Alexander Vasa

Sir Alexander Vasa, Lord Lochland OSE PC
Family portrait of the Viscount before his premiership.
Born:	249 AS
Death/left:	269 AS
Positions:	Regent, Prince Royal, Viscount Lochland, Clerk of the Privy Council, Prime Minister of the New Sarovian Empire, Counsellor of State
Dynasty:	Zor-Mako-Vasa-Nassau

Prince Alexander Vasa, the 1st Viscount Lochland Alexander Vasa (born Prince Royal, Alexander Zor-Mako-Vasa) was a member of the Imperial House of Vasa. A descendant of Constantine IV Mako through Consantine IV's second's son, Prince Royal, Arthur, he was technically cousins to Carolus XII Vasa and Constantine VI & I Vasa though never met them, having joined in the reign of William I Vasa. Alexander was an experienced soldier, diplomat and a shrewd politician who was a profound and public anti-Unionist in the Saro-Oxerian Union, which gained him fame and renown amongst the youth of the Sarovian country. After the dissolution of the Union which Alexander campaigned for, he became a political outcast due to the wrath of Willima I. Alexander's fortunes would turn upon the ascension of Brianna I Vasa-Nassau which allowed and enabled him to rise to power once more, establishing a new Sarovian constitution and positioning himself as an autocratic Prime Minister who laid the foundation for the modern Sarovian state.

Modern perception of Alexander is rather varied, though he is seen and often ranked as one of the best Prime Ministers of the New Sarovian Empire and one of the most talented politicians to ever exist. These perceptions are often countered by claims of autocratic and dictatorial behaviour, citing his nine Stefanic years of near absolute control over the Empress Brianna, culminating in his Regency in the last months of her reign. Alexander was a staunch conservative traditionalist, and harboured extensive autocratic natures. He was known to neutralise dissent and "disappear" Sarovians who disagreed with him, leading to many liberal Sarovians denouncing his actions while also simultaneously acknowledging his benefit to the Sarovian nation. Likewise, he also is known as "Alexander the Kingmaker" for his actions cementing George I Vasa-Nassau on the Sarovian throne, continuing his Regency until his death.

Biography

Early Life

Alexander was born in 249 AS in the reign of William I, during the infamous Saro-Oxerian Union. Alexander's father, Arthur Louis, was the youngest son of Constantine IV and given the title of Prince Royal for him and his descendants. This was considered a "participation title" by Alexander, who saw it essentially as a title given to appease his father since he would never sit on the throne himself. As such, when Arthur Louis left in 252 AS, Alexander refused to be addressed by the title. Despite still being known as Prince Alexander formally, Alexander would publicly and aggressively campaign against his cousin William's Saro-Oxerian Union. Influenced by his father and the memoirs of his grandfather, he was fervently anti-Union and was essentially exiled from the Imperial Court over these views, alongside his father when he was still around.

Alexander would campaign for the dissolution of the Union relentlessly. Queen-Mother Cincinnis of Aurea, the grandmother of William I, led the Anti-Union camp in the Saro-Oxerian court, who pursued Sarovian domination of Oxeria or unilateral independence. Alexander was a chief deputy of hers, and allegedly promoted the illegal publication of the secret provisions of the Acts of Union in the Sarovian press. Alexander was charged with sedition and "lèse-majesté" over remarks he made at a dinner regarding the Empress Emily, but these charges were dropped by pressure of the Emperor, worried about bad press. When the two monarchs were forced to hold a national referendum, Alexander was politically delighted over the result and would infamously toast at a dinner party "to the downfall of the whore of the Empire," referring to the Empress Emily. For this comment, members of William's I guard would revoke his access to the Imperial Court, forcing him to be unable to vote in the predeccessor of the Assembly of Peers and severely culling his influence. This was seen as a step too far for even the Queen-Mother Cincinnis, who publicly denounced his actions.

Imperian Wars and Exile

Upon the beginning of the Imperian Wars, the Oxerian Empire and the New Sarovian Empire would ally and wage a series of campaigns. Seeking glory and a chance to redeem his name, Alexander enlisted in the Imperial Guard only to be rejected on the orders of the Emperor. Further attempts to join other units were similarily denied. Alexander would briefly commission in the Duke Dylan's Regiment as a Lieutenant under the name "Louis Arthur", the name of his father backwards, and would fight and achieve victory in a battle in Upper Preuze. His gallantry was recognised and, upon further investigation, his cover was blown and he was discharged and threatened with fraud. A blanket ban was then put in effect for Alexander's presence in any Sarovian government institution.

