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Queen Evahn I

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Portrait of Evahn I.

The only daughter of King Lucien IV, and grand-daughter of the late Queen Mina, Evahn I is regarded by most observers as the greatest ruler in Pallisican history. Born in the New Zimian capital city in the late 770s, much of Evahn's childhood is shrouded in mystery, though it is known that she was raised on behalf of her father by the late, polemical sorceress, Madame Lye, Duchess of Mina, who's exploits and controversial policies gained her a notorious reputation amongst many leading religious leaders. Under the guidance of Madame Lye, Evahn developed a mystical and unorthodox understanding of the world which would ultimately guide her policies as ruler of Passio-Corum.

As a teenager, Evahn would be required, against her will, to leave the care of the Duchess of Mina, and to return to receive a religious education in the capital city, under the direct supervision of her father, the king. During this time, in which she met and began to develop personal relationships with the individuals who would eventually constitute her Council of Courts, Evahn learned to incorporate the unorthodox lessons and magical practices which she had learned from Madame Lye, with the traditional and practical teachings of the Pallisican religion as taught to her by her new, private tutors. This incorporation of ideas and practices led to a period of great meaningful intellectual, personal, and spiritual development for the future queen, so much so that her father, during this period, would choose to appoint her as his successor to the position of the nation's ruler.

Despite her initial resistance to the notion of succeeding her father, Evahn ascended to the throne of Passio-Corum on Amia 1, 800 WG. A relative unknown within national governance, and a figure regarded by some as illegitimate due to her unknown matronage, Evahn – or Evahn I as she would now be known – ascended to her new position amidst a period of relative instability within the realm. With the failure of the nation's initial colony in Eastern Corum, and the looming threat of war in the Inner Desert, the difficulties confronting the new queen proved numerous and complex. Nevertheless, Evahn I ascended to the throne prepared to confront each of the nation's immediate struggles, and to enact a plan intended to increase the overall strength of the nation in coming years and decades.

Under the leadership of the new queen, the government of the Realm of Passio-Corum moved swiftly to resolve the more pressing matters facing the nation, foremost among them the perpetual war which was being waged between various gamesman tribes in the continent's central region, and which for the first time had begun to threaten New Zimian borders. Upon ascension to the throne, Queen Evahn I ordered a direct military response to a number of attacks against the cities of Afrikaania and Shirley, thus beginning, in her first year as ruler, a brief war against rogue agents within the Realm of Bayen. Following the conclusion of this campaign, which lasted for slightly more than two years, Queen Evahn I oversaw negotiations between New Zimian and Bayanese government officials, which would ultimately allow for the complete annexation of the territory of the Realm of Bayen. In return for its annexation to New Zimia, the Realm of Bayen immediately received funding from New Zimian investors, intended for the construction of a power-plant which continues to provide electricity to the region, to this day.

For the next ten years the nation, which now included the Realm of Bayen, as well as the Domain of the North Antarctic (which had been annexed following the dissolution of the Free State of Haifa,) moved to diversify and expand its economy, in order to provide a greater range and quality of goods and services to its growing population. During this period, Queen Evahn I, as the Council of Court's Supreme Arbiter, approved the creation of new mining industries in the North Antarctic and the expansion of the ship-building industry in Shirley. In addition, the New Zimian government, during this period, also began to work with the leaders of the pirate communities of Eastern Eura, on a treaty which would allow for New Zimian investors to fund the establishment of new industries in Eura, in exchange for assurances that New Zimian shipping and military vessels would be safe from the threat of piracy in the region. This treaty, known as the Treaty of Austral Harmony, would, in 812 WG, unify and stabilize much of Eastern Eura under the banner of the Eastern Eura Trade Association, while allowing the Realm of Passio-Corum to extend its economy, and its influence, across the Western Sea of Storms. Its success in this regard would prompt the nation, ten years later, to establish similar operations in Western Corum, in 822 WG, and Southern Keltia, two years later.

With a direct political and economic presence across much of the Eastern hemisphere, the Realm of Passio-Corum seemed poised, in 825 WG, to enter into a golden age. The nation's riches had expanded significantly under the leadership of the new queen, and the people were more loyal and committed to national causes than ever before. Discrimination against kralians reached an all-time low during this period, and for the first time ever Pallisicans and their new gamesman countrymen began to marry. The prosperity of the nation, however, served to mask a deep seated discontentment within the government, regarding the queen's legitimacy as ruler. Rumors regarding the birth of her successor in Krey'Aken in 820 WG began to prompt conflict between national leaders, and between regional governments, as an increasing number of public officials, especially within the nation's Temple Court, increasingly rejected the rule of Queen Evahn I, despite the nation's growing wealth and influence. This conflict appeared to reach a head when, in 825 WG, the queen was struck by Tja Fever, a mysterious and ruthless condition which causes in its sufferers, intense nightmares and hallucinations, and which virtually always leads to death. Within months however, the queen appeared to make a full and miraculous recovery from the condition, and with this renewal of spirit, Queen Evahn I turned her attention to successfully addressing the rebellion which had begun to spread across the country, to regions such as Soekarnograd, the Realm of Bayen, and the Region of the Far West.

