Imperial Timeline of the Third Age

2106 - 2151 - Reign of Harpa. Though mantled in the holy fire, Harpa barely controls Aldan, with the other four kingdoms under independent dynasties. Most state affairs are conducted by generals or Senate councilors. In 2134 Loren is captured by Amathine pirates, led by a sea elf named Abeja Mowari. Said to have been the son of a Mulkarthi priestess and a merbeast, Abeja turned Loren into a haven for bandits and blackguards. He sacrificed his enemies to sharks, and spent many hours beneath the sea conferring with the Drowned King and his minions. He attempted to take the capital in 2151, but was stopped as he sailed up the Anahi River by Harpa and the Wave Legion. Harpa’s flagship rammed into Abeja’s vessel, and both were overturned by ‘Myrmex’s wrath.’ Neither Harpa nor Abeja were recovered. After Abeja’s disappearance, his captains mutilated his realm and pillaged Loren before being driven back to the sea. 
2151 - 2164 - Reign of Lisso. A mere boy of three when he inherited the Silver Throne, Lisso was largely controlled by his advisors. The Diamond Crown was not even worn by the boy, instead, it was placed on a cushion that was held by an enormous eunuch covered all over with ‘apotropaic tattoos in the shape of a star giant fleet.’ Soon after Lisso was named emperor, a horde of Braxian horsemen came sweeping out of the plains. They seize Sacris and make the Ismerian Emperor little more than a puppet. Khagan Kerjic, leader of the horsemen, decides to parade the boy around in a pearl-laden palanquin, attended by hundreds of perfumed eunuchs, temple dancers and chanting Loom Priests bearing aloft the Silk Prophecies in their great, gem-encrusted cases. The procession was intended to march around the base of holy Mount Haru, where many emperors are buried, but as the grand spectacle leaves Sacris it is attacked by Kerjic’s treacherous boyars, who coveted the wealth on display. In the chaos, Lisso is spirited away by a few triarii of the Deathless Legion. 
2164 - 2218 - Reign of the Bandit Kings. The Braxian boyars, after fighting over Sacris’ wealth, determine to rule the city without the emperor. The horsemen are poor administrators and largely focus on looting Aldan and raiding into Fendrel and Loren. In 2215, an orc army spreads across Brax and Khagan Lubov goes to meet them. His army is defeated at Kela’s Stand, and he flees back to Sacris. He hides in the Lotus Palace, fearing the reprisals of his boyars, until he is ‘poisoned by the secretions of one of his eunuch dancers.’ (?). With Lubov’s death, the other horselords abandon Sacris and return to Brax, which is beset by orcs. The Senate invites Livonius, a distant relation of Lisso, to take the Silver Throne. 
2218 - 2243 - Reign of Livonius. A few years into his rule, he is challenged by Sebrus, who claims to be the son of Lisso by an 'elk queen’ of the Worldspines. Sebrus gathers many supporters, only for a young woman, Alya, to emerge from Brax. She claims to be Lisso’s daughter by a ‘famed horsewoman who took the heads of many orcs.’ Alya gathers her own supporters, even as a third claimant, Pedri, appears in Loren. He insists he is the son of Lisso by a Lorenese concubine, and he was smuggled out of Sacris before the horselords breached its walls. This would have meant Lisso was about 12 when Pedri was conceived, a sheer absurdity according to his critics. Livonius’ spends most of his reign fighting the War of the False Heirs, so named as even after Sebrus was captured and executed in 2229, a ‘Second Sebrus’ appeared, insisting that the executed Sebrus was a false body double intended to confuse Livonius. Several more ‘False Sebruses’ appeared throughout the long, bitter struggle. Three Sebruses were destroyed, and Pedri fled to the Amathine Isles, vowing to return with an army of sea elves. Alya ultimately agreed to marry Livonius, bringing an end to the conflict in 2239. Livonius died a few years later, allegedly after gorging himself on peaches that grew from a sacred dryad tree. 
2243 - 2256 - Reign of Milus. Kept cloistered by his mother, Milus was little more than a mouthpiece for Alya, who had since gained an iron grip on the imperial household. When Milus achieved his majority, he began to chafe under his mother’s power, and increasingly resisted her. One story states how he snatched the Opal Seal out of his mother’s hand, which she was using to stamp papers in the emperor’s name. He refused to return the seal to her until she acknowledged that it was his by right. After this incident, Alya had a triarii, who was said to be her lover, blind Milus and imprison him in the labyrinths below Sacris. 
