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Got bored recently, so I found myself brainstorming a series based on chess pieces. Since the game had its origins in India, then migrated via Persia and the Muslim world to Europe, I figured I'd have a set of four localities for each piece, corresponding to A) the kingdoms of Western Europe (home to the Crusaders who brought the game back with them from the Holy Land), B) the Byzantine Empire and/or the lands in its sphere of influence (erstwhile allies of the knights of the first three Crusades), C) Persia/the Saracens, and D) India.

With that in mind, I started with the most important piece in the game: the King. I don't really have any backstory for these monarchs (you're more than welcome to fill in those blanks as you see fit), but I did come up with placeholder names as it were: Dietrich IX, King of Turenn; Petros II, Elyssian Emperor; Abdul Malik, Shah of Dirham; and Panduputra, Raja of Kanikunan.

Special credit to  Archaeologist_92 for encouragement with the idea, and  Wilhelm for reference material (particularly with Petros and Abdul Malik).