Caius Macsen
Àrd Rìgh of the Areulian Empire Cerus Marsaewyr Rhyhir (a.k.a. "Haulmywr" or The Great Sun (Post Mortum)
The Great Sun of the Areul people and a ferocious defender of Areul lands as well as her people. The Àrd Rìgh, or High King, of a united Areul and who challenged Rasennan rule in a war remembered either as the "Great Revolt" or "Macsen's Rebellion".
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
While quite standard by Rasenna standards, Macsen was said to ride the saddle in the manner of an emperor and was beloved by his troops for enduring the hardships of campaigning alongside them.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Like many in Areul following centuries of subjugation by the Rasenna, the family of Cerus Marsaewyr Rhyir were well situated under the boot of their conquerors and had been interwoven in the Imperial fabric for quite some time. Cerus was born at the family's stronghold of Pysgotwala where he was taken as a baby and brought to Lakia for his proper Rasennan education. It was here that Cerus' Areul name was abandoned and he was given his Rasennanized name of Caius Lucius Macsen, Caius being the closest Rasennan name to his Cerus, Lucius being for his foster father Lucius Votho, and Macsen being a shortened version of Marsaewyr which the Rasenna had no hope of pronouncing.
Caius grew up in his foster father's villa in southern Lakia where he learned Lakic, learned to dress in Rasennan clothes, and generally engage in Rasennan society at the expense of his Areul heritage. Records indicate that Caius engaged in public life quite early as he was assigned as a provincial administrator alongside his foster father in the eastern province of Natresha Suprone where he learned a great deal under his father and began engaging with the legions stationed there and developed a passion for military affairs. With his talents being seen, he was transferred back west to be stationed among the legions encamped along the Rhor where again, no one seems to have anything bad to say of the promising young provincial. However, Macsen had developed a great deal of internal resentment towards his Rasennan captors and while his facade of benevolent service got him higher and higher up the food chain, he wished to be free of them and return to his family, people, and land.
Before this, Macsen was caught up in a dangerous conspiracy in the north, a provincial governor by the name of Hostus Caristanius Adranos had gathered supporters and his "Great Conspiracy" had sparked a rebellion along the Rhor alongside Herodi tribals he had recruited and brought across the river to aid him. This combined force of rouge Legionaries with Herodi allies threatened the whole of the empire and the response by Emperor Opellian proved unable to quell the tide of destruction that Adranos' army ravaged through Areul. Seeing this imperial inactivity, Macsen rallied his own legions and recruited allies from his own people to march out and defeat the rebels. By the time that Macsen's army had reached those of Adranos', the rebel army had destroyed everything from the Rhor to the stronghold of clan Rhyir so Macsen made his stand near the plains of his childhood home. At the plains of Pysgotwala, Macsen stunned the Rasennan world by defeating the force that greatly outnumbered his own and captured Adranos, presenting him to Emperor Opellian who considered granting the victorious provincial a triumph of his own but was dissuaded as even though he looked the part, Macsen was not a true Rasennan and thus it would be scandalous to grant him one.
This seems to be the last straw tying Macsen to his empire as he left the city the moment the news came to him that for all his hard work he would not be rewarded in the slightest. It seems Macsen rode north back home to Pysgotwala to reunite with his family and back at his ancestral castle, Macsen began planning a great conspiracy of his own. Macsen would ride out in secret over the course of several years rallying support from the remaining families of Areul and persuading them to join his cause and finally overthrow the yoke of the Rasenna and form a united coalition to make sure they stayed out of the Areuls land forever. During his travels and negotiations with several intact Areul families, Macsen demonstrated a shrewd diplomatic tactic of essentially blackmailing his would-be allies if they did not pledge loyalty in the coming revolt and heaping adoration and acclaim for those who sided with him no matter what. One such family was the Brathiade who joined Macsen's conspiracy on the condition he marry Ansielga, the eldest daughter of the clan patriarch Swibhird, each proving to be a valuable ally in the coming decade. In 742 B.E, Macsen's conspiracy was nearing total completion when word reached him of Emperor Opellian's assassination and his replacement by Caelius, a man whom Macsen knew was in a precarious state as he would be surrounded by enemies even before Macsen revolted.
