There have been 28 Emperors in total in the entire history of Regalia, from 5 AC until the present day, a span of over 300 years. While Emperors rule absolutely and with religious primacy during their lives, their divine nature passes on to their successor upon death, as only the sitting Emperor may be considered divine being the active vessel of the Everwatcher. As such, a movement known as Imperial Revisionism exists in Regalia which goes to great lengths to review the works of past Emperors in a less religiously biased manner to establish whether they were good or bad Emperors in light of Unionism and the fate of the Regalian Empire. The Emperors have varied greatly in virtue and vice for three hundred years. Regalia has seen capable Emperors such as Theomar I or Henri III, but also horrible rulers like Justinian I in 302 AC, the Imperial lineage from the Ivrae de Sange to the Kade Dynasty following the act of succession. This page presents an honest review of the Emperors without religious or historical bias, with the information presented through credible sources and factual events.
Theomar was a powerful Emperor who ruled the Regalian Empire over its formative early decades.
Theomar I was born Thulric Ivrist-Kade prior to the Five Family Rebellion and was the ringleader of that uprising, which overthrew the Regalian Kingdom and established the Regalian Empire.
He is considered the founder of the formal Unionist faith after visions compelled him to create the faith, and he wrote the influential text known as The Creed, which outlined many core ideas and philosophies of the religion.
He was responsible for the initial divisions of power among the Five Families. He brought House Kade into the hereditary position of Arch Chancellor which would last for nearly three centuries. This was due to not only their role in the rebellion, but also their blood relation to them through the marriage of his Ivrae (then called Ivrist) father and his Kade mother, as well as his close friendship with Thedmir Kade.
Upon his death, he was declared the first god of the Unionist pantheon and is broadly considered one of the greatest Ivrae Emperors while also being the longest living.
Lilienmar I (67-69 AC)
Lilienmar I was the eldest son of Theomar I and is best known for calling the first Diet of the Unionist faith in the wake of his father’s death.
His rule oversaw the persecution of the Evintarians by more hard-line dogmatic members of the faith in the wake of the Diet.
The threat of the Skagger Horde also grew in the final year of Lilienmar I’s life, but sick and infirm by that time, he could do little directly. However, it was he who declared the first Holy War.
Upon his death, the crown went to his eldest son who shared his name. Lilienmar I is considered worthy of little note by most, but he is worthy of being known as a failure in some respects for allowing Unionist religious violence to begin during his rule and taking no action to stop it. Those who see this negatively believe this set a precedent to allow Unionists to war with one another without reprisal.
Lilienmar II (69-79 AC)
Lilienmar II was the eldest son of Lilienmari I and is best known for overseeing the beginning of Regalia’s broader expansion beyond the border regions of the old Regalian Kingdom.
He directly sought to annex further territory from rival nations or local tribes, and many believe it was him over any other ruler who began the long march of the Regalian Empire to conquer all of Corontium.
He also pushed a project to reinforce various ports across the Regalian Empire to prevent their attack by Velheim marauders and continued the weaving of Unionist faith into the levies for the ongoing Holy War.
Lilienmar II died childless, and the crown went to his younger brother, Henri I. He is broadly viewed as a capable Emperor, but one who was ultimately eclipsed by Emperors and events soon to follow his reign.
Honorable Henri I (79-96 AC)
Henri I was the second son of Lilienmar I and the younger brother to Lilienmar II. He was the first Emperor to be educated and raised as an Ithanian but was also educated as a member of the Viridian Order before he released his responsibilities and became Emperor.
Henri oversaw the growing push of the Regalian Empire across the south of Corontium and carried on the militarism of his predecessor, helping to found the Regalian Navy. However, Henri also lavished positions both in the military and government onto Viridian Knights, beginning a corruption that would only grow in time.
Henri I married Nessaria van Sherburne early into his reign, and while she initially proved a controversial match, she later ascended to godhood under the name Ness after accepting the pleas of forgiveness from the assassins of her children.
