Kerebun

**Kerebun**

 Born Yrek Noros Kerebun Lazreth in Roen Valley, a small region on the outskirts of the Azien city of Ganaeia, young Yrek Lazreth - as he was then known - was the fourth son of Gorj Lazreth, a Commander in the Azien 7th Legion, and Labetha Lazreth, daughter of a Tantrazarian Lord. He was named after several individuals, including Gorj’s grandfather, Yrek, Labetha’s father, Noros, and a renown figure in early Kuldhavari mythology named Kerebun.. In his early years, young Yrek attended a small schoolhouse alongside other children of the upper-class, earning high marks in every subject and gaining the high hopes of his parents and teachers.

At twelve, Yrek began working for the blacksmith in the village of Elsar. At first only performing menial tasks, mostly delivering goods, he picked up on the work and eventually became an apprentice in the trade. He did this for three years. When the master smith died, Yrek was under the assumption that he would maintain ownership alongside the smith’s only son. He was wrong, however, as the son cut him out of the father’s will. Yrek was devastated. He attempted to establish his own blacksmith business, spending much of his earnings buying a piece of property in the nearby village of Lozky and furnishing it with the necessary equipment. Less than a month in, the property was robbed of nearly everything, and set ablaze, Only charred metal frames and stone remained. Although he had no way to prove it, Yrek knew that the smith’s son was behind the sabotage. Left with nothing, he joined the ranks of a local criminal syndicate, although he did little other than act as a courier between hideouts.

At seventeen, he moved into Ganaeia, into a small apartment complex on the outskirts of the slums. The syndicate he was a part of had recently been exposed and disbanded; Yrek avoided capture as he was between hideouts that were raided and emptied of his kin. Left with little choice, not even able to pay his rent, he joined the Azien Guard(Azen Bakan), where he underwent rigorous physical training and at nineteen was assigned to a post position south of Syn’Tolbas on Lao Isle - the port had come under attack from Gothen militants who sought possession of the prized city. For months Yrek saw little action, but late one day a major attack was launched on his garrison, and he and his men barely survived. Upon hearing of the situation, the Azien High Commander ordered the regrouping of forces and the push southward to reclaim territory recently lost. Yrek, having been injured in the earlier attack, was assigned as a rear archer in the 2nd Battalion. He also acted as a part-time blacksmith, repairing the weapons and armor of his battalion in between battles.

Facing a force of anywhere between eight-hundred to three thousand men, the Azien forces began their push south, engaging in several conflicts that spanned nearly four months. In the end, victorious, the Azien forces managed to reclaim all the south territories, all the way to the Laos River.

Not long after the establishment of a garrison in the region near the river - where plans were underway for a major push southward into the heart of Lao - Yrek was pulled from his position by order of his father, who had been promoted recently to High Commander of the Azien Northern Legions. Given opportunity in the political realm as a military logistics advisor(due to his battlefield experience), Yrek warmed quickly to his new position. He learned much in the following decade -a decade spent mostly indoors and behind books or writing. He attended the university in Ganaeia and earned several degrees, writing several thesis papers and extensive books on war and politics. He also wrote several books on blacksmithing. A fixture in Azien military politics, Yrek’s work took him all over the greater southern region, eventually earning him invitations by major players in the greater north. One such invite brought him to Yoran, a small nation just north of the Seresus Valley, to discuss political matters. It is here that he met the young Ilian diplomat, Rem Palaedas, who was there on behalf of Ilia. Yrek and Rem became friends, sharing stories over drinks at a pub in the Yoran city of Emon. Rem said that he was a consort to the Royal Court, and requested that Yrek come stay in Ilia and learn more of the north. And so it was that Yrek made his first visit to the Ilian Palasad, where he stayed in a lavish guest suite, took in the vast sights of Ilia and her territories, and filled journal pages by the hundreds with thoughts, ideas, and various things inspired by his trip. He was even introduced to Empress Nethira Peraez on behalf of his Azien ambassadorship. Upon returning to Ganaeia seven months later, he wrote extensive notes on the Ilian Empire, and various manuscripts for Azien military-political reform. In having seen the ways of the north, the ironed-out policies and the solid social structures, he began to see the great flaws in the southern system.

