The Chronicle of Kings - 9th Edition (8022)

by Marco Gerin & Domini Gerin
9th Edition, published in 8022

Foreword

Dear Readers,

This book you are holding now chronicles the entire history of our Royal family, the Warpine family, from their humble beginnings and eventual rise from the masses of the early settlement efforts, to the many atrocities committed by Rovin Warpine and his descendents, of which you will find detailed retellings herein. May they serve as a painful reminder.

Writing and subsequently updating this book represents my life's work, and I hope it will be useful as a scholarly text for many researchers to come.

For the prosperity of the Lukyr Empire
Dr. Gerin

Emperor Rovin Warpine 'the Oppressor'

Early Life

Rovin Warpine was born in 6880 to Perina Warpine and Sodin Warpine, about whom only their names are known, due to them having died in his early childhood. His family wasn't particularly wealthy, causing the only viable option for Rovin to obtain an education to be signing up with the military. There were many to choose from at the time, but he chose the Qyvorian Void Order, joining them as a cadette in 6896 at age 16. He has been quoted saying that "he chose them due to alignment with his own values". He graduated with high test scores at age 19 (6899), subsequently serving the Void Order's goals in the ongoing war for control over Lukyr.

Military Career

As an Officer, Rovin was an effective soldier, recording many enemy eliminations and leading his company into battle when it was demanded of him.

Eventually, Rovin showed a talent for earning the respect of and leading even large divisions of soldiers, as well as for commanding even Titan-class starships.

This, as well as many victories, earned him the promotion to Admiral in 6903.

The Void Order's goals not being domination but simply order allowed Rovin to establish himself as a potential bringer of such order — soldiers beneath him were reported to have spoken of him as "the only King they would follow". Rovin would take such compliments to heart, establishing his own subdivision of The Void Order, the Warpine Peacekeepers, whose evident goal it was to install Rovin as the de facto ruler over the system, in 6907.

The Emperor

His newly-found goal would come true in 6911, when his fleet won control over all of the planet Qyvor in a particularly hard-fought battle that lasted from April 9th to July 23rd. Having taken many losses, but also eradicated any opposition that had the strength to deny him, he declared himself the ruler of these lands, taking the 450,000 soldiers who had joined the Warpine Peacekeepers as his personal army — which would later become the Royal Brigade. Subsequently, he declared Lukyr an Empire and himself as the Emperor.

Opposition

Even though Rovin had won the respect of many, there were some who disagreed with his ascend. With him having all but eradicated The Motherworlders (1,015,931 dead), The Dredgers (249,914 dead) and The Core (771,931 dead), as well as the members of The Void Order that had turned against him last minute (119,012 dead), the only viable opposition left were The Science Guild, who were opposed to his ascend due to his disregard for the sanctity of undisturbed ecosystems. Their low numbers, however (95,187 soldiers operational), made such opposition difficult. They instead opted to combat Rovin with technological supremacy, making his stronghold the target for several untested capital weapons. However, one of the weapons severely malfunctioned, removing their Titan-class Command Ship from orbit without Rovin needing to lift a finger. Rovin himself took this, and preached of it as an Omen to his followers, cementing the righteousness of his rule.

Rise of an Empire

The early years of Rovin's rule were tough, as attempting to keep control of the entire system, when all of it hadn't even been colonized yet, proved difficult. Expansion was slow and the economic needs of maintaining the huge army that was required were immense. It occurred to Rovin that to proceed, he would need to harness the power of the sun itself, the star Lukyr. He promptly ordered construction of a large heat shield in orbit of the planet Lukyr Perind in 6921. The shield, which would later become known as The Shade, would allow Rovin to adjust the climate on Perind to be livable on the surface, as he didn't find the idea of living in caves — as the existing settlers on Perind did — very elegant. Additionally, The Shade would allow him to collect however much energy he could possibly need from the sun directly, making any subsequent action much easier. Of course, such a huge undertaking would take its time, so as Rovin poured most of his resources into construction, he ruled with brutality and fear, not allowing his weakened military might to show to those who would dispose of him. The existing settlers on Perind, calling themselves The Brisk, were oppressed and enslaved to aid construction. Hoping to continue his rule until The Shade was completed, Rovin ordered continued research on existing Longevity Drugs to make them easier to produce with resources available to him. This research would yield Eternium, which he would proceed to take to significantly extend his life.

