Interregnum

The History of the Aelyrian Empire from the end of the Third Empire to the Reign of Arabella de Lylles.

Introduction​

After 200 eras of peaceful prosperity, the Aelyrian Empire had risen to an unprecedented height of power and prosperity. And yet through a series of misfortunes, disasters, and dissensions, the next three hundred eras would see it descend so far that at some points it seemed as if the Empire would be no more. The Interregnum, as this chapter in Aelyrian History has recently been coined, is the subject of the current treatise which I have spent many eras compiling from the notes and reminiscences of those who participated first hand in the remarkable events of this period.

~ Garreth Matvei

Historian at the De Saals Center of the Maeveon Collegio de Enamoria

Chapter I: Castellian Keep​

At the end of era 9915 it seemed that Alyssa Chrysinaria’s Pax Aelyriana would continue for all time. The latest – and, as it would prove to be, last - success of the Empress was the reduction of the Castellian Keep, where a dangerous band of brigands known as the Red Hand had sequestered themselves and begun to terrorize the Centripaxian countryside. The Empress herself journeyed from Isle Coronae to the aid of her armies. Later this proved to be part of a plot financed by The Xet Alliance to assassinate Empress Alyssa Chrysinaria. Ambushed by a golden Dragon, the Empress was wounded before First Minister Ieolus could open up a portal to Aetheria; his self-sacrifice, nevertheless, rid the Empress of the imminent threat to her life.

In honour of the First Minister's heroism Alyssa Chrysinaria adopted his daughter, Thalia de Lylles. At first it appeared that Alyssa Chrysinaria’s wounds were not grave, but as the brightenings passed she grew more and more sick. Finally the Imperial physician, unable even to diagnose the mysterious illness from which the Empress suffered, despaired. As Chrysinaria fell into a deep coma, rumours spread through the imperial court that her wounding had been engineered, and the Red Hand itself aided, by the treacherous Thalia de Lylles - who, it was said, had long been secretly envious of the love between her late father and the Empress.

Chapter II: The Rise of Intendent Thalia de Lylles​

Although these suppositions were never proven, Thalia’s actions at this juncture have confirmed her guilt in the eyes of many recent historians. As Alyssa Chrysinaria lay insensible in her room, the Crown Princess Thalia, having coerced both the Imperial Advisor Duncan du Lae and the Imperial Regent Kaelon Xeon to support her claim, announced the state of her own Intendency, ostensibly in preparation for ascension as Empress after the imminent death of Chrysinaria.

Despite her powerful connections, which also included the Xetan Embassy to Aelyria and the Church of the Faith under the elderly Archprelatess Vesta of Tirisfal (modern Trysvale), Thalia was not able to convince the Imperial Court of her right. The Senate, whose power had grown strong under the mild rule the Alyssan Civitate, refused to support the self-proclaimed Intendent. Even Imperial Regent Kaelon Xeon was quick to switch sides, now openly doubting Thalia de Lylles’ capabilities and beginning to assert his own rights of succession as Regent. Further opposition in the Provinces gathered as news of the events that had transpired during the Red Hand Rebellion and its aftermath spread. The Intendent, in reply, declared the Empire to be in a state of Martial Law.

The Aelyrian people were shocked to hear of the arrival of the Prelatine Guard to the aid of the Intendent, of their quick takeover of the Palace, and their sharp clashes with the Senate-controlled Imperial Guard. Their fear was further stoked by the announcement that the incapacitated Alyssa Chrysinaria herself, along with Imperial Regent Kaelon Xeon, had been lost during an inter-dimensional catastrophe aboard the Imperial Airship Fragha’tha. Placed in such a bind, many provincial governments contemplated secession. The only one to act decisively on that impulse, however, was Governor Ambrose Devere of Enamoria, who with the active collusion of the Enamorian Provincial Council announced the creation of the Republic of Enamoria a few cycles after the Crown Princess had named herself Intendent to the throne.

Chapter III: The Xetan Invasion​

In response to Enamoria's secession, Thalia sent the Prelatine Guard to subdue the province as well as other cities at the forefront of the opposition to her claim. This action, along with rumours of Thalia’s deep financial debt to the Xet, impelled Archprelatess Vesta to commit suicide in disillusionment and grief over the state of the Empire. The Prelatine Guard, meanwhile, having destroyed Port Alyxandrya and captured both Charisme and Starkville, moved toward the ancient capitol of Medonia. Here, however, they were stopped for some time, as Governor Ambrose and his General Alexander Nighthawk had taken the utmost precautions in fortifying the city. The siege appeared as if it would drag on for a long time when help for the Intendent’s forces came from a most unexpected quarter: the Xetan Ambassadors, with the desperate approbation of Thalia herself, had called upon the armies of their Empire to invade Enamoria. The landing of the armada from the west caused mass panic among the defendants of the newborn Republic. The Xet, under the command of Second Tul’Orekis, decimated the Medonian troops as well as the Prelatine Guard who had been besieging them. Thereupon they established Enamoria as their own Protectorate. Only a few Medonians, among them the Governor and the General themselves, were able to escape the clutches of the Xet in the underground catacombs of the Pnyx.

The rest of Aelyria was roused by the plight of the Medonians to raise arms against the foreign invaders. The remains of the Prelatine Guard joined forces from Centripax as well as troops and naval forces from the capitol led by Prince Valerian, Imperial Consul James de Rothchild, and Archduke Threlius de Lylles, in hastily setting out toward the city. By dint of valour and superior numbers the Aelyrian forces finally succeeded in liberating Medonia and putting the Xet to flight. The short-lived Republic was definitively reintegrated into the empire and Governor Ambrose Devere, although the accusation of treason still hung over him, was left to rebuild the capitol of the province along with Consul Rothchild: for the other two leaders of the liberation force had been suddenly called back to the Palace on the Isle of the Crown by the unquenchable force of the Aethergem.

Chapter IV: Sherian and Darkblade​

Enamoria was not the only province in desperate straits at this time, however. It so chanced that in 9917 the pirates who had always plagued the shores of Sherian amassed for the greatest invasion the province had seen since the tumultuous times of Earl Jefean. The attack, directed at the city of Taralon, met with little opposition as the fortifications, massive as they once had been, were of late sadly neglected and the city forces grown lax in their duties. The pirates overwhelmed the citizenry, killed the Governor Lady Kyrotta, and began rounds of pillaging which lasted for many brightenings.

