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Champion of Sexylion
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The Interregnum [Next/Final Draft??]
Introduction
After 200 eras of peaceful prosperity, the Aelyrian Empire had risen to an unprecedented height from which it seemed unlikely to be shaken. And yet through a series of misfortunes, disasters, and dissensions, the next 300 eras would see it descend so far that at some points it seemed as if the Empire would be no more. The Interregnum and the Age of Arcana, as this chapter in Aelyrian History has recently been coined, is the subject of the current treatise which I have spent many eras compiling from the notes and reminiscences of those who participated first hand in the remarkable doings of this period.
~ Garreth Matvei
Historian at the De Saals Center of the Maeveon Collegio de Enamoria
Castellian Keep
At the end of era 9915 it seemed that Alyssa Chrysinarias Pax Aelyriana would continue for all time. The latest and, as it would prove to be, last - success of the Empress was the reduction of the Castellian Keep where a dangerous band of brigands known as the Red Hand had sequestered themselves and begun to terrorize the Centripaxian countryside. The Empress herself journeyed from Isle Coronae to the aid of her armies. Later this proved to be part of a plot financed by the Xet Alliance to assassinate Empress Alyssa Chrysinaria. Ambushed by a golden dragon, the Empress was wounded before First Minister Ieolus could open up a portal to Aetheria and sacrifice himself even as he rid the Empress of the imminent threat to her life.
In honour of the First Minister's sacrifice Alyssa Chrysinaria adopted his daughter, Thalia de Lylles. At first it appeared that Alyssa Chrysinarias wounds were not grave, but as the brightenings passed she grew more and more sick. Finally the Imperial Physician, unable even to diagnose the mysterious illness from which the Empress suffered, despaired. As Chrysinaria fell into a deep coma rumours spread through the imperial court that her wounds had been engineered and the rebellion itself had been aided by the treacherous Thalia de Lylles herself, who, it was said, had long been secretly envious of the love subsisting between her late father.
The Rise of Intendent Thalia de Lylles
Although these suppositions were never proven, Thalias actions at this juncture have confirmed her guilt in the eyes of many recent historians. As Alyssa Chrysinaria lay insensible in her room the Crown Princess Thalia, having coerced both the Imperial Advisor Duncan du Lae and the Imperial Regent Kaelon Xeon to support her claim, announced the state of her own Intendency, ostensibly in preparation for ascension as Empress after the impending death of Chrysinaria.
Despite her powerful connections, which also included the Xetan Embassy to Aelyria and the Church of the Faith under the elderly Archprelatess Vesta of Tirisfal, Thalia was not able to convince the Imperial Court of her right. The Senate, whose power had grown strong under the mild rule the Alyssan Empire, refused to support the self-proclaimed Intendent. Even Imperial Regent Kaelon Xeon was quick to switch sides, now openly doubting Thalia de Lylles capabilities and beginning to assert his own rights of succession as Regent. Further opposition in the provinces gathered as news of the events that had transpired during the Red Hand Rebellion and afterward in the Palace spread. The Intendent, in reply, declared the Empire to be in a state of Martial Law. The Aelyrian people were shocked to hear of the arrival of the Prelatine Guard to the aid of the Intendent, of their quick takeover of the Palace, and their sharp clashes with the Senate-controlled Imperial Guard, as well as of the announcement that the incapacitated Alyssa Chrysinaria herself, along with Imperial Regent Kaelon Xeon, had been lost during an inter-dimensional catastrophe aboard the Imperial Airship Fraghatha. Placed in such dire circumstances many provincial governments contemplated secession. The only one to act decisively on that impulse, however, was Governor Ambrose Devere of Enamoria, who with the active collusion of the Provincial Council announced the creation of the Republic of Enamoria only a few cycles after the Crown Princess had named herself Intendent to the throne.
The Xetan Invasion
In response Thalia sent the Prelatine Guard to subdue Enamoria as well as other cities notable for their opposition to her claim. This action, along with rumours of Thalias deep financial debt to the Xet, impelled Archprelatess Vesta to commit suicide in disillusionment and grief over the state of the Empire. The Prelatine Guard, meanwhile, having destroyed Port Alyxandrya and captured both Charsime and Starkville, moved toward the ancient capitol of Medonia. Here, however, they were stopped for some time, as Governor Ambrose and his General Alexander Nighthawk had taken the utmost precautions in fortifying the city. The siege appeared as if it would drag on for a long time when help for the Intendents forces came from a most unexpected quarter: the Xetan Ambassadors, with the desperate approbation of Thalia herself, had called upon the armies of their Empire to invade Enamoria. The landing of the armada from the west in Enamoria caused mass panic among the defendants of the newborn Republic. The Xet, under the command of Second TulOrekis, decimated the Medonian troops as well as the Prelatine Guard who had been besieging them. Thereupon they established Enamoria as their own Protectorate. Only a few Medonians, among them the Governor and the General themselves, were able to escape the clutches of the Xet in the underground catacombs of the Pnyx.
The rest of Aelyria was roused by the plight of the Medonians to raise arms against the foreign invaders. The remains of the Prelatine Guard joined forces from Centripax, as well as troops and naval forces from the capitol led by Prince Valerian, Imperial Consul James de Rothchild, and Archduke Threlius de Lylles, in hastily setting out toward the city. By dint of valour and superior numbers the Aelyrian forces finally succeeded in liberating Medonia and putting the Xet to flight. The short-lived Republic was definitively reintegrated into the empire and Governor Ambrose Devere, although the accusation of treason still hung over him, was left to rebuild the capitol of the province along with Consul Rothchild: for the other two leaders of the liberation force had been suddenly called back to the Palace on the Isle of the Crown by the unquenchable force of the Aethergem.
Sherian and Darkblade
Enamoria was not the only province in desperate straits at this time, however. It so chanced that in 9917 the pirates who had always plagued the shores of Sherian province amassed for the greatest invasion the province had seen since the tumultuous times of Earl Jefean. The attack, directed at the city of Taralon, met with little opposition as the fortifications, massive as they once had been, were of late sadly neglected and the armed forces grown lax in their duties. The pirates overwhelmed the citizenry, killed the Governor Lady Kyrotta, and began rounds of pillaging which lasted for many brightenings.
