Prince Brucius

was a grandson of Emperor Mithranatus of the Second Fialta Imperium, and became Emperor himself following the First Coalition War.
== History ==
During the War of the Coalition Prince Brucius led the Imperium's palace guards. He became Emperor upon the death of his grandfather, under a compromise succession arranged by the most senior councilors of the Imperium and the Pentacle Churches (excluding the Shantarans). The reign of Brucius was stable and relatively peaceful, marked by a long period of adjustment to the Imperium's wounded pride. Brucius proved an able statesman, keeping the Imperium out of the Gunboat Wars while developing secular Imperial institutions to counterbalance the enormous influence of the Pentacle Churches. The Imperial Navy became a pillar of non-denominational nationalism under this policy. In later life, however, Brucius found that he lacked the stamina to continue the energetic reign necessary to preserve the independence of the throne from its religious partners. Sensing his declining faculties and claiming illness, he abdicated in favor of his only son, Asterion.
Throughout Brucius's reign, it is believed that he carried a considerable weight of expectation and indeed guilt surrounding the legacy and death of his father, the Imperial Regent Constantinus. On the rare occasions that any courtier was foolish enough to mention the Siege of Korinth or the late Regent, Bruscius was known to fall into lengthy depressive episodes. Rumors that Constantinus had been assassinated or secretly imprisoned by the Bank of Valdos as a precondition of the compromise succession were continuous throughout the rule of his son, and those with greater knowledge suspected that Brucius may have been all too aware of the requirements for his accession. Those who knew the most, of course, may have pitied the Emperor his lifelong doubts about the true identity of the man who had arrived at the Imperial court in the midst of the Coalition War and claimed the name of Constantinus.
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