As news of this attack reached the capitol the remnants of the Senate in desperation sent out one Hannas Darkblade, a man known to the Senators more for his firm principles and loyalty than for his previous military exploits, to quell the invaders. To this end Darkblade was appointed Governor of Sherian. The choice soon proved to have been a happy one. The pirates fled at the news of the Governor's approach with well-trained Imperial Legions behind him. Governor Hannas Darkblade entered the city of Taralon bloodlessly and immediately set about scouring the coasts with his troops to root out the seats of the invaders.

Chapter V: A Fall, an Intervention, and an Ascention​

As her power in the Empire seemed to be waning, Intendent Thalia decided that it was time to go through with the ceremony of ascension with or without the agreement of the Senate. As the momentous brightening approached a group of adventurers managed to penetrate the Palace and activate the power of the Aethergem. The awakening of the Aethergem restored Emperor Constantine to life in human form at the same as it called upon five true claimants to the throne to step forth: Prelate Aleksander of the Church of the Faith; Fire Mystia, former Empress and wife of Constantine; Prince Valerian, the son of Constantine and Fire; Princess Seresia, daughter of Alyssa Chrysinaria and Ieolus Lylles; and Archduke Threlius de Lylles. All claimants were transported to the Throne Room where Thalia and her Xetan supporters, among them Second Tul’Orekis, were making the last preparations for the Intendent’s ascension. But at the very moment when a fight between the two parties seemed innevitable, the body of Thalia was overwhelmed by the Goddess Diana manifesting herself in physical flesh and the Xetan band was banished from this plane forever.

Diana declared that all the contendants would merge with the mind of Prince Valerian Constantius, the one she deemed most fit to rule the Empire. But during the ceremony the Emperor Constantine, fearful for the mind of his son, pushed the elemental, his wife, Fire Mystia aside and merged with Valerian himself. In such an ominous manner began the reign of the last monarch of the Third Empire, Valerian Constantius I, late in era 9917.

Chapter VI: Valerian Constantius I​

Further revolutionary appointments followed, as the new Emperor shocked his subjects by dismissing the Imperial Court and choosing new officers to positions of highest importance in his government. Notable among these was Imperial Consul James de Rothchild, who was granted the position of Imperial Regent; Lord Holland, formerly Governor of Centripax and lately the Imperial Minister of Protocol, who was named Valerian's Advisor; and Governor Hannas Darkblade, who became Imperial Marshal. Even Ambrose Devere was pardoned by the newly crowned Emperor, acquiring the prestigious position of Imperial Arbiter for his just opposition to Intendent Thalia. Seeking to diminish the power of the Aelyrian nobility and to avoid any further possibility for rebellion on the part of his subjects, Emperor Valerian ordered all armed forces not affiliated to the Imperial military to be disbanded.

Despite the cohesion of the Empire and of the gods themselves behind the new Emperor, his reign was not fated to last long. The weight of the Aethercrown itself seemed to press heavily upon Emperor Valerian Constantius I and little was done to restore the prosperity which had marked the reign of Alyssa Chrysinaria. The Senate, which had gained so much power in the late Empress' reign and which had proved its independence during the Intendency of Thalia, was promptly disbanded upon Valerian's ascension. By the time a single pattern had passed it became clear that the Emperor had descended entirely into madness. His government, in turn, could do nothing but attempt to enforce his last coherent edicts.

Chapter VII: The Church of the Faith 9917-9925​

It was only a matter of time, given Valerian Constantius' weakening state, before the power of the Emperor was once again called into question. This time the rebellion came from within the Church of the Faith. Since the death of Archprelates Vesta the Concilium Prelatum had been unable to agree on the matter of the next Archprelate. Though candidates had long before been asked to present their claims and credentials, none as yet had been selected; larger issues, stemming from the ill-planned and ill-fated support of the late Vesta for Thalia de Lylles, had shaken the foundations of the Church. Attendance by the common citizens of the empire had been for some time in decline, and as of late had taken a virtual tailspin. Many prelates, fearful for their influence over the Empire, turned to The Inquisition, established long before by Archprelate Maximillian and never quite disbanded after his death, in order to solidify and reaffirm the presence of rigorous morality within the Church. Others disliked the militant faith preached by The Inquisition and would have turned instead to Governor Aerienne Sarista, an Ancient Aelyrian who had some time previously declared her candidacy for the Archprelacy and was said to have been visited by the Goddess Diana herself in a vision. It was at this juncture that Emperor Valerian Constantius' decree disbanding all militarized Factions - among them the Archonic Force of The Inquisition - was announced to the Concilium Prelatum. The leaders of the Inquisition were outraged. Lord Torquemada publicly accused the moderate prelates of political sabotage, seeing the decree as a maneuver instigated at their behest and specifically directed at the power of the Inquisition, before he stormed out of the Basilica Ecclesia. The leaders of the Archonic Force, bolstered by the support of Lord Torquemada and his faction, refused to follow the edict.

For a time the Archonic Force appeared to have solidified their control of the city of Diana, battling victoriously against the Imperial Army hastily assembled against them and sacking parts of Diana. As Governor Aerienne Sarista, who had been away from the Holy City beforehand, gathered another, larger Imperial force in Centripax and Prime, the Archonic Force led by Lord Torquemada and the Holy Defender, leader of the Inquisitorial forces, made its way northward toward the city of Archadoon. The reason for this hasty expedition away from their home base in Diana seems to have been the loyalty of the current Thane of Archadoon, one Kane Phoenix, to Governor Aerienne Sarista, who had given him his current appointment. And, in fact, this strategy proved to be successful.

The Archadoonians were unable to muster up a successful defense in the short time before the arrival of the Archonic Forces. Furthermore, internal rivalries between the government, led by Thane Phoenix, and the old nobility, led by the ancient Barbari House of Arkdün, weakened the attempt to pose a single defensive front against the invaders. Most of the defenders along with some leading members of House Arkdün were killed in the first wave of the attack. In the second, the walls of the city were breached and the sack of Archadoon began.