As news of this attack reached the capitol the remnants of the Senate in desperation sent out one Hannas Darkblade, a man of little prior fame and recommended to the Senators more for his firm principles and loyalty than for his previous military exploits, to quell the invaders. To this effect Darkblade was appointed Governor of Sherian. The choice soon proved to have been a happy one. The pirates fled at the news of the Governor's approach with well-trained Imperial Legions behind him. Governor Hannas Darkblade entered the city of Taralon bloodlessly and immediately set about scouring the coasts with his troops to root out the seats of the invaders.
A Fall, an Intervention, and an Ascention
As her power in the Empire seemed to be waning, Intendent Thalia decided that it was time to go through with the ceremony of ascension with or without the agreement of the Senate. As the momentous brightening approached a group of adventurers managed to penetrate the Palace and activate the power of the Aethergem. The awakening of the Aethergem restored Emperor Constantine to life in human form at the same as it called upon five true claimants to the throne to step forth: Prelate Aleksander of the Church of the Faith; Fire Mystia, former Empress and wife of Constantine; Prince Valerian, the son of Constantine and Fire; Princess Seresia, daughter of Alyssa Chrysinaria and Ieolus Lylles; and Archduke Threlius de Lylles. All claimants were transported to the Throne Room where Thalia and her Xetan supporters, among whom was numbered Second TulOrekis, were making the last preparations for the Intendents ascension. But at the very moment when a fight between the two parties seemed innevitable, the body of Thalia was overwhelmed by the Goddess Diana manifesting herself in physical flesh and the Xetan band was banished from this plane forever.
Diana declared that all the contendants would merge with the mind of Prince Valerian Constantius, the one she deemed most fit to rule the Empire. But during the ceremony the Emperor Constantine, fearful for the mind of his son, pushed the elemental Fire Mystia aside and merged with Valerian himself. In such an ominous manner began the reign of the last monarch of the Third Empire, Valerian Constantius I, late in era 9917.
Valerian Constantius I
Further revolutionary appointments followed, as the new Emperor shocked his subjects by dismissing the Imperial Court and choosing new officers to positions of highest importance in his government. Notable among these was the elevation of Imperial Consul James de Rothchild to the position of Imperial Regent, the appointment of Lord Holland, formerly Governor of Centripax and lately the Imperial Minister of Protocol, his Advisor, and the elevation of Governor Hannas Darkblade to the position of Imperial Marshal. At this news the short-lived Governor of Sherian reluctantly left his work in that southern province to assume his new post. Even Ambrose Devere was pardoned by the newly crowned Emperor, acquiring the prestigious position of Imperial Arbiter for his just opposition to Intendent Thalia. Seeking to diminish the power of the Aelyrian nobility and to avoid any further possibility for rebellion on the part of his subjects, Emperor Valerian ordered all armed forces not affiliated to the Imperial military to be disbanded.
Despite the cohesion of the Empire and of the gods themselves behind the new Emperor, his reign was not fated to last long. The weight of the Aethercrown itself seemed to press heavily upon Emperor Valerian Constantius I, and little was done to restore the prosperity which had marked the reign of Alyssa Chrysinaria. The Senate, which the Emperor had disbanded upon his ascension, was not called on again. By the time a single pattern had passed it became clear that the Emperor had entirely descended into madness. His government, in turn, could do nothing but attempt to enforce his last coheret edicts.
The Church of the Faith 9917-9925
It was only a matter of time, given his weakening state, before the power of the Emperor was once again called into question. This time the rebellion came from within the Church of the Faith. Since the death of Archprelates Vesta the Concilium Prelatum had been unable to agree on the matter of the next Archprelate. Though candidates had long before been asked to present their claims and credentials, none as yet had been selected; larger issues, stemming from the ill-planned and ill-fated support of the late Vesta for Thalia de Lylles, had shaken the foundations of the Church. Attendance by the common citizens of the empire had been for some time in decline, and in late patters had taken a virtual tailspin. Many prelates, fearful for their influence over the Empire, turned to the Inquisition, established long before by Archprelate Maximillian and never quite disbanded after his death, in order to solidify and reafirm the presence of rigorous morality within the Church. Others disliked the militant faith preached by the Inquisition and would have turned instead to Governor Aerienne Sarista, an Ancient Aelyrian, who had some time previously declared her candidacy for the Archprelacy and was said to have been visited by a vision of the Goddess Diana herself. It was at this juncture that Emperor Valerian Constantius' decree disbanding all militarized factions - among which was the Archonic Force of the Inquisition - was announced in the Concilium Prelatum. The leaders of the Inquisition were outraged. Lord Torquemada publicly accused the moderate prelates of political sabotage, seeing the decree as a maneuver instigated at their behest, before he stormed out of the Basilica Ecclesiae.
For a time the Archonic Force appeared to have solidified their control of the city of Diana, battling victoriously against the Imperial Army hastily assembled against them and sacking parts of Diana. As Governor Aerienne Sarista, who had been away from the Holy City during this time, gathered another, larger Imperial force in Centripax and Prime, the Archonic Force led by Lord Torquemada and the Holy Defender, leader of the Inquisitorial forces, made its way northward toward the city of Archadoon. The reason for this hasty expedition away from their home base in Diana seems to have been provided by the loyalties of the current Thane of Archadoon, one Lord Thane Kane Phoenix, appointed to his current post by Governor Aerienne Sarista and her known associate. And, in fact, the strategy proved to be successful.
The Archadoonians were unable to muster up a successful defense in the short time before the arrival of the Archonic Forces. Furthermore, internal rivalries between the government, led by Thane Phoenix, and the old nobility, led by the ancient barbari House Arkdün, weakened the attempt to pose a single defensive front against the invaders. Most of the defenders along with some leading members of House Arkdün were killed in the first wave of attack. In the second, the walls of the city were breached and the sack of Archadoon began. After the occupation of the devastated city the Archonic Force moved further northward, towards Jaedaxia. On the way they paused to wreak havoc on the village of Tearsfall, whose residents along with the druids of the Druids' Copse put up a noble resistance but were ultimately too weak in number to prevent the utter ruin of their homes. The pause which the Tearsfallians defense made in the march of the Archonic Force, however, was possibly crucial to the war and most certainly saved Jaedaxia from seige, if not from a decimation similar to that experienced in Archadoon and Tearsfall. While their soldiers were still pillaging Lord Torquemada and the Holy Defender learned that a new Imperial force, led by none other than the Imperial Field Marshal Hannas Darkblade, was making its way up the eastern coast from Aelyria Prime. Aborting their plans on Jaedaxia, the Archonic Force turned back towards Diana.