Alexander began to return to the good graces of the Queen-Mother, but she passed away before their friendship was fully repaired, leaving Alexander stuck without a cause or allies. Alexander likewise began to befriend the Crown Prince of Kiev, Andrey Vasa, but he too died before he took the throne. William would officially order the exile of Alexander from New Sarovia before being sick. The exile was fortunately not ordered however: a joint Aurean-Imperian offensive caused mass chaos in the realm forcing William to abdicate and Edward I Vasa would take the throne. Edward did not like Alexander any more than William, but he himself was forced to abdicate in favour of his Brianna who was relatively apathetic to him. Alexander reckoned this was his opportunity to shine.

Rise to Power

In the first Stefanic year of the Empress Brianna's reign, the political scene was relatively chaotic. Four factions vyed for power over the young, impressionable Empress. There were the Constantists or Zaclites, the monarchists, the Sacroytes and the pacifists. The Constantists were usually aristocrats or wealthyy landowners who supported Francis I Vasa-Nassau, styled Constantine II of the State, to also take control of the Sarovian throne from the Empress. They argued the throne should not belong to someone so young and inexperienced, let alone a woman, since the last "Sarovian" monarch who was a woman was Tsubaki the Mad in Roisa. The second camp were the monarchists, who were staunch supporters of the Crown and put their trust and faith in the Empress. They did not trust the new "Sacrovian" union, seeing the disaster of the old Saro-Oxerian Union, and didn't support the Sacro Emperor. Those who did, however, were known as Sacroytes and would support close Sarovian ties to Emperor Jacob to the point of allowing Lusophone Sarovians to be annexed into Sacro. Lastly, the pacifists saw the disaster of the Auro-Imperian offensive into Sarovia and wanted to achieve peace with them at any cost.

Alexander aligned himselves with the monarchists and quickly was allowed back into court by the Empress Brianna, who was seeking new allies in any shape or colour. Alexander quickly found himself back into his natural element and assembled a coalition known as the Monarchist Party of New Sarovia, which he led. The Sarovian parliament (known as the Chamber) at the time was still dissolved by the Empress. Political agitators on all sides of the spectrum had been calling for an actual written Sarovian constitution, with Sacroytes wanting to control the Empress and the Constantists wanted to write the Empress' out of the line of succession. Alexander took it upon himself to write the original Sarovian constitution, which was wildly denounced by all sides other than the monarchists. Pacifist leader Athena, seen as a pushover by the Sacroytes and Constantists, was propped up as a coalition figurehead to reject the Constitution. Alexander convinced the Empress to unilaterally decree the Constitution into existence, which occurred in September 2019 (261 AS). The pacifist-Sacroyte-Constantist coalition ran as a combined party known as the Democratic Party, arguing in bad faith that the Constitution should be written and voted on by the people. Alexander ran for Prime Minister and narrowly won the election with a 50/50 split, but managed to fortunately control the Speaker of the Assembly, which enabled him to ram through legislation.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister Alexander first oversaw the weakening of his political enemies before he managed any long lasting reforms. Athena, who also was recently was appointed as Field Marshal of the Realm, was pressured to resign. Alexander would attack her in the press which ultimately led to her disgrace and resignation, despite her reasoning being the hopelessness of the military situation. The military defeats again and again dismantled the pacifist party of the Chamber, which led to the Constantists and the Sacroytes remaining. Alexander was surprised by the Empress' cunning when she was able to throw off the Sacroytes shackles through her diplomacy and shrewd politics, and allowed breathing room for Sarovia proper. The situation got worse when the Constantists (specifically, a branch known as the Zaclites) would be convinced by Constantine II of the State to support him by providing Sarovian intelligence, and Sarovian nobility and military officers such as Zacline Aelous began to give weekly aid and reports to the State rather than his Queen-Empress. The final straw that broke the camels back was Alexander's election and, weeks after, the Zaclites broke out in rebellion and declared their support for Constantine II:

"Public Declaration against Empress Brianna and the Prime Minister.

The Principalities of Preuze and Goguryeo have revolted and seceded from the New Sarovian Empire with the goal of dethroning Czarina Brianna and the illegally elected Prime Minister Alexander, the "Constantine" roleplayer! Constantine II shall be declared King of the Sarovians for the better future of our beloved Empire.