After the occupation of the devastated city the Archonic Force pressed further northward, towards Jaedaxia. On the way they paused to wreak havoc on the village of Trysvale, whose residents along with the druids of the Druids' Copse put up a noble resistance but were ultimately too weak in number to prevent the utter ruin of their homes. The pause which the Trysvalian defense made in the march of the Archonic Force, however, was possibly crucial to the war and most certainly saved Jaedaxia from seige, if not from a decimation similar to that experienced in Archadoon and Trysvale. While the soldiers were still pillaging the village Lord Torquemada and the Holy Defender learned that a new Imperial force, led by none other than the Imperial Field Marshal Hannas Darkblade, was making its way up the eastern coast from Aelyria Prime. Aborting their plans on Jaedaxia, the Archonic Force turned back towards Diana.

The two forces met on the Carmelyn Plains outside of the still-smoking Archadoon. Remnants of the Archadoonian guard, led by Thane Kane Phoenix, had fled to join the Imperial Forces and were now once more arranged against their Inquisitorial enemy. The armies clashed on the plain as a still more deadly contest took place above them between the Mages of either side. Lord Torquemada, the Holy Defender, and their followers stood on the one side, pitted against the combined powers of Governor Aerienne Sarista, the Archlich Sorrin, and members of the Mages' Guild of Lauryl on the other. So powerful were the magics hurled across enemy lines that brightening that some went awry and, blasting through the ruins of Archadoon, covered the ancient city in a body of water now known as the Black Lake. As night fell the fighting ceased and the Archonic Force fell back, beating a hasty retreat to Diana as the Imperial forces collected themselves. The next clash of the armies occurred the next morning just outside of Diana. This time the victory of the Imperial Army was decisive. The Holy Defender was killed and Lord Torquemada, seeing that nothing awaited him but a life sentence in Terramarique, committed suicide as the last men of the Archonic Force were either killed, seized, or fled.

A meeting of the Concilium Prelatum shortly thereafter nominated Aerienne Sarista to the Archprelacy. In one of the last, as it subsequently turned out, acts of his reign, Valerian Constantius I acknowledged his fellow Aelyrian as the new Archprelatess of the Church of the Faith. Returning triumphant to the city of Diana, Aerienne Sarista began her reign with a characteristic mixture of firmness and compassion: she decreed the immediate disbanding, for all time, of the Inquisition, while allowing many of the prelates who had spoken in its favor but later recanted to return to their posts. As for Archadoon, the new Archprelatess decreed that it be rebuilt in a new location and the refugees be resettled, sending Thane Kane Phoenix, though gravely wounded in the fighting, to oversee the project. Imperial Marshall Hannas Darkblade took it upon himself to oversee the reconstruction of the provincial defenses. The Archlich Sorrin was granted permission to create an Academy in the reconstructed Archadoon.

When Thane Phoenix arrived in Archadoon, however, matters among the refugees were much worse than anyone could have expected. The relief brought by the Thane would clearly not be enough, particularly since no part of the old city could be salvaged, submerged as it was beneath the waters of the Black Lake. Leadership among the refugees had reverted to the young Argonox Arkdün, the only surviving male member of House Arkdün. Upon the arrival of the Thane Argonox was loath to part with a power he considered his ancestral right. It is uncertain what may have happened in the politics of Archadoon had fortune not intervened. But, as it happened, the rivalry between the Thane and the Duke was not to be resumed - the exacerbation of Phoenix's wounds by the journey northward and his initial relief efforts forced the Thane to take to his bed, and would eventually lead to his demise. Thus the young Duke was left with full control of the rebuilding effort, using up most of his patrimony in the process and neither asking - nor receiving - any help from the government. He named the renascent city Arkdün.

The Archprelatess, who might otherwise have taken an interest in the growth of the new city, had pressing concerns elsewhere: shortly after her ascension her sister Lilienne, a deranged necromancer, was captured and brought to the Basilica Eclesiae for questioning. Before anything could be gleaned from her, however, or the issue of her future be decided, Lilienne managed to break free from her captivity, kidnap Aerienne, and disappear from Diana. Early in 9925 the Archprelacy was once more vacant.

Chapter VIII: Reflections on the End of a Dynasty and the Birth of a New Age​

Shortly after the disappearance of the Archprelatess, the Emperor Valerian, whose madness by that time could no longer be kept a secret from the people, disappeared. His officials could not but breathe a sigh of relief. Yet, as the true death of the Valerian Constantius I remained in uncertainty, the ascension of another Emperor could not be attempted. With the government placed under these constraints, Imperial Regent James de Rothchild took over the Empire and declared a state of Regency.

Thus the rule of the Empire passed from the Ancient Aelyrian blood that had ruled it for so long to that of the shorter-lived races, the original subjects of Constantine's great Empire. The Dynasty which Constantine had attempted to create had failed, and failed miserably: Valerian Constantius disappeared without having sired any children, and all others born to Emperor Constantine had been long dead. Moreover, the few Ancient Aelyrians who had survived the Plague of Mortality during the reign of Diana had mostly sequestered themselves on the Isle Coronae that had been their original possession. They had taken little interest in the progress of Constantine's Empire in any case; most in the Empire ceased to care about them and some even believed that they had died out completely.

The question of the Empire which Constantine and the Aelyrians left behind them, however, remained. Was Alyssa Chrysinaria a wondrous aberation, or would she become a precedent for a new way of ruling the Empire? Would the Empire itself, created as it was from diverse races and nations, survive those who had given it birth and protection for so long? There are those who argue that the over fifty pattern period of chaos and utter rebellion between the reign of Constantine and Alyssa Chrysinaria marks the true breaking point between the old Empire and the New. Nevertheless, it is my opinion that only after the evident death of Valerian Constantius did the Age of Aelyrians come to an end and a new Age, one I wish to call the Age of the Arcane, begin.

For it must be remembered that much of the indominable power of the Empire came from the Mystique surrounding it's Aelyrian rulers and elite - winged creatures of immense power and ability, blessed first by Ioannes and then by Diana, and capable of controlling the power of all the spheres of arcana within themselves. Such powers could never be rivaled by any member of the lesser races. With their death or withdrawal from the top echelons of the Empire, the most powerful members of Aelyrian society left were the Mages: some on the side of the Empire, but many others in opposition to it. The subsequent history of Aelyria down to my own time is quintissentially concerned with the history of prominent mages and magecraft.

