The Year of Eight Kings refers to the culmination of years of political unrest in the nation of Elica, in which nine separate Kings were elected and subsequently removed from office in the span of one fifteen-month period.
History
The Declining Elican Government
During the late Fifth Era, the nation of Elica was impacted by multiple crises. The nation was struggling with economic instability following decades of devaluing its own currency, and the chaos of the Skeleton Wars heavily weakened the national government. Elican citizens were struggling, and the lack of a unified response from the nation's leadership left many fending for themselves. Without a clear path forward, the then-King of Elica, Horatius Launthier, attempted to take charge of the situation. He encouraged the Elican Senate to pass a series of reforms intended to curtail the many crises, with immediate attention focused on the stabilizing the teetering economy.
While noble in his intentions, and despite these reforms being largely successful in their aims, many of these new measures only served to worsen the lives of the Elican people. The economy was stabilized, though a general distrust of the nation's primary currency meant that many individuals and businesses that relied on international trade were still locked out of those markets. Without access to those markets, key imports were no longer entering the country, and major national exports had nowhere to go. The immediate problems were resolved, though little effort was paid to resolving the secondary effects, leaving a majority of those impacted without a clear sense of what might come next.
On the 18th of Jestro, 5E 382, King Launthier resigned from office. In his resignation address, he claimed responsibility for the failures of the government under his leadership, and stated that "it was [his] own ineptitude and shortcomings that rendered the nation unable to meet the needs of her people". The following day, the Elican Senate met to select his replacement to serve the remainder of his term. Reports from the days that followed suggest that the Senate was wholly unaware of Launthier's decision to retire, though some Senators have gone on record stating that he had first notified the Senate of his intentions.
The Scapegoat Who Would Be King
His successor, Mathias Pronovost, entered into office just after the new year in 5E 383. Conscious of his predecessor's failings, King Pronovost had intended to prioritize a number of reforms that would directly assist the people of Elica. The Elican Senate, however, had no intentions of allowing these plans to reach fruition. Instead, the Senate decided to use the sudden change of power to curry favor with the people by undermining the King's authority. If they were able to portray the new King as ineffectual and weak, the Senate could leverage his unpopularity to gain back public trust.
As a result, King Pronovost's term was one of little progress, with what little he was able to accomplish primarily consisting of stop-gap measures meant to ensure the nation didn't undo any of the progress that had been accomplished under King Launthier. When King Pronovost's term expired in 5E 385, it was of no surprise that he chose not to seek a full term.
The Reformist Crisis
The Senate's efforts to undermine the King's credibility had an unintended side effect. When King Pronovost's term expired, no other candidate had declared an intention to run for the position. The Senate's campaign had been so effective, that the very office itself had become an almost tainted entity, with many calling for the role's removal altogether. Without an outside candidate appearing in that year's election, the matter of King once again fell into the hands of the Senate. The Senate initially put forth Aldissynia Virot, a popular figure in Elican politics, though her candidacy was almost immediately undermined by a growing faction within the nation's majority party.
While a plurality of the Senate agreed on Virot's candidacy, the party known as The Reformists blocked Virot from acheiving the necessary number of votes to take office. Following the failed vote, the Reformists announced that they would block every candidate who was put forth, provided their demands were not yet met. After nearly four months of failed votes, the Elican Senate was able to elect an Evergold candidate, Edward Simons.
Shortly after Simons took office, the Reformists party began launching a number of criminal trials against him, in an effort to force his expulsion or resignation. Much to their frustration, however, the party's first attempts to hijack the Senate seemed to have ruined their chances of any future success, as the majority party had instead aligned itself with the minority Evergold and Vaultand parties to ensure the government could still function. Nevertheless, the Reformists continued to try and undermine the new King's authority, taking minor victories when possible.
