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The imperial family of Kaelen

The imperial family of Kaelen

The imperial seal of Kaelen, a crimson and black heraldic device
Emperor Emperor Ishar, age 9
Regent Regent Rhazen
Seat The The Citadel, Serahn

Locked The Kaelen imperial line: complicated, contested, and unbroken since Selorin.

The current line

  • Malakor was a cadet-branch prince, a lord of the imperial blood outside the line of succession.
  • Emperor Zaruth, whom Malakor poisoned, had a single child, Ishar. When Zaruth fell ill in 899 AP, Ishar was an infant, so Malakor ruled as Regent. When Zaruth died in 908 AP, Malakor claimed the throne himself.
  • Since Malakor's death, Rhazen rules as Regent for Ishar.
  • Hadrak is Malakor's great-uncle, and calls him "nephew" loosely, as old men do.

Family tree

flowchart TD
    WU["Emperor Azkarun<br/>dead"]
    KANG["Emperor Kharos<br/>the Elder Emperor, dead"]
    HENG["Prince Hadrak<br/>very old, grieving"]
    ZHAO["Emperor Zaruth<br/>poisoned, died 908 AP"]
    DUAN["Prince Ilvar<br/>Malakor's father, cadet branch"]
    RUI["Regent Rhazen<br/>40s"]
    BAO["Prince Borun"]
    JUN["Emperor Ishar<br/>born 899 AP"]
    MAL["Emperor Malakor<br/>shot by Alyssa, 909 AP"]

    WU --> KANG
    WU --> HENG
    KANG --> ZHAO
    KANG --> DUAN
    KANG --> RUI
    KANG --> BAO
    ZHAO --> JUN
    DUAN --> MAL

    classDef dead stroke-dasharray: 4 3;
    class WU,KANG,ZHAO,DUAN,MAL dead;

Each arrow runs from parent to child, and a dashed box means the person is dead.

Relationship Status
Ishar is Zaruth's only child, and Malakor's first cousin Locked
Rhazen and Borun are Malakor's uncles. Hadrak is his great-uncle Locked
Zaruth, Rhazen, Borun and Ilvar are all children of Kharos, and Hadrak is Kharos's brother Draft The simplest shape that fits
Rhazen, in his 40s, is much younger than Zaruth Draft A late son, or a different mother

Emperors of note

How Emperors are made

Locked Primogeniture. The firstborn always inherits, and the custom is seen as righteous: heaven's favour (Sorath) runs down the eldest line. That makes it dangerous to break openly. Past regicides who took the throne have rewritten the records afterwards to make themselves the firstborn, so the official chronicle has always shown an unbroken eldest line.

Locked Why Malakor left the boy alive. Killing Ishar, Zaruth's firstborn and only child, would have stained Malakor's own claim past any rewriting. Keeping him alive kept a justification for later: a living heir under Malakor's "protection" made the usurpation look like a regency in a crown, and left him the option of a quiet adoption or a rewritten line when the time came.

A real-world comparison

Think of how chroniclers in many real courts "found" a usurper's descent from an older king, or quietly moved a birth date. Henry VII's historians did it for the Tudors. The truth matters less than what the official record says. (Decided)

Sources

  • Kaelen Codex, §0 and §2
  • Campaign Three handoff, §7
  • The Aldorian Codex: Lands Beyond
  • Rulings R-010, R-017, R-021