Erak

Erak Jurlstaen, often known as simply Erak, or Erak the Wise, is an orcish politician, warrior, and noble who was the Jarl of Orakhvar from 396-401 IYE and has been the King of the Grand Kingdom from 401 IYE-present.

Early life
Erak was born to Fdi Jurlstaen, the Lord of the Hurlgi Mine. He was brought up in nobility and married Valindari (the beautiful), the Duchess of Stormhammer in an arranged marriage in 354 at the age of 14. He attended the Aregar Academy (majoring in Military Strategy & Political Theorem) from 356-359. While at the academy, in 357 IYE, he became part of the Orcish Nationalist Clan. Erak and Valindari had seven children, six boys, and one girl, Sulga, between 355 and 365. The most famous were Ixa the Hammerthorn, an orcish general, Lord Fughyi, Erak's Chancellor of Economics, and Yzenti, who became the Duke of Aregar.

From 359-362, Erak and his wife simply lived a luxury life at the small village of Hurlgi, where Fdi's palace was. In 362, however, Erak enlisted in the Orcish Guard and was granted a commission as a sergeant at Fort Stormhammer. His family, now with five kids and Valindari, moved to the fort, which guards the pass into the Orcish Claims.

Erak quickly rose up the ranks. He became a Brigadier Commander, or second-in-command, of the Fort in late 363 IYE. In 364 he was made Commander of the Fort when the current commander was transferred to an outpost in rural Orakhvar.

Erak now was a high-ranking miltary commander and a key strategist during the Blood Elf War (365-367), in which the Blood Elves invaded Orakhvar. Erak and Samel FiDar, Orakhvar Minister of War and the Army, became close friends and colleagues. At the Battle of Crossaxe in 366, Erak led Stormhammer's garrison to victory. In January 367 Erak moved to Aregar, where he decided to run for the position of Lord Mayore.

Mayore Election and Tenure
Erak entered into a crowded primary field of the Orcish Nationalist Clan. Clan favorite Yurak Vhjarnner, Aregar's Prosecutor General, extremist Jorghaven Linghen, Member of the Orcish Second Council, and moderate local noble Raervin Birdswatcher were his main competition.

Erak was the only veteran in the primary, and he used his military service credentials to basically annihilate Linghen and Birdswatcher. However, Vhjarnner was not defeated. On 4 February, he proclaimed Erak an "ignorant a--hole who thinks he can come in and steal politics." Vhjarnner's comment was spun by Erak's campaign as showing him to be anti-veteran. Aregar Clan boss Forik switched his support to Erak from Vhjarnner. On the 21 February primary, Erak gathered 32% of the vote to Vhjarnner's 22% to Birdswatcher's 11.5% to Linghen's 8%. About 26% of the vote went to other candidates.

In the general election on 7 March, a Nationalist wave swept Aregar and its suburbs. Erak crushed his Royalist Clan opponent Elisti Dfri 71.15%-24.63%. Erak would serve as Lord Mayore for 15 years (the elections were every 10 years starting in 307 IYE).

During his tenure, Erak transformed Aregar. He built a huge infrastructure and raised Aregar's GCP (Gross City Product) from 176,000 gallem in 367 IYE to 867,750 gallem in 377 IYE. He was a major voice on the issue of religious freedom. Until 364, non-Mother Orc worship was banned in the Orcish Claims, and in 371, when Erak espoused the issue, many cities and principalities, including Aregar, still had a state religion. Erak joined the Conference of Orcs for Religious Freedom in 371 and became its President in 372.

In the issue of ethnic and racial relations, Erak was able to pacify a feud between kajeet, human, orc, and argonian gangs in the streets of Aregar in the North Street Treaty of 374.

Reelection
In late 376 IYE, Erak announced he would seek reelection. The Royalist Clan nominated Rofa Jharlfhorn for the position. Erak was criticized harshly on the topic of religion. To his left, critics argued he had not been able to force through an Aregar religious freedom order. The Royalists argued that he was not a believer in the Orcish pantheon. However, Erak pointed to the almost 400% increase in the GCP of Aregar that he had facilitated, the state-of-the-art Aregar infrastructure, and his work on religious freedom. Erak was reelected on 9 March, 377 IYE with 57% of the vote to Jharlfhorn's 34%.

Hosting of the Imperator
Noyer Sveenstor, Oberji of Stormhammer, King Regnant of Lespto, Duke Consort of Orkshire, and Imperator Orc of the Orcish Claims, whose palace in Aregar was the only one that could rival the Jarl's and Erak's, came to the City Hall in late 379 IYE for a formal dinner with Erak.