The two forces met on the Carmelyn Plains outside of the still-smoking Archadoon. Remnants of the Archadoonian guard, still led by Thane Kane Phoenix, had fled to join the Imperial Forces and were now once more arranged against their Inquisitorial enemy. The armies clashed on the plain as a still more deadly contest took place above them between the mages of each. Lord Torquemada and the Holy Defender stood on one side, against the combined powers of Governor Aerienne Sarista, the Archlich Sorrin, and members of Mages' Guild of Lauryl on the other. So powerful were the magics hurled across enemy lines that brightening that some went awry and, blasting through the ruins of Archadoon, covered the ancient city in a body of water now known as the Black Lake. As night fell the fighting ceased and the Archonic Force fell back, beating a hasty retreat to Diana as the Imperial forces collected themselves. The next clash of the armies occurred just outside of Diana, and this time the victory was decisive on the part of the Imperial army. The Holy Defender was killed and Lord Torquemada, seeing that nothing awaited him but Terramarique, committed suicide as the last of the Archonic Force were killed, seized, or fled.
A meeting of the Concilium Prelatum shortly thereafter decisively nominated Aerienne Sarista as the next candidate for the Archprelacy. In one of the last, as it turned out, acts of his reign Valerian Constantius I acknowledged his fellow Aelyrian as the new Archprelatess of the Church of the Faith. Returning triumphant to the city of Diana, Aerienne Sarista began her reign with a characteristic mixture of firmness and compassion: she decreed the immediate disbanding, for all time, of the Inquisition, while allowing many of the prelates who had spoken in its favor but later recanted to return to their posts. As for Archadoon, the new Archprelatess decreed that it be rebuilt in a new location and the refugees be resettled, sending Thane Kane Phoenix, though gravely wounded by the fighting, to oversee the project. Imperial Marshall Hannas Darkblade took it upon himself to oversee the reconstruction of provincial defenses. The Archlich Sorrin was granted permission to create an Academy in the reconstructed Archadoon.
When Thane Phoenix arrived in Archadoon, however, matters among the refugees were much worse than anyone could have expected. The relief brought by the Thane would clearly not be enough, particularly since no part of the old city could be salvaged, submerged as it was beneath the waters of the Black Lake. Leadership among the refugees had reverted to the young Argonox Arkdün, the only surviving male member of that ancient family. Loath to part with the power Argonox considered his ancestral right, it is uncertain what may have happened, given this new change impetus, in the politics of Archadoon. But, as it happened, the rivalry between Thane and Duke was not to be resumed - the exacerbation of Phoenix's wounds by the journey northward and his initial relief efforts sent the Thane to his bed, and would spell his eventual demise. The Duke took over full control of the rebuilding, using up most of his patrimony in the process and neither asking - nor receiving - any help from the government. He named the renascent city Arkdün.
The Archprelatess, who might otherwise have taken an interest in the growth of the new city, had pressing concerns elsewhere: shortly after her ascension her sister Lilienne, also a deranged necromancer, was captured and brought to the Basilica Eclesiae for questioning. Before anything could be gleaned from her, however, or the issue of her future be decided, Lilienne managed to break free from her captivity, kidnap Aerienne, and disappear from Diana. Early in 9925 the seat of the Archprelate was once more vacant.
Reflections on the End of a Dynasty and the Birth of a New Age
It was truly not an era blessed by the gods. Shortly after the disappearance of the Archprelatess, the Emperor Valerian, whose madness by that time could no longer be kept a secret from the people, disappeared. His officials could not but breathe a sigh of relief. Yet, as the true death of the Valerian Constantius I remained in uncertainty, thus prohibiting the ascension of another Emperor, Imperial Regent James de Rothchild took over the Empire and declared a state of Regency. Thus the rule of the Empire passed from the Ancient Aelyrian blood that had ruled it for so long to that of the shorter-lived races, the original subjects Constantine's great Empire. The Dynasty which Constantine had attempted to create had failed, and failed miserably: Valerian Constantius disappeared without having sired any children, and all others born to Emperor Constantine had been long dead. Moreover, the few Ancient Aelyrians who had survived the Plague of Mortality during the reign of Diana had mostly sequestered themselves on the Isle Coronae that had been their original possession. They had taken little interest in the progress of Constantine's Empire in any case; most in the Empire ceased to care about them and some even believed them to have died out completely.
The question of the Empire which Constantine and the Aelyrians left behind them, however, yet remained. Was Alyssa Chrysinaria a wondrous aberation, or would she become a precedent for a new way of ruling the Empire? Would the Empire itself, created as it was from diverse races and nations, survive those who had given it birth and protection for so long? There are those who argue that the 69-pattern period of chaos and utter rebellion between the reign of Constantine and Alyssa Chrysinaria marks the true break point between the old Empire and the New. Nevertheless, it is my opinion that only after the evident death of Valerian Constantius did the Age of Aelyrians come to an end and a new Age, the Age of the Arcane as I wish to call it, begin.
For it must be remembered that much of the indominable power of the Empire came from the mystique surrounding it's Aelyrian rulers and elite - winged creatures of immense power and ability, blessed first by Ioannes and then by Diana, and capable of controlling the power of all the spheres of arcana within themselves. Such powers could never be rivaled by any member of the lesser races. With their death or withdrawal from the top echelons of the Empire, the most powerful members of Aelyrian society left were the mages: some on the side of the Empire, but many others in opposition to it. The subsequent history of Aelyria down to my own time is quintissentially concerned with the history of prominent mages and magecraft.
