What may one day be a character for

This is Lysander, which I think is funny because it means 'the liberator'. It was either that or Earnest.

But yes, Lysander is the ruler of Ursalia (alternate history north America, means 'place of bears').

Ursalia is a harsh land, filled with ferocious beasts, harsh and extreme climates, and large quantities of untamed and/or uninhabited land. It should be no surprise that its ruler is just as harsh.

He is not by any means a sympathetic or diplomatic ruler. Hell, he's not even an oppressive tyrant. He's just apathetic as fuck.
This being so, the sparsely populated land of Ursalia is basically under a lassaiz faire style of government. Even more than usual in alternate history Pangaea. XD

Until fairly recently, 'the new world' was under the rule of the overall continent.
Lysander's father was the one who initially led the revolution that saw Ursalia rise as its own nation, driving out the Pangaean forces and seating himself down in a spot of power.

Lysander is pretty self-serving, surprise surprise. He has two main areas of interest, as a ruler: Natural Resources of his domain, and Alchemy.
He keeps a close eye on what people take/mine/hunt, and makes sure that he gets a nice chunk of tax money out of it if they export.
As for Alchemy, he usually has a small team of alchemists working on making him things. He is very much interested in the blending of science and magic, and he's pretty sure it's the way of the future. He is positive that it will win out over regular mechanics during this transitional period of industrial revolution.

Now, why would people put up with his crap? It's certainly not because of his charm or wit, and he isn't particularly threatening when pitted against the tough as nails denizens of Ursalia. They're aware that he's pretty flaky.

Simple: He is a scary fucker when he wants to be. Like Elizabeth the first, he uses dramatic visual elements to command people's fear and respect. He wears bear claws on his hands and feet, and a bear pelt upon his back.
In addition to this, he goes about with two bears to do his bidding. Go against him, and he won't even think before having you mauled to death.
How he gets bears to do his bidding, no one is entirely sure. It is rumored that he has a pendant, crafted by his alchemists, that allows him to draw and channel power from the essence of the earth to this end.
Of course so far anyone who has tried to figure it out has been promptly mauled by a bear.
Though, if one were to get it off of him, he'd be pretty helpless...