Over dozens of skins of wine and hundreds of bottles of ale, the orc politicians, nobles, and warriors discussed women, weapons, politics, and fine clothing. However, at approximately 8:00 pm, Noyer called Erak into a back room and said to him:

"Erak, you have a future ahead of you. You are a demagogue of the Orcish people. You will rescue us. And that is why I have chosen you as my appointed successor. In about 15 years, you will be Imperator."

Erak, stunned, returned to the dinner, finished quickly, and left to his palace.

For the next three years, Erak continued to govern. He managed to pass a budget through the deadlocked Orcish Second Council in late 381 just a year before its charter expired. Erak announced that he wished to be a member of the Orcish Third Council when it began in January 383. He was thus nominated by Imperator Noyer for the positon. When the Second Council convened in November 382, it approved Erak's nomination 31-24, with 2 abstaining. The people ratified Erak in the 4 December, 382 IYE general election. A special election for the mayoralty was called. Lurvan Ilvik, a member of the Nationalist Clan and Deputy Mayore under Erak since 378, won the election.

Third Council
In January 383 IYE, Erak became a member of the Orcish Third Council, whose purpose was to govern the Orcish Claims. He would spend the next decade of his life in the Council. As a Nationalist, he joined the Nationalist Conference of 33 members. Their main opposer was the Royalist Clan with 18 members. Chancellor Jorvi Stormhammsen led the Nationalists.

Erak gradually rose up the ranks, and became Chief Coraler in 386 IYE. A Coraler's job was to make sure the Nationalists voted with the clan leadership.

In the late 387 IYE elections, Erak was re-ratified, but many other Nationalists were not as lucky. Stormhammsen was voted out, and the Royalists gained a tenuous 29-27 majority over the Nationalists. Erak was appointed Lord Opposer of the Council, and he led the Nationalists. Lignar Oraki, a Royalist, became Chancellor.

During the Royalist majority Erak worked hard to cooperate with Oraki, but on all the issues: the budget, nationalism, ethnic/racial relations, infrastructure, magic, representation, religious freedom, and so forth, they disagreed.

However, in the late 389 IYE elections, the Nationalists gained a 31-22 majority. In February the position of Chancellor was set to be changed to First Minister in mid-June when Erak took office, and Nationalist Saq'ul Norvik was declared Chancellor in the interim between February and June 390.

As First Minister, Erak managed to strengthen religious freedom laws, create a great orcish infrastructure, and get an Orcish Autonomy Clause signed into the Charter of Orakhvar. In late 392 Erak began to wonder what he would do after the Council expired on 2 March 393 and also when the Fourth Council began on 1 April. He did not want to run for re-ratification in the new Council, but was allowed to stay on as First Minister until 41 March. However, Imperator Noyer promised him a new position called Lord Adviser of Orcish Claims.

Adviser and Minister
As Lord Adviser, Erak offered advice to the Imperator. He held this position from late May 393 IYE until the end of the year. After that, Jarl Apheus appointed him Minster of War and the Army of Orakhvar in early January 394. Erak loved commanding appropriations for defense and the land forces of Orakhvar. As Minister, he met with Emperor Salinjar IV and also took up the issue of military readiness. He was a close friend to Lorian Al-Orhi, the Deputy Minister of Battle Strategies and Planning of Orakhvar. Erak often sparred with Zacharie Yorfts, the Snowvale noble who was the Chancellor of Orakhvar and leader of the Cabinet. In late 395, Erak was proclaimed by the Mavendell Times as the Most Influential Orc in Ivangard. A voice for change, Erak became a household name in Orakhvar, Mavendell, and Lesdar. In December 395 IYE, Erak became Imperator Orc of the Orcish Claims and kept his most-influential-orc status. Jarl Apheus caught tuberculosis in January and, preparing for the Jarl's death, Ivangard Royal Adviser of the Military Daved Basri recommended Erak for Jarl to Salinjar IV. Salinjar thus nominated him, and on 41 April 396 IYE Apheus died in bed. In the interim Orakhvar was governed solely by the Provincial Council. On 6 May 396 IYE Erak resigned his post as Minister. On 7 May, the Council approved Erak's nomination 4-1, and he was coronated the next day.

Jarl
A fair Jarl, Erak was heavily celebrated by the orcs as the first orcish Jarl in over century. Erak helped to build up the Orakhvar mining industry for most of 396. On 2 July, Salinjar IV was murdered. His son Roberto took the throne for three weeks, but then he was poisoned. In the confusion, a man claiming to be Roberto's son, Salinjar V, took control, and imposed a new anti-minority agenda. He was a hater of orcs.