So it was, on the ides of Kaisie, the Great Revolt of Macsen was launched and the entirety of Areul and parts of allied Herodia all then expulsed their Rasennan garrisons and raised the banner of Clan Ryhir. Powerless to send meaningful resistance, Caelius sent north a legion and a half of soldiers commanded by Lucius Macrus Sether to quash the revolt and bring the western half into line. It did not surprise many that this force was utterly annihilated when it left Lakia by a force led by Macsen and his father-in-law Swibhird. From this victory, the revolt gained breathing room as Caelius was enveloped by domestic strife. In these middling years, Macsen was formally crowned "Àrd Rìgh" or High King of an Areulian Empire with Ansielga as his "Àrd Bhanrigh". Together in these years of success, coins minted depicted the High King and Queen holding hands in triumph over the shattered vestiges of Sether's legions emanating an aura of invincibility in the new rulers. In the spring of 741 B.E, Macsen began assembling an invasion force and set out from his capital of Macsechea, a newly established settlement situated at the center of his new empire and at the crossroads of trading routes in Areul and abroad making it a fast-growing city. Macsen and his troops would have their true baptism by fire in their invasion of Lakia as they proved unable to effectively surround the still heavily defended capital of Rasca and instead rampaged around Lakia causing trouble and trying to force a pitched battle against the beleaguered Rasenna who were also suffering under the tyrannical regime of Caelius who seemed unwilling to address the gravity of the situation he had placed the empire in.
It would be in late 741 B.E that Macsen's strategy would bear some fruit as unbeknownst to Caelius, the governor of Agrihenia Prope had taken it upon himself to defeat Macsen's army and crossed into Lakia from across the Arnzic Gulf, landing at Arminae with six legions of around 35,000 men. Hearing the news of the governor's landing, Macsen planned an ambush of the six legions in southern Lakia and moved south to meet them at the small river of Pontelonga. Macsen's brilliant ambush of the Agrihenian legions, considered to be some of the most capable fighting men of the empire, would be the high point of his life and led to the near destruction of four of the legions and the frantic retreat of some 2,400 survivors back across the sea into Agrihenia. After Pontelonga, Macsen was tempted to besiege Rasca by his advisors but solemnly, Macsen realized that the threat he now posed to the empire would be too much for another incompetent legate or governor to handle and now he would see the empire's full ire.
Macsen's worst fears must have been founded when he learned that it seemed his next opponent would be a seemingly rogue Hostus Amellianus Montanus, one of the most seasoned and veteran commanders the empire had to offer and who seemingly had the entirety of the empire's backing if only informally as Caelius still ravaged the capitol with his vengeful delusions. The soon to be Emperor Amellian marched from Galukia with a force less than both forces Macsen had already defeated but these were Amellian's own seasoned, loyal, and deeply motivated troops and were led by a series of competent officers, chief among them a young Julius Hostus Amellianus Dicorus, the son of the marshal and leader of his father's cohorta stiratai or Broad Striped Cohort which was double strength and would prove to be the decisive men at arms in Amellian's army. Amellian decided against facing Macsen in Lakia and instead turned north into the heartland of the revolt and proceeded in completely ravaging the Areul heartland, cutting off Macsen's support and even going so far as to take Macsechea. All of these factors forced Macsen north to run off Amellian and soon it became clear that the two forces would meet in battle somewhere near the village of Ligonum. Here at Ligonum, Macsen met his match in Amellian, and his son Dicorus and the Areul forces were decisively defeated with Macsen's father-in-law Swibhird being killed in the melee. This victory hailed the rise of Amellian and his family and began the downfall of the Macsen's revolt.
After Ligonum, Macsen took his shattered forces north in hope of being reinforced but found little in the way of help as Amellian's forces had ravaged much of what would have been the Areul's heartland. Macsen heard what seemed to be a bit of relief, Amellian had marched to Rasca and left command of the war to his young son Julius Hostus Amellianus, soon to be known as Julius Dicorus, while he would later go and depose Caelius. Macsen must have believed that he would again be able to take the initiative with the young commander at the head of his father's old army but he would be wrong as Julius Dicorus would prove to be an even greater military mind than his father and usher in one of the Rasenna's greatest victories in 735 B.E at the Battle of Charora when Macsen again threatened Lakia and was met by Dicorus in the open plains and totally humbled by stunning generalship from the twenty-five-year-old Julius Dicorus who utterly smashed the Areuls and effectively ended the Revolt. Macsen was captured, as were his wife and infant daughters who were all brought back to Rasca in Dicorus' triumph.