Henri I was succeeded by his three sons upon his death. However, their rapid demise was a horrible event unrepeated until many years later. He is praised as a militant man today, but also one blind to the flaws in those around him.
Years of the Three Emperors (96-99 AC)
The Years of the Three Emperors was a horrific time, and saw the deaths of all three of Henri I’s sons within quick succession of each other.
Bartholomeaux I was the eldest and loved the arts more than anything. Carvallais I was the middle child and was more focused on military matters. Young Maxelle I took after Bartholomeaux, but specifically loved music most out of all the arts.
How all three died is a mystery, beyond the established fact of assassination (the records, while confirming the event at the time, have since been lost). The killers of each murder finally came forward after Maxelle’s death in the reign of Leomar I and pleaded for mercy from Ness, which she granted. However, it has long been suspected that certain Viridian Knights of that era were the men behind the payments to these killers.
None of the Emperors had any children of their own, and the throne passed to their youngest sibling, Leomar I. History has judged all three as victims of politics and jealousy, with many elaborate plays and writings exploring the tumult of these three years in the decades since.
Leomar I (99-114 AC)
Leomar I was the fourth son of Henri I and was initially kept in seclusion. When he left this state of affairs, he was found to be a proud, military-focused man who favored the Viridians in all things.
His time spent in the military was largely logistical, ensuring conquered regions had rebuilt defenses and that borders were similarly secure. Just like his father, he also lavished positions on Viridians at all levels of government and military life.
The Holy War against the Skaggers had long stalled, and despite urges from the Wirtem population now coming under the auspices of Regalian control, little was done to push against the Horde.
Leomar I’s title went to his eldest son, Justeux I, upon his death. History has deemed Leomar as little more than a Viridian puppet, left alive as the most pliable of the heirs, and sadly blind to their abuses of power, or avoiding any address of them for fear of his life.
Justeux I (114 AC)
Justeux I was the eldest son of Leomar I and matured during the Years of the Three Emperors.
Now in power, and naturally suspicious of the Viridians, Justeux I began the process of opening up an inquisition on the murders of his kin, with the emphasis squarely placed on finally learning the identities of those who had bought the killers to perform their crimes.
However, he died abruptly while away from the capital city in a “fall from his horse” despite the young man being considerably well-skilled in horsemanship.
Justeux I had one son, but they were passed over for Justeux’s younger brother, the young man crowned Henri II. Despite their name, there is sadly little justice in the fate of Justeux, and their own efforts to find it were fruitless in the face of the Viridian conspiracy.
Hedonistic Henri II (114-121 AC)
Henri II was the younger brother of Justeux I and the second son of Leomar I. Perfectly aware of the power firmly behind, around, and guarding the throne itself, Henri II slipped into debauchery and hedonism as a distraction from his lot in life.
However, the comfort he found in the arms of his close companions, the fine foods, and more, seemed to have gradually corrupted him, and he sought to placate the Viridians by throwing grand parties with them as attendees.
The circumstances of his death are highly mysterious and involve him supposedly choking to death on a grape at an Imperial Gala, in full view of dozens of nobles. No Viridian guards are said to have been in attendance for the event, instead situated outside, but it has long been suspected that the Viridians killed Henri II in a power move, in full view of those in attendance.
Henri II had two daughters by his wife, but also a bastard son from an affair years prior. Henri II has been judged harshly in the past, but modern history has revised that while he was certainly liberal with his affections for the opposite sex (supposedly at least six other bastard children existed), many scholars now believe his plunge into the depths of slothfulness was an act to dull the Viridians and lull them into a false sense of security. The tactic did not work, and his heir took a far different tact to handling the Viridians.
Blessed Henri III (121-166 AC)
As the eldest son of Henri II through an affair with an unknown woman, Julvus (crowned Henri III) was raised away from court, and it is strongly believed House Kade influenced his adolescence and young adulthood.
