Queen Kiraline Veresz Eroszakos

Status Reigning. Has murdered the Gawky Model in a necromantic trellis, entered Barron's room at the Bastion Inn through a portal, and attacked him in full vampire form as the pilot cuts to black. The series document names her the true enemy.

Kiraline Veresz Eroszakos is the vampire queen of Kormor Kirak, appearing in her forties 'but eternal', dressed in the ornamental bulk of couture and moving as if weightless. Every guest kneels when she enters her ballroom. She crosses rooms by magical means, tastes Barron's blood from her lips, and when refused unhinges her jaw to show rows of serrated teeth. She outlawed necromancy, crushed the Lich Cult, and opened the city's gates to foreigners to make them vulnerable to her influence. She practises the craft she banned.

Role: Sovereign of Kormor Kirak; mother of Szeret
Allegiance: Herself and her line
Age: Forties in appearance; eternal
First seen: Pilot, p. 35 / the upper balcony of the ballroom
Home: Castle Torony Piros
Nature: Vampire; necromancer

Also: Kiraline · the Queen · Queen Kiraline · Mother · Kiralyne (series document, p. 55)

Painted view of Queen Kiraline's bedchamber with a thornlike bed frame, skulls, books, occult circles and draped Gothic windows — The Queen's bedchamber: an iron door of shifting geometry, glowing thorned vines, carved runes.

Painted view of an empty skull-and-bone throne between four braziers, surrounded by Gothic columns and bat reliefs — The Throne Room: black iron inlaid with human bone, on a dais of red stone.

What the sources establishEstablished

Kiraline appears in her forties but eternal, wears clothes layered with the ornamental bulk of couture, moves as if weightless, and glows with preternatural charisma; when she enters the ballroom everyone takes a knee. pilot p. 35
She crosses the ballroom to Barron by magical means and transports him to the upper balcony and then to her bedchamber. pilot pp. 35-36
She greets Barron with 'At last, you have returned to me', kisses him, and licks his blood from her lips. pilot p. 36
She has made Barron an offer he refuses: 'I will not be your slave.' She replies, 'We have played that game before', and asks whether a queen's love could turn him from duty. pilot pp. 36-37
Refused, she goes full vampire: her jaw unhinges, rows of serrated teeth show, and her tongue snakes; she then appears back on the balcony with a hand over her heart. pilot p. 37
When Barron was last in Kormor Kirak she had outlawed any necrotic practice; the uprising of the Lich Cult was the only real threat to her reign, and Szeret says her mother crushed them. pilot pp. 28-29, 35
She opened the gates of the city to foreigners because the humans would otherwise have broken them down, hoping that inside her walls they would be vulnerable to her influence. pilot p. 38
She tells Szeret the Cult is 'our concern, not his', worries about Szeret's interest in the outside world, and orders her to stay away from the humans. pilot p. 38
She and Szeret enter a dungeon room of chained masquerade guests with paranormal speed, and the screaming begins. pilot p. 39
Szeret says her mother was adamant that she aid Barron's necromantic investigation, and that the queen supports the theater work. pilot pp. 40-41
In her chamber she carves a rune with a knife into the dead, naked Gawky Model hanging in a necromancer's trellis, admiring her handiwork. pilot p. 54
She appears uninvited at Barron's bedside in the Bastion Inn with a necromantic portal behind her ('Someone else bid me welcome'), offers to carry out his life's calling together, and attacks him in full vampire form 'to guarantee our trust is eternal'. pilot p. 54
The series document states that Kiraline is the true enemy, that she turns Barron into her unwitting agent, and that she plots to use the wedding to claim the souls of the rich and powerful and unleash a paranormal age. pilot p. 55
The Castle Guide says she became a vampire by deliberately exposing herself to the comet sickness in the Comet Chamber, the first voluntary vampire. Castle Guide, 'The Comet Chamber and Vampirism's Origin'
Book Two says she rarely speaks, that her court is a grandeur where beauty and suffering are complements, and that the wedding was bait to trap the souls of both empires' elite. Book Two, 'Character Profiles', Kiraline

