Zio Do

**Zio Do** was a warlord during the late Sarmelonid Era who founded Siangwaan.

## History

Zio Do was born in the territory of Zōrilan, the earlier name of the Siangwaanian jungles during Sarmelonid rule. Like many local boys, he was raised to be a slave in the many mines across the penal colony, as a descendant of prisoners of war brought from Emperor Maudolinnir's failed conquest of Daizhou. The raw materials from the mines were used to build more ships for the Sarmelonid space navies, while the slaves and other prisoners were mistreated and abused.

However, as the Vozonid garrison was diverted south to quell the Konjor usurpations, Zio Do and several aboriginal leaders led their own revolt. They were aided with several Heronoi who sabotaged the Vozonid authorities, allowing Zio Do to establish his own nation.

The Siangwaanian revolt, like the others along the eastern coast, utilised the vast jungles and mountainous terrain to confuse and frustrate regiments and armies. Hundreds of men were trained as snipers, using superpowered and swift armour to slaughter unsuspecting regiments and sabotage any artillery or vehicles that crossed into the jungles.

Zio Do founded his own nation, Siangwaan, as a monarchy modeled after the Tong Dynasty's greatest ruler, Tong Taizong, as his dynasty was considered to be the era when his native southern culture thrived. Books and artwork smuggled from Nam Hoi Province, more loot uncovered from an exiled governor's mansion, were used as the references for the artistic style of his new nation. When he became emperor, he was forty years old, and he ruled through the declining reign of Ratirminoz: he was kept young by regular doses of his own variant of Ratirminoz's elixir, allowing him to continue fighting for his country against the Kyrvotins. He and his rebels used the Kyrvotins' technology to repel the Vozonid warlords sent to reclaim the rebellion's lands.

On the first year after the Kyrvotins' defeat, he abdicated and passed the throne to his eldest son, Zio Yaau. This took place during the sixteenth year of Emperor Zannoz of Vozolaz, who sent gifts to salute Zio Yaau. He refused to take his elixir, allowing himself to age and grow old for forty years until he passed away.

Furthermore, to prove that he was not the same as the Vozonid tyrants, he agreed with the indigenous allies to let them remain independent. Much of those eastern lands are now part of the nations of Peren and Varn Venn. During his reign, they created the Republic of Ingdahan as a federal state.

The sixteen monarchs after him were known as the Zio Dynasty (趙朝), ending with Emperor Zio Hong. The Zio emperors used yellow flags and the earth as their symbols. As Zio Hong was infertile, he passed control of the throne to his irate brother, Zio Yüen. Zio Yüen changed his own dynasty into the Lien Dynasty (錬朝): he used white and metal as his symbols.

Later, the Siangwaanians adopted Vozonid mannerisms and attire to claim themselves as the true successors of the bygone Sarmelonid Empire. They and other former colonies formed an alliance, the Arailaso, to cooperate and rebuild after the Kyrvotin Invasion.

## Trivia

* In Chinese, his name should be read as "趙馱".
* He was based on the Chinese rebel king Zhao Tuo (Trieu Da), who established his kingdom at northern Vietnam. Zio Do's attire was also based on Tang Dynasty emperors, such as Li Shimin or Taizong.
* Zio Do and the revolutionaries of Ingdahan venerated Kaidolan, one of the sixteen warriors who helped Sarmelon I destroy a demonic army and raised to godhood. As the patron of Zōrilan (the region that became Siangwaan), Zio Do and the revolt leaders believed that they were acting on Kaidolan and Sarmelon's will against the wicked emperors.
* On July 2023, the author changed Zio Do's backstory because he thought it did not make sense for him to be a prisoner of war from Daizhou, as the abductions of prisoners took places centuries before his life and the end of the Sarmelonid Empire.

### Earlier drafts

"When Zio Do was in his twenties, he was a governor of the prefecture of Nam Hoi. He led his own army to fight against the fleets of Emperor Ratirminoz, but he was defeated and imprisoned.

He and his people were brought as slaves to the northeastern highlands of Vozolaz, where they were tasked to mine materials to build the Vozonid space fleets."

## See also

* Emperors of Siangwaan
* Zieu Mengdo, the first president of modern Siangwaan.
* Koschei the Red, another rebel against the Sarmelonid Empire who became immortal.