Gamelirn the Pious

*"How can we help?"*
―Gamelirn after an Epednar envoy informed him of a warlord's activity
**Emperor Gamelirn yen Ralsvelik** also known as **Gamelirn the Pious** was the third Emperor of the Ynnic Empire, who oversaw the codification of Ynn River Worship religion and the rise of the priesthood class.

## Ascension and Context

The previous ruler, Empress Zeldja yen Dolin, died in 640 AA with no children. This made Lord Calsanqir of Stenurynn her closest living relative: his house, yen Ralsvelik, had been tied to House yen Dolin through Lady Amaredha, who was the mother of Jeborad the Conqueror and King-Emperor Joanseln. Calsanqir was the cousin of Zeldja's father and her first cousin once removed.

Upon Zeldja's death, Calsanqir was excluded from the line of succession due to his marriage to Princess Devasadra of Amstenur: the resulting line, House yen Stenur, was written off as a Sarda dynasty. Dolindhan supporters backed instead Calsanqir's younger brother, Gamelirn, and Calsanqir acquiesced.

Gamelirn's predecessors, Joanseln and Zeldja, spent much of their rule curtailing the rider class. From simple advisors, the Rider Assembly had evolved into a body of ambitious generals and politicians who at times were a vital aid to the state, at others proved a hindrance to its ruler and a source of turmoil. After the riders' fall from grace and utter defeat in the First Ynnic Civil War, a power vacuum was left among the Empire's social classes.

## Sojourn in Adbrabohvi

Sometime after becoming emperor, Gamelirn set out to survey his vast empire. Adbrabohvi was to be the final destination of his journey, both for its location at the southern end of his domains, its significance as a spiritual centre in Sarda, and the Adbrabohvir support to King-Emperor Joanseln and Empress Zeldja, a support which had been repaid with the recently-finished constructions of its Great Ynnic Dam.

During his visit to Adbrabohvi, he was impressed by the piety and harmony the river-priests could instill in the populace, so much that he sought to learn from them and work with them.

## Council of Velikvab

In 643 Gamelirn called forth the Council of Velikvab, where clergy from all over the Ynn was invited. The council heralded the standardization and centralization of religious practices across the Ynn.

Velikvab united the Sarda tradition of building barges to send deceased nobility down the river and their myth of the End Flood together with the Dolindhan belief that they are the chosen people spared by a cataclysm for their virtue.

In Dolindha the rich previously practiced mound-burial. The change to river burial helped combat Wendigo population, who often preyed on graves.

## Death

Gamelirn is the first Emperor to be carried down the Ynn River upon his death as per the Sarda custom, atop a magnificent barge.

By Gamelirn's will, Lukaus’s body was also disinterred from his mound and sent down the river, on a wooden barge adorned with finely-crafted antlers.

## Legacy

Gamelirn is remembered as a wise, magnanimous ruler who could see the best in his subjects, capable of recognizing ingenuity and humbly learning from it. Warm and affable, he was a stark contrast from his authoritative predecessors, Joanseln and Zeldja. Many popular Ynnic sayings are attributed to him.