The one that struck him as the most crucial was the decentralized economy of the Azien territories, which seemed to churn conflict after conflict over control of vital trade.

*“A vital flaw in the southern structure is the rampant inability of small, independent territories, which constitute the greatest percentage of the realm, to formulate a proper functioning government, free of the plague of corruption that seeks to capitalize on the weaknesses of Azien economic policy, or lack there of.”* He spent considerable time writing about Ilia, noting particularly the logic behind the success of their maintaining power in their realm.

*“It is indisputable the fact that Ilia secured their power long ago through warfare, conquest and reasonable domination - or what I consider holding their blade to the throats of enemy states and offering them the chance to right their wrongs, so to speak, or to change their ways, to bring their wagons into the caravan. And this has given way to annexation upon annexation, until the whole of the Ilian Empire stretches from sea to sea, nearly, given the respect shown to the other north power, the Nezik who, although quite powerful, do not have the reach, the influence, or the might of Ilia. The Lords of the Ilian House, their identities quite obscure, carry with them deadly sharp wit, and great knowledge; I have not personally met one of these Lords, although through the workings of their system one can make out a silhouette of their meaning, of their intention or of their ability, lest one be a complete fool.”*

Yrek continued to meet with Rem, year after year, until he developed a full knowledge of the ‘Ilian North’, all the while writing down his experiences, formulating political theories and developing economic outlines based on the workings of Ilia. More and more he came to despise his own lands, finding the utter lack of progression ‘disturbing yet enlightening’ in that he was ‘coming to understand what is needed for that which ails the southern realm.’

Yrek heard of the traitorous southern Tantrazarian Lords, and their pacts with the Gothen militants. Azia declared war on Tantrazar in (\*\*\*\*), something Yrek was powerless to stop. At the same time, a great rift in the Azien army caused several Commanders to pull their legions out of the official ranks, and defect from the \*Arms Pact.

*‘The once mighty peoples of Azia,’* he wrote, *‘whose combined forces conquered the Nezic iron hordes in the vast northlands and held both their capitol and that of a liberated Ilia, have fallen from grace such that their glory may never be reclaimed.’* Azien Lord, Ga’arish, met with Yrek concerning the military actions, which he insisted were beyond his control. Yrek insisted he could straighten things out if given the opportunity. Ga’arish promoted him then and there to High Commander of the Azien Armies, a position that currently had little meaning, but was the most Ga’arish could do. Almost immediately Yrek assembled a group to help him work out his plan.

Forces were to end fighting in Tantrazar and return to Azia, abandoning all posts in occupied territories.

Those that defected from the Arms Pact were stripped of their official ranks.

Forces in Syn’Tolbas were to abandoned post and return to Azia - the city was to be sold to Tantrazar, the payment subsequently used to fund the creation of coalition trade unions along the Azia-Tantrazar border.

These policies were derived right from those similarly administered in Ilia.

Over the next four years, Yrek had a series of successes in reforming the Azien military structure. Military forces were reorganized. Union projects were in full haul. Azia began to thrive in a new economic high. Yrek also met his first wife. A young Tantrazarian maiden named Saavi had caught his eye while he was visiting the region, and the two wed a month later. Saavi gave birth to twin sons soon after. The Ruling Counsel, exercising one of their only powers, voted to strip Ga’arish of power, and to place Yrek as Lord of Azia. Yrek accepted, and became the happiest he had ever been, or would ever be.

Many individuals became angry at what they called ‘capitulation’ in selling Syn’Tolbas. Many lost jobs(though the sale treaty prohibited this) and many lost lots of money. What they did have left they poured into material support for Gothen militants to strike at the city. Merchant shipping began coming under attack; loads were seized and crews were often executed. Yrek also came under attack by his new enemies. During a trip home from Ilia, his caravan came under attack. Most of his company were killed. Yrek was struck down, and awoke later during the night - the attackers either didn’t know he was alive, or let him live - to see the results of the carnage. All else were dead. He eventually came upon the bodies of Saavi, and of his two children. He stood broken for some time before making his way to a nearby village. He remained broken, forever regretting the loss of Saavi and his twin sons.

