Kinil'grodt Czesser, the Pact-Breaker

*"He was fast, cunning, none of the other Dominiors saw it coming, the manipulation, the schemes, the power plays, he proved his strategic and tactical prowess, and we were all blind to his clandestine movements. By the time they realized it, they were staring down the cannons of the Qhu'mithiks, all six of them, each at his beck and call. The Navy betrayed them, betrayed us. I was fortunate to escape with their bodies. Czesser broke his Pact that day. And soon, he will declare war on Aristanis."* ~Hymc'zine Voeg, warning the Concordat about Czesser's arrival.

## Czesser, the Pact-Breaker

Kinil'grodt Czesser was a minor Dominior and Pact-Devil in the North of Vaerognia, who rose to prominence by uniting the fractured Valgothian Armada and leading it in an assault on Aristanis.

### Former Life

Before his original death as a mortal Vaergonian, Czesser was the Premier Admiral in the Valgothian Armada. Having himself designed the Qhu'mithik flagships, conceived and wrote most of the field manuals, strategies, and practices for the Armada. He also proposed the *Vansiktha* *Documents*, a series of strategies, plans, maps, and contingencies to invade several different proposed targets. It is widely believed that not all of these targets are Vaakoraan, as there are many Vaergonian targets known in the documents and at least one Aristanisian target. The lack of information regarding the documents can be attributed to the fact only partial reproductions have been recovered. Czesser was killed in the *Volim Docks Explosion* when a he was cast off his ship and drowned in the bay beneath a mast.

### Rebirth as a Pact-Devil

Czesser is one of several Pact-Devils who were not Valgothian rulers in their original lives. The reason for this trait is currently unknown, however many theories have been proposed, the most accepted being that at the time of their deaths they had magical exposure to primordials. When Czesser was reborn, he was unable to to rise up and take command of the Valgothian navy before it fractured. He was finally able to free himself after months of determined attempts to force the mast off of him. He swam up to the surface and from there began to rebuild the dock.

During this time a group of Vaergonian pirates came upon his dock, and after their Captain was slain in a failed attempt to take the dock, they bowed down to the Dominior. This happened several times until Czesser had a command of about 12 ships, and 312 seamen to crew them. The beginning of his time in the North Sea was one of uncertainty. Whenever he set to sail with his fleet he would play constant cat and mouse with the other Dominiors. He knew how the Qhu'mithiks worked however, which gave him a precise advantage over them. This advantage was shown in an impressive light when Czesser and his 12 ships brought a Qhu'mithik screeching into the depths during the Battle of Solcand.

After the Battle, he had proven himself to be a powerful tactician even in Rebirth. It was then that he met Hymc'zine Voeg, a fellow Dominior and the Premier Admiral after him. In their original lives, Voeg was one of Czesser's esteemed proteges, and Voeg was the only one to return as a Pact-Devil. Voeg was interested in following up rumors he had heard towards the end of his life about the possibility of the Zeleznian Armada not only being real but being the fleet he had proposed. His search for Vindication intrigued Czesser, who brought him back under his wing for a time. Czesser gave Voeg a Tirvid, a medium sized warship, and set him off to find the Zeleznian Armada. Voeg's loyalty was unquestioned at the time, as Czesser shared Voeg's desire for the Armada, albeit for different reasons. Voeg did prove one rumor to be true, the fabled *Vansiktha Documents.* Voeg had heard rumors that a series of strategies were circulating in the court for naval invasions of Vaakoraa and Aristanis alike, but now he had cause to believe such claims. Voeg casted himself off of Czesser's command and set out to assist the other Dominiors to defeat Czesser. However, Czesser had been working in secret to turn the Armada against the other Dominiors. He was successful, and on the day the Dominiors' communion to discuss how they would act on Czesser, they were all betrayed. The Qhu'mithiks, under Czesser's authority, fired at the precessions. Voeg barely escaped with his life, and drug out the bodies of the other Dominiors. He took their bodies with him on his Tirvid down to Aristanis to warn them.

Czesser caught wind of Voeg's survival and intent, and send two Tirvids and four light skiffs to catch and subdue him. Czesser never heard back from those ships to say the least. Czesser began his plans for invading Aristanis: he reformed the Armada into 6 fleets, each headed by a Qhu'mithik, and began work forging treaties with the surrounding entities. The two Vaergonian cities on the edge of Aristanisian waters were forced to send ships to Czesser in secret. After Czesser forced a Pact-Devil to submit to him via force the Eastern Pact-Devils offered tribute of troops to sate Czesser's influence over the region. Voeg then declared Czesser the 'Pact-Breaker' for dishonoring the Pact that all Pact-Devils must make. A part of the Pact they all made was to not show mercy to each other should it come to glorious battle. The Pact-Devil in question was Gon'viyd Julc, who later committed suicide months after the humiliation. Czesser, before he set off for the invasion, attempted to reach out to Hanth'ik Vylig, to possible dip into the extensive manpower pool in the Garden City of Girvadem'jarmor, however he never received a reply, further fueling rumors of a revolution in the city.

### The War for Aristanis Begins

In Vaergonia this pivotal conflict was known as the War for Aristanis, whereas in Aristanis proper it was known as Czesser's War or Czesser's Invasion.