Upon coming to the throne, Henri III worked swiftly to dismantle the Viridian Order’s control over the Imperial Seat. In 122 AC, the Viridian Coup Attempt was launched to stop his plans but miserably failed, and within 48 hours, the Order was defrocked of its greatest powers, spending several decades afterward working hard to win back favor and notoriety for anything honest.
Henri III then spent years of hard, consistent work alongside the famed Chancellor, Nicholas Kade, to repair the damage Viridian influence had imparted onto the entire Empire, and then to coordinate the annexation of many new lands for the Empire.
Upon his death, Henri III was declared a god of Unionism and his rule is often called the Blessed Reign. This high watermark for the Regalian Empire remains well entrenched as the greatest era in the minds of most scholars.
Lilienmar III (166-174 AC)
Lilienmar III was the eldest son of Henri III and unlike his father’s line, was a Wirtem in upbringing. Following the Viridian Coup Attempt, he was sent as a ward to House Cadar overseeing the Empire’s new Wirtem possessions in a bid to assure his safety, and he quickly grew emblematic of the Culture.
Lilienmar Ivrae Heiligenblut (the surname given to Wirtem Ivrae Emperors) initially planned the destruction of the Velheim north, as his Wirtem upbringing dictated, but age and Imperial councilors tempered these notions so that by the time he ascended to the throne, he was quite cooled on the idea.
His reign oversaw the final days of the Skagger Horde’s power, pushing them back from almost all Wirtem territory while also incorporating the Krainivaya into Corontium.
Lilienmar III ultimately died of illness away from the capital, a place he seldom lived in, and he also lacked any children. The crown passed to his younger brother.
Witful Allamaria I (174-195 AC)
Emperor Allamaria's great focus on law brought stability to the Empire.
Allamaria I was the brother of Lilienmar III and the second son of Henri III. Also raised with House Cadar, he proved a far different ward than his brother as an irresponsible youth with many love affairs and misadventures across the Empire.
However, Imperial responsibility ultimately tempered him, and most peculiarly, his godly powers came to him in life. In acting as judge over trials, as a sort of personal penance for his own bending and breaking of laws across the realm in his youth, his powers allowed him to render almost perfect, accurate judgments each and every time.
While this skill was great, he could not sit in on every case of the Empire. However, his passion for law and justice saw him make great strides in standardizing the systems of law across the Empire, though he retained exemptions for certain regions or cultural groups with systems different from that of the Empire. Allamaria also founded the Regalian Marshalry and appointed the first Grand Marshal.
Allamaria I died peacefully at the end of a rich life and was succeeded by his eldest son, Handorien. Allamaria was perhaps one of the only Emperors to lack heirs with his Empress, and instead, the Half-Eronidas Handorien, produced from an illicit relationship, was given an excellent education and raised to be his successor.
Handorien I (195-207 AC)
Handorien I was the eldest son of Allamaria I. A Half-Eronidas, he represented a significant departure for the Imperial Seat, and was the subject of scandal given his background.
Compared to previous Emperors, Handorien I stepped back from the everyday operations of the Empire and allowed the aging master statesman Nicholas Kade to steer the Regalian Empire as he had for decades. However, he began the process of better integrating Eronidas into the Empire, as well as contacted the various Eronidas nations across Aloria.
Handorien thus oversaw the aged Arch Chancellor’s death, followed the next day by his aged son, the One Day Chancellor Arnold II. He also oversaw the appointment of Dual Chancellors Cedmir I & Alexander I, brothers, though quite different from one another.
Handorien’s death marked the end of one of the more uneventful reigns in Regalian history, most acts or plans he had being overshadowed by the death of Nicholas Kade. However, once again like his father, youthful indiscretion resulted in an Eronidas son and no children from his Empress. Allestrain I, however, was not Half-Eron, but full Eron, and he took the throne easily with support from House Kade.
