Cassian Dynasty (1394 - 1519)



Marshal Cassian: Rags to Riches  Born in Brigantine in 1370, Marshal Cassian was the bastard son of Empress  Andriella Ottavio and the commander of the 5th Legion, Hermes Scalius. The Empress, afraid of the consequences of her affair being discovered, took a "year long vacation" in Navis during which she gave birth to the child and coverty gave him away to a local monestary. The child, named Marshal by the nuns, and adopted by a poor fisherman named Aldes Cassian lived his beginning years in poverty, a stark constast to the golden palace of his true mother.

At the age of 12, Marshal took a job on a large cargo vessel that was lacking an able crew due to a mishap. Marshal spent 3 years working this vessel, traveling back and forth between the islands, until one day his ship stumbled into the Palma Arbor port. 

Marshal had earned enough money to afford a cheap hotel, and decided to do that instead of sleeping on the ship. The next morning, his ship was forced out of port early due to an approaching typhoon. 

Stranded in Palma Arbor, Marshal took the only job he could readily find available, he joined the military. His career in the military lasted him another 5 years before he found himself stationed with the Royal Guard in Palma Arbor. Upon arriving, Marshal only spent a year as a guard before happening upon an assassin who was out to kill Emperor Cladius Ottavio. Marshal, doing his job, fought a bloody fight with the assassin while the Emperor fled. 

Receiving back up and ultimately defeating the assassin, Marshal was honored by the extremely grateful Emperor by receiving a commission to Centurion, a rank which although being replaced by general in the current military, still held much respect and prestige. <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">As a Centurion of the Guard, Cassian was able to partake in the after-hours of the Emperor's court, a position where he soon warmed up to the Emperor and the Empress. It was on one such fateful night, following the death of the Emperor in 1388, when Cassian asked his life story by the Empress herself. Wise enough not to forgo a detail, Cassian described what he remembered of his life, and how he appearently came to be. The Empress carefully put two and two together and realized Cassian was likely her son. She dispatched agents to Navis to track down names and dates of children sent to the monestary and was shocked to find it to be true.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;">Cassian was accepted as hier to the Ottavio throne in 1392, just two years before the Empress's death. In an odd move of admeration for his adopted father, Cassian refused to accept the Ottavio name. Thus when Cassian was crowned Emperor in 1394, the Ottavio Dynasty "ended". Many historians argue that Cassian's extremely strong blood-link to the Ottavio family make him truly an Ottavio and refuse to refer to this time period as the Cassian Dynasty. Still, it cannot be ignored that all Emperors and Empresses from 1394 to 1519 only shared blood with the Ottavios, not name. <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:22.5pt0in2.4pt;line-height:15.75pt;border-style:none;padding:0in;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cassianian Renaissance  <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Marshal Cassian is highly praised for his excelling love and interest in the fine arts. He spent hundreds of thousands of †Cyy (Cyronic currency) on creating statues and glorious paintings. Schools of art were opened up all throughout the Merick Isles and the region prospered. The economy even took a massive jump in height too. So much that in fact Emperor Cassian approved of a new currency to be created; the Shell ( þ ), This currency is still used inthe Merick Isles today.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;">Like Marshal Cassian, the Emperors of the Cassian Dynasty who followed him shared an intrest in the arts. Refinement of the Latin culture that the Merick Isles was founded on was a corner stone of the regine of Emperor Felix Cassian, Marshal's grandson. Felix invested unfortoled sums of gold and money into his "noble quest". Scholars, historians and architects were hired from around the country (and in some cases the world) and put to work recording the story of the Merick Isles through book, art and buildings. These efforts have made all current recordings of history possible. Classical aquaducts and other water systems recieved major upgrades and refurbishing during Felix's reign as well.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Along with art, sculpture and music, the Merick Isles witnessed a massive change in the way ships were created. New hull designs and triangular sails allowed for ships to be large and go faster than in the past. Military technologies exploded too, with the introduction of the Cannon and Hand Cannon.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;">The Ottavio Dynasty may have witnessed the rise of the Merick Isles in terms of military power, but it was the Cassian Dynasty which witnessed the rise of culture and art once more. <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:22.5pt0in2.4pt;line-height:15.75pt;border-style:none;padding:0in;"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">End of an Era  <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Marshal Cassian to his great-great grandson Constantine Cassian, the Cassian Dynasty had been a time of change and progression for the Merick Isles. While the ideals put into place by Marshal Cassian were great to many people, it earned his family a death warrant with others.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Revolutions on Victoria Island and Marshal Island were wide-spread as the the Cassian Dynasty progressed. While the grand military of Marshal Cassian protected him and his family for a long time, it could not last forever. As a wise man once said, all good things must come to an end.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">On July 4th, 1519 a lone assassin broke into the Royal Palace and set off a crude gunpowder keg grenade in the Emperor's room. Constantine Cassian and his wife were killed instantly. Their son Adrian survived the explosion but died from his wounds days later.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">The throne was once again left empty.