Megakyrios Khrysandros: The Half-Gold Tyrant
Megakyrios Khrysandros I Xorshid, nicknamed "The Half-Gold Tyrant," is the current ruler of Androkratoria (placeholder name, basically means "Empire of Man"). He is a 51 year old male goliath, although he has a human grandmother and some distant Aasimar ancestors. He is a Pact of the Blade Warlock of Mammon (Fiend subclass), probably around CR 10-15, having access to 6th level spells.
The son of Megakyrios Nikatoros II Xorshid, Khrysandros was named after an Androkratorian legend about a “Golden Man” that would save the empire in a time of great strife. Khrysandros was taught the prophetic meaning of his name and told stories about his ancestors by his father and grandfather. He learned of his goliath warrior-hero ancestors, that lived on floating islands and hunted dragons, built huge burial mounds on the steppe, and conquered great empires. From a young age, Khrysandros was instilled with a strong sense of pride for his ancestors' accomplishments and he was taught to be a ruthless and active ruler. In his youth he was educated on the topics of statecraft, politics, and weaponry. When he was 14 his father Nikatoros was slain in battle while putting down a rebellion, and Khrysandros became emperor.
His father's death affected him greatly. Why should the emperor risk his life leading troops in battle when he could remain in the safe confines of the palace? Khrysandros swore that he would not die young and that he would never lead a legion in battle. He also decided that he would get his citizens to accept him, one way or the other.
First Reign and Usurpation
When he was 18, Khrysandros married Akamothia, a human Androkratorian noblewoman, who gave birth to his daughter Lazarissa. Khrysandros's first rule was disastrous, and Androkratoria lost land to the Xrytosians and Vallanders, and faced several rebellions from the common people of the empire. Many Androkratorian citizens disliked being ruled by a foreign dynasty, as Khrysandros's paternal grandfather Nikatoros I was a general of Xrytosian origin that overthrew Megakyrios Alexeinuthra IX in a military coup. Additionally, in attempt to prove he was Androkratorian at heart, Khrysandros began the persecution of many religious minorities, which resulted in many skilled scholars, craftsmen, and other workers fleeing the empire and turned many important nobles against him.
The powers that be determined that Khrysandros needed to go. Less than 10 years into his reign, the Androkratorian bureaucrats to have him overthrown, imprisoned, and maimed and his younger brother Zanethrios Xorshid supplanted him as Megakyrios of Androkratoria. Khrysandros was castrated, shaved bald, and his nose was cut off. His wife Akamothia and daughter Lazarissa fled across the Sea of Xanthus and sought refuge in Zeyln, an Androkratorian colony that had recently been conquered by the
Xrytosians.
In Androkratorian society, the emperor (called "Megakyrios") is viewed as the embodiment of the gods' power on Tibil. They are expected to be physically flawless by their subjects in order to be a legitimate ruler. If the gods approved of the current ruler, they would not permit them to be overthrown or disfigured. Thus, it is tradition for an emperor to be maimed after they're overthrown, to demonstrate the gods' disfavor with the usurped lord. However, the deposed rulers are typically imprisoned instead of executed, as killing former emperors is extremely taboo and seen as challenging the gods' will. Modern scholars speculate that this policy may have been adopted to prevent old rulers from coming back as revenants to claim vengeance on those that overthrew them.
Escape and Return
At only 23 years old, Khrysandros had been marked as unfit for the throne. Expecting to spend the rest of his life rotting in the Imperial Dungeon, he wallowed in pity for 18 months until one fateful day the Xrytosian horde attacked the capital city and he managed to escape from prison in the chaos. After years of traveling through foreign lands, Khrysandros met two dwarf goldsmiths that crafted him a prosthetic nose made of pure gold. Remembering the legend he was named after, he reunited with his family and met a legion of Androkratorian deserters-turned-mercenaries that he promised he would pay for their loyalty when he reclaimed his throne. Additionally, he arranged an alliance with Chief Darakhor of Garz, leader of the Xrytosian horde that sacked the capital city the day he escaped prison by agreeing to marry his daughter Lazarissa to him once she turned 18. In exchange for the marriage and promise of payment in gold and territory, the chieftain agreed to help Khrysandros reclaim his throne.
