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Overview
Serankles Hyrasa was born in Thekephia, in Western Tusine. A map of the Tusinian Continent can be seen here. Serankles was a young man by the time his father died, and he became the Thekephian Chieftain, one of the eleven tribes of Mzeusia. His upbringing had been one steeped in the values of the Thekephian tribe, with strength and loyalty being among the core values instilled in him. He was taught many skills and proved himself when he was instrumental in leading the Mzeusian armies in the latter stage of the Mzeuso-Thoonian war. From there, he quickly gained popularity and after ruling Mzeusia with the other ten tribal leaders, he ascended to the Mzeusian throne as its first king.

As King, Serankles quickly set about securing Mzeusian borders, making alliances with the surrounding nations and successfully putting down the First Thoonian War of Resistance. Perhaps Serankles’s biggest challenge during the period was the unification of the tribes and ensuring the kingdom was stable and efficient. While the process of building a strong national identity would span more than one king’s lifetime, Serankles laid a solid groundwork for the differences between tribes to be erased.

Early Life
Very little is known about Serankles Hyrasa’s early life, and although he was the son of the chieftain, the Thoonian rule of over the tribe kept them weak during his father’s reign. What is clear is that Serankles must have been trained extensively in hunting, military strategy and administration of the tribal affairs that the Thoonians left to them. As a young boy, Serankles killed a group of Thoonian soldiers while out hunting with his friends. When Thoonians came to investigate, the Thekephian people claimed that they were slain by wild animals. After the Thoonians accepted this and left, Serankles’s act was celebrated and his gained the honorary title of Hunter of Foe. In order to foster alliances between other tribes, it is known that high-ranking members of the Thekephian tribe were sent on many diplomatic missions, and Serankles would always accompany them when he could. During these meetings, the young boy managed to learn much about the ways of the other Mzeusian tribes, and this training would allow him to navigate the difficult world of a unified Mzeusia were the tribal divisions were still strong, an threatened to break down the country into the eleven tribes once again.

Tribal Dipolmacy
When Serankles’s father died of illness, Serankles ascended to Chieftain of the Thekephians and he immediately set about using his good relations with most of the tribes to foster even stronger ties. His visits as a young boy served him well, and he made many deals with the other tribes to strengthen the Mzeusian tribes. Before he could initiate his plan to free the tribes however, it was clear that all tribal disputes either needed to be resolved or put on hold. Many tribes had a common ally in Serankles, and he mediated arguments and weighed in whenever needed, gaining a reputation of being a fair and skilled negotiator. The few tribes that did not like Serankles so much were given gifts in the forms of statuettes, precious items and gold. Agreements were also made, although what they were is mostly lost to history.

It is true that the amount of autonomy given to the Mzeusian tribes allowed them to plan to an extent not possible in other areas of the Thoonian empire, but Serankles was one of the men able to get all the tribal leaders to fight together. It is said that as different tribal forces were gathering in various areas within their lands, Serankles went to each one, making sure that everything was in order.

Role in the Uprising
Serankles’s direct military involvement in the uprising against Thoonia came later in the campaign than one might expect. The large city of Urkani lay in the Mzeusian path, and up till this point, the Thekephians hadn’t sent any troops to aid the other Mzeusians. After taking Urkani, the Mzeusian army could begin its push into Thoonia, having already dealt with Thoonian rule in Mzeusia. The Thoonian garrison at Urkani was significant though, and Urkani was well defended. Seeing the predicament, Serankles approached the Mzeusian encampment and offered help in taking the road upon which the Thoonian supplies travelled. With that taken, the army could encircle the city and completely cut off their supply lines.

The road was guarded by a few thousand Thoonians, but the Thekephian contingent was reinforced by other from the main Mzeusian army and the road was taken. That however, was only part of the plan, as the Thekephians had disguised some of their number as people there to deliver supplies, and they reached the gates just before the Thekephians attacked. They were quickly hurried inside, and with Thekephian soldiers now on the inside, Serankles’s had proved himself a shrewd tactician.

