Sultan Mutasim I
As ruler of the Sultanate of Fashaddon, and the vast expanse of the Sonsuz Desert, Sultan Mutasim I has the single largest geopolitical entity in Turoza at his command. As an impulsive, military minded ruler, he has made it a key policy of his reign to maintain and increase military pressure against the Emirate of Taqwal, as if the national wound left by their secession had been inflicted during his reign, and not nearly 90 years prior. Under his watch, more of the Sonsuz Desert has been explored than ever before, exposing hitherto unknown sources of riches, and driving back the renegade desert tribes and people of the ‘Free States’ further from Fashaddon’s cities than previously achieved.
Mutasim is regarded as being more dominated by his Orcish heritage rather than his Human, which means that under his reign diplomatic relations with the Orc tribes that roam across Turoza has vastly improved. Whilst this does increase the safety of Fashaddon’s borders, closer ties with true Orcs makes the non-Half-Orc peoples of Fashaddon extremely nervous, whilst also slowly infuriating the other nations of the continent, who see Mutasim’s actions as legitimising and supporting the Orc tribes that raid their lands and terrorise their people. Behind closed doors in the Sultan’s Palace, courtiers whisper and fret about how long it will be until Mutasim’s aggressive nature gets the better of him and he makes enemies that Fashaddon cannot afford to have.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Standing at over 6’5” tall, Sultan Mutasim has been careful to develop and maintain his broad muscle bound frame, gained during his service as Crown Prince in the Sultan’s Army, and his own military efforts. Despite the temptations of a life of gluttony and overindulgence that has taken a hold of previous Sultans, Mutasim, constantly trains himself in military arts, and pits himself in wrestling, swordplay and other martial competitions with members of the Sultan’s Guard.
Mutasim has a square shaped face, common amongst many of Fashaddon’s Half-Orc population, though Mutasim bears a rather impressive set of tusks protruding from his lower jaw, which are much larger than those of a typical Half-Orc. This has led many people to suggest that there is more Orcish savagery in Mutasim than there is Human rationality. Like his Half-Orc brethren, Mutasim has olive-green skin and light brown eyes set beneath a thick brow and eyebrow line. The Sultan has long brown hair that he keeps in a tight bun at the back of his head, and he sports a goatee beard on his chin.
In bearing, Mutasim holds himself as one who knows exactly how physically strong and capable they are, and the innate arrogance, amplified by his regal position is clear to see in his posture and the way he moves. All in all, the Sultan is quite an intimidating figure.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Born in 512S.E. Mutasim was the only legitimate child of his Father, Sultan Devran III, who was notorious for the amount of mistresses that he kept in and around the court. It had long been held that Mutasim’s mother, Isma was unable to bear children, meaning that even so, she was the only legitimate wife of the Sultan she had been side-lined by Devran, and was rarely seen outside of her chambers, let alone in the company of the Sultan. Mutasim’s birth changed all of this, and Isma and her son were brought into the centre of court life and rarely left the Sultan’s side from then on.
The lack of an official heir meant that for years there had been speculation over which of Sultan Devran’s many illegitimate children would be adopted as the official heir to the throne. At the time of Mutasim’s birth, there had been several of Devran’s offspring who were well into their teens and twenties who had managed to ingratiate themselves heavily with the Sultan. Even though Mutasim was, as the only legitimate child of Devran the official heir to the throne by birth, and even though Devran widely published, the fact that Mutasim would succeed to the throne, as Mutasim grew-up, his mother Isma began to direct his restless energy and natural aggressiveness towards further securing his position. As soon as he was able to stand, Mutasim began to clash with his patronal brothers and sisters. At first, this took the form of purely administering beatings, putting those whom he could bully into their place and making sure, they knew where they stood in the hierarchy. Almost all of these lesser siblings accepted their places willingly, and began to follow and serve Mutasim, knowing that he could provide protection from the larger, stronger and older siblings further up the food chain. Their loyalty and servitude has been recognised in Mutasim’s Sultanate, and these lesser illegitimate siblings of the Sultan, that bent the knee, fill many of the important positions of state today.
As for the stronger, more established of Devran’s illegitimate offspring, Mutasim and his mother took a much more menacing stance. The fights for dominance that Mutasim started were now no longer about forcing a sibling into service, but of removing the threat entirely. From the age of 15 onwards, the oldest of Devran’s bastard children began to die. Some clearly met a brutal end, some a more subtle one. It was obvious to all who was carrying out the killings, but Devran, who was now over 70, and very old therefore by Half-Orc standards, was happy to let Mutasim carry on, content that he would be succeeded by a strong heir. By the time that Mutasim came to the throne in 532S.E. all of his illegitimate siblings who had refused to accept him as the dominant brother were dead or exiled.