2256 - 2261 - Reign of Alya. She deferred the fire-mantling ceremony, perhaps believing that Sol would judge her unworthy and scorch her. Though she had married into the Ismerian Dynasty, she invited many relatives from Brax to take up official positions in the court, and she herself enjoyed the attentions of at least six lovers, one of whom was an Iron League dwarf. Pressured by the Senate to ‘walk the flames’ and so become a legitimate sovereign, she finally agreed to the ritual, only to be ‘smothered by moths’ in her sleep the night before the ceremony was to take place. 
2261 - 2289 - Palace Mutiny. Following Alya’s inauspicious death, rumors spread that the Ivory Tree had proclaimed a soldier would be the next ruler of the ‘empire,’ which largely just consisted of Aldan. The remnants of the Star Legions each threw their support behind their respective commanders, and fighting was seen all the way from the towering tombs upon the slopes of Mount Haru, to the Sea Chains at the mouth of the River Anahi. General Luris of the Onyx Legion seized the Tower of Chains and allowed a Lorenese fleet (bolstered by Amathine corsairs), up the river. Together, Luris and his allies took the capital and defeated the rival legions. At the victory feasts beside the Mother Groves, a drunk, young soldier (said to be Luris’ catamite), was showing off an Amathine crossbow and accidentally fired it at the general, killing him. The legionaries, the Lorenese and the corsairs turned on each other, and Sacris was without an emperor for some years. 
2289 - 2304 - The Praesian Yoke. Taking advantage of the chaos, King Encio Monverdi of Praesia bribes Fendrish plantation barons to allow his armies passage through their lands. Blasphemously crossing the Daeza Wall and holy Mount Haru, Encio’s forces, spearheaded by the Scarlet Guard, surprise the squabbling Aldani legions and sweep them aside. Sacris is seized in 2291, and Encio names himself ‘High King of Gallia and Praesia.’ Harpa II Ismeri attempts to rally the humiliated Aldanis and retake the city, only to be slain in battle in 2293, ending the Ismerian Dynasty. The Monverdis settle in to govern Aldan. 
2304 - 2332 - Reign of Aurelia. During her reign, the Gallicians attempt to attack Fendrel, which had an alliance with the Monverdis. Aurelia, hiring Locian mercenaries to harry the Galician flank, outmaneuvers her foes and defeats them at the decisive Battle of Oro Bridge. The Gallicians are brought under Praesian rule. 
2332 - 2368 - Reign of Martius. He negotiates with the Fendrish barons and convinces them to offer fealty to the Monverdis in exchange for various economic concessions. The barons agree, and only Loren and Brax remain independent of Praesia. 
2368 - 2391 - Reign of Encio II. He sparks the Tomb Riots when he attempts to loot several funerary bronzes from the imperial mausoleums on Mount Haru. To quell the disquiet, he makes many offerings to the Cult of Mortus, and even joins the White Mask Society. He was said to have been raised as an undead ‘necrolate’ to pay eternal obeisance to the Worm God in the catacombs below Sacris. 
2391 - 2437 - Reign of Bando. After orcs raid Aldan and steal various holy fruits from the Mother Groves as trophies, Bando leads punitive raids, pushing into the Worldspines and razing a number of orc holds. He was also said to have also all but exterminated the gnoll tribes. The last gnoll, Hibaak, was kept chained to Bando’s throne. Occasionally, the king would ride upon his shoulders during state processions. After Bando’s death, Hibaak was taken into the care of the Keepers, who recorded all the gnoll had to say regarding his people’s history, language and beliefs. The first compilation of these records contains an odd marginal note by an unknown scribe, ‘Something is wrong here. It was changed.’ (?) 
2437 - 2455 - Reign of Quintus. Shortly after his reign began, Orestians invaded Loren and seized the kingdom, using it as a staging ground for further attacks on Praesian holdings. Quintus spent many years skirmishing with the Orestians, but he could not dislodge them from Loren. The situation in Loren also encouraged the Gallician Cobblers Revolt, which began after cobblers in the city of Verlay complained of increased taxes on leather. The governor of Galicia, Bedino, had the tongues of the most vocal cobblers nailed to shoes, sparking extensive bloodshed. 