Said, believed, or contradicted between sourcesRumored or disputed

Book Two and later materials say Kiraline only believes she controls the conspiracy while Barron, as secret leader of the Lich Cult, uses her; this contradicts the pilot's series document, which makes her the true enemy. Book Two, 'NPC Relationship Map' and 'Knowledge Cheat Sheet'; pilot p. 55
Rozito says the good people of Kormor Kirak have nightmares about their terrifying queen. pilot p. 17
Barron and Eppy both hold that the queen's favour can be bought. pilot p. 28
The grounding sheet and broadsheets say she is building a tower and Comet Chamber to ascend at the coming of the Crimson Comet and has proclaimed an Eternal Reign; this is later publication material. EC_GROUNDING_SHEET.md, section 5; courant_desk/issues/no04_the_eternal_reign.md
The Campaign World Guide calls her 'of Terrassia' and says she rules portions of that kingdom; the pilot keeps Kormor Kirak neutral. Campaign World Guide, 'City Overview'; Style & Tone Guide

What no source settlesUnestablished

Kiraline's true age, and how long she has reigned, is not established in the pilot; the Castle Guide gives the dynasty nearly four centuries.
What 'game' she and Barron played during his first posting, and what she offered him then, is not established in any source.
Whether Szeret is her natural daughter or a made one is not established in any source.
Who 'bid her welcome' into Barron's room at the Bastion Inn is not established in the pilot.

Reign of Blood, ICM first draft, 2022In the pilot

Ballroom entrance on the upper balcony; crosses to Barron: 'At last, you have returned to me' (pp. 35-36).
Upper balcony and bedchamber: the kiss, the offer, the refusal, the unhinged jaw (pp. 36-37).
Dungeon hallway with Szeret: the Cult, the gates, 'Stay away from them' (p. 38).
The feeding room (p. 39).
Her chamber: carves a rune into the Gawky Model (p. 54).
Barron's room at the Bastion Inn: 'Someone else bid me welcome'; the attack (p. 54).

Who and what this record touchesConnections

Princess Szeret Vereszher daughter, whom she orders away from the humans Barron Whitehallowold lover she wants back; attacks him in his bed Rozito Vallikozoappointed him to run the market Devorlen Kossstartled witness to her magic in the ballroom Castle Torony Pirosher seat and feeding ground The Comet Chamberwhere she chose vampirism, per the Castle Guide Kormor Kirakher city, whose gates she opened

Every story, issue and quest where the name appearsAppearances

CourantTHE ETERNAL REIGNThe 8th of May, 1793
CourantTHE CONVERGENCE PROCLAIMEDThe 24th of April, 1793
CourantTHE TOWER RISESThe 17th of April, 1793
Quest BoardSILENCE THE TOWER'S VOICETHE EASTERN TOWER

Canon, in priority orderSources

The pilot script: Reign of Blood, ICM first draft 2022, pp. 17, 28-29, 35-41, 54-55
Book Two: The People of the Eternal Court, 'Character Profiles' (Queen Kiraline Veresz Eroszakos), 'NPC Relationship Map', 'NPC Knowledge Cheat Sheet'
Castle Guide, 'Introduction', 'The Comet Chamber and Vampirism's Origin', 'The Tower of Thorns'
Campaign World Guide, 'Kormor Kirak: City Overview', 'Torony Piros: The Castle'
World Style & Tone Guide, 'Supernatural Governance as Normal'
_publications/EC_GROUNDING_SHEET.md, sections 3-5

Notes. The series pitch on pilot p. 55 spells her name 'Kiralyne'; the script proper and all guides use Kiraline (pronounced KEER-ah-LEEN per the grounding sheet). Eroszakos appears only in her full title.