Duke Ricaro Alivarez is the main antagonist from Fantasy Wars, Elven Legacy:Ranger. He was the illegitimate ruler of the kingdom of Mirralia, the younger son of the previous nameless king.
Biography[]
Ricaro Alvarez was the younger son of the previous king of Mirralia, but there were interesting things surrounding his rise to power. After the king died, his eldest son also disappeared on that very day, who was most likely murdered and Ricaro became the new king as the duke of Mirralia. He then imposed a reign of terror on the kingdom of Mirralia, empowering robber barons and knights who burned villages, hanged priests, and drove some of the population from their homes. In 632 of am M. v., when Ugraum Grableg launched a huge invasion, defeated the kingdom of Derenhalle and was already near the capital of the kingdom of Leranse, Verson, the nearby free city of Sylent asked Mirralia for help, and Ricaro, fearing his own power, sent several dukes there with their own military. However, the mercenaries were slaughtered by the horde, and only infighting and betrayal stopped the greenskins. After that, the horde disintegrated and a new enemy appeared, the legendary demon Farrakh and his damned soldiers, but he was finally defeated by the leader of the army of free people, Derrick Pfeil, and after that, with the support of the Inquisition, he became the new king of Leranse.
Despite his great and glorious deeds, Ricaro and the other powerful people rejected him as the new king, so Mirralia declared war on the kingdom of Leranse, and the attack began immediately. The war officially began in the autumn of 634 a. M. v., when one of the powerful men of Mirralia , Baron Maraksky, attacked and captured the castle of Maar, and he was helped by Duke Wood, who led the robbers, and the traitor Count Shegursky. Derrick couldn't get to the castle, as he had recruited all of his former veterans and the Mirralian light cavalry attacked them, but the castle was still besieged by his friend, Grand Inquisitor Dexter, with a few knights and miraculously managed to recapture the castle. After that, the king arrived with his army and defeated the three invaders and their soldiers. Prince Wood was an insignificant loss, Count Segursky was Derrick's enemy but had no serious influence over Mirallia, but Baron Maraksky was an influential and important person, so his death was considered a great loss. Ricaro then decided to launch an even bigger attack and thus the relationship between the two countries finally soured and full-scale war broke out.
In the spring of 635 a. M. v., A vanguard of Ricaro's army moved to attack and capture the new capital of Leranse, Sylent. The city was defended by Derrick with one of his friends, Master Alfred Brennok, and his own bodyguard, but they also received reinforcements, two members of the Order of Ticsus, Captain Cornelius and Licius, arrived in the city with the soldiers of Derenhalle. The Mirralian attack went well at first, but eventually it stalled and the losses increased more and more, and Cornelius also killed the generals, and after their deaths the army retreated.
Cornelius tasked with spying and gathering information on the Mirralian army. The ranger was surprised to see that the small kingdom had a very strong army with many knights and armored soldiers, and they also had eagles and sieges weapons. In the castle of Assombron, Ricaro consulted with his two most important men, Erich the Merchant and his court magician, Leonardo. The duke was upset that his vanguard tried to take Sylent without magical support and thought it was better that his low-minded generals were dead. His plan was to wait for weeks, as he believed that Derrick would launch an attack after the victory to gain further success and glory, but the duke would be waiting for him with a prepared and overwhelming defense. He trusted that his enemy did not know the size of his army, the amount of their equipment and weapons, and where a unit was positioned, waiting for the attack. Cornelius gathered enough information and wanted to leave the area, but Erich noticed him and went after him, but the ranger killed him, so Ricaro already lost one of his most important people.The death of the merchant was a great loss for the duke, as a rebellion broke out against him in the northern provinces, which the Baron of Rottenschield failed to put down. After Cornelius relayed the information to Derrick, the king and his court concluded that Ricaro would not besiege Sylent again for some time, but attacking him would be suicidal, so they must be well prepared.