The Power of the Sun

Construction on The Shade should take almost 90 years, completing only in 7010. While Rovin's hold on the system significantly weakened during those years, his access to limitless energy returned it to him quickly. He used the energy to fabricate tens of thousands of Titan-class spaceships, creating what may well be the largest starfleet in history. With it, colonization of the rest of the system as well as continued oppression of all opposition was an easy task. He quickly relocated himself and his ever-growing main army forces to the now livable Lukyr Prime, which he declared the capital planet of Lukyr, and renamed to Lukyr Prime.

Billions who were able relocated to Lukyr Prime, hoping to lead prosperous lives in the Emperor's vicinity. For the most part they did — the only exception being those who showed ideological opposition to Rovin's rule, or those who insisted on cultural adherence to the ways of The Brisk, who Rovin hated with a passion for reasons that were never discovered.

Prosperity Indeed

Under Rovin, Lukyr Prime became the wealthiest society in history. Despite this, many continued to sharply criticize him for his brutal methods in dealing with his opposition and The Brisk. Many attempts at assassinating him were made, none successful. While citizens on Prime prospered, citizens of the other planets under Rovin's control were largely suffering. This was particularly true for the planet Lukyr Orbine, on which Rovin had flattened cities to make space for farms. Most of the produce would be shipped off to Prime to feed its population, since it had no space for farms at this point. A similar fate would later befall Lukyr Alaphor.

Independence Movement

Starting in the year 7539, the population of the remaining underground cities of The Brisk demanded independence from the Lukyr and the allocation of their own sovereignty. Rovin at the time expressed surprise at the continued existence of The Brisk, telling his inner circle that he thought "they would surely all be gone by now". Indeed, while he had indirectly killed millions of them (the true count will never be known) through bombings and floodings of their cities, some always survived, and their numbers remained strong due to many other citizens of Prime who felt tossed aside by Rovin and his government aligning themselves with them. Instead of giving in to their demands, Rovin had every last one of them forcefully emigrated to Lukyr Alaphor in the same year. He was quoted with saying "There's caves there, they can have those if they want so badly".

19 Generations

Rovin had many partners in his long life, but only one, Lidya, ever bore children — those 3 children, however, gave Rovin 19 generations of living progeny after centuries. Many of them, especially in the later generations, were so far removed from him and his government that they might as well have been civilians, and they all knew they could never rule, as Rovin wasn't going to abdicate any time soon. It was Toven Warpine, born 7519, who ultimately reached the other extreme. He started a rebellious movement, based on what he argued to be a legitimate claim to the throne. Through a carefully planned out maneuver, he personally assassinated Rovin on December 2nd, 7627, declaring himself King Toven within minutes after. More details on this can be found in Toven's own biography.

King Toven Warpine 'the Liberator'

Early Life

Toven Warpine was born in 7519 to Wevrin Warpine and his wife, Andrea Wertz. Despite the fact that his familial relation to Rovin Warpine meant almost nothing so many generations later, his family was still considered upper-class, and even just his last name got him many opportunities others were denied. He enjoyed prestigious education at schools and universities established on Lukyr Prime, graduating among the best of his class from the Rovin of Lukyr Advanced Strategic Academy in 7549. He would go on to join the Royal Brigade, eventually earning him acknowledgement of his feats by Emperor Rovin himself. His comrades described him as a "capable strategist" and an "asshole, but never for no reason". In the 7564 Unrest, his superiors credited him with "restoring peace to the streets of Lukyr Prime with unprecedented efficiency". Some believe that he earned this accreditation by ordering subordinates to execute civilians, though this could never be proven.

In 7604, Toven experienced what he would later go on to describe as a "humbling moment", though he refused to describe it any further than that. It has been theorized that he may have found himself in mortal danger due to unknown circumstances.