Caius Macsen was strangled at the stairs of the Temple of Manus whose gates were closed to signify that the empire was again at peace. His wife and daughter were relatively unharmed with Ansielga being put under house arrest outside the city for the remainder of her life and their daughters being split up and raised by new parents on opposing ends of the empire. Caius Macsen was an inspiring leader and brilliant commander of men but proved unequal to some of the Rasenna's finest and would remain a figure of tragedy for his people in the successive centuries as the Areuls of Macsen's time were slowly Rasennaphied and eventually would be conquered by another towering figure of history, Radimane, and his Hasdinians.
Caius Macsen is still a popular figure in Areul memory, his bloody revolt was the largest instance of Areul resistance to Rasennan rule and he was a figure earning both applause and sympathy. Macsen's courageous resistance seared his name into the Rasennan memory, who after would always fear a similar revolt breaking out in the region. Macsen's revolt did earn Areul a few special privileges as Rasennan rule eased in the decades of rule under the Amelliai who took special care to not rile up the populace of Areul. In a peculiar fashion, Macsen is regarded with special reverence in the growing "Cult of Old Heroes", a zealous religious movement that holds him in high regard due to his courage and bold defiance. He is largely considered a martyr to this group, a righteous soul betrayed and struck down yet nevertheless applauded for the cultural significance he holds even to this day.
Caius grew up in his foster father's villa in southern Lakia where he learned Lakic, learned to dress in Rasennan clothes, and generally engage in Rasennan society at the expense of his Areul heritage. Records indicate that Caius engaged in public life quite early as he was assigned as a provincial administrator alongside his foster father in the eastern province of Natresha Suprone where he learned a great deal under his father and began engaging with the legions stationed there and developed a passion for military affairs. With his talents being seen, he was transferred back west to be stationed among the legions encamped along the Rhor where again, no one seems to have anything bad to say of the promising young provincial. However, Macsen had developed a great deal of internal resentment towards his Rasennan captors and while his facade of benevolent service got him higher and higher up the food chain, he wished to be free of them and return to his family, people, and land.
Before this, Macsen was caught up in a dangerous conspiracy in the north, a provincial governor by the name of Hostus Caristanius Adranos had gathered supporters and his "Great Conspiracy" had sparked a rebellion along the Rhor alongside Herodi tribals he had recruited and brought across the river to aid him. This combined force of rouge Legionaries with Herodi allies threatened the whole of the empire and the response by Emperor Opellian proved unable to quell the tide of destruction that Adranos' army ravaged through Areul. Seeing this imperial inactivity, Macsen rallied his own legions and recruited allies from his own people to march out and defeat the rebels. By the time that Macsen's army had reached those of Adranos', the rebel army had destroyed everything from the Rhor to the stronghold of clan Rhyir so Macsen made his stand near the plains of his childhood home. At the plains of Pysgotwala, Macsen stunned the Rasennan world by defeating the force that greatly outnumbered his own and captured Adranos, presenting him to Emperor Opellian who considered granting the victorious provincial a triumph of his own but was dissuaded as even though he looked the part, Macsen was not a true Rasennan and thus it would be scandalous to grant him one.
This seems to be the last straw tying Macsen to his empire as he left the city the moment the news came to him that for all his hard work he would not be rewarded in the slightest. It seems Macsen rode north back home to Pysgotwala to reunite with his family and back at his ancestral castle, Macsen began planning a great conspiracy of his own. Macsen would ride out in secret over the course of several years rallying support from the remaining families of Areul and persuading them to join his cause and finally overthrow the yoke of the Rasenna and form a united coalition to make sure they stayed out of the Areuls land forever. During his travels and negotiations with several intact Areul families, Macsen demonstrated a shrewd diplomatic tactic of essentially blackmailing his would-be allies if they did not pledge loyalty in the coming revolt and heaping adoration and acclaim for those who sided with him no matter what. One such family was the Brathiade who joined Macsen's conspiracy on the condition he marry Ansielga, the eldest daughter of the clan patriarch Swibhird, each proving to be a valuable ally in the coming decade. In 742 B.E, Macsen's conspiracy was nearing total completion when word reached him of Emperor Opellian's assassination and his replacement by Caelius, a man whom Macsen knew was in a precarious state as he would be surrounded by enemies even before Macsen revolted.