Regent James de Rothchild
In the apt hands of Rothchild and his closest advisors, who included the young and able human Alexander Nighthawk, newly appointed Imperial Field Marshal, the Empire saw a period of calm such as it had not experienced since the death of Empress Chrysinaria. The Regent maintained a program of quiet solidification, reaffirming the power of a centralized government over the provinces and the old nobility and sending out bands of adventurers against those pockets of internal evil which still remained. It soon grew clear to the Regent and his closest advisors that many of these appeared to manifest a close affinity to the arcane sphere of necromancy. It is thus during this period in the history of the Empire that necromancy first came to be regarded as evil in and of itself, though its practice had long been regarded as suspicious by some peoples.
A Dark Threat is Born
The first sign of the growing necromantic threat arose in Port Alyxandrya. It was here that a dead man was discovered in the possession of a mysterious and magnificent gem shaped, as it were, into an eye. Upon its examination by a number of experts at the Stormhaven Academy it was agreed that this was a precious but deadly artifact known as the Eye of Jorel and the book in which the gem had been contained was entitled The Children of Jorel. The book told of the power of the Eye of Jorel and its ability, when weilded in the hands of an Archmage Necromancer, to open a Gateway to Cyraxia and unleash the ancient enemy of the Aelyrians.
As much as the mages attempted to keep this matter a secret, word about the Eye and its powers leaked out. Only a few brightenings after its discovery an Archmage, Archmage Balthazor, stole the Eye and attempted its use. Before the Gateway could completely open, however, the Archmage was discovered and the Eye taken from him, but even in the span of a few moments massive destruction had already been done: whole blocks of Port Alyxandrya had been razed to the ground by the power of the Eye of Jorel, and no part of the city escaped unscathed.
In grief over the senseless destruction and fear over what might have happened had the Archmage been able to complete his casting, Thane Patrius ordered the gem and the book to be transported post-haste to an ancient temple in the desert of Arakmat, where it was hoped the powers of the Eye might be contained. Yet by this time rumours of the artifact were spreading and could not be contained; it appeared that others in the service of Jorel would follow in the footsteps of Archmage Balthazor. The party from Port Alyxandrya proved to be too small and the Eye of Jorel was once again stolen and the thieves could not be found.
The Dark Alliance
As was subsequently revealed, the power of the Eye of Jorel drew together a number of powerful necromancers who created the beginnings of the Dark Alliance. The six gathered a massive force over the span of many patterns and planned an attack that was to take the cities of Port Alyxandrya, Medonia, and Daltina in a simultaneous coup. The tri-pronged attack commenced in the spring of 10012. Although the takeover started out well for the necromancers, and Daltina was indeed completely under their control for some time, the dark forces which were supposed to have taken the cities of Medonia and Port Alyxandrya from the inside were beaten back. The hordes of undead outside the city walls regrouped even as messengers from Thane Patrius of Port Alyxandrya were sent to Zerdargia in hopes of mobilizing the Veldar Elite to the aid of the beleaguered Enamorians.
As the Centripaxians came down through the Midlands the Dark Alliance gathered their own forces in Medonia and Daltina for another attempt on the walls of Port Alyxandrya. The besieged certainly could not have held out for long had not the Veldar Elite attacked the undead horde from behind, pinning the dark forces between themselves and the walls of the city. With the death of Archmage Sander in battle the rest of the army lost its nerve and scattered throughout the province, unpursued by the victors who had also sustained large losses in the battle. The remnants of the Dark Alliance were soon drawn to a solitary spot in the Enamorian Wilderness where they built a new city for themselves which they named Malice.
An Edict Against Necromancy
Shocked by these events, and subsequently finding that no rational or military force seemed able to root out the trouble, the Regent promulgated an edict in era 10101 which made the practice of all necromancy illegal and ordered necromancers henceforward to be punished for the use their arts. Rothchild specifically empowered the Church to oversee the detection and expurgation of the necromancers. Many managed to escape however, either augmenting the forces of the Dark Alliance in Malice or turning to other hideouts for safety. It was feared that a new war must soon arise against those disgruntled by the edict.
The Seige of Vortex
And indeed, matters soon came to a head in the province of Arium, which quickly became known as another haven for necromancers. For many patterns Governor Kassander Massacre had shown himself to be neutral to the cause, neither abetting necromancy nor yet actively persecuting its practitioners. Upon his disappearance, however although neither his body nor the perpetrators of the deed were ever found, it is generally supposed to have been done by those citizens angered by the Governors quiet disobedience to the Regent - the City Council of Vortex convened and issued their official approbation of necromancy.
Regent Rothchild was quick to respond, sending the Imperial Legions to besiege the city. Vortex held out for many months in the fear that surrender would mean, if not the wholesale destruction of their city, then surely the eviction and prosecution of many of its leading citizens under Rothchilds edict against necromancy. As food grew scarce and the seasons turned to winter, secret messengers were sent to Paxia with news from within the besieged city and desperate pleas for help. But Thane Aramil H. Thamion refused to send the Falcon Legion.
For another month Vortex continued to hold out against the Imperial soldiers. In the end, however, the Imperial Legions were able to break through the protective spells which guarded the city walls and rushed through the streets of Vortex, searching for and destroying those buildings which were suspected of housing necromancers, many of whom fought to the death. The slaughter became wholesale, all able-bodied citizens falling under suspicion and consequent danger as the Imperial soldiers had no way of telling under whose skin the mind of an arcanist might be hiding. This state of affairs continued well into the night by the light of massive conflagrations which the one side did not have the ability, and the other the inclination, to dampen. The heaviest damage was sustained by those areas closest to the city walls, already long worn and broken down by Imperial bombardment, and the Southern Quarter of the city which was the site of the first breach. As the fires began to die out and Vortex settled into bloody torpor, news of the victory was sent to Aelyria Prime and the period of the military occupation of Vortex began.
Murder and the Gnome
When the messengers arrived at the Palace, however, they were to find it in a state quite different from that anyone could have anticipated. Months previously, in light of the continued ambivalent state of the war against necromancy and for fear of similar acts of audacity such as that displayed by Vortex, Regent Rothchild had taken it upon himself to reconvene the Senate nearly two hundred eras after Emperor Valerian Constantius I had given orders for its dissolution. All Thanes, Governors, and Guilds were ordered to send their representatives to the Conclave.