2455 - 2471 - Reign of Debeni. Seeking allies against the Orestians, and increasingly anxious about Praesia’s southern border, he sent support to the powerful Emirate of Qanjar in Khanaan. Provided with weapons, coin and advisors, the Qanjaris came to dominate the coasts of Khanaan, conquering most of the emirates, sheikhdoms and waliyas in the decades-long War of the Palms (the palm being the symbol of the Qanjar Emirs). The grateful Qanjarids sent Praesia Basai horsemen, Torags scouts and the famous archers of Djebel-Quf, which were essential to crushing Gallician resistance. 
2471 - 2512 - Reign of Felizo. Called the ‘Wrathful,’ he undertook an extensive program of discipline within his realm, rooting out traitors and dissidents and making use of the hated ‘Black Veils,’ Khanite irregulars bestowed by the Qanjarids. The Black Veils were notorious for their cruelty. One of their punishments for ‘rebels’ was to tie the naked victim to a horse and drag them through a crowd that whipped and beat the unfortunate. When they inevitably died, a lengthy process, they were dangled upside-down from a tree, which the Khanites would call ‘the tree of the divers.’ Felizo, leaving Loren to the Orestians, aimed to tame Brax instead. He marched on the plains during Flamefall, but an unusually early winter bogged down his supply lines. By Cloudrise, his troops were starving. A fight broke out between Basai horsemen and Praesian troops who accused the elves of stealing food. Felizo, a tall, brawny man used to getting his way, waded into the scuffle and attempted to subdue the ringleaders. An unknown party hurled a dolabra, which struck Felizo and split his skull. He died before aid could be rendered. 
2512 - 2519 - Reign of Crucis. Thrust into power after the sudden death of his father, Crucis tried to recall the army from Brax, though its withdrawal was slow and hampered by both horsemen and orc raids. While focussed on the east, Praesia was invaded from the west, as Orestians marched out of Loren to take Aldan. The Galicians, supplied and encouraged by the Orestians, revolted as well, and Crucis fled Sacris to fight a protracted running battle, harrying the Orestians and Galicians and urgently calling on the Qajarids to send aid. Crucis attempted a risky crossing of the Worldspines, some say to seek the Needle of Heaven, and was lost with most of his entourage somewhere around Typhon’s Teeth.   
2519 - 2533 - Reign of Amica. A child of five when the Orestians took Sacris, she was the only one of Crucis’ children not to accompany him across the mountains, apparently because she was suspected of being the product of infidelity between Queen Berilla and the Basai Master of the Horse. Many remarked on her ‘dusky, elfin physiognomy.’ Amica was married to Gaidrus, Heritor of the Exarchies, a Zorn. He had no real interest in the girl, and she was but a puppet of the Orestians. When Amica came of age, she conspired against Gaidrus, offering to marry a wrymrider named Petros in exchange for him slaying Gaidrus while he was on aerial maneuvers. When Gaidrus learned of this, Amica fled to Fendrel, where she hid in a swamp. Upon discovering that the barons intended to sell her to Gaidrus for a high price, she filled her bodice with stones and leapt into a pond, drowning herself.
2533 - 2541 - The Reclamations. Gaidrus turned his attentions to Gallicia, even as the Monverdis and their Khanite allies were driven back to Praesia. A Gallician margrave, Valeris Ranet, rallied his countrymen and went out to meet the Orestians. The margrave was apparently supplied by the Locians, who feared that Orestes would soon seek to conquer their city-states. Valeris and his forces engaged Gaidrus at Asphodel Fields and won a narrow victory. Valeris himself had his left hand torn off by a wyrm, and was ever after called ‘Dragon-Marked.’ Gaidrus retreated to Loren, and Valeris marched into a jubilant Sacris in 2538. He attacked Orestian Loren two years later and drove out the occupiers. Soon after, he sent ‘invitations’ to both Fendrel and Brax, inviting them to join the New, or Third Empire. The Braxians had to be cowed at the Battle of the Chalk Hills, but Fendrel was quick to defer to Valeris, as many considered the plantation barons to be traitors and worthy of painful executions. Valeris absolved them in return for their loyalty. By 2541, bar some minor skirmishes, Gallia had been brought under one lord again, and Valeris walked through the Crownfire to great acclaim. 