So it was, on the ides of Kaisie, the Great Revolt of Macsen was launched and the entirety of Areul and parts of allied Herodia all then expulsed their Rasennan garrisons and raised the banner of Clan Ryhir. Powerless to send meaningful resistance, Caelius sent north a legion and a half of soldiers commanded by Lucius Macrus Sether to quash the revolt and bring the western half into line. It did not surprise many that this force was utterly annihilated when it left Lakia by a force led by Macsen and his father-in-law Swibhird. From this victory, the revolt gained breathing room as Caelius was enveloped by domestic strife. In these middling years, Macsen was formally crowned "Àrd Rìgh" or High King of an Areulian Empire with Ansielga as his "Àrd Bhanrigh". Together in these years of success, coins minted depicted the High King and Queen holding hands in triumph over the shattered vestiges of Sether's legions emanating an aura of invincibility in the new rulers. In the spring of 741 B.E, Macsen began assembling an invasion force and set out from his capital of Macsechea, a newly established settlement situated at the center of his new empire and at the crossroads of trading routes in Areul and abroad making it a fast-growing city. Macsen and his troops would have their true baptism by fire in their invasion of Lakia as they proved unable to effectively surround the still heavily defended capital of Rasca and instead rampaged around Lakia causing trouble and trying to force a pitched battle against the beleaguered Rasenna who were also suffering under the tyrannical regime of Caelius who seemed unwilling to address the gravity of the situation he had placed the empire in.
It would be in late 741 B.E that Macsen's strategy would bear some fruit as unbeknownst to Caelius, the governor of Agrihenia Prope had taken it upon himself to defeat Macsen's army and crossed into Lakia from across the Arnzic Gulf, landing at Arminae with six legions of around 35,000 men. Hearing the news of the governor's landing, Macsen planned an ambush of the six legions in southern Lakia and moved south to meet them at the small river of Pontelonga. Macsen's brilliant ambush of the Agrihenian legions, considered to be some of the most capable fighting men of the empire, would be the high point of his life and led to the near destruction of four of the legions and the frantic retreat of some 2,400 survivors back across the sea into Agrihenia. After Pontelonga, Macsen was tempted to besiege Rasca by his advisors but solemnly, Macsen realized that the threat he now posed to the empire would be too much for another incompetent legate or governor to handle and now he would see the empire's full ire.
Macsen's worst fears must have been founded when he learned that it seemed his next opponent would be a seemingly rogue Hostus Amellianus Montanus, one of the most seasoned and veteran commanders the empire had to offer and who seemingly had the entirety of the empire's backing if only informally as Caelius still ravaged the capitol with his vengeful delusions. The soon to be Emperor Amellian marched from Galukia with a force less than both forces Macsen had already defeated but these were Amellian's own seasoned, loyal, and deeply motivated troops and were led by a series of competent officers, chief among them a young Julius Hostus Amellianus Dicorus, the son of the marshal and leader of his father's cohorta stiratai or Broad Striped Cohort which was double strength and would prove to be the decisive men at arms in Amellian's army. Amellian decided against facing Macsen in Lakia and instead turned north into the heartland of the revolt and proceeded in completely ravaging the Areul heartland, cutting off Macsen's support and even going so far as to take Macsechea. All of these factors forced Macsen north to run off Amellian and soon it became clear that the two forces would meet in battle somewhere near the village of Ligonum. Here at Ligonum, Macsen met his match in Amellian, and his son Dicorus and the Areul forces were decisively defeated with Macsen's father-in-law Swibhird being killed in the melee. This victory hailed the rise of Amellian and his family and began the downfall of the Macsen's revolt.
After Ligonum, Macsen took his shattered forces north in hope of being reinforced but found little in the way of help as Amellian's forces had ravaged much of what would have been the Areul's heartland. Macsen heard what seemed to be a bit of relief, Amellian had marched to Rasca and left command of the war to his young son Julius Hostus Amellianus, soon to be known as Julius Dicorus, while he would later go and depose Caelius. Macsen must have believed that he would again be able to take the initiative with the young commander at the head of his father's old army but he would be wrong as Julius Dicorus would prove to be an even greater military mind than his father and usher in one of the Rasenna's greatest victories in 735 B.E at the Battle of Charora when Macsen again threatened Lakia and was met by Dicorus in the open plains and totally humbled by stunning generalship from the twenty-five-year-old Julius Dicorus who utterly smashed the Areuls and effectively ended the Revolt. Macsen was captured, as were his wife and infant daughters who were all brought back to Rasca in Dicorus' triumph.
