Events that occur during, roughly, the last century of the “Pax Zungzamia Imperia” darken the peace further until its end.
1406 IA (1613 CE)
With the latest challenge to his authority overturned by the Imperial Supreme Court, over the next 18 months Nikolaus VII issues decrees that repeal long-standing Imperial laws regulating financial institutions and markets. With the new freedoms that the markets have, financial trading and investing goes out of control. Also, the Imperator orders the Imperial Army to locate and capture the former Imperial Senators who attempted to challenge his authority.
1407 IA
Former senators are captured, secretly tried, found guilty and are either executed, given life sentences in prison or 60 years of hard labor.
Imperial deregulation of the financial markets along with ill-conceived & ill-advised investments across the economic spectrum of the star system cause the Imperial economy to collapse in the matter of weeks; beginning with the Imperial Colonies on Alexandrus and relatively quickly the economy of Zungzamia Prime. This collapse begins an economic depression called “The Great Economic Coma”. The crisis is ignored by the Imperator, the Imperial Court and the Regional Governors. The Zel’Koni Order is relatively protected from the crisis and help ordinary citizens on Alexandrus when they can as best as possible.
1408-1417 IA (1615-1624 CE)
As economic conditions worsen throughout the Imperium, citizens initially peacefully protest the declining conditions. However, the Imperial Police (IP) violently breaks up the protests and kills thousands across the Imperium. Citizens do strike back but are continually beaten by the IP with occasional backing of Imperial Army units.
1413 IA (1620 CE)
21 Ainlifium – In an open air market in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the Imperial capital multiple auto-carriage bombs explode; killing 295 and injuring 730. Amongst the dead are Imperator Nikolaus VII, his Prime Administrator, his Education & Health Administrator, 30 IBGs, and 120 IP officers.
The Imperator’s son, Nikolaus Vincent Zungzamius ascends the throne following his father’s death however, is not of legal age to be crowned. His mother, Terra, serves as Regent to the Imperial Crown. The Imperial Police investigate the incident and publicly declare that the assassins were killed in the blast however, they privately admit to the Regent and the Imperial Court that they are unable to locate the bombers. Using her power and influence the Regent orders the falsification of reports and destruction of evidence.
1414 IA
Attempting to rectify multiple failures of the Imperial Police, including their failure in locating the individuals responsible for the death of Nikolaus VII; the Regent, on behalf of her son, the Imperator-in-minority Vincent Nikolaus Zungzamius, issues Imperial Decree 1414-251 formerly titled “The Imperial Security Investigation and Intelligence Decree of 1414” or ISID. ISID creates the Imperial Bureau of Investigation and Security (IBIS) and the Imperial Central Intelligence Agency (ICI). It also regulates the Imperial Police to local law enforcement duties and forces the IP to report to the Director of IBIS (D-IBIS). Members of IBIS are granted masabes as standard equipment which are created by the Imperial Black Guard. As for the Imperial economy, the Regent continues to follow the advice of the Crown’s ministers and advisors in the Imperial Court, doing nothing to slow or stop the deepening economic depression.
At the age of 15, the young, impressionable Imperator-in-minority, Vincent Nikolaus Zungzamius, sneaks out of the “Imperatora Zila Palee” at night and travels amongst the people, initially for short periods of time and as weeks and months pass he stays out to nearly dawn.
1415-16 IA
Through the next two years Vincent Nikolaus Zungzamius continues his near nightly and eventually daytime travels within Omirilaco learning first-hand how the Great Economic Coma is affecting ordinary citizens of the city and the Imperium. He also begins to form his own plans on saving the Imperium’s economy.
1417 IA (1624 CE)
1 Pentibrium – Upon reaching the Imperial legal age of 18 and having ascended the throne four years earlier, the son of Nikolaus VII, Nikolaus Vincent Zungzamius is crowned Imperator Vincent, the 19th Imperator of Zungzamia. The following day, Imperator Vincent implements his plan to save the Imperial economy. He revokes the appointments of all of the ministers and advisors that deal with the economy; forcing them out of the Imperatora Zila Palee. He also begins issuing Imperial Decrees re-establishing economic regulations that had been in place prior to The Great Economic Coma and citizen protest die down on their own.
1418 IA (1625 CE)
Imperator Vincent makes his first Imperial visit to Alexandrus. While on the visit, he meets his future lifemate, a commoner.
Economic levels on the father-world finally begin to stabilize however it takes another five years for the economy of the Imperium’s colonies on Alexandrus to stabilize.