Only two weeks after the attack on his caravan, his friend, Rem Palaedas, ascended to the Ilian Throne, becoming the one hundred and fifth Emperor. Rem had made no effort to hide his position in the upper echelons of the Ilian aristocratic society. He had, however, kept secret the fact that he shared the blood of Emperor Palaedas the First; his ascension occurred through a set of strange circumstances. Rem’s ascension angered Yrek, who vowed never to speak to his friend again. His anger subsided, however, after several months and, still bearing grief from the loss of his family, he ventured again to Ilia to congratulate Rem.

Yrek joined Emperor Palaedas the Second at a formal reception held in the Palasad’s Grand Amphitheater, where he was introduced to members of the Ilian Counsel, to military Commanders and Generals, and to other politicians and peoples of importance. He spoke lengthily about Azia, and about the successes of Ilian policy being mirrored there. Also introduced to him was a beautiful woman named Beliz Amur, one of the daughters of Holbrad Amur, High Patriarch of the Ilian Counsel(and the closest individual to the Lords of the House). Much of the rest of the night was spent with Beliz. Yrek extended his stay in Ilia, spending it with Beliz and some of it in the Emperor’s Court. He also spent time in the company of Holbrad, learning many things about Ilia. At some point he asked for permission to marry Beliz, which he was granted. Yrek proposed to her, and she accepted. The ceremony was grand, held nearly a month later. It brought many people together. The time came, of course, for Yrek to return to Azia. Joining him was his Ilian bride.

Upon returning, Yrek found that several of his colleagues had usurped him, having him removed from power and exiled from Ganaeia. It became quite obvious that those that had opposed his policies, particularly the military policies, had gotten to his colleagues and orchestrated a plot to remove him. He traveled to Syn’Tolbas, where he gathered a rather large force of mostly Gothen men to assist him in raiding Ganaeia and retaking his power in return for riches. It took a few days, but the small garrison in Ganaeia was defeated and the usurpers captured and killed. Yrek had them hung in the main city square for all to see. Upon returning to power, Yrek ordered the assembly of those still loyal to him, and shared with them his plan to purge the military of those he suspected had turned against him. Units were formed, each consisting of a dozen or so men with particular assignments, most of which consisted of murdering a certain individual or individuals. Within three months, over half of the Azien high command had been wiped out. Among them was High Commander of the Northern Legions, Gorj Lazreth - Yrek’s father. It wasn’t for several weeks that Yrek learned of the demise of his father - inadvertently by his own order - but when the news hit him, it hit a wall, though it did affect him on some level. He tried to locate his mother, but she had virtually disappeared. By the time he did learn of her location, he was greeted by her handmaiden, who informed him that she had been dead for nearly a year.

Beliz became pregnant after several months in Ganaeia. And although she was bearing Yrek’s child, she was miserably unhappy, for the man she had met in Ilia had become something wholly different. His anger, his death marks, his oppressive rule over those around him - she had fallen swiftly out of love with him, and planned to flee Azia with the child after its birth. Unfortunately, she wrote of this in a diary she kept, and Yrek came upon it one day. He ordered Beliz locked in her chambers, and had guards posted both outside her chamber doors and outside her terrace doors. She remained in there for weeks. He rarely spoke to her, and when he did, she showed great discontent. During one lengthy conversation, he struck her down, after which she attacked him with a candelabra. Although she inflicted minor injury upon him, a guard struck her in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, causing her severe injury. The guard was subsequently arrested and executed on Yrek‘s direct order. Beliz spent several weeks in the infirmary; the child was born shortly after her arrival there. It was a boy. With Beliz in a comatose like state, Yrek was left to name the child himself. He gave it the name Goresh, an Ilianized version of his father’s name, Gorj.

When Beliz returned to good health, she remained locked in her room, hardly allowed to see her child. When she was, she was heavily supervised. She spent little more than an hour a week with Goresh, whose name she despised. One night during her visit, Beliz had managed to distract the guards in her chamber long enough to stab both Goresh and herself with a dagger. The guards found them seconds later; Beliz’ wound was fatal, however the stab wound to Goresh was not. He survived, developing a scar on his chest. Yrek was devastated by the news of his wife’s suicide, but was more upset that she had tried to murder Goresh. He had Beliz cremated, and spent about a week locked in his chambers, pondering on how he would tell her family. He knew he had to concoct a tale, something that made it seem that she had died of something other than miserable suicide.

