THE STARSONG FAMILY
The Royal House of Starsong has occupied Vaifen’s crown for generations. The Crown, along with the Senate, and the Tribunal, conform Vaifen’s trinity of governance. As the bearers of the nation’s crown, the Starsong family has guided the destinies of each and every citizen of Vaifen, ensuring their safety, prosperity, and well-being through a lineage of kings.
They have carried their duty adapting to the realities of the present without ever forsaking the traditions and lessons of the past — all whilst the world of Orbis takes each new step towards an uncertain future.
The history of the Starsong family is inexorably intertwined with that of Vaifen itself. One cannot prose about Vaifen’s foundation and origins without referencing the Starsongs of yore. Their sui generis surname makes them stand out from the rest of the nation’s families — a trait shared among the remaining nobility lineages of Vaifen, who adopted distinctive family names in generations past.
The public opinion concerning the Starsong family wildly depends on who you ask, and the answers can be as different as night and day. Some would say that the Starsong family is a beacon of hope, the embodiment of the traditions of Vaifen and its spirit made flesh.
On the other hand, others would claim that they’re nothing but the most decadent of all relics, a symbol of a should-be bygone era that represents the worst of a corrupt noble caste that refuses to step aside and fade in the annals of history so that Vaifen may fully embrace the modern, global reality of Orbis.
The nation’s worst tragedies, their greatest triumphs, and everything else in between, there has always been a Starsong ruling when said events have occurred. Once more, their ancestral oath is put to the test, as Vaifen, the nation that the Starsong family once swore to protect and lead towards a better tomorrow, faces a new dark hour.
SULWYN STARSONG
The current regent of the Nation of Vaifen and patriarch of the Starsong family. Sulwyn is a tall man with a commanding voice so strong it could even split the heavens. He’s the bearer of an iron will and a most disciplined ruler; loved by his sons, feared and respected by many.
Sulwyn is a man devoted not just to his family, but to each and every of the responsibilities that the crown he’s worn for most of his life entails. He’s lived a life beset by tragedy, having ascended to the throne right at the start of his third decade of life after a tragic accident — riddled with very questionable inconsistencies — took the life of his father, the late King Cadmus Starsong.
From that point onward, and without counting with the full extent of his father’s vast experience, Sulwyn began an uphill battle to rule the nation to the best of his ability, ensuring the sovereignty of Vaifen first and foremost so that it remains as it should be — an independent Nation-state amidst the ever growing reach of the Union of Nations that has now enshrouded and diluted most of the planet’s nations and republics. Sulwyn is widely considered to be the last barrier preventing Vaifen from joining the global Union — or the last barrier preventing the Union from absorbing Vaifen, if that’s how you want to interpret it.
The regent found the love of his life in a fateful encounter at a most unexpected place, during a routine official tour and inspection of one of Vaifen’s hospitals, which made him cross paths with Doctor Ellene Valmont, a natural of Vaifen’s Talcea region — it didn’t take long for him to make her his Queen.
Of all the trials and tribulations faced by King Sulwyn during his reign, three stand above the rest.
The first of these was the rise and threat of Pyrexia, an insurgent group that was officially proclaimed as a terrorist organization that waged war against Vaifen and Sulwyn’s rule.
It is widely speculated that Pyrexia was no mere rebel group like those that Vaifen has had to deal with throughout its history, but rather, that it was created and funded by some higher power in Orbis to break the nation and destroy its way of governance.
Had it not been for the arrival of the Nasivern race to Orbis, and the subsequent alliance that was formed between the Nasivern and Vaifen — an event that took the world by surprise — Pyrexia could’ve potentially achieved its goals drowning Vaifen Ito chaos. The Nasivern’s intervention tipped the scales of the conflict, which culminated with a complete eradication of the terrorist organization and its leadership.
The second event was the Fall of the Nasivern race, which led to the exile of the fewer than 75,000 surviving Nasivern in Orbis. As a way to thank the Nasivern for their alliance and defense of Vaifen, King Sulwyn spearheaded the Nasivern Exile Solidarity Act, which granted most of the remaining survivors a new life in Vaifen. The exact political cost that was incurred upon Sulwyn Starsong as a result of this act is not known to the public.
With the wounds of war and tragedy healing, his rule oversaw a period of peace and much needed prosperity — until tragedy struck his life once more in what is, undoubtedly, the third and most tragic event in Sulwyn’s reign and life.
Queen Ellene, once a seemingly healthy woman, was eventually diagnosed with the Gustav-Denton Syndrome, a rare condition that attacked her central nervous system and impaired her organs, shutting them down one by one.
It is said that the once cheerful and outgoing man that Sulwyn Starsong once was died the day his wife did, leaving him broken.
Not much of that joyful regent is left these days, not after a life full of tragedy — nonetheless, he remained resolute at the face of tragedy and has continued to guide the destinies of Vaifen’s citizens while being the best father he could be to his children.
The burden of the crown he wears has joined forces with the inclement passage of time, and have both taken its toll on the now aging regent as he prepares to enter the sixth decade of his life. Following the death of his wife, Sulwyn became so fixated on charting Vaifen’s future to the point that he neglected its present.
