Tyverian Rule

Despite its official status as an ‘Empire’, Tyveria is more a region of loosely aligned citadels, where warlords exact tribute from peasants in exchange for protection, and pay a grudging respect to the Blood Emperor, mostly out of fear.

Each citadel is under the direct control of its ruling house, which means a specific maghyr autocrat plus their closest relatives and cronies. Before the rise of the current Blood Emperor, these citadels and their houses were engaged in an endless power struggle for territory and wealth; the Emperor’s new laws on property and rule, however, severely crippled each house’s power, making them dependent on the Crown for their power and wealth. Despite this, maghyr houses remain the elite of the Empire, far above every other social class.

After the maghyri come vampyr bloodsworn, which are ennobled servants, granted both political and magical power by their corresponding maghyr house. Vampyri act as enforcers of their maghyr’s law and will, and as extensions of their power, sharing a part of their blood tribute and sorcery in exchange for their loyalty and obedience.

The population of a maghyr’s territory, consisting mostly of human peasants, used to be considered blood serfs under the maghyr’s control, but they are now treated as full citizens, free to earn their own money and work their own land. While some have entered the citadels to live as merchants or artisans, and a few privileged ones have had mining rights transferred to them against their maghyri’s wishes, most remain working the land of their lord, with little practical changes in their situation despite their change of status in writing.

The Blood Court
This is a traditional gathering that takes place three times a year, once in each of the three greatest Tyverian capitals - Auga Tyveria, Kara Gilpan and Sehir Aldam. During a Blood Court, the heads of all Maghyr houses discuss subjects such as taxation, trade and political events.

Traditionally, a Blood Court is where laws are decided and disputes between Maghyri are settled. Agreements reached during a Blood Court are held as unbreakable, and sealed through a blood pact, using the combined magic power of all maghyri present.

Blood courts are long affairs, and traveling between cities takes a long time; thus, every maghyr spends several months a year coming and going between Blood Courts, accounting for nearly half of their government activities.

Participating in a Blood Court means a maghyr has been acknowledged as such by their peers. Younger maghyri, trying to establish their own house, are very aware of the importance of attending their first Blood Court, by which they officially join the privileged and dangerous world of Tyverian rule.

When the Blood Court was established, it was indispensable for Maghyr Houses to reach agreements and keep each other in check. Today, it remains mostly as a political tradition, intended to maintain appearances and diplomacy between houses; everyone knows that the Blood Emperor is the ultimate authority, and he has the last word on every issue, from a major dispute between maghyri to appointing a new vampyr vassal for the smallest house.

Adrael Id Tyverianes, Dragonbonded of Nagasha, Blood Emperor of Tyveria
House Tyverianes, founded by Blood Empress Tyveris herself, is the oldest and most powerful house of the Empire. For centuries, however, it stood as a decadent figurehead house, as precisely its maghyri—the descendants of the first and strongest maghyr in history—were the most afraid of facing their Blood Legacy. They used their imperial privilege to avoid the ritual, choosing to remain as a line of prince-regents instead of claiming the Imperial power of Tyveria. As a result, their blood became stagnant and diluted, and their strength dwindled so much that other houses practically ignored their rule.

All this changed with the coming of Adrael, the youngest and wildest child of the last Prince Regent. A firebrand since his formative years, Adrael was never considered ruler material—his siblings, Varael and Varanna, were smarter, more responsible and easier to reason with. But Adrael had the will and the stubbornness of a true scion of Tyveris, and when his brother died trying to claim the Empress Blood Legacy, and his father tried to kill both him and Varanna in a bid for power, he rose to the occasion. Adrael bonded with the dragon Nagasha Magnifex, and he allied with other dragonbonded from across Valerna, to win the Second Null War. During the war’s early stages, Adrael finally absorbed the Imperial blood legacy and slew his father, becoming the first maghyr to claim the power of Tyveria, and the first Blood Emperor since the Realm’s founding.

