7th Brovian Dynasty

(1244-1288) Born to a land facing upheaval, the need for approval from an overbearing father, and constant feuding with his twin brother, Essen I had a rough life that culminated in a tragically short reign. Already a man when his father took the crown of Brovia and founded its seventh dynasty, Essen was put into even more harsh competition with his brother to stand out in all ways. Both spent years at a time in the field putting down uprisings from within and defending the borders from enemies without.   When his father was nearing the end of his life, he decided that the first of his sons to have a viable heir born would be declared the official successor. This expectation was made while both were having to spend time away from court. It was luck that his wife, the Lady Evgenia, happened to become pregnant and a miracle that their first child was a son, quickly named after it's grandfather to curry even further favor.   Within a year of his child being born and his position being assured, Essen ascended the throne amid even stronger tensions with his brother. Before the two could come to a peaceful resolution a plague arrived with the spring of 1288 and killed both by the start of summer. While the eventual Oswin the Younger was mercifully spared the sickness almost all of the Hyrcanan family was taken within the same year.

Oswin III ruled in similar fashion to his predecessors, trying to maintain the national standing of Brovia, still somewhat unstable from his great-grandfather's reign establishing the dynasty. He instituted a national bank that helped uplift common people into the emerging mercantile elite, drawing power away from the nobles that had hounded the powers and position of his forebears. Trade struggled to find footing until his marriage to Jacina of Darellon. The choice was made to avoid the appearance of any favoritism or elevation of any house at court and the marriage was not a happy one. However, the birth of his son Orlan seemed to make him a moderate ruler for several years.   Whether it be from pressure within court or from his own drive to expand Brovian territory, Oswin eventually made a push westward and formally declared war on Darellon despite his wife's former ties to the land. Surprisingly, he left domestic affairs under the control to his wife and advisors while he traveled to the front and ruled by courier on important issues. This lasted for two years as he led his forces directly. He was killed in battle during an ambush in the winter of 1337 as his camp traveled.

Orlan quickly succumbs to paranoia about the security of his throne and works to undermine several policies instituted by his mother in a bid to gain popularity within the Imperial court. Also marred by meager success in series of expansionist campaigns.   His erratic personal behavior as Emperor, including the possible murder of one of his sons, caused his generals to form a coup that successfully assassinated him and raised his eldest son to the throne. He had reigned 6 years.

Marden ended the longstanding war with the northern realms and reinvested in domestic infrastructure. The Imperium modernizes, but makes no attempts at compensating the states that will eventually join together as the Confederacy. A dissident group of Brovian citizens organized an assassination plot on the Emperor while he was traveling on his personal steam train. A bomb was planted on the tracks and detonated as his private car passed over. The armored car, a gift from the Dragonborn Emirate, saved his life. However, a secondary bomb was thrown into the midst of his surviving retinue as they prepared to flee the area.