Shortly after the convening of the Conclave the Medonian representative, a young fian gnome by the name of Taskaburrow, requested a private audience with the Regent to discuss matters of Imperial safety within the Palace. When the two met as requested, however, the gnome slashed the Regent with a poisoned dagger before the guards could seize him. Fortunately the wound was not deep, and the Regent Rothchilds life was safe for the moment; but not the most expert physician could bring him out of the deep comma into which he had fallen. The next morning the Imperial Marshal, a close friend of the Regent, took it upon himself to inform the citizenry of Aelyria Prime of the terrible treachery enacted within the palace but pronounced his hopes for the Regents eventual recovery and his own temporary ascendancy as Acting Regent.
Stabilizing Arium
It was during this time of doubt and governmental turmoil that the messengers from Vortex arrived to present their missive before Acting Regent Nighthawk. The former Imperial Field Marshal took no time in ordering the Legions to impose martial law upon Vortex. Not trusting the word of the Imperial Commander who had allowed the destruction of the besieged city, and unable himself to travel to Arium because of Rothchilds and the governments uncertain state, Nighthawk was constrained to order the Thanes of Paxia and Nexus Prime to appear before him. Upon hearing their testimony the Acting Regent expressed his sorrow for the plight of Vortex and the directorate as a whole. As a reward for their loyal service Aramil Thamion was appointed the new Governor of Arium and Omeray AlArion was given the Thaneship of Vortex along with the task of rebuilding the city with moneys provided from the Imperial coffers. In a bid to appease the common citizenry of the province and to solidify ties between the cities of the directorate, Acting Regent Nighthawk surprised government officials by appointing a young unknown by the name of Daranih Kathal, who had been within Vortex during the siege and had participated in its defense, Thane of Paxia.
Toward a Time of Crisis: Nationality and Sovereignty
Already during the Regency of Rothchild, the inability of a single mortal mind unaided by powers of the Aethercrown to handle the affairs of the Aelyrian empire had been intimated to those few who knew about and could judge such things. During the brief Acting Regency of Alexander Nighthawk, this fact became patently obvious to all. Perhaps, it is true, the nearly 200 eras between the disappearance of Valerian Constantius and the paralyzing disease of Rothchild had merely weakened the fabric of the empire enough to forbid any peace under yet another new and unvalidated government; but general opinion has deemed Nighthawk a good field-marshal - but a bad Regent, indeed.
Even while Acting Regent Nighthawk was hard at work stabilizing Arium, other provinces were quickly descending into rebellion and anarchy. In Carmelyn, the disappearance of Archprelatess Sarista had meant that the Church, always the most powerful body in the Province, was thrown into a chaos similar to that it had experienced after the suicide of Archprelatess Vesta - with this additional problem: that, while the death of the Archprelatess could not be confirmed, most Church members felt that another Archprelate could not be nominated; and in any case any nominee could hardly be acknowledged while there was no Emperor. Other members of the Church, unwilling to be trapped once again in this untenable situation, formented dissension in their wish to name a new leader, adducing arguments in favour of the Church of the Faith as a higher body than the secular government, more holy in the eyes of Diana than any future bearer of the Aethercrown could be, and therefore capable of independently choosing their new head without recourse to a bearer of the Aethercrown.
While the Basilica Eclesiae was once more caught in internal strife, the cities of Carmelyn perforce had to grow more self-reliant and independent of the immobile provincial government. The new city of Arkdün was at the forefront of dissension. In the belief that the Church and the Empire had turned a blind eye to their sufferings, the city had turned itself wholly over to the young Duke Felix. Arising from a tradition of antipathy to the secular government that had taken away his power and weaned on hostility to the Church that had destroyed his city, Felix Arkdün grew from a fiercely independent youth to a fiercely independent man, the saviour of his people and the leader in a new kind of hope - an independent hope - for Arkdün.
At the same time as the walls of Arkdün rose in Carmelyn, the cities of Centripax were busy erecting a different sort of wall. Though Centripax had been on the whole a peaceful province since the death of Alyssa Chrysinaria, unravaged by the Xet nor unduly affected by necromancers, the Dark Alliance, or church woes, a slow disillusionment with the state of the Empire had grown among its cities since the disappearance of Valerian Constantius. The dwarves of Zerdargia, proud of their heritage as the only people who voluntarily joined the Empire of Constantine, claimed the right to declare their independence in the same way they had once declared their sublimation. Midpoint, too, abandoned their loyalty to the Empire and forged their way forward as an independent city-state.
Ironically, the Arkdüni and the Zerdargians claimed similar reasons for their separation: loyalty to the Aethercrown and its bearer, they said, hardly extended to the human regents who proposed to rule the Empire without its backing. While there was nobody who could lay claim to its possession, the two cities refused to act in concert with the central government.
The Phaelon
It was a rather different story in Mystique. One of the most extensive mage communities at this time was located in Mystique. So extensive was it, in fact, that early in era 10232 the government of the city had been superseded by a Council of Mages who called themselves the Phaelon and were led by the Archmage mystics Ma Tias and Omarus, who imprisoned Governess Adrienna and Archmage Tobias, head of the prestigious Moonstone Academy of Mystique. It was later discovered that Ma Tias duped the mage community into believing their actions were sanctioned by the will of Audrey de Lylles, one of the last from the Lylles family of Lauryl.
The Aetherfracture
Therefore, late in era 10233, only a few months after Nighthawk's ascension as the Acting Regent, the Empire stood on the brink of disintegration. A mere few brightenings latter, it would be pushed over the edge. In a brightening which will surely remain a fateful one for the history of all Telath, the Aethergem fractured and the chaos of the patters before was as nothing to the chaos which reigned in the empire afterward.
Only one man witnessed the event, the elven Archmage Tanys, custodian of the gem. According to his tale the Aethergem split spontaneously with a sudden crash, and from the fragments burst a blue liquid which corroded the marble floor, leaving black marks which can still be seen in the Aetherchamber. He said the liquid was accompanied by the form of an aelyrian woman who exited the gem and fell upon the floor. The Archmage tried to cast a healing spell but was prevented - in fact, he could not cast at all.