This is a public statement to inform all soldiers and citizens in the Graal Military Community (GMC) that we will be fighting for a new era for Sarovia, and revolutionize the old and obsolete Imperial Monarchy to a much more modernized Constitutional Monarchy. This shall be remembered as the day Sarovia and its people finally awoke to the tyranny under the hands of the Constantine roleplayer and incapabilities from Brianna, freeing Sarovia and its people from it, and revolting."

Prime Minister Alexander hastily assembled a loyal force to the Queen. He began the first drill reforms in Sarovian history that are used to this day, and effectively created what was known as the "Statist army". He also effectively put down the rebellion through a mixture of force and persuasion, allegedly citing the words of William I in a speech to the rebels proclaiming Brianna as the proper heir, and invoking their former loyalty to the Emperor to convince them of the error of their ways. Zacline was executed on the illegal order of the Prime Minister and the remainer were pardoned, but effectively frightened into submission. In honour of this, Alexander finally received his own title not inherited by his father: he was awarded the title of Viscount Lochland after his estate in Kiev. He would be known as the Viscount Lochland or Lord Lochland from now on.

The Constantists did not die off with this rebellion however. On the advice of Constantine II, Empress Brianna, Lord Lochland and State officials would meet in November of 2019 with Francis with an attempt to fix the situation. Weeks of negotiations led to even further disagreements when Francis publicly argued that he should have legally inherited the throne of New Sarovia due to his father's investiture as Prince of Kiev. Lord Lochland recommended to his Empress that she subsequently counter-claim the State's crown, which she did unceremoniously. Lord Lochland merely considered it posturing but Constantine II took it as a declaration of war and, only on the intervention of Jacob II, did both sides arrange a truce. By avoiding war, Lord Lochland was seen as a hero and by December, nobody would run against him, allowing him absolute control over the Chamber.

By December, Brianna had two sons: Jacobus and Piers George Constantine William, who served as army commanders under her reign. During this period, her niece Lelia of Oxeria would become the Crown Princess of Oxeria, and the two would become great friends on the recommendation of Lord Lochland, which brought Oxeria and Sarovia into a brief period of reconcilement. The War of the First Coalition ended after the disasterous defeat with Field Marshal Moonee, and Brianna and her husband launched a second offensive to regain lost Sarovian territories against the advice of Lord Lochland. The War of the Second Coalition would be a disasterous defeat for the Sarovians and forced the Oxerian Empire to join the Imperians against Sarovia, isolating Sarovia and Sacro and convincing Lord Lochland that he needed to step in and control the Empress before anything else got out of hand.

Due to the disaster, Sarovians began entering a period of chaos. Dissatisfied Sarovians began to form their own militias and political parties in an attempt to enact change against Sacro's ill fated war. The Prime Minister would channel the frustrations against the Empress and use them to convince her to grant him more extraordinary powers, such as control over the armed forces and unilateral control over diplomacy. Through this, Lord Lochland would begin paying Sarovian soldiers himself to gain their loyalty, always done in the name of the Queen-Empress. Whenever someone dissented against the Queen, he would bring them under their wing, legitimise their concerns, and propose a solution only he could handle which usually resulted in the Queen giving him more and more extraordinary powers. The Mathiveas Code of Law was recreated and amended to include laws against critiquing the Prime Minister, which allowed him to order the arrest and exile of political rivals. This did not always work.

The cousins of one of Brianna's earlier friends came to Sarovia to pledge allegiance to the Queen-Empress, and formed the Strauss Triumvirate in order to protect Sarovian interests. Much to the frustration of the Prime Minister who constantly threatened to resign if nothing was done about them, though never carried out his threat, the mysterious Strauss brothers waged a war against Sarovian dissenters as the Queen's own secret police, which led to dire consequences, such as the attempted assassination of the heirs of the duchy of Poltava and their subsequent self-exile. The disappearence of the dissenters ultimately culminated in the Prime Minister being unable to achieve more and more power. In January (265 AS), the Strauss brothers petitioned the Empress Brianna to sack Lord Lochland and re-take absolute control over the nation. Some reports and rumours even indicated they desired the end of the Sacrovian union. The Prime Minister rushed with his key allies and, perhaps illegally (as the Constitution had no clause for regencies), unanimously declared the Queen mentally ill and unfit to hold her positions. On the command of Lord Lochland as commander of the Army, the Empress was locked under house arrest. The Strauss brothers began campaigning against the Prime Minister and continuing to crack down on dissenters, assassinating a close ally of the Prime Minister. By March (267 AS), Lord Lochland assembled and formulated a meeting of truce between the Strauss brothers and the Government. Lord Lochland violated this presumably as the three were never seen again in New Sarovia.