At least eighteen people lost their lives as a direct result of politically motivated violence during the eight year period of rebellion against the rule of Queen Evahn I, which began in 825 and ended in 833 WG. Another six were lost in the Valley of Bjeko, a cursed region which lies between the cities of Lucien and Afrikaania. The disappearance of the latter six - a group of messengers who are believed to have been consumed by the ferocious spirit which is said to inhabit the region - was regarded at the time by most New Zimians as a bad omen. Despite the great expansion of the nation's economic and political strength, which continued to benefit the nation even during its period of rebellion, the general attitude of the nation during this period became morose and resentful. Queen Evahn I, for her part, attempted to address this period of national depression by personally tending to the needs of the people. In 827 WG, the queen appeared at a popular rest stop along Route 6, in spite of the rebellion in the region, in order to attend to the requests and opinions of the many travelers who came to meet her. This event, known as 'the first miracle of Evahn,” played a significant role in improving national morale, and in mitigating the spread of rebellion against the queen's rule. By 833 WG, public sentiment had shifted back in favor of the queen. Using the renewed favor of the public, Queen Evahn I would immediately set out to impose the policies which would come to define her administration. The first of these policies, which included the queen's only expansion of the Council of Courts, would place a significantly increased emphasis on the development of the nation's military, while the latter, would see the nation discontinue use of the Standardized Currency and Unified Economy, which had served as the basis for its economy since, at the latest, 755 WG.

Adopted by the Wallis Islands in the 720s, and again by the government of New Zimia two years after its establishment in the 750s, the Standardized Currency and Unified Economy (SCUE), has served for centuries as the world's primary financial institution. Long before the establishment of the Wallis Islands, or of New Zimia, the Standardized Currency attempted to serve as the basis for international trade between the world's nations, and indeed, certain nations -New Zimia among them - made great use of the bank in order to develop viable economic systems, and systems for trade. In 833 WG however, after years of economic growth despite rebellion and a growing sense political isolation from the community at large, coupled with a lack of regard for the competency of the administration of the Standardized Currency, Queen Evahn I authorized a plan to separate the First National Bank of Passio-Corum from the world bank, and to suspend all official foreign trade. This decision, which resonated throughout the world community, was received extremely well by most New Zimians, who had largely come to reject the restrictive nature of the nation's participation in the Standardized Currency, and served to further restore national unity following its period of rebellion. Furthermore, the decision also served to invigorate interest in new, domestic industries in such a way which encouraged the nation's financial institutions to expand their investments in such places as the Skerry Isles, in Southern Keltia, and the Anterran Islands, in the Eastern Sea of Storms. Having gained access to these new markets, the New Zimian people once again enjoyed an increase in their overall quality of life, despite relative decreases in the nation's economic output.

With an increased sense of national resolve, and with fewer inhibitions with regard to foreign powers, the government of Passio-Corum, under the administration of Queen Evahn I, began to once again expand its interests around the Sea of Storms, though not without coming into a brief conflict with pirates supported by the Empire of Jingdao, which itself sought to expand its own interests in the seas of the East. This conflict began in 836 after Jingdaoese pirates, flying under the banner of the Independent Realm of Ergonia, ignored warnings from New Zimian officials regarding their operations along New Zimian shipping lanes. When it was learned that the Jingdaoese pirates were preparing to defy New Zimian warnings by establishing settlements in territory claimed by the Eastern Eura Trade Association, the New Zimian War League responded by deploying its own soldiers to defend the expected points of arrival for the pirates, who upon arrival came under heavy fire before ultimately fleeing from the region. This victory, though it ensured the end of significant Jingdaoese interests in the Sea of Storms, marked the beginning of a war against the pirates who operated in the sea, which would not end until 845 WG, when the Empire of Jingdao announced that it could no longer support the region's pirates. Following this announcement by the government of Jingdao, Queen Evahn I acted swiftly to authorize the official annexation of territory in the Anterran Islands, and to consolidate the nation's presence in Eastern Eura and the Skerry Isles. Furthermore, the queen, despite widespread protests, authorized – in 848 WG - slavery as a means of punishment for captured Jingdaoese pirates.

The period following the nation's victorious campaign against Jingdaoese pirates is marked by a renewal in economic growth. With regard to that economic growth, it was reported by the New Zimian Standard, in 850 WG, that the national gross domestic product had begun once again to grow, for the first time in twenty years. This renewal of economic growth, paired with the nation's recent military victory over foreign adversaries and subsequent territorial expansion, has instilled Queen Evahn I with the endearing love and long-term admiration of the peoples of Passio-Corum. In light of this love and admiration, and the growth and development of the nation under her administration, the queen, in 849 WG, addressed an adoring crowd which had assembled to welcome her to the city of Voorpost, with a simple message:

“It is our industry, and our resolve, which serves as the basis of our solidarity. It is our solidarity which serves as the basis of our strength....It is our strength which allows us to fulfill our religious obligation to preserve order in our lands, and in lands abroad.”

This message, which was delivered four years before the abdication of Queen Evahn I, serves to represent the spirit of the Pallisican peoples as they progressed into the era of the rule of Queen Esper I, who's ascension in 854 WG marked the end of the dynasty of King Lucien I, who unified the Kingdom of Passas.