Iadon

Iadon
Arelene Royal Family Spouse Raoden's mother, Eshen Children Raoden
Died	suicide
Titles	King of Arelon
Residence	Kae
Nationality	Arelene
Homeworld	Sel
Universe	Cosmere

Iadon was the first king of Arelon after the Reod on Sel. He is the father of Raoden.

Appearance and Personality

Iadon was a thin man with a shrewd face.

His personality is decisive and forceful, with little regard for others. His treatment of Sarene indicates he is somewhat self-centered and rude. He prefers to be brief and to the point when speaking. Iadon is opportunistic and seemingly short-sighted, but after his death it is revealed that he had more foresight than most people had believed.

History

Before the Reod, Iadon was a successful Arelene merchant. He and his first wife had one son, Raoden. His wife died approximately two years before the Reod. By the time the Reod struck, he had become the head of the merchants' guild, a position he used to leverage his bid for kingship during the chaos that followed. He married Eshen a few months after taking the throne. After becoming king, Iadon started to become paranoid and came at least close to madness. As such, the ten years of Iadon's rule were widely regarded as among the worst that Arelon ever faced. One of his greatest misdeeds was the implementation of a feudal system, where nobles practically owned their farmers. The greatest source of opposition during that time was his own son Raoden, who openly spoke against him and made clear he would undo most of Iadon's deeds once he took over. At some time in his rule, Iadon turned to the Jeskeri Mysteries and eventually started to perform human sacrifices. By the time Raoden was taken by the Shaod, their relationship had soured so much that Iadon didn't even try object when the priests took his son.

Shortly after, Princess Sarene of Teod arrived in Arelon. As Iadon was extremely sexist, he didn't care about her as long as she secured his contract with Teod, and he believed her to be stupid. Sarene, however, was in fact extremly clever and encouraged this in order to manipulate him. When gyron Hrathen arrived in Arelon, he visited Iadon demanding the king should convert but Iadon dismissed him, stating the Fjordell Empire had gone under centuries ago. Hrathen started planning Iadon's downfall and tried to bring a king on the Throne more friendly to his cause. Hrathen tried to take advantage of feudal system by supporting Duke Telrii. If Telrii's income would surpass Iadon's own, Iadon would lose his throne to Telrii. In exchange for the promise to convert once he was King, Hrathen got Telrii extremly profitable deals with Fjorden and used Fjordell ships to sink most of Iadon's trade fleet. So Iadons income and reputation took a heavy dent. Hrathen's plan to depose Iadon failed when Sarene got Iadon a profitable deal with Teod in exchange for the right to give out food in Elantris. After the mad Elantrians atacked Sarene, Iadon tried to use this as an excuse to murder all Elantrians, but Sarene shut his attempt down by publicly lecturing and humiliating him. At the next great feast, Iadon vanished. Sarene searched for Iadon, and she found Iadon naked, covered in blood performing a sacrifice of a young woman for the Jeskeri Mysteries. Iadon's accomplices tried to kill her, but Sarene's allied lords came to her rescue and arrested Iadon.^{[citation needed]}

To maintain some dignity and forgo the humiliation of having to abdicate after his heavy involvement with the Jeskeri Mysteries became public, he eventually committed suicide. After Iadon's death, the Patriarch of Shu-Korath came to Arelon to read a document Iadon had given him years before, which revealed that Iadon's capricious reign had intentionally laid the groundwork for a much more stable system of government. From then on, all noble titles were to be frozen, and that nobility would henceforth be based on inheritance and not on wealth.

Beliefs

Iadon follows the Jeskeri Mysteries, a fact discovered by Sarene when she follows him to a meeting of the cult, where she finds him performing a sacrifice of a girl her age. She is then noticed by Iadon and the priests, who try to attack her. The human sacrifice is then implied by others to represent Sarene herself, in an attempt for Iadon to overcome the hardships Sarene deals to him.

Notes

Preceded by Founder

King of Arelon

Succeeded by Telrii

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