Emperor Vaden I

Vaden I was an emperor of The Empire, remembered as the hero of Victory Day. That day immortalised him along with High King Gilmor Ironbeard, Alliance Army commander Marus Salinor, Lord Fangol Silvarel, Great Chief Uthag and Warlord Wolfar Winterwolf.¹

Assassination

In 24 AVD a terrible civil war shook the Empire to its core. On a cold and grim night Vaden I was found assassinated in his bed. It was claimed that the assassin was a Chain Warden; someone was swiftly accused, arrests were made and executions carried out. His son Vaden II took the throne hastily and with little ceremony, swearing to avenge his father, and the assassination became the pretext for heavier pressure on the Empire's subordinate cultures.²

Vaden II kept the loyalty of some of his father's advisors and pushed others away from power. Marus Salinor did not believe the account of the assassination and led the sceptics against the throne. Since Imperial tradition could not accept an emperor from another lineage, Salinor found Elatan, a half-elf and the illegitimate son of Vaden I, who became the rebels' sole hope.²

In Raphael Efsanesi

In the campaign Raphael Efsanesi ("The Legend of Raphael"), Vaden I is the living emperor. The judge Rallo told Raphael that Emperor Vaden was away at a council of war at the Chain Castle, while Lord Floris governed the capital in his stead, and Fazon spoke of war wizards sent to the fighting between the Empire and rebels.^{3 4}

Vaden I is still held to be the greatest emperor of recent ages, with Conrad II considered the greatest after him.⁵

In the campaign Mürekkep ve Çelik ("Ink and Steel"), the wizard Castor named his newly hatched pseudodragon Vaden, after the hero of Victory Day.^{6 7}