Horaeri, The First Emperor

The Empire of Fenixia formed out of the mass of warring tribes in The Hollow Expanse. This was a fertile area surrounded by more hostile areas. So it was fought over by each of the tribes living there, each wanting to control the area and the resources.

Granted power

Horaeri was the eldest son of one of the tribal leaders. He realised that his father's obsession, along with that of all the other tribal eladers was going to lead to the destruction of all of them. He invited the eldest sons of the other tribes to meet him in the Shautane Grotto, a holy cave under the mountains to the north of the Hollow Expanse. There they followed the traditions to honour their ancestors before all sitting round to discuss how they could work together to bring peace to the area.
Unbekownst to them, this was the hereditary rebirth place of the Radiant Phoenix. During their discussions, the phoenix flew in through the volcano, settling in the grotto to initiate her flames. At the height of the fire, Haroeri was struck by one of the bursts of lightning emitted during the death and rebirth of the bird. This travelled from him round the circle of the other men in attendance. Through this, they were granted the ability to control powers through the use of Crystals. Horaeri, as the first hit, was granted the strongest powers, and the ability got weaker as they passed to those seated further away from him. This also formed a bond between him and the Radiant Phoenix, which he used to claim as a sign he'd been chosen by the winds to rule over the different tribes.

Combining the tribes

With the powers of the crystals granted by the phoenix, Horaeri and the other tribal sons were able to work together to depose their fathers and stop the fighting. No one wanted to stand against such powers which they'd never seen before. Haroeri was treated as a god come to earth and granted every wish he could make.
Those tribes who accepted Horaeri first, without struggling against him, were granted the right to keep their names and form a new family within his empire. While the other tribes, who continued to fight for themselves until the end, were designated as servants to the others.

Founding Fenixia

Horaeri was determined to build an empire to rival any other across the world. As such, he laid down the rules for interactions between the different tribes, or families, and began building the city of Fenixia to house the centre of his government.