Svante II Shiroko

Emperor Svante II Shiroko

Svante II, also known as Sea King, was the first and, to date, only great naval commander of the Shiroko Dynasty. He created the Okenumi, the first completely sea based Ilyannoi, and used them to conquer the island territories north of the empire. Due to the close relationship of the Marn people to the Okenumi, Svante II is worshipped as a Dea there and the Svantei Gansen is named after him.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Born in 622 alongside his twin sister, Inna, Svante II was not meant to inherit the throne. His father Ilya IV Shiroko determined that, like all of the younger siblings of generations before him, he would act as support for his older brother during his future reign. Svante II was educated in military strategy, history, international politics, and other traditional subjects, right alongside his brother. The two did not have a particularly good relationship, but were cordial with one another and their rivalry pushed each to greater heights.
After Inna was determined to be an unsuitable wife for Ilya V due to her low ability with magic, she and Svante II became very close as he tried to defend her against what he saw as unfair bias. His own Attunement Test showed his abilities as an aliq-esh, capable of both light and heat magic. This nearly caused him to take Ilya's place as the next ruler due to the importance of both in the family Stitching magic used to create the Ilyannoi, which Svante II learned to make. Court jokes surrounded him through most of his and Inna's lives stating the he had stolen her magic in the womb.
His talent with magic caused him to attempt to create new variations of the Ilyannoi while Ilya V studied how to make the empire prosper. Svante II himself became extremely interested in the fact that Eoion did not have a strong navy. They could defend their waters, but had not been able to secure any of the norther island territories north of the main continent. He spent a great deal of time in what would become the Department of Conquest studying the few attempts made to conquer these territories. Along with this, he began working on prototypes of Ilyannoi meant exclusively for sea defense and combat.
After Ilya V Shiroko took the throne, Svante II spent the next six years splitting his time between supporting his mildly unstable brother and working on his seafaring goals. Most of the court determined this was a lost cause, but as he was the younger brother of the baejan (emperor) and Ilya V approved of the work, they could not officially prevent him from working. He married Inna in 645 and over the years, the two attempted to have many children, but were unsuccessful due to issues on both sides and several stillbirths.
Ilya V's death in 649 vaulted Svante II into the position of baejan over his late brother's wife as she had not been taught to create the Ilyannoi and Ilya V had never fathered children so there was no reason for her to act as regent. Instead, Svante II took control of the empire, alongside Inna.
Upon ascending the throne, he took his cousin's son, Kariim Shiroko as his adopted heir in leu of having children himself and gave the boy the education he would have given his own hair had he been able to produce one. He also taught Kariim's younger siblings Liviu I Shiroko and Siira Shiroko. This was done so that the secrets of the Ilyannoi creation would not be lost after his death.
The last remains of Micah's rebellion, offshoots of the original rebels whom his brother and father had failed to completely stamp out, still remained in the empire. Svante saw the cycle of fighting as going nowhere and during his first year on the throne, he invited negotiations with the few rebel leaders remaining. While he did not forgive their treason, he was able to work with them in reorganizing how nobility could pay employees and obtaining more rights for workers. However, he ultimately held the leaders prisoner for several years as punishment for rebelling. This settled the rebellion for the most part as without their leaders, the rebels dispersed. Svante kept his word to the leaders and reformed what he promised. 
With the might of the empire behind him, Svante began his attempt to conquer the northern islands in earnest. He sent many spies and scouts to take boats into the straights between the continent and the islands, searching for detailed reports of the people and, more importantly, the conditions of the water around it. They informed him that the people themselves were not as advanced as the continent, but the waterways were dangerous.
In order to deal with the unpredictable currents and narrow area, Svante created the Okenumi, a subspecies of Ilyannoi that lived solely in the water. After releasing them into the northern waters, he waited two years for them to become used to the environment and during that time, he prepared Eoion for war.
His study of the ships of Yzel taught him about the armor and sturdiness necessary for long voyages. Upon these, he also had smaller, lighter ships constructed which were covered at the top to prevent boarding from above. Small holes were placed in the boats to allow magic users and archers to fire without being exposed to danger themselves.
Between his new species, his boats, and intense study the waterways, Svante II was able to successfully conquer the northern islands in a series of seige-like battles. He destroyed the boats of the islanders, which, while optimized for the territory, had never had to fight against Ilyannoi or an commander from the continent. Their high ships, used to board from above, were useless against the spikes placed on the top of Svante's ships. He also had the ships powered mostly by oars rather than sails, making the enemy's usual attack of destroying sails with useless.
By 651, the islands were fully subdued and Svante II left a combination of Okenumi, land Ilyannoi, and human soldiers to watch over the island. Inna suggested that she stay as well and he agreed, the two splitting their rule over the main empire and the newly acquired territories. Inna proved to be a very effective ruler and brought the population further under control, allowing the empire to continue to rule them into the present day.
His victory over the islands earned Svante II the moniker 'Sea King' and he opened Eoion to a new age of seafaring that was taken up by one of his cousins. The victory over the islands also led to Yzel becoming increasingly wary of Eoion. If they were able to become a rival, Yzel feared that another war could be fought and lost. Knowing his newfuound leverage, Svante II negotiated sveral trade and water way rights treaties with Yzel that ended up benefiting both nations economically and placed limits on the number of warships both countries could have in an attempt to keep future peace.
During a trip to visit Inna in 667, Svante's ship was caught in a sudden storm and he was thrown overboard by the waves. The Okenumi attempted to save him, but were unable. News of his death reached Inna first and she returned temporarily to the Gandenye with Svante's body in order to bury him in the family mausoleum. After his death, the Marn people began worshipping him as a Dea, making him the first of the dynasty after the founder to be elevated this way. He was succeeded by his cousin's child, Kariim I.

Life

622 667 45 years old

Circumstances of Death

ship destroyed in a storm

Birthplace

Gandenye

Place of Death

sea north of the Svantei Gansen

Parents

Ilya IV Shiroko

Gender

male

Eyes

wide, mid-range purple

Hair

halfway between shoulder blade and tailbone, white, heavily braided

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

pale

Height

5'10"