Strong Allestrain I (207-211 AC)
Alexander I (left) and Allestrain I (right) were very close, including in physical size as both men towered over the average Ailor.
Allestrain I was the eldest son of Handorien I and was a full Eronidas unlike his father. He had close connections with House Kade, given that his mother hailed from Anglia, and he had developed first a repour, and then romance, with Alexander the Giant (who soon became Arch Chancellor).
Together with the Dual Chancellors, Allestrain saw the Regalian Empire expand through military conquest, taking many of the kingdoms of Southwynd, resistant regions of Westwynd, and elsewhere, by force. To finalize such conquests, Allestrain and Alexander I’s brother and fellow Arch Chancellor, Cedmir I, oversaw the creation of the Acts of Navigation to codify the Empire’s control over its holdings and political partners.
Allestrain’s personal life was perhaps the most notable of an Emperor. Highly unorthodox for the era, rumors abounded of him and Alexander I being engaged in a romance, while Allestrain’s wife, Eolaria Cadar, was supposedly similarly engaged in a relationship with Alexander’s wife, Leona Kade. While confirmed today, at the time, the immense physical intimidation of all four figures involved silenced any open discussion of these relationships.
A man who led from the front lines, and among those rare Unionist vessels blessed with his godly powers while in life, Allestrain I was said to be immune from all physical harm. He was nonetheless shockingly killed by an arrow while engaged in warfare with the Kingdom of Nordskag. As he lacked any heirs, his nephew took to the throne after him, with Allestrain and his wife deified soon after.
Handorien II (211-219 AC)
Handorien II was an Ailor relative to Allestrain I, breaking the Eronidas lineage of Emperors. He maintained the war footing of his uncle and his close allies, but the costs from constant conflict began to mount.
Seeking an escape from these debts, Handorien signed the edict that decreed all Imperial and State debts voided by virtue of the Everwatcher. With this edict began the Purple Bleeding, a period where anti-Imperial sentiments and rebellions ran rampant, with the military brutally suppressing those who were owed their money.
A number of old noble families went extinct in this era, replaced with military officers commonly referred to as the “Brass Blood Nobility.” Additionally, Handorien II lost his greatest allies in the Dual Chancellors when Alexander I died in war with the Nordskaggers, and Cedmir quickly resigned.
With the ascension of the future Golden Sun Chancellor Morgann I, Handorien was forced to abdicate the Imperial Throne, becoming the first Emperor to do so. His seat went to his son Justinian I, with Handorien later dying a quiet death during The Seasonal Emperors Period. He is broadly considered one of the most inept Emperors, too easily cowed and convinced by those around him.
Unfortunate Justinian I (219-224 AC)
Justinian I was the only son of Handorien II and a weak Imperial heir. However, he was a return to full Ailor blood after years of Eronidas or Half-Eronidas on the throne. Frail and sickly as a child, and prone to epileptic seizures, he was also one of the youngest Emperors to ascend to the Imperial Seat at only sixteen.
Despite his decently long rule, Justinian I’s sole act of note was when he signed over his religious authority to Arch Chancellor Morgann I, a man with deep control over the government and the Imperial Court.
With this act, Morgann I had the power to easily replace any Emperor to come, as theologically and politically, he held all of the power in the Empire. The system of Seasonal Emperors eventually followed this action, and Justinian I was pushed to near irrelevance in his own palace.
Justinian I quietly died (some radicals insist Morgann had the Emperor killed though this is unlikely) and without any children, the appointment of the next Emperor fell to Morgann Kade.
The Seasonal Emperors (224-255 AC)
The Seasonal Emperors were figurehead Emperors who sat on the Imperial Throne at the pleasure of Sun Chancellor Morgann Kade, a man who held all of the real power in the Empire.
From the exterior, little had changed across the Empire, as Morgann in the role of Arch Chancellor successfully explained away the repeated changes in who sat on the throne. However, internally, the power dynamic was stark, but few had enough power, will or otherwise, to stand against Morgann.
