The Last Emperor

(The following is a summary of the information that Ellyanna learned during session 28)

The final Emperor of the First Empire was a man named Eventis Khorin, known formally as Emperor Eventis IV. Eventis IV inherited the throne at the age of 19 upon the death of his father, Eventis III, from a mysterious wasting disease that has, to this day, still not been definitively identified.

Eventis IV inherited an empire on the verge of dissolution. Over the last 100 years, the Empire's military and economic might had declined, such that several provinces had already successfully rebelled and others were in the midst of open rebellion. Eventis III had been a skilled and cunning general and had managed, during his rule, to reclaim some of the lost provinces and win back some of the Empire's power. Even so, at the time of Eventis IV's coronation, the Empire was much diminished from its height and most of Eventis III's conquests were still tenuous.

Eventis IV was a very different sort of man from him father. Eventis III was a charismatic and confident warrior, who had risen through the ranks of the legions, and who inspired loyalty in his people and respect in his enemies. Under his rule, the people of the Empire had begun to regain pride and optimism for their nation and. Eventis IV, on the other hand, was a sickly and temperamental man who spurned public appearances. Eventis IV had no aptitude for, or interest in, martial matters and focused his time on private researches. Unfortunately, history does not record what subject so occupied the Emperor - only his most trusted advisors were given access to his research, and they did not record its contents.

So different was Eventis IV from his father that many historians have suggested that he was not actually Eventis III's son, or that some sort of horrible event in his childhood drastically changed his personality. While such speculation is common among scholars, there is no strong evidence for these of these claims.

Where Eventis III had begun reclaiming the Empire's territory through military genius and inspirational leadership, Eventis IV immediately began losing it again through military incompetence. As the situation worsened, the loyalty of the legions began to falter. Unable to motivate them through charisma, Eventis IV instead chose to motivate them through fear.

Eventis IV made use of a secretive group called the Duvan'Ku, composed of wizards and other spellcasters, and gave them the authority to keep the legions (and the general populace) in line through any means necessary. They accomplished this through dark magic such a necromancy, demonology, and mind control. The group were named after their leader, Duvan; the name "Duvan'Ku" means, roughly "Heralds of Duvan" in High Imperial. The secretive Duvan was rumoured to be one of the most powerful spellcasters in the world and a close confidante of Eventis IV. While history undisputably shows that Duvan existed and was an advisor to the Emperor, very few details about him survive.

The Emperor's most puzzling decree was made about two years before the fall of the Empire. For unknown reasons, he decreed that the bodies of all legionnaires who fell in combat should be recovered and sent north, to the (then) uninhabited tundra beyond the Frostpeak Mountains. For two years, tens of thousands of corpses were transported through the mountains, never to return. For that matter, none of the living legionnaires responsible for transporting the corpses ever returned either. "Corpse duty" was considered to be a punishment equivalent to a death sentence. Only the Duvan'Ku in charge of the operation ever returned from beyond the mountains, and no testimony from them survives, if indeed it ever existed.

What Eventis IV hoped to accomplish with this decree has never been determined, although many have speculated that the Emperor gave the corpses to the Duvan'Ku as payment for their services. As necromancers, they would have desired a large supply of fresh corpses. Nothing seems to have ever come from the whole affair, and the corpses of the legionnaires are presumably still lying somewhere beyond the Frostpeaks to this day.

The reign of Eventis IV lasted less than five years, and ended when he was assassinated by Aurilex, a Legionnaire general. In the aftermath of his assassination, the Duvan'Ku were hunted down and killed, although the fate of Duvan himself is unknown. In the chaos following Eventis IV's assassination and the purging of the Duvan'Ku, the Empire collapsed completely.