In the spring of 635 a. M. v., Cornelius and Julius saw that if they wanted to achieve results against Ricaro and weaken him, they would have to help the rebels, among whom was Alberte, a member of the Ticsus order. At the meeting place, the rebels said that Alberte was imprisoned in the castle of the Baron of Rottenschield, and the ranger decided to free his friend. The rebels successfully broke into the castle and freed Alberte, and after fleeing to a safe place, he told Cornelius everything. He said that Ricaro was not the rightful heir, that he was oppressing his people, hanging priests and burning villages, and that it was very likely that his elder brother, who was the true heir, had been killed. It was then devised that Captain Lucius would pretend to be Balthazar, the older brother, and that he had fought against the orcs in the kingdom of Derenhalle but had now returned because he saw his brother's unjust behavior towards his own people.
The rebels and the soldiers of Derenhalle inflicted a little defeat on Ricaro's soldiers, but they also managed to get the duke to take the threat seriously and to use even more soldiers to destroy the rebellion. He managed to find the swamp around which were the villages of the rebels, so he sent a small army there, and the second most important leader of the outcast elves, Erestor, also arrived in the area with his soldiers through a portal, since Sagittel's outcast and the kingdom of Mirralia had made an alliance. However, the prince did not know that Sagittel had ordered Erestor and the other elves that if the rebellion was defeated, they should also kill their allies, who had no commander, since this army would have been led by Erich, but he had been killed earlier by Cornelius. The ranger and his companions visited the rebels in the swamp and a cave, who were very happy when they saw Lucius as Balthazar and immediately joined them. Their weaponry didn't stand a chance against the Mirralian knights and outcast elves, but the three members of the order, as well as the soldiers of Derenhalle, had adequate and strong weaponry, as well as ballistae and were prepared for the attack. Both armies attacked from two directions, the elves attacking the villages of Bondeno and Notanoal, and the knights attacking Scandiano and Vignoli. The elves attacked the village of Notanola with a smaller force, but were repulsed by Alberte and his soldiers, and the village of Bendone invaded by Erestor and the larger group, whose attack went fast and well at first, but got stuck at the river, and Cornelius killed Erestor, and without him the elves were desperate they launched another attack, but it was more of a suicide. The knights attacked the villages of Scandiano and Vignoli with almost equal forces, but near Scandiano, the rangers and ballistas launched a counterattack at the same time and caused bloody losses to their enemies. Near Vignoli, the Mirralian attack was progressing well and it seemed that they were about to break through, but the rebels from the other villages, which were successfully defended, marched over and finally destroyed the knights' army as well.
After the victorious battle, Cornelius knew that the rebellion against Ricaro could only be successful if the rebels were able to unite as a whole army and acquire proper weapons and gold. Ricaro's army was still larger and stronger, but the ranger saw an opportunity to ambush the Mirralian army's wagons and obtain supplies from them. However, this was not an easy task, as the wagons were heavily guarded and some of the rebels were too noisy, so they were soon spotted and prepared to attack. Cornelius then changed tactics and decided to provoke the enemy to lure them into the forest, where they would have more opportunities for raids. The plan worked, some of the Mirralian soldiers tried to kill the rebels in the forest, but they were all killed in the ambushes, and then the rebels attacked the wagons, which were still being defended, but the enemies were now defeatable. The first camp was successfully captured, where outfits and armor were found. They then continued towards the second camp, but Cornelius saw that they now had to fight Ricaro's soldiers in the open field, so he tried to stay close to the forest with his companions and the rebels. Capturing the second camp was more difficult, but the rebels still managed to win, they found a lot of weapons and gold here. The third camp was also protected by strong defenses, but the rebels also defeated them and found provisions here. After everything was gathered, Cornelius ordered everyone to retreat and start preparing for more serious attacks.