1419 IA
Secretly opposed to her son’s reforms, the Imperator’s mother, Terra, marries a supposed supporter of the Imperator’s reforms. The Imperator defies tradition (and his mother) by courting the young female commoner he met on Alexandrus.
1420 IA (1627 CE)
20 Septimbrium - Imperator Vincent issues Imperial Decree 1420-661 formally titled “A Decree on the Validity and Legality of the Imperial Prime Laws”, stating that the Imperial Prime Laws were created and ratified in an attempt by the Imperial Throne to increase its constitutional powers at the expense of the Imperial Senate through extralegal acts and the actions taken to achieve this goal, nullify said Laws. Vincent’s decree restores the original Constitution of the Imperium of Zungzamia and thusly, re-establishes the Imperial Senate as the legislative authority of the Imperium. Furthermore, 1420-661 orders all imprisoned Imperial Senators be released and return to their Senate posts. Also, it decrees that any location on Zungzamia that has lost its senators will hold elections for those seats.
Later in the year the Imperator orders the immediate closure of the Imperial Garrison at Nivo. Imperator Vincent contacts the Zel'Koni Order and invites them to re-claim the Grand Hall.
1421 IA
4 Ianuarum – The Imperial Senate meets for the first time under the restored Constitution of the Imperium of Zungzamia since 1395.
A small group of Zel'Koni Sentinels return to Zungzamia & Nivo to take possession of the Grand Hall on behalf of the Order's Grand Assembly
The Imperator’s mother gives birth to her second lifemate’s son.
1422 IA
In a very low key affair, the Imperator marries his commoner bride.
The economy on the father-world continues its very slow march back into prosperity as the economy on Alexandrus finally stabilizes. The Imperator’s lifemate gives birth to the first two of eleven children, a son named Vincent Mikael and a daughter named Veronica.
1425 IA (1632 CE)
Imperial Prince Cornelius Nikolaus Zungzamius is born to the Imperator and Impress.
1427 IA
Imperial Princess Callista Zoe Zungzamius is born.
1431 IA
The Impress gives birth to a second set of twins; a boy named Markus and a daughter named Julia.
1439 IA (1646 CE)
30 Septimbrium – Day of Tragedy in the Palace: In an attempt to gain the throne, the Imperator’s mother, Terra, her second lifemate, their 18 year old son and their associates attempt to assassinate the Imperial Family. They are partly successful; killing four of the Imperator’s eleven children including the three month old twin princesses.
Even so, all of the assassins are killed by the Imperator, the Impress, and their older children; Vincent Mikael, Veronica, and Cornelius, assisted by the Imperial Black Guards. During the chaos of the assault, young Cornelius discovers his sensitivity to the Koni and uses his rudimentary abilities to intentionally kill his older brother Vincent Mikael, making him the fifth Imperial family victim. Vincent Mikael’s murder by Cornelius is witnessed by their step-uncle Mikael, who assures his step-nephew that he will keep his secret and tells him that he along with his step-aunt Alexandria will open a whole new world for him.
The Imperial children that were killed were entombed in the family crypt at the Imperial cemetery outside Omirilaco. The Imperial Black Guards that died defending the family are given full military honors at their funerals and posthumously awarded the highest medals and commendations for their sacrifice. The bodies of the assassins are taken far out into one of the few deserts of the world and unceremoniously dumped. With assistance from the Imperial Black Guard and the Imperial stonemasons, the Imperator personally destroys his mother’s recently completed sarcophagus in the family crypt.
Later in the year, Cornelius is named Crown Prince and heir apparent. The 86 year old illegitimate twins, Mikael and Alexandria secretly begin to train Cornelius in the use of his abilities in the Koni.
1441 IA
16-year-old Crown Prince Cornelius begins a secret affair with his 14-year-old sister Callista.
1446 IA
The Imperator and his son, the 15-year-old Imperial Prince Markus, travel to Alexandrus, taking their first official trip to the colony-world and the prince’s first trip off-world. The trip is illuminating for the prince and he makes two more trips before his 18th birthday.
Crown Prince Cornelius tells his step-aunt and step-uncle of his liasons with Callista and that she is with child. The twins, along with the Crown Prince, devise a plan in which Callista will tell her parents of the pregnancy and claim she was raped by a member of the Palace staff. The princess follows through; telling her parents of the rape but doesn’t know who it was because it occurred at night in her bedchamber. Mikael and Alexandria use the Koni to influence the family of the rape story. The palace staff is questioned and one is charged, tried and convicted. The convicted staff is sentenced to death however the Imperator commutes the sentence to life without parole.
