth to the other. Building a reputation as a dragon slayer, Manfriedreich II found and bore the semi-sentient dragon-hating sword “Tekormane.” This he bequeathed to his sister Queliendy when after 15 years as regent, Manfriedreich II abdicated the throne to pursue a life of full-time adventuring. After leaving Slothjemia with his squire, Merwyn Orangeblade, Manfriedreich II vanished from history. His fate remains a mystery to this day. Queliendy had no desire to govern, either, and passed the throne and Tekormane to her younger brother Vromreich. Queliendy took a ceremonial post as “Countess to the King”. Among Manfriedreich II’s contributions to Slothjemia was the doubling of the army in size, introducing the role of the Lord High Warlock, and allowing the Church a greater role in Slothjemian society. Perhaps his greatest gift to the country was the treasure he claimed during his adventures, an endowment that continues to pay off for the nation.

Vromreich: A passionate and brilliant general, Vromreich was an absolute terror on the battlefield. The otherwise pleasant insanity that flowed through the veins of the von Slothjem family was a raging torrent in the martial prowess of Vromreich. Slothjemia’s neighbors weren’t sure what to make of this madman that inspired such fervor from his soldiers, and Vromreich never started a fight that he wasn’t fully devoted to finishing. One of the outcomes of this was that the dwarves of Kernschloss fully allied themselves to Slothjemia. Every foe that Vromreich defeated was offered a chance to accept Slothjemian citizenship, and the Coreland became a cohesive political entity. Having become king at the age of 25, Vromreich was convinced by his sister Queliendy and the Royal Bureaucratic Council to step down as king, and at the age of 35 Vromreich happily agreed in exchange for taking the post of Lord High Marshal. Without the distractions of daily governance to annoy him, Vromreich became an even more impressive general. When Slothjemia was threatened with invasion from Craiovia and Brendelasia, Vromreich smashed through their armies like a hot knife through butter, marching his armies all the way to the gates of Kugahloo before turning back in what has been described “a festive mood.” Military life agreed with him in every regard, and he passed away quietly in his sleep at the ripe old age of 84.

Beoreich II: Inheriting the throne through two of his brothers, Beoreich II proved himself to be kingly material. Using the gains made by his brothers, Beoreich II was the first of Slothjemia’s rulers to be acknowledged as a legitimate monarch by a majority of the nations surrounding it. He was 33 when he took control of the realm, and ruled for 40 years. The Royal Bureaucratic Council was expanded, and the city of Slothenburg was formally established to house the increasing population of Slothjemia. The dwarves of Kernschloss were added to the realm once and for all, making them equal citizens complete with their own nobility and court officers. His firstborn son, Beoreich III, died in infancy, and when some time later another heir was born, he was dubbed Beoreich IV. He took the throne when Beoreich II died at the age of 73. He delayed adventuring until later in life, after the death of his wife, Markella. It was said that he took some solace in questing upon her passing away, but he never embraced it as fully as did many others in his family.

Beoreich IV: Inheriting the throne at the age of 21, “Good King Bayo” began by adventuring extensively before taking over the reigns of leadership. It was under his auspices that scholars discovered how to use spellcraft and conventional training to strip the black dragons of their innate magical abilities, making them more suitable as mounts for the army. Beoreich IV also did away with military conscription, coining the motto “volunteers fight better.” The population of Slothjemia continued to grow, and towns and villages began to spring up all across the Coreland. Ambassadors were exchanged with both Romillia and Geldenreich, and arrangements were made for goblinoids from these two neighboring states to be allowed to safely move to Slothjemia. Beoreich IV was a kind a gracious ruler by any measurement, but he loved to fight gold dragons. He started his adventuring career by slaying a gold dragon, and died trying to fight another. His reign lasted 45 years, and while he was bested by the dragon it should be noted that the King’s squire, Bolivo Orangeblade, managed to kill the dragon himself.

Manfriedreich III: The third in line for the throne, Manfriedreich III wasn’t supposed to ever end up as King. Unfortunately, life had other plans. The Crown Princess, Relletta, was something of an invalid and unable to rule effectively. The second in line was Caloreich, but he fell in love with an elven baroness and the two of them moved to Evelliene. Thus at the age of 14, Manfriedreich III took over as King and slowly but steadily consolidated his power among the nobles. By the time he was ready to exert his power, the nation was ready to respond. He declared war on Craiovia, and proved his generalship in pushing the Craiovians well away from the mountains and swamps of the Coreland, forcing them to abandon their strongholds along the alps. A deeply superstitious and religiously devout man, Manfriedreich III expanded the influence of the Church to stabilize and secure the realm inside and out. Strengthening his military became a priority for Manfriedreich III and it paid off handsomely; when he passed away at the age of 52, Craiovia was paying an annual tribute to Slothjemia. Manfriedreich III had ruled for 38 years.