Yrek traveled to Ilia again in late Lun 406. With him he brought the ashes of Beliz, although Goresh was left with attendants in Ganaeia. He told Holbrad the news, offering him the urn. He said nothing of the existence of Goresh. Demanding to know what had happened to his daughter, Holbrad was told that unknown aggressors had attacked the location they were staying at the time. The death of Beliz plunged the Amur family into a downward spiral. Her older sister, Belna - the closest of her siblings - committed suicide after several days. Her mother Thera, stricken with grief over the loss two of her daughters, slipped into a dark depression. After a couple months of isolation, she slit her wrists while in a bathtub. Holbrad was granted time off by the Emperor to grieve, but he never returned to his position. His natural successor in the Counsel, Onan Elanos, ascended to High Patriarch, and the Counsel underwent minor reorganization at the Emperor’s behest. (When Yrek later ascended to power in Ilia, Holbrad was on a list of individuals he had killed in secrecy.)

Yrek returned to Azia, and proceeded to set up several meetings with the Generals of his forces, discussing the creation of foreign legions. Issuing a decree to increase industry in the northeast, in Landobar, Yrek told his Generals that he wanted garrisons established there, to meet with any opposition.

“*As of recently…”* Yrek wrote in his journal, *“…it has become a desire of mine to replenish our northern territories, to even push further north into Seresus, considering the instability of the far south and the inability to rely on anything there, but I do not wish to disturb the age old pact between Ilia and ourselves…this is something I must consider with great patience and delicacy.”* \When Beliz returned to good health, she remained locked in her room, hardly allowed to see her child. When she was, she was heavily supervised. She spent little more than an hour a week with Goresh, whose name she despised. One night during her visit, Beliz had managed to distract the guards in her chamber long enough to stab both Goresh and herself with a dagger. The guards found them seconds later; Beliz’ wound was fatal, however the stab wound to Goresh was not. He survived, developing a scar on his chest. Yrek was devastated by the news of his wife’s suicide, but was more upset that she had tried to murder Goresh. He had Beliz cremated, and spent about a week locked in his chambers, pondering on how he would tell her family. He knew he had to concoct a tale, something that made it seem that she had died of something other than miserable suicide.

Yrek traveled to Ilia again in late Lun 406. With him he brought the ashes of Beliz, although Goresh was left with attendants in Ganaeia. He told Holbrad the news, offering him the urn. He said nothing of the existence of Goresh. Demanding to know what had happened to his daughter, Holbrad was told that unknown aggressors had attacked the location they were staying at the time. The death of Beliz plunged the Amur family into a downward spiral. Her older sister, Belna - the closest of her siblings - committed suicide after several days. Her mother Thera, stricken with grief over the loss two of her daughters, slipped into a dark depression. After a couple months of isolation, she slit her wrists while in a bathtub. Holbrad was granted time off by the Emperor to grieve, but he never returned to his position. His natural successor in the Counsel, Onan Elanos, ascended to High Patriarch, and the Counsel underwent minor reorganization at the Emperor’s behest. (When Yrek later ascended to power in Ilia, Holbrad was on a list of individuals he had killed in secrecy.)

Yrek returned to Azia, and proceeded to set up several meetings with the Generals of his forces, discussing the creation of foreign legions. Issuing a decree to increase industry in the northeast, in Landobar, Yrek told his Generals that he wanted garrisons established there, to meet with any opposition.

“As of recently…” Yrek wrote in his journal, “…it has become a desire of mine to replenish our northern territories, to even push further north into Seresus, considering the instability of the far south and the inability to rely on anything there, but I do not wish to disturb the age old pact between Ilia and ourselves…this is something I must consider with great patience and delicacy.”

When Beliz returned to good health, she remained locked in her room, hardly allowed to see her child. When she was, she was heavily supervised. She spent little more than an hour a week with Goresh, whose name she despised. One night during her visit, Beliz had managed to distract the guards in her chamber long enough to stab both Goresh and herself with a dagger. The guards found them seconds later; Beliz’ wound was fatal, however the stab wound to Goresh was not. He survived, developing a scar on his chest. Yrek was devastated by the news of his wife’s suicide, but was more upset that she had tried to murder Goresh. He had Beliz cremated, and spent about a week locked in his chambers, pondering on how he would tell her family. He knew he had to concoct a tale, something that made it seem that she had died of something other than miserable suicide.