1447 IA
As a result of the affair with her brother Cornelius, Princess Callista at the age of 19 gives birth to a son named Julius. She continues to claim that the child is the result of a rape that took place a nearly year ago but does not know who raped her and no one questions the story due to the influence on the family by Mikael and Alexandria.
1448 IA (1655 CE)
All economic indicators on the father-world return or exceed the levels they were at prior to the beginning of “The Great Economic Coma” however; the economy of the Imperial Colonies on Alexandrus continue to struggle.
During her 21st birthday celebration, Princess Callista meets her future lifemate, a 25-year-old Imperial Colonial Military Command (ICMC) officer.
1449 IA
Despite royal tradition, the Imperator grants his 18-year-old son Markus permission to attend Veronica University in the colonial capital city on Alexandrus.
1450 IA
Callista marries the ICMC officer she met two years earlier but her liaisons with Cornelius continues.
1453 IA (1660 CE)
Mikael Alexander, the second son of Cornelius and Callista, is born; however, Callista claims the child is the offspring of her lifemate.
1454 IA
Mikael and Alexandria secretly travel with Crown Prince Cornelius to the Cave of Cornelius V. For several days, using the hand-built forge and his knowledge of the Koni, the Crown Prince forges a crystal and builds his first masabe.
1457 IA
Princess Callista gives birth to a child that is biologically her lifemate’s; their first true child together.
1463 IA (1670 CE)
Crown Prince Cornelius successfully completes his Guardian Struggles. On behalf of their deceased grandfather, Mikael and Alexandria secretly grant Cornelius the title: Senior Guarding of the Family, Commander (Captain) of the Imperial Black Guard.
1464 IA (1671 CE)
Markus Paul D'Ron, a well-renown Imperial scientist, hypothesizes the existence of a spatial realm coexisting with normal space-time but having its own unique qualities he dubs “sidespace”.
30 Septimbrium - The Imperial Family public commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the “Day of Tragedy in the Palace”. It is the first time in 15 years that the family has publically commemorated the anniversary of the tragic day.
1467 IA
An emotional outburst by Mikael Alexander toward his mother, Princess Callista, forces his abilities in the Koni to surface. His uncontrolled abilities shove Callista into and through a wall which is witnessed by the Crown Prince and Alexandria. Callista is not seriously hurt but is stunned by her son’s abilities. The Crown Prince along with his step-uncle and step-aunt begin to secretly train Mikael Alexander on how to control and hone his newfound Koni abilities.
1475 IA
Some economic levels return to normal on Alexandrus however many key areas of the economy continue to struggle.
12 Septimbrium - Feep in the forest of the (xxx) mountains during a hunting expedition, Callista’s uncle Mikeal uses his Koni abilities to manipulate a mountain cat to attack Callista’s lifemate and son, mauling them. However, during the attack the ICMC officer and his son are able to use their firearms to severly injure the cat and all three die from their injuries. After confirming their deaths, Mikeal returns to Omirilaco.
17 Septimbrium - Three days after failing to return from their hunting expedition deep in the (xxx) mountains, the bodies of Imperial Princess Callista’s lifemate and biological son are found, with a pistol in the hand of the ICMC officer and the body of the “apex predator” mountain cat.
Following the State Funeral for Callista’s lifemate and biological son, medical officials announce that their deaths were caused by the cat found dead near them.
The Impress learns of the affair between her son and daughter however Mikael and Alexandria use their combined abilities and wipe her memory of the knowledge.
1478 IA (1685 CE)
Anton, the youngest son of Crown Prince Cornelius and Princess Callista, is born.
Markus D'Ron tests his hypothesis and proves the existence of sidespace but is critically injured and dies when his experiment and lab are destroyed.
1482 IA
Crown Prince Cornelius, step-uncle Mikael and step-aunt Alexandria secretly travel with Prince Mikael Alexander to the Cave of Cornelius V. For several days, using the hand-built forge and his knowledge of the Koni, Mikael Alexander forges a crystal and builds his first masabe.
