Zetopa

Immortal Emperor

**Zetopa** was an Orc male who was the King of Orcanth, and later the Emperor of the Immortal Empire. He was born in 2036 AT in Volcan, Orcanth, to a family of nobility that had recently lost their wealth; in an effort to regain their prestige, Zetopa was sent to a military academy in the capital at a young age. He became a student of history at the academy, becoming particularly fascinated by the growth of the Iloisa Empire, as well the former geographic extent of his home country. After graduating from the Academy, he joined the military, where he quickly moved through the ranks.

Zetopa left the military in 2068, and decided to enter a career in politics. He joined the administration of Queen Tulkon Zoruha, who made him her protégé and instructed him in the ways of statesmanship and diplomacy, as well as high-level magic and warfare. He succeeded her as Monarch of Orcanth upon her death in 2093. He continued the Golden Age she had begun for the country. Having aged very little in several decades, Zetopa eventually realized that he was immortal. He ruled Orcanth for centuries and became more power-hungry. It was around this time that he first conceived his plan to form a worldwide multi-ethnic empire with the help of other immortal monarchs, although he saw no reason to carry it out yet.

In 2702 AT, Zetopa was visiting his hometown when Volcan erupted, destroying the city. Tulkon E'Acoradi rescued Zetopa but was unable to save most of his beloved hometown, leading to a grudge with the young Tulkon. E'Acoradi spent years working on recover efforts before leaving the country, allowing Orcanth's economy to re-stabilize. However, Zetopa was still angry with E'Acoradi; from E'Acoradi's failure, Zetopa decided that the Tulkon's efforts were not enough to protect a changing world, and the only way to save it was through subjugation. He began preparing its infant stages of his plans for world domination, which included spreading a nationalist doctrine in Orcanth, building up its economy and military, promoting his form of Savatism, and forming alliances with other Immortals. Many of his tactics in this period were influenced by Iloisa Emperor Grytu, who also had promoted an authoritarian state. However, many of Grytu's plans were based around the Tulkon's support of his empire, while Zetopa sought loyalty to himself.

In 2876 AT, E’Acoradi noticed the growing militarism and nationalism in Orcanth and went to confront the King. Zetopa, understanding that E’Acoradi was onto him, killed him, and spread propaganda that E’Acoradi had attempted to assassinate him. Zetopa claimed to have ended the Tulkon cycle, and also banned the religion of Tulkonism. This led to a widespread hatred of the Tulkon. E’Acoradi reincarnated into the Dwarves without the knowledge of the rest of the world.

During the childhood of the next Tulkon, whose identity was unknown to the world, Zetopa and his immortals - Etesh of Honsin, Topo of Gogeget, Ino of Usybork, Eberil of nodal, and Keaghuz of Nen Ren - prepared for their coming conquest. Most of them had personal vendettas with the Tulkon that motivated their willingness to defame them. Above all, however, the Immortals wanted power. They moved to the island of Nen Ren, a secluded location where they would remotely command their armies. The spread of anti-Tulkon propaganda before and after the death of E’Acoradi was a deliberate attempt to delegitimize the Tulkon and make the public more willing to accept the immortals as heroes. In 2880 Zetopa declared the formation of the Empire of Orcanth, which Gogeget, Nodal, Nen Ren, and most of the RIHS willingly became a part of, thanks to his and his colleagues' promises of economic, political, and military security.

The Immortal war began in 2896 after years of preparation when Zetopa renamed the Empire of Orcanth the Immortal Empire and declared his intentions to annex all lands. The RIHS fell very quickly to Zetopa's enemies, so he punished Ino and Etesh with death. His armies were hugely successful on the Frozen Continent as well as in Ynofora. Zetopa privately opposed the Ynoforan Genocide, but turned a blind eye to it. In 2905, A temporary ceasefire took place, but it was a ruse orchestrated by Zetopa. Von Hamobora, a Dwarf who was unknowingly the Tulkon, decided to track Zetopa, whose whereabouts were unknown to most of the world. Zetopa sensed that Von Hamobora, also known as Vonha, was the Tulkon and was on his tail and sent Eberil to fight her and ordered bombings of Norte-Muldox and A’Roastad, killing Vonha’s family and causing both countries to surrender for fear of any further losses. Since most soldiers were at home for the ceasefire, the Free Armies were crippled. The Ilois Republic, which also had the rest of the IHS under its jurisdiction, surrendered as well. Zetopa had won, and all lands were under rule of the Immortal Empire. Vonha, however, refused to back down and continued to track down the immortals. Vonha finally tracked them to Nen Ren and entered a final confrontation. Zetopa’s allies Keaghuz and Topo were killed, and eventually, Zetopa fell, as well. Prior to his death, Zetopa told Vonha the truth about her true identity, which he had sensed upon her arrival. In the aftermath of Zetopa’s death, the Immortal Empire completely crumbled. Vonha spent many years helping the world recover.

Zetopa remains a well-studied figure to this day. Despite his notoriety, Zetopa was admired in former member states of the Immortal Empire. Several small groups, collectively known as the Cult of Zetopa, formed in the aftermath of the Immortal War and opposed Tulkon Ico years after Zetopa's death. They practiced a form of Savatism known as Zetopan Savatism that the late Emperor promoted.