Rebellion

Following his mysterious "humbling moment", Toven honorably resigned from the Royal Brigade in 7604. In the following years, he would go on to found an underground rebellious movement, seeking to dethrone Rovin Warpine. He argued that whether or not he had a claim to the throne was unimportant — it was clear that Rovin did not. So he was going to take the throne, because someone had to. His ideological following believed that Rovin had forsaken his title by displaying a blatant disregard for the lives of both Lukyr's citizens and other peoples such as The Brisk, against whom Rovin had been particularly cruel.

After building his following and amassing a sizable military force in secret, Toven gradually came into contact with the leaders of other rebellious groups who had also been preparing for a war of rebellion. Many groups' military might surpassed that of even Toven, but they lacked a legitimate ruler to install.

So, many of the groups joined forces for the first time ever. Toven then declared that this was not only the first major rebellion of Lukyr, but would also be the last, declaring the group The Final Rebellion. He was their leader, and though his position was mostly symbolic to legitimize the efforts, and many other former group leaders had just as much power in the hierarchy as he did, he did gradually win genuine control over the group as a whole due to his strategic prowess.

Challenging a God

It would take until 7627 before The Final Rebellion finally revealed itself to the world. Having been completely undetected before, major military forces suddenly lead surgical attacks on key points of Lukyr Prime's infrastructure, crippling the Empire's ability to respond. Having incurred little to no losses, and avoided any civilian casualties, Toven then broadcasted a hologram of himself to all of Prime. In it, he famously demanded a world in which all peoples are treated with dignity and given the chance to survive. Rovin was noticeably caught off guard by this, scrambling to defend remaining strategic locations and get himself to safety. Rovin had prepared several secure safehouses all over the planet, and was checking camera feeds to ensure they were still safe. A secret high-speed train several kilometers underground would take him to a randomly selected one within minutes. What Rovin didn't know was that every single one of his safehouses had actually been raided and taken over by rebel troops, using stolen intel to locate and infiltrate them, and camera feeds had been doctored to hide that fact. So, when he arrived at an underground safehouse near the abandoned Brisk city of Telon, rebel troops took out his accompaniment and secured him. Toven arrived at the location soon after, driving a blade through his neck.

A Flawed King

Having successfully killed Rovin on December 2nd 7627 at 21:18, Toven proceeded to broadcast live on the public network at 21:24. He let the people know about Rovin's fate, and declared himself the new King of Lukyr. He would go on to present a list of immediate actions he would take as the new ruler, many of which earned him the support of the people.

Only a minority of the Royal Brigade was actually going to support him, so he kept around those he felt he could trust and imprisoned the rest. He filled the ranks somewhat with trustworthy soldiers of The Final Rebellion, but in the end, the Royal Brigade was still significantly weakened.

In the coming years, Toven made many genuine attempts at implementing the policies he had promised, but found himself surprised by the density of corruption and wrongfulness in the bureaucratic system. Even still, he succeeded in establishing the Lukyr Prime Royal Agency for Citizen Health and Safety in 7629 and in allowing the return of The Brisk to their underground cities in 7631. He granted them the sovereignty they had demanded, declaring them The Free Cities, independent from the Lukyr Government.

The End

Toven would step down from the throne in 7644, handing over the mantle to his son, Pyvon. He did this among harsh criticism of his failure to do many of the things he had promised. Though many things had gotten better, and the people were glad about it, he had fallen short of the long list of promises he had made. So, he decided that any one ruler should never again be allowed to rule and allow themselves to be corrupted for centuries at a time. Starting with his son, a new ruler should ascend as soon as he turns 18.

Toven would later die in 7717, at age 198, due to his great-grandson Lorin's outlawing of Eternium, the longevity drug that had kept him alive.

King Pyvon Warpine 'the Healer'

Early Life

Pyvon Warpine was born in 7626 to Toven Warpine and his then-wife, Valarya Lagum. His birth just under 2 years before his father's ascension to the throne meant that his early life was characterized by a lot of political turmoil. Despite this, he enjoyed prestigious education. As a child, Pyvon showed a lot of empathy for those injured during the rebellion, and as a teenager he spent a lot of time doing what he could to help in hospitals. This would turn into a keen interest in medicine and welfare which would shape his future reign.

King Zovian Warpine 'the Fool'

King Lorin Warpine 'the Scorcher'

King Covian Warpine