Princess Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth

Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth
Princess of Riverland-Palatinate
Princess of Riverland-Palatinate Thegn of Lawrenceburgh
Reign	6th October 2013 - Incumbent
Predecessor	Prince Allistair McKieth
Born	Adelaide Douglas (1992-05-11) 11 May 1992 Laurenceburgh, Riverland-Palatinate
Dynasty	McKieth
Father	Prince Allistair McKieth
Mother	Maria de Astartia
Religion	Frankenlischian Andyism
Occupation	Soldier, Noble

Princess Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth
Allegiance	Vionna-Frankenlisch
Service/branch	Imperial Army
Years of service	2009 - Present
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Imperial Expeditionary Force (Deadoran War)
Conflicts	Cassadian Civil War Battle of Sivarka Battle of Matiavik Battle of Parnello Marienberg Uprising Deadoran War Capture of Entrylli Battle of Entrylli

Princess Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth is the baseborn daughter of Prince Allistair McKieth of the Riverland. She is a Vionnan military officer and noblewoman, currently holding the rank of Lieutenant General in the Imperial Vionnan Army and serving as Princess of Riverland-Palatinate and Thegn of Lawrenceburgh.

Adelaide was born in 1992 to the reigning Prince of Riverland-Palatinate and his Mareinberger mistress and ward, Maria de Astartia. She joined the Imperial Army in 2008 at the age of 16, serving as an infantry officer and seeing deployment in Cassadia. Her father's suspicious death in a hunting accident in 2013 led to her acession to the Princedom in spite of her birth as the Court of Saint Romulus deemed her the closest suitable successor.

Since her acsession, Princess Adelaide has been present at a variety of significant events. She commanded the 3rd Loyalist Brigade during the Marienberg Uprising. She was chosen for political reasons to command the Imperial Expeditionary Force to Deadora and, at the tail end of the Deadoran War, commanded the Capture of Entrylli and won a second victory at the following Battle of Entrylli - alongside Zeonese forces. She also attended a gala in Fineberg, New Edom, to celebrate the closing of hostilities between most of the powers involved. A vocal supporter of the continuation of war against Deadora, Adelaide's proposal for a march on Bryn Tegna to dethrone Jacqueline Thrall was rejected by the Imperial General Staff as unrealistic.

Early Life and Parentage

From 1989 to 1992, Prince Allistair McKieth was responsible for the education of the teenage Maria de Astartia, daughter of the Viscomte de Astartia. In that time, at some point after the noblewoman's 17th birthday in March 1990, the Prince commenced a relationship with her. This remained undiscovered until, in January 1992, it was discovered that De Astartia was pregnant. Though initially secretive, Prince Allistair admitted that the child was his and Adelaide was born in Lawrenceburgh on 11th May 1992.

In August 1992, Adelaide was initiated into the Andyist Church in a minor ceremony at Lawrenceburgh. Neither Prince Allistair or Maria de Astartia was in attendance and the Prince planned to give the child to an orphanage. When news reached the Viscomte de Astartia he requested the permission of the King to call Prince Allistair out for a duel. King Edward, sympathetic to the Viscomte and eager to score points against a rival at court, wrote furiously to Prince Allistair, ordering him to take care of the child and pay compensation to the Viscomte. Edward threatened to allow the Viscomte, already a famous duelist, to challenge Prince Allistair publically and the Prince, anxious to avoid further humiliation, or injury in a duel, relented.

In her earliest days, Adelaide was the responsibility of the Prince's physician, Sir Ewart Talbot, and the Baronetess Trimble the junior lady-in-waiting to the Princess-Consort. The pair were diligent caregivers and developed a fond attachment to the infant. Prince Allistair, for his own part, was mostly uninvolved with his daughter's early years, seeing her only rarely and remaining almost entirely ignorant of her development. The Prince's wife, Princess-Consort Eleanor de Rovain, hated the child as a symbol of her husband's infidelity but, with Lady Trimble as a calming influence, did not mistreat her.

