Empress Liana of Slatnan, Dread Knight of the Thirsting Pass, Conqueror of the Hul-Tur Clans, Uniter of the Broken Concord, Feeder of Legions, and many more titles beside is the leader of the Empire of Slatnan. Like her father and his father and his mother to their humble beginning as a tiny gathering of survivors seeking shelter in the caves that are now sheltering the Capital, she leads and rules the greatest nation on this world with an iron fist and a gentle voice.
But unlike her ancestors, she was not born as the first child, but as the fourth and as such had no right to the Imperial Throne. Indeed, when she was born, there were no talks about the deeds she would accomplish, nor about what wonders she would create. The only thing that had mattered in the first years of her life was that the Gene-Seekers could prove her to both to be 100% human, untouched by the corrupting tendrils of mutation, as well as a descendant of her father, the late emperor Maximilian of Slatnan.
As such, she received no love from either parent until she was proven to be pure, in the body by the Gene-Seekers, as well as in spirit by the Priests. Her early life was one where she knew not the embrace of a loving mother or the pride of a father at her accomplishments. She never saw a smile or an approving nod until well into her seventh year, when she was declared pure and ready to carry on the duty of the family. She remembered that day well, for it was the day that her "parents" decided whom she would marry to further their interests. It was also the day that her oldest brother, Crown-Prince Maximilian II of Slatnan, died taking Caliatra Starn out of the hands of the Mutants, impaled in his ancestral Walker by an Abomination, a lucky hit bypassing the ancient armor, changing her fortune forever.
When the news hit her family, her parents grieved and wailed about the injustice of losing their first son, their beloved child. And while her "parents" and "siblings" were overcome with sadness, she planned. For she had no interest in marrying a man she had never seen, nor will she dance to the tune of someone else, even if some had to make way. She would climb the ranks by blood and blade if necessary; luckily, her eldest brother had proven to be an easy target. One does not simply use the sister of one's mechanic as a toy, especially when said mechanic can be persuaded by promises of vengeance and justice by a child.
When her family had completed the mourning, they went on to a more pressing matter, that of passing down the Walker her brother had piloted. She was seen as the natural choice, after all, was she not third in line now? And so the years until her 14th birthday were decided. She would study at the Imperial War College and learn the bloody work of command and killing. No one could have expected that she would take so well to the life of a soldier, and no one expected her to be as good at command as she was. Not even 12 years old, and she was already seen as one of the greatest commanders in the history of the Empire, as she graduated ahead of time. A reputation that grated against the sensibilities of her sister, Nuxa of Slatnan, the second in line.
But what her older sister had in military matters, she lacked in politics. As such, three years of working in the shadows, forging papers and sending missives culminated in the proclamation of a new Crusade against the Wastes, aiming to drive back the Hul-Tur and claim what was theirs. Nuxa claimed command with an almost feverish desire, daring anyone else to take what was hers by birthright form her. No-one dared, and as such, the Crusade struck out, Liana, now 15, alongside her sister, leading the Chapter of The Stoneshields. The first year of the Crusade was a marvel of maneuvers, attacks, defenses, and heroics that would go down in history. This string of successes made Nuxa overconfident, belittling the Hul-Tur's military might, their ability to defend their holy sites from the strength of the Empire, and their inferiority to the pure humans of Slatnan. But with each victory, with each village razed or conquered, she became for cruel, for Liana was always there, speaking softly in a venomous tongue, twisting her to her liking.
The second year of the Crusade saw the fighting slow down, their frantic pace into the Wastes leaving their supply-lines wide open, and as such, it was mostly spent solidifying their position and repelling any raids and probing attacks onto their holdings. A year that saw Nuxa turn sadistic, torturing innocents, killing Mutated everywhere she saw them, and earn the hatred of the local population. A year that Liana used for a masterstroke of political and military maneuvering, for she had infiltrated both the courts of the Hul-Tur and the ranks of their military. For her, it was easy to guide her sister into a position where she was vulnerable, and the enemy into one where they could exploit it. The Battle of the Thirsting Pass started not a day after she sends the messages to her agents.
