Radiant Ozen I
Radiant Ozen Dhovév Vraisoséto, the First
Ozen Dhovév Vraisoséto was a winged, copper half-dragon who, as the first known daughter of Vraisos the Bright, served as the first Radiant of the City of Umbar. The Church of Light's maxim "Orrís Dhovév" was coined during her reign in reference to her epithet dhovév, "shining".
Ozen is said to have been conceived by her divine father and high elf mother shortly after Vraisos' famed founding of the City of Umbar; she was born on the Summer Solstice of 3433 AW, exactly one year after the city's founding. Her combined celestial and elven heritage contributed to an incredibly long lifespan; Ozen lived and reigned longer than any of her successors (360 years and 333 years, respectively), a record she continues to hold more than 1300 years after her death in 3793 AW.
Reign
In the year 3460 AW at 27 years old, Ozen was crowned Radiant Ozen I with widespread support from the Umbarim following her father Vraisos' departure to attend to his responsibilities as the Sun God.
Her popular election from amongst the newly-founded city's people soon led to the formation of the Church of Light (not referred to by its maxim Orrís Dhovév until after Ozen's death), also in 3460 AW. Apart from serving worshippers of Vraisos, the church also became responsible for assisting the Radiant with many administrative duties, eventually leading to its status as the city's de facto government altogether. The Church gained its own ruler in the form of a high priestess known as the Pythia, the first of which would be Pythia Thémis Ikhnaia. The Pythia was elected by other high priestesses and served for life; barring horrible crimes or misdeeds, not even the Radiant had the political authority to remove her, although the Pythia was still nominally subservient to the Radiant.
It was not until the second half of Ozen's reign that political power began to be reorganized into two separate branches: the Church of Light and the newly formed Council of Umbar (which would in later centuries reorganize itself as well, creating the Council of Syndicates to deal with technical matters deemed "trivial" by the consuls). The Council of Umbar became responsible for technical, day-to-day matters, such as maintaining the fledgling city's defenses; managing the newly created city guard, dubbed the "Copper Guard" (while the Church maintains the Royal Guard independently of the rest of the city guard as well as trade and political relations with other settlements that had begun to spring up in the fertile flood plains of Greater Umbar and amongst the natural harbors within Varilean Bay. Regardless, the Church would remain the more powerful of the two, with its Pythia having veto power over nearly all of the Council's policy decisions, with the Pythia's veto only able to be overridden by the Radiant's own veto--an incredibly rare occurance.
By the time of Ozen's 300th birthday and 273th year in power (302 SR, or 3733 AW), concern had begun to grow over what would be done to replace her when her long reign finally came to an end. While she was partly divine, Ozen had a mortal mother--albeit a long lived high elven mother--who herself had only died a few years prior. Initial debate revolved around what was deemed more likely: that Ozen be more divine, and serve as the city's leader as long as its wall stood high; or that she be merely a long-lived mortal, with a clock ticking towards an inevitable succession crisis? Those who did not find the latter to be more likely still deemed it to be more pressing; an immortal ruler is unlikely to have a time sensitive health crisis, so if such a crisis did come despite believing the Radiant to be immortal, the city would be caught off-guard and would have no time to prepare.
Their search bore few fruit, and when the Radiant's death eventually arrived, the Church simply hoped a sign from Vraisos would shine a light on their dark times, and show them the way as he did long before when the city was first founded.
On the Summer Solstice of 3793 AW and during a sermon celebrating Radiant Ozen's 360th birthday, the Radiant collapsed suddenly while leading the congregation in a prayer. While she was rushed to the nearest cleric, she had already died, and seemingly by a dark form of magic. The Pythia taking charge in absense of a ruler, she sent the city and royal guards in search of practicioners of dark magic, one of which was deemed to have killed the Radiant in a brazen public assassination. Magic users deemed suspect were arrested on sight, and posters spreading word of dark magic users hidden amongst the city's people who kill without reason and without hesitation.
The city's people turned on magic practicioners of all types, barring clerics and paladins who were in direct contact with their gods. The arrested and accused from the day of Ozen's death quickly plead guilty to a vast conspiracy to undermine the will of Vraisos and of the wellbeing of his chosen people, and all were either executed publicly or sent to the city's dungeons for the rest of their days.
Within the next week, reports began spreading of a young dragonborn in the city sprouting a tail overnight--a sure sign of a half-dragon, and seemingly the sign from Vraisos the Church had been looking for: the Dynasty of Vraisos the Bright would go on.
Genealogy
Ozen was a true half-dragon, unlike the vast majority of her successors; later Radiants were mainly "Khausalév" children of noble families who developed tails after the death of the city's prior Radiant. Ozen was the direct offspring of the copper dragon Vraisos.
Throughout all of Umbar's 1,728 year history, winged Radiants have never born of a noble house. Winged Radiants--of which there have been eight--have exclusively been born as commoners or as outsiders, with the latter not being granted entry into the city until the display of their draconic-derived divinity.
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