Whether Archmage Tanys spoke truly or not about this sequence events, one consequence of the shattering of the gem remains incontrovertible: it broke the link between the Empire's mages and the astral plane which had heretofore been the foundation of all Aelyrian arcana. Mages all over the empire suddenly lost their abilities. What did the fracture of the Aethergem mean? Who had caused it - was it a god, or the angered spirit of Constantine, or some unknown enemy entirely? who was the aelyrian woman who came from within the gem - if there had been such a woman at all? Rumours abounded, none of them worth the ink and parchment it would take to write them down.
Yet the fracture caused mayhem not only among mages, but among all the citizenry of the Empire. In Aelyria Prime, a gigantic tidal wave crashed down and destroyed the harbour, echoed by storms in Centripax and a curious boost to plant growth in the Medonian Faillegrove Park. Shock and fear spread thoughout the provinces, where news of the event had not yet even arrived. On the Isle of the Crown, a general evacuation of the palace was called for. Many were able to escape thanks to the airship AFS Khatakera, among them Acting Regent Alexander Nighthawk, Senator Mekare Taryn, Archmage Tanys, and Regent James de Rothchild, who had been awakened from his comma by the shattered power of the Aethergem.
As chaos and fear spread through the Empire and the mage community, Nighthawk and the remnants of his government convened at the Palace in Aelyria Prime in an attempt to establish order. The hope that might have arisen with the returning sensibility of Regent Rothchild was quickly dispelled, however. Traumatized for the last time by the shattering of the aethergem and the troubled passage to Aelyria Prime, the Regent weakened. As the final act of his regency, he formally transfered his regency onto the shoulders of Alexander Nighthawk. He passed away peacefully, but there was no time for mourning. The new Regent decided to solicit the aid the Church, as one of the oldest and most respected institutions of the Empire. He set out to Diana post-haste in order to ask the Prelatine Council to select an Archprelate as their head and as his ally in a quest for restored order and unity to the Aelyrian Empire.
The Rise of the Mages
The Prelatine Council remained obstinate, however, and Regent Nighthawk spent fruitless weeks at the Basilica Eccelsiae attempting to convince the Prelates of the vital necessity of electing a head for the Church to rally round. Many of them, led by Prelate Jodus, maintained that they would be encroaching on the prerogative of an Emperor should they do so. Unwilling to give up his hopes, however, the Regent stayed in Diana. If he had not - if he had returned to the capitol - perhaps things would have gone differently for him, and for the Empire.
During those weeks, as the Prelatine Council continued to bicker, the Academy of Mages in Aelyria Prime had channeled their panic into productivity. Unable to believe that their connection to magic had disappeared and the work of thousands of years had been lost, mages of the Academy, led by a Master Uzar, began to experiment. The combination of so many creative minds did not take long to bear fruit. After a fire burned down the western wing of the Academy of Magical Sciences, word began to spread among the population of the city that the mages had found an answer: a Stone of Unbinding, which could grant a mage the power to connect to the aethereal without the need for an aethergem.
As the welcome news spread through the mage community, students and masters flocked from all over the empire in order to test this new creation and regain what they had lost. News of the event came to Diana, as well. Abandoning the Prelatine Council, Regent Alexander Nighthawk - himself formerly a mage of some note - traveled back to the capitol. The brightening after his arrival in Aelyria Prime he came before the people to announce his policy on the restoration of Arcanic powers: the use of the Stone of Unbinding would only be given to those provinces who stood in good faith with the Imperial government and had paid all their back-taxes.
The Regent's use of the Stone as leverage against recalcitrant provinces shocked the mage community. Nevertheless, it is difficult to say what exactly inflamed the crowd on that particular afternoon in era 10236. With the wisdom of hindsight, it might appear surprising that government officials did not do more to organize or even hinder the steady stream of mages traveling from across the Empire in hopes of being unbound. Perhaps, with the city still in disarray from the arcanic storms that had hit it an era previously, the mages seemed too small and scholarly a group to cause much commotion. Perhaps, with the Regent gone to Diana, the chain of command had broken. Some even say that this was no ordinary movement of the people but the culmination of a seditious plot by those parties who considered the the human Regent too weak to rule. There were, only too apparently after the fact, certain parties who stood to benefit from the return of arcana more than others.
Nevertheless, what is certain is that a crowd composed of mages from across the Empire gathered at the gates of the Imperial Citadel shortly after the Regent's announcement. Crying out for the release of the Stone of Unbinding, it threatened to break open the gates and take matters into its own hands. The forces of the city militia were not large enough, nor organized well enough, to disperse the crowd. In desperation, Regent Nighthawk unleashed an elemental storm against the gathered mages. A few of the protesters were killed, many more injured; yet in the confusion and heightened emotions of the moment, a miracle occurred: some of the mages in the crowd unbound themselves - and then began to unbind the rest. As suddenly as that roles reversed and the mages, emboldened by the return of their powers, stormed the Imperial Citadel.
The first to break into the Imperial Citadel were a group of Versians led by an elementalist named Julos. Storming through the militia and the Regent's personal suite, Julos and his followers, who called themselves the Rakrya, came at last to the Regent's office and there banished Nighthawk's final defenses. Full of righteous anger at the arcanic force which the Regent had unleashed against them, Julos and his mages began to chant the spell that would bind Nighthawk's powers forever. Yet they had not figured on the mortal aid which the Regent could call upon in his hour of need. As the mages chanted, a saurid guard charged the mages and broke the spell. The elemental energies already called down to the mortal plane spun out of control, enveloping Julos and shooting out - not at Nighthawk, but toward the Stone of Unbinding. As it shattered, the energies from the Stone shot out in a wave across the courtyard below and, moving further, across the Empire, unbinding any and all mages in its way.
As another wave of panic was about to spread through the crowd gathered at the plaza, High Archon Lebedicus and Archon Saeryn rode in with a troop of soldiers gathered in haste to restore order. As the soldiers assembled below, Julos and his Rakrya opened the doors to the balcony and led Nighthawk and his supporters out into the presence of the people. Before them all, the Regent Nighthawk announced that, as his last act as Regent, he called upon all claimants to the crown to present themselves at the palace. In a sudden move, he also nominated Audrey de Lylles, also present on the balcony, as a claimant.
