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in: The Four Kingdoms, The Four Legendary Kingdoms, The Three Secret Cities, The One Impossible Labyrinth

Kingdom of Land

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"Ad Majora Regis Gloriam; for the greater glory of the king"
—The Kingdom of Land's motto

The Kingdom of Land, sometimes known as the Deus Rex, is one of the long-lasting kingdoms of royalty that have existed in secret since the earliest ages of mankind.

History[]

Early History[]

Though the formation of the Four Legendary Kingdoms is largely unknown, the primary cause of their forming came from the super-ancient beings who once existed on Earth, who revealed great knowledge of the world such as medicines or technological innovations to a small selection of people. One of these groups were the original members of the Kingdom of Land.

Among the things the Four Legendary Kingdoms learned was the coming of five trials which would determine for the super-ancient beings if intelligent life still existed on Earth and were worthy to continue living. Along with the other kingdoms, the Kingdom of Land vowed to maintain the necessary knowledge for completing the trials so that their descendants would be considered worthy, and be able to overcome the greatest trial of all; the Omega Event.

Each of the original Kings were given territories befitting their title. Over the centuries, the Kingdom of Land's territory expanded greatly in comparison to the others Legendary Kingdoms, so that by the present day the Kingdom of Land ruled most of the planet's continents.

The majority of information imparted to the Four Legendary Kingdoms would be entrusted with some of the organisations made to serve them, such as the Cult of Amun Ra that served the Kingdom of Land which later became the Catholic Church, and also established the Invisible College to recruit brilliant individuals, such as Isaac Newton, whom the Four Kingdoms believed to be able to contribute their the causes.

The original Trismagi were assigned by the Four Kingdoms to act as guardians for the Three Secret Cities that were the primary repositories for the information regarding the Omega Event, and one of the Three Immortal Weapons of the Trial of the Cities, the Sword of the Rock, came to be held by the Land Kingdom for generations.

While information and components relating to the first two trials, the restoration of the Golden Capstone and the rebuilding of the Machine, would largely become lost over the years, the Kingdom of Underworld maintained the necessary knowledge for the Hydra galaxy trial. As the third trial was the completion of a series of ritualistic challenges to activate a signal to alert the super-ancients that intelligent life still existed on Earth, the Four Kingdoms would hold practice challenges during passing-bys of the Hydra galaxy, which they would come to call the Great Games of the Hydra. The Kingdom of Land would provide their own four champions during each of the three Great Games in the earlier millennia of their rule.

After the death of Jesus Christ, two of the Pillars he had possessed were given to his relatives in the Land Kingdom; the Fourth would be kept by the British Royals, and the Fifth Pillar was shared between the Royal families of Russia and Denmark

Even though the world never knew of their existence, the Deus Rex line of the Kingdom of Land ruled over their people publicly, albeit through members of the royal family who were further down the line of succession. On at least one occasion, the line of succession for the Kingdom of Land diverged when the next person in succession was thought to be unworthy with Louis XIV being passed over the title and someone else in the royal family receiving the title of King instead.

Before The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]

During the late 20th century, Vladimir "Carnivore" Romanov inherited the title as the King of the Kingdom of Land.

Towards the 21st century, members of the Kingdom of Land used its agents in the Catholic Church to undergo a mission led by Father Francisco del Piero to restore the Golden Capstone for the first trial involving the Tartarus sunspot. However, since there could be a reward for the nation that completed the trial, 1000 years of absolute power, the Kingdom of Sea used their influence in the Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force to oppose the Kingdom of Land for that power. Ultimately, while del Piero failed, the power was inadvertently granted to the Kingdom of Land's nation of Australia.

During this same period, the Kingdom of Land, under Carnivore's leadership, began attempting to locate the components and knowledge to complete the second trial to rebuilt the Machine and repel the Dark Sun. While Carnivore would successfully manipulate other parties trying to restore the Machine into giving him the Pillars and Sacred Stones prior to the placing of the final Pillar at Easter Island's Vertex, Jack West Jr managed to kill Carnivore before he could lay the Pillar.

Because Carnivore had had no offspring, the next in the Kingdom of Land's line of succession was Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster's father, however, due to his timid nature and not desiring such a demanding role, he abdicated the title to his younger brother. This new King would only reign for the next month before dying of a heart attack, resulting in his son, Orlando Compton-Jones, being granted the title of King of Land. Sphinx, as a result of being forced out of the line of succession, was instead assigned the role of Trismagi of the Secret City of Atlas in an apparent attempt by Orlando to unofficially exile his cousin.

In 2016, eight years after the completion of the second trial, the Star Chamber within the Underworld opened, allowing the nine Golden Spheres to be retrieved. As this heralded the third trial, the Diverting of the Hydra Galaxy, King Anthony "Hades" DeSaxe of Underworld alerted the other Kingdoms of the development, with the fourth Great Games of the Hydra set to begin within the next month. 

