The Queens of Crumbled Stone

Political event

The Empresses of Divinice and their successors become old, for no young maidens stand to replace them

For a time after the death of Celeste II, the Empresses ruled for many years at a time. But for a three decade stretch, they struggled to hold the throne for more than 4 years at a time, as civil unrest gripped the empire and old age gripped the Maidens. It is commonly understood by historians to start during the reign of Eloise IV, who was assassinated in 1287. Her successors, old and stressed, would often ascend ill and frail, and many died somewhat suspiciously, like Roshni II. This chaos would ramp up with the turn of the century, with 1301, 1303, and 1304 each having 3 different empresses EACH. There was an additional minor crisis towards the end of this period - the sea death of Eloise V in 1304, whose ship crashed into Stolisian cliffs and was unable to be recovered for 3 years due to political arguments. Without Eloise V's body the next empress, Fuyuko I, was considered "illegitimate", as she hadn't performed a specific ritual. This same illegitimacy haunted Fuyuko's successor, Sunniva I, who oversaw the retrieval of Eloise V's body and also ended this chaotic era of Divinitian history, with her reign lasting 31 years (or 29 from the date she performed the ritual).