Augustas Malvarro

Augustas Malvarro was the first emperor of Malvarron, and father of the empire's current ruler Lucianno Malvarro.   He led the Vanguard Revolution which deposed Duke Tarryn and established a new regime with himself on the purposely constructed Azure Throne.   As the Supreme General of the Vanguard, he instigated the Second Great Elvaran War which forced Malvarri occupation onto the once independent city states of Elvara.   He had three children with his wife, Mira, before he was assassinated at the Azure Palace in 1381.  

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Wallows-born

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  Augustas was born in 1306 in the poverty-stricken Wallows district of the city of Revaelor. He was the third of six children and the oldest son of the Malvarro family.   His father, Aurelius, was an ex-Embari slave who had bought both his freedom and passage to the Duchy at the turn of the 14th century. It was here that Aurelius met Augustas' mother, Zera, also of Embari descent. The pair eventually had six children together in total, whilst also caring for Augustas' sickly grandmother, Alvera.   Aurelius and Zera worked as common labourers on the Ersatz Dockyards, toiling to feed their family and pay their ever-increasing rent. But times were tough and they soon had to make the tough decision to give their oldest son to the Tarryn Land Army to serve as a swordsman's apprentice.   Augustas was housed, fed, and educated at the Ironwater Fortress, before he was old enough to wield a sword and commence combat training.   He proved an exceptional swordsman and charismatic comrade, rising swiftly through the ranks. Aged just 17, he was subsequently promoted to the role of General, the youngest individual to hold the rank in the history of Tarryn rule.   Augustas was handed command of a new fortress, Stronghold, in north-eastern Elvara, perhaps Duke Emanual Tarryn VII's gravest error.    Whilst Augustas' men held the frontline, repelling orcish raiding parties from the Barren Wastes, Augustas proved himself extremely capable of command. Revered for his fighting prowess and no-nonsense attitude, he attracted many allies and loyal followers during this time, which only intensified his hunger for power.  

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A revolutionary

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  Revaelor during the Age of Unbearable Sorrow had many pressing social problems. Poverty was increasing. Hundreds of people were starving, dying of Bileskin Sickness and other preventable illnesses, all whilst the Duke partied on his estate with other nobles and members of the aristocracy.   Augustas started plotting. He saw an opportunity for power and he planned on seizing it.   When a new plague hit the Duchy in 1325, Augustas' prayers had been answered. He had three perfect scapegoats at his disposal, the magi, the aristocracy and the Duke—a solid foundation for his rebellious plot.   Using a targeted propaganda campaign, Augustas won the hearts and minds of many poor folk in the Southend, particularly sizeable diasporas such as the The Embari and Erroloni refugees.   Augustas' supporters flocked to Stronghold which, despite tension between Augustas and the Duke, remained under the General's command,.   It was there, in the towering walls of the Jagged North that the Vanguard Revolution was masterminded and put into action.  

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A conqueror

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  Following the success of the revolution, Augustas named himself the first Emperor of a new Empire. He renamed the city of Revaelor, the Grand City of Malvarron, and commissioned a palace be built in his honour on the demolished estate of Duke Tarryn.   Despite seeming to advocate for the poor, sick and impoverished during his quest for totalitarian power, Augustas grew accustomed to the finer things in life, and wanted more. More luxury, more reverence and more power.   During the Second Great Elvaran War, Augustas set about conquering the once independent city states of Elvara, bringing them under Vanguard control. In the bloodiest conflict since the conclusion of the last aeon, Augustas showcased his ambition to become Emperor of a 'united' Elvara, a project he was said to value above all else.  

A violent man meets a violent end...

  In the last few years of his life, Augustas grew increasingly paranoid of a plot to oust him from the Azure Throne. Many of his court thought he was mad, and anyone who spoke out against the emperor's despotic behaviour were executed as a result, even former allies and loyalists.   This did little to curb the actual threat, however. During the Royal Masquerade Ball to mark the 50th year of the empire, Emperor Augustas and his oldest son an heir, Crown Prince Aurelius, were assassinated, poisoned by an expensive bottle of Narragula brandy he'd had bought for him to celebrate the occasion.   Prince Lucianno ascended to his father's throne, and rumours began circulating that the new Emperor of Malvarron had employed a force of shadowy inquisitors to root out the culprits   Though many suspects were hanged for their supposed involvement in the regicide, it was later discovered that Lucianno's wife Queen Elora Malvarro was the mastermind behind the poisoning.   On 14th Sol 1389, Queen Elora is executed at a public ceremony at the Augustine Arena with all of her children present.

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