Bolafras Eldenreich: The only son of Manfriedreich III, Bolafras Eldenreich took the throne at the age of 35. Known as “the Peace King”, Bolafras never tested his ability on the battlefield as a general. He preferred to wield diplomacy to placate his restless neighbors, saving his massive military forces for emergencies that never materialized. Without hostile external enemies, Bolafras was tormented with trouble of another kind; finding an heir. His first wife, a jorish princess named Sheila, proved to be barren, and Bolafras divorced her so that he could find a wife that could produce an heir. Oddly enough, his squire was named Cupid Orangeblade, and as luck would have it the only real quest Bolafras ever undertook ended with him finding a suitable bride. Her name was Francina, and the scandalous aspect was not the King’s divorce from his first wife but the fact that his second wife was a human. The quest to find Francina took nearly ten years, but their union produced a son, Manfriedreich IV. Bolafras reigned for 30 years (10 of which were spent on that single adventure), and passed away quietly in his sleep at the age of 65. Francina outlived him by seven years, and took great joy in being a thorn in the side of the goblinoid nobility.

Manfriedreich IV: At the age of 18 Manfriedreich IV inherited the throne of Slothjemia, and began the most tumultuous reign of any previous king. Heralded as either the greatest ruler the land has ever seen, or as the downright worst, Manfriedreich IV, known for most of his life as “the Bachelor King”, was chaos incarnate. Charismatic, bold, and strong, he inspired enemies and friends alike to rally to his banner. But he was too imaginative and ambitious for his own good. He started a war with Craiovia, conquering the whole of it in a matter of days and pushing the southern border of Slothjemia all the way to the Dolonau River. He also came to the aid of the dwarves of the Grey Alps, defeating the three northern Counts that had been threatening the dwarves. Manfriedreich IV added their lands to his, as well as peacefully annexing the Grey Alps to prevent the dwarves from further harassment from Geldenreich. Barokovia was annexed next, when the Grand Duke, a distant cousin to Manfriedreich IV, made the Slothjemian king his heir. In just a few turbulent years Slothjemia grew to six times it’s original size. Success such as this came at a heavy price, though. Manfriedreich IV was obsessed with the new discovery of Spelljamming, and spent precious resources developing a new navy to secure a place for Slothjemia in Wildspace. He didn’t marry for many years, causing a minor crisis in determining who would lead the nation should the King die. His inattentiveness to his own government led his Lord High Chamberlain, Boris von Drakkol, to nearly unseat the monarch and seize the throne using an unsteady alliance with the Lord High Warlock, Selkirk Deathtree. The land’s most powerful sorcerer was driven insane, and von Drakkol wound up under house arrest, a broken man. All throughout the kingdom uncertainty held sway. That is, until the King settled on marrying his longtime love interest, Tiffan Barwick, the half-elven owner of a Slothenburg tavern. Although late in his life, the King and his Queen had a child, securing the royal lineage and the throne from further dynastic intrigue. The Crown Princess, Reichsha, was given every advantage to learn from her father’s successes and mistakes. She went on an quest with some of her father’s closest allies as her companions, including the legendary Archbishop Fenbattle, who did not survive the journey. But Reichsha did well, and upon her return to Slothjemia, her father abdicated and made her Queen. Reichsha was 20 years old when she became the ruler of Slothjemia, and her father had ruled for 48 terribly eventful years. Five years later, he passed away while adventuring with his squire, Elroy Orangeblade. He was 72 years old. Tiffan outlived him by a very long time, serving as the Dowager Countess for many decades after Manfriedreich IV’s death.

Reichsha: The first woman to ever rule Slothjemia (at least publicly and properly), Reichsha is handily the most level-headed regent the land has ever had. Her main focus was to insure the strength of the military and the calm of the nobility. For the first goal, she placed her husband, Archibald Speedblade, as the head of all things military. The title given to her husband was Herzgraf, and even though he was human, and a paladin at that, he set about reinventing the army and navy to once again revel in their strength and prowess. With that goal settled, Reichsha had to placate the restless nobles. This task she took on herself, and with a mix of bravado and her own personality, she made each of them see the wisdom in backing her plan for the kingdom. With a steady hand Reichsha rebuilt many of the public works projects that her father had let fall into disarray. She also authorized the expansion of the realm’s towns and cities to allow for more people to settle in Slothjemia. Peace and calm descended on Slothjemia, and there was finally a chance for the little empire to breathe freely. After 39 years of placidness, Romillia launched an ill-fated war against Slothjemia to try and seize the old dwarven town of Summit Village. Romillia lost the war, and in humiliation ceded one of their provinces to Slothjemia. This increased Slothjemia’s size and defensibility, and took care of Romillia ever posing a threat to Slothjemia for the foreseeable future. Reichsha and the Herzgraf were also busy starting a family, to avoid the succession issues of her predecessors. The Crown Princess, Katherina, has a large family of her own to further insure the line. Slothjemia will be free of that particular drama for a long while, at least.

It was after Romillia’s misadventure that the Slothjemians formed an alliance with Geldenreich and Fanolania to vanquish the Ash King and conquer Vincasikilia. With help from a band of Fanolanian, Geldenreich, and Slothjemian heroes that took on the Ash King the Slothjemian armies rolled in and in short order secured the entirety of the Ash King’s lands against any overtures the Diosian Lodge might attempt. This alliance marked an entirely new way of doing things for the noble nations of Partum and paves the way for greater success further down the road for all that embrace the good in life and eschew evil.