Chapter IX: Regent James de Rothchild​

In the capable hands of Rothchild and his closest advisors, who included the young human Alexander Nighthawk, newly appointed Imperial Field Marshal, the Empire saw a period of calm such as it had not experienced since the death of Empress Chrysinaria. The Regent maintained a program of quiet solidification, reaffirming the power of a centralized government over the Provinces and the old nobility and sending out bands of adventurers against those pockets of internal evil which still remained. It soon became clear to the Regent and his closest advisors that many of these cells of dissent appeared to manifest a close affinity to the arcane sphere of Necromancy. It is during this period in the history of the Empire that Necromancy first came to be regarded as evil in and of itself, though its practice had long been regarded as suspicious by some Peoples.

Chapter X: A Dark Threat is Born​

The first sign of the growing necromantic threat arose in Port Alyxandrya. It was here that a dead man was discovered in the possession of a mysterious and magnificent gem shaped, as it were, into an eye. Upon examination by a number of experts of the Stormhaven Academy it was agreed that the gem was a precious but deadly artifact known as the Eye of Jorel and The Book in which the gem had been contained was entitled The Children of Jorel. The Book told of the power of the Eye of Jorel and its ability, when wielded in the hands of an archmage necromancer, to open a gateway to Cyraxia and unleash the ancient enemy of the Aelyrians.

As much as the mages of the Academy attempted to keep this matter a secret, word about the Eye and its powers leaked out. Only a few brightenings after its discovery an Archmage, Archmage Balthazor, stole the Eye and attempted its use. Before the Gateway could completely open, however, the Archmage was discovered and the Eye taken from him, but even in the few moments during which the portal had stood open were enough to cause massive destruction: whole blocks of Port Alyxandrya were razed to the ground by the power of the Eye of Jorel, and no part of the city escaped entirely unscathed.

In grief over the senseless destruction, and fear over what might have happened had the Archmage been able to complete his casting, Thane Patrius ordered the gem and The Book to be transported post-haste to an ancient temple in the deserts of Arakmat, where it was hoped the powers of the Eye might be contained. Yet by this time rumours of the artifact were spreading beyond the city walls; it became apparent that others would follow in the footsteps of Archmage Balthazor. The party from Port Alyxandrya proved to be too small and the Eye of Jorel was once again stolen. This time, the thieves could not be found.

Chapter XI: The Dark Alliance​

As was subsequently revealed, the power of the Eye of Jorel drew together a number of powerful necromancers who created the beginnings of the Dark Alliance. The six gathered a massive force over the span of many patterns and planned an attack that was to take the cities of Port Alyxandrya, Medonia, and Daltina in a simultaneous coup. The tri-pronged attack commenced in the spring of 10012. Although the takeover started out well for the necromancers, and Daltina was indeed completely under their control for some time, the dark forces which were supposed to have taken the cities of Medonia and Port Alyxandrya from the inside were beaten back. The hordes of Undead outside the city walls regrouped even as messengers from Thane Patrius of Port Alyxandrya were sent to Zerdargia in hopes of mobilizing the Veldar Elite to the aid of the beleaguered Enamorians.


As the Centripaxians came down through The Midlands, the Dark Alliance gathered their own forces in Medonia and Daltina for another attempt on the walls of Port Alyxandrya. The besieged certainly could not have held out for long had not the Veldar Elite attacked the Undead horde from behind, pinning the dark forces against the walls of the city. With the death of Archmage Sander in battle the rest of the army lost its nerve and scattered throughout the province. The victory was costly, however, with both the Veldar and the Port Alyxandrian defenders sustaining large losses in the battle. The remnants of the Dark Alliance were soon drawn to a solitary spot in the Enamorian Wilderness where they built a new city for themselves which they named Malice.

Chapter XII: An Edict Against Necromancy​

Shocked by these events, and subsequently finding that no rational or military force seemed able to root out the trouble in Enamoria, the Regent promulgated an edict in era 10101 which made the practice of all necromancy illegal and ordered necromancers henceforward to be punished for the use their arts. Rothchild specifically empowered the Church to oversee the detection and expurgation of the necromancers. Many managed to escape however, either augmenting the forces of the Dark Alliance in Malice or turning to other hideouts for safety. It was feared that a new war must soon arise against those disgruntled by the edict.

Chapter XIII: The Seige of Vortex​

And indeed, matters soon came to a head in the province of Arium, which quickly became known as a haven for necromancers. For many patterns Governor Kassander Massacre had shown himself to be neutral to the cause, neither abetting necromancy nor actively persecuting its practitioners. Upon his disappearance, however – although neither his body nor the perpetrators of the deed were ever found, it is generally supposed that he was done away with by citizens angered over the Governor’s quiet disobedience to the Regent - the City Council of Vortex convened and issued their official approbation of necromancy.


Regent Rothchild was quick to respond, sending the Imperial Legions to besiege the city. Vortex held out for many months in the fear that surrender would mean, if not the wholesale destruction of their city, then surely the eviction and prosecution of many of its leading citizens under Rothchild’s edict against necromancy. As food grew scarce and winter drew near, secret messengers were sent to Paxia with desperate pleas for help. Nevertheless, Thane Aramil H. Thamion refused to send the Falcon Legion to the city's aid.


For another month Vortex continued to hold out against the Imperial soldiers. In the end, however, the legions were able to break through the protective spells which guarded the city walls and rushed into the streets of Vortex, searching for and destroying those buildings which were suspected of housing necromancers, many of whom fought to the death. The slaughter became wholesale as all able-bodied citizens fell under suspicion and consequent danger: the Imperial soldiers had no way of telling under whose skin the mind of an arcanist might be hiding. This state of affairs continued well into the night as the sky was lit by the massive conflagrations which the one side did not have the ability, and the other the inclination, to dampen. The heaviest damage was sustained by those areas closest to the city walls, already long worn and broken down by Imperial bombardment, and the Southern Quarter of the city which was the site of the first breach. As the fires began to die out and Vortex settled into bloody torpor, news of the victory was sent to Aelyria Prime. The next morning, the military occupation of Vortex was announced.

Chapter XIV: Murder and the Gnome​

When the messengers from Vortex arrived at the Palace, however, they were to find it in a state quite different from that which anyone could have anticipated. Months previously, in light of the continued ambivalent state of the war against necromancy and for fear of similar acts of audacity such as that displayed by Vortex, Regent Rothchild had taken it upon himself to reconvene the Senate nearly two hundred eras after Emperor Valerian Constantius I had given orders for its dissolution. All Thanes, Governors, and Guilds were ordered to send their representatives to the Conclave.