1488 IA (1695 CE)
After two previous attempts, Prince Mikael Alexander successfully completes his Guardian Struggles. On behalf of his great-grandfather, Mikael and Alexandria with Crown Prince Cornelius present, secretly grant Mikael Alexander the title: Imperial Warrior, Defender of the Throne, and Member of the Imperial Black Guard [or the title of Senior Guardian of the Family, Commander (Captain) of the Imperial Black Guard. The final title is in flux. --LT, 12/2024]
1489 IA
30 Septimbrium - The Imperial Family publicly commemorate the 50th of the “Day of Tragedy in the Palace”. It will be the final time that the family publicly commemorates the anniversary.
1499 IA (1706 CE)
Imperial scientists at Kuvot Imperial University of Science and Technology (Kuvot S&T) are the first to confirm Markus D'Ron's sidespace hypothesis by recreating his experiment under stricter safety conditions. Over the next 20 to 30 years, scientists across the fatherworld confirm the existence of sidespace turning it into a theory.
1500 IA (1707 CE)
The Imperium of Zungzamia celebrates its 1,500th Anniversary and the Imperial Alexandrian Colonies celebrate the 750th Anniversary of the first Imperial Colonial Charter despite economic struggles.
12 Pentibrium - At the age of 147, Mikael and Alexandria die within hours of each other. They are quietly buried near the Zungzamius family crypt in the Omirilaco Imperial Cemetery just outside the Imperial capital.
1504 IA (1711 CE)
Imperator Vincent suffers a massive stroke that kills him at 105, ending a 91 year reign. Crown Prince Cornelius ascends the throne at the age of 79 and is crowned Imperator Cornelius VI in honor of his great-grandfather, becoming the 20th Imperator. Upon ascension assumes the title: Guardian Gelera of the Imperial Black Guard.
1505 IA (1712 CE)
30 Senabrium - The Imperator’s mother again learns of the affair between her son and daughter. That night the Imperator enters her bedchamber and using his knowledge and skills in the Koni murders her, making it appear as if she had a heart attack.
12 Septimbrium - The Imperator crowns his sister Callista as Impress and announces he will “adopt” her children as his own.
1507 IA (1714 CE)
11 Septimbrium – Imperial Decree 1507-7011 is issued reorganizing the Imperial Colonies on Alexandrus under one governorship and one “legislature”. Furthermore, the decree reduces the representation of the colonies in the Imperial Senate to one senator, nominated by the Imperial Colonial Governor, appointed by the Imperator and approved by the Imperial Senate.
12 Decimbrium – a large group of Alexandrian colonists file a lawsuit against the Imperator in Colonial Imperial Court over various provisions of Imperial Decree 1507-7011.
1508 IA
1 Ianuarum – Imperial Decree 1507-7011 takes effect despite the lawsuit filed in Colonial Imperial Court on Alexandrus. The Imperial Governor of the Veronica Colony becomes the Imperial Governor for all of the colonies on Alexandrus. The senior-most legislators of the various colonies become the legislators for the entire colonial planet.
1509 IA (1716 CE)
Imperator Cornelius VI secretly orders members of an elite group of the Imperial Black Guard to desecrate the tomb of his father, Imperator Vincent, remove the remains and dump them into the Konac Sea. The elite group successfully follows their orders and when news breaks of the desecration, Cornelius VI vows to his subjects that the criminals will be punished severely once they are caught by the Imperial Police but knows that won’t happen.
26 Pentibrium – Speaking to the full Senate and to the Imperium-at-large inside the Imperial Senate Chamber of the Imperial Capitol, Imperator Cornelius VI announces that he is changing his name to Zekhar Cassius, in honor of a ‘mythical’ hero of the Kindaron War and the family name to Cornelius in honor of his great-grandfather, Cornelius V, the first Imperator to defy the wishes of the Imperial Senate and the Zel’Koni Order. He also announces that his father, Vincent, did not die of a stroke, but was poisoned over time by him and he ordered the desecration of his father’s tomb for his father’s failure as Imperator to adhere to Imperial Prime Laws and lead the Imperium as its sole ruler. With Imperial Decree in hand, Zekhar Cassius announces the restoration of the aforementioned Laws. The senators immediately erupt in protest but are quickly silenced the moment the Imperator executes the Speaker of the Senate with the Imperial Sabre. The senators are rounded up within the Chamber, arrested and taken out of the Capitol by the Imperial Black Guard.
30 Pentibrium – Without any litigation before it, whatsoever, The Imperial Supreme Court rules that the actions of the Imperator are unconstitutional under the original Constitution. In response to this ruling, Zekhar Cassius orders the Imperial Black Guard to arrest the Magistrates of the Supreme Court for violating the Oath of Loyalty described in the Imperial Prime Laws.