When the city had been taken by the main Mzeusian army, Serankles ordered his men to cut down any escapees, earning him a reputation for ruthlessness.

Following the victory at Urkani, he led the Mzeusian army for the rest of the campaign, winning a battle at the border, a battle outside of Krakal (the Thoonian capital) against overwhelming odds, and also for charging the enemy camp when they were camped in the mountains, successfully defeating them and opening up the rest of Thoonia for Mzeusian occupation.

Serankles’s Vision
It is said that while on campaign, Serankles had a vision. At the time, the Mzeusian army had just taken Krakal, and they were hearing of a new army to the west. Serankles was resting in the city, and in his sleep, the gods gave him a vision. He came out of his tent and summoned the army to a field outside the city, standing on a dais that had been made out of wood and telling them all what the gods had shown him. Serankles used his great skill with language and told the men that the gods had shown him scenes of mighty cities, powerful armies, bustling harbours and an abundance of wealth. In every city and town and village, statues of the gods, with temples on every street corner.

The soldiers were inspired by this speech, but there was one problem, they all had separate gods, and although their religions were interwoven and in some ways very similar, they felt slightly uneasy, believing that Serankles wanted to enforce the Thekephian religion on them. The other tribal leaders agreed with the soldiers and advised Serankles to leave out any religious imagery.

Serankles was unhappy with this, but he knew that the public mood was against him. He was not deterred completely however, and throughout his time as the Thekephian chieftain he detailed his dream of a powerful and wealthy Mzeusia, built on trade and conquest. He stoked the fires of national unity both on and off campaign, and it was his grand vision that many people took hold off, easing the young nation further into its journey, and away from fragmentation.

Rise to Monarchy
After the nine-year war with Thoonia was over, the continent looked like this. The eleven tribal chieftains governed the country for a further seven years, but each chieftain took only the most minimal interest in other tribal territories, and invested the majority of their time improving the land that had belonged to them before unification. Serankles Hyrasa was extremely disappointed with them, and when it became clear that the threats to Mzeusian sovereignty were nearing a critical point for the new nation, Serankles put the case for a monarchy to the other chieftains. Originally, the idea was not a popular one, and stripping all but one of the chieftains of power was seen as a dangerous move (and there were of course selfish reasons to oppose placing power in a king). Serankles however, was an ambitious man, and he did not give up. A few weeks later had seen the power of the proposed king reduced, and ample bribes handed out, so that there was a slight majority in the Council of Rulers. There was a vote, and it was decided that Mzeusia needed a king. A Primogeniture system (one were the eldest male in the family would inherit the throne) was agreed upon, and then the process of choosing a king began. All rulers made cases as to why they should rule, including Serankles, and to avoid a war, a vote was held between themselves. Unsurprisingly, each candidate voted for themselves, and it was clear that another solution had to be found. Serankles proposed a competition be held, testing the rulers in many ways, like combat, archery, strategic planning and popularity. The competition had to be quick, as there were many threats lingering in and outside the borders.

Serankles had already proven his military prowess when fighting against the Thoonians, and he was feeling confident. Relying on his abilities, as well as a few bribes, he managed to get the nomination after a few months of competition. Apart from the authorised challenges, Serankles made sure to challenge any comer to fights, mock battles and debates, further displaying his qualifications to be king. He also went around the country giving speeches about his dream for the country, which succeeded in winning him much support.

Serankles’s Rule
When he was elected king, he took many precautions to ensure the stability of his rule, such as declaring that monarchs would rule until death, and not only that, but the Hyrasa family would be the only ones in the line of succession. He was also finally able to declare Mzeusism as the state religion and spread its influence to all corners of Mzeusia. The many religious sites that were constructed became sites of pilgrimage, and Mzeusians from all of the country mingled in these places, bound by their common faith. Another problem was funding, and Serankles established the first nationwide tax collection system. It was renowned for its efficiency and the king was able to become quite wealthy in a short space of time.