Shortly after the convening of the Conclave, the Medonian representative, a young fian gnome by the name of Taskaburrow, requested a private audience with the Regent to discuss matters of Imperial safety within the Palace. When the two met as requested, however, the gnome slashed the Regent with a poisoned dagger before the guards could seize him. Fortunately the wound was not deep, and the Regent Rothchild’s life was safe for the moment; but not the most expert physician could bring him out of the deep comma into which he had fallen. The next morning the Imperial Marshal Alexander Nighthawk, a close friend of the Regent, took it upon himself to inform the citizenry of Aelyria Prime of the terrible treachery enacted within the palace. He announced his hopes for the Regent’s eventual recovery and his own temporary ascendancy as Acting Regent.

Chapter XV: Stabilizing Arium​

It was during this time of doubt and governmental turmoil that the messengers from Vortex arrived to present their missive before Acting Regent Nighthawk. The former Imperial Field Marshal took no time in ordering the Legions to impose martial law upon Vortex. Not trusting the word of the Imperial Commander who had allowed the destruction of the besieged city, and unable himself to travel to Arium because of Rothchild’s and the government’s uncertain state, Nighthawk was constrained to order the Thanes of Paxia and Nexus Prime to appear before him. Upon hearing their testimony the Acting Regent expressed his sorrow for the plight of Vortex and the directorate as a whole. As a reward for their loyal service Aramil Thamion was appointed the new Governor of Arium and Omeray Al’Arion was given the Thaneship of Vortex along with the task of rebuilding the city with moneys provided from the Imperial coffers. In a bid to appease the common citizenry of the province and to solidify ties between the cities of the directorate, Acting Regent Nighthawk surprised government officials by appointing a young unknown by the name of ]Daranih Kathal[/Wiki], who had been within Vortex during the siege and had participated in its defense, as Thane of Paxia.

Chapter XVI: Toward a Time of Crisis: Nationality and Sovereignty​

Already during the Regency of Rothchild, the idea that a single mortal mind, unaided by the powers of the Aethercrown, was unable to handle the affairs of the Aelyrian Empire had suggested itself to those few who knew about and could judge such things. During the brief Acting Regency of Alexander Nighthawk, this fact became patently obvious to all. Perhaps, it is true, the nearly two hundred eras between the disappearance of Valerian Constantius and the paralyzing disease of Rothchild had merely weakened the fabric of the empire enough to forbid any peace under yet another new and unvalidated government; but general opinion has deemed Nighthawk a good field-marshal - but a bad Regent, indeed.

Even while Acting Regent Nighthawk was hard at work stabilizing Arium, other Provinces were quickly descending into rebellion and anarchy. In Carmelyn, the disappearance of Archprelatess Sarista had meant that the Church, always the most powerful body in the Province, was thrown into a chaos similar to that it had experienced after the suicide of Archprelatess Vesta - with this additional problem: that, while the death of the Archprelatess could not be confirmed, most Church members felt that another Archprelate could not be nominated; and in any case any nominee could hardly be formally acknowledged while there was no Emperor. Other members of the Church, unwilling to be trapped once again in this untenable situation, adduced arguments in favour of the Church of the Faith as a higher body than the secular government, more holy in the eyes of Diana than any future bearer of the Aethercrown could be, and therefore capable of independently choosing a new head without the approval of the bearer of the Aethercrown.

While the Basilica Eclesiae was once more caught in internal strife, the cities of Carmelyn perforce had to grow more self-reliant. The new city of Arkdün was at the forefront of this independence from the immobile Provincial Government. In the belief that the Church and the Empire had turned a blind eye to their sufferings, the city had turned itself wholly over to the young Duke Felix. Arising from a tradition of antipathy toward the secular government that had taken away his power, and weaned on hostility to a Church whose armies had destroyed his city, Felix Arkdün grew from a fiercely independent youth to a fiercely independent man, the saviour of his people and the leader of a new kind of hope - an independent hope - for Arkdün.

At the same time as the walls of Arkdün rose in Carmelyn, the cities of Centripax were busy erecting a different sort of wall. Though Centripax had been on the whole a peaceful province since the death of Alyssa Chrysinaria, unravaged by the Xet nor unduly affected by necromancers, the Dark Alliance, or church woes, a slow disillusionment with the state of the Empire had grown among its cities since the disappearance of Valerian Constantius. The Dwarves of Zerdargia, proud of their heritage as the only people who voluntarily joined the Empire of Constantine, claimed the right to declare their independence in the same way they had once declared their subjection to the crown. Midpoint, as well, abandoned its loyalty to the Empire and forged a way forward as an independent city-state.

Ironically, the Arkdüni and the Zerdargians claimed similar reasons for their separation: loyalty to the Aethercrown and its bearer, they said, hardly extended to the human Regents who proposed to rule the Empire without its backing. While there was nobody who could lay claim to the crown's possession, the two cities refused to act in concert with the central government.

Chapter XVII: The Phaelon​

It was a rather different story in Mystique, the home of one of the Empire's most extensive mage communities. So large was it, in fact, that early in era 10202 the government of the city had been superseded by a Council of Mages who called themselves the Phaelon and were led by the Archmage mystics Ma Tias and Omarus. The Phaelon imprisoned Governess Adrienna and Archmage Tobias, head of the prestigious Moonstone Academy of Mystique. It was later discovered that Ma Tias duped the mage community into believing their actions were sanctioned by the will of Audrey de Lylles, an adoptive sister of the Empress Melody de Lylles and thus a member of the western Lylles of Lauryl.

Chapter XVIII: The Aetherfracture​

Thus, late in era 10203, only a few months after Nighthawk's ascension as the Acting Regent, the Empire stood on the brink of disintegration. A mere few brightenings latter it would be pushed over the edge. In a brightening which will surely remain a fateful one for the history of all Telath, the Aethergem fractured and the chaos of the patterns before was as nothing to the chaos which reigned in the Empire afterward.

Only one man witnessed the event, the elven Archmage Tanys, custodian of the gem. According to his tale the Aethergem split spontaneously with a sudden crash, and from the fragments burst a blue liquid which corroded the marble floor, leaving black marks which can still be seen in the Aetherchamber. He said the liquid was accompanied by the form of an Aelyrian woman exiting the gem. The Archmage tried to cast a healing spell but was prevented - in fact, he could not cast at all.