11 Senabrium – 15 days after their arrest, the former Imperial Senators, along with the arrested Supreme Court Magistrates,
are brought to the public plaza of the Imperatora Zila Palee, which faces the Capitol. Under exceptionally heavy guard by the Imperial Black
Guard and Imperial Army, the former senators and magistrates listen to the Imperator as he announces that they are guilty of various crimes against
the Imperial Crown and are to be executed. Once the Imperator gives the command, the Imperial Black Guards and the Army units violently execute the
men and women who were once Imperial Senators and Supreme Court Magistrates in the public plaza of the Imperatora Zila Palee. Their bodies
are removed byt the Imperator orders that the plaza not be cleaned of the blood as a reminder to his Imperial subjects of the consequences of crossing
him.
The Imperator spends the rest of the year reversing all of the reforms that his father instituted, allowing financial markets to run amok and
eventually causing a near collapse of the economy.
1510 IA (1717 CE)
1 Trebrium - Imperial Decree 1510-2893 is issued by the Imperator granting the former Capitol builidng to the Imperial Black Guard for use as a training academy.
3-7 Decimbrium – Second Grand Hall Massacre: On the 115th Anniversary of the first massacre, clad head-to-toe in the armor of the Imperial Black Guard and with his son Mikael Alexander by his side, Imperator Zekhar Cassius leads the IBG in an assault on the Grand Hall of the Sacred Order of Zel’Koni in Nivo. During the second and third days of the assault, seven of the 15 members of the Order’s Grand Assembly are bested by the Imperator in masabe combat. During High Sun of the fourth day, in the spacious confines of the Grand Assembly Chamber, Imperator Zekhar Cassius defeats the Maven of the Grand Assembly with his skills of the masabe and his knowledge of the Koni which the Order was not aware that he had.
At the end of the four day massacre the entire contingent of the Zel’Koni Order residing in the Grand Hall is dead and the Grand Hall is once again in the hands of the Imperium. Within its walls, Zekhar Cassius declares the Grand Hall the exclusive headquarters of the Imperial Black Guard and orders the IBG to bury the dead in one mass grave outside Nivo, disgracing the dead and insulting the Order, just as Nikolaus VII had done 115 years earlier. He also contacts the Order on Alexandrus of the assault & re-occupation by the Imperium of the Hall and tells them that any attempt to retake the Hall would result in death for the entire Order.
8 Decimbrium – After learning the fate of their brethren in the Grand Hall on Zungzamia, in the presence of the Grand Sentinel Maven of the Order, the surviving members of the Order elect a new Grand Assembly to govern the Order on Alexandrus.
Over the next decade, the Imperial Crown and its agents tyrannically restrict the rights and liberties of the people and the judicial system issues severe prison sentences for even the most minor of offences. These restrictions of liberty, along with the takeover of the Zel’Koni Order’s Grand Hall, the dissolution of the Imperial Senate and the repurposing of the Imperial Capitol, mark the end of “Pax Zungzamia Imperia”.
1514 IA
Zekhar Cassius officially renames “Imperatora Zila Palee” to “Granda Imperia Palee Ov Cornelius”, or simply known as the “Granda Palee”.
1515 IA
Five years into the tyrannical rule of Zekhar Cassius, peaceful protests occur on both Zungzamia and Alexandrus. On Zungzamia, Imperial Police arrest protesters who are charged with various crimes, including treason. They are tried and convicted in trials without legal representation that last mere minutes. Most protesters are sentenced to life in prison or decades of hard labor. On Alexandrus, Imperial Colonial Police (ICP) also arrest protestors but many protestors are beaten to death “while resisting arrest”; some even die while in custody.
1518 IA (1725 CE)
05-12 Tetribrium - Influential colonial citizens meet in Pacfield on Alexandrus to develop a coordinated response to the grievances that colonists have with the tactics of the Imperator, his Governor, the Imperial Colonial Police and the sentences imposed by Imperial magistrates. This meeting in Pacfield becomes the first of what will be come the “Colonial Convention”.
1519 IA (1726 CE)
19 Septimbrium – While giving an outdoor propaganda speech to an audience of “loyal” Imperial citizens, an attempt is made on the life of the Imperial Colonial Governor, despite a heavy security presence. The governor is severely injured in the attack while four staff members and seven ICP officers are killed.