Rise and Fall of the Usurper

In 24 AVD a terrible civil war shook The Empire to its core. On a cold, grim night Emperor Vaden I, the hero of Victory Day, was found assassinated in his bed, and the assassin, it was claimed, was a Chain Warden. Someone was swiftly accused, arrests were made and executions carried out, and Crown Prince Vaden II took the throne hastily and without much ceremony, swearing to avenge his father.¹

The new emperor

Vaden II had fought with honour on Victory Day at the head of the esteemed cavalry unit Gladio Heredite. He was a respected heir with two children, and his wife, Lady Thedora, was a kindly figure beloved by the common people. Derek Sunshield, Grandmaster of the Palanthor Knights, had backed him wholeheartedly from the first hours of that night.¹

As his first act the new emperor declared every member of the Order of Chain an outlaw and began a hunt for Chain Wardens across the realm. Legions marched on their strongholds, and even those who fled beyond the Empire's borders were pursued and killed with no regard for diplomacy. Historians hold that seven of every ten Chain Wardens were dead within a year.¹

A divided realm

The nobility, believing themselves free of The Dark One's menace for ever, were pleased that they would no longer fund what they called an outdated cult with their taxes. The assassination also served as a pretext for greater imperial pressure on subordinate cultures. The recently devastated people were uneasy at the new wave of militarisation, and soldiers had little liking for hunting down the Chain Wardens who had saved them from annihilation only twenty-five years earlier.¹

Vaden II secured the loyalty of some of his father's advisers and pushed others from power. Marus Salinor, who had commanded the Alliance Army on Victory Day, did not believe the story of the assassination. He left Marble City for the countryside and opened talks with fellow sceptics, and he was told that unless he returned to the capital at once he would be declared a fugitive.¹

The realm divided between the loyalists who kept faith with the throne and the sceptics led by Salinor, who had won support from parts of the old alliance. Imperial tradition made it unthinkable to overthrow an emperor and replace him with someone of another lineage. Salinor found a half-elf named Elatan, an illegitimate son of Vaden I and a proven adventurer, who became the rebels' only hope.¹

The fall of Vaden II

The conflict quickly became a war, and the period of turmoil, which left deep scars, ended with a sudden raid on the Marble Palace. Vaden II was dethroned and accused of killing his father, and Elatan I took the throne in 27 AVD.²

It can be said that the dangers posed by destructive forces grew as the Chain Wardens' presence in the realm dwindled, and this led to the founding of the Inquisition to fill the need.³

Spoiler: Demoran's accountRevealSpoils: Starter Setting Guide · Say what you have read

According to the notes of Demoran, a well-known traveller who had been Elatan's companion in his adventuring days, the usurper Vaden II was not what he seemed. He was a puppet manipulated by dark forces and only appeared to be the heir; the real prince had perished in the dungeons of the palace. These events, Demoran says, were kept hidden so as not to confuse the public.³