Chinikan
From FrathWiki
Chinikan, also known as the Mad Empress or the Demon Empress, was the last Empress of the Second Kasshi Empire. At one time, it was commonly believed by Nrastaists that she was not a person at all, but rather, a demon in human form. She reigned for nearly 20 years, until, at last, she provoked a rebellion from the army. She disappeared shortly before the army captured her palace. Her ultimate fate remains a mystery to this day. Some believe that she escaped, going into hiding. Others believe that she was killed, but she'd been in disguise as a noble, and her body went unrecognized.
Nrastaist priests said that she simply returned to her true, demonic, form.
After her overthrow, the Empire was thrown into civil war, falling into dozens of factions in the Wars of the Collapse. After a nearly three-dozen-year period of warfare, several small states took shape in the former Empire, and the Nrastaist faith fell from power, nearly dying out.
Early Reign
Chinikan seized power after a succession disupte following ???'s death. She proclaimed herself Empress, and threatened her rivals with assassination. She proved a far more powerful empress than most, ignoring the advice of the Imperial Family Council, and ruling as an autocrat.
Five years into her reign, she pressured the Supreme Matriarch into naming her as a priestess, and, upon the opening of a vacancy in the Council of Twelve, she forced herself to be named to the vacancy. And, when the High Priestess died three years later, she proclaimed herself to be Supreme Matriarch, reuniting the positions of Empress and High Priestess for the first time since Chalanya established the Second Kasshi Empire.
In her dual role as Empress and High Priestess, she ignored the advice of her Councils. She ordered the persecution of heresies and other faiths, ending a period of tolerance that had begun with Chila the Great. In addition, one by one, she had the members of the Imperial Family killed, and refused to fill vacancies in the Council of Twelve.
Her reign became increasingly tyrannical. In fear of magic, she forbade any image to be made of herself. She ordered the deaths of all who could make a claim on the Imperial Throne. A few distant relatives fled the Empire, but most were massacred.
On the twelfth anniversary of her coronation, she proclaimed the abolition of the Imperial Family Council and the Council of Twelve, and began the construction of a new palace. She also ordered the creation of an elite Sacred Guard to defend herself, and to search out signs of heresy. Separatist movements were brutally crushed, and, in the 16th year of her reign, she proclaimed that the learned classes were to abandon all languages save Classical Kasshian.
By the 18th year of her reign, her madness reached a peak. She proclaimed herself a goddess of a new faith, abruptly turning Nrastaism into a "false religion". Surrounded by her fanatical Sacred Guard, she was insulated from the outrage of her people and the Nrastaist leadership. She proclaimed that her sacred mission was to unite the world, and to that end, she ordered invasions of nearby nations.
This proved her downfall, as the bulk of the army finally rebelled. A two-year civil war ensued, which eventually ended when the main army defeated the Sacred Guard, and stormed Chinikan's Palace. Chinikan herself was nowhere to be found.
After her deposal, several distant relatives claimed to be the legitimate heir, while many non-Kasshi regions proclaimed independence. A series of bloody wars ensued, resulting in the complete destruction of the Second Kasshi Empire. Eventually, a loose federation came about in the heart of the Second Empire, which is often referred to by historians as the Third Kasshi Empire, although at the time, it was considered a restoration of the Second Empire.
