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Imperator Flasian Caligustus was the last ruler of the Imperium of War. Utterly devoted to the spread of war and conflict, Caligustus was seen by most of the Mirus Galaxy as a bloodthirsty madman. To his people however, Caligustus was a philosopher-king and a patient cultivator of the galaxy, who worked tirelessly to strengthen Mirus' inhabitants by weeding out the weak through war. The truth lay somewhere in the middle - Caligustus was indeed far more cunning than his foes gave him credit for, but precisely because of this he never bought the unselfish reasonings his Imperium had come up with to justify the havoc they wreaked. Intsead, Caligustis believed them to be mere excuses to cover up a greater truth, a truth he devoted his lifetime to finding.

It is believed that sometime during the War of Ages, the then-Warmaster Caligustus heard the whispers of the Mali'Nar, but would instead plegde himself to the Darkling Tibrix, believing Tibrix to be a more local expression of war itself. Eventualy elevated to Imperator following the interference of the Drakodominatus, Caligustus' subsequent rise within the ranks of the Brotherhood of Darklings would see him grow disillusioned with their design. His lifelong quest to understand the truth of war reached its culmination when he was introduced to Therusism and the concept of Angazhar, becoming a zealous follower of both and sharing his relevations with the rest of his imperium.

In the last two years of his reign, Caligustus abruptly broke with the Brotherhood in the midst of the Great Xonexian Schism to wage war upon virtually all of Mirus. Having patiently waited for the right time and positioned his forces in the right place, Caligustus caught most of Mirus by surprise and unleashed his long-dreamt-of galactic war. Eventually however, Caligustus was to be the victim of his own success, uniting even bitter enemies against the threat he now posed. The Imperator was ultimately cornered and killed in his throneroom on Warandt, leaving the Imperium of War rudderless and disintegrating.

History[]

Early History[]

Eight Warmasters[]

Year of the Eight Imperators[]

Caligustus' rise to Imperator came relatively early in his life when his predecessor, Imperator Nerolius, died fighting against the expanding Drakodominatus Tyranny which had breached the border of the Imperium's southernmost province, Bellus. The Drakodominatus then played Caligustus' fellow Warmasters against each other, urging each of them to take the throne. What followed was a year of civil war in which the Warmasters murdered each other or commited suicide as the Drakodominatus shifted their favor each time, weaking the Imperium of War further with each new claimant to the Brazen Throne. During this time, Caligustus feared for his own life and left in exile. He changed his name and his adoptive brothers proclaimed him to be dead. Caligustus ended up in the Andromeda Galaxy, where he alleged his nights where filled with maddening whispers which urged him to serve them. The exiled Warmaster ignored these whispers however, determined not to give into the pain of loss and to instead recover the Imperium of War by his own hand.

Finally, the Tyranny recognised Vitonius, thought to be the last surviving Warmaster, as Imperator. Though Vitonius and Caligustus had been known for their friendship toward each other, the latter characterised the former as thifty and weak-willed; traits the Drakodominatus quickly capitalised upon by urging Vitonius to spend the remainder of the War-Imperial treasury on banquets and triumphal parades. Now bankrupt, Vitonius was forced to loan money from the Drakodominatus which put the Imperium of War in a state of dependancy on the Tyranny for survival. With the aid of the Drakodominatus Tyranny and the Drakodominatus Omega he married, Vitonius set to eliminate any lesser Warlord which spoke against his rule, confiscating their properties to enrichen himself. Some managed to escape and reach Caligustus who thus recieved word of what was happening. Finally, the young and ambitious Dragowar had enough and decided to mobilise.

Gathering the armies of the slain Warmasters and lesser Warlords to him and using the element of surprise to his favour, Caligustus began a daring advance into the War-Imperial heartlands. The armies advanced quickly, ignoring the Drakodominatus fleets which had now incursed deeply into War-Imperial territory to march instead directly on Warandt. There, Caligustus revealed his true identity as his armies proclaimed him as the rightful Imperator and Nerolius' chosen successor. Caligustus' seven mayor Legions managed to beat back Vitonius' one mayor Legion, the various minor ones under his control, and even his spouse's Drakodominatus bodyguard. With no way out, Vitonius fell on his own chainsword. The Drakodominatus Omega which Vitonius had taken as his spouse tried to commit suicide by poisoning herself, but Caligustus managed to prevent this in the nick of time and instead used her, a close relative of Drakodominatus Tyant Abbadon Heimdall, as a hostage to force negotiations.

