Kyros the Overlord

**Kyros the Overlord** is the undisputed ruler of the Northern Empire and the Tiers, following their conquest. The Fatebinders implement the Overlord's laws and will, subjugating the conquered and harnessing them for the benefit of Kyros's mighty empire.

## Background

Kyros is a name out of legend. For centuries the Overlord has consolidated their power, sending out vast armies from the Capital of their realm to swallow entire kingdoms. The most powerful mystic the world has ever seen, Kyros can issue Edicts - magical proclamations that can level cities, spread pox, sunder the lands, or change the very course of seasons. This ability to deliver suffering and woe to every corner of Terratus without ever being required to leave the Capital has made it so that few ever see the Overlord in person.

Though Kyros' name is the single most recognized in the known world, only the Archons can say what the Overlord actually looks like. The Archons, masters of magic throughout the world, bow to Kyros - and the Overlord will readily destroy any Archons who are unwilling to kneel. These sorcerers and madwomen lead the Overlord's armies in near-endless conquest. As the realms of the known world fall to the Overlord, these captured territories are divided amongst the Archons, who rule in the Overlords name.

No one truly knows how Kyros came to power. However, It is known that before they became powerful enough to begin their conquest, they visited a Spire in the far southeast in -50 TR. However, before the man claiming this as fact could divulge more, he was struck down by a Fatebinder's axe.Kyros claimed the title of Overlord with the first Edict of Storms, cast to subjugate the Cloud Barons and the Realm of Medrev. This date also marks year zero in the new calendar (0 TR).

All can agree that Kyros is the most powerful Archon in recent history, determined to bring Terratus peace through power. With hundreds of Archons at their disposal and countless armies (of which the Disfavored and the Scarlet Chorus are but two), capped off with a seeming monopoly on Edicts, they are in a position to achieve this. With the fall of The Tiers in 430 TR, the conquest of Terratus was complete.

How does the Overlord control the known world? Beyond longevity that guarantees a consistent long-term policy, they are also a skilled tactician and manipulator, playing off the factions inhabiting the lands they rule and would rule, sowing discord in advance of the main assault from their nigh-inexhaustible armies. Fractious and divided, few can stand up to the power of their politics and armies dismantling the opposition piecemeal.

## Interactions

* Kyros is not interacted with directly, but remains a presence throughout the campaign in the Tiers, through their Edicts and more. Their intrigue to make the Fatebinder the Archon of Spires, as well as to dispose of some of the most powerful Archons in their service, seems to be geared towards balancing out their Empire - and avoid it tearing itself apart, since with the conquest of the Tiers, the whole of known Terratus has come under their control.

## Behind the scenes

Kyros was inspired by the real historical ruler Cyrus the Great, known in Greek as "Κῦρος" ("Kyros"/"Kuros"). Cyrus conquered all previously civilized states of the Ancient Near East and united them under his rule as the largest Empire the world had yet seen. The edicts are a reference to what is known in the Bible as the "Edict of Cyrus", which authorized the formerly exiled Jews to resettle in their homeland, the land of Israel.

## References

1. ↑ Myothis: "*Last but not least... as a young Fatebinder, I once had to oversee the case of a man who had built a shrine to Kyros around the base of a Spire in the far south east. I could find no evidence of falsity or slander - his shrine was a most reverent and loving tribute as I've ever seen. At one point though, this man claimed he had evidence that 'Kyros was here back in negative fifty.' He had merely uttered those words and my senior Binder swung the axe then and there. Being the new girl at the Court, I said nothing, but I have long wondered why such a comment should require death instead of the traditional removal of the tongue.*"
2. ↑ Lantry: "*But here, the answer is given to us by the Overlord's own sense of posterity. Year 0 of Kyros' calendar is said to correspond to the day Kyros went from warlord to wearer-of-many-crowns - a victory won when the first Edict of Storms shocked both the Cloud Barons and the Realm of Medrev to capitulate.*"
3. ↑ *Tyranny Collector's Guide Book*