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Emperor Khorzanelm the Magnificent

Some Stories

How Magnificent was he?

He is so magnificent that he made the sun stop in its path!
He is so magnificent that he made gods!
He is so magnificent that his Empire was Complete!
He is so magnificent that he made the Great Party!
He is so magnificent that he was Yelm Victorious!
He is so magnificent that his councilors were made of precious metals!
He is so magnificent that his funeral pyre was the size of a palace!

The Sunstop

Khorzanelm was a paragon of virtue, holiness and piety. Every part of him was sacred and blessed, and he performed every ritual and obligation to perfection. He did everything, but still some recalcitrant noble gods held out. They said, "We have not seen the Greatest Blessing upon you that are required for our fealty."

Finally Emperor Khorzanelm assembled all the best people of the Empire into the holiest places. They prayed as if they had a single voice to Yelm, which had never been accomplished before. They were answered by an appearance of Yelm Overlord. To honor the Emperor the god caused the sun to stop in the sky in defiance of Time and the Great Compromise.

After that all the recalcitrant lords threw themselves at his feet in abject terror and submission. They gave their sons to be his pages and their daughters to be his concubines.

The New Gods

Khorzanelm the Magnificent was invested with all the parts of a god and shone as brightly as Yelm on a summer day. So bright was his light that it caused new things to grow, old things to be seen and even formed itself to be a new god. Khorzanelm made the world good and thus revealed a light that had not been seen before, which was a new way to see. It was called Nysalor.

Nysalor was that new light. He normally appeared as a wise child for the first decades of his presence. Later the enemies of light forced him to appear instead as a wizened old man.

Nysalor also revealed either five or thirty-three new deities. The five, who appear on both lists, are: Brenbora, Daysenerus, Tarumath, Uta, and Velagio. The other 28 are mostly ceremonial, used only in Nysalor rituals.

The Complete Empire

In the Golden Age the Emperor was named Murharzarm. Everything was Perfect as long as he lived. Then foul assassins killed him and his Empire diminished in size, importance and power. No Emperor after Murharzarm ruled the whole area again.

Until Khorzanelm, the Complete emperor. He is called Complete because he embodied all the parts of Murharzarm, and also ruled over the entire territory of the first Emperor. He ruled the Ten Great cities, with their ten great provinces. The Tripolis were there, Senthoros hovered and Yuthubars was in the sky, but the other five were in a new place. He also had Ten Allied Subkings and Ten Conquered Lands. In his reign all of the Elder Races were subject to him, formed into the Council of Friends.

The First Centurial, or the Great Party

In 111,400 Emperor Khorzanelm the Magnificent celebrated the Centurial, a year-long festival that blessed everyone with the powers of the changing century. The regular annual sacred calendar was augmented with special ceremonies as well as supplying ritual goods to augment the regular sacrifices. The result was a year of blessings for all.

So says the official chronicle.

Among the commoners this event has a different memory. The Lodrilites and Orianites remember this as the Great Party or Tripforsee. The Great Party was fueled by the Emperor's Benefices and succeeded because of two practical things: 1. Everything was paid for, in advance, by plunder from distant lands; and 2. Certain guilds and companies stockpiled wine and beer for the event.

"Trip-for-see" means, in everyday slang, the best, the unexcelled, the state of bliss a commoner hopes for. It's actually a slang version of the date of the event. Most of the ordinary people don't know or even care about the dates, the numbering and meaning of which is of utmost importance only to the lords, priests and authorities with time and obligation for their tens and hundreds. The slang is from the current usage, diminished by common use from its original trip(le one) four C(enta anna), trip-for-C.

Military Victories

The blessings of the Emperor upon the Army made it victorious. The Polaris of Life, Turner of the Wheel and Lord of the Dance of Death was Todrendus Egastus. He was the tip of the spear head, the edge of the sword, the point of the arrow and the pinnacle of command. He received the blessings of Khorzanelm Urvairnus to perfection and sent him west and north and east and, finally south to the Land of War. In that terrifying place storms blocked the sun and a barbarian army fell upon Elmgatum, Sword of Polaris who led the men. Then even Kyger Litor appeared, the goddess who rules everything that opposes Yelm. But Yelm never breaks the laws of the universe and so did not appear there to oppose her. Instead it was Nysalor who appeared and destroyed her. As always, day overcame night, and so was fought in the year 111,379 the Battle of Night and Day. Alas, as always, the cost was in human sacrifice and General Elmgatum died.

The Ten Wise Councilors of Khorzanelm

The court of Khorzanelm was as noble as the emperor. His councilors were so valuable that their utterances were precious metals and stones, collected and dispensed to the world. Others among them were so pure that they turned their very flesh to pure metal. Some of them include Teeth of Diamond, Eyes of Gold, Ears of Silver, and the widely known Golden Voice of Command.

The Cremation of Khorzanelm

The life of such magnificence was matched by a death of magnificence. Khorzanelm ruled 37 magnificent years, each moment so precious that it made a minute to be like a day and a day to be like a lifetime. Khorzanelm had set the entire world to order and the skies and underworld as well. When all was done, he retired to his bed that lay atop his palace roof.

His wife, ever loyal and cheerful, asked what he was doing there and he said his time had come to retire away, for perfection can never last long in a mortal frame. She was no longer cheerful, and swore she would sit there at his side.

Their son Radaidavu came and asked the same, and got the same reply. He told his mother, "You must not stay here, for when his light expires from the Emperor it will be like a great fire and everything nearby will be burned. Let us prepare this roof top as his pyre, with all of the best gifts that he would require in the Otherworld, but certainly dear mother, do move from this place." But she persisted.

When other people heard of her sacrifice they were moved to join her, for they did not wish to live in a world that had been perfect but was no more. They vowed to serve the emperor in heaven instead of live in imperfection and sorrow.

Radaidavu was unable to change their minds in this, for their piety and uniform courage was irresistible. The good son did as he had promised, and in addition to the daily and annual goods of Emperorship he added the special accoutrements like chariots and war goods, which caused part of the army to vow to guard the emperor. Radaidavu also stocked the pyre with trade goods, grain and meat and fish, sacred tools and statuary. These caused merchants and craftsmen, farmers, butchers and fishermen, priests and artifact makers to also all volunteer to accompany their goods into the lands of heaven with their lord.

Emperor Khorzanelm was sleeping peacefully when he burst into a great perfectly pure fire ball that engulfed him, his wife and servants, the beautiful goods and finally the palace itself, yet did not touch the other buildings around it with even a lick of heat or soot. A tremendous fiery bird rose from the flames and silently winged upward, followed by a flock of lesser flame birds in its trail.

Latest revision: 31 Jul 2001, new