Lord Conrad Cliffhall

King Conrad Cliffhall is the former lord of House Cliffhall and the Palace, as well as King of Southern Scovania. He was one of the major characters in late Season 4 and currently Season 5.

Childhood
As the firstborn son of Lord Cody Cliffhall, Conrad's upbringing was relatively smooth. He was often educated at court with his younger Brother Jeffry, and quickly grew to be well known by most of the Castle Staff. During his lessons, he proved a smart and strong man, excelling in Leadership and Warfare. When he became 18, he continued gaining the respect of his men by giving compelling speeches to them in times of strife. It was also around this time where his hatred of House Derp and Derpscovy began festering, as at one point they nearly brought his house to ruin.

The Giggleswick war
Soon after the abdication of Deyloir Derp, Conrad's father Cody had gone out of the realm on a Diplomatic mission. This effectively put the now 25 year old Conrad in command of his father's forces and House Cliffhall as a whole. As this occurred, the regent for the missing Yarrick Derp named Magnus Giggleswick had declared himself King of Scovania, and rallied all the banners who were willing to fight for him. Unsurprisingly, very few stood with his claim. More importantly, Conrad had been approached by mysterious men under the banner of the Hartley company, asking for the young lord's support in exchange for being made Warden of the South. Conrad dismissed the emissaries, saying he would "Consider" their offer. No sooner that the Emissaries had left that Conrad gathered a handful of retainers and rode for the capital to tell all opposing sides of the soon to come "Hartley Invasion." On the way to the palace, Lord Conrad was stopped by Lord Zakros Lazaros II, who was on his way to confront the pretender King Magnus. After a brief exchange, Conrad was allowed to pass by Zakros II, who returned to his own keep. Conrad was able to warn Magnus of the incoming invasion from the Hartleys, but Magnus simply brushed off the threat and told Conrad to ready the men for a war against the Lazarosi. This blatant disregard of an exterior threat upsetted Conrad, who decided to ride home and side with the Lazarosi in their war. Before marching their army north to join the Lazarosi, Conrad had been approached by a refugee house called House Stethos, a former royal house of Thrynway. Conrad agreed to give them the Swamp fort in exchange for fealty to him as their overlord, and the patriarch of the Stethosi family, Alexander Stethos, agreed. Finally ready for war, the combined Cliffhall and newly sworn Stethosi forces marched to join the Lazarosi, who were already assaulting the capital of Derptroit. Conrad personally led his men into the battle, gaining renown and the respect of his soldiers. Another knight, Torgoth, had also displayed bravery by slaying many Giggleswick soldiers. After the battle and defeat of Magnus, Conrad knighted Torgoth, naming him Ser Torgoth of House Cliffhall. Torgoth had always been like a second father to Conrad, and as such Conrad was more than happy to knight him. Soon after, Conrad swore his sword to House Lazaros, accepting them as the "Regent" until Yarrick could return

Return of Cody and Yarrick's return
Soon after the war, Cody finally returned to see what his son had achieved. Proud of his son, Cody praised him in court and named him a worthy heir to House Cliffhall, despite only having fought in one battle. Soon, House Cliffhall faced another challenge; the return of King Yarrick. In the absence of Yarrick, many people began believing he was not a worthy ruler and that he should not be coronated. One of the people who began believing this was Lord Conrad himself, who now had reverted back to being the Heir to House Cliffhall, despite his father believing the opposite and that Yarrick should be king. This split between Cody and Conrad would only grow after the Invasion of the Hartley company, which Conrad had tried to warn the realm about in the first place.

The Raid on the Palace
Despite orders from his Father, Conrad sent several volunteers from House Cliffhall to aid the realm against the Hartleys, who had come in the thousands. After several battles in the invasion, Cody was knocked into a coma by a Hartley soldier in a field battle where the Hartleys took the Cliffhall army by surprise. Conrad and his fellow soldiers managed to bring Cody home, but he was stuck in a coma and Conrad was once again forced to become the regent of the House. The Hartley company, seeing the Cliffhalls as weak, planned a final desperate raid against the palace in order to hopefully strike a victory against the realm after their string of defeats. The Hartleys had the element of surprise, but the Cliffhalls had the advantage of Armor and leadership. With that, Conrad Cliffhall was able to strike down the leader of the Hartley company and finally earned the full respect of the Men of House Cliffhall

