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Post by Dungeon Master Deveraux on Jan 30, 2013 22:53:43 GMT
The First Emperor Tithrandel Avida 489-575FR Emperor Tithrandel was elected First Citizen of the Ionian Republic in 489FR during a period of political and economic instability. The Triumvirate system had broken down in the republic some 80 years previously, with the triumvires fighting amongst themselves, and with provincial governors for power. Upon assuming the position of First Citizen, Tithrandel could see that something needed to be done to stabilise the Republic and ensure and enduring government, and so moved to have himself declared Emperor, with executive power separate invested in the position of Emperor and not reliant upon Senate approval. Through clever political manoeuvring, bribery and naked threats Tithrandel secured this power only 2 years into his reign, thus establishing Ionia as an Empire and no longer a Republic. Once secure in his power, he swiftly moved to eliminate those governors and senators opposed to his reign, bringing a swift, if brutal, end to the political instability that had plague the Republic's later years. Shortly after this, Tithrandel embarked upon a military campaign that led to the addition of a new province to the Empire for the first time since the third century under the Republic. Tithrandel’s reign currently stands as the longest of any emperor, and is remembered as a good emperor, bringing peace to the lives of the average citizen, and adding glory and wealth to the empire. Tithrandel came to the throne late on in his life, having served as a Senator for the previous 317 years and being old enough to remember life under Gorandon and its Overseers. He is one of only two emperors to have died of natural causes, passing away at the age of 701 in 587FR. Tithrandel was succeeded by his nephew having never had children of his own, and was deified by the citizens of his Empire, who decided that such a skilled (and/or lucky) ruler must have been touched by the gods, and so was elevated to godhood as the founder of his own pantheon. |
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Post by Dungeon Master Deveraux on Feb 7, 2013 15:30:57 GMT
The Second Emperor
Naralia Babinarii Avida
[/center] 575-616FR Naralia succeeded his uncle to the throne secure in his power as emperor to great acclaim and hope amongst the people of Ionia. Naralia was reputed to be a tremendously skilled actor and bard, as well as an expert in law and governance. His reign was marked by a swift campaign into the Giselt Peninsula (launched in 578FR), in which Naralia marked himself out as a compentent if unspectacular general, the tribal population of Giselt being brought under Imperial control in less than 2 years. With his reputation enhanced by this triumph, Naralia retired to Ionia where he embarked on a great campaign of beautification, building monuments to (mostly) himself and (less so) his predecessor. Naralia also constructed the great Arena of Naralia in Ionia and gave funding for the Cathedral of Emperors in Sornhold. The first three decades of Naralia's reign marked a time of peace and economic prosperity in the empire, with gold flowing into Ionia's coffer's through trade and tribute from across the continent. Naralia heeded well his advisors and appointed governors more interested in the Empire's prosperity than in lining their own pockets. Swift example was made of one governor caught cheating the imperial purse as he had his right arm changed to solid pyrite by order of the Emperor, and then thrown into the Arean to compete. However, this prosperity was to go into a sudden reverse with the duel calamity of both continent wide famine and plague. First the harvest of 603FR was exceptionally poor, with crops failing across the continent due to unusualy heavy rains. The imperial government had made preparations for just such an occassion but this was undermined when it was found 80% of the food reserves had been spoiled by rodents; to make matters worse these rodents were joined by other rodents brought in from across the ocean on trading vessels, carrying with them the Swelling Sickness. This sickness spread rapidly across Ionia and inot neighbouring lands, who quickly ceased trading with Ionia, even under threat of war. This sickness not only accounted for nearly 20% of the empire's population inside of 5 years, it also strangled the economy with trade embargos. With the economy in tatters and his leadership being questioned, Naralia ordered his legions north to the border with Gorandon, claiming to have evidence that dwarven priests had brought the plague upon the Empire so they could weaken it. He launched into an invasion of the Eternal Kingdom aimed at strengthening the coffers of the Empire and distracting from Naralia's terrible handling of the crisis. However the legions of Ionia were still weakend by deaths caused by the Swelling Sickness, and the raw recruits brought in to replace the veterans were poorly trained. To compound matters, Naralia ordered that the troops march light to swiftly annex the Gorandon mint at Khazad Heul, but were met by well armed and well supplied heavy infantry in the mountain passes above the city, and decimated. Several more thrusts were made into Gorandon (during the summer of 614 and both spring and sumer of 615) none of them getting as far as the first, and all suffering appalling casulties. Rumblings of desent were heard from the legions and the Senate in Ionia caught wind of these stirrings of revolt. Deciding to take matters into their own hands they entered into a clandestine pact with the Cabinet of Faces, a collection of intelligence agents and assassins hitherto unknown. They arranged for Naralia to give a speech before the crowd in the Arena, aimed at rallying support, but before he could reach the Imperial Box he was stabbed by multiple assailants, who then vanished into the crowds. The Speaker of the Senate then addresssed the crowd and informed them the Emperor had met with an accident and they should go home and pray for his soul. The Senators then swiftly appointed one of their own, Beliorion Quintilla as the 3rd emperor of the Ionian Empire and ordered the legions back from the northern mountains, silencing the dissentors with bribes paid from Naralia's own personal fortune. Naralia never married throughout his reign and left no heir to avenge his murder. His poor management of the empire in the final years meant that he was little mourned in the end by the populace at large. |
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