Travers Macguiness

The first Dread King and the first Briar King, Travers Macguiness took the throne of Aperion during the chaos of the Fall of the Blood House in (Blood DATE).

Dread Career
Little about Travers Macguiness's history is known. His province of birth is unknown, though many provinces make claims to being the birthplace of the First Briar King. He first shows up in records late during the reign of Blood King Mordecai Flynn, designated as the Dread after the death of the previous Dread, Harriet Dunbar. He served until King Flynn abdicated the throne at the age of 65 in favor of his son Anthony Flynn. At that juncture, Travers stepped down as the Dread in name; though he still performed all his previous duties, he gave up the title in order to allow the new King to choose a Dread suited to his own tastes. This established a tradition among Dreads, as this was historically the first time there had been any overlap between Dread and King.

Taking the Crown
When Anthony Flynn fell in Blood YEAR, the country reeled in shock. Both the current King and his father were dead, and the younger Flynn had no heirs of which to speak. Many provinces which expressed malcontent at Anthony Flynn's ascention threatened to secede from the Aperonian goverment. The betrayal of the House of Blackguards left the Noble Court dissatisfied and concerned for their rights and safety. The Downlands, not satisfied with the treatement they had been given during Mordecai Flynn's reign, also came apart from Vysania's influence.

During this tumultuous period, Travers Macguiness took it upon himself to cross the skies of Aperion and keep the peace. He was in the unique position as a Dread in that he had garnered respect from every faction of Aperion through his status and his actions during his service. Many historians will claim that this period of unrest was weathered only due to Travers' actions, though it is more accurate to say that it was during this time that the SDF and the Silverwings mobilized on a massive scale across the country.

Due to his connections with the many upset groups after the death of Anthony Flynn, Travers was able to make many hesitant alliances and convinced many representatives to return to Parliament. However, it is noteworthy that many of these factions agreed only with the stipulation that Macguiness act as a bridge between their group and the central Vysanian government.

The Parlimentary hearings on Aperion's future lasted for three months. Transcripts of these meetings are diffucult to come by, and many existing documents are incomplete. Several of the differing factions in Aperion reccomeded candidates to the throne, creating a more chaotic and widespread version of the modern selection process. However, despite the large number of candidates, it was eventually decided that Travers Macguiness would lead. He was voted in in a statistical anomaly that has never been repeated- a unanimous vote in the Parliament and reported support of all seven Councilmen.

Reign
Travers Macguiness was sworn in on BLOOD YEAR MONTH DAY, later established by the Fifth House as Briar 1. Though the pacts he made with the various factions of Aperion led to a successful peace, there was only a tenuous calm. Travers had to maintain an uneasy alliance between the various dissatisfactions between parties that felt they were misrepresented in the past few reigns.

As a result, Travers made efforts to strengthen the influence and power of the Parliament. He also made a concerted effort to channel the fallout of the Blackguard House Incident into a less disastrous result. To that extent, Travers sponsored the rise of the Guilds as a way to protect the interests of those who were not immediately represented in the Parliament. About halfway through his reign, the Informant's Guild was created by a former member of the House of Blackguards, and several recorded ex-Blackguards joined. Though this is not immediately credited to King Macguiness, and he denied involvement, many suspect he had a hand in nudging the Guild along, as well as funding the growing organization.

Legacy
The reign of the first Brair King became famous for ushering in one of the most difficult periods of Aperonian history. After the end of the Blood Kings and the withdrawl of the dragons, Aperion's humanity was left without focus. King Travers is seen as a beacon in that darkness, a guiding light for the Briar Kings that followed.