Kylan: The Early Years
Born in 716 BCE, Kylan grew up with his family in a farming community in the Corren Mountains. This region was governed, officially, by an official of a Northern Legion; however, the dwellers here sought true leadership from an old, wise man known as "the Beholder." From a young age, Kylan gained favorability from "the Beholder," inspiring him to pursue tasks that would earn him exceptionality in the values of hard work, commitment, and wisdom. For in that culture, doing so would earn one the opportunity to live and work directly with "the Beholder." At the age of twelve, being the youngest to do so, Kylan accomplished a feat that would earn him such the desired place.
Kylan's Ascension
Upon meeting with him, Kylan was surprised to learn that "the Beholder" was actually his grandfather. Furthermore, the grandfather was, himself, a distant grand-nephew of Emperor Kestaven, and witnessed his murder at the age of ten in 759 BCE. In the wake of the Emperor's death and the fall of his regime, the grandfather and his immediate family fled to their current location in the Correns. The lesson, according to "the Beholder," was that one must live a simplistic life and avoid the political entanglements of a "foreign aristocratic establishment."
Despite the lesson, Kylan had an internal crisis. He felt that he and his family had been betrayed by what had happened in the past, and determined that he would be the one to reclaim the Imperial Throne in Totia, as well as the lands lost to Kestaven. The only way to do that would be, from Kylan's perspective, to enter the high ranks of Totian society. Such would happen via the joining of the scholars of the Citadel Library. Having demonstrated talent and interest in the art, Kylan began taking spellfire lessons from a spellcrafter who happened to visit the region. He was shunned by his family and the community for doing so, as they saw spellcrafters as "alien and odd." Despite such rejection, Kylan continued to receive education in the art, building his own portfolio of spellfire scrolls, many of which were of his originality. In March 700 BCE, Kylan traveled to Totia and passed the entrance exams to enroll in the Citadel Library. Before long, he graduated to the level of scholars who worked directly with members of the Imperial Court. It was here that he had access to the personal diaries kept by previous Emperors and Head Commanders, and here that he began studying in detail the life of Emperor Kestaven. Kylan was inspired that Kestaven had conquered as much territory as he did in his day, and was further angered by the various acts of betrayal that hastened Kestaven's collapse. This cemented Kylan's determination to regain the Imperial Throne and restore the Totian Empire.
Reclamation
Between April and May of 699 BCE, Kylan organized a coup against the incumbent Emperor Certhys, who immediately dispersed his efforts and arrested him, sending him to mandatory labor in the flake shale mines in the Correns in a place further from Totia than Kylan's homeland. In September of that year, Certhys died and was succeeded by the young Terryn, who Kylan saw as weak and incompetent. Between 699 and 696 BCE, Kylan took advantage of this situation by using flake shale to make large supplies of blades and other items of war. He also rallied the other disgruntled laborers into an army determined to return their lives, as well as Totian society, to greatness. In March 696 BCE, they overthrew local Legion officers who were originally placed there to contain the laborers. Kylan and his men then marched East, arriving to the gates of Totia that September. Here, they attempted to attack and defeat Totia, but failed when Emperor Terryn gave orders to close the causeways. On 20 January 695 BCE, a team of assassins dispatched by Kylan murdered the Emperor, while fighters who snuck into Totia by night in boats, stormed the Totian Imperial Court, and gave orders to have the causeways reopened. Two of the three Bridgeguards complied, letting in the brutal usurper warriors storm into Totian streets; however, one Bridgeguard, in a measure of resistance, left his causeway closed and defended it from enemies on both ends. Meanwhile, Kylan defeated Totia and proclaimed himself the Emperor. In June, he dispatched a band of soldiers, who set ablaze to the causeway of resistance, during which the Bridgeguard died. In the years that followed, Kylan rebuilt that causeway, as well as the many structures within the city that had suffered the onslaught of the attack. Very soon, the Imperial capital was restored to its former glory. However, Kylan also restored Kestaven's policies by rebuilding the temples, as well as reinstating the oppressive trade and tax codes.
The Challenge in the South
Beginning in March 694 BCE, Emperor Kylan began charging high tariffs to goods traded to and from the South Totian Empire, in an attempt to provoke them into conflict and to seek revenge for Kestaven's betrayal. Tomeus, Emperor of the South Totian Empire, retaliated by implementing similar tariffs and trade policies. Kylan convinced some pirates and sea merchant groups to sanction trade to Eskant in response to the tariffs by implementing their own "sea guild tariffs." Some merchants decided to even rob South Totian traders and blockade against South Totian ships. In January 690 BCE, Tomeus established a massive blockade along both the Circlarian and Inland Sea coasts; and near the end of the month, a valuable North Totian cargo ship was set ablaze and sunk. Emperor Kylan considered this an act of war.
The Toppling of Eskant
Emperor Kylan dispatched Legion ships to fight along the coastlines, distracting the South Totians from a team of assassins who then snuck past enemy lines and assassinated Emperor Tomeus in September 690 BCE. Immediately in the wake of Tomeus' death, a Legion of Kylan's warriors attacked Eskant from hidden spots along the borderlands of the Interior Desert while another Legion attacked the South Totian capital from within the market square via commandeered merchant ships. The latter strategy, needless to say, was an inspiration by the pirate attack that took place under Estrayon's rule. Emperor Kylan's agenda succeeded, hastening the fall of Eskant while valuables were looted and food and resources were exploited for North Legion soldiers and members of the North Totian aristocracy. Eskant city-dwellers were either slaughtered or taken as captives, while structures were burned or otherwise destroyed. The South Totian Empire ceased to exist, its territories becoming part of a now-unified Totian Empire.
A Look to the West
During this war, Emperor Kylan had sent written letters to the cities of Tekon and Calanas, asking them for mercenaries and resources. However, the Wannonian Senate did not at all respond; and the Council of Calanas delivered the North Totian Emperor an insulting refusal. After the fall of Eskant, Emperor Kylan saw Wannonia and Calanas as enemies. He recalled Kestaven's successful quest for domination over all known Remikran lands, and saw Wannonia and Calanas as "weak and anarchic" for being governed by democratically elected councils. This, to Kylan, presented an opportunity to reclaim the "old and great Totian Empire." Beginning in 687 BCE, Kylan hired spies to venture over to Tekon and Calanas to map out government building layouts as well as important societal functions, while the ambitious Emperor ordered the construction of secret but seemingly undefeated Legion fortresses along certain entry points between the Totian Empire, Wannonia, and Calanas. Before long, Kylan met hired Kos and Sayre, two of the best known assassins.