Wilhelm XVII
History may be a bit too long, as it also details elements of the fall of the Dragaeyn Empire, and may need moving to it's own article or timeline. It approaches the subject as if it were from a history book.
Emperor Wilhelm Konrad Dragaeyn (a.k.a. Wilhelm the Soulshorn)
There is a... sickness in the soul... the Animus of man. An... illness that must... be excised.Few things are certain about the life of Emperor Wilhelm Dragaeyn XVII. The Dragaeyn Empire, much like it's successor states, implemented a policy of heavy censorship and misinformation in order to cultivate a cult of personality around the Emperor, considering him a living god like his ancestors. Most sources are based on Imperial propaganda. rumors, and educated speculation from centuries later. The one nearly certain thing that most people can agree on is that this man was, intentionally or not, among the chief architects of the doom and destruction that befell his empire, and by extension the world, in the form of the Spiritmeld.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
The Dragaeyn, a now extinct large predatory reptile that were once revered as gods.
Holidays
Ascension Day, a national holiday that commemorated the coronation of an Emperor of the Dragaeyn dynasty and their ascension to godhood. This day marked the reset point for the start of the Dragaeyn calander.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
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Born into the Dragaeyn Dynasty, Wilhelm was just one in a long line of Wilhelms. Witnessing the death of his Grandfather, Emperor Wilhelm XV, at the young age of 4 left an impression on him that wouldn't fully manifest itself for many years. He had an otherwise peaceful childhood, but the constant news of ongoing wars with Ettinnay and Aaltiera wore on the young Wilhelm. He became more quiet and brooding, showing little interest in learning the arts of war and statecraft, instead being drawn to philosophy and diving into the state's religion. He forged the Imperial Seal of his father, Emperor Wilhelm XVI, and subverted the Empire's spy network in order to smuggle foreign books on history, philosophy and spirituality into the country, acts which were potentially capital offences for any agent who got themselves caught.
The death of Emperor Wilhelm XVI in battle came as a shock to the Empire, and especially to young Wilhelm, now 13 years old. Silent and solemn during his coronation ceremony, his literal ascension to godhood as per the Dragaeyn faith, he quickly withdrew into the shadows. He faded into the background of palace life, secluding himself in his private chambers with his own studies, leaving the running of the Empire, the armies, and the state's religion to others. Without direction or a strong leader to rally around, the Dragaeyn Empire found in a dangerous position, desperately trying to hold its own ground on two fronts.
After two long years, the Empire was on the verge of collapse. It was during a meeting of military leaders in the Imperial Palace the Empire's fortunes reversed. As the commanders discussed the possibility of an unconditional surrender, the doors flew open and a towering figure strode in, hooded and robed from head to toe in dark green, his footsteps ringing out over polished marble tiles. When one commander rose in anger, demanding the nature of the interruption, a powerful voice shouted him back down into his seat.
How... Dare you... You are... all a disgrace... to MY realm... You TRAITORS even... thinking of surrendering... TREASON!
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History records that the offending commander died on the spot and four slaves went deaf. The figure threw off his robes, revealing figure fully. He wore the Imperial purple dress and ermine lined coat, ornamental breastplate gleaming with the Dragaeyns' Coat of Arms emblazoned on the chest. And the man's face, so handsome that a further five slaves went blind and an Imperial painter was struck dead, overcome by the beauty he had just witnessed. Even more than the Wilhelms before him, and still at the young age of 15, Wilhelm XVII was truly a god among men.
And Wilhelm would not tolerate failure. He immediately commanded the commanders to follow him into the Palace's temple and sacrificed them one by one upon the altar, grim faced and chanting a low, sonorous chat in a tongue no one present could understand. Not one of the commanders struggled or resisted.
Av dho... duavd ad Anima... avai... huxo duarok no... Avail kair... ak daldoad... uvk ak da vhad... kuvakhok dlan dhak... lourn... Rouxo av... kakhavail dal... dholo ak vuikhd... rodd holo... Kokavo! Voxol lodilv!
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What this means is unknown, no scholar has been able to translate the chant as recorded. The only clue is the explicit mention of Anima, implying that Wilhelm XVII was among the first to be aware of it's existance. As his own individual, a Dragaeyn Emperor had full discretion over how the state religion actually functioned, and was never bound by precedent, although many chose to follow it. Human sacrifices had been mandated previously in the worship of a Dragaeyn Emperor, but this was the first time one had performed such an act with his own hands.
Wilhelm promptly commissioned a national holiday to mark his ascension to godhood, a practice normally held on the day of coronation and used to mark a new calendar, but Wilhelm had forbidden it for his own coronation. During the customary public feast outside the Palace, he named each and every bureaucrat and administrator of the Imperial Palace and bade them to approach his table. Wilhelm then roughly grabbed the closest to him and forced him onto the table, still laden with food and drink. Wilhelm then sacrificed the man there and then, loudly chanting the same chant as before, followed with a "Such... is the price... of failure." as he pushed the twitching corpse off of the table. He again repeated this process for each man and woman who had been called forth, again with none offering any resistance. It is unclear exactly how the sacrifice was made. Some versions of the story assert that he pulled a weapon from his robes to do it, others claim it was a table knife, some say it was a table spoon, or perhaps his bare hands, or that it was the polearm of a nearby guard, held at the base of the blade.