Rise to Power
Soon after the Hartley defeat, Conrad's father Cody had finally come out of his Coma. Cody saw the tensions amounting between the regent Zakros II and King Yarrick, and began making preparations to stay loyal to King Yarrick. Infuriated by this, Conrad silently began plotting to overthrow his Father. Around this time, Conrad had fathered his own Son, Michael Cliffhall, who would be the future heir to the House. Conrad had an idea, and as such he put a plan into motion. After Cody had given a speech to the people of House Cliffhall, Conrad requested to speak with his Father in the backroom of the Palace. Cody agreed, and the two met. Conrad feigned happiness, telling his Father of the birth of his Son Michael, but Conrad accidentally allowed a tear to slip past. Concerned, Cody opened his mouth to speak, but Conrad quickly pulled out a knife and stabbed his Father in the heart killing him instantly. After claiming to the soldiers that Cody had attacked him, he managed to win the loyalty of the house by promising not to back House Derp, which had brought them near ruin before. He then proceeded to begin making plans for swearing to House Lazaros in the war

Michael Kidnapped
Some time later, Conrad learned that Michael had been kidnapped, and was infuriated. He called all his banners and prepared to march out to search for his son. At the same time, House Adsum and Derp were riding to the capital with the newly rescued Michael. The two houses met on the field outside the palace, and Conrad demanded his sons return immediately. Yarrick agreed only if Conrad swore fealty. Conrad agreed, and pretended to swear fealty by getting off his horse and kneeling before Yarrick, despite having no intention of joining him. With his son recovered, he rode home and continued his plans of joining the Lazarosi.

The Civil War
The civil war was brief and bloody, with Conrad and his vassals the Stethosi swearing for House Lazaros. The combined forces against Yarrick lost two battles, and Conrad was considering backing out of the war to prevent the destruction of his house. Shockingly, Yarrick was killed by a Lazaros assassin days before their planned assault on the Cliffhall castle. Conrad saw this as Zakros preventing Yarrick from attacking the homeland of House Cliffhall, and as such Zakros II had earned the eternal respect of Conrad. After the war was over, Conrad was crowned as Warden of the South after bending the knee to the now King Zakros II.

The Tirquyn Feud
about 10 years later, Conrad had continued serving as Lord of House Cliffhall and Warden of the south. He strengthened ties with House Stethos, and continued to expand his influence over the realm. After Conrad and his Son Michael were away visiting the Flanchwood, the Palace was attacked supposedly by Tirquyn men. The only one on guard had been Ser Torgoth, and he had been knocked unconscious by the attackers. After managing to gain information on what the raiders looked like, Conrad gathered the banners and stormed off to the Tirquyn fort, where he believed Lord Herod was. Seeing him not there, Conrad then searched for him in the capital where he found Lord Herod Tirquyn speaking with Emperor Zakros II. Conrad confronted Herod on the spot, causing a standoff within the throne room of Derpscovy. Zakros II managed to calm the two lords, and negotiated that Lord Conrad would be allowed to search the Tirquyn base to see if they had their stolen goods. Conrad and Herod agreed, but when Conrad arrived at the Tirquyn fort, Herod at first refused to let them search it. Outnumbering the Tirquyn forces, Conrad boldly stated that he would have the castle searched one way or another, and Lord Herod relented. In the search, Cliffhall men found many of the stolen gold, jewelry, and other valuables stolen by the Tirquyns including Conrad's mother's necklace, which he held dear. Having found the evidence he wanted, Conrad spoke to Zakros II and a trial was held, but after much debate Zakros ruled that Herod was not guilty, and exiled Ser Torgoth to Bearland for "Inciting a feud between vassals." Conrad was devastated, and grew to hate the Tirquyns even more so than before. After seeing Ser Torgoth off, Conrad vowed to destroy the Tirquyn house one way or another.

Crowning and death
After the death of Emperor Zakros II and the ascension of his nephew, Conrad believed the time was right to finally make his move. After summoning his banners of House Higgins and House Stethos, the three houses decided to declare the south independent from the Empire, crowning Conrad as King Conrad I. Upon his coronation, he began organizing a centralized army to effectively combat the rest of the Empire and to secure their independence. After several key battles in the South, King Conrad was slain in the final battle by being trampled to death by the new Emperor's horse. His heir imprisoned and his other children's whereabouts unknown, the Kingdom of The South began to collapse. The fate of the Kingdom is unsure, but it is believed the Kingdom has been dissolved with the Empire occupying the rebel capital, but it is unknown how Michael Cliffhall and Daeron Cliffhall will react.