Yrek traveled to Ilia again in late Lun 406. With him he brought the ashes of Beliz, although Goresh was left with attendants in Ganaeia. He told Holbrad the news, offering him the urn. He said nothing of the existence of Goresh. Demanding to know what had happened to his daughter, Holbrad was told that unknown aggressors had attacked the location they were staying at the time. The death of Beliz plunged the Amur family into a downward spiral. Her older sister, Belna - the closest of her siblings - committed suicide after several days. Her mother Thera, stricken with grief over the loss two of her daughters, slipped into a dark depression. After a couple months of isolation, she slit her wrists while in a bathtub. Holbrad was granted time off by the Emperor to grieve, but he never returned to his position. His natural successor in the Counsel, Onan Elanos, ascended to High Patriarch, and the Counsel underwent minor reorganization at the Emperor’s behest. (When Yrek later ascended to power in Ilia, Holbrad was on a list of individuals he had killed in secrecy.)

Yrek returned to Azia, and proceeded to set up several meetings with the Generals of his forces, discussing the creation of foreign legions. Issuing a decree to increase industry in the northeast, in Landobar, Yrek told his Generals that he wanted garrisons established there, to meet with any opposition.

*“As of recently…”* Yrek wrote in his journal, *“…it has become a desire of mine to replenish our northern territories, to even push further north into Seresus, considering the instability of the far south and the inability to rely on anything there, but I do not wish to disturb the age old pact between Ilia and ourselves…this is something I must consider with great patience and delicacy.”*

 Within a week of his order for industrial expansion in Landobar, Yrek issued another order calling for the expansion of the Nyes Shipyard in Sibyev, calling for major administrative reorganization and increased output. Most of the new industrial administration was made up of Yrek’s close associates in the region. He sent an envoy to Pilentahlia - the first contact between Azia and Pilentahlia in many years - where contracts were signed with lumber yards and quarries to export raw goods to Azia. Yrek was strengthening the northern region, and at the same time was cutting ties with the southern Azien realm. With turmoil in Tantrazar continuing as guerilla groups attempted to overthrow the government there, Yrek issued a major order known as ‘The (\*\*\*\*) Decree’, which shut down seventeen Azien industrial yards in northern Tantrazar, cut funding and aid to cities there that faced the onslaught of furious militants, and called for the six Azien legions posted there to drop their duties and return to Azia. Many of those close to him, who knew him well enough, questioned his motives.

*“Progress in the north is to become our new goal.”* he stated in a speech to his counsel. *“For too long the festering political scene in the far south has done little but try and pull us down with it. We gave food, we gave aid, we stationed our armies there to help them organize their cities and ready their own forces against the militant factions that seem only to grow in size and merit, capturing villas and rendering regional policies. And through all this, through all we have sacrificed, through all the time and energy, blood, sweat and tears we have devoted, all to the south, our progress in the north has moved little in an era! Yes we have peace between Ilia and ourselves, and indeed the material wars of the great valleys were halted and replaced with mutual resource camps. But quite simply, what could be used in the north has instead been drudged down in the south trying to pick up the pieces of an ever-crumbling puzzle, the solution of which only the gods themselves may know.”*

*“The weakening of Tantrazar will bring them to war with Gothe,”* Yrek told a female friend, *“and we will take the great port(Syn’Tolbas).”* He married the girl he spilled his secret to, a young, naïve woman named Gale Okav who had moved to Ganaeia from northern Tantrazar with her aunt and uncle - both of whom were avid supporters of Yrek. Their relationship was mostly sexual. Little was really ever spoken, as most time was spent engaging in profound sexual acts in every imaginable locale. It was not long before he married Gale that he met the one who would become his protégé - a young man named Asam Amarac. Asam attended Yrek and Gale’s marriage at the behest of Yrek himself, who met the aspiring political student at the tri-annual Ganaeia Exposition(an event founded eras prior by Azien Lord Revendas). Yrek instructed Asam on the inner workings of the Azien political realm. He introduced him to important individuals, brought him to important places, eventually bestowing upon him the title of Grand Ambassador -a position which automatically surpassed the title of High Ambassador- which he took to happily.