Since coming to the throne, Mutasim has continued to exercise his aggressive and impulsive nature, and at first, this was directed at securing the internal security of Fashaddon. Under his father’s reign, the desert tribes had become more impulsive, descending out of their hidden encampments from the dunes to raid the Sultanate’s towns and villages. Meanwhile, in the north the tribes from the ‘Free States’ had begun to move down into the desert, taking advantage of the lessening of patrols and lack of funding directed towards Fashaddon’s army, in their search for new lands to lead their nomadic lifestyle in. Mutasim’s first move as Sultan was to increase military funding, to bring Fashaddon’s army back to its former glory, whilst also increasing the activities of the Exploration Corps, to secure new resources and locate the bases of the Desert Tribes. Between the years of 534-540S.E., Mutasim led a gruelling campaign against the desert tribes and nomadic peoples of the ‘Free States’, slowly driving the former well away from Fashaddon’s major settlements into the harshest regions of the Sonsuz Desert, and sending the latter running back to the Deytet Savannah. The decisive battle of this campaign was fought at Sol-Kayasi against the Orcs of the Fanged Skull Tribe, who had put up the fiercest resistance throughout Mutasim’s campaign against the tribes from the ‘Free States’. In this battle, Mutasim’s forces made a surprise attack on the Orcs, encircled and defeated them, with Mutasim personally fighting and slaying the Fanged Skull’s chief. At the end of the battle, Mutasim offered an olive branch to the Fanged Skull Orcs that were left (who still numbered in the thousands). Having seen Mutasim’s personal demonstration of strength and knowing how leniently Mutasim had ordered Orc prisoners to be treated, the Fanged Skull Orcs accepted Mutasim’s offer of peace, accepted the rule of Mutasim, who would be represented in the tribe by an official of his appointing, and agreed to fight and serve at the Sultanate’s call.
Following the defeat of the Fanged Skull Tribe, resistance from the other ‘Free State’ peoples and desert tribes dissipated, and Mutasim was able to turn his sights on the Emirate of Taqwal. To date neither the Sultanate or the Emirate have been able to gain the upper hand in the fighting between them, and following a failed direct assault on the Vermell Peninsula that nearly crippled the Fashaddonite Army, Mutasim has settled for a slower burn conflict. Whilst the two sides are still battling it out on the waves for supremacy over the resource rich waters of the Safir Sea, Mutasim has been training and gathering his forces for a renewed attack on the Emirate. It is rumoured, though not confirmed that Mutasim has instructed the now subjugated Fanged Skull Tribe to dominate smaller Orcish tribes, and draw more recruits to their banner to bolster his own forces when he finally invades, though this has never been an official policy that has openly come out of the Sultan’s Palace.
For now, Sultan Mutasim I is content to prepare his forces, and enjoy the period of prosperity and stability his domestic campaign has brought to the Sultanate of Fashaddon.
Education
Unfortunately, Sultan Mutasim I is not known for his intelligence. This has led to some rather dubious strategic directions being dictated from the Sultan’s throne, but thankfully, Mutasim’s advisors have been on hand to stop too many disasters happening. Mutasim was educated in the Royal College of Social, Scientific Historical and Philosophical Studies in the capital, Vaháyer, but his entry to this renowned educational establishment was not due to his academic merit, but rather to his position as the then Crown Prince of Fashaddon. Nevertheless, he left the Royal College with a smattering of general knowledge, which was then augmented by a serving as an officer in the Sultan’s army, where he acquired a passable grasp of strategy and military manoeuvres.
Social
Social Aptitude
Mutasim is not the most considered or tactful of monarchs. He is quick to anger, often making impulsive decisions based on whichever of his emotions shout first and loudest in his head. His default reaction to a situation is to fight, and this is coupled with a crippling sense of stubbornness. These two characteristics are whispered to be the main reasons for Mutasim continuing the inherited conflict between Fashaddon and the Emirate of Taqwal. Despite his stubbornness, Mutasim is well aware of his own intellectual failings, and is very happy to delegate the majority of the Sultan’s non-military duties and concerns to the four Grand Viziers beneath him to deal with.
Even though he is not a particularly intelligent individual, Mutasim does have a reasonable grasp of the intricacies and politics that surround every court, even if he is not able to manipulate them to his best advantage. Having said that, there is a clear sign of the primordial, innate cunning of the Orc that Mutasim has clearly inherited from his far distant Orcish relatives. This cunning means that the Sultan can be incredibly cordial and welcoming if he wants or needs to be, but there is always an edge to his hospitality.
Wealth & Financial state
As Sultan of Fashaddon, Mutasim I has direct, personal access to the treasury of the Sultanate. The preponderance of high value natural resources such as salt and precious gems mean that the state treasury, and the de facto personal fortune of the Sultan is thought to be beyond imagining. Nevertheless, following the decadent reign of his great-great-grandfather, Durukan II, the Sultans of Fashaddon have been tactfully advised to be more frugal with the state treasury. After all, the state treasury is primarily needed to keep the nation afloat, rather than to serve the whims of the Sultan only
Current Location
Species
Year of Birth
512 S.E.
41 Years old
Birthplace
Children
Gender
Male
Aligned Organization
Ruled Locations
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