2541 - 2560 - Reign of Valeris. Most of his rule was preoccupied with the repair of his realm, which had been greatly harrowed in the preceding centuries. He hunted down and destroyed bands of Black Veils who had remained after the Monverdis departed, and restored the Mount Haru tombs that had been pillaged. Many praised Valeris for his generosity, and he was known for touring the empire to personally dispense justice and rewards to his most dedicated officials. When he died, thousands lined the river to watch his funeral barge sail up the Anahi to Mount Haru, where Valeris was entombed in grand style, his statue joining the other great monarchs in the shrines of the Emperor Cult. 
2560 - 2582 - Reign of Karleen. She supported House Marcellus in its bid to overthrow House Monverdi in Praesia. The grateful Marcellians sent an expedition to subjugate the independent Kaseni Maedi marquises of the Red Hills, who had been blocking Gallian expansion into Heide. This began the Second Heidan Settlement. Karleen’s forces, joined by the Scarlet Guard, advance beyond the Boruz, only to be halted by Vortigern Bodgar, who leads a coalition of Veldyn. Timura Rohun, a Braxian general and commander of the Gaunt Legion, is given governorship of the new Heidan colony. The Rohun Dynasty would go on to found the Heidan kingdom of High Halgstov.  
2582 - 2604 - Reign of Thari. Called the ‘Merchant,’ he seeks to spread the Ranet name across Altea, and sends many expeditions to neighboring lands. A great devotee of Orm, he encourages trade and organizes several expeditions to other continents. Much of the excitement for transmarine exploration is soured after a party crossing the Green Serpent Mountains in Tsaiyun is slain by the ‘Eyeless men of Ochoi.’ Thari receives a number of embassies as well, including one from the Copper Dwarves of Khel-Chan. The dwarves present a number of odd articles, including a ‘cube that could fold into a sphere that showed the doings of spirits in eight different Abyssal climes.’ Soon after the dwarves depart, the Crawling Plague strikes Sacris, killing Thari and much of his court. 
2604 - 2607 - Reign of Meris. With the Crawling Plague infesting his realm, he declares a holy war against all dwarf-kind. He marches into the Dal Radha, intending to punish the Iron League for conspiring with the Copper Dwarves to wipe out ‘the vaunted seat of humanity.’ While traversing the Stone River, Meris’ orcish guides lead him and his army into an ambush. The emperor is slain and his army is forced to retreat. 
2607 - 2619 - Reign of Delia. A devotee of Arva, she makes a pilgrimage to each of the Maiden’s major shrines to pray for an end to the plague. When this appears to work, Delia is hailed as a saint. She refuses to marry, convinced that her purity will protect the realm from future plague. During her reign, an earthquake struck the port of Tadesa, killing many. The Onyx Legion is dispatched to search for survivors. While digging through the rubble, legionaries uncover a youth ‘of exceedingly beautiful countenance.’ His gold skin and silver eyes convince the empress that the boy is the son of a giant. He is brought to the palace and Delia adopts him as her heir. When the boy comes of age, Delia fasts for several months until she ‘became as a statue.’ Her mummy was placed in the Hospice of Arva where it was believed to cure those suffering from the Crawling Plague. The golden boy, who had been named Teris, walked through the Crownfire and became emperor. 
2619 - 2646 - Reign of Teris. Called the ‘Goldskin,’ he rarely spoke, and was never seen to smile or laugh. Entirely hairless, he was often confused for a statue, so still did he stand, rarely blinking. Yet he was also devoted to the empire. He ordered a second invasion of Heide, which brought Gallian settlers to the feet of the Bright Mountains. Vortigern Sculd attempted to drive out the invaders but was slain at the Battle of the Leaden Mount. This ended the Veldyn kingdom of Aetgard. Thereafter the Veldyn split into many holds all at odds with each other. Teris received gifts from the Silversmiths, who permitted settlement in the Barrow Fields, the plains at the base of Mount Adrfod where the Veldyn had long buried their vaunted dead. The Stoneshields refused to acknowledge the ‘king of the second best,’ and legions advanced on the Cloudthrone Mountains only to be destroyed by the Hammerhand ‘warclan’ at Griefwind Pass. After this defeat, Teris descended into the vaults below the Lotus Palace and never emerged. 
