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Imperial challenges
Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval’s If Nova Imperium endures far beyond the anniversary of Dakshmandi and Maausk in September of 3301. Namarii, It is impossible to say whether
Tabaldak, LTT 874, Shambhala, and Svari in October.
Mordanticus’ death, it would not be a new challenge for
reign is not secure, and may this Emperor. Arissa Lavigny-Duval has struggled for le- Kausalya in December. Cell after cell of Emperor’s Dawn Emperor’s Dawn was truly
never be. gitimacy since before she ascended to the throne. There forces and operatives were discovered and destroyed, destroyed, or if it was instead
breaking its back as an insurgent organisation. No true
was no doubt at her coronation that her father, Hengist
Duval, had intended to marry her mother, Florence Lavi- leaders were ever found, and no new emperor was ever driven underground.
gny, legitimising Arissa in the process. But this did not named or offered by the organisation — nor captured by
come to pass, with the old emperor’s assassination by the Empire. With the unnamed usurper it upheld never
Brendan Paul Darius forcing the Senate to select the new uncovered, it is impossible to say whether Emperor’s
emperor by choice, rather than accept her by succession. Dawn was truly destroyed, or if it was instead driven un-
derground.
The Senate’s decision was called by Emperor’s Dawn, for
whom Darius was an agent, “a desecration of the tradi- When Emperor’s Dawn first surfaced, before Arissa had
tions of the Empire.” Like Nova Imperium, Emperor’s even been crowned, Imperial commanders in high halls
Dawn had presented an ultra-traditionalist view of the whispered that perhaps it was Harold Duval who Em-
Empire and had built a network of powerful contacts. peror’s Dawn intended to place on the throne. Harold
Like Nova Imperium, Emperor’s Dawn decried Arissa as had been declared insane by his father and cut out of the
false and female, arguing that the true emperor should be succession in response to his hedonism and, allegedly,
male. And like Nova Imperium, Emperor’s Dawn proved his unorthodox views on slavery matching those of his
incredibly durable. Yet where Emperor’s Dawn was a net- daughter, Aisling Duval. Little is known of what an Em-
work of dispersed cells executing terrorist attacks and pire led by Harold might have looked like, and his personal
assassinations, Nova Imperium sought to govern views are rarely on record. If rumours that he would have
systems directly and to present a clear alter- led a more liberal Empire were true, he would have been
native to Emperor Lavigny-Duval beyond the an unlikely match for the extreme conservatism of Em-
faceless leader of Emperor’s Dawn. peror’s Dawn — yet as the only known living male Duval at
the time, there were few alternatives.
This is no longer true. Harold Duval still lives, but so does
his nephew, Hadrian. The isolationist ultra-traditionalism
espoused by Imperators Mordanticus and Duval are fa-
miliar. Networked, nameless insurgency failed for Emper-
or’s Dawn, but only after many campaigns. Direct govern-
ance of Imperial populations failed for Nova Imperium,
but only after bloodshed in the Senate and constant ef-
fort in Paresa.
The truth is that Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval’s reign is
not secure, and may never be. Marriage and issue may
make succession from her line clear, but as long as Had-
rian Duval lives, the risk of civil war remains. Whether one
and the same or not, Emperor’s Dawn and Nova Imperium
both posed credible threats, and while loyal command-
ers like those of Lavigny’s Legion have made solemn
commitments in support of the emperor, they may find
themselves defending those commitments against
challenges from within the Empire for as long as The Fall of Nova Imperium
she — and Hadrian — both live.
Text: Misaniovent
Images: OrangePheonix
Design: Balthazarn Noxx
Thanks to: Extremofire, Hassod, Imperius, Rainbro of
Nova Navy, St. Michael
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