Liviu I Shiroko
Emperor Liviu I Shiroko
Born in 647, Liviu I ascended the throne after his older brother, Kariim I Shiroko, was killed by one of the Ilyannoi. He spent most of his life as friends of the creatures and built the strongest bond with them to date. The loss of many of his children led him to become extremely devout and he constructed the largest and grandest Bolugama temple in the empire. He also sought to reverse the decades long destruction of the conquered people's languages and culture begun under Timof I Shiroko, believing this was against the Founder's will. For his gentle nature and devotion he was later known as 'the Pious' or 'the Mellow.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Liviu I was born in 624 and later adopted by his first cousin, once removed, Svante II Shiroko, alongside his older brother, Kariim I Shiroko, and his younger sister, Siira Shiroko. Neither Svante II nor his predecessor, Ilya V Shiroko had any children and thus the three siblings were adopted to keep the royal line from dying out.
During his Attunement Test, he was found to be a lu-esh like his brother and the two were taught to make the Ilyannoi together. Due to the circumstances of their adoption, Liviu did not begin learning how to support a baegan (emperor) until he was sixteen, far older than a janji (prince) would have begun his education. However, he applied himself well and tried to help Kariim, who was becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the pressure placed on him as the sudden heir. His brother's fear began to manifest as paranoia around the Ilyannoi and Liviu became something of a liaison between Kariim and the Shiroko family's creatures despite their genetic obedience.
This role led him to become very close to the creatures and he grew very skilled in making them. Often, he had several around him at once, both large and small, and this caused a growing rift between himself and Kariim, who was becoming more and more convinced that the Ilyannoi were going to turn on him for not being worthy of the title of baejan.
Despite everything, Liviu continued to help his brother and Kariim was abruptly thrust into ruling when Svante II died at sea. At only twenty-two, Kariim suddenly became the emperor and Liviu acted as his advisor for the months he reigned.
Only a few months into Kariim's rule, Liviu found him shouting at one of the panther-like Ilyannoi. Before he could stop the fight, the creature had attacked and Liviu could only defend his brother. He called more creatures, but the attacker backed down on his orders. When others arrived, it was clear an attack had been made by the creature against the baejan. Until Kariim, no member of the dynasty had ever been harmed by an Ilyannoi.
Despite the efforts of the medics, Kariim died only a few minutes after the attack and Liviu was forced to immediately deal with the aftermath. He called the family members and quickly devised a story that did not involve the family losing control of one of their creatures. Instead, he told the court and all creatures that the offender had gone mad and attacked Kariim without provocation. Unfortunately, this meant he had to put the creature down and despite his immense regret, he followed through in order to keep the lie alive. The surviving Ilyannoi were used as a demonstration of his own continuing authority and that of the family to further prove that the deceased assailant had been nothing more than an anomaly. He also took in Kariim's tsirin and promised that it would live a long life and stated that it had done nothing wrong in being unable to defend its maker.
One month after his brother's death, Liviu was crowned baejan and produced his own tsirin to prove his right to rule. This was the only time in the empire's history that two tsirin lived in the Gandenye and served the same ruler.
To solidify his rule, he married his younger sister, Sariin and over the next five years, they had seven children, although three were stillborn. The first to survive infancy was Fedir (667), then the twins Vasyl and Sava (668), and finally Zora and Catarin (669). Sava died at the age of three, leaving only three royal children to survive into adulthood, a fact that caused a great deal of despair in Liviu.
He dealt with the repeated losses of his children by diving into the most widely practiced religion in Eoion, Bolugama. This had been a large part of his life since birth as Ilya I Shiroko, the founder of the dynasty, was considered a Dea and his adopted father, Svante II, had just started to be worshiped as well in the northern areas of the empire.
Liviu spent a great deal of time in the family temple, which calmed him and helped him process the repeated deaths. His religious piety and calm nature earned him the monikers 'the Pious' and 'the Mellow' later in life.
To show his devotion to the Bolu and the Dea, along with provide the empire with a more centralized religious structure, he began the construction of the largest Bolugama temple in Eoion. Before this point, there had been several temples in Niuus, the capital of the empire, but none were as grand as Liviu felt a central city temple should be.
He spent the entirety of his reign working on the project, designing a building that would rival the High Grand Hall of the Gandenye itself in terms of splendor. While his focus was on the temple, he maintained the rest of the empire, in particular sending Siira to administer the newly acquired island territories after the death of his adopted mother. Along with her, a branch of the family would end up ruling there and for many years acted as the official emissaries of the baejan's will, along with keeping the Okenumi under control and familiar with the family.
His reign was largely peaceful and there was a great deal of innovation in religious art due to the artisans and carpenters needed for the construction of the new temple. Priests and priestesses were also brought to both the site and the Gandenye in order to consult on the building and Liviu had them teach his surviving children magic alongside himself. It was this increased learning that led to the Era of Heat, a three monarch span of extremely powerful heat magic users, beginning the Liviu's second son Vasyl II and continuing to his great-granddaughter Lyrasa I.
Along with the construction of the temple, Liviu believed that his ancestor's need to be rid of the conquered nation's language and culture was an incorrect interpretation of Ilya Shiroko's will. The Founder had not sought to destroy, but instead create. According to Liviu, the goal was to create a new nation from the old, not get rid of the old. Due to this, he began collecting art, literature, and cultural artifacts from across the empire, organizing them into museums scattered throughout the land, under the authority of the Historic Preservation Department. He also located those who held oral traditions and continued to speak the old languages, having them teach at the universities, lower schools, and libraries set up by Zora I Shiroko. He believed that learning about the past was not contrary to loyalty to the empire. All were Eoin citizens no matter their ancestry and shared the modern Eoin culture together. Learning about nations no longer around would not cause the empire to fracture.
Upon the completion of the temple in 692, Liviu stepped down as baejan and handed the empire to his oldest son, Fedir I, whom he had been training to rule since birth as was tradition for the baejan and tajanji (high prince). Liviu spent the next year moving between the newly constructed temple, the Gandenye where the acted as a part time advisor for his son, and the old Shiroko manner in Parishi, the site of the largest temple to Ilya I.
Fedir's death during a hunting accident in 693 caused a deep depression in Liviu and he soon believed himself to be cursed. Vasyl II and Sirra were able to coax his father out of this and he spent the remainder of his life as he had before, although he stayed in Niuus and the Gandenye much more often in order to be with his surviving children.
The Ilyannoi never lost their love for him, nor he for them, and his attitude toward them shaped how the monarchs would interact with the creatures, treating them as friends rather than merely tools. Before this, only the tsirin were seen as true companions. When Liviu died in 700 at the age of 76, the Ilyannoi who lived in the Gandenye stayed at his side for hours until they were ordered to move aside by Siira, who survived her husband/brother by two years.
Liviu was buried in the family mausoleum along with his ancestors and since his death, many of the dynasty have invoked his name when creating new Ilyannoi in the hopes of having the same relationship with their creatures as he did with those of his time.
Relationships
Life
647
700
53 years old
Spouses
Siira Shiroko
(spouse)
Siblings
Children
Gender
male
Eyes
pale violet
Hair
waist length, white
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
pink undertone, very pale
Height
5'9"
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