It is uncertain what Julos might have done at this juncture - whether he intended to make his own bid for the throne or whether he would allow Regent Nighthawk's declaration to stand at all. Nature prevented any such discovery: weakened by the storms and the arcanic blasts, the earth beneath the Imperial Citadel moved and the tower appeared ready to fall. One of the Rakrya opened a teleportation gate through which Julos and his followers vanished. The rest of those assembled on the balcony, as well as those out in the Imperial Forum, were evacuated by the soldiers. Yet another arcanic blast of unknown provenience shattered through the crowd at that moment - and when it dissipated, Audrey de Lylles and Countess Nadina d'Rosario, Imperial Consul to Centripax, had disappeared.
The Liberation of Mystique
In the confusion of the moment, nobody noticed until later that another drama had unfolded in the Forum while the powers of Julos and Regent Nighthawk were being tested inside the Citadel. I heard the tale from a private but a most trustworthy source close to one of the main participants in these and subsequent events. It appears that a significant contingent of the mages who had traveled to Aelyria Prime in hopes of being unbound came from Mystique. Among these mages were Ma Tias and Omerus, the leaders of the Phaelon themselves. Their presence was recognized by a giant by the name of Nashkel Angor, a native of Mystique who held a deep grudge against the two archmages. As all eyes were turned up to the balcony, Nahskel Angor was able to get close enough to kill Ma Tias and wound Omarus, thus dealing a heavy blow to the Phaelon and raising his own hopes for the restoration of Imperial government in his native city. As search parties for Audrey de Lylles and Countess d'Rosario scoured the city and Julos drafted his first Address to the Empire, the giant Angor made his way post-haste towards Lauryl - and Mystique.
Even before Angor's arrival in Lauryl, a series of events transpired which helped to shake the foundations of the Phaelon's rule. As the repercussions of the spontaneous unbinding ricocheted throughout the empire, the Archmage Tobias, formerly Head of the Moonstone Academy and for many ordinations past imprisoned along with the Governess, found his powers available to him without any of the magical constraints with which Omarus and Ma Tias had formerly secured him. Still physically imprisoned, however, the Archmage's first act was to send forth a projection of Governess Adrienna to a startled Mystique crowd. Before the mages of the Phaelon could react, the Governess was able to announce the circumstances of her imprisonment and the unlawful rise of Ma Tias and Omarus to prominence. She called upon the people to defend her and to rid themselves of their tyrants, of whom, unknown to her as yet, one was already dead. Before she could say anything further the Phaelon guard burst into the chamber and, in the ensuing scuffle, the Archmage was killed.
When Omarus arrived back at his city that evening, it was to a dark atmosphere of foreboding. The people, duped for so long, could not immediately countenance the vision they had seen. Left alone in power, without the guiding mind of Ma Tias, Omarus ordered the defenses of the city tightened. The very next morning he countered the words of the Governess' image with a statement that proclaimed both his rule over the city and a new source of legitimacy for that rule: the so-called Mageocracy, the government, that is, of the self-appointed Julos. In a bid to solidify his own power, Omarus pledged the full resources of the Phaelon to the Rakrya.
This was to be Omarus' last public act. As men who had been in Aelyria Prime, among them the giant Nashkel Angor, returned to Mystique and related what they had seen, and as rumours of Ma Tias' death and the nomination of their own Audrey de Lylles to the crown spread, the people were emboldened. Chanting loudly, a crowd of commoners armed with whatever they could find and led by Angor gathered before the citadel of the Phaelon. Breaking through the physical and arcanic defences of the citadel they met face to face with Omarus himself. The self-styled archmystic was unable to hold back the crowd as his followers wavered before the onslaught - it became subsequently apparent that he was no archmage at all. It was the giant Angor, again, who dealt him the fatal blow. The remnants of the Phaelon fled, and the governess Adrienne was freed from her confinement. The city rejoiced and embraced the cause of Audrey de Lylles for Empress.
Julos the Mad
In Aelyria Prime, however, the self-styled First Guardian Julos had plans of his own which did not include a traditional empress of the Lylles family. Disillusioned by a government which purported to be invested in the common people but whose members were almost all drawn from the highest ranks of society, the mage convened his fellow mages to create a Rakrya, taking the name from the ancient Aelyrian council who oversaw the land during the Cyraxian invasion, and creating with their help a multitude of orbs called Sentinels to uphold the law and imprison the guilty. These are perhaps his most well known invention, but Julos seems to have had other, beneficent plans which belie the sorry history of his downfall. He desired to root out the corruption and the negligence in the education system, and actively pursued policies to replentish the Imperial Coffers. He also reconvened the Senate, only the second time that the Senate had convened since the time of Valerian Constantius.
But Julos' egalitarian policies met with opposition and his new orders were met with fear. Though the Rakrya had lifted the edict of martial law placed upon the city by Nighthawk, it had replaced it with nothing less than the Sentinels, beings which the common people neither understood nor were accustomed to.
It seemed Julos' reign was ill-fated from the first. Even before the convention of the Senate, confusion broke out over the right to elect the delegate from Aelyria Prime. The session itself, with was finally held in 10237, four eras after the fracturing of the Aethergem, was no more orderly, with many delegates boldly stating their concerns over the legitimacy of the Rakrya and questioning Julos' authority over the Empire. Arbiter Aramil H. Thamion, who presided over the meeting, attempted to mediate between the parties, citing his own appreciation for the benefits of order that the Rakrya could confer, but in the end was forced to rule the Rakrya illegal. But what truly sent the meeting over the edge was a mysterious apparition of a voice which declared Audrey de Lylles the only and rightful Empress of the Aelyrian Empire. Some maintain that it was the voice of Emperor Constantine himself breaking through all the laws of the multiverse to command the fate of his Empire. Julos, seeing his good works crumbling about him, countered by immediately suspending the Senate and declaring Martial Law. Citing a private ritual of the Rakrya, Julos also declared himself Emperor as decreed by the essence of Diana herself.
As the Rakrya continued to tighten its grip on the reigns of power, however, it was dealt several severe blows from disparate quarters. First, in the trial of the Empire vs. Alexander Nighthawk, Justicar Juliara absolved the former Regent of any crime, despite the Rarkya's insistant objections. Soon afterward, early in the winter of era 10238, rumors spread through Aelyria Prime that Audrey had been seen again in Zerdargia gathering troops and claiming the throne, with much of Centripax, as well as Lauryl, the hereditary seat of the eastern de Lylles, behind her.
