Richard I of Iadria

King Richard I Navine, commonly referred to as King Richard the Dragon or the Usurper King, was King of Iadria. He originally ruled as Duke of Navine under King Geoff III, the heir to an unbroken line of Dukes leading back seven hundred years to the founding of the Kingdom of Iadria. Richard led the armies of the Duchy in defense of Iadria during the Epherian Invasions of 6A 715, and was the last of the eight Dukes to concede to the Okeqar Treaty. Enraged by the King's concession of Leogoth to the Epherians, Richard launched the Navinian Rebellion of 6A 723. A political and martial prodigy, Richard succeeded in swaying the Duke of the Autumnvale, the lords of the Ucorian Reach, and the Elves of Cenother to his side. With the combined armies of eastern Iadria at his command, Richard won a series of decisive victories over the Griffin King and brought the civil war to an end within the span of two years. In the aftermath of the Rebellion, the deposed King Geoff fled east from Ihenium even as Richard installed his new government. Despite the new King's best efforts, Geoff and his cadre of loyalists were able to fight their way through the eastern Duchies and escape into occupied Leogoth, where they would form the rebel Iderum faction. Shortly after his coronation, Navine began preparations for his Great Crusade against the Epherian Empire, seeking to reclaim Leogoth and the honor of Iadria. He enacted a soft purge of the remaining nobility that had fought on the side of the Arvait loyalists, demoting many commanders and lords and sending famous loyalists like former Lord-Commander Michael Valendel to fight in remote border skirmishes against Epheria.