Adrael is as ruthless as he is creative, being a genius both in combat and in politics. Through his claimed blood power, he exerted his will over the warring maghyr houses, forcing them to submit to the Imperial crown as they hadn’t in a hundred generations. Then he crippled their economical and political power, freeing most vassals from their blood pacts and enacting a series of populist laws that earned him the love of peasants and the loyalty of the masses.

Today, possessing the greatest sorcerous power of any maghyr ever recorded, his life extended by a dragonbond, and his power supported by both the military and the common folk, Adrael has achieved what is poised to be an endless rule. No force would dare rise against him, his law has proven strong, he won’t die any century soon, and his cult of personality is building to worship status. He hasn’t realized it yet, but Adrael is by far the mightiest ruler in the history of Valerna, and should something end his power, his fall will be equally monumental.

Varanna Id Tyverianes, Imperial Chancellor and Master Intelligencer
Adrael’s twin sister and closest advisor, Varanna is a maghyr by caste only, as she lost her ability to use blood sorcery during the Null War, as part of a dark ritual by her father’s vizier, the fallen Prince Regent of House Tyverianes. But Varanna’s lack of magic power has not diminished her standing—on the contrary, it has made her all the more dangerous, as she uses her natural wit and strategic mind to make up for her loss, and remains the most feared and influential member of Adrael’s court.

A master of intrigue and political manipulation, Varanna handles the subtler points of government, from watching over the maghyr houses to maintaining diplomatic relations with other realms. She also manages Imperial intelligence, with scores of shiv assassins and vampyr spies ready to die for her. Through shrewd maneuvering, Varanna secured the loyalty of even the more unruly sectors of Tyverian society, including the dreaded Crimson Crow Syndicate, through which Varanna all but runs the Tyverian underworld.

Also, every Tyverian citizen is infatuated with the Imperial Chancellor. As charming and approachable as she is ruthless and cunning, Varanna is never seen in public without a cloud of potential suitors and well-wishers, of all ages and sexual orientations. Yet she remains more or less faithful to her consort, lord Baryen, despite the sizable cadre of lovers she maintains for personal recreation.

Baryen Nem’Id the Chainbreaker, Grand Marshal of Tyveria
The head of the Tyverian military, First Peace Officer of the Empire and consort to Imperial Chancellor Varanna, Baryen Nem’Id is a sculpture of a man, guided by a strong sense of duty and dedication, be it in warfare, politics or daily life.

Known as ‘The Chainbreaker’ among the general population, Baryen has been a staunch supporter of peasant rights since day one, and used his status as a gladiator celebrity to rally the people around Adrael during his revolt against the Imperial house, which led to the liberation of peasants throughout Tyveria.

Baryen himself started out as a masterless blood vassal in the gladiatorial arenas, until his combat performance drew the attention of the crowds and, eventually, of princess Varanna, who took him as consort. After the Null War and his decisive help to Varanna and Adrael’s cause, Baryen was given command of all Tyverian armies and made into a maghyr. But even as a member of the imperial family, Baryen took the surname Nem’Id, ‘from nowhere’, both to assert his status as first of his house and to establish himself as a ‘general of the people’.

Ula Charzema Id Dasmedi, Imperial Vizier
The post of Imperial Vizier is not very popular in Tyveria, as the previous office holder was declared a traitor and erased from history books. Yet the Blood Emperor decided to appoint a new vizier to his renewed court, chosen from the maghyr houses, to assuage their animosity against the New Order—and to have someone to deflect the hate of the masses from the Imperial house. The pick for the dubious honor was Charzema of House Dasmedi, one of the oldest maghyr families in Tyveria, and the Imperial House’s strongest political rivals since before Adrael’s ascension.

