The Serdar of Bratkowice was born at night, during one of the thunderstorms which are so common in the month of Gifts. His mother, a woman beloved by the people and its ruler, was greatly weakened by the birth, and healers rushed to her side while the father looked at the small child and despaired. There was no announcement made to the people as the sun rose, just the frantic work of the healers and the pacing of the father around the crib. The child cried for its mother but she was too weak to come. On the fourth day, as the healers retreated at last, the father stormed off, announcing with a great roar that an heir had been born, yet refusing to answer any other questions at all.

Ilyas, the heir was named, and his mother doted upon him in her weakened state while his father cursed the gods. The mother's health was in decline, and there was nothing left to be done. She survived to see Ilyas learn his first letters only four summers old, and he still remembers the safe feeling of her embrace on a warm summer day not long before she died. His life changed quickly once she was gone. Ilyas' father had an heir, and the heir would have to be perfect; it was the only one he would get. In order for the child to reach this level of perfection, he was disallowed a normal childhood from that point on, every waking moment spent preparing physically or mentally for the position he would hold.

Inducted into the Bratkowice foreign corps earlier than he should have, Ilyas spent his teenage years learning from the veterans of the corps, dividing his time between patrols across the land and travelling to Tusa and Koben incognito to learn about their most powerful trade partners, always in the company of a few close friends. He was afforded no luxuries, living the same life as the other, older recruits. Once his father thought him ready, he was brought to a tutor to learn the ways of the court - although Ilyas never cared for the subtle gossips and veiled lies, he did his best to learn enough that he would not be assassinated when he took his very first step inside that completely alien world. It was during this tutoring that he met the young woman who would become his wife. She had a natural talent for courtly manners which saved him at his first ball and which has kept him safe ever since.

Ilyas married his Emilija when he was just short of twenty years old, and despite the rumors surrounding his nature the couple could proudly announce to the world the birth of their first son the following year. The old Serdar was still going strong, but his hands had begun shaking, and he would occasionally ask after his wife, so Ilyas took on some of his official responsibilities - both as a way to lighten the load on his father's shoulders, as well as preparing himself and the people for the inevitable change of leadership.

When the time came, his father took the change better than the citizens; punching his heir square in the face and roaring for the guards to act. Outside in the city of Bratkowice, someone was instigating trouble against the new Serdar and causing public protests in the square near the castle, capitalizing on some of the more vicious rumors surrounding his birth. While Ilyas did not manage to uncover the true culprits, the overt leaders of the campaign were brought in for questioning, then summarily executed after one protest lead to a great swathe of crops and an important warehouse being put to the flame.

A direct threat to their livelihood, the fire had shocked the protesters into silence, and the executions dispersed the few who remained back to their homes and their work. Rumors of the protests were replaced with stories of the fire, growing to ever bigger proportions the further away from the city the stories traveled. Eventually, the new Serdar was known as a hero who had stopped a hostile sabotage attempt by a foreign power in the heart of their country. Although the old rumors of the Serdar's birth persisted, the people came to accept him as their leader at last.

While he worries about the current troubles Bratkowice is facing, the Serdar has shown through both actions and words that he is dedicated to his citizens and nation, leading them into a period of stability and relative prosperity that has only recently taken a stumble. Peacekeepers have covertly been hired from Song-Lu to investigate the cause of unexpected crop failure in some of the southern regions, and many members of the foreign corps have been sent out as well.