Whether Archmage Tanys spoke truly or not about this sequence of events, one consequence of the shattering of the gem remains incontrovertible: it broke the link between the Empire's mages and the astral plane which had heretofore been the foundation for all Aelyrian arcana. Mages all over the empire suddenly lost their abilities. What did the fracture of the Aethergem mean? Who had caused it - was it a god, or the angered spirit of Constantine, or some unknown enemy entirely? Who was the Aelyrian woman who came from within the gem - if there had been such a woman at all? Rumours abound, none of them worth the ink and parchment it would take to write them down.

Yet the fracture caused mayhem not only among mages, but among all the citizenry of the Empire. In Aelyria Prime, a giant tidal wave crashed down and destroyed the harbour, echoed by storms in Centripax and a curious boost to plant growth in the Medonian Faillegrove Park. Shock and fear spread thoughout the provinces, even while news of the fracture had not yet even arrived. On the Isle of the Crown, a general evacuation of the palace was called for. Many were able to escape thanks to the airship AFS Khatakera, among them Acting Regent Alexander Nighthawk, Senator Mekare Taryn, Archmage Tanys, and Regent James de Rothchild, who had been awakened from his comma by the shattered power of the Aethergem.

As chaos and fear spread through the Empire and especially the mage community, Nighthawk and the remnants of his government convened at the Palace in Aelyria Prime in an attempt to establish order. The hope that might have arisen with the returning sensibility of Regent Rothchild was quickly dispelled, however. Traumatized for the last time by the shattering of the Aethergem and the troubled passage from the palace to Aelyria Prime, the Regent's fragile health weakened. As his final act, he formally transfered his Regency onto the shoulders of Alexander Nighthawk.

The new Regent decided to solicit the aid the Church, as one of the oldest and most respected institutions of the Empire, in calming the general panic. He set out to Diana post-haste in order to ask the Prelatine Council to select an Archprelate who could function as his ally in a quest to restore order and unity to the Aelyrian Empire.

Chapter XIX: The Rise of the Mages​

The Prelatine Council remained obstinately locked in fruitless debate, however, while Regent Nighthawk spent cycles at the Basilica Eccelsiae attempting to convince the Prelates of the vital necessity of electing a head for the Church. Many members of the Council, led by Prelate Jodus, maintained that they would be encroaching on the prerogative of an Emperor should they do so. Unwilling to give up his hopes, however, the Regent stayed in Diana. If he had not - if he had returned to the capital - perhaps things would have gone differently for him, and for the Empire.

As the cycles passed and the Prelatine Council continued to bicker, the Academy of Mages in Aelyria Prime channeled their panic into action. Unable to believe that their connection to Magic had disappeared and the study of thousands of patterns had been lost, mages of the Academy, led by Master Uzar, began to experiment. The combination of so many creative minds did not take long to bear fruit. After a fire burned down the western wing of the Academy of Magical Sciences, word began to spread among the population of the city that the mages had found an answer: a Stone of Unbinding, which could grant a mage the power to connect to the aethereal planes without the need for the Aethergem.

As the welcome news spread through the mage community, students and masters flocked from all over the empire in order to test this new creation and regain what they had lost. News of the event came to Diana, as well. Abandoning the Prelatine Council, Regent Alexander Nighthawk - himself a mage of some note - traveled back to the capital. The brightening after his arrival in Aelyria Prime he came before the people to announce his policy on the restoration of Arcanic powers: the use of the Stone of Unbinding would only be given to those provinces who stood in good faith with the Imperial government and had paid all their back-taxes.

The Regent's use of the Stone as leverage against recalcitrant provinces shocked the mage community. Nevertheless, it is difficult to say what exactly inflamed the crowd on that particular afternoon in era 10206 (or 3 eras Post Fractum, according to the current common mode of telling time, with 10204 being the first era after the fracture of the Aethergem). With the wisdom of hindsight, it might appear surprising that government officials did not do more to organize or even hinder the steady stream of mages traveling from across the Empire in hopes of being unbound. Perhaps, with the city still in disarray from the arcanic storms that had hit it previously, the mages seemed too small and scholarly a group to cause much commotion. Perhaps, with the Regent in Diana, the chain of command had broken. Some even say that this was no ordinary movement of the people but the culmination of a seditious plot by those parties who considered the the human Regent too weak to rule. There were, only too apparently after the fact, certain parties who stood to benefit from the return of arcana more than others.

Nevertheless, what is certain is that a crowd composed of mages from across the Empire gathered at the gates of the Imperial Citadel shortly after the Regent's announcement. Crying out for the release of the Stone of Unbinding, the gathering threatened to break open the gates and take matters into its own hands. The forces of the city militia were not large enough, nor organized well enough, to disperse the crowd. In desperation, Regent Nighthawk unleashed an elemental storm against the gathered mages. A few of the protesters were killed, many more injured; yet in the confusion and heightened emotions of the moment, a miracle occurred: some of the mages in the crowd unbound themselves - and then began to unbind the rest. As suddenly as that roles reversed and the mages, emboldened by the return of their powers, stormed the Citadel.

The first to break into the Imperial Citadel were a group of Versians led by an elementalist named Julos. Storming through the militia and the Regent's personal suite, Julos and his followers, who called themselves the Rakrya, came at last to the Regent's office and there banished Nighthawk's final defenses. Full of righteous anger at the arcanic force which the Regent had unleashed against them, Julos and his mages began to chant the spell that would bind Nighthawk's powers forever. Yet they had not figured on the mortal aid which the Regent could call upon in his hour of need. As the mages chanted, a Saurid guard charged the mages and broke the spell. The elemental energies already called down to the mortal plane spun out of control, enveloping Julos and shooting out - not at Nighthawk, but toward the Stone of Unbinding. As it shattered, the energies from the Stone shot out in a wave across the courtyard below and, moving further, across the Empire, unbinding any and all mages in its wake.

As another wave of panic was about to spread through the crowd gathered at the plaza, High Archon Lebedicus and Archon Saeryn rode in with a troop of soldiers gathered in haste to restore order. As the soldiers assembled below, Julos and his Rakrya opened the doors to the balcony and led Nighthawk and his supporters out into the presence of the people. Before them all, the Regent Nighthawk announced that, as his last act as Regent, he called upon all claimants to the crown to present themselves at the palace. In a sudden move, he also nominated Audrey de Lylles, also present on the balcony, as a claimant.