Audrey de Lylles
In time, these rumors would prove to be true. When next the historian takes up the thread of Audrey de Lylles, it must indeed be in Zerdargia two eras after that fateful brightening in Aelyria Prime when the Stone of Unbinding broke and Alexander Nighthawk declared her a claimant for the throne. By this time she is spoken of not merely as a claimant, but as the Empress, and several sources, citing the appartition which spoke to the Senate, allege that her right to that title was bestowed upon her by none other than Emperor Constantine himself. Whether this is in fact the truth I do not pretend to know; for my own part, such stories seem more the political inventions of loyal allies rather than probable, or even possible, facts - but some events in the future of this narrative which, however, improbable, numerous eye-witness accounts and a preponderance of evidence cast beyond any misgiving - make me doubt my reason even here, and I will rather withhold judgment on the role of the late Emperor Constantine on these events rather than pass censure or cast doubt on the doings of the greatest men and women of our age.
Be that as it may, Audrey de Lylles, along with Nadina d'Rosario, reappeared again in Zerdargia, from where she made her way toward Arium and an Imperial Army mobilized under the command of General Rhysatra, who had defected during the last brightenings of the Regency of Nighthawk when his government was unable to provide their pay. From the road she wrote a declaration, quickly disseminated throughout the empire, challenging Julos' Rakrya and asserting her claim as the sole Empress of the Aelyrian Empire.
As word of the army spread, Senators from the failed conclave in Aelyria Prime, as well as disaffected cities, including the township of Trysvale and the farming giant Candaceburg, flocked to her banner as Julos and the Rakrya began to organize their defence.
Further confusion throughout the provinces spread, however, at the news that a terrible disease known as the Feeble Pox had appeared in disparate parts of the Empire. Without any known cure, many cities tightened their security measures and put non-residents into quarantine. The debilitating sickness, which ended in almost certain death, forced Medonia and latter even Aelyria Prime to enter a self-imposed quarantine due to fear of the Pox.
Return of the Aelyrians
As Audrey de Lylles' forces moved through Centripax, startling news arrived at her camp. Emperor Valerian Constantius, who had disappeared more than 1000 eras before, was found near death in the Ariumite mountains. In an appeal to unity and Empire, the Valerian denied his own claim to the throne and upheld Audrey de Lylles as the rightful claimant. This announcement shocked the Empire, forcing those cities and citizens who had wished to wait quietly on the sidelines until the resolution of the conflict into action. Queen Sharinya of the fae spoke up in favor of the Lylles, causing a severe crackdown against fae in Rakryan strongholds like Vers and Aelyria Prime. Even Arkdün, one of the most isolationist of the cities of Aelyria, offered vocal support of Audrey de Lylles and the last of the Arkdün family, Lady Aurelia Arkdün, handed over leadership of the city, renamed Archadoon, to Imperial authority.
But even as Audrey de Lylles' forces grew, the Rakrya had not stood idle. While Julos kept his iron grip around Aelyria Prime, he sent an Imperial Army enhanced by Sentinels into Centripax to root out his rival once and for all. The Rakryan forces were led by Acovius, an odd but highly skilled necromancer who had become Julos' right-hand-man in the eras since his ascention to power. Unwilling to allow the army of Audrey de Lylles to gain any further ground, Acovius quickly moved onto the offensive, attacking the Army of Audrey and Valerius in the heart of the Centripax woods. The forces were evenly matched, but Audrey and Valerian's troops appeared to be getting the upper hand when the cunning of the necromancer swayed the battle. Spearheading a direct surprise assault on the central camp of Audrey de Lylles, Acovius used his deadly skills to take the life of the Empress, considering that without her the cause of the whole army was lost.
He had not counted, however, on the miraculous powers which had backed Audrey de Lylles. To go against an Ancient Aelyrian is a foolish thing; but to go against the will of the Gods is madness. Eyewitnesses among the Empress' guard that brightening say that it was Valerian Constantius who brought the spirit of Audrey back, winging his way to the halls of Jalat, or perhaps to Ioannes himself - the stories on this point vary. Suffice to say that he would not let her spirit go, and the Rakrya's final hope was doomed to nothing. The rest of Acovius' army was broken and fled, leaving the way open to Aelyria Prime.
Another version of the tale says, however, that when Emperor Valerian called back the soul of Audrey de Lylles, he called down to the Empire the many souls of his Aelyrian brethren as well. As the army of Audrey and Valerian continued their slow march across the Khardran Mountains, hampered by the winter snows, the winged beings who had slumbered so long away from the Empire born under their auspices awoke and came back to Telath.
Restoration of Order
With the return of the Aelyrians, the fundamental premise behind Julos' new order - that the Empire must leave it's dead Aelyrian roots behind and forge onward as a new body governed by a mortal elite of mages - collapsed. Many of the mages in the Rakrya fled, leaving Julos and his closest cadre locked within the island fortress called the Bastion, which exploded shortly thereafter under mysterious circumstances. Whether the explosion was due to Aelyrian interference or whether Julos himself was behind it remains unknown.
Audrey de Lylles made her triumphant return into the capitol city in 10244, or 10 eras Post Fractum. The traditional strongholds of the mageocracy, such as Vers, quickly acknowledged the new Empress. The last to fall was the secessionist city of Jaedaxia, which had declared its independence from the Empire late in the previous era, declaring the Duchess Aislynne Quian Carados its first Queen. After a short seige under the whole force of the Imperial Army, the shortlived Kingdom fell and Queen Aislynne took her own life. Thus the Aelyrian Empire appeared to have made a return to its original form and ancient traditions after centuries of chaos and confusion. With the accenssion of Audrey de Lylles as rightful Empress, the Interregnum came to a close.
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![The Interregnum [Next/Final Draft??]](http://www.playbypost.com/forums/iconimages/history-forge/interregnum-next-final-draft_ltr.gif)
By the time I get to Milo, we'll probably be on to the next big plot after Milo, and this will never end... 
) but would (should?) the Elanara Episode (love that phrase!) make its way within this page?
Minor nitpicks
