Empress Varkula

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Called The Undying

Empress Varkula (also known as the Dowager Empress, the Iron Empress or the Carrion Queen) ruled for over forty years, the longest uninterrupted rule in the Empire’s history. A Varsushkan draughir, she rose through the ranks of the Imperial army before making the leap to politics.

Taking advantage of a weakened and divided senate, she manipulated (and in some cases, allegedly extorted) her way to the throne, then set about dramatically increasing the military strength of the Empire. She was ruthless in her treatment of her political enemies, especially in the Synod, and went some way to reducing the powers that previous, more pious, Emperors and Empresses had ceded to the priesthood. At the same time took pains to ensure that the quality of life of the common citizen improved, enacting several sweeping reforms designed to ensure social mobility and freedom from oppression in all parts of the Empire. Under the hawk-like gaze, the rights of the Imperial Magistrates to investigate and prosecute crimes were extended, and despite some circumstantial evidence to the contrary, she insisted that while the Senate and the Throne could make laws, they would have a minimal role in enforcing those laws.

Throughout her reign she was the victim of frequent assassination attempts, many of which she fought off personally, others of which left her scarred and eventually crippled. By the time of her death at the age of seventy-six, it was fully four days before anyone dared to approach the throne and try to remove her body – even then apparently her fingers were so tightly coiled around the arm rests that they had to be broken before she could be removed.

While her reign saw a great increase in the scope and efficiency of both the armies and the civil service, the individual nations chafed under her rule.

“Every time I thought to myself that I was getting too old, too impatient withfoolish prattle, too willing to use cruelty and fear to keep the senate in line, every time I felt tired and yearned for peace, why, the fools would try to have me killed, and I would resolve anew to rule for as long there was even one spark of life left in my body! They could have my throne when they pulled it from my cold, dead hand, and not one moment before.” “Other rulers were loved by their subjects, but I was stronger than that. I never courted their love, for love is fickle and demanding. They respected me, they feared me – perhaps they even hated me – But I would not change one minute of my reign. A monarch must remember always that their people will turn on them; I lived my life with a blade at my throat. I never grew complacent, never trusted in popularity, never shied from making the hard choices. I found an Empire of brick, I left it one of marble. History can judge me as it will, but do not speak to me of love.”