Titus Morvayne

Verion II, regnal name of Lord Titus Morvayne Viscount of Saint Zor, is a Shirithian nobleman and businessman. Since 1664, he serves as the Prefect of Shirekeep. In 1971, Titus was elected Kaiser by the Landsraad in a contested election. After a civil strife, he moved to the Skyla Islands, where he continued his rule as Kaiser, and declared the Imperial Verionist Republic of Shireroth.

Early life and ancestry

Titus Morvayne was born a son of Waldomir Morvayne, an Elirian banker and Lena Verion. As such, Titus is a member of the House of Verion. Raised in Eliria, Titus enjoyed a comfortable childhood for the first seven years of his life, until the Froyalanish rule in Elwynn began to make life difficult for the Verion family. The family moved first to Blackstone, where Titus got an apprentinceship at the Iron Company headquarters. At age 16, he moved to Chryste to study at the famous university. In so doing he was able to witness at first hand the effects of the recently ended civil war, Chryste having endured heavy bombing by Imperial Forces on account of the ambiguous stance taken by the Royal Iron Company during the conflict. Upon graduation, he moved to Shirekeep where he became involved in several business schemes and was elected as Provost of the Commercial District for the Verionist Union, being only one of two representatives for this party in the Council of Provosts.

Following the 1660 elections, Titus and the small Verionist faction worked together with the Imperial Republicans to get to a majority in the Council of Provosts. Under the slogan "Tougher Times with Titus", Morvayne announced his intent to be the next prefect. In 1664 he was appointed Prefect by Kaiser Ayreon IV in Imperial Decree 1072.

Rule as Prefect

Morvayne started his rule by cracking down on what he called "criminal infestation by unnatural elements", and an estimated three-thousand people were arrested in his first year, mostly Froyalanish and Safir. Most detainees belonging to the latter group were released on the condition that they would leave the country.

The new Prefect also payed his respect to his murdered predecessor, Mira II Octavius-Aryani, by erecting a statute of her in Retribution Park. He also launched an investigation into her death, although the results of this investigation were later shelved under mysterious circumstances.

Morvayne also ordered some additions to be made to the Prefectural complex, even before his reign had started. Under his watch, the Prefect's Keep was fortified, granting the prefect and his servants more safety.

In 1664, Morvayne was admitted to the nobility as Viscount of Saint Zor, and as such received a place in the Landsraad. The very seat that he received was previously held by his second cousine, Eki Verion, who was de-nobilitised that same year.

Imperial Rule

Following the downfall of the Shirithian nation, and the power vacuüm that was left after the death of Kaiser Ayreon IV, the city of Shirekeep remained under the tight control of its Prefect, Titus Morvayne, deeming the time ripe for increasing his power, Morvayne had himself elected Kaiser by the Landsraad. Although the City Guard, as well as the Apollonian Guard, supported his claim, he was unable to convince the leadership of the Palatini Corps. This saw Shirekeep being thrown into disarray, with the Imperial Forces located in the Keep containing the Verionists who controlled the largest part of the city. Within the year that followed, Kaiser Verion's supporters left the city. Verion himself moved to the Skyla Islands together with the largest group of his supporters, where he continued his claim on the Imperial Mango Throne.