Charzema, a prominent noble of her family, is a young, ambitious politician, with the features and demeanor of a much older woman. Her position requires her to advise Adrael in matters of law, treasury and national security, and she does an outstanding job, being both smart and cautious. Of course, the impulsive Emperor listens to her only nominally, and in fact enjoys crossing her as a petty way to exert his authority. But Charzema patiently keeps performing her duties, and she in fact admires both Adrael and his sister.

The Imperial Vizier is well aware of her placeholder position, but intends to squeeze it for all it’s worth, both as a source of prestige for her family and a counterpoint for Adrael’s absolute rule. Despite her casting as the ‘bad guy’ in the play for the masses, Charzema is proud to remain the only member of Adrael’s court that’s not fanatically loyal to him, but quite the opposite - and that is exactly why she keeps her job.

Ulan Arkaan Id Bassara, Imperial Guard Captain
A bloodclaw captain that earned renown for his tenacity and for keeping his entire unit alive through half a dozen battles, Arkaan Id Bassara was Baryen’s hand-picked choice for command of the Imperial Guard.

A vampyr from a lesser house, Arkaan looks every bit the dour trooper, with pursed lips, receding hairline and well-trimmed sideburns. He never expected anything more than a life of dutiful military service, and that is how he approaches his position in the palace. For him, the only thing that’s changed from the battlefield is that now his wards are more powerful, and his enemies are better hidden.

Yrakana Chik’dula, Keeper of the Fourfold Fane, Supreme Warchief of the Empire
Born in a battlefield a few months before Adrael’s rise to power, Yrakana is the current chieftain and spokeswoman for all the loyalist orc tribes in Tyveria.

A massive ogerron warrior, raised by the brutal laws of her people and indoctrinated to worship both her father - none other than Kiromonos the Martyr - and the Blood Emperor, Yrakana doubles as Adrael’s bodyguard and military advisor. She is at least as strong and intelligent as her revered sire, and her counsel is the most respected by the Emperor after that of Chancellor Varanna.

As much a philosopher as a warrior, Yrakana lives under the shadow of her glorious father, one of the Three Faces of the Tyverian New Order, but is proud of her heritage, and doesn’t care that everyone compares her to Kiromonos - for Yrakana, there could be no greater honor than being the scion of the Great Orc Hero. Even though she questioned him quite a bit while he lived.

Ula Damadis Id Dasmedi, Speaker of the Houses
Not a member of the Imperial court, but a frequent—if not quite welcome—visitor nonetheless, Damadis Id Dasmedi represents the will of the maghyr houses in the New Order, which is as thankless a job as one can find in Tyverian nobility.

An elderly maghyr lady with pompous airs, slow on the uptake and quick to take offense, Ula Damadis sees herself as the last bastion of decency and nobility in an empire seized by upstarts and demagogues. She is a constant presence in all Blood Courts, listing the nobles’ demands to the Emperor, and giving a voice to those maghyri that are not allowed, or not brave enough, to speak their grievances openly. Adrael indulges her, both as a personal courtesy and to keep the maghyri tame, and at times he even yields, or pretends to yield, to some of her requests.

Ula Damadis has become a sort of joke among the Imperial court, but the truth is she remains the only true, if ineffective, opposition against Adrael in the high spheres of Tyverian politics.

Gulyev Id Graven, Minister of Security
The Shadowmaster of Tyveria, the Right Hand of Chancellor Varanna and the Left Hand of Death, Ulan Gulyev of House Graven doesn’t really look like a spy, or even like a maghyr. He resembles more the average young low-class Tyverian dandy, out for a night of fun with his slick hairdo, black overcoat and shade of facial hair. But the shallow appearance belies one of the sharpest and most wicked minds in the Empire.

As Minister of Security, Ulan Graven is the enforcer of Chancellor Varanna’s will and never acts without her sanction, but he gladly accepts the bad rap for her more atrocious commands. He often ends up handling the darker side of Imperial security, from silencing those that shouldn’t speak to torturing those that should. The people know that Imperial Security is heartless, but their fear has only one face - that of young, handsome Gulyev Id Graven.