Childhood

As Adelaide developed beyond infancy she remained in the care of Lady Trimble and Sir Ewart Talbot at Lawrenceburgh Hall. Prince Allistair did employ the services of a nanny for the basic needs of his daughter. A governess was appointed when Adelaide turned six but besides these arrangements, there was little about Adelaide's upbringing that would reflect on the greatness of her House. From birth, she was known as Adelaide Douglas and treated by all but Sir Talbot and Lady Trimble as one of common birth. Her few friends at this early age were mostly young servants and she was often admonished by the butler and housekeeper of the estate for distracting staff from their work.

By all accounts, Adelaide was a bright child, her isolated life meant that much of her time was spent reading or wandering the estate's extensive grounds. She was fascinated by stories of historical warriors and leaders, particularly Sarah the Crusader and the only positive interactions she had with her father were in his library where they occasionally discussed history and literature. This studiousness contrasted with a troublesome streak, no doubt the result of boredom and frustration, which only intensified as she grew older. When Adelaide reached 12, King Edward pressured Prince Allistair into granting her the surname Fitz-Kieth (a customary honour she had been denied up until that point). This brought with it the prospect of some minor title or civil appointment when adulthood was reached. It did not, however, sooth her frustration and Lady Talbot found herself having to intercede in incidents between Adelaide and the Princess-Consort with increasing frequency.

Teenage Years

With age, however, came greater freedoms for Adelaide and a companion was found for her in the form of Lucy Airey, a daughter of the Earl of Helmfirth. Both girls were fourteen and, though initially uncomfortable, Adelaide's mood improved considerably. In spite of Adelaide's illegitimacy, Lucy was accepting and the pair became fast friends. The pair were educated together and were almost inseperable. They were not, however, equal. As a legitimate daughter of the nobility, Lucy was entitled to greater respect from the staff of Lawrenceburgh Hall and invited to events and dinners hosted by the Prince. To her credit, Lucy remained loyal to her friend and their meals were either with the servants or with Sir Ewart Talbot, who remained an important father figure in Adelaide's life.

Somewhen during Lucy Airey's time at Lawrenceburgh Hall, she and Adelaide became romantically involved. Though the permissive nature of the Imperial aristocracy did not discriminate against such a relationship, Lady Trimble advised them to keep the romance a secret. Though this advice was initially followed, when the pair were sixteen, Lucy wrote to her father requesting permission to ask for Adelaide's hand. The Earl of Helmfirth was in favour of the idea, providing Adelaide was legitimised, and he wrote to Prince Allistair suggesting the idea. Prince Allistair was less than pleased, and immediately seperated the pair and sent Lucy Airey home. Adelaide was mortified and, after leaving a note for Sir Talbot, ran away the same night.

With a small sum of money and a case of posessions, Adelaide left for the City of Lawrenceburgh, the closest major settlement. After enjoying a day in the city, her first time away from her father's estate, she sought lodgings in a pub. She planned to leave Lawrenceburgh by train the following day and head for Frankenlisch or Marienberg where she could either petition the King or seek out her grandfather, the Viscomte de Astartia, respectively. That night, however, she was attacked by a group of local boys while staying in Lawrenceburgh. She was saved by the timely intervention of a special constable and Sir Ewart Talbot, who had come to the city to find her and was injured badly in the encounter. All five attackers were convicted and three were hanged. Instead of returning Adelaide to her father, Sir Ewart gave her money and sent her off to Marienberg with a letter to her grandfather.

The Viscomte de Astartia could do little to help his granddaughter, though he was sympathetic. His career as a duellist had ended years prior and, though he relished the prospect of fighting Prince Allistair, he could no longer risk it. Maria de Astartia, Adelaide's mother, had long since married a Baronet and moved away to Darlington. After hosting Adelaide discretely at Astartia Palace for several days, the Viscomte decided she had little course of action other than to return home, Adelaide refused and resolved to join the army. With letters of introduction from the Viscomte de Astartia, Sir Ewart Talbot, and Lady Trimble, Adelaide was accepted into the Imperial Staff College in August 2008.

