Tranth, the Puppet King of the Glass Oasis
Once the proud, fierce protector of the Oasis, King Tranth is only a shadow of his former self; a mysterious sickness has left him all but incapable of governing. Though he loves his people dearly, he grows more reliant on Sion’s counsel as his illness progresses.
Where there once stood a mighty warrior-king is now only a sallow man who can barely stand at all, were he not propped up by a shell of cybernetic prosthetics. Though he has always had a poor constitution, its nature had never been quite so obvious until the War Mother’s arrival.
Tranth loves his people like his children. He rules with a generous heart and fatherly wisdom. But he has no children to call his own. More than anything, he aches to start a family-- but he has always believed himself infertile.
Until Sion arrived.
He fell for her fast, and more deeply than he had ever loved before. When she promised him a family despite his condition, he thought it was too good to be true-- but he wanted it to be true so badly that he blinded his heart to reason. The few months of Sion’s pregnancy were bliss. Finally, he had a wife, children on the way-- it was like a beautiful dream. And the children were beautiful.
At least, while they lived.
It seemed as though the cure to his infertility was no cure at all-- for instead of the seed failing to take root, instead his precious babies came into the world only to die within the hour.
There’s a rumor in the Oasis that the king is dying of a broken heart. It isn’t far from the truth. Though his marriage went to shambles after the death of their children, Tranth is too sick with love and his own frail body to see Sion for what she is. After their divorce, she began ruling behind him as High Counselor and took on countless paramours. Now he wastes away in his chambers, blind to her lies and giving her full reign to conduct her horrors.