There were seven Seasonal Emperors, each listed as follows:
Handorien III was the uncle of Justinian I. He sat on the Imperial Throne from 224-227 AC.
Ottomar I was the cousin of Handorien III and sat on the Imperial Throne from 227-231 AC.
Balthezar I was the brother of Ottomar I and sat on the Imperial Throne from 231-235 AC.
Handorien IV was the son of Handorien III and sat on the Imperial Throne from 235-240 AC.
Handorien V was the son of Balthezar I and sat on the Imperial Throne from 240-244 AC.
Allestrain II was the cousin of Handorien V and sat on the Imperial Throne from 244-249 AC.
Allestrain III was the brother of Handorien IV and sat on the Imperial Throne from 249-255 AC.
Each and every Seasonal Emperor mysteriously vanished after what was often a minor but noticeable argument against some policy or action by Morgann, being replaced before even a full day had passed. While folktales and rumors speak of the many awful ends these men, young and old, suffered, in truth, there is little known about their fates.
Absolute Emperor Vilgemar I (255-269 AC)
Vilgemar I was a very unconventional Emperor.
Vilgemar I was the son of Handorien III and a brother to Handorien IV and Allestrain III. A rebellious child with a distinct dislike for authority, they were always more interested in parties and pleasant times.
Why Morgann Kade chose them to next succeed the throne is a mystery, as it proved a foolish error on his part. He might have assumed that “Vilgy” could be pacified and kept out of his affairs through parties, but instead, Morgann ended up executed during an Imperial Diet after the two shared a heated argument over Vilgemar’s appointment of their Viridian brother as an Imperial Guard.
The abrupt, unforeseen end of Morgann Kade saw no Kade Chancellor for the early years of Vilgemar’s rule. They spent the rest of their reign freeing thousands of slaves, hosting celebrations, and fetes, and overall having an ecstatic time. However, their considerable spending, and the uprooting of Morgann’s many corrupt cronies, gradually began the decline of the Empire’s economy. He was forced to reinstate a Kade as Arch Chancellor, Aliandre I, a woman who worked herself to the bone in tireless dedication to her task.
Vilgemar I’s death marked an end to the constant party. They were followed to the Imperial Seat by their eldest son, Justinian II. Many modern overviews of Vilgemar’s reign find it impossible to avoid their role in starting the Regalian Pessimism, though the praise they earn for ending the reign of Morgann Kade is often quite high.
Righteous Emperor Justinian II (269-302 AC)
Justinian II was the eldest son of Vilgemar I and came to the throne young with plenty of ambition. However, his grand plans were cut out from under him when the Drachenwald Crisis lost him both his (admittedly dithering) Arch Chancellor Norn Kade, and much of his Imperial power in favor of the oligarchical Regalian Senate.
Forced to sit on his hands and rubber stamp pointless legislation for years, Justinian successfully plotted with Norn’s son, Moriarty Kade, to change the status quo. This came through the Chrysant War, and by the end of the conflict, the Emperor successfully abolished the Senate much to the relief of every non-Senator across the Empire.
Justinian II’s remaining life was spent in a flurry of activity, passing the Tenpenny Act to begin the professionalization of the military, and engaging in a more active foreign policy. However, the topic of succession began to loom. After the great personal tragedy in the Undead Scare robbed him of all three sons, and with the death of his brother, Charles, in 286 AC without a male heir, the male line of House Ivrae was extinguished.
Shortly before his death, Justinian II signed the Imperial Succession Act (also known as the Kade Settlement), which allowed the passage of the Imperial title through women, permitting the ascension of the Kade Dynasty when he passed away in 302 AC. To this day, many still fondly remember Justinian II as the man who ended the Regalian Pessimism dissolved the disaster that was the Regalian Senate, and brought the Empire into its modern form.