It is uncertain what Julos might have done at this juncture - whether he intended to make his own bid for the throne or whether he would allow Regent Nighthawk's declaration to stand at all. Nature prevented any such discovery: weakened by the storms and the arcanic blasts, the earth beneath the Imperial Citadel moved and the tower appeared ready to fall. One of the Rakrya opened a teleportation gate through which Julos and his followers vanished. The rest of those assembled on the balcony, as well as those out in the Imperial Forum, were evacuated by the soldiers. Yet another arcanic blast of unknown provenience shattered through the crowd at that moment - and when it dissipated, Audrey de Lylles and Countess Nadina d'Rosario, Imperial Consul to Centripax, had disappeared.

Chapter XX: The Liberation of Mystique​

In the confusion of the moment, nobody noticed that another drama had unfolded in the Forum while the powers of Julos and Regent Nighthawk were being tested inside the Citadel. I heard the tale from a private but most trustworthy source close to one of the main participants in these and subsequent events. It appears that a significant contingent of the mages who had traveled to Aelyria Prime in hopes of being unbound came from Mystique. Among these mages were Ma Tias and Omerus, the leaders of the Phaelon themselves. They was recognized by a giant by the name of Nashkel Angor, a native of Mystique who held a deep grudge against the two archmages. As all eyes were turned up to the balcony, Nahskel Angor was able to get close enough to kill Ma Tias and wound Omarus, thus dealing a heavy blow to the Phaelon and raising his own hopes for the restoration of Imperial government in his native city. As search parties for Audrey de Lylles and Countess d'Rosario scoured the city and Julos drafted his first Address to the Empire, the giant Angor made his way quickly towards Lauryl - and Mystique.

Even before Angor's arrival in Lauryl, a series of events transpired which helped to shake the foundations of the Phaelon's rule. As the repercussions of the spontaneous unbinding ricocheted throughout the empire, the Archmage Tobias, formerly Head of the Moonstone Academy and for many ordinations past imprisoned along with the Governess of Lauryl, found his powers available to him without any of the magical constraints with which Omarus and Ma Tias had formerly secured him. Still physically imprisoned, however, the Archmage's first act was to send forth a projection of Governess Adrienna to a startled Mystique crowd. Before the mages of the Phaelon could react, the Governess was able to announce the circumstances of her imprisonment and the unlawful rise of Ma Tias and Omarus to prominence. She called upon the people to defend her and to rid themselves of their tyrants, of whom, unknown to her as yet, one was already dead. Before she could say anything further the Phaelon guard burst into the chamber and, in the ensuing scuffle, Archmage Tobias was killed.

When Omarus arrived back in Mystique that evening, it was to a dark atmosphere of foreboding. The people, duped for so long, could not immediately countenance the vision they had seen. Left alone in power, without the guiding mind of Ma Tias, Omarus ordered the defenses of the city tightened. The very next morning he countered the words of the Governess' image with a statement that proclaimed both his rule over the city and a new source of legitimacy for that rule: the so-called Mageocracy, the government of the self-appointed Julos. In a bid to solidify his own power, Omarus pledged the full resources of the Phaelon to the Rakrya.

This was to be Omarus' last public act. As men who had been in Aelyria Prime, among them the giant Nashkel Angor, returned to Mystique and related what they had seen, and as rumours of Ma Tias' death and the nomination of their own Audrey de Lylles to the crown spread, the people were emboldened. Chanting loudly, a crowd of commoners armed with whatever they could find and led by the giant Angor gathered before the citadel of the Phaelon. Breaking through the physical and arcanic defences of the citadel they met face to face with Omarus himself. The self-styled archmystic was unable to hold back the crowd as his followers wavered before the onslaught - it became subsequently apparent that he was no archmage at all. Because of this discovery, rumor in Mystique still has it that the real Omarus was somehow able to escape, leaving a doppelganger to be killed in his stead. Yet, as no proof of this rumor has ever come forth, it is hardly likely to be more than the product of the people's natural fear of an archmage's power. It was the giant Angor, then, who dealt Omarus the fatal blow. The remnants of the Phaelon fled, and the Governess' Adrienne was freed from her confinement. The city rejoiced and embraced the cause of Audrey de Lylles for Empress.

Chapter XXI: Julos the Mad​

In Aelyria Prime, however, the self-styled First Guardian Julos had plans of his own which did not include a traditional Empress of the Lylles family. Disillusioned by a government which purported to be invested in the common people but whose members were almost all drawn from the highest ranks of society, Julos had convened his fellow mages in Vers to create a Rakrya, taking the name from the Ancient Aelyrian council who oversaw the land during the Cyraxian invasion. This body was now expanded into the governing council of the Empire. With their help, Julos created a multitude of orbs called Sentinels to uphold the law and imprison the guilty. While the dread Sentinels are perhaps his most well known creations, Julos seems to have also had other, more beneficent plans which belie the sorry history of his short reign. He desired to root out the corruption and the negligence in the education system, and actively pursued policies to replentish the Imperial coffers. He also reconvened the Senate for only the second time since the time of Valerian Constantius.

But Julos' egalitarian policies met with opposition and his new orders were met with fear. Though the Rakrya had lifted the edict of martial law placed upon Aelyria Prime by Nighthawk, it had replaced it with nothing less than the Sentinels, beings which the common people neither understood nor were accustomed to.

It seemed Julos' reign was ill-fated from the first. Even before the convention of the Senate, confusion broke out over the right to elect the delegate from Aelyria Prime. The session itself, with was finally held in 10207, four eras after the fracturing of the Aethergem, was no more orderly, with many delegates boldly stating their concerns over the legitimacy of the Rakrya and questioning Julos' authority over the Empire. Arbiter Aramil H. Thamion, who presided over the meeting, attempted to mediate between the parties, citing his own appreciation for the benefits of order that the Rakrya could confer, but in the end was forced to rule the Rakrya illegal. But what truly sent the meeting over the edge was the mysterious apparition of a voice which declared Audrey de Lylles the only and rightful Empress of the Aelyrian Empire. Some maintain that it was the voice of Emperor Constantine himself breaking through all the laws of the multiverse to command the fate of his Empire. Julos, seeing his good works crumbling about him, countered by immediately suspending the Senate and re-enstating Martial Law. Citing a private ritual created and enacted by the Rakrya, Julos declared that the essence of Diana herself had named him Emperor.

