Martineius, High King - I

[Original Publication by Historian Mathicus Flon]

After the defeat and destruction of the Justice, in the now-legendary War of Malchaeius against the forces of Order, where the Castle of the Crown for the first time in history, Order was forced to retreat to its only remaining stronghold, the gray city of Rheydin. There, with the aid and support of what guardsmen remained, they regrouped, announcing the formation of a new organization: The Tribunal.

This is all canonical history that is fairly well known. It is equally well known that this new organization, this Tribunal, proved unable withstand enduringly against the forces that unceasingly continued to assault it. Its once-full halls, slowly began to diminish, until it was on the verge of collapse.

All this changed, one day, when a single entity entered the equation: the now-legendary figure, known as Martineius. Almost inarguably the most brilliant political figure in all of recorded Aabahranian history, and amongst the more deadly men of blades as well, he became the single variable which shifted and skewed the equations of nearly every single organization in Aabahran.

This vampire (although he himself described himself simply as a special sort of man) quickly rose to the highest ranks of power within the Tribunal. During his ascent through the ranks of the Tribunal, more than a few events of great import occurred, the most prominent being, perhaps, the reclaiming of Val Miran, which had been overrun by the Watchers, as well as the driving out of the Syndicate in Miruvhor, which he personally oversaw. Within a few decades, he became both the most celebrated, as well as the most hated and (arguably) the most powerful man in Aabahran, ascending to the highest throne of rule, that position which had hitherto never been granted: the position of High King over the Cities of the Tribunal. In addition, he was a highly skilled policy-maker, having single-handedly created and standardized not only the system of laws, but also all the tomes of law currently in existence. Proof of his acumen and capabilities can be said to lie in the fact that even now, so long after his departure, at the writing of this tome, there has yet to be a single recorded change to his creation concerning Tribunal law enforcement protocol.

So what was the secret to his success? Although he was closemouthed regarding his past (which we unfortunately are unable to relate), he was more than willing to expostulate at length about his philosophy. Namely, the 'Religion of Pragmatism'. It's a simple philosophy; in essence, to do what is expedient, but expedient for both long and short run. To that end, he was benevolent whenever possible, knowing full well that the good-will of the citizenry was critical in being able to easily maintain social harmony, but ruthless when necessary, also knowing that good-will alone doesn't make an Empire. In a then infamous act, when bards began to openly promote articles written by others against his rule, he famously threatened to throw the bards as well in jail or outlaw and execute them...and then, privately, negotiated with 'benevolence' towards the bards. He succeeded in his endeavors; almost the entirety of the bardic guild backed down.

(Continued in "Martineius, High King - II")