King Haroldson
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Harold, the Baron Kuldiga died in 1622 leaving his young son, Haroldson, to be raised by his brother, Hardecanute, known as the Long Nose, who became King of the Upper Lands in 1626.
Haroldson was raised in Citadel Excalbia as a son of the King. In time, he grew to be a strong warrior and a cunning politician. When Hardecanute died in 1648, Haroldson expected to take the throne ahead of either of Hardecanute’s own son – the older and weaker Thorfinn or the younger and untested Sweyn.
However, Thorfinn had cultivated the support of the barons, who had persuaded Hardecanute, on his deathbed, to name Thorfinn his successor. Haroldson refused to accept his uncle's will and vowed that he would be king.
When Thorfinn died of a sudden, unexplained illness in 1649, many suspected foul play. At the time of Thorfinn’s death, his brother, Sweyn, was in the field waging war against the lowlanders along the eastern coast in what is now the Confederation of Sovereign States. Thorfinn’s teenaged son, also named Thorfinn, had been born lame and suffered from chronic illnesses. Haroldson proclaimed that the young Thorfinn was unfit to and that, due to the threat of war with lowlanders in southwest, there was no time to wait for Sweyn’s return before naming a new king. Haroldson, then, took the sword of Alsgood – the symbol of royal rule – and proclaimed himself king in the Citadel.
The barons, fearing that Haroldson would seek revenge for their support of Thorfinn, almost immediately decried the new king as an usurper and waged war against him.
After only a few months on the throne, with Sweyn still in the East, Haroldson died in battle at Kuldiga and the younger Thorfinn, known as Thorfinn the Lame, was proclaimed king in his stead.
