Ricarius

**Ricarius** is the current ruling Emperor of the United Empire of Solvada, as well as the Chairman of the Imperial Commonwealth of Nations, and former host of the Imperial Coalition of Nations. He is well known for being an avid opponent of both far-left politics and Kansan00. His official title as Emperor, according to the Solvadan Constitution, is the following:

*His Imperial Majesty and Excellency, Emperor Ricarius I, by the Grace of the Divine, of the United Empire of Solvada, of His Other Realms, Territories, and Dominions across the World, Head of the Imperial Commonwealth of Nations, and Destined Ruler of all Humankind.*

## History

When Ricarius first arrived in Paradigm, he quickly laid claim to a lush, sprawling region of grassland, declaring that it would be the future sight of the Solvadan Empire's capital city, a land which he believed would be visited by people from all across Paradigm, in the interests of peace, cooperation, and respect for Solvada's greatness. However, the young Emperor soon realized that such an ambitious project would likely result in Solvada being targeted by more aggressive nations, and so he sought to find allies that would support him in times of war. He also began to mentally lay the foundations for a grand alliance that would be hosted by Solvada, and include several other member states that all would be voluntarily subordinate to Solvada's authority.

After Ricarius had found others, primarily right-leaning, that also recognized the threat of aggressors towards his vulnerable nation, he began to put his plans for an alliance into motion. However, he soon realized that the foreign leaders involved in this effort were unwilling to submit themselves to another power, especially not one so weak and small as Solvada. In light of this new information, Ricarius chose to abandon his efforts to persuade these foreign powers to submit before Solvada, primarily because he only wished for them to do so willingly, and preferred to avoid coercion or forcefulness in his actions. As an alternative, he proposed to the nations of Rhodesia and the Cossacks that an equal association of states should be established, one which championed the ideologies of the Right Wing, including conservatism, fascism, nationalism, and so on. Out of the negotiations between Ricarius and the representatives of each nation, the Coalition of the Right was born.

The Coalition quickly grew in membership since its inception, with Ricarius acting as the Coalition's host, though he continued to emphasize and ensure that all nations had an equal status within the growing alliance. Though Ricarius was indeed happy with the growing number of members that joined the newly-formed Coalition, he began to express some concern for the rather 'pro-active' attitude that many of its members were taking towards the more left-leaning nations, leading to several wars of aggression being started by the Coalition against socialist nations such as the SSR, despite the fact that the Coalition was founded originally as a mutual *defense* organization. However, Ricarius continued to honor his agreements with the other Coalition members, supporting them in their war efforts while also continuing to build up Solvada's infrastructure.

Eventually, Ricarius' tolerance of the Coalition's aggressive behavior began to draw attention to Solvada itself. A band of nomads known as the PGNR, supported by their overlords in the SSR, had set up a military outpost next to Solvada's land, and began to aggressively posture for war while the Coalition and the Confederation of Socialist States, the left-leaning equivalent to the Coalition, were at their highest tensions. Fearing that such a war would result in the total destruction of Solvada, he called for a meeting between the leaders of both the ICN and the CSS, to negotiate terms for a peaceful solution to this crisis. The CSS made their intentions clear: They wished for BigBuilderMcGee to be exiled from the Coalition for his crimes against the CSS and its members. Ricarius agreed that the CSS had a just reason to incriminate McGee based on his previous aggressive actions against the SSR, but he continued to try and work towards a compromise which wouldn't result in McGee and his nation of Rhodesia from being kicked out of the Coalition.

As the negotiation continued to drag on, Ricarius had realized that aligning himself with the Coalition was a mistake, especially since he was now being called upon to answer for the aggression and crimes of others in the alliance. Hoping to ease tensions and clarify his wishes to remain neutral in this incident, he chose to reveal his original intentions for the Coalition, while also repeatedly clarifying that he has long since abandoned such goals in the interests of mutual cooperation and defense between all its members. Unfortunately, either through Ricarius confusing his words or a collective misinterpretation of his statements, the speech was ill-recieved by the CSS and Coalition members alike. Following this upset, both Zaporizhia and Rhodesia had decided that it would be best for them to leave the Coalition, Zaporizhia because they wished to no longer be dragged into wars which they had no business in, and Rhodesia because they wished to not jeopardize the Coalition with their presence. In response to this woeful occurrence and the realization that the members of the Coalition were beginning to lose faith in its fairness, Ricarius chose to propose that the ICN should be disbanded, and the resulting motion passed unanimously between all present nations and their representatives.

After the Coalition's disbandment, Ricarius proposed the formation of a new alliance which focused on his original intentions for the Coalition, to create a sphere of influence which Solvada could hold authority over, as well as retaining the ideas of mutual cooperation, voluntary association, and peaceful relations between Solvada and all nations in Paradigm. This alliance is known as the Imperial Commonwealth of Nations (ICN).