The Ten Titans of Essakor

The **Ten Titans of Essakor** are ten giant statues carved into the Essakor butte, each of a founder of an Azaneese Dynasty. From a distance, the city seems to be literally held on their shoulders.

### Azan

The Grand Statue of Azan‘s construction is lost to history, but it was allegedly built sometime in the first dynasty by the semi-mythical Jakar, Who is Made Lord Agong. The largest of the Titans, Azan was known for overlooking the trade road leading up the butte to Essakor proper.

### Cemak I

The statue of Cemak I was carved into the butte under the reign of The First Amir, Who is Made Lord Agong. The Second Dynasty was declining in influence due to their waning magical power and a public work showing their ancestor as an “equal” to Azan was an attempt to bolster support. Some of the more faithful saw it as idolatry to compare the two and the statue took two decades to fund and carve.

### Adrian I

The statue of Adrian I was the first of the Titans to be constructed under the reign of their models. Adrian styled themself as both a Drow Chief and a Tiefling Lord. As part of this, they openly declared themselves “The Second Azan” and the founder of the Third Dynasty. (Even though, by Cemak I’s precedent, that would have been Nur, the Marble Flame.) The original statue was noticeable gaudy with gold, jewels, and a two-headed horse mounted by the Emperor. It was vandalized at the start of the Fourth Dynasty and its reconstruction under the Fifth was far more humble.

### Thea I

The fourth dynasty rose in a human-led backlash against magic and elven influences. The statues of Cemak I and Adrian I were partially destroyed when Thea took the Marble Throne (and renamed it the Azure Throne). Despite public protests against idolatry, Thea was publicly declared “The Savior” by the revolutionaries, and the debris from the attempts to destroy the second and third titans was used to construct her statue, far shorter than the others. Thea spun this as piety but the truth was the funds and technology for large stoneworks had been lost to time at this point.

### Sophia I

When Sophia Diogene overthrew her aunt and became Sophia I, she was more focused on rebuilding her crumbling empire than fiddling about with statues. Her Titan wouldn't be carved until Emperor Basilius V built a massive statue of his ancestor as part of his beautification programs. The Statues of Cemak I and Adrian I were repaired at the same time with edits so that none would be as tall as Azan’s. This precedent continues to this day.

### Hēnare I

Hēnare’s titan was carved in the wave of propaganda launched by her successor, Chairman High Protector Asin II. He consolidated power by deifying the heroes of the revolution as holy martyrs, and Hēnare’s statue shows several signs of Neo-Adrianite design favored by the Church.

### Li the Hardy

Li’s titan was the second to be modeled after someone who never ruled the Empire, the first to be carved of a commoner, the first to be older than the model of the previous titan, and the first to be carved by an Emperor, not of the following dynasty. House Bellcius was focused on war and rebuilding from The Southern Rebellion so the titans of Li the Hardy and Lord Cassian of Cico were carved in tandem under Emperor Enanikos II of Cico. “The Twin Titans” became a name for both these two statues and the Seventh and Eight Dynasties as a whole. Because the House of Bellicus was originally of common stock, there was some debate as to who the founder of the dynasty actually was, especially since a canonical list of the emperors who lead The Southern Rebellion wouldn't be locked down until the present day. As a matter of dodging the question, Li, the semi-mythical ancestor of all Antaran Warriors (Several of whom fought in the Rebellion) was chosen.

### Lord Cassian of Cico

For the vast majority of the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties, the Titans were seen as a luxury of a bygone age. It wasn’t until the end of the Scimtarian Conquest that the wealth and stability the Eighth Dynasty would be known for allowed the titans of Li and Cassian to be completed. Cassian is technically called the third person who never ruled to get a titan, but in truth, his and Li’s titans were carved together.

### Gerald V

Gerald’s titan was carved near the end of the ninth dynasty, as the Empire was broke and dealing with rebellions for much of that time period. (Carting the stone from the new capital of Nannikor didn’t help either.) It’s the smallest of the Titans leading to the phrase “short as Gerry.”

### Thea II

Recently constructed in honor of the Tenth Dynasty's centennial, the design was rushed to meet the deadline. Money ran out halfway through, leading to Thea’s head being a noticeably different color than her body.