The old guard... The feeble... The... corrupt... The incompetent. And... the traitorous in... the Empire's heart... All now have... been dealt... with.... Thus begins a... new dawn... A new... Dragaeyn... walks the land... Wilhelm... Konrad Dragaeyn... XVII leads the... land.
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Wilhelm abruptly turned and strode inside the Imperial Palace, disappearing from the public once more. He did not simply return to his self-isolation, instead taking an active role in replacing those he had so unflinchingly slaughtered a short time before. Apart from issuing minor domestic policy changes and warning the Empire's military of the consequences of continued failure, he stepped back from active leadership, once more delving into his studies and forming and reforming the state religion several times. The Dragaeyn Empire enjoyed a rapid reversal of the bad fortune it had suffered in his prolonged absence, and quickly became a major power to be reckoned with once more.
Women came and went. Some after wealth and power as his consort, others after pleasure and companionship as his consort. Occasionally these women were still married. Most were gone within a day, some within the week. A few select handful were chosen to stay longer. It is unknown what set these women apart in Wilhelm's eyes, but it is speculated that it was something other than love or lust for him or power. It is said that within the first year of Wilhelm's open rule, over 500 children were born whose mothers claimed were his. None were considered legitimate, the Palace ignored all claims.
He is known to have sired two children, a daughter of unknown name, and a son called Wilhelm. Their mothers and years of birth are unknown, and Wilhelm seems to have payed little attention to either child.
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But something always nagged at Wilhelm's mind. He combined his studies with his religion. At every year's Ascension Festival, he performed sacrifices of known traitors and those who dared to commit treason. As the years started to roll by, these sacrifices became more and more of a fascination to him. He expanded the list of victims, from traitors and deserters, to bandits, highway men, common criminals, and military commanders, bureaucrats and administrators he just didn't like very much. He performed ever increasing numbers of sacrifices in private. He started taking longer with each victim. He started varying his methods. He somehow managed to procure raven feathers from Aaltiera for use in his sacrifices. He started to dictate to slave scribes as he worked, occasionally sacrificing them too if he felt they were doing the job poorly.
Few fragments of what was dictated remain. What little that exists seem to be increasingly incoherent ramblings about human souls and Anima. It is assumed by many that Wilhelm spiraled slowly into madness, but given our modern knowledge of Anima perhaps there was something more, some insight that was lost to the ravages of the time and history. Details are scarce and one can argue for a full cycle of Terminus (which didn't exist in Wilhelm's time) whether or not Wilhelm acted intentionally, or was even aware of the danger posed by his actions, but it is undisputed that he was sowing the seeds for the destruction of his own empire and dynasty, and the calamity that we know as the Spiritmeld.
It is unclear as to exactly what caused the Spiritmeld, but all evidence points to the Imperial Palace as being the epicenter of the event. It is known to have coincided with the winter solstice, on which a few fragmented sources strongly imply a scheduled mass sacrifice. It is still unclear if Wilhelm XVII was actually the cause or not, but the vast majority of evidence uncovered thus far, especially that which discuss Wilhelm's often contradictory understanding of Anima, strongly imply it.
After the Spiritmeld subsided, his Empire was broken up in myriad fragments. Most of these banded together under regional warlords and attempted to conquer the rest, vying in vain for a thrown that to this day remains unclaimed, for a palace that no longer exists. Many of these warlords were of branches and offshoots of the Dragaeyn genealogical tree, all of which with a suspicious lack of "Wilhelm" in their names. Wilhelm Konrad Dragaeyn XVII may have been the last living god of the Dragaeyn, but he without a doubt made the biggest impact on our world. The world was forever changed with his actions, for better or, the vastly more likely case, for worse.
Morality & Philosophy
Like all known Dragaeyn Emperors before him, Wilhelm's core principles of morality and philosophy were of that of the Living God. As a living god, his version of morality was the only correct one and his actions infallible. However as a pragmatist to the core, Wilhelm understood that morality is often a grey area defined by culture and experience, and was never fully able to reconcile his internal conflict between "nothing is morally black and white" and "I am a god, of course I am morally right."
Over time, he came to believe that Anima is a corruption of the mind or soul, and as such should be excised, though he never found a way of doing so without also destroying the body, the Corpus.
Social
Speech
Contemporary sources say that he spoke slowly and deliberately, often with multiple extended pauses within each sentence.
Divine Classification
Living God
Life
62 EMA
1 ESP
63 years old
Circumstances of Birth
Divine Incarnation
Circumstances of Death
Spiritmeld
Birthplace
Dragaeyn Palace
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Brown
Hair
Blonde, long, curly
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Tanned, smooth
Height
7' (Likely exaggerated)
Related Myths
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