Konstanzia a Cenon

The Lenorë populace was slowly tamed and the Kingdom saw itself briefly turned into the Providence of Leno under Relén’s son, before the death of Valén. The newly reformed Kingdom of Lenorë was given to Cénon an’Laurë, his third son. Under his rule, he attempted to force the transition from Lenorë to Laurëan and Palatine culture. He rewarded his loyal Paladins with holdings and intermarried them with local nobles. This effort continued with mixed success and the Kingdom eventually came to a crisis, when the Laurëan Kingdoms began to cannibalize themselves. The houses of Lenorë all vied for the throne while the King of Calan sought to add Lenorë to his list of titles. A rebellion staged by one of the Lenorë houses provided the excuse for a Calan invasion. Eventually, the Calan monarch forced the abdication of the grandson of Cénon an’Laurë and effectively annexed the entire marcher region under the tyranny of House Arrëd. In his place, his six-year-old daughter was crowned as Queen, and the King Pelán of Callan sought to eventually marry her to one of his nobles against her will. He left a loyal man of an ancient house (House Y’Calínnis) as his regent and withdrew his troops, sitting back and awaiting his inevitable victory.

Instead, he was faced with the most competent and intimidating woman in the history of Lenorë: Konstanzá a Cénon. Konstanzá was a naturally ambitious woman, who barely seemed to understand that her kingdom had been defeated. No matter how her regents beat her, she remained utterly cunning and ambitious, modeling herself after Isella of Old. She was the first of her house to identify herself as a Lenorë. Her chief weapons were her mind and her skillful managing of ancient rivalries

She was crowned Queen and her first year, she acted tame and docile, all while planting disgruntled Lenorë rebels in her palace. It was at her wedding feast, that King Pelán of Laurë learned his mistake. For at the feast, during the revels, she hatched her plot. All of those who were loyal to Pelán were at the tables. When the time came for her bedding, she and the groom left the chamber and it was at this point that the servants cut the throats of the guards and took the loyalists hostage. She then released the heads of the family, while holding their heirs hostage. To these loyalists, she gave an ultimatum: Surrender their titles willingly or see their houses dashed to the walls, starting with their heirs. Only one House, House Y’Arrëd, chose to test her threats. Her threat were not idle, and the nobles of Lenorë watched her lead an army of sworn soldiers to his wooden Cal.  She hanged his teenage son from a tree outside the castle and demanded that his men surrender before their lives were wasted. None dared, confident in their ability to keep her from taking the fortress. But they did not know that she had no desire to take the fortress. And so, she set the palisades ablaze, barring the gates and burning the occupants alive.

There, she sprung her trap, continuing to obligate the Y’Arrëd’s into staying late into the feast while the room was gradually cleared, save for the rest of the Marcher Lords. House Y’Arrëd was left alone with their hateful subjects, and the doors were locked behind them. There, the Queen requested that both families abdicate, as they were traitors to her father and as insurance, their heirs would be held prisoner. Calínnis immediate agreed and left their son. Y’Arrëd refused and so, as was her right, she revoked the titles of Calarrëd through the surest means: She stood up and left the Y’Arrëds to their cruel fate at the hands of their vassals, who tore them limb from limb. Calínnis fled home, and immediately attempted to advise a second invasion of Lenorë. The King of Laurë proclaimed him the true king of Lenorë, as Lenorë could not be governed by a woman in his eyes. Calínnis gathered strength in his holdings. He sought to test her resolve and he found it to be granite. For she allowed her new host of disgruntled lords to destroy the fortresses and to demolish their existences. And before his very eyes, his son was hanged from a traitor tree. All of the house members were burned alive inside of their wooden fortress.

-       The Konstanzeans, Chronicler Laurë Erenon