Emperor Morthaetho Cerneu

**Emperor Morthaetho Cerneu** (b. April 11, 1229 - d. August 24, 1285) was the fourth Emperor of Cornwall.

He was the son of Ohdear II Cerneu, grandson of King Morthaetho Cerneu (of Brittany), great-grandson of Ohdear Cerneu, who was born into the family of Hellfire but was a secret son of King Connor the Seducer, tracing his line to that of Earl Cadoc. He had 6 brothers and 4 children, three boys and a girl, only one boy surviving his reign.

His reign was something out of a fantasy books, having him recruited into an Allah-worshiping order of assassins, training his 10 year old son to become his apprentice only for the son to be killed in a test that was likely not supposed to end in fatalities sent by the order, had him kill his own wife as a test of joining, lived through and survived the Crusade for Bavaria, was regardless excommunicated *twice*, all while the Black Death ravaged the lands, as well as a civil where his only holdings remained the territories of the Kingdom of Wales.

The story of the civil war was that of a tragic misunderstanding. At the heaight of the Black Death, Emperor Morthaetho was approached by his advisors claiming that he'd lose the territory of the Kingdom of Ireland if at the time 13 year old Queen Derborgaill of Ireland of the House Ua Ruairc was to die to the plague. This was later proved not to be the case, historians concluding Emperor Morthaetho was misinformed. As a result, he sent an official letter of revocation of her titles, which the Queen refused. The Queen, to Morthaetho's dismay, rallied the rest of the Kingdoms of the Empire, including the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Brittany. In desperation, Emperor Morthaetho turned to foreign allies, managing to make an alliance with the Kingdom of Aragon, which sent sufficient troops for his survival. At the height of the battle, the plague receded and Perenn of Glamorgan was employed as a general with great success. On January 3, 1283 Queen Derborgaill pleaded for peace, which Emperor Morthaetho contemptuously declined. On March 6, he achieved total victory and imprisoned the queen, as well as King Gurthiem of Brittany and King Sultiem of England.

The war was a near 0 sum game: almost nobody had to win from it, and not even Morthaetho was not pleased with it, barely with its results. It had always been a dynastic goal for the title of the Kingdoms to be consolidated directly into the Emperor's hands, and Morthaetho inadvertently succeeded in this at least. Out of patience with everything, he revoked all the titles of the traitors and executed most, torturing the rest and letting them free as a testament of his fury. Knowing he wouldn't be around for too long after his unabashed cruelty, he is the first head of his dynasty to willingly consider removing tanistry from his succession laws and to implement primogeniture, as his predecessors were advised.

Knowing he had little time left and sensing the few oportunities brought by the Black Death, he began conquring the parts of the Kingdom of France that allowed him to push weak claims, tragically losing Perenn herself in a battle at the age of 38. He surprisingly died of old age on August 24, 1285 at the age of 56.

He was succeeded by his grandson Emperor Morthaetho II Cerneu.