The looting of the wagons directed the full attention of Ricaro to the rebels, who withdrew his army from Leranse and decided to use all his forces to crush the rebellion and not give them another chance. He decided to send his court mage, Leonardo to the northen part of the kingdom to use his magical powers to sink any ship that did not fly the flag of Mirralia, so that the rebels could not receive help from the sea or elsewhere. The mage was protected by many soldiers, but the plan failed because Cornelius and his companions killed him and captured the towns of Agandro, Isern and Rosolon. After that, the rebellion gradually strengthened, a significant part of the northern provinces was already liberated, but Cornelius received a message from the Grand Master of the Order of Ticsus, who sent a fleet to help the rebels. The ranger believed that the landing forces would need a stable defensive position where they could properly prepare for further attacks, and this was none other than the massive fortress of Wantespiels. However, taking this place was already much more difficult than the previous ones, because part of the Mirralian nobility was staying here, who brought their own military with them, and there were other towns around the fortress that were protected by a great wall built by the dwarves. The rebels launched an attack from several directions, which initially stalled and could only advance at the cost of more serious fighting. Ricaro knew that if the fortress fell, the balance of power could change for good, so he sent ships to strengthen the defense, but Cornelius saw the danger, so he tried to speed up the attack. In the end, the rebels successfully broke through the walls and captured the village of Valmiera, then continued to advance in the direction of the towns of Cangasnemi and Lapperantiels, but here a very serious battle developed, where both sides used everything they could. The nobles and their knights fought to the end, but Cornelius with his companions and the rebels finally killed them and after the nobles and their soldiers defeated it was no longer difficult to capture the towns and they could begin the siege of the huge fortress, which had a strong defense. Many knights also defended the fortress, but they gradually fell and eventually the rebels took Wantespiels before reinforcements could arrive.
The loss of the fortress was a very catastrophic defeat for Ricaro, as he lost some of the nobility along with their soldiers and knights, and Ticsus's forces had landed and now the rebels were more and more stronger than the Mirralian army. The duke oppressed the people even more, which in turn only created more resistance and what he wanted to avoid happened was that the rebellion was completely unleashed in the kingdom of Mirralia against him. Returning from Leranse, he saw that things were not going well, and he did not want to launch an attack to recapture Wantespiels because he knew that this would only be possible at the cost of great lossess, so he used a different strategy. Not far a few miles from the wall the dwarves had built, his soldiers had set up a huge camp and blocked all roads leading towards the capital, Ralin, or out of the peninsula. With this, the Duke's aim was to organize the defense of the capital, and also to put pressure on his enemies and intimidate them, but Cornelius and his companions gladly accepted this challenge. The combined allied army of the Ticucs, the rebels and Derenhalle, prepared for their biggest attack, aimed at destroying Ricaro's remaining forces and clearing the way to the capital. The duke, on the other hand, probably realized that although he might still have a chance to win, his army might not be enough, so he asked for help from the exiled elves, who sent him troops. Afterwards, the Mirralian army prepared to defend while the elves launched a counterattack that initially caught the allies by surprise, but they gradually managed to advance. The elves were eventually defeated and some of Ricaro's soldiers as well, but they clashed with the main forces near the castles, where very serious fighting ensued. In the end, the battle was decided by the fact that the allies were able to make better use of the terrain, especially the hills, and Mirralian soldiers were getting more and more depleted. Finally, after capturing the castles of Giavardo, Giofredo and Manerbio, as well as the villages of Lendrinara and Solestiona, Ricaro's soldiers had by then lost too many men and fled in the direction of Ralin. This battle finally decided the outcome of the rebellion, and after their victory, Cornelius and his companions decided to finish what they had started as soon as possible and after a short rest, they set off in the direction of the capital.
Ricaro's fall was beyond doubt, but he decided not to give up without a fight, so his remaining mages created a magical barrier around Ralin that could not be entered or exited, so as long as the barrier was in place, the capital could not be attacked. However, Alberte knew about the three mages and that they were in the three towers around the capital, however the prince ordered all of his remaining soldiers to protect the towers. However, the towers were captured one after the other and after all three mages died, the barrier ceased to exist and they could finally begin the final battle for the throne of Mirralia. The Allies broke into the capital, killing not innocents, but enemy soldiers. However, Ricaro did not wait for his downfall, but ended his own life with poison in his chamber. After his death, Captain Lucius became the new king of Miralia and Ralin became the new center of the Order of Ticsus.
Personality[]
Ricaro was a typical military tyrant. He was a talented and clever strategist, but oppressive, cruel and dictatorial. In addition to his enemies, he used his soldiers against his own people, whose homes he destroyed and only those who recognized his reign of terror could survive. It is likely that he hated religions and religious people, as he hanged priests without a word and destroyed churches.