Consolidating power[]

The Brazen Throne firmly in his claws, Caligustus immediately set to the task of securing the future of his Imperium. He did this by signing the Treaty of Caedes with Abbadon Heimdall, in which he gifted the Bellus Province to the Tyranny and also set free the captured Omega. In return, Caligustus recieved Drakodominatus protection for the Imperium of War and the promise that the Drakodominatus would cease their meddling in War-Imperial affairs. Caligustus was still wary that the Heimdalls would not keep their promises and thus decided to actively prove to them that the Imperium was much better left intact as a military vassal than as yet another part of their Tyranny. To this end, he proposed a joint invasion of the Draekar Dominion which which lay just west of the Imperium.

As the Drakodominatus Tyranny and the Imperium of War crashed into the Sublime Draekar Dominion, Imperator Caligustus set to perfecting the Warforgery, an organisation created by his adoptive father Nerolius. He ordered them to leak plans and strategems of upcoming battles to the Draekar as discretely as possible and otherwise not at all. These leaks allowed the Warforgery to manipulate and thus anticipate the movements of the Draekar navy. This in turn allowed the War-Imperial armada to defeat the Draekar in several key battles which the Drakodominatus would have otherwise lost. In part due to these timely interventions by the Imperium of War and in part due to the military genius of the Drakodominatus, much of the later Draekar Reclamation Sector fell into the talons of the Tyranny. The war had exhausted the Drakodominatus warmachine in northern Mirus and they withdrew, though the Imperium's usefulness had been proven. The tyrannical regime would soon develop the means to safely travel to other galaxies and back, and ever the expansionists, they shifted their attention thereto. Finally, Caligustus could rest easily. Though by means of sacrificing part of the Imperium's territory and entering vassalage to a foreign power, he had checked the expansion of the Dragowar's ancient masters, the Draekar, and gained a powerful protective leverage in the form of the Drakodominatus. The existence of his Imperium, and with it, the Imperator's own position, had been secured.

Caligustus' cunning attracted the attention of beings other than the Drakodominatus Tyranny, too. The Brotherhood of Darklings was much impressed by the Imperator's abilities. One of their own, a Darkling known as Tibrix, even wished to make him one of his personal servants in exchange of further power. Appearing before Caligustus one dark night, the Darkling relayed his offer. The Dragowar did not hestitate, gladly accepting. He had now two influential powers he could play out against one another if he needed, which even allowed him and his Imperium a modicum of independence from their afforementioned new masters.

Enlightenment War[]

The Great Deceiver[]

Attero Dominatus[]

Rising insanity[]

Coming of Eternal War[]

Great Mirusian Conflicts[]

The Great Mirusian Conflicts would be Caligutus' master plan. Tired of serving under the Darklings, whose power he saw as limited, he instead intended to drown the galaxy in blood and offer it up to the idol of war, which Calugustus had identified as the sole diety of the Imperium. During this time, Caligustus became much more interested in the mystic arts, which he perviously had held a noted disdain for. In particular, he ordered a Tuurosian version of the war god's scriptures to be brought to him, which he evidently thought of as less corrupted compared to the Mirusian canon, and sought to master a sliver of the Maroon by which he could obliterate his enemies.

However, when the Khilai Empire became aware of the demonic influence which was now clearly gripping Caligustus, they defected and leaked his plan of ascension. Rather than intimidating his foes into submission, this further ended up turning the almost whole Mirus galaxy against him. Little by little, the Imperium of War was inexorably pushed back, first to it's former borders, and then, when it became clear that Caligustus would not relent, to the Dragowar homeworld of Warandt itself. With the destrcution of his realm already a statistical certainty, Caligustus finally embraced the old whispers -which never had stopped haunting him- and pain of losing his beloved Imperium of War once again, using it in a last-ditch attempt to descend into a more powerful form.

