Augustus Saenia

Augustus "Dex" Saenia served as black hand during the reign of Emperor Tacitus, which included both the First and Second Spiral War. He stayed on as black hand during the first year of Emperor Junius after the sudden death of Emperor Tacitus and retired to the Saenia manor for the last five years of his life.

## Early Life and Trials

Augustus was born in 40 PS in the countryside around Meditas to Pater Malius Saenia and Iccacia Dexia. He was a third child but the first son so his father volunteered him for military service. At age seven, Augustus traveled to the academy at White Cliff with his mother and remained there for the next six years, except for brief field trips.

He excelled at almost every subject in the academy, both in the classroom and outside. His preferred weapon was the straight, short sword, though he also learned to fight with a curved Mauzji scimitar and a Kuan longbow during his education. His teachers considered him a bit brash but eloquent and persuasive, when he set his mind to it. Debate was his worst academic subject as he often struggled to maintain calm when his opponents refused to see his side immediately.

His only reprimand occurred during his rotation in the Grey Keep, when his overseer dismissed him early for "an unusual sadism unbefitting of Augustus' prior work." Augustus, according to his teacher, got too much joy out of harming others to ever make a good interrogator.

This had no effect on Augustus' performance during the trials to determined Tacitus' first black hand. Some have argued Augustus, who came from an old ars and was born in the Seprum capital, received a leg up during the trials in order to give the first ethnically Lykan emperor an aura of credibility. Others dispute that. In any case, Augustus likely could've won the trials without any untoward assistance, given his track record, and he became black hand at age 19. He met Tacitus for the first time during his swearing in as black hand and reportedly liked him immediately.

## Sack of Mauzji

Emperor Tacitus did not arrive on the Mauzji islands until all but Qurash had fallen and left much of the day-to-day logistical decisions up to Augustus. It was Augustus, therefore, who oversaw the sack of Mauzji. In smaller cities, this meant working with Kuan rai to distribute prisoners as spouses or indentured servants and use gems, gold, and other valuables to reward excellent performance in previous battles.

After Qurash fell, he killed between 500 and 2,000 citizens he suspected of disloyalty to the Empire or who resisted the transfer of power and sent back at least as many to the Grey Keep to be interrogated and executed. With the emperor's support, he created a new form of government, the Makkada Sultanate, and installed Bari edj-Makkar on the throne.

As the most visible representative of Seprum during the Second Spiral War, dislike for Augustus is high in Makkada, especially around Qurash, Radh, and Masci. Statues of him are often defiled or torn down to this day, so they are rare except in the north. Emperor Tacitus, on the other hand, is viewed with grudging respect for his role in creating the sultanate and respect he showed the Makkadi people. This has become a standard for future black hands, who are expected to accept any hatred directed towards their emperors.