Caius Macsen was strangled at the stairs of the Temple of Manus whose gates were closed to signify that the empire was again at peace. His wife and daughter were relatively unharmed with Ansielga being put under house arrest outside the city for the remainder of her life and their daughters being split up and raised by new parents on opposing ends of the empire. Caius Macsen was an inspiring leader and brilliant commander of men but proved unequal to some of the Rasenna's finest and would remain a figure of tragedy for his people in the successive centuries as the Areuls of Macsen's time were slowly Rasennaphied and eventually would be conquered by another towering figure of history, Radimane, and his Hasdinians.
Caius Macsen is still a popular figure in Areul memory, his bloody revolt was the largest instance of Areul resistance to Rasennan rule and he was a figure earning both applause and sympathy. Macsen's courageous resistance seared his name into the Rasennan memory, who after would always fear a similar revolt breaking out in the region. Macsen's revolt did earn Areul a few special privileges as Rasennan rule eased in the decades of rule under the Amelliai who took special care to not rile up the populace of Areul. In a peculiar fashion, Macsen is regarded with special reverence in the growing "Cult of Old Heroes", a zealous religious movement that holds him in high regard due to his courage and bold defiance. He is largely considered a martyr to this group, a righteous soul betrayed and struck down yet nevertheless applauded for the cultural significance he holds even to this day.
Education
Tutored in Rasca in standard academies for noble families of provincial standing.
Employment
Provincial Administrator in Delasia Suprone
Provincial General during the revolt by Adranos
Àrd Rìgh of the Areulian Empire
Provincial General during the revolt by Adranos
Àrd Rìgh of the Areulian Empire
Accomplishments & Achievements
Victory for the Rasenna against Adranos at Pysgotwala
Victories against the Rasenna at Vurbose and Pontelonga
Victories against the Rasenna at Vurbose and Pontelonga
Failures & Embarrassments
Failure to besiege Rasca and force a peace
Beaten at Ligonum by Amellian and finally defeated and captured at Charora by Dicorus
Beaten at Ligonum by Amellian and finally defeated and captured at Charora by Dicorus
Intellectual Characteristics
Pragmatic
Disciplined
Motivated
Disciplined
Motivated
Morality & Philosophy
By any means
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Freedom for himself, his land and his people
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Masterful tactician and charismatic leader
Poor logistician
Poor logistician
Virtues & Personality perks
Honorable
Shrewd
Brilliant
Charismatic
Shrewd
Brilliant
Charismatic
Vices & Personality flaws
Hubristic
Simplistic
Prideful
Simplistic
Prideful
Social
Family Ties
Husband of Arsielga
Son in law of Swibhird
Father of Rhona and Eira Ryhir
Son in law of Swibhird
Father of Rhona and Eira Ryhir
Religious Views
Macsen rode a deeply trickly line in his beliefs as for much of his life he was almost forced to pay heed to the Pantheon of the Rasenna. Only after his return to his homeland did he outwardly compare himself to Tuatha, the son of the Areul high god Caradog.
Social Aptitude
As charismatic and magnetic as any of his contemporaries, Macsen rallied support through shrewd diplomacy and force of character as he was so likeable that envy turned to defused respect simply upon sharing words with him. He truly made his people belive that if they threw their support around him that together they would throw off Rasennan domination and perhaps even rise to be a equal rival of the powerful southern empire.
Religions
Current Status
Revolt against the Rasenna and freedom for his people
Current Location
Ethnicity
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Àrd Rìgh of the Areulian Empire
Life
776 B.E
734 B.E
42 years old
Circumstances of Birth
Born in the powerful clan Ryhir of central Areul
Circumstances of Death
After his defeat at the hands of Dicorus, he was taken back to Rasca and executed in Dicorus' triumph at the stairs of the Temple of Manus
Birthplace
Pysgotwala
Place of Death
Rasca
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Hazel
Hair
Short, Blond
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
White
Height
5'10
Weight
180 lbs
Quotes & Catchphrases
"I fear we have only instilled in the Great Eagle, a most terrible resolve to see our humble rabble gripped in its talons." -Supposedly said following his victory at Pontelonga
Belief/Deity
Caradog and the Areul Pantheon
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Comments