2646 - 2661 - Reign of Karia. Much concerned with the Heidan colony, she granted a charter to the powerful Ducard family to mine silver from the Bright Mountains. Heide became a major source of wealth for Gallia, and the imperial court was lavish in its expenditure. Numerous great palaces date from this time. Gallia attempted to expand into Avrasia, seeking the riches of the Cloudthrones, but a coalition of Ilix and Stoneshields drove out the invaders. 
2661 - 2693 - Reign of Julian. Rarely bothered by state affairs, Julian enjoyed the immense wealth that was flowing into his empire. He had a personal arena built so he could watch orcish oil wrestling, one of his favorite sports, and had the Rosewood Bower laid out to host his many trysts. A famed lover, he lavished opulent gifts on his paramours, who included an island orc, a Kulroq priest of Hila, and a ‘lunar Hesha’ (!). While the emperor amused himself, House Ducard became greatly powerful, second only to the Rohuns in prestige. In Praesia, a breakout of the Ziyin Blight destroyed much of the rice crop, sparking a famine. The Marcellus family turned to Gallia for help, and great quantities of food were dispatched from Fendrel, much to the relief of Praesia. As payment, Julian requested the hand of Irena Marcellus, heir of the king. The Praesians were in little position to disagree, and many nobles grumbled that the ‘rogues of Gallia’ had ‘bought the crown-princess for a bag of rice.’ When Irena married Julian, House Ranet and Marcellus were joined in the Union of Crowns, which enlarged the Gallian Empire to its greatest size yet. Julian did not spend much time with his wife, who was greatly scandalized by her husband’s numerous exotic lovers. When Julian died at a feast, apparently after inhaling too much red huma, rumors spread that Irena had arranged his death.        
2693 - 2707 - Reign of Irena. Ruling in the name of her infant son, Irena sought to increase the empire’s size. She attacked Orestes and seized several Locian cities. Though initially successful, Irena became overconfident and invaded Helia in the War of Ash, using dangerous magic to burn a passage through the haunted Wormwood. The voij cities, once united against a common enemy, proved too formidable for the overstretched Gallian legions, and they suffered heavy losses amid the alien homeland of the Dark Maedi. Massive golems, roused after long slumber by the Black Mechanics, strode across the ashen wastes. Great quantities of dragon’s blood was burned to power the rustmetal leviathans, and even the magics of the imperial war mages could not halt the advance of so many orichalc machine-men, spurred on by fanatical, scarred Ash Priests and their howling, ‘fire-lance’ carrying warriors. The Senate, embarrassed at the defeat to ‘unclean elves,’ pressured Irena into retirement to a remote villa. 
2707 - 2758 - Reign of Coro. His early reign was dominated by the Senate, who kept the young emperor ensconced in his palace, surrounded by all manner of distractions. Unlike his father, Coro was less interested in feasts and flesh, and was determined to rule his empire. He conspired with his exiled mother to have several councilors replaced by Marcellus stooges, and then secretly ordered the Scarlet Guard to march on Sacris. He ensured that the gates were left open and the Guard surrounded the Chamber of Bells. The senators barred the doors and refused to leave. Before violence could break out, a Loom Priest arrived from the Bent Tower and presented Coro with the Silk Prophecies. Whatever he read there convinced him to recall the Scarlet Guard and offer the Senate and its Chancellor the hand of friendship. This won Coro much respect, and thereafter he ruled alongside the Senate. Coro oversaw the conquest of several Amathine isles, along with a second invasion of Avrasia that subjugated about a third of the realm. At a triumph celebrating Coro’s fiftieth regnal year, moths settled upon his brow. Many believed he would conquer all of Altea. Yet the following year, Coro was found dead in his bedchamber. Rumors quickly spread that he was killed by a Hesha emissary, who had vanished the day after the emperor’s body was discovered. 
2758 - 2762 - Reign of Silas. Brother to Coro, he demands vengeance and, with the help of the Keepers, uncovers numerous examples of Hesha meddling in the affairs of Men. Silas claims that the Hesha, bitter that dragons no longer rule the world, have conspired to prevent humanity from ever achieving mastery of Altea. Many are inflamed by Silas’ rhetoric, and the Senate supports a massive invasion of Orestes to ‘punish’ the Hesha. Pouring enormous resources into the war, the Gallians push through the Orestians and claim swathes of their coastline, advancing into the savannah and the Pale Marshes beyond. Silas personally leads an expedition into Ziyin to uproot the ‘lords of the Hesha’ and try them for his brother’s murder. Silas and most of his soldiers are lost in the marshes. Though Gallia holds onto its Orestian territory for several years after, they are ultimately forced out. The fate of Silas is unknown, though some believe he became a mad hermit who ‘whispers in snake tongues’ and is fated to live 5000 years so that he might witness the changing of the Ages and relate history to ‘those that will dwell beneath the New Sun.’  