Having been anticipating that the Chamber would open for nearly twenty years, Orlando finalised the selection of his Kindgom's four champions (most of whom had been preparing for the Games for years) to participate on their behalf in the Games; Gregory Brigham, Mauricio Corazon, Victor Vargas and one other. Unfortunately, the fourth participant that would have represented the Kingdom perished before the Games were to begin. In urgent need of a new participant, Orlando agreed to Iolanthe's suggestion that they use Jack as a replacement. Iolanthe arranged for one of their Kingdom's agents in the Australian military, General Conor "Redbeard" Beard, lure Jack out of hiding before she and their men had him and his friends kidnapped and taken to the Underworld.

The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]

Many notable members of each of the Kingdom of Land journeyed to the Underworld with a few of their trusted servants to watch the fourth Great Games of the Hydra; among the the Kingdom of Land's representatives were King Orlando, Iolanthe, Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza, Dr Harold Barnard and Chloe Carnarvon. Along with the members of the other Kingdoms, the representatives of the Kingdom of Land watched nonchalantly as the Champions struggled through the Challenges and the some of them, and their support teams, died.

That night, members of the Kingdom of Land joined the other Royals in attending a banquet hosted by Hades, mingling and discussing the Games thus far. When Lily West took note of the coats of arms that each Kingdom had represented, Iolanthe explained the meaning of the Kingdom of Land's coat of arms and its motto to the Oracle.

After all of the members of the Four Kingdoms once again watched with interest the outcome of the Fourth Challenge, Hades decided to hold a luncheon so that all four of the Kings could dine with their remaining Champions before the Fifth Challenge began. As such, Orlando, Iolanthe and Mendoza were joined by the three Champions representing the Kingdom of Land who remained; Brigham, Vargas and Jack.

After the Fifth Challenge, the members of the Four Kingdoms and the remaining Champions proceeded to the Summit Temple to watch as the first five Golden Spheres were set into place within the mountain's obelisk. Before proceeding on to the second phase of the Great Games, Hades, as the Underworld's host, made several announcements regarding the ascension of several of the member of the Four Kingdoms, including his and Orlando's agreement to bring their Kingdoms closer together by organising a love match between Iolanthe and Hades's servant Vacheron, though Orlando failed to notice his sister's brief look of revulsion in response to her brother's use of her as a pawn.

The gathered Royals watched the final Challenges as they took place in the observatory, and as Jack and Vargas began their fight, Mendoza commented that it was unfortunate to have three of the Kingdom of Land's Champions survive the Games so long only to end up fighting one another. Ultimately, when only Jack remained standing after a series of one-on-one fights, the older members of the Kingdom of Land were among those nodding in approval when he requested Hades allow him to bring Cerberus to him, knowing that the final Challenge was about humility. Thus Hades affirmed Jack was a worthy Champion of the Great Games, and winning the King of Land the right to receive the Mysteries and become the King of Kings.

As they returned to the Summit Temples, several of the Royals congratulated Orlando for his Kingdom's victory as though he himself had been the one who'd undergone the Challenges, and Iolanthe was irked that he did not give her credit for being the one to choose Jack to represent their Kingdom. The gathered Royals prepared to watch as Orlando prepared to stop into the recess to receive the Mysteries regarding the final two trials and divert the Hydra galaxy. However, when the minotaurs suddenly turned against the Four Kingdoms and began assaulting the mountain, Jack took the opportunity to prevent Orlando from entering the recess, believing that the world would be better off dead than living under the rule of someone as self-serving as him.

While Iolanthe and Barnard opted to join Jack in his future attempts to complete the remaining trials, the rest of the Royals from the Kingdom of Land, their servants, and the members of the other Kingdoms began fleeing down to the helipad in order to try and escape from the Underworld. Though the minotaurs had only wanted Dion and Zaitan, when the Kings' guards opened fire on them, the minotaurs began attacking all the Royals indiscriminately. In the carnage, most of the Royals were killed, including some from the Kingdom of Land, and only one helicopter containing Orlando, Mendoza, Chloe and a few of the Kingdom of Land's retinue managed to get away.

The Three Secret Cities[]

Though the Kingdom of Land's King remained after the events of the Underworld, the rest of the Kingdom's member were annoyed at the disarray Jack had caused to their Kingdom, as well as the others. As such, they and the other Kingdoms soon agreed to have the Governor of the Royal Prison of Erebus, Yago DeSaxe, hunt down Jack, the defected Hades and the rest of their friends in retaliation. Orlando, however, was more focused on claiming what should have been his as the King of Kings, and set out to complete the Trial of the Cities.