Imperial Staff College

As a sixteen-year-old, Adelaide was assigned the rank of Officer Cadet upon arrival at ISC, Donaldia and grouped with the Second Order cadets following her entry exam. As an infantry officer prospect she faced a two-year course; as opposed to the three, or sometimes four years required for specialist officers or those seeking a higher command without seniority. She performed well in her studies but was a solitary student. The mostly aristocratic students avoided her and most of her evenings were spent in study or enjoying the plentiful wine in the cadet's mess. Upon the end of her first year at Donaldia, she was described in an official report as; "A tall, emaciated thing. Miss Fitz-Kieth is a troublesome OC who nonetheless displays great promise. Though she can often be found in a state of inebriation, she displays inspiration and diligence in her studies. Miss Fitz-Kieth is, however, unencumbered by social appointments."

A letter written by one of Adelaide's instructors sheds further light on her time in the Imperial Staff College: "Much like (another cadet) before her, the Prince of Riverland-Palatinate's daughter proves to be a difficult case. The girl is pretty in her own way, and quite tall for a young lady of her age and diet. She rarely eats with the other cadets, instead taking simple meals in her quarters, and she had to be ordered by the company leader not to eat with the hands (grooms, sentries, soldier-servants, ect). The common-born cadets get along better than her as at least they can stick to each other. The stain of bastardy is that neither commoner or noble will associate openly with her, it speaks volumes of our 'permissive society'. There is another baseborn amongst Glaenarm Company, but he is a Baron and so tolerated by his fellows." The Baron in question happened to be Francis Fitzsimmons, who later served with Adelaide in Cassadia. Adelaide's troublesome nature was expanded on in the same letter: "Unlike the common-born cadets, she does not recieve a state stipend. She is always in funds, however, pointing to some private means or generous benefactor. She spends mainly on drink and vanities, accessorising her uniform with whatever the regulations allow (which in her case is not much). Though she usually keeps her wits about her in the week, when she may be called upon for lessons or drill, it is rare to find a weekend when she is not inebriated. The girl drinks to excess, and makes lewd passes at many of the other girls, only making her status as a social pariah worse."

Though her habits did not improve, Adelaide was ranked third amongst her company and graduated the Imperial Staff College. She turned down the opportunity to take a specialisation course and, though invited, refused to stay for an extended course with promise of higher rank. In July 2010 she was comissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the King's Own North Gestoria Rifles. Under the command of Colonel Sir Francis Molland, the KONGR was a regiment which was relatively low in the order of precedence but well-trained and fresh from a colonial deployment. It was for this reason that the regiment was drafted into the First Expeditionary Corps, one of three expeditionary forces involved in the Cassadian Civil War.

Cassadia

More information: Cassadian Civil War

War in Cassadia broke out in 2012 following the death of Emperor Charles IX. The throne passed to Charles' eldest daughter Euphemia, who attempted to curb the influence of the siloviki - Cassadia's military aristocracy, responsible for much of the administration of the country at the time. The war broke out when the siloviki launched a bid to replace Euphemia with her younger sister, Relena. The countryside devastated by foraging and pillaging armies, the situation became desperate quickly and the faction backing Relena turned to Mount Zeon in March 2013 which agreed a deal to intervene, bringing Vionna-Frankenlisch with them in May of that year.

For Adelaide and the North Gestoria Rifles, the years between her commission and the war were spent on garrison duty in Gestora. While one or two of the regiment's five companies were often detatched on colonial duty or exercises, the main body of the regiment remained in cantonment in Emmereton, where it was officially based. As a junior officer in the regiment's light company, Adelaide had few duties except to her immediate command. Her time, away from exercises and basic duties, was spent in quiet study and recreation. A fellow graduate from Adelaide's ISC company, the Baron Fitzsimmons, was also in her company and seems to have been her only friend during the early months of service. Their friendship was such that Adelaide was at the Baron's side as Best Man when Fitzsimmons married Lady Fitz-Elland, another baseborn.

