The Aluzandrian Triumvirate

**The Aluzandrian Triumvirate,** also known as simply **The Triumvirate,** is the sovereign rulers of The Aluzandrian Empire. There are three members of The Triumvirate, with each ruler overseeing a section of The Aluzandrian Empire.

## History

For nearly 500 years, The Aluzandrian Empire has been headed by the patriarch of the Aluzandr family. The firstborn child of each king would be named Tiberius, and that Tiberius would carry on the legacy of the previous, This cycle continued for ten generations, uninterrupted - uninterrupted, that is, until the birth of Julia Aluzandr. In the Empire's history, no king had ever sired a woman first, and the precedence for her rulership was questioned. Many scholars argued that her birth order dictated her rulership, while others argued that it is the name that carries the monarchy. Still, Tiberius X was young and healthy, and there was ample time for them to figure out what the proper step was.

The situation grew more complicated with the birth of Tiberius Aluzandr XI. Shortly after Julia's birth, Valeria Aluzandr, the wife to Tiberius Aluzandr X, had fallen ill. Tiberius X sought comfort in the arms of one of his maids, and Tiberius XI was born out of that tryst. Arguments were immediately made over the legitimacy of Tiberius XI as an heir, and even about him inheriting the name Tiberius. Tiberius X was steadfast in his defense of his son, claiming he is just as legitimate as any of his other children would be. Still, some argued that as the firstborn son, the throne was his birthright, while others argued that, not only being the second born, but being born out of wedlock, barred him from claiming the throne.

Public opinion seemed to shift in Julia's favor, and as Tiberius X grew old, the slight majority were content with her claim to the empire. That is, until the birth of Seneca Aluzandr. Seneca's birth was unexpected, as Valeria had well entered dangerous years of childbearing, but despite the odds, Seneca was born a healthy birth. As the first son born to both the king and the queen, many scholars who initially supported Julia shifted their support towards Seneca. Support was not quite split into even thirds - Julia still held the majority of support, but not by much, with Seneca holding the next greatest portion.

Seventeen years later, there were still debates over which of the children would take the throne at Tiberius X's passing, and Tiberius perished before the matter could be settled. Upon his death, the citizens became irritable over the matter, with there becoming arguments and fights over which of the three children should be rulers. Even amongst Senators and other high-ranking political figures these tensions grew, and sparks of civil war began to erupt around the country. The Empire was without a clear ruler for a three-month period that became known as the **90-Day Schism**, and the debate around the true heir to the throne threatened to undo nearly 500 years of progress for the empire.

The children of Tiberius X met and discussed the most plausible course of action. Neither Julia nor Tiberius backed down, both believing their claim to the throne to be valid. Seneca suggested an election, but Julia worried the precedence that would establish. She instead proposed something she hoped would be a temporary solution - the triumvirate. Each child would rule over a portion of the empire independently, but the three would make decisions for the good of the empire together. Separate rulers, but a united empire. This appeased Tiberius, but Seneca tried to bow out, claiming that Julia and Tiberius could simply split the empire in half and each rule a portion. Even Tiberius realized the dangers of this, with Seneca having the second-highest support base; if the mass of people that believed Seneca's claim to the empire legitimate thought that Julia and Tiberius strong-armed him into giving up his rule, the compromise of the split would be for nothing. Seneca reluctantly agreed, and thus, The Triumvirate was formed.

## The Split

### Central Aluzandria

Central Aluzandria is the most historic of the regions, and was established as the region of Cormanthor, to the west of the White Sands, Tiberius Aluzandr XI was placed in charge of this region and rules from the capital city Ferramun. It was decided that having the Tiberius namesake in the foundational capital would be a solid symbol tradition by the Triumvirate, while the other two regions were deemed better fits for the other siblings.

### Eastern Aluzandria

Eastern Aluzandria is the region of Cormanthor to the east of The White Sands. Novacoran was the most recent capital for the empire, and thus the siblings thought it would be the easiest transition for Seneca Aluzandr. As he was under 18 during the formation of the Triumvirate, he would have a regent help him with his duties until he was of age, and it was decided that Melvin Yu'sek (under the name of Tau'riel Baldwin), would act as Seneca's advisor and regent, as Melvin was the most recent advisor to Tiberius X.

### Western Aluzandria

Lastly, Western Aluzandria encompasses all of the empire on the continent of Rasvim. Julia Aluzandr was selected to rule here from Tertiaum. The magocracy of Tara Meste was the biggest rival to the empire, and given their proximity, Julia was selected to rule over the empire territories in Rasvim as she was the strongest military leader out of the three, and would hopefully deter any ideas of invasion from the south. As it was previously the furthest from Novacoran, it was also the most unstable, so they selected the strongest leader to rule over this region.

## Trivia

* I knew I wanted the main setting for the campaign to be a massive Roman-inspired Empire, and thus the idea for the Alundrian Empire came to be. As I was reading up on Rome, I remembered the existence of The Triumvirate, and wanted to explore the possibility of a Triumvirate existing in this empire as a formal political entity, rather than an informal alliance.
* The order of creation for the members of the Triumvirate were: Julia, Tiberius, and Seneca, which ironically, is their birth order.
	+ At the time as I was planning the campaign, Halsey's album *If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power* had been approaching/released, and I wanted to play around with the idea of a woman who, by all accounts, *should* have the power, but was never given that power, largely due to patriarchal ideals. This, the initial concept for Julia was born.
	+ If the initial child was the woman who was wronged, then the second child is the boy who was given everything simply for being a boy. Tiberius' character concept has evolved a lot since his initial conception, but that was the idea behind it - a man who felt entitled to power simply because he was a man. (Do not read to much into this! Again, this is the story behind the initial concept).
	+ Lastly, I knew I wanted there to be quite the age gap between the first two and the last son. I really struggled with what I wanted Seneca to be like, and as I was listening to music, "All Eyes on Me" by Bo Burnham came on, and Seneca just sort of... came together.