Grover V

Grover V is the current and fifth Kaiser of the Griffonian Empire, ruling for thirty-seven years since he came to power at the age of 10, after the death of his father, Grover IV. Upon his rise to the throne of the Griffonian Empire, the nobles decreed that a regency council was to be created to aid the young Emperor and rule in his absence. Grover V, while lacking a secure form of power during this time, was raised and found a clear friend in his cousin, Gabriela Eagleclaw, and the leader of the Griffonian faith, Archon Eros VII.

Early in his reign, the young Emperor had already suffered critical hardships - the loss of his father and the Idol of Boreas, the magical artifact that had aided his great-great-grandfather in the conquest of the Griffonian continent. With the King of Griffonstone killed and the Guto dynasty in dissaray, Grover's distant cousin could not lead the Empire. Instead, the Empire would be led by a council of nobles instead, with both the faith and the existing members of the Grover dynsaty, however small it was, marginalized and kept out of leadership. Instead of stewardship, Grover V developed close bonds with his cousins and the Archon of Boreas, but even these ties could not stop the nobles from barring him from the council and assuming his rightful role.

In 978, Grover V's reign suffered under one of the darkest hours in the Empire's history - the Griffonian Revolutionary War, where General Alexander Kemerskai, along with a entourage of military officers, allied with the commoners of Griffenheim to sack the city and declare the Griffonian Republic. Grover V barely escaped, with Archon Eros VII dragging him out of the city through a network of hidden mechanisms while nobles were lynched and the royal palace burned. He found safety in the lands of the loyal Diamond Dogs and his cousin, Gabriela, who still stood for the Empire.

When the Empire launched its counter-revolution, Grover V returned to the Empire a broken griffon. Although he found friendship and comfort in his old allies, his projects as Emperor failed, and he became known only for the great railroads that categorized his reign. The secession of regions across the Empire during the Griffonian Springtime of Nations during the 970s and 980s left the young Emperor's reign permanently tarnished, and his pneumonia left him unable to attend to many Imperial matters. In 1003, the Emperor finally was granted a son, but his wife died in childbirth, leaving Grover VI the last heir of the direct Grover line at the age of 4.