He also enacted a few political reforms as well as marrying the daughter of the Mythanian king to form an alliance between the two nations (using his amassed wealth and military capability to impress the Mythanian king, thus winning his daughter’s hand in marriage. The conquest of Thoonia had placed a hostile grouping of nations on the new southern border, and the alliance wit Mythania was vital for support. He also set about marrying his own children off, mainly to potentially hostile rulers. To continue to foster unity, he commanded a great series of roads be built in order to connect all of Mzeusia, as well as the minting of coins depicting his own face and the tree that can be seen in the Mzeusian flag. Through all this, a national identity began to be created, and stories of Mzeusians working together were promoted, and images depicted those very things were distributed through the empire on pottery, wall paintings and scrolls. A constant thorn in Serankles’s side however, was the raids on the southern Mzeusian border. This land was unruly enough during the earlier part of Serankles’s rule, as the Thoonians there were not content to lie down, but the raids from the southern countries bordering the newly acquired land made things even more difficult. Serankles made efforts to stem the tide of raids, but they had little effect. One military action that Serankles did work hard to complete however, was the creation of the royal bodyguard. He choose soldiers from Thekephia who were already considered the fiercest of Mzeusian warriors, and thus, the Thekephian Guard was born.

The Rise of Mzeusism
The greatest challenge facing the new king was national unity. When the Thoonians had been defeated, and their country taken over, the common enemy uniting the tribes fell away. Although there attempts by Thoonia to regain its status as an independent nation, these attempts were not sustained enough nor serious enough to ensure that the Mzeusians would stay as a nation. In the past, all the other tribal leaders had rejected the idea of a national religion, but now that Serankles was king, he could act with a little more independence. That said, Serankles knew that if he pushed for one national identity too hard, this might backfire, and his dream of nationhood would never be achieved. Then, over the course of around month, in the Council of Rulers (the building from which the King would rule) Serankles told the governors and any people present about the many visions that the gods had sent him. The gods he said, were the gods of all the different tribes and in response to the unification of the tribes, the gods themselves had unified in one large Pantheon of over 60 gods and goddesses. During this period, he also outlined the different gods, and told the people more about the new religion, Mzeusism. Serankles also appointed a High Priest to advise him in religious matters and gave himself the title of Grand High Priest which meant that he could claim that the gods supported him in whatever he was doing. Many religious festivals and traditions were incorporated by the gods, and Serankles managed to cause only a little discontent with the new religion, but the minor unrests were placated and bribed. Over the next few years, Serankles would be shown more and more visions and Mzeusism would expand in popularity to all edges of the Mzeusian border. Many of the most impressive temples became pilgrimage sites, which further encouraged national unity. Some notable locations are the temple of Epicras and Minatal at Mzikos, the temple of Traritus as Aylos and the temple of Desonikas as Forstasia. The most impressive sight is the Pantheon at Mzikos, were all the gods could be worshipped from.

Mzeusism had been declared the official religion a few years into Serankles’s reign, and Serankles was one step closer to his dreamed of a sustainable nation of Mzeusia.

Economic Reforms
Serankles knew that without a suitable income, the country would struggle to grow, and if an invasion came from any of the hostile powers, he would struggle to pay the army. The system before he had become king was the same one that had been used for hundreds of years by the tribes, and there was no central administration. Serankles disliked the separate tax collection as it did nothing to promote unity and in his view, stunted Mzeusian growth. With a more centralised tax system, Serankles wanted to make Mzeusia into a regional power, and his many reforms could not take place without the money.

His first move was to ensure all new coins had his face as well as the Mzeusian tree on them. This gave the nation a common currency and made trade much easier. Previously, the taxes were collected when the rulers of each tribe needed them, but Serankles implemented an annual tax that could be collected either through money, goods or labour. Certain counties were expected to pay their taxes partly in a product they specialised in, for example, the coastal counties were expected to pay partly with fish, most of the central counties with grain, and the southern ones with precious metals mined out of the mountains there. The collected goods would go into warehouses built all across the country where they could be moved around when needed. The money collected would go straight to the treasury.

With the annual tax in place, Serankles tasked his governors to assess the wealth and productivity of each county, in order to better determine how much tax should be demanded from each one. Using this system, the king managed not only to get very wealthy, but also to have a host of men who owed him debts and could work on his latest projects.

