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The Hyacinth Emperor

The Hyacinth Emperor was the first ruler of the Pax Hyacinth, the period of perverse bureaucracy that both stabilized and led to the demise of the Sickle. Born Grodin Keili, the Hyancith Emperor's life is a story of undeserved power accidentally found. Before the conclusion of the Tides of Epic Conflict Saga, Keili was a minor lord; so minor that his entire domain was the Emperor's favorite flower garden, and his duties as a lord were limited to gardening.

As a lord of utterly miniscule power and ambition, he was the first of Lord Hopebane's allies in court, and considered by Hopebane the most disposable. After Hopebane's game of rotating-Emperor musical chairs was finished, Keili found himself the Emperor through Hopebane's planning--an Emperor so completely inept that a coup would be pathetically easy. Fortunately for Keili (who took the title Hyacinth Emperor upon his ascent to the throne), Lady Ambivilia managed to kill Hopebane before his plans took effect, and as a somewhat-unwanted reward, she was taken as Hyacinth Empress.

Although stupid, the Hyacinth Emperor was aware of his shortcomings, and so to allow his rule to continue, created an ever-expanding system of bureaucracy. This crushing political weight ensured peace and stability, as war and intrigue were simply too difficult to undertake, requiring 37 forms in triplicate for each soldier killed in war, and 49 forms in quadruplicate (plus six months' notice) for an assassination attempt or political backstabbing. Unfortunately, the arts and sciences were similarly regulated, and the Sickle fell slowly into decline.