The rising threat of the Ashen Reckoning has been a wake up call for the King of Vaifen — but if only everyone would understand just how heavy that crown can be, and the sacrifices and choices he’s had to make for the sake of the nation, then perhaps, his most devout critics would shut their mouths.
Now, in what he considers the start of the twilight years of his life and rule, Sulwyn has begun to take matters into his own hands to correct the path and keep all family affairs in order, so that the grand design for the future of Vaifen that he’s envisioned and planned for so long comes to pass — one where his sons continue to rule the nation when he’s nothing but dust and bones.
And it all starts with the Gestalt project.
Presently the amount of people that count with Sulwyn’s absolute trust can be counted with two hands, however, depending on your definition of trust, one hand may suffice.
SEYREN STARSONG
Sulwyn Starsong’s firstborn, and heir-apparent to the Crown.
Seyren has been described as a reflection of his father’s youthful self in more than one way, and with good reason. He is a handsome, charming, and charismatic man sporting a long blonde hair that seems to dance with the wind. Outside of those adjectives, however, he remains an enigma to the public eye. Not much else is known about him, and his public appearances are quite rare and sporadic.
At the lack of a more concrete consensus, the world and the public opinion has resorted to rely on a myriad of gossip and hearsay stories surrounding the heir to the Crown to paint a picture of the man that is posed to lead Vaifen sometime in the future.
The truth, however, is that while he means no ill in his actions, Seyren is a reckless and carefree man spoiled by a life of luxury and comfort, and a most irredeemable womanizer. He prefers to spend most of his nights between parties, indulging in excess while concealing his identity. Seyren’s nocturnal activities and escapades have caused Royal Security countless headaches, more so because he constantly eludes and deceives his guards so that he’s able to embrace the night life he seems to be unable to live without.
His indifference towards the nation’s ins and outs would shock more than one if the truth were to be made public, given the inevitability of his eventual reign. Seyren would rather go to a party than attend a high level meeting on national security and/or a briefing on foreign policy.
Having grown up alongside the Nasivern orphan Bastiel Isthal, he considers the King’s protégé to be a surrogate big brother. Bastiel is someone who has gotten to see another side of Seyren that the world hasn’t. Deep down, beneath the liquor and debauchery, lies a good man that genuinely cares for others, a man that has the potential to be a great ruler and leader — but only if he puts his mind and determination into it.
The question of whether or not Seyren Starsong will ever be up to the challenges of the Crown he’s set to inherit, and all of its responsibilities and burdens, is one that remains to be answered.
For the sake of Vaifen, his sister hopes that he is.
VESPER STARSONG
Princess Vesper Starsong is the definition of immaculate elegance personified, and the most publicly accessible of the two royal heirs. Born right before his beloved Queen fell ill, Sulwyn considers Vesper to be the last priceless treasure that Queen Ellene gave him.
Vesper, with her red hair and green eyes, seems to naturally and effortlessly emanate the perfection that is expected of her position, but playing the role that is demanded of her exacts a terrible toll upon the young heiress.
She has managed to conceal her ever-growing insecurities and fears, always keeping them to herself, masking them beneath the jewelry she loves to wear, the aroma of her perfumes, and the exorbitant expensive dresses and attires that she commissions.
The princess is aware that she’ll most likely never get to sit on the throne and rule over Vaifen, and she is uninterested in doing so. Nonetheless, she is ever aware that she too must do her part in the betterment of the nation. Despite being an inseparable part of it, Vesper doesn’t hold Vaifen’s nobility with high regard, aside from a very few select exceptions.
At her incessant request, she was granted permission to revitalize the Starsong Foundation that her mother used to run. The Foundation is a more amiable facet of the Crown that handles its charity and patronages programs, and is tasked with a multitude of goals and activities, some of which involve providing financial aid to Vaifen’s less fortunate, making the dreams of Vaifen’s children come true, granting scholarships to gifted students, or simply to bring a smile to those who need it the most.
The foundation was an invention of her late mother, who passed away when she was merely a year old. Despite having its fair share of criticism and detractors, the Starsong Foundation and its meteoric re-invigoration under Vesper’s leadership has been well received by Vaifen’s populace, and it’s a fantastic triumph that the young Princess should be proud of.
Her arduous labor in revitalizing the Foundation and keeping it afloat is Vesper’s way of preserving and upholding the ideals of the mother she never got to meet, making things better little by little, just as her mother did in life.
Knowing the truth about her older brother’s lifestyle choices, she can’t help but to feel disdain and contempt towards his actions. Vesper also loves to make Seyren Starsong and Bastiel Isthal suffer in a figurative way through her elaborate schemes — that is her way of delivering payback after years of being the target of mischief during their childhood years.
There are many who feel envious of Vesper’s lavish, royal lifestyle, wishing that they too would get to have the ostentatious life she’s had. Paradoxically, she constantly yearns for a normal life that she’ll never get to experience, the one thing that the Crown has deprived her of.
Sword of Vaifen is a work in progress. Things are not set in stone and can be subject to change.
Every image, logo, and any other graphics that you see here are placeholders, none of them are final.
2024, by Christian Kaleb Caruzo.
