EDIT: And the death of Elicia put the Windblacks at 12th place of most famous families of BattleMasterra 
Congrats.
You know you play too much on Beluaterra when:
BattleMasterra
I agree, a ruler hero makes everything more interesting. And it helps to keep interest alive. Who wants to be part of a realm that has a permanent ruler? Unless the player decides to retire his char, he can sit in his capital and rule away (mainly in monarchies, tyrannies and theocracies).
I agree, turnover is good. However making a ruler hero isn't a guarantee that he'll also make things interesting while an immortal interesting ruler relieves us of the need for turnover. As a rule of thumb, any ruler who allows stagnation to befall his realm should simply make room for someone else by stepping down in stead of relying on an untrustworthy heroic death. It's always interesting to have a royal relic in your realm as counterweight to the current ruler imo.
That said, there's nothing more epic than a ruler dying a heroic death.