The Kingdom of Land soon got its retribution when Yago captured Hades in New York and Jack in London. When Orlando, in the midst of his crusade to empower the Three Immortal Weapons, joined a conference call with the other active Kings (Xi and Caldwell), during which Yago thanked Orlando and his Kingdom for allowing him access and resources in their realm.

When the Kingdom of Underworld decided to allow Dion to inherit his father's throne, Orlando and the other two Kings attended his coronation via videolink in accordance with the Four Kingdoms' tradition that they be present for the ascension of a new King.

After Jack and his team empowered the Weapons at the Secret Cities, Chloe and Mendoza betrayed them and took the Helmet and Sword, and set out to rendezvous with Orlando at the Rock of Gibraltar for the ritual at the Altar of the Cosmos. Joined by Sphinx, Caldwell and Xi, Orlando proclaimed his right to be the King of Kings, only to be stabbed by Sphinx as part of the Trismagi's coup, leaving the Kingdom of Land in disarray and without a King.

The Two Lost Mountains[]

Following Sphinx's coup d'état, the assets of all of the Four Legendary Kingdoms, including the Kingdom of Land's, fell under his control. The royals of the Kingdom of Land most likely did not support Sphinx and his planned regime, but did not attempt to defy him as he began undertaking the Trial of the Mountains.

As Jack prepared to go after Sphinx in the Supreme Labyrinth, he tasked Pooh Bear and Stretch with finding out what the Four Kingdoms had planned for after the Omega Event.

The One Impossible Labyrinth[]

As Sphinx worked his way through the Supreme Labyrinth, he had Sir John Marren begin organising the Four Kingdoms to take shelter under the Storm Cellar Protocol, with the royal families of the Land Kingdom heading to the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg to wait out the period following the Omega Event as Sphinx began preparing the world for his regime.

However, Marren was kidnapped by Jack's allies and killed during an altercation at Raven Rock, allowing Stretch and Pooh Bear's team to obtain the master list of the Four Kingdoms and their loyalists.

After the Omega Event had been averted and Sphinx's forces defeated, the world's governments began investigating the shadow royals and arresting the members of the Four Kingdoms, , including their servants and sympathisers, ending the millennia-long reign of the Kingdom of Land.

Members of the Kingdom of Land[]

Note: the following lists all members of the Kingdom of Land since the Four Kingdom's introduction, their current status within their ranks reflects the circumstances of the novel of their latest appearance.

Goals[]

Like the other Legendary Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Land is ostensibly dedicated to fulfilling the tasks and trials made by the Super-Ancient Beings to test the worthiness of intelligent life on Earth on behalf of all humanity. However, as time has moved on, they have became more obsessed with their maintaining their status and rule over the world from the shadows. Over the millennia, the Kingdom of Land has seen fit to raise and fell entire empires to suit their needs, and using their influence to control entire nations within their territory from behind the scenes.

While the Four Kingdoms do still see fit to have the trials successfully completed, to them it has become more about receiving the rewards, power and status that comes with them. Indeed, few among their ranks see any need to do the hard work themselves, using their servants and unknowing/unwilling proxies before moving in to reap the rewards and glory. For the first trial, the Kingdom of Land allowed the Catholic Church free reign to seek out the Golden Capstone on their behalf, however Carnivore took a slightly more direct approach in the next trial. The King of Land bided his time before personally manipulating his rivals into doing some of the last tasks for him and taking their Pillars, and was even prepared to place the final Pillar himself.

For the Great Games of the Hydra, the Kingdom of Land used proxies as their Champions to fulfill the trial, and while Jack did win on Orlando's behalf, he prevented the Land King from receiving the Mysteries. After the Great Games concluded with several members of their royal families killed, the Kingdom of Land worked in unison with the other Kingdoms to organise the arrest of those they considered responsible, Jack West Jr and Hades, a goal that for the majority of them took precedence over the completion of the Trial of the Cities. While Orlando initially spearheaded a team to recover the three Immortal Weapons and empower them at the secret cities, after initiating the trial, the Land King sat back and left his people to do the dirty work, only intending to finish the trial by completing the sacrificial ritual.

After Sphinx's coup d'état, the Four Kingdoms fell into line as the Trismagi took control of their resources, preferring to obey him or otherwise stay out of his way while he completed the last of the trials, out of concern for losing their positions. Even so, they still expected to maintain a fair amount of control and influence in the world once the Omega Event was averted.

Trivia[]

  • As revealed in The Three Secret Cities, anyone who causes harm to or otherwise wrongs a royal member of the Four Legendary Kingdoms is sentenced to the Royal Prison of Erebus. With Jack having killed Carnivore - the very King of Land himself - in The Five Greatest Warriors, it is unclear why the Four Kingdoms, particularly the Land Kingdom, did not order Jack's imprisonment in response to the events at Easter Island, unless Iolanthe never divulged the exact circumstances of Carnivore's demise.
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