War King

The **War King** was the leader of the Great Houses during the War in Heaven.

## Biography

### Birth

The War King was one of four "mutations" in his generation, four members of the Great Houses whose character and personality were so at odds with the staid values of the Homeworld that they had a drastic effect on the Spiral Politic. The other three were the Imperator, Grandfather Paradox and the Evil Renegade. (PROSE: *The Book of the War*)

### Rise to power

During the events of the War in Heaven, the War King was captured and interrogated on his world by agents of the Enemy. He escaped, but the torture deeply affected him. It made him realise how he cared for his people. The War King concluded that he would help the Great Houses in any way he could. Common rumours said he took advantage of this opportunity to gain immunity for his past crimes and power over the Homeworld.

The War King arrived on the Homeworld and told the Great Houses what he had witnessed. He vowed to help the Great Houses in any way they wished. President Umbaste refused to accept the Enemy's existence and their threat to the Homeworld and she warned the War King that if he ever returned to the Homeworld to unsettle the Great Houses' society with talk of a war, he would be arrested for his earlier crimes against the Great Houses.

The War King's actions on the Homeworld had caused some of the Great Houses to investigate the existence of the Enemy and their threat to the Homeworld. The Great Houses discovered the Enemy was a credible threat and had the power to destroy the Great Houses. Some of the Great Houses took this further and suggested that the War King be pardoned of his crimes to become part of a future war effort.

The War King saw this banishment as a mere setback and began to devise ways for the Great Houses to combat the Enemy. He spent over forty years creating plans for new weapons and devices. With the plans he had created, the War King returned to the Homeworld in his Timeship and was captured by the House Military. He denied none of his offences. He asked for an emergency meeting of the High Council to propose his plans. During the emergency session, the Great Houses accepted that the War King had told the truth and concluded that the Homeworld would need a new leader with military experience. The War King was the obvious candidate and the Great Houses wiped all records of his past and made him War King of the Nine Homeworlds. (PROSE: *The Book of the War*)

### As War King

Two years after coming to power, the War King negotiated a pact with Compassion, creating a "second front" for the War.

One evening when the War King was at a banquet, Compassion materialised in the room, looking for "answers". After a lengthy conversation, Compassion told the War King that when House Lucia emerged, the true threat to the Homeworld would be revealed. (*The Book of the War*)

Fifty years after the battle on Dronid, the War King hired House Lolita to destroy the Faction Paradox powerbase of the Eleven-Day Empire. This would stop the Faction supplying weapons to the Enemy or signing a treaty of reconciliation with House Tracolix. (*The Eleven Day Empire*)

The War King later understood the true motive of Lolita, a sentient Timeship, who had evolved from one of his own previous Timeships. (*Toy Story*) Lolita planned to reach the Caldera on the Homeworld, to contaminate the entire universe with her own biodata. She could rewrite the Spiral Politic to suit her own ends. As a last resort, he allied with the last members of Faction Paradox against Lolita. The War King's alliances failed and he was consumed into Lolita's internal dimensions, killing him. (*Words from Nine Divinities*)

## Appearance

The War King had many scars from the days when he was a criminal in the eyes of the Great Houses. After gaining office, the War King decided to keep the scars to illustrate his suitability for the role. (*The Book of the War*)