THE CROWN! Of joyous occasion it was to the people. A disciple and apprentice of the great Colossus, what was there to be skeptical of? There was but one man who disagreed. Or perhaps another, but it wasn't as blatantly obvious. Nevertheless, the oppositionist was neutralized in a well mannered duel! Vesuvius hadn't tried his hand at combat for some time; battling Rhiandomeer made things easy.

To dismay, there really was no regality to the crown. In fact, the headdressing artifact never actually existed. Vesuvius' following diminished by the decade. A close circle of companions kept his head up as a leader-- perhaps too much-- but blinded him to whatever his people may say. 

"Disappointing," is how Solvinius put it, "A man of his blood? Perhaps the vessel taints his judgment."

Introducing the boy to The Kingdom fueled all the pre-existing tensions. Vesuvius saw it as an investment, though, and a great endorsement campaign for displaying his strength against detestment. All was lost about four decades later (Vesuvius lost track of time) when that grimace-faced, degenerate of a spawn, Lyrrianny, disappeared. He had always been a wanderer, but it was hard to believe not a soul knew of his whereabouts. Rendarren should have, but that was the first time he had ever disappointed Vesuvius. 

No matter! His allies may have been dropping off the known more rapidly than before, but let us focus on the present. There's a future of immortality ahead, but at the rate of The Kingdom's decline, there won't be one in the next century.