The Torment

Seventy years after its founding, Asgartha faced dark times that nearly led to the fall of humanity's cradle. In 42 AC, Cwaith had succeeded Rune, and Ayxas was poised to take over after the High Queen, whose reign had lasted nearly twenty-eight years. Under the influence of the Kuningatar, the living conditions of the Asgarthans had greatly improved. Instead of pursuing the nation’s expansion, she focused on strengthening the existing colony. Ayxas was her protégé, destined to take over her mantle. Together, they developed their strategy. She prepared society and the population, while he was tasked with further expanding the nation's sphere of influence.

Ayxas was beloved by the people. Handsome and charismatic, he consistently showed compassion and kindness, earning him the reputation as Asgartha’s favorite son. When Cwaith relinquished her crown, the elections were a mere formality, and Ayxas ascended to the title of Kuningas without any real competition. His reign began under the best circumstances: he funded the research of Jian Lam, a physicist studying the properties of Aerolithe; he began planning a strategy to populate the Anthea peninsula, frequently exchanging information with the Lyra caravans to learn more about its geography and climate; he also helped the Yzmir, the Bravos, and the Ordis to organize themselves, providing logistical and material support.

No one truly knows how the Torment began. Perhaps it started with small, unnoticed changes, or maybe it emerged suddenly and inexplicably. To this day, the real causes and reasons remain unknown. In 74 AC, Ayxas secluded himself for several months in his Elysian quarters, where he received numerous dignitaries, advisors, and analysts. Hidden away in his palace, he devised a plan. He first founded the Castigar, an Alteration Faction affiliated with political power and loyal only to him. He also created a military academy, the Magan, dedicated to the arts of war. Gradually, he reclaimed social, military, and economic functions from the Factions and reassigned them to offices he had personally established.

These changes were not immediately apparent. They were gradual, insidious. Ayxas was a political genius, a talented orator, with magnetic charm and natural authority. Slowly, he built a circle of loyalists by promoting certain individuals to key positions and winning over others with words, attention, or substantial gifts. To many bureaucrats, his reforms made sense. The Bravos couldn’t hold all the nation’s military forces. The Ordis couldn’t be the sole guardian of administrative secrets. As for the Yzmir, they needed to be monitored. For five years, Ayxas passed laws and decrees, patiently restructuring the state apparatus to give himself more freedom of action.

Things changed abruptly in 79 AC when Ayxas presented a motion of no confidence against the Factions to the Privy Council. Unilaterally, the Bravos and the Ordis were declared illegal and ordered to dissolve by royal decree. The Yzmir were instructed to submit to the Castigar and hand over all their esoteric research. Similarly, all independent military groups protecting the borders of Caer Eidos were required to disarm and submit to the Magan. Without warning, Asgartha found itself under the control of an autocratic regime, ruled with an iron fist.

Historians are unsure whether Ayxas had been hiding his true intentions from the start or if external circumstances had radically shifted his political vision. In the years that followed, the despot became obsessed with suppressing all dissent, resorting to violence if necessary. Nothing seemed to satisfy his thirst for control. One by one, the militant orders were dissolved, often violently; Alterers who refused to join the Castigar were hunted, imprisoned, or eliminated. Ayxas seemed determined to create an absolute dictatorship, where the population would follow orders without question. But as his grip tightened on society, resistance grew in the shadows.

Some individuals, weary of their sovereign's atrocities, formed an underground resistance network to end this climate of terror. This opposition worked to protect so-called traitors, smuggling them to the Lyra caravans that roamed the Anthea peninsula. They safeguarded dissidents, providing them with the support needed to form a semblance of counter power. Leaflets began circulating, condemning the Kuningas’ abuses and excesses, which clearly displayed paranoid tendencies and even psychotic episodes of extreme violence. Asgartha lived in fear, under the tyranny of its ruler's whims.

In 86 AC, insurgents stormed the Elysium with the help of certain royal guards. The conscripted forces of the Magan and Castigar opposed the rioters but were eventually overthrown by the coalition of rebel forces. The mutineers managed to break through enemy defenses and stormed the royal palace. When they entered the throne room, Ayxas was there waiting for them, pale and horrified. He harshly rebuked them, arguing that their rebellion would spell humanity’s doom. He claimed to know the dangers lurking beyond, the horrors lying at the edge of reason. He tried to convince them that everything he had done was necessary for humanity’s survival.

The Castigar and Magan were ultimately dismantled. As for Ayxas, he was judged by a people's court and sentenced to exile, the harshest punishment in Asgarthan law. Witnesses to the event saw his frail figure fade into the distance, that of a man devoured and consumed by madness, whom the Tumult would claim. After order was restored in the administrative and political institutions, new elections were held, and Akash was crowned Kuningas of Asgartha, unaware that the line of High Kings would soon come to an end.