Rowan

Original Post

Once a member of Renkuda's council during its early years, Rowan came across the remnants of the curse that Renkuda's uncle, Xenophus, had taken upon himself in order to gain the power necessary to invade the country all those years ago. It was an accident, and though Rowan had a choice whether or not to involve himself, driven by a vehement need for revenge, Xenophus's spirit lingers beyond death and manages to convince him to accept the burden.

Xenophus uses Rowan's hesitancy to trust Ren and the doubts that he's gathered over the time he's been on the council to sway him over. While Rowan means well, there are several decisions that Renkuda has made that he does not agree with, and because of that, his faith in Ren as a leader is often tested. The most notable of these decisions is the most recent; the one where it was decided that focus would be drawn from the kingdom's outer lands to the center of the nation in an attempt to stimulate growth from within. This led to the outer lands being ignored, giving the war-mongering king of the neighboring Hakaoh kingdom freedom to invade and capture land, people, and resources. During one of these raids, several members of Rowan's family were taken, and his brother killed when trying to fight back against the invading soldiers.

The situation is not helped when you realize that Ren, by all means, is not experienced with leading of any sort. He was only a fledgling prince when his responsibilities were bestowed upon him, and because of that, many of his council and members of the country believe him to be unfit to rule. Compared to those who know the workings of the kingdom, he lacks experience and maturity, both of which Ren tries his hardest to discount and not always in the best way. His prejudices from his upbringing still exist and are hard for him to overcome, making it even harder for those like Rowan who have grown up in poverty to understand and easier for the same people to find reasons to turn against him.