Lineage Broken, Trust Broken

Life, Death

Ayaan succumbs to her illness on Paliputra, shortly after the emperor dies of sudden but natural causes. Central power transfers to a cousin, but feuding among relatives soon ensues until power is eventually ceded to a distant relative. Their knowledge of ongoing Serene research is minimal, and the Archivists are more than content to keep it that way, showing them only a small fraction of the whole picture but leading them to believe they are informed.

While in all circumstances, news the death of the emperor and his only heiress would be kept secret until the council of advisors could cleanly install a new ruler, the long distance and short time between occurrences meant transmissions were already being broadcasted with no knowledge of the information conveyed by the other.