Thorny Elphen

Thorny Elphen was the king of the Kingdom of Elphegort. Ruling under the banner of diplomacy and peace, Thorny's regime prospered until his country was faced with a sudden Lucifenian invasion. Back into a corner, he collaborated with the Lucifenian Resistance and helped ensure the success of the ensuing revolution.

Early Life
Thorny was born into Elphegortean royal family during the fifth century EC, later becoming the King of Elphegort and resided at the royal palace in Aceid. Holding true to his beliefs, the king maintained the army for self-defense while sticking to his pacifist ideals. At some point, he married and sired children. In EC 492, Thorny disguised himself in rags and went out into the capital city. While in the Central District, he browsed a local shop and met its owner, Keel Freezis.

Impressed by the foreigner's excellent wares and service, the incognito king bought a pipe from the merchant before leaving. Afterward, the royal spread word of the Freezis' shop and made it well known throughout the land, saving their struggling business. As the Freezis Firm became more famous and wealthy, King Thorny continued to keep close ties with the merchant. Keel later purchased a title of nobility in Elphegort and supported the king's reign.

Lucifenia's Troubles
On December 27, EC 499, King Thorny attended Princess Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche's brithday party at her palace in Lucifenia. After the celebration in the Hall of Mirrors was finished, the Elphegort king departed for home that night. Once Thorny heard rumors of Lucifenia suffering a famine due to a crop failure several months later, the royal sent a messenger to the Freezis Mansion to report the news to Keel.

Later on, the Elphegortean King secretly visited the Freezis Mansion to meet with Keel and Marlon's King Kyle. After sitting down at a table in Keel's meeting room with the others, the three discussed Lucifenia's current affairs and how to handle their famine. During the talks, Kyle proposed he petition aide to Lucifenia on behalf of Marlon and Keel agreed to send aide on behalf of Elphegort to relieve the Yellow Country's citizens' suffering and avoid potential political issues with the nation in the future.

Putting a hand to his chin, Thorny considered the arrangement and questioned if the blue-haired king was okay with the arrangement. Kyle agreed and thanked the fellow royal for hearing out his selfish request. Keel then exclaimed that their work talk was finished and that they should enjoy a drink together before the King of Marlon left the next day.

After waiting a short while, Keel noted the liquor still hadn't arrived and began to call out to his servant when another servant, Clarith, burst in screaming her introduction with the alcohol in-hand. The shocked Elphegortean king then watched as the woman suddenly slammed the bottle on the table before them, saying it was the liquor they were waiting for. Thoroughly confused, Thorny watched while Clarith screamed at King Kyle in a drunken stupor before arguing with Keel. As the master and servant yelled at each other about their "characters", the perplexed king silently wondered what they were even talking about. Later on, Thorny returned to the royal palace.

During the following weeks, Thorny worked with Keel to send the necessary aide to Lucifenia. When Keel requested Lucifenia send a servant working directly for the princess as a diplomat instead of the prime minister or royal family, the Elphegortean King passed on the message to Lucifenia, rejecting the Yellow Country's Prime Minister Minis as the dignitary. Once Lucifenia offered to send the princess' servant, Allen Avadonia, the two governments confirmed the meeting place as Keel's mansion.

Green War
When the Lucifenian army suddenly invaded Elphegort around a week later, the enemy forces swiftly overwhelmed the Elphegortean military and forced Thorny to flee the capital. Pushed further north, the king settled at the fortress at Merrigod Plateau and used it as the military's base of operations against Lucifenia. As the war dragged on, Elphegort's army managed to hold back Lucifenia's onslaught while the enemy massacred the country's populace.

Lucifenian Revolution
Later during the conflict, a Lucifenian Resistance leader, Minage, made contact with King Thorny. The fellow Elphe then negotiated with the king  regardingElphegort's assistance in blocking the Lucifenian army's main forces from retreating back to the Yellow Country while the revolutionaries rebelled against Riliane's tyrannical regime. Thorny agreed to assist the resistance and directed his commanders to slow Lucifenia's retreat. Once the resistance captured Lucifenia's capital city of Lucifenian and The Daughter of Evil was imprisoned, the Lucifenian army surrendered and Thorny had the enemy soldiers detained.