Kade Emperors
Alexander I (302-305 AC)
Alexander I was the first Emperor of the Kade Dynasty to ascend to the throne and was RegalAnglian in his upbringing. He was given an excellent and worldly education, with friends of all Races and origins found across the Empire due to travels undertaken in his younger years.
During his first tenure as Emperor, Alexander oversaw many liberal reforms to society, an action which angered many traditionalists and conservatives in various parts of the Empire.
Alexander also oversaw several conflicts, the first being the L'Elvellen War and the last being the conflict against the Bone Horrors. While not adverse to the military, his favoritism of intellectuals and diplomats saw a Wirtem-centered coup attempt against his throne, but this was quickly thwarted.
While the crisis was averted, Alexander I chose to step down after establishing that the current Emperor could select their successor instead of passing it to their eldest son. He chose his brother Cedric for the role, soon titled Cedromar I, and retired from public life.
Soldier Emperor Cedromar I (305-306 AC)
Cedromar I was close friends with Imperial Guard and controversial figure Tristan Lampero, later Kade through marriage into the Imperial Family. Their lives are matched by their deep complexity, and their mutual impact on the modern Empire.
Cedromar I was the brother of Alexander I and a son of Moriarty Kade. Raised like his older sibling though of a very different mindset, Cedromar was a short, wild youth with many misadventures. These traits remained into adulthood and his time as Emperor.
One of the most aggressive and temperamental Emperors in recent memory, Cedromar was a warrior leader through and through. His reign saw countless conflicts start and end, from the Second Songaskian War to his expedition abroad to Jadeheart to fight the Akula.
His short tenure came to an abrupt end seemingly of his own choice, though some today believe he was influenced by his discovery of latent Draconic power in his veins, as he became known as the Dragon Emperor, able to transform at will into such a being.
Cedromar I was the first openly homosexual Emperor but did have children as part of doing his Imperial duty. However, he chose not to select a replacement from their number and left the throne open. His time as Emperor is so recent, that judgements remain hard to come by, but the consensus is that he was a relatively good, albeit unconventional, ruler for the Empire.
The Interregnum (306-307 AC)
The Interregnum was a year-long period where the Imperial throne remained vacant. The period saw a State Council manage former Imperial affairs but came to an end following the strange Mist Crisis that afflicted Anglia. Alexander I was able to reclaim the throne in 307 AC.
Rethroned Alexander I (307 AC-Present)
Alexander I’s second reign has so far seen him be more hands-off compared to his first. The Imperial Family has grown in importance as a result, with its various factions championing different causes, with consensus among them often seeing the Emperor act in their interest.
However, since 310 AC, the Emperor has been missing. Revealed to have been replaced by a Slizzar during the invasion of the City of Regalia by the Bralona, searches abroad turned up no clues or threads to follow on his possible whereabouts.
While the Imperial Family has now fallen into an intense political squabble as Alexander’s throne is once again seen as vacant, they are not so bold as to declare him abdicated. Many subjects of the Empire today still hope for Alexander’s return, either to end the deteriorating politics or simply to ensure a great leader and icon of faith is restored to safety.
Trivia
History has unfortunately little to say on most of the Empresses of the Regalian Empire. While never “invisible,” most were women devoted to courtly matters and other duties out of sight from the public, and even most nobles. Broadly, Ivrae Emperors married one woman for their lifetime, though many had mistresses or private partners now lost to history, and the infinite realm of salacious courtly rumor.
Many have forgotten the considerable power the Viridian Order once wielded in the Empire, but the Imperial Guard, also called the Tyrian Order, has never forgotten. They are forever wary of all Viridians, regardless of the status of their friendship with the Emperor.
Many believe today that Morgann Kade’s most effective method for disposing of the Seasonal Emperors was having his pet Marken, Narsil, eat them. Such a horrible end is unthinkable today, but this rumor, combined with many incidents over the decades since, has resulted in potent anti-Marken sentiment in most regions of the Regalian Empire.
