Empress Evelyn I

**Empress Evelyn I** was the Empress of the Gretian Empire from 1277 to 1306, Empress of Sidonia from 1277 to 1293, and Empress Consort of the Tyretian Empire from her marriage until the death of her husband William IV.

A portrait of the Empress was discovered aboard the HMIV Renton by the Novacians in 243 (1287).

The Empress initially called for a war against the Empire of Kordowyn and subjects, citing the seemingly unproked attack on Iksis and destruction of civilian targets, however the war stalled after initial gains, and increasing poverty in the New Brixian territories and Greyborough sparked Draft Riots; further, she was unable to stop an attack on Bannean, sparking a war with Lirrach. As the price of consumer goods and supplies skyrocketed, and military supplies dried up, the Empress began pushing for an end to the war, which she realized was a waste of Imperial resources and lives.

In March 1288, the remaining fleet in Novohybrilaudum and HMIV Empress Elizabeth, one of three Dreadnaughts in the fleet, were captured or destroyed. She forced Parliament to agree to ending the war and insteads pursue a War on Poverty, which was very popular in certain constituent realms. The Conservative Royalists disaproved of this, her agreement to pay reparations at the Congress of Dirirabwyn which she personally attended, and a Templari'i State Visit.

In 1292, she and her husband were traveling to Telis, Lirrach, aboard the HMIV Rodric IV. The vessel and escorts were ambushed by Pandrosi P-Boats and the People's Navy, causing the Disaster of '92. She was declared dead when her body was never recovered, and her only child, Adelaide, was declared Empress. The Empress escaped her captors in Pandros and crossed the border into the Rigdenship of Pandora, by which point the Second Gretian Civil War was raging. She accompanied Sidonian forces in the end of the war, and shot Hiram Borman personally.

Following the war, she suspended Parliament for five years and rebuilt the empire, now restructured into a Triple Crown under herself in Gretia, her daughter in Tyris, and her fifth cousin in Sidonia. The Empire will reunited under Prince Joshua with the deaths of Evelyn, Alder Hamerian, and Adelaide.

She attended the 255 Imperial Exhibition with Emperor Joshua II.

The six months Evelyn spent on an abandoned Templari'i Naval outpost, before spending an additional four months in Pandrosi captivity began to wear down on her health. Despite being 58, she looks to be in her mid 70s, and has difficulty walking long distances. On a tour of Imperia in 1306, she suffered a heart attack, and died a few days later in the Imperial Hospital.

Evelyn was remembered as a controversial Empress. Her reign saw two massive wars, a civil war, and numerous wars of conquest. She oversaw massive economic recessions, and periods of great prosperity. She made living conditions worse in outlying territories to pay for her wars, but funded large relief and infrastructure projects to improve those regions. Despite her uneven record, her almost miraculous return from death made her a revered figure and mother of the nation, which despite the loss of Colonial Iksis, had grown tremendously under her reign.