With the combined forces of the deserter legion and Darakhor's horde, he was able to capture the imperial capital and become emperor again. To punish the conspirators that overthrew him, Khrysandros had them chained to weights and thrown into the sea, declaring that if they drowned it was the will of the gods. There were no survivors.* After wandering in strange lands for nearly 8 years, he had reclaimed his throne at the age of 31.
Second Reign
Upon reclaiming his throne, Khrysandros was immediately overwhelmed by a variety of crises. Megakyrios Zanethrios I Xorshid had drained the imperial treasury, the empire was fending off several incursions from invaders, and many legions were on the brink of rebellion. He also gave a few important cities in the north to Chief Darakhor to honor their agreement and angered the empire's commanders by pardoning deserters. Less than a year into Khrysandros' second reign, a devastating earthquake ravaged the imperial capital while it was still recovering from being sacked.
But Khrysandros still needed to raise the funds necessary to pay off both the deserter legion and the Xrytosian horde, so he was forced to raise taxes on his subjects to extortionate levels. There was already extreme unrest in the empire, exceedingly few Androkratorians that considered him to be the rightful emperor. The Xorshid dynasty was still viewed as being foreign barbarians and Khrysandros' golden prosthetic was unconvincing. But the outrage of raising taxes to crippling levels in order to pay off the same tribe of barbarians that sacked the imperial city less than a decade ago was unacceptable. And Princess Lazarissa, Khrysandros' only child, had been arranged to marry the chief of those barbarians in five years time, which would result in that barbarian tribe effectively ruling the empire. To the proud citizens of Androkratoria, this perversion could not be allowed to stand.
Yet, Khrysandros was not stupid. He could tell his people were on the verge of open revolt. He had never planned to honor his marriage arrangement with Chief Darakhor, and had organized that alliance out of necessity. He had always planned on cheating the chief, he just expected to have more time to prepare. Nonetheless, Khrysandros felt compelled to betray Darakhor prematurely, lest he lose his throne a second time. He immediately broke the betrothal and led a legion to retake the cities he ceded to Darakhor. At the battle of Crinyma, Khrysandros overcame his fear of mortality and broke the promise he swore when his father died. With sword in hand, he led his troops in battle against the flying horde of Darakhor.
Within 30 minutes of the start of the battle, Khrysandros got shot in the eye with an arrow and blacked out.
List of golden body parts (might be revised):
- Nose
- Tongue
- Lower jaw and teeth
- Both eyes (replaced with ersatz eyes)
- Left ear
- Right arm below the elbow
- Left arm below the shoulder
- Left leg below the knee
- Right kneecap
- Middle and big toe on right foot
*I'll probably have Zanethrios be a revenant seeking revenge on Khrysandros. I'll figure out somewhere to place him. Maybe he's still bound by the chains, stuck at the bottom of the sea. Or he could be wandering the lands looking for someone to help him kill his brother. Or perhaps he already failed to kill Khrysandros and was thrown into the imperial dungeon.
Okay, that's what I have for now. I have more to add. Like how he lost most of his body parts, how he joined the cult of Mammon, and what happens to his family and empire in the next 20 years. But I think this is a pretty good foundation. He's a ruthless tyrant that will do anything to keep/reclaim his empire, and has a bit of a god complex.
I would love any feedback. Any suggestions on the names? A lot of them are a bit on the nose. I'm planning on implementing aspects of medieval China into Androkratoria. Imperial exams, filial piety, gunpowder, scheming eunuchs, stuff like that. I don't want the empire to be a stand-in for just the Greek/Roman Empire.