Three days later, on December 24, King Thorny attended the peace talks at the Lucifenian royal palace between all involved parties in the revolution. Once the meeting began, Thorny was surprised when the masked revolutionary Karchess revealed himself to be King Kyle. After Kyle thanked everyone present for coming and congratulated them for the resistance's victory in the civil war, he steered the conversation to discuss Lucifenia's remaining forces. Thorny immediately confirmed what transpired with the Lucifenian army in Elphegort and their current status.

Minage then pointed out that the soldiers likely shared their sentiment of opposing the war and requested they be treated with care. The Elphegortean King replied that he understood his feelings, admitting that he too didn't want any more chains of enmity. After the council confirmed the Three Heroes were no longer a threat, Kyle announced Marlon would occupy Lucifenia and set up an interim government while the nation rebuilt itself. Once the Marlon King convinced the resistance members to agree to the conditions and then brought up Princess Riliane's execution, the council unanimously agreed to go forward with the action two days from then at 3 o'clock in Milanais Square.

Later Life
Following The Daughter of Evil's execution two days later, Thorny began managing rebuilding his kingdom, eventually releasing the Lucifenian prisoners of war back to their home country. After Marlon annexed Lucifenia and established a blockade of Elphegort's ports in EC 501, Thorny remained unopposed to Marlon's sudden imperalistic policies. Around that time, the king stripped Earl Felix of his title for his capture by the Lucifenian army during the war. Afterward, he granted the Blankenheim Family head the title of Marquis and governance of Toragay in Felix's place, hoping that promoting the Marlon Royal Family relatives would deter Marlon from warring with them. Following the Battle of Castle Hedgehog in EC 505, Marlon lifted its blockade and improved relations with Thorny's government.

World's End
After his death, Thorny found respite in the Heavenly Yard. In EC 998, he and the other souls were pulled back into the Third Period while the ground world merged with the Hellish Yard. Afterwards, Thorny was invited to the dinner party at the Lucifenian Royal Palace in honor of Princess Riliane and joined the other guests in the Hall of Mirrors. During the festivities, Thorny awaited his meal.

Legacy
Following his death, Thorny's lineage continued into the seventh century EC with King Soil Elphen. By the following century, Elphegort's relations with Lucifenia and Marlon were restored and three countries prospered together. Rumors of Thorny's political motivations for replacing the ousted Felixes with the Blankenheims continued to exist well past his lifetime.

Personality and Traits
Thorny was a kind and benevolent king, believing strongly in his pacifist ideals even after the horrors of the Green Hunting. Because of his ideals, Thorny was strongly opposed to war and bloodshed, looking at grudges and vengeance as a means to forge endless chains of enmity with one another. Despite this, Thorny still believed the army was necessary for self-defense and was not above using the military to protect their country from invading forces.

Regardless, the man always searched for a non-violent, diplomatic solution to Elphegort's affairs when able. As a result, he was particularly attentive to foreign affairs and was open to supporting other countries with aide to relieve tension between nations and keep suffering. As a byproduct of these beliefs, Thorny was uncharacteristically warm towards non-Elphes and eased tensions between different races across much of Elphegort during his lifetime.

Despite this, Thorny's beliefs also made him somewhat of a sycophant in his foreign policy, buckling under Marlon's imperialistic polices and remaining uninvolved even as the nation began invading its neighbors like Lucifenia before it. However, despite facing a furious populace calling for the Lucifenian soldiers' deaths for massacring their friends and family, the troubled King still held to his ideals to the end, demonstrating both his compassion and mercy even in the face of public outcries.

Skills and Abilities
As the ruler of Elphegort, Thorny possessed a great amount of political power and influence within the Green Country and was effective in managing the nation during both war and peacetime, although often not exercising his power. Because of his influence, the king could easily affect the reputation of the Freezis' shop despite Elphes' general hostility towards foreigners. As head of the Elphegortean army, Thorny was able to inspire morale in his troops and effectively use his commanders to handle war strategy.

Character Connections
Keel Freezis: An acquaintance of Thorny's. Initially meeting the merchant when he was struggling in his kingdom, Thorny was impressed by the man's persistence and attention to quality in the face of the Elphes' discrimination. After boosting his business the two had a close confidential relationship as two of the most powerful men in Elphegort, and the king often consulted with Keel and relied on his financial support in important political matters.

Kyle Marlon: An acquaintance of Thorny's. As the king of Marlon, Thorny respected Kyle as an equal and consulted with him on important political matters, the two having a somewhat confidential relationship. Aside from this, however, Thorny was clueless on matters of Kyle's personal life.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * The English word thorny means "having many thorns".

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