Fiction:Valian Empire/Monarchy

"Beg for no mercy, ask for no favours. You may see their lords and merchants haggle and reconsider, maybe even opt for change. The nobles may be lenient, the traders, greedy- they can both display emotion. The Crown is nothing if not final."

- Outsider on the Valian Crown

The Valian Imperial Crown is the ruling monarchy of the Valian Empire and the Volanti people. It is the highest order of imperial government, presiding over the other powers of the Empire: the Volanti scirits and the Imperial Diet. The crown is often called the Paragon Throne or the Paragon crown, to distinguish it from the other, lesser noble dynasties and throneworlds in Rohse. The long-standing symbol of the monarchy is a crown of rose thorns.

The imperial monarchy traces its origins to the year 1 AF, a pivotal event in galactic history. It was then that the first unified Volanti government arose, after thousands of years of infighting and many different governments. The first ruler to sit on the newly-forged Paragon Throne was the famed Verono of Rigura, founder of the ill-fated line of Riguran Emperors and the regime known now as the Old Empire. The old monarchy was a turbulent affair, collapsing into civil war with the end of the Verunian line of descent 16,000 years later. After a bloody struggle known as the Stygian Schism, a Volaris-native noble house emerged victorious, founding the new and current imperial dynasty of House Arabasti. The Arabastis have ruled over Rohse for over 70,000 years, and made the Valian Empire and the Paragon throne a strong and stable nation.

Imperial Role
According to Valian law and Volanti tradition, the imperial head of state rules over all. In practice, imperial authority is quite diminished in comparison to the old days, mostly limited to the central regions of the empire in the central Cluster and the Maze. The title of the monarch is emperor or empress, and only they (and their close family) are allowed to bear the title of imperial.