Catarina I Shiroko

Empress Catarina I Shiroko

Catarina ascended to the throne in 476 after the retirement of her father, Timof II Shiroko. While she was the first member of the family to marry her sibling, she is most remembered both for her construction of the family mausoleum and the creation of the first literary school in the empire. Many great poets and songwriters have passed through its doors and the month of her birth is still celebrated as a national occasion to appreciate Eoin verse.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Born in 446, Catarina was the oldest child of Timof II Shiroko, the first of six siblings to be born into that generation of the main royal line of Eoion. She was educated heavily in Bolugama by her devout father and became very interested in the legends and lives of the Dea. Most of her free time was spent reading as much as she could about each one, although she was not as interested in her great-great-great grandfather, as Timof II was. Instead, her interests lay in the Dea who had made great contributions to society rather than conquest.
In 452, when she was six, and the subsequent year, Catarina witnessed her father imprisoning his younger siblings and all but dissolving their marriages based on his beliefs. He instilled in his own children that the royal dynasty was descended from divinity and the magic must be kept within the direct Shiroko bloodline only. Any attempts to become close to her aunts and uncles was met with harsh derision and she was kept away from their ex-spouses families. Through this, she distanced herself from her father, lest she suffer the same fate for not loving who he had deemed appropriate. Instead, she spent most of her time with her siblings, who were also concerned. As the six grew older, they learned to never speak of any romantic feelings toward the nobility so their friends would not become targets.
At the time of her Attunement Test, it was found that she was a pyr-esy and she dove into the study of magic alongside her previous enthusiasm for the legends of the Dea.
When Catarina was 22, in 468, Timof revealed a new doctrine, the Doctrine of Dea-an Heritage, coined with Bolugama priests which would be his solution to the issue of the ruling bloodline being diluted. In short, the doctrine made inbreeding among those of the imperial family not only an option, but a requirement.
Catarina balked at the idea, especially given that she was already in love with another man. Her plan had been to wait until she had taken the throne and then marry as she saw fit. However, with the spreading new edict, that would be impossible. On top of this, her father subsequently announced that she and her oldest younger brother, Diman (20), were to be married immediately. Neither was enthusiastic about the match and the first years of their marriage were rocky. For the most part, they tended to avoid each other. However, as their younger siblings were also married to one another, the six formed something of a support group while their father ruled.
In 476, she was crowned baejan when her father retired. Many in the court and family expected her to reverse the inbreeding edict. However, after eight years of having it preached and the populace becoming used to the royal sibling marriages, Catarina left it alone. Instead, she made plans to continue the intermarriage. The logic of the royal family needing to keep their magic within the bloodline had begun to resonate with her and while she and Diman were not particularly attracted to one another, they decided that continuing a pure royal line was more important than their personal feelings.
Over the course of her reign, she had five children: Ilya, Svante I Shiroko, Olha, Danna, and Natalay. Ilya did not live to adulthood after a wound sustained during his early combat training became infected. This left Catarina to teach Svante and the rest of her children how to rule, along with how to make the Ilyannoi.
Her work with magic and the Dea made her very devout, although not as fanatical as her father. Upon his death, she constructed a mausoleum to house his remains. Along with this, she had all ashes of the Shiroko family brought to the Gandenye and buried under the imperial temple. Since its construction, this has been the resting place of all Shiroko dynasty rulers, aside from Kariim I Shiroko.
Along with her work on the mausoleum, Catarina became known for her love of the arts. She became an extremely prolific patron of literary works. In particular, she sponsored several poets from across the empire, bringing them to the imperial court. She commissioned epic sagas depicting the legends of the various Dea, along with many paintings, sculptures, books, and songs. She also began the tradition of having the baejan and tsudaeba sit for a portrait during their first year of marriage.
Later, she founded the first literary academy in Eoion, within Niuus, in 501. She brought those who had created classic or spectacular works of art to become professors and opened the doors to commoners and nobles alike. Tuition was expensive, but there were several scholarships available to encourage talented commoners to attend as well. From this school, several of the most famous poets and song writers emerged and it is still in operation over 500 years later.
She encouraged the marriage between Svente and one of her nieces, deciding that a sibling marriage was too close of a relationship, especially after what had happened between her and her own siblings. Her decision was welcomed by her brothers and sister, who had also been worried about another sibling pair. With the new marriage, this marked the second generation of Shiroko to marry family and solidified the tradition within the family. Her devotion to the Dea also assisted in her decision, as she had also come to believe that her father had been correct in his assertion that Ilya had only wanted direct descendants to know the secrets of Stitching.
Soon after presiding over her son's marriage, in 510, she retired from rule and handed control of the empire to Svante. She spent the rest of her life traveling between the Gandenye and the literacy academy she founded. Only one year after her retirement, she became ill and died in her sleep while staying at the academy from heart failure. She was buried in the mausoleum she had constructed and her birth month is celebrated as a national time of poetry recognition.

Life

446 511 65 years old

Birthplace

Gandenye

Place of Death

Niuus

Parents

Timof II Shiroko

Children

• Svante I Shiroko

Gender

female

Eyes

dark blue, wide

Hair

bright blonde, past tailbone

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

pale, pink undertone

Height

5'7"