Over Two-Hundred-Thousand soldiers clashed in a battle that lasted for days. Artillery pulped groups of soldiers before being destroyed by Knights in return, while those kitted out for melee reaped a horrific toll amongst the soldiery, flesh and bone proving no match for steel and technological might. And amid this slaughter was Nuxa, laughing all the while she killed and dueled with her enemies. But the venom of her sister's voice had clouded her mind and let her overestimate herself, leading her to be isolated and speared by no less than seven lances, frying both her body as well as her Walker beyond recognition. It was at this moment that the forces of Liana arrived at the back of the Hul-Tur, encircling them entirely and giving new vigor to those exhausted and shocked by battle and the death of Nuxa. Poems and songs would tell of her presence alone, breaking the will of the enemy and winning the fight that had lasted for so long. The reality was not so kind, for she won at horrific cost, as she and the Chapter of The Stoenshields strode into battle lobbing canisters of gas, firing flamethrowers the whole way as the scent of boiled blood and charred flesh mixed with the horror of hills of corpses and rivers of blood and spilled entrails. But this battle would prove to be the last, for she had seen to it that the Hul-Tur would throw everything they had in their rage and grieve at her sister. The next year of the Crusade saw only minor skirmishes as a people lay broken and dazed by the horrific loss of life that the Thirsting Pass had demanded.
It would be this war that would cement her position as the second in line to the Throne and her legacy to the world and history at large. Now 18, she focused more on domestic matters as one of the greatest foes of the Empire lay beaten and conquered. At her insistence, she was given Lordship over the newly conquered territory and left to govern as she saw fit. Most expected her to fail, most thought she would carry out a slaughter more horrific than her sister ever did, for the destruction she had wrought had left the region desolate and starving. None saw what she would do, for she saw no point in killing when there was nothing to be gained and acted as such. And so she turned to the oldest trick in the book; no one bites the hand that feeds.
A scavenger had discovered seeds in a vault years ago, seeds that grew in lousy soil, developing and growing in only three months. The only downside to this plant was that it tasted disgusting, but when faced with starvation and eating something you did not like? Most choose to live. Under her command, entire hills were turned green, dunes of sand produced food, the masses that had starved suddenly had enough food, not only to survive but to thrive. Even with her role in subjugating them, the Hul-Tur turned citizens, cheered, and applauded "their" Princess form saving them from a miserable death. As such, she became known as the "Feeder of Legions," for every man, woman and child had enough to eat, not only in the Green Dunes but almost the entire Empire. It was here that she was seen not only as a military-genius but as a real contender for the Imperial Throne, not just by herself, but by nobles and her brother, Maximilian III of Slatnan, alike.
It would be this brother that would ignite a storm of a horrific proportion of both the lives it would claim, as well as the destruction it would wreak. For her brother would break the Concord.
An ancient treaty made by the founders of the Empire, the Concord forbid the enslavement of any person and the banishment of any that would create devices that would enable someone to create an army of soldiers fanatically devoted to the one that held the remote that could ignite the bombs of slave-collars or those embedded into their heads or chests. For almost 18 years, he planned and created his army in secret, only taking the dregs of society and Mutated, for they would not be missed, waiting for the moment that his parents or his sibling would make a move that would take his throne from him. It came with the escape of a Mutated slave.
Her collar and story triggered investigations, assassinations, and calls to attack local garrisons by nobles loyal to him. The Emperor and Empress died to hidden blades in their back, put there by the very same bodyguards that they entrusted their lives to, while the poisoning of Liana failed, her having received enough warning through turncoats to flee the Capital for the Green Dunes. For seven years, forces loyal to her would fight against those enslaved and those devoted to her brother. For seven years, the Empire ripped itself asunder as Maximilian III would drown position after position in a tide of human corpses, while Liana rallied every loyal Chapter and every able-bodied adult to her army. Seven long years saw a nation devouring itself as brother and sister clashed, while the common man hid and cried for fallen siblings, sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers.
The War of the Broken Concord would not end by blade and bow, however, but by a knife, hidden in the dark. Maximilian III was killed in his bed, never seeing his killer, nor would he know a nation rejoice as two million slaves were freed from the grip of a tyrant. But Slatnan was broken and desolate, splintered, and disunited. Liana of Slatnan had the Throne, but it came at a substantial cost in life and land.
A cost she had been all too willing to pay, for she was now Empress.
Long may she reign.