Political Reforms
While he was making many changes and securing his realm, he became more and more preoccupied with the idea of some future king undoing what he had done, as well as that kin becoming a tyrannical monarch who would be no different than the Thoonians had been. To curb any unlawful action, Serankles founded The Monarch’s Court, a court where governors made up the jury and would be presented with the facts of unlawful behaviour, and the king could be tried. The biggest flaw with this was that if the governors disliked the monarch enough, they could falsely accuse him of a crime and then find him guilty, resulting in any punishment they deemed suitable, even death.

Another political reform was the creation of the Royal Advisers. To be a Royal Adviser, one had to be a governor, and the position itself was temporary. Normally, governors could only address the king about matters concerning the council they ruled over, but if a governor was elevated to a Royal Adviser, they could speak more freely about an issue. The position of Royal Adviser could only be granted when a governor entered the King’s presence, and it would be revoked as soon as the governor left the king’s presence, or when the king decided. This change meant that Serankles would only bestow the title on certain governors, and he could ignore advise from those he did not like

Marriage Alliances
Marriage alliances were a key way to ensure the safety of Mzeusia. Serankles’s own marriage to Thysenia the daughter of the Mythanian king made sure that the powerful country of Mythania would not impose on Mzeusian shipping, and as well as not making plans to invade or support an invasion of the weak country, the Mzeusians might also get some military help from the king if they needed it. To secure this marriage, Serankles impressed the Mythanian king with a large fortune, and when the Mzeusian was invited into Mythania for a visit, his conduct and performance in military games greatly pleased his host. The man was especially delighted when Serankles advised the king on how to win a battle against an enemy army, directing the troops from the command tent. With the marriage between Serankles and Thysenia completed in grand ceremony, the Mzeusian king turned his attention to the Folgravnian kingdom across the sea who was seeking an alliance with the Mzeusian’s enemy to the north. With a promise of letting Folgravnian merchant ships sail freely in Mzeusian waters, and of allowing Forlgravnian merchants to sell their goods at Mzeusia, the marriage between the Prince of Folgravni and one of Serankles’s daughters was sealed, and the Folgravnian support to Gartunia ceased, delaying the inevitable invasion.

The final marriage alliance was further afield, and it was said that Serankles studied the map of the known world for hours, and had all his advisers around him to decide on the best country to approach. Serakles settled on the country of Thulsi, a strong island nation to the south. If a marriage could be made between his second son Nimsyis and the youngest daughter of the Thulsin Emperor, Hesildra. The marriage was accepted remarkably quickly due to the benefit of trade between the two nations. It was even said that Nimsyis and Hesildra fell deeply in love, and the Thulsin emperor was so struck by their affection, that he declared it a crime to not have them married.

The result of these marriages was a stronger Mzeusia and a weakened Gartunia. More trade now flowed into the ports of the nation, and Serankles could now direct his attention to other matters.

Building the Roads
A key part of unification was the construction of a mass of roads that connected all part of the country. The project took a few years to complete, but when it was done, Serankles proclaimed it to be a work worthy of the gods. The roads improved intranational as well as international trade as for example, rare minerals being mined in the South-East could be transported to the coastal markets in a much shorter time span. The movement of armies was also more efficient, and with the foot-traffic along the roads increasing, soldiers were stationed along the network at various points, in order to deter robbers. Serankles made the punishments for robbery much harsher and created the position of Road Overseer to organise maintenance and guarding of certain major roads. The Road Overseers were commanded to build places of rest and shrine to the gods along the path, so that Mzeusians from all over the country could rest and pray together while on the move. This was done, and the plan worked, although upkeep of these places did leave something to be desired. When travelling along the roads himself, Serankles took note of facilities he deemed “shameful to the nation” and punished a notoriously neglectful Road Overseer to set an example for the rest. From then on, the facilities along the roads were much better maintained.

