Calrodiy the Great is an Emperor of the Ynnic Empire who ruled from 894 AA to 907 AA, emerging victorious from the Second Ynnic Civil War in 898. He was responsible for founding the City of Arverynn and establishing the Vyrekynn dynasty.
Legacy[]
Calrodiy the Great is remembered as one of the best emperors the Ynn ever witnessed, a stalwart Soldier-Emperor, a patron of the arts and a harsh but just reformer. The new capital he founded, Arverynn, would go on to become one of the most populous cities in Aelantir if not the world.
Calrodiy's reforms enforced a form of early serfdom over most of Sarda and later the Ynn. His victory over the forces of Dolindha is attributed to these reforms, as is the rise of Ynnic feudalism later on.
Greatness or Not?[]
Despite Calrodiy's moniker as 'the Great', the Second Ynnic Civil War has been often referred to as the starting point of the decline of the Ynnic Empire by Ynnic Ruinborn themselves. In this optic, historians believe Calrodiy earned his moniker of 'the Great' for his role in staving off this decline and giving the Empire three more centuries of life.
Alternatively, it is theorized that victory was by itself Calrodiy's claim to greatness. Under his leadership, Sarda Ruinborn inflicted a series of defeats against the more numerous and war-ready Dolindhans, considered up till that point the true defenders of the Ynnic Empire, and bested them in a hard-fought civil war.
Critics argue Calrodiy's reign was a cause or even a product of the Ynnic Empire's decline, and that his moniker was earned through a combination of actual merit and skillful propaganda by the artists he was a patron of. His reforms imposed a great cost on the populace for the sake of keeping the Empire together, and paved the way for later feudal fragmentation.