When Mount Zeon entered the Cassadian Civil War, popular opinion in Vionna-Frankenlisch (already generally pro-Relena) swung decisively in favour of the Relenist camp. This created a strong war fervour in the Imperial Army and Navy and, by the time Vionna-Frankenlisch officially intervened, the Army was well-prepared for war. The North Gestoria Rifles were assigned to the Fourth (Duchy of Gestoria) Brigade of the intervention force, along with two battalions of the Royal Gestoria Rifles, the South Gestoria Yeomanry, and the Royal Emmereton Rifles. On 2nd May, 2013, Adelaide and her regiment boarded the transport HMT Badger as part of the expeditionary force. As an officer, Adelaide was entitled to a small private cabin and dined with the other officers, something she was not used to. The voyage lasted two weeks and saw the 20,000-strong expeditionary force land at New Penchester in Mount Zeon before travelling by train to Weira in the Zeonese Sabine Territory (the former New Feminia). First Expeditionary remained at Weira for two days while a military conference was held involving officers from the Imperial and Zeonese intervention forces, along with Cassadian delegates. Adelaide attended this conference as an aide to Sir Francis Molland, who ensured she remained with the other junior aides as he feared she would antagonise the Zeonese officers - Adelaide having taken an instant dislike to the Zeonese and their misognynistic policies.

Parnello

A basic plan was swiftly decided and First Expeditionary marched out of Weira the next day (19th May). The Imperial corps overcame a small force of Euphemists at Sivarka. The North Gestoria Rifles were not heavily engaged, suffering two men killed by mortars and another wounded by friendly fire. First Expeditionary's march on Parnello was marked by these skirmishes as the corps marched along the coast of the Cassean Gulf with the intent of taking the city Parnello and seizing the Euphemist fleet at anchor. Fighting was not heavy in this first string of actions and Adelaide's battalion did not take a large part in them, barely seeing combat until the Battle of Matiavik. At Matiavik, the North Gestoria Rifles occupied the far left of the Imperial line and led the 4th Brigade's counterattack in the latter stages of the engagement. Adelaide was forced to take command of the light company of her regiment when its commander, Captain Pickering, was killed by shellfire. Her steady command of the company saw her Mentioned in Despatches and she received promotion to First Lieutenant with an offer to command the company on a trial basis, the only other First Lieutenant in the company being unwilling to take the command.

Adelaide was delighted with the promotion and accepted command of the light company with relish. While twenty-one was considered quite young for company command (particularly for a lowborn officer), it is likely that Adelaide's swift promotion and elevation to company command was a result of politiking by her brigade commander, Lord Hornebolt. Hornebolt had a particular feud with William McKieth, commanding the Second (Riverland-Palatinate) Brigade, who was a cousin of Adelaide's father. By securing advancement for Prince Allistair's baseborn daughter, Hornebolt was undermining and embarassing Prince Allistair (his rival at court) and William McKieth (his rival in the Army). Adelaide was unaware of these developments but took to her new duties diligently. She led her company into action at Ivorka, which saw the last Euphemist line of defence before Parnello overrun. Adelaide was again Mentioned in Despatches, her role in the engagement being embellished by Hornebolt in the hopes of securing a temporary Captaincy for her. The Duke of Teutonberg, the expedition's commander, agreed and granted Adelaide her temporary promotion at his headquarters, (crucially, to Hornebolt) in the presence of an uncomfortable William McKieth. It has also been suggested that the unmarried Hornebolt was attracted to Adelaide and his work to further her career was influenced by that factor also.