2762 - 2795 - Reign of Nicodemus. Called the ‘Miser,’ he inherits a treasury depleted by his predecessor’s vain war. With the sprawling empire greatly in debt, Nicodemus raises taxes and debases coinage, which only deepens the crisis. In desperation, Nicodemus grants the Rohuns virtual autonomy as Heide’s ‘subject kings’ in exchange for a huge gift of silver. He also sells many noble patents to upstarts eager to secure a barony in the colony. Nicodemus, in near terror of bankrupting his realm, sells off most of the imperial harem to Locian and Khanite slavers. He auctions many of the Ranet heirlooms which are then dispersed across Altea. Some legends even claim Nicodemus, disguised as a peddler, went into the marketplace and sold his wife’s garments and jewels! Though greatly derided by the nobility for his ‘poverty,’ Nicodemus did forestall a total economic disaster. He was said to have worried himself to death. 
2795 - 2829 - Reign of Alissa. Following on from Nicodemus’ financial reforms, Alissa undertook many civil reforms to balance the tottering empire. She angered the nobility by seeking to replace the administrative aristocracy with Senate-appointed officials. Though she was resisted, much of the old gentry had been impoverished during the Nicodeman Reforms and could not muster the same resources as before. Likewise, the Senate was glad to absorb much of the aristocracy’s power, and Alissa herself became increasingly reliant on Senatorial approval for any of her ventures. During her reign, she received envoys from Tsaiyun who invited Gallia to join the ‘House of Peace’ and pay tribute to the ‘Empty Throne’ of Baishi. Alissa naturally refused and had a fortress, Eastguard, constructed on an island in the Glass Sea, to warn of any approach from Tsaiyun.  
2829 - 2857 - Reign of Vittoro. During his reign, the Qanjarid Dynasty was overthrown in Khanaan, and the Mujazids took power. The Mujazids moved north, attacking Locia and drawing Gallia into a war. Many feared that if the Mujazids seized all of Locia they would then launch an invasion of Praesia and ultimately Gallia. Vittoro oversees a long, grueling conflict that ends when Locia is partitioned between Gallia and Khanan, which takes the south. The Locians felt greatly betrayed by this, but can do little to protest, as they were caught between two mighty empires. Vittoro was said to have been tormented by his failures in Locia, and he turned to smoking splendor leaf and huma. He drank a fatal amount of dreamspore juice days before his sixtieth birthday.  
2857 - 2893 -  Reign of Ettius. Called the ‘Hermit,’ he withdraws from public life, seeking answers to Gallia’s ills in the spirit realm. Many suspect that he was attempting to contact his father. Ettius joined many Cultic Societies, and entertained numerous sorcerers and mystagogues. The new proximity of Khanites in Locia meant that much southern custom and fashion flowed into his court, following the many Mujazid philosophers who came to discourse with the emperor. A famous treatise, ‘The Imperial Revelations,’ was penned during Ettius’ reign, allegedly the transcriptions of the secret dialogues he shared with his teachers. Ettius was said to have learned how to send his spirit into the Abyss, and his detractors claimed he had set up shrines to the infernal Scions, beseeching them for magical knowledge and all manner of arcana. Though he was an epopt of many sects, Ettius never seemed to have had a great talent for his craft. It is said that the Thule himself appeared in the Lotus Palace during one of the emperor’s trances. The archdemon snatched Ettius away and tore down the Fountain Dome in the course of the ensuing theurgic exchange. 
