Emile of Ceenar (Em-eel)

Empress Emile Antoine Bassote, Daughter of Azaphel (a.k.a. Emile of Ceenar)

INTRODUCTION

Emile Antoine Bassote was the 46th and final ruler of the Archian Empire, and is the only member of the House of Bassote to rule. She is a well known heroic figure from the Third Magic War of Min'usu'une. In her relatively short lifespan, Emile made a major impact on the continent of Min'usu'une, especially in the Northwest. After the fall of the House of Eleymas during the Battle of Red Fields at the outset of the war, a turncoat general of Archia led a rebellion to establish the nation of Ardune. Emile, one of the nobles of the House of Bassote, fought for the survival of the crumbling Archian Empire, and ultimately became the hope of those still supporting Archia. Her life and fight established a sense nationalism into the hearts of the people, and ultimately led to the ceasefire in 4798 4p. Without her fight, Archia would have ceased to exist, and the change of period would have been significantly more brutal.

CHILDHOOD

Emile grew up fairly wealthy, being born into one of the noble houses of Archia, the Bassote family. She was trained from an early age to wield the glaive dagger, an Archian weapon. Once she reached her middle childhood (ages 14-24), she was already fiercely independent. She watched as King Amon and his brother declared war on Kristar, leading an army of forty thousand to the gates of Fondalar. Her father and two brothers were among the troops, and all three perished in the Battle of Red Fields in 4783, when she was just 17 years old. Her mother died of the Haze Plague just two months later. At the young age of 18, Emile was the last remaining of the House Bassote.

THE RISE OF A HERO

On Seleos 14th 4781, Commander Kerian Montiel of Archia staged a military takeover of the Archian government in Ceenar. He established himself as Supreme Protector of a new Archia. The Archian citizens, primarly in the east, rallied behind him, oppressed by the heavy taxes and incessant wars their previous leaders caused. In Ceenar itself, and many of the Southern Archian Cities, the people did not wish to abandon the Archian Empire that had successfully defended them from foreign powers for nearly three thousand years. With many of the Noble Houses of Archia siding with Protector Montiel, only House Bassote remained loyal to the Eleymas brothers. When word reached the homeland that Amon, Sephtis, and all three Bassote nobles had perished with the Archian Army in Kristar Province, Montiel declared that Archia was now conquered, and the nation of Ardune was risen in its ashes. Emile quickly was recognized as the only Archian noble capable of restoring the ancient empire, and soldiers from Battlewrath hastily rallied under her banner in Dusswik. On Freezmir 13th, 4782, Commander Montiel signed a peace deal with the Confederation of Fondalar, ending the Northern wars in the Third Magic War. The Archian Empire remained as the southwestern regions and Battlewrath Plain, and the Kingdom of Ardune rose in the Northeast. But the Third Magic War had only just begun.

THE THIRD MAGIC WAR

Following Archia's failed campaign in Kristar, King Manuel XXII of Tsonlar declared war once more on Archia, sending a massive force of Arvenon and Alchemists to Saelmere, led by Lord Cerlot Allymar. Emile Bassote hastily led an army to save the important trade fortress before Cerlot could take it. On Markus 3rd, she and two thousand Archian troops arrived at the site of the siege. Using the element of surprise, Emile brilliantly led her troops to flank Cerlot and broke the siege in a matter of hours, routing the Tsondalian army. However, before she could entreat Manuel XXII to sign a treaty, Protector Montiel of Ardune invaded Archia and took the cities of Gazeli, Dusswik, Barrowhorn, and Kornon. She rallied her final six thousand soldiers and led an assualt on Dusswik at the end of Jylon and into the early days of Animatos. Montiel himself led the defense and Emile managed to take back the city after 36 days of siege. The battle later became known as the Battle of Trenches because of Emile's undermining tactic. Montiel was mortally wounded and was brought back to Ceenar, where he died just twelve days after. With a power vacuum in Ardune, Emile ceased the oppurtunity and marched her troops all the way to the Cordal Coast, reconquering important cities such as Prenchii along the way. By Markus 42nd, 4791 4p, Emile had acquired a massive army of mercenaries and Archian loyals, numbering nearly thirty thousand. United under the Archian Banner, this army marched to Kornon and began the fateful final siege of the Third Magic War.

THE SIEGE OF KORNON

Upon reaching Kornon with the Archian Army, Emile ordered a siege to be set upon the new capital of Ardune. However, Tsonlar once again invaded in the South, conquering the entirety of Battlewrath before word could ever reach the Clifsby Terrain. Emile turned and took half her force back to Dusswik and prepared to retake the blood filled fields. In Finelus of 4791, Emile reconquered the cities of Saelmere and Pruefrost, turning her sights back

to Ingerford, the final foothold Tsonlar had in her kingdom. Upon arriving in Saelmere, the people crowned her the first Empress of the fallen empire. After a brief skirmish outside Ingerford, the First Archian Army met with Manuel XXII's personal Arvenon Army. The ensuing fight has gone down in history as the bloodiest of any between the two empires, dating back thousands of years. Sixty thousand soldiers died, thousands more were maimed and stricken with illness. Emile's army was routed and the Empress was captured. During the year of 4792, Emile was tried and found guilty of treason against both Ardune and Tsonlar, and countless war crimes committed by Montiel during the assault on Ceenar were pinned on her. After three seperate escape attempts, Emile of Ceenar was condemned to be burned in a pit of Tar in Ingerford. On the 42nd day of Jylon, 4793, the first and only Empress of Archia was executed just beyond the Rellhoun Channel. Her remains were buried in Dusswik.

LEGACY

After the Archian Empire finally fell and disappeared in 4793 4p, the official calendar of Min'usu'une changed to the fifth period, which marked the end to the bloody Third Magic War. In the ruins of the land, two nation emerged: The Ardune Kingdom, and the resurrections of the Ithrium Empire in Battlewrath. The House of Hyreford, the distant relatives of the Bassote's, led the Ithriunese in the early fifth period. Even though Emile had fought for the Archian Empire, her legacy lived on into the late fifth century, as the embodiment of Ithriunese nationalism and national pride. A statue of her, made of Kruphux, was constructed outside of the gates of Saelmere by the first High King of Ithrium. The battles led by Emile were all bloody and brutal, but her efforts led to an end to the oppressive and destructive reign of Manuel XXII of Tsonlar and Kerian I of Ardune. She is seen as a beacon of hope against slavery and oppressive lords, but her real fight was against the bloodshed caused by useless wars. In letters later found by a scribe of King Manuel XXVI, Emile wrote to the Holyfyre Seven for help, pleading that the existence of Archia was the only hope to save Middleton from the future of the Torallian Drows in Western Eteanal. After the invasion in 5345 5p, many looked back at Emile's pleas for help. Emile is considered a warrior and visionary, a mere mortal who fought against the greatest powers in the world seemingly by herself.

Alignment

Chaotic Neutral

Current Status

Dead

Age

26

Date of Death

42nd of Jylon, 4793

Life

4767 4793 26 years old

Circumstances of Death

Burned in a pit of tar for crimes against the Ardune Empire

Birthplace

Ceenar

Place of Death

Ingerford

Eyes

Small and Black

Hair

Short, Dark, Messy

Height

6'1"

Belief/Deity

Middleton Gods