Lithlen The Architect

## Lithlen Rold

(Lithlen wearing his alpaca wool cloak and holding his scepter, his New Sun attire.)

### Occupation

Architect, missionary, and Banana King (from 1892 BLC - 1892 BLC)

## Physical description

### Eye color

Light brown

**Early Life:** Lithlen Rold was born in 1911 BLC in the Hamlet of Leiphal on the south-eastern tip of the Elder Isle. According to legend, the close-knit Leiphal residents were said to be displaced, descended from ancient light ape nobility who migrated away following the Empire's collapse hundreds of years prior. Their bloodlines date all the way back to the golden age of the Light Ape Empire. Lithlen grew up with the good book of Safashu in hand, studying it and strengthening his dedication to Safashu throughout his early childhood because his father, Belanor Rold, was the sole priest of the tiny fishing community. Lithlen’s mother, Elma Rold, was a convert hailing from the Scattered Isles, ganging young Lithlen dual citizenship. By the time he was fourteen years old, young Lithlen had moved to the holy city with his father in order to participate in a number of missionary journeys with the aim of salvaging individuals and communities in the central islands who were thought to be misled or to have deviated too far from the holy book. Before eventually becoming Banana King, Lithlen would make five of these overseas journeys, each lasting anywhere from six to twelve months. Of these, two were to the scattered islands; one was to the gorilla highlands; one was to the orangutan marshes; and one was to the central Chimp lands. Lithlen would gain knowledge of the essential elements of traditional light ape architecture during these journeys, and each place of worship he constructed would be identical and grand, and each one would be built with the same care and attention to detail as the ones prior.

**Rise to power:** At the age of seventeen, Lithlen adopted a rhetoric that he would later be characterized by: he believed that the state of Safashuism was saddening, and he wished for stricter practice of it, resembling that of the early New Orthodoxy of the late Light Ape Empire. Not content with the religious situation abroad during Lithlen’s final mission in the Chimp lands, Lithlen used his renown to form an army of like-minded converts, founding The League of the New Suns in 1895 BLC, a group that sought to push a new wave of Safashuism across the islands. The League of the New Suns grew and grew and eventually wrote and signed "The Grand Thesis" in 1893 BLC, a document calling for a new Banana King and calling the temporary republican government ruling over the Holy City and protecting the Golden Banana "the greatest disappointment of the last two decades." A year later, the New Suns would march on the Holy City, effortlessly breaching the gates, but just as they were about to triumph, a nineteen-year-old Lithlen was struck in the head by a stray arrow, instantly severely injuring him. As a result, the New Suns were forced to flee to Leiphal, their base of operations. Lithlen somehow miraculously and mysteriously survived. With their leader back, the New Suns prepared for the second siege of the Holy City. The second siege was no more than a joke; before the New Suns even broke through the walls, the Republican officials surrendered. The following day, Lithlen was effectively crowned Banana King, and once he had access to the Golden Banana, it sent a surge of power through him, awakening powerful physical energy within his brain and the visions of a city that was so large it could house the gods themselves, the Holy City.

**Lithlen's Reign:** Lithlen’s reign was characterized by his extensive funding of the arts, churches, and other architectural projects. Under Lithlen’s control, it is said that the Holy City grew five sixths in size compared to before; to his subjects, Lithlen was known as the Architect due to this feat. Lithlen also extended trade routes to lands not even marked on the map yet. Under Lithlen, it was a time of relative peace, for the only military campaigns that occurred as long as he was in power were small-scale hunts to eliminate and crush Creedists from his dominion and neighbors. Nonetheless, Lithlen was still a capable fighter himself, being able to move entire groups of people with nothing but his mind. Early on in his reign Lithlen was a social king hosting lavish banquet in his palace, but on one fateful day in 1844 BLC Lithlen’s elderly mother and father perished in a massive earthquake that completely decimated the hamlet of Leiphal into nothing but rubble. After 1844, BLC Lithlen became a husk of his former self, rarely making public appearances, becoming more of a shadow king, and becoming increasingly fanatical, always wearing the same robes and carrying the same bananite scepter with a radiant sun on the end. Nonetheless, Lithlen continued to enact progressive laws, build some of the most magnificent monuments known to date, and make great contributions to Safashuism. In 1745 BLC, a massive plague hit Lithlen’s dominion and killed thousands; roughly one-half of the population perished. In 1729 BLC, with the plague still widespread, Lithlen died an extremely old monk, killed by a younger, stronger, and more power-hungry soon-to-be Banana King, at the age of one hundred eighty-two.

**Lasting Effects:** Lithlen brought about a vast expansion of settlements and trade routes, with buildings so complex that they wouldn't be replicated for a thousand years. Despite the importance they had, the rules that Lithlen passed were quickly forgotten after his removal. The League of the New Sun persisted for a few hundred more years, but the group eventually vanished and was absorbed into some contemporary Safashuists. Lithlen was laid to rest in one of history's most magnificent tombs in the Holy City, which featured a massive statue of the deceased above the sarcophagus that was carved out of a single block of marble and adorned with gold. The edifice was decorated with enormous spires that rose hundreds of feet into the sky. Sadly, the tomb of Lithlen Rold was destroyed in the Brood invasion, never to be rebuilt.

### **=Interesting facts=**

·       First person to domesticate the coca plant and to produce cocaine.

·       Actively used cocaine for "clarity of the mind".

·       Participated in the alpaca wool trade in Atelidae. He traded with a group under the rule of the Second Woolly Khaganate, who occupied Obsidian Bay and were known as the Karykuz. He also wore an alpaca wool robe.

·       His staff was stolen from his tomb and melted down to become one of the Bananite weapons that remain today.

·       I died a virgin.