Lao'kan Kulsitar

Lao'Kan Kulsitar in a senatorial robe.

Lao'Kan Kulsitar was a Tasaar statesman, military leader and eventually the founder, first emperor of the Kulsitan Empire and first grand admiral of the Kulsitan Imperial Navy. The circumstances of his birth are unknown because the Tasaar did not keep records of birth dates in the Migratory Period. However, Lao'Kan himself recalls the year of his birth being 2478. He died of old age in 2614, marking the first Tasaar head of state to perish that way since the founding of the Grand Fleet, breaking the nearly 25,000 year long tradition of emperors dying in battle or as a result of Ancestor's Will bouts.

Lao'Kan Kulsitar was born into the warrior caste onboard a habitation vessel in the Tasaar Grand Fleet. He was raised on rigid warrior training for much of his life, but had a bookish nature that was not seen in other Tasaar. When he became captain of his own vessel sometime around the turn of the 26th century, he personally funded the construction of a library onboard that ship. He was seen as bizarre and was avoided by many warriors, but as a result the crew of his vessel (and later the captains he commanded) were typically staunchly loyal to him and served under him voluntarily, as most who did not wish to be associated with him simply left.

### Wartime Leadership

Lao'Kan Kulsitar's life is mostly without noteworthy events until the beginning of Masterly's War. By this point, Lao'Kan was an Admiral in the Tasaar Grand Fleet. He was the lieutenant commander of the Tasaar 14th Fleet, commanded by the Chancellor of the Navy, during the Battle of Redville and took over acting command of the fleet when the Chancellor's flagship was destroyed by Tristen Malax.

Kulsitar continued to command the remainder of the 14th Fleet during Operation Trojan. He was the main proponent of withdrawal from the planet after the death of the 912th Emperor, but only after seeing the profound morale effect it had and losing over a third of the 14th Fleet to desertions as a result of the news.

Kulsitar stood by somewhat idly when the next Ancestor's Will tournament was proclaimed and did not participate. Throughout much of the Tasaar War, however, the title of Emperor was heavily contested and in a span of 6 years it is estimated there were at least 16 Tasaar who claimed to be emperor, but only a few claimants were considered to have truly held any sort of power.

### Becoming Emperor

In 2547, during the "Lull" period of the Tasaar War, Lao'Kan Kulsitar participated in the final Ancestor's Will tournament, rumored to have ended the bout in 6 seconds with a single well-aimed gunshot, though conflicting sources insist the 920th Emperor fought him for 4 minutes before falling. Regardless, Kulsitar became the new emperor, and immediately planned for a new offensive against the signatories of the Second Zerios Accord, the Systems Union and Tarkan Regime. The offensive began in earnest after 2 years of preparation in 2549, and saw the recapture of many territories considered to be "core territories" of the Tasaar. The planet of Lao'Kan's Cradle was so named due to a stunning Tasaar victory on the planet. For this victory he also earned the moniker "Earthbane".

Lao'Kan's Offensive ended in 2552 after the unsuccessful Battle of New Dawn, but had left the Systems Union Navy in too weak a state to launch its own offensive. It is effectively seen as the end of the Tasaar War by most historians, as upon returning to Lao'Kan's Cradle, Lao'Kan declared the Kulsitan Empire, the disbanding of the Tasaar Grand Fleet and the abolishment of the practice of Ancestor's Will in favor of an imperial family.

The formation of the Kulsitan Empire greatly angered several sects of Tasaar warriors, but civil war was prevented when Lao'Kan permitted his strongest warlords to continue to act in a migratory fashion as admirals. There was still an attempt by several army generals who would not benefit from this to seize power, but Lao'Kan's loyal supporters managed to put it down in a quick and brutal fashion, and for much of his early reign Lao'Kan concerned himself with brutal repression schemes to ensure his family's continued reign. This culminated with the formation of the Kulsitan Senate in 2580, which appeased any dissenters who remained in the government. By the time Lao'Kan died, Ancestor's Will was a memory and Lao'Kan had reigned for over half a century and died of old age, which earned him the title "The Old" among his followers.