2893 - 2925 -  Reign of Karia II. Perhaps reacting to the ‘excesses’ of Ettius’ mystical court, and fearful that the Silver Throne had been ‘tainted,’ Karia II embarked on a quest to purge the Lotus Palace of any ‘demonic’ influence. She extended this quest into the empire, empowering paladins of Rheas to hunt down any who worshiped ‘Outer Gods,’ called up infernals, or sought communion with ‘unbound’ spirits not subservient to the empire’s sanctioned deities. These witch hunts inevitably saw many innocents targeted and tortured, and Karia II became increasingly unpopular. When a popular preacher and thaumaturgist named Celano was targeted by witch hunters, riots broke out in Sacris. Karia appeared on the walls surrounding the Lotus Palace to call for calm, and several of the rioters fired bolts at her from concealed crossbows of Amathine design. Officials claimed the empress was killed by these missiles, but this was little believed. Far more likely she was slain by triarii, who had heard that the empress planned an inquisition of the legions. Karia II’s paranoid reign was little missed, and no serious investigation was made into the conduct of the Deathless Legion. Many suspect that the Senate ordered the assassination to eliminate a monarch who had become too independent.  
2925 - 2957 -  Reign of Farazzo. Much constrained by the Senate, Farazzo engaged in several indecisive skirmishes with the Mujazids and destroyed the pirate stronghold on the island of Taqara, much to the relief of the Lorenese. He received a second delegation from Tsaiyun and the ‘Empty Throne of the Qong Yad.’ Farazzo was encouraged to make ‘flower sacrifice’ to all the ‘corners of the cosmos’ and so ‘mark the boundaries of the House of Peace.’ Farazzo was enraged by the emissaries, who he complained, ‘spoke in the irritating voices of birds and frogs.’ He had the chief emissaries killed and banished the rest from his realm, threatening to execute any other representatives of the Qong Yad. The Senate was greatly dismayed by Farazzo’s rash actions. His behavior became increasingly erratic after this incident. He sent a ‘bloody beard carved from the face of a dwarf’ to the king of the Stoneshields, and was known to fly into rages at petty irritations. He was killed in a duel with his cousin over a minor gambling debt. 
2957 - 2976 - Reign of Remeris. Called the ‘Mad,’ he was a shy man, much given to scholarship and study. Many suspected he had been beaten by his wrathful father. Faced with mounting crises within the empire, Remeris was said to have entered the Vault of Whispers beneath the Bent Tower, where former Spinners are kept preserved in silk as the Chrysalid Elders. Remeris spent a night among the Elders, who spoke such terrible things with their dry, gray lips that the young emperor was driven insane. After this incident, Remeris was known to attack those around him, screaming that they were all but ‘shadows’ cast by ‘the dead light of the former universe.’ He ranted that humanity were but toys for greater powers who tortured and tormented mortals to assuage the boredom of eternity. Little could convince Remeris otherwise, and he ordered many purges of his court, believing that he would soon be killed for revealing the ‘conspiracy’ against the race of Man. During his reign, Avrasia pushed into Heide, and the Senate urged the emperor to act. The mad emperor told the Senate that the Heidans should welcome the invaders, for they would surely ‘extinguish the aberration that is the human intellect, straining for meaning in a meaningless void. Let the shadows take us at last, and then no more!’ Shortly after, Remeris was claimed to have fallen down the stairs that lead from his chamber to the courtyard garden below. He broke his neck and died, though the Ranets accused the emperor’s bodyguard of pushing him on Senatorial orders. 
2976 - 3053 -  Reign of Karleen II. A young girl when her father died, Karleen was placed under constant guard for her own ‘safety.’ While confined to the Lotus Palace, Chancellor Ayatni Zweillius took control of the empire. With the Avrasians ravaging Heide, the Chancellor tried desperately to stabilize the realm without committing to a massive war. He offered to grant the border county of Veinorn to the Avrasians in exchange for peace. The king of Heide was outraged and regarded the concessions as a betrayal. Meanwhile, Dorian, king of Praesia, suspected that the empress was being held in virtual captivity and sent several agents to secretly confer with Karleen and her supporters. When Ayatni discovered this he raised taxes on Praesian imports, alleging that it was necessary to defray costs in the Heidan conflict. Dorian then declared that he would secede from the empire, sparking the Third Praesian Revolt, or the Second Gallian Civil War. Supported by King Maximillian of Heide, Praesia worked to liberate Karleen and depose Ayatni, a ploy that ended with a vicious battle at Asphodel Fields in 2981. Aytani’s supporters were vanquished and the Chancellor was sent into exile among the Amathine Isles. Karleen, still a teenager, became empress in truth, though her perceived weakness sparked an opportunistic invasion from Orestes. The Orestians were ultimately turned back but Gallia suffered many losses and it appeared the empire might break apart. The Rohuns of Heide, perhaps to secure themselves against a second attack from Avrasia, arrange a marriage with the Mujazids. The Khanite princess brings a vast entourage with her, including hundreds of Sand Maedi. They become known as the Hadaya, or Gift Elves. The latter part of Karleen’s reign is spent restoring her realm and fostering alliances. A great critic of Gallian prejudices, she was known to have granted Tomas Ducard, an adopted Veldyn son of the mercantile dukes, a tomb within the Crypt of Worthy Blood, an honor that shocked the more orthodox nobles. Near the end of Karleen’s reign, Khanaan was invaded by the Sho, eastern elves who sought to reclaim the ancient seat of the Zakhemite Star Empire for some obscure purpose. Due to the Rohun-Mujazid marriage, Heide was drawn into the conflict. The empress dispatched troops to aid the beleaguered Mujazids, but the Sho wielded firearms and strange magics. The Imperial Elves gained a foothold in Khanaan and threatened to spread across Altea. A second fleet landed in Heide, marking the start of the Sunrise, or Eastern Wars. 