In the ruins of his palace, however, Caligustus would be faced with his old friend Ridanax, who used his Dark Form to engage the powerful Imperator, whose massive strength was now further bolstered with highly destructive essence. Ridanax tried to reason with Caligustus one final time, but the Imperator was too set in his ways. With time running out, Ridanax fought Caligustus, and after a long battle, destroyed the physical form of the Dragowar leader just as he begun to shed his mortal coil.

With this, Caligustus' existence seemingly came to an end. Yet, though there is no evidence for this, there remain Dragowar auspices who claim that his death the last thing he needed to archieve the descension he so craved...

Legacy[]

Personality[]

Appearance[]

Abilities[]

Relations[]

Green face Serving[]

War.

  • The Idol of War - There is rage and there is destruction. Everything else is an illusion, shorn away by it's wrath.

Blue face Trusted friends[]

Few can call me friend; fewer have earned my trust.

  • Imperial Warmasters - My sons.
  • l’Evaranur - The Maroon unites us and pits us against each other - it is a terrible symphony, strengthening us both.

Yellow face Friends[]

I feel no anger towards you. A rare feat.

  • Hades - We were not bound by the Maroon to aid l’Evaranur - and in remaining a spectator, we saw your strength. We respect it.
  • Satan - Of strong spirit, bellicose temper and true word - what greater leader can a nation desire?
  • Diablo - Behind honeyed worlds, a great flame hides. Of souls taken, not for redemption but for weakness.

Orange face Neutral[]

Speak, lest I silence you instead.

Red face Foes[]

I will spare no expense in seeing you dead.

  • Emperor Pulporious V - We do respect you, Emperor Pulporious, but your time is over. We will see to that personally.

Red face Hated foes[]

YOU DIE!

  • Aeras Valkhus - Peace is a lie, Aeras. The souls you take for "redemption" - you teach them strength but not the meaning behind it.
  • Gastus Graviatus - To break from out command is to be betrayed over and over again. Come to us - we shall grant you a quick end.
  • Thel'Vimicelnes - The Draekan of Draekars, and our main adversary. For all our constant struggles against him, we do greatly respect this man.
  • Samrrak - Soulless machine! Your Troodontid creators do not deserve our respect, only our contemptuous hatred!
  • Gridlock - This position is OURS!

Quotes from others[]

  • Add Your own!

FOOL! You believe your strength surpasses MINE!? I'll show you what TRUE strength is!!

- King Lavern

My father abandons you. You have been left behind.

- Gridlock

You are much more imposing than I expected, but I've fought larger foes before. We'll see how strong you are when the time comes.

- Emperor Pulporious V

Such a strong being...though I believe that with Ada's guidance, you could be much more powerful.

- Anthil Agna

Shut. Up.

- Kideaza

The Imperator is a rather unique case for a non-Tei’aine. His body does not carry the beauty, nor the power, nor the versatility of a Tei’aine. But his spirit? His spirit is that of the most powerful, most graceful Tei’aine. He trades war and bloodshed not unlike how one trades spice and riches. He is one of the few who truly understands the truth of the universe. He may not be Tei’aine by blood, but he is Tei’aine by spirit, and for that alone he would be a worthy Imperator of the Hegemony.

- l’Evaranur

Trivia[]

  • Cabal Breach is Caligustus' theme.
    • Dominus Ghaul is the theme of the final showdown against Caligustus during the climax of the Great Mirusian Conflicts.
  • Caligustus is the First Dragowar character on the wiki.
    • He loosely draws inspiration from various Roman emperors, most notably Augustus, Caligula and Vespasian.
    • He was actually made before the Dragowar themselves were made. Back then, he was a Vechtbeest, and acted as an in-game avatar for Ecoraptor3339's younger brother.
  • Since the position of the Imperator is what literally holds the Imperium of War together, Caligustus refers to himself in the majestic plural. In his mind, he effectively is the Imperium.
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