After 41 days of on-and-off marching and fighting, First Expeditionary Corps arrived at Parnello. After encamping and placing the southern suburbs of the city under siege, they were joined by a small corps of Relenist forces. It was in the camp of the combined army that Adelaide discovered Natasha Lepanov, a servant to one of the Siloviki warlords of the Relenist army. Nineteen at the time, Lepanov had struck Adelaide as intelligent and impressed her by displaying her grasp of the Common Language. In the days of siege prior to the main Battle of Parnello, the pair grew closer and Adelaide supposedly spent a significant sum of money to purchase Lepanov's contract of servitude from her Siloviki master under the guise of needing a translator. Officers employing private servants were required to arrange for their upkeep themselves and Adelaide had to arrange for Lepanov to be taken onto strength as an army translator (possibly another favour from Lord Hornebolt). Natasha Lepanov became Adelaide's companion unofficially and served openly as her servant and translator. Lepanov's skills as a translator became very useful when Adelaide was made responsible for 42 Cassadian levies and their commander. These arrangements became increasingly common as more Relenist forces converged on Parnello to join the Imperial assault. By the time the assault began on 11th July, 10,000 Relenist troops were in the Imperial camp. Adelaide's regiment did not enter the battle for several days, the opening moves of the battle being made by the First and Second Brigades.

On 14th July, the Duke of Teutonberg committed the Fourth (Duchy of Gestoria) Brigade into the battle. Crossing the Parnello canal at the Emperor Charles VI Memorial Bridge, the brigade was deployed to support Victor Poltov's First (Duchy of Teutonberg) Brigade and take pressure off it's flank as it moved towards the Parnello government quarter. The King's Own North Gestoria Rifles was at the vanguard of the brigade with a full strength of 942 Imperial troops and 180 Cassadians. Adelaide's light company saw significant action in street fighting alongside the grenadier company. By that evening, her company had occupied a large warehouse near the main market square of Parnello and the grenadiers had occupied a similar structure nearby. These were vital positions for blocking the Euphemists from attacking the rest of the Fourth Brigade as it moved into position. As a result, holding the warehouses was vital and Adelaide (along with Sir Simon d'Euba, commanding the grenadiers) was forbidden from retreating until the rest of the brigade was in position. The Imperial positions slept a wary night unmolested and on the morning of 15th July saw only small exchanges of fire with Euphemist scouts. At noon, heavy fighting broke out when a force of 3,000 Euphemists assembled in the market square and attacked the positions held by Adelaide and d'Euba's troops. With machinegun and rifle fire, the North Gestoria Rifles held off continuous attacks for three hours until the Euphemists fell back to reorganise. Heavy close-quarters fighting was also taking place to the north, where the First Brigade was under attack and relying on the Fourth Brigade to stabilise the situation.

At 5pm on the 15th, a second major assault on the positions of the North Gestoria Rifles developed. Adelaide's company was enveloped on three sides and fifteen men were killed when Euphemist forces entered the warehouse in a fierce raid before being repulsed. After an hour of fighting, the assault ground to halt and the warehouses started coming under heavy fire from the Cassadian warships in Parnello harbour. The Imperial fleet had not yet arrived to support the battle, having slowed down to navigate a large perceived minefield (which was eventually found to be non-existent), and the Cassadian navy had mostly sided with Euphemia. For five hours, the Euphemist forces alternated between infantry assaults and shelling from the harbour, inflicting serious damage on the Imperial positions and causing casualties amongst the defenders. Whilst directing her company during the action, Adelaide was wounded in the forehead and scalp by debris from the shelling. She was carried from the field by her batman and Natasha Lepanov. The responsibility of commanding the defence fell to Adelaide's friend, the Baron Fitzsimmonds, whose platoon reinforced the suffering company at the warehouse.