The Southern Conflicts
As King, one of the most challenging aspects was protecting the southern border from hostile forces in the south. The frequent raids launching into Mzeusian territory damaged the Mzeusian economy and made the majority Thoonian population there, very unhappy and more likely to rebel. Serankles may have been from the most warlike tribe, and may have excelled at military conquest, but as he became more enmeshed in attending to other aspects of Mzeusia, like the forging of a national identity, his interest for leading military campaigns took a back seat. In his writing, he berates himself for what he sees as not having enough time in the day, and he expresses wishes that Epicras drive the sun chariot more slowly across the sky. Throughout his writing he also displays contempt for the southern raiders, and views the task of getting rid of them to be beneath him.

Although he would never personally lead a Mzeusian army to do battle with the raiders, he did request separate audiences with the leader of the three nations bordering Mzeusia, and managed to convince two of them to cease their raiding in return for annual tribute. The third nation did not agree to any terms the Mzeusian king was willing to put to him, and Mzeusian troops were stationed at the border, and several clashes between raiders and Mzeusians occurred. In his diary, Serankles tells of his humiliation at accepting having to pay the tribute, and he vows that “ a day will come when Mzeusia will never have to pay those savage men from the south.” We also know that in his dying days, Serankles commanded his son Holsikas to destroy the nations to the south and said that one of his greatest regrets was that he could not do so himself.

The Thekephian Guard
Serankles Hyrasa realised that the bodyguard of the Mzeusian monarchs, the Thekephian Guard, but when he rose to king, the guard was not as well trained as he wanted. He began ensuring that the Thekephian Guard became a professional, greatly respected bodyguard by personally overseeing their change into a much more organised and disciplined unit. Regular tests of their skill were a key part to Serankles’s plan.

The Thekephians first leader guarding Serankles was a man named Synes Griphimon. He was a fearsome man who shared the ambition of Serankles, and had dreams of creating a world-class unit. He ejected those he thought not up to snuff and his brutal training regime was renowned throughout the ancient world. The king commended him for his work, and increased the pay of all members within the guard.

The eleven rulers had needed a much larger bodyguard for all of them. As well as making them a more professional unit, Serankles realised that his bodyguard was far too big for just him. He decided to fire around half of the not as well trained Thekephian Guard. This half was not happy about this. An influential Thekephian, Milones Yvilon led the disgruntled men against Serankles Hyrasa. After a heated discussion, Hyrasa decided to place Yvilon’s men in positions of local power to satisfy them. This worked, and peace had been restored. If you want to know more about the Thekephian guard themselves, click here.

The Transition of Power
As Serankles Hyrasa came into the last years of his life, he gave more and more responsibility and power to his son Holsikas, allowing the young man to manage the lesser aspects of the country. Holsikas would always have to be present at meetings anyway, but Serankles stepped up the soon to be king’s education. This allowed Serankles to rest more, and on the whole, he is remembered as a gentler man at this time in his life. He writes about his pride upon seeing his son deal with more and more aspects of governance. During this period, he also produced a list of things that Holsikas should attend to when reigning. The list included things like having a tactical marriage (as Holsikas was the only child of Serankles not yet married) and appeasement where necessary. It stressed the importance of getting the people’s support for something, even though they had no real political power, and it emphasised the glory in conquest, but that “only a fool fights battles when the search for glory does not dictate he do so.”

Serankles’s Death
Serankles died an old man, a remarkable achievement given the dangerous life he led. Throughout his life, he had worked on a plan for his tomb, something not traditionally done in Mzeusia, and when he died, he left all his plans with Holsikas. (more about his tomb can be found here) Upon Serankles’s death, the nation went into a period of mourning. According the rules of a traditional religious burial, nobody can give a prayer to the gods asking them to treat the dead person more leniently in death, and although this rule was obeyed, people found other ways to mourn. Statues of the man were commissioned across the land, and paintings of his deeds were created. Soon a cult sprang up, and people started joining it in large numbers. The first Mzeusian King, Serankles Hyrasa was dead, but his image, his name and his acts during life have not been forgotten even to this day, due to the fervour with which the Mzeusian people recorded them.