The Imperial Diadem

"A symbol to represent the bonds of gold which unify our people; of the mantle of responsibility that rests upon the brow of a monarch."

— Dynasty King Atrucius

A term which refers to multiple artifacts throughout history, the Imperial Diadem is a unique headpiece worn by the reigning Dynasty King of Thripia. Priceless and ornate, they have been lost, reforged, remade and personalized throughout the centuries and many rulers have had unique diadems of their own to represent their personalities as monarchs. The Imperial Diadem is now worn by the elected Merchant Prince after the overthrow of the Dynasty Kings during the People's Uprising. It is one of two unique imperial relics, the other being the Dynasty Blade.

Appearance

The Imperial Diadem has always consisted of a metal band, raised in the front to cover the hairline, from which small chains that end in decorative pieces hang over the forehead. Most are made from gold, inlaid with jewels, and are highly ornate, representing the very best of Thripian craftsmanship. It's unique design over various rulers, in chronological order, include:

• The Ruby Diadem, the original Imperial Diadem. Created for the first Dynasty King Atrucius for his official coronation and worn by him throughout his reign and then by his descendants. Made from gold, it was inlaid with three fiery red rubies, given as a gift by foreign traders, and had a complex, flowing design.
• The Diadem of Apheron. Created for the fourth Dynasty King, Apheron, who wished to distinguish himself from the legacies of his sires. Like the first Imperial Diadem, it was made from gold but had a taller and grander design featuring a series of emeralds.
• The Bronze Diadem. Created for the Dynasty King Kadir upon his usurpation of the throne. It had a thinner band than the first Imperial Diadem and was made from bronze mined out of the Ranad Mountains.
• The Queen's Diadem. Created for the first and only Dynasty Queen in history Narceres who reigned after her husband Kadir's death. It was made from silver, had a downward oriented peak with longer chains than the original Imperial Diadem and was inlaid with a single large emerald.
• The Opal Diadem. Created for the new Dynasty King after Kadir, Trucius, and worn by the descendants of his successor, Caralcion. It closely resembled the design of the original Ruby Diadem but was more elegant and featured a single, prominent opal.
• The Diadem of Darion. Created for the twentieth Dynasty King, Darion, who intended it to be worn by his descendants to symbolize the new way of rule. Made from dark silver as opposed to gold, it featured less metal than older designs and focused instead on obsidian gemstones mined from the Pyric Isles.
• The Diadem of Typhorion. Created for the twenty eighth Dynasty King, Typhorion, who like Darion wished to signify a new age for Thripian history. It was made from gold and had the most gemstones of any Imperial Diadem before it; five smaller sapphires and a larger, more prominent one.
• The New Diadem. Not worn by any Dynasty King, it was created for the Merchant Prince in the aftermath of the people's uprising. It was made with a more elegant, simpler and less grandiose design featuring only a single sapphire; the same worn in the Diadem of Typhorion.

History

The Imperial Diadem was originally commissioned in 41AL and worn by the first Dynasty King Atrucius who created it to visually signify and identify the status of the monarch and symbolize their rule. The Ruby Diadem, as it was known, was worn successively by the Dynasty Kings Atrucius, Caralcis and Iades. Apheron, the inheritor of the throne after the death of the latter in 108AL, ordered a new Imperial Diadem to be made upon his ascension that same year. Known for being prideful and having long coveted the throne, Apheron's motivation for this is largely thought to stem from ego. Apheron's diadem was worn by his sons, the Dynasty Kings Pharon and Pyocla. Pyocla's reign however, in which he made many enemies among the Guilds of Coin and was thus deposed in 152AL, tainted the image of the crown. His heir Ophiliad formed the Wise Council as compensation and chose to wear the original Ruby Diadem of Atrucius, a decision maintained by his successors Diodion, Heprates, Argemon, Opheron and Halemeron.
When the Aradin conqueror Kadir usurped the throne in 233AL and began his reign, he chose to destroy the Ruby Diadem, symbolizing the destruction of the Thraeo line. It is not known for what the metal of the crown nor the three rubies within were used for. Desiring still to cement his legacy as a Dynasty King, however, Kadir would go on in 235AL to forge an Imperial Diadem for himself. Called either the Bronze Diadem or the Aradin Diadem, it was stolen after Kadir's death in 248AL by Rador, a member of the Orcarous Guard still loyal to the assassinated monarch, who fled to the Ranad Mountains. It would later be worn by one of Kadir's surviving sons who warred against Thripia, Norel, in 278AL. After his eventual defeat, the Bronze Diadem was again lost and its location is not known.
Kadir's successor Narceres, the youngest of his four wives and the only Dynasty Queen in history, created a replacement Imperial Diadem in 250AL solely for her use as a way to represent her unique rule. She wore it for the brief but critical period that she reigned and, in fact, continued to do so even after she was deposed and replaced by her son by Kadir, Trucius. After her death, it was placed in her tomb in the Necropolis for use by a future Dynasty Queen. Ultimately, there would not be another. Narceres also made an Imperial Diadem for use by her son and his descendants in 256AL called the Opal Diadem. Trucius would wear it as would his successor Caralcion, followed by Caralcion's descendants Kalaepo, Manosthenes, Parolacus and Castor
When Darion came to power in 339AL, he had a vision for the future of Thripia and for the future of the monarchy. He intended he and his descendants to be kings of conquest. As such, he had another Imperial Diadem made for his use in 341AL. He wore it throughout his reign as did his son Malciodis the Snake King and his grandson, Xartses. During this time, from 341AL to 444AL, the Opal Diadem was kept alongside the Diadem of Apheron in the vaults of the Old Palace. Xartses, however, would give explicit instructions to his son and heir Enaceros to not wear Darion's diadem upon his ascension, believing it would be associated with the period of war and strife that characterized the rule of those three kings. Enaceros heeded his father's advice and wore the Opal Diadem in his reign from 444AL to 490AL as would his descendants Tytos, Enacion, Oberion and Hectys, making it therefore worn by ten kings, the most of any Imperial Diadem. Ultimately, after the Shadow Men were expelled from Thripia, they raided the vaults of the Old Palace and stole both the Diadem of Apheron and the Diadem of Darion. The Diadem of Darion was lost during a naval battle whereas the Diadem of Apheron would be returned to Thripia by the Shadow Empire upon the signing of peace treaties.
The last Imperial Diadem was made by Typhorion. Disgusted by the incompetence of his father and predecessor Hectys, Typhorion's new diadem was intended, as was Darion's, to signify the beginning of a new age for Thripia. It was also an important display of wealth, featuring the most gemstones of any one Imperial Diadem. Typhorion's descendants in Orocles, Astorius and Atroniad, up to the last Dynasty King Ladonis, all wore it. Parius o Daelys, the Beggar King who married into the Thraeo line, would be the only Dynasty King to never wear an Imperial Diadem. After the people's uprising, the Diadem of Typhorion was remade into the New Diadem for use by the elected Merchant Princes.

Item type

Unique Artifact

Current Location

Thripia

Rarity

Unique

Base Price

Priceless