Injury and Leave

Immediately after being carried from the field, Adelaide was lain up in an aid post at the regimental headquarters of the North Gestoria Rifles. Once her wounds had been disinfected and bandaged she was evacuated unconscious to a casualty clearing station at First Expeditionary Corps headquarters. After a day in the CCS, she was moved to private quarters where she was treated for her head injuries and for fatigue and muscule damage by Lord Hornebolt's physician. Hornebolt initially feared Adelaide's wounds were very serious and was severely guilty that his politiking had killed her or harmed her badly. When it became clear that Adelaide's wounds would not be too serious, and eventually the news arrived that William McKieth had been killed leading 2nd Brigade, Hornebolt lost interest in Adelaide's career and was married a year after. The Battle of Parnello ended on 23rd July when significant portions of the city had been occupied and the arrival of the Imperial fleet made escape unlikely for the Euphemists, the remaining Euphemist forces in the city surrendered. Without Lord Honebolt's patronage, Adelaide did not receive any further awards for her involvement in the battle except the customary Wound Badge. While in recovery, she learned that Lord Fitzsimmonds had been killed in action and was granted a month's leave to accompany her friend's remains back to Frankenlisch and complete her recovery.

On 1st August, Adelaide boarded the Crown Packet steamer IPS Kamber Castle at New Penchester with Lepanov and the pair travelled back to Frankenlisch in a Second Class stateroom. The journey took a week and Adelaide was barely seen, taking meals in her cabin and coming out only to use the washing facilities and to attend a religious mass on Sunday 4th. The Kamber Castle arrived in Frankenlisch on Wednesday 7th August and Adelaide followed the body of the Baron Fitzsimmonds back to his home in Leurketh in the Duchy of Cunaris. Adelaide spoke at the Baron's funeral on 12th August and inherited a small sum of money, along with Fitzsimmonds' sword and pistol and his personal collection of 15th-century Frankenlischian poetry. The rest of Fitzsimmonds' posessions, and his title, passed to his wife and to his (then-unborn) son, Francis. Adelaide left Leurketh on 14th August and returned to Frankenlisch where she stayed at the Poseidon's Wrath Hotel for four weeks, leaving the hotel only to collect her pay and check in at the Royal Queen Caroline Military Hospital for her wounds and state of mind to be checked.

It was not until 15th September that Adelaide was cleared to return to active service. While a second force was being formed for the Etropole Landings, First Expeditionary Corps was expanded by an additional brigade and Adelaide boarded HMT Fort Brice, one of the troopships carrying this force to Parnello. The journey took 10 days and Adelaide rejoined her regiment on September 26th. At the time, Zeonese and Relenist forces were engaged in a brutal campaign along the River Zulga and the Duke of Teutonberg had reluctantly agreed to a joint offensive against Carthage, the Cassadian capital. While the Zeonese intervention force and the main body of the Relenist army continued the Zulga Campaign, working their way towards the capital along the River Zulga; the Duke of Teutonberg planned to march his corps to the north-east, cross the Zulga at Zugalsk and move against the capital from the north.

Awards, Titles, and Promotions

Awards

• Mentioned in Despatches - 1st June 2013, 23rd June 2013
• Wound Badge - 16th July 2013
• Cassadia Campaign Medal - 9th May 2015
• Marienberg Peacekeeper Award - 24th August 2015
• Deadora Service Medal - 18th May 2020

Titles and honorifics

• Adelaide Douglas - Birth, 11th May 1992
• Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth - Honour of the Name, 11th May 2004
• Lady Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth - Right to prefix granted on order of James I, 1st September 2013
• Princess Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth, Princess of Riverland-Palatinate - Ascended to title (granted by Court of Saint Romulus), 6th October 2013
• Princess Adelaide Douglas Fitz-Kieth, Princess of Riverland-Palatinate, Thegn of Lawrenceburgh - Title recreated, 20th July 2017

Military Promotions

• Officer Cadet - Imperial Staff College - 2nd August 2008 (enlisted)
• Second Lieutenant - King's Own North Gestoria Rifles - 15th July 2010 (commissioned)
• First Lieutenant - King's Own North Gestoria Rifles - 2nd June 2013
• Captain - King's Own North Gestoria Rifles - 25th June 2013 (temporary)