Lupio Sunscryer

Sunscryer atop his warsteed.

**Imperator Lupio I Sunscryer**, known in Estalia as the **Sun's Eagle** and the **Patron of Myrmidia**, was the founder and first ruler of the Estalian Empire. A despotic tyrant, but beloved by his people, Sunscryer's ambition forged an empire and united much of Estalia despite his young age of thirty-two.

## History

### **Early Life**

Sunscryer was born in 2445 IC into the highest ranks of Magritta's merchant nobility, enjoying a comfortable childhood within the prosperous city-state. His father Agustin, a powerful Inquisitor and merchant lord, sired Lupio and his younger brother Mateo with Johana Moscosa, a Tilean noblewoman. The marriage endured controversy, but Agustin was well-respected, and upheld strong values of friendship with several Tilean neighbors of Magritta. As young men, Lupio and Mateo trained with the greatest swordsmen and tacticians money could buy, accompanying their father on numerous campaigns against orcs, Tileans and opposing Estalians. Lupio was mentored in the art of war and politics by Lord Emilio Prieto, a succesful general and close friend of Agustin. By the age of twenty, the elder Sunscryer brother was commanding his own armies, and found great success as a general and combatant in his own right during the closing years of the Portige War. The young Lupio wasted no time in solidifying his connections with the powers of Magritta, establishing a close relationship with the Inquisition due to his father's status.

Despite his ruthless talent for politics and far-reaching ambition, Lupio spent most of his early twenties away from Magritta, leading succesful mercenary armies throughout the Southern realms. At the age of twenty-three, he defeated a massive Skaven assault at the Battle of Tramoto Pass and became widely respected among the lords and citizenry of Astarios. Lupio continued to campaign in southeastern Estalia for several years, but in the spring of 2470, rampaging Greenskins began to flood out of the long-overrun Irrana Mountains, sacking and razing the minor domains of Astarios in the foothills. Agustin Sunscryer led an army into the hills to quell the threat in the name of Myrmidia, but Lupio's father was slaughtered alongside the majority of his men in the Battle of Montenas. Desperate for vengeance, Lupio led his entire mercenary army on a raging campaign through the Irranas, ruthlessly exterminating every Greenskin he came across. Sunscryer's Irrana Campaigns lasted over five years, and saw the near-obliteration of the orcish presence in Estalia.

### **Rise to Power**

His victories in the Irranas and expulsion of the expanding Greenskin threat cemented Lupio as a beloved hero of Astarios, and made the young Sunscryer fabulously wealthy. Soldiers and mercenaries of Magritta and its surrounding lands continued to flock to his banner, swelling Lupio's army to the largest in Estalia. Embracing the prospect of a close ally to the church of Myrmidia and faithful confidant to the Inquisition in power, the two major institutions of Astarios attempted to place Sunscryer on the throne. His fanatical soldiers proclaiming him king of all Estalia, the young and ambitious Lord began marching towards Magritta in the summer of 2476 IC. King Felipe III of Astarios, witnessing the decline of his power, made a desperate move to expunge Sunscryer's supporters from the city-state. On the Day of the Bloody Crown, Astarian troops battled Inquisitors, Myrmidian knights and supporters of Sunscryer through the streets of Magritta, blood spilling throughout the great city. Lord Emilio Prieto, at the head of Lupio's followers, overran Felipe's guard and executed the King in a public square. The Inquisition rapidly quelled any loyalists to the generally unpopular late King, and the battle for Magritta was over as quickly as it had begun. Lupio's army put down several loyalist pockets as it marched on Magritta, but by the first weeks of 2477 IC, Sunscryer's main force had arrived in the city and Astarios was fully under his control.

Upon his arrival in Magritta, Lupio assumed the full powers of the former King, but rejected the title itself. The young Lord, proclaiming his intent to unify Estalia and bring his people to glory, was crowned Imperator in the Temple of Myrmidia in February of 2477. The Kingdom of Astarios was declared defunct, and its government reformed into the First Estalian Empire. Lupio quickly assembled a council of trusted advisors and relatives, consolidating his power and ruling absolutely, and the Consejo del Imperio was established to oversee his vision of an Empire. Lord Prieto, Mateo, and Lupio's cousin Calvo Santiago were appointed as the first Consejeros of Estalia, the secondary heads of state. High Inquisitor Emmanuel Romero, a mentor to Lupio and the highest power in the Inquisition, became the right hand of the Imperator, and within three weeks of his coronation Lupio had recieved a position on the Inquisition's Supreme Council. From the first days of his reign, Sunscryer presented himself as a charismatic, handsome young leader, flooding his people with propaganda from the Inquisition and Cult of Myrmidia.

### **Unification of Estalia**

In late August of 2477 IC, Imperator Sunscryer declared war on the essentially nonexistent Kingdom of Portigelle. Portigelle, having been previously divided between Astarios and Aragona, was in reality fractured into two puppet states by 2477, but Sunscryer's declaration allowed him to wage war in Aragonan Portigelle without declaring war on Bilbali itself. Lupio began a proxy war against Aragona, his mercenary troops marching to ravage the occupied lands of Northern Portigelle from the Duchy of Muros. The raiding and looting of Portigelle continued for several months, culminating with the Battle of Diamanterra in January 2478 IC. An Imperial mercenary army raiding the outskirts of Diamanterra was attacked by the Aragonan army of Lord Rodrigo Serria, whose attack failed, resulting in the destruction of his army and occupation of Diamanterra. In the aftermath of the decisive battle, Lupio could no longer support the pretense of peace with his northern neighbors, and war was officially declared between Aragona and the Estalian Empire.