As the Rakrya continued to tighten its grip on the reigns of power, however, it was dealt several severe blows from disparate quarters. First, in the trial of the Empire vs. Alexander Nighthawk, Justicar Juliara absolved the former Regent of any crime, despite the Rarkya's insistant objections. Soon afterward, early in the winter of era 10212, rumors spread through Aelyria Prime that Audrey had been seen again in Zerdargia gathering troops and claiming the throne, with much of Centripax, as well as Lauryl, the hereditary seat of the western de Lylles, behind her.

Chapter XXII: Audrey de Lylles​

In time, these rumors were proven true. When next the historian takes up the thread of Audrey de Lylles, it must indeed be in Zerdargia six eras after that fateful brightening in Aelyria Prime when the Stone of Unbinding broke and Alexander Nighthawk declared her a claimant for the throne. By this time she is spoken of not merely as a claimant, but as the Empress, and several sources, citing the appartition which spoke to the Senate, allege that her right to that title was bestowed upon her by none other than Emperor Constantine himself. Whether this is in fact the truth I do not pretend to know; for my own part, such stories seem more the political inventions of loyal allies rather than probable, or even possible, facts - yet some more Recent Events which, however improbable, have been corroborated by numerous eye-witness accounts and a preponderance of evidence beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt make me hesitate to either confirm or deny even this claim; and I will rather withhold judgment on the role the Emperor Constantine may have played in these events than pass censure or cast doubt on the doings of the greatest men and women of our age.

Be that as it may, Audrey de Lylles, along with Nadina d'Rosario, reappeared again in Zerdargia, from where they made their way toward Arium and an Imperial Army mobilized under the command of General Rhysatra, who had defected during the last brightenings of the Regency of Nighthawk when the central government was unable to provide their pay. While on route Audrey de Lylles wrote a declaration, quickly disseminated throughout the Empire, challenging Julos' Rakrya and asserting her claim as the sole Empress of Aelyria.

As word of the declaration and the new army spread, senators from the failed conclave in Aelyria Prime, as well as disaffected cities, including the township of Trysvale and the farming giant Candaceburg, flocked to Audrey de Lylles' banner as Julos and the Rakrya began to organize their defence.

Further confusion throughout the provinces spread, however, at the news that a terrible disease known as the Feeble Pox had appeared simultaneously in disparate parts of the Empire. Without any known cure, many cities tightened their security measures and put non-residents into quarantine. The debilitating sickness, whose progress ended in almost certain death, forced Medonia and latter even Aelyria Prime to virtually shut down due to fear of the Pox.

Chapter XXIII: Return of the Aelyrians​

As Audrey de Lylles' forces moved through Centripax, startling news arrived at her camp. Emperor Valerian Constantius, who had disappeared more than 1000 eras previously, had been found near death in the Ariumite mountains. In an appeal to unity and Empire, Valerian denied his own claim to the throne and upheld Audrey de Lylles as the rightful claimant. This shocking announcement, lending the support of the last real bearer of the Aethercrown to Audrey de Lylles, forced those who had wished to wait quietly on the sidelines to take action. Queen Sharinya of the fae spoke up in favor of the Lylles, causing a severe crackdown against fae in Rakryan strongholds like Vers and Aelyria Prime. Even Arkdün, one of the most isolationist of the cities of Aelyria, offered vocal support for Audrey de Lylles. The last of the Arkdün family, Lady Aurelia Arkdün, voluntarily renamed the city Archadoon and submitted it to Imperial authority.

But even as Audrey de Lylles' forces grew, the Rakrya had not stood idle. While Julos kept his iron grip around Aelyria Prime, he sent an Imperial army enhanced by Sentinels into Centripax to root out his rival once and for all. The Rakryan forces were led by Acovius, an odd but highly skilled necromancer who had become Julos' right-hand-man in the eras since his ascention to power. Unwilling to allow the army of Audrey de Lylles to gain any further ground, Acovius quickly moved onto the offensive, attacking Audrey and Valerian in the heart of the Centripax woods. The forces were evenly matched, but Audrey and Valerian's troops appeared to be getting the upper hand when the cunning of the necromancer swayed the battle. Spearheading a direct surprise assault on the central camp of Audrey de Lylles, Acovius used his deadly arcanic Skills to take the life of the Empress, considering that without her the cause of the whole army was lost.

He had not counted, however, on the miraculous powers which had backed Audrey de Lylles. To go against an Ancient Aelyrian is a foolish thing; but to go against the will of the gods is madness. Eyewitnesses among the Empress' guard that brightening say that it was Valerian Constantius who brought the spirit of Audrey back, winging his way to the halls of Jalat - or perhaps to Ioannes himself; the stories on this point vary. Suffice to say that he would not let her spirit go, and the Rakrya's final hope was doomed to nothing. The rest of Acovius' army was broken and fled, leaving the way open to Aelyria Prime.

Another version of the tale says, however, that when Emperor Valerian called back the soul of Audrey de Lylles, he called down to the Empire the many souls of his Aelyrian brethren as well. As the army of Audrey and Valerian continued their slow march across the Khardran Mountains, hampered by the winter snows, the winged beings who had slumbered for so long far away from the Empire which had been born under their auspices awoke and came back to Telath.

Chapter XXIV: Restoration of Order​

With the return of the Aelyrians, the fundamental premise behind Julos' new order - that the Empire must leave it's Aelyrian roots behind and forge onward as a new body governed by a mortal elite of mages - collapsed. Many of the mages in the Rakrya fled, leaving Julos and his closest cadre locked within the island fortress called the Bastion, which exploded shortly thereafter under mysterious circumstances. Whether the explosion was due to Aelyrian interference or whether Julos himself was behind it remains unknown.

Audrey de Lylles made her triumphant return into the capitol city in 10213, 10 eras after the fracture of the Aethergem had first thrown the Empire into wholesale disarray. The traditional strongholds of the mageocracy, such as Vers, quickly acknowledged the new Empress. The last to fall was the secessionist city of Jaedaxia, which had declared its independence from the Empire late in the previous era, declaring the Duchess Aislynne Quian Carados, of the ]Richelieu de Mer family, its first Queen. After a short seige under the whole force of the Imperial army, the shortlived Kingdom fell and Queen Aislynne took her own life. Thus the Aelyrian Empire appeared to have made a return to its original form and ancient traditions after centuries of chaos and confusion. With the accenssion of Audrey de Lylles as rightful Empress, the Interregnum came to a close.

Credits​

Written by Lyr Tlansson