During one of the attempted criminal trials against King Simons, it was discovered that multiple members of the Reformists party had ties to the nation of Ichos, a historic rival of Elica. Each member was expelled, stripped of the privileges of office, and imprisoned. Despite the public knowledge of the connection, many in Elica saw the action as extreme, with some even claiming the evidence was fabricated. Fearing the potential of the public's unrest exploding into open conflict, King Simons chose to take the blame, and on the 22nd of Faltreus, 5E 387, the Elican Senate removed him from office.
The Year of Eight Kings
On the 4th of Milea, 5E 387, the Elican Senate elected Martinique Desceaux as King. Despite initial concern from members of the Vaultand party, most had hoped that her skills as a level-headed negotiator could help fend off any more political crises. Unfortunately for them, a series of legal challenges brought forth by the Reformists forced her to resign from office after only 27 days. The Reformists were in no way secretive about their motives, with one party member stating after the vote that the party would "force out the next five kings", intending to do so as revenge for the six Reformist Senators who were expelled for their connection to Ichos.
On the 2nd of Avynun, the Senate elected Nazairan Lournier. Much to their word, the Reformists immediately set to work forcing him out of office. King Lournier's term only lasted for two months before the Reformists forced him to resign. His replacement, Rosellia Bazien, saw the most success out of any King during this period, managing to last nearly four months before her expulsion. The fourth King, Mya Plouroquin, wouldn't fair as well, being removed from office a few days short of two months, and her successor, Derreck Guilbeaux, lasting only a few days longer than her.
Shortly after the removal of King Guilbeaux, Aldheric Desaul was floated as a potential candidate, though his candidacy had yet to even reach the vote when Desaul's wife, Stella, was killed, which led to him withdrawing his candidacy. A close friend of Desaul's, Glorianna Ferllion, would take his place, securing a brief nine-week tenure as King.
With the election of Joal Arbourre, many in the Senate had hoped the repeated vacancies might finally be over. The Reformists seemed satisfied, as no attempts to remove the new King were made. Unfortunately, nature seemed to have its own plan, as King Arbourre would die after three months in office.
Aftermath
Back to Square One
In the end, after nearly a year of infighting and uncertainty, the Elican Senate would elect Aldissynia Virot as King, as had been the plan from the start. Virot's election infuriated the people of Elica, who saw it as an insult to those who had suffered through a year of political infighting that had changed nothing, and only served to further erode the public's trust in the Senate. In addition, the months of gridlock caused by the constant trials and internal elections led to many of the stop-gap measures elapsing without any efforts to replace them. Despite trying to use the temporary kingships as a way to gain public support, the Senate ended the Year of Eight Kings in a worse position than they had entered.
With a King now able to hold the office without threat of immediate removal, Virot set to work repairing the damage the previous year had caused. In doing so, she was careful to place the blame squarely on the Reformists party and their "petty, revenge-fueled squabbling". She also made strides to reform the Senate, establishing the position of Overseer in the Senate and requiring more transparency in Senate business. Her reforms also included clearer avenues to ensure issues that mattered to the people would be brought before the Senate and prioritized over any internal matters.
In the following election of 5E 390, Virot would win a full term as King, with former King Mathias Pronovost elected to serve as Senate Overseer.
The Return of the Elican Monarchy
Even with King Virot's efforts to repair the public's trust in the Elican Senate, attitudes towards the body grew increasingly sour. The Reformists party attempted to use the worsening attitudes to bolster their influence, though the party's involvement in the chaos of the Year of Eight Kings was still at the forefront of public consciousness, leading to multiple Reformist candidates losing their regional elections and reducing the party's influence to that of a minor faction.
In 5E 393, it was discovered that Aldheric Desaul's wife had been killed by a Blueskull Company mercenary at the request of the head of the Reformists Party, Adam Boyer. When the discovery was made public, Desaul, who was then serving as a Senator, beat Boyer to death in the streets outside Boyer's home. The incident further damaged the party's reputation, and by 5E 400, the party collapsed.
In 5E 406, nearly 24 years after the resignation of King Launthier and the start of the crisis that would trigger the Year of Eight Kings, the current King of Elica, Aymeric Baume,