3053 - 3079 - Reign of Curates. Succeeding his aged mother, who had been exhausted by years of conflict, Curates threw all that remained of his empire’s resources into driving the Sho from Altea. The terrible battle at Stromfjal in Heide saw the northern Sho armies crippled. Curates devised a counter-invasion, and a great fleet crossed the Glass Sea. Zahak, the Phoenix Prophet and spiritual leader of the Sho, called on incredible powers to drive the invaders away. He summoned forth the Beast, which he intended to possess and use to annihilate the westerners. But the Beast proved too powerful for Zahak, and he was consumed, sending ripples of chaotic energy across the planet. Few Alteans escaped the shores of Tsaiyun as the very earth split asunder, unbound spirits spilling forth and ravan walking the land to spread discord and mayhem. Curates, leading the Deathless Legion, was among those who did not return from the east. 
3079 - 3114 - Reign of Hestis. Learning that his father had fallen, Hestis took the Silver Throne, only to find his empire depleted of soldiers and resources. In the south, Mujazid and Gallian troops had reclaimed Khanaan, but amid the chaos a sect called the God Thieves broke through the Dust Ramparts, the magical barriers that protected the holy elven city of Navarao. There, a sorceress who is now only known as Muqanna, the Hidden One, gained access to the inner sanctum of Navarao, where the Tooth of Asur was kept by the Basai dervishes. Muqanna worked a ritual that transformed her into a divine being. She was said to have removed her identity from the ‘stream of remembrance’ and ensured that no one could recall her mortal nature. She then appeared to the Yazarids, a desert tribe, and urged them to overthrow the Mujazid Sultan. With the realm in disarray, the task was accomplished within a few months, and the remaining Gallians were forced to withdraw. Under Muqanna’s guidance, the Yazarids instituted a new religion that recognized only a single God, whose aspects were the seven Elder Gods. Muqanna was said to have encountered each of these deities during her ‘Ascension Dance,’ when she wrestled the ‘secret names of God’ from each of the Forebears. To prove her divinity to the doubting Yazarids, Muqanna drew forth the sand and shaped it into a ‘Bronze City’ which she then went to dwell upon amid her ‘rose garden of mysteries.’ She placed ‘footprints of smoke’ in the sky so that her followers might join her. 
3114 - 3138 - Reign of Jarin. Little able to prevent the disintegration of his realm, Jarin dispatched soldiers to Khanaan, where they joined with what remained of the sultan’s army, led by his daughter, Sujah. The combined forces met the Muqannite ‘heretics’ at the Black Oasis, where tongues of fire flickered up from crevices in the broken ground. The Bronze City appeared in the sky, resembling ‘a gargantuan sphere graven many times over with the impressions of monstrous palaces, towers and temples.’ The sight of the city was so terrifying that many of the allied forces fled. The loss at the Black Oasis all but eradicated Gallia’s presence in the south, and Jarin faced a general revolt from the Senate, who had lost all confidence in the Ranets. The beleaguered emperor attempted to work some ritual in the Brass Tower that would repair the Skein and end the Abyssal incursion. The ritual partially succeeded, but Jarin was lost in the process. Without the emperor, Gallia split into civil war and rebellion, ending the Third Empire and beginning the Fourth Age.
Category:History