Empress Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj

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"Give me two dozen trained spears and I'll hold a fortress for a month against a force of hundreds. Give me the Sapphire Viper, and I'll take it from a force of hundreds within a week."
 * - General Ardmani refering to the Empress Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj's old pseudonym: The Sapphire Viper.

Family
Empress Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj was born into the Vahn-Duj family as the third child and only daughter of the previous emperor of the Sellederre Empire, in 894PR. Among a variety of distant cousins, the empress has two sons, who have each in turn had three children. As is tradition, each has been named according to the old tongue: Of these family members, the empress is said to favour her granddaughter Ceelenae the most, and is likely to appoint her the next empress.
 * Rahsahro Vahn-Duj (Stone-Dagger) (Son)
 * Rheevala-Goota Vahn-Duj (Bronze Spear) (Grandson)
 * Ceelenae Vahn-Duj (Fire storm) (Granddaughter)
 * Yaelagesh Vahn-Duj (Gold friend) (Grandson)
 * Rahbotah Vahn-Duj (Stone body) (Son)
 * Prinae-Vashachi Vahn-Duj (Wind killer) (Grandson)
 * Qulae-Zadah Vahn-Duj (Ice slayer) (Grandson)
 * Suerovoola Vahn-Duj (Sword of the future) (Grandson)

Youth
Empress Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj was born into a large family, with five older brothers, three uncles, and a vast number of cousins. She was never expected to take the throne, her father publicly favouring her brothers, uncles, and even cousins over her, and although she would never want for money, her life could not go wasted. As such, her childhood was spent preparing her for life outside of court: Trade, architecture, mathematics, sciences, and even the arcane arts were taught to her so as to provide her with the opportunity to pursue a profession should she choose to do so.

Over time, the young princess began to focus her learning on those more akin to adventuring: outdoors skills, swordplay, offensive magics. Eventually, at the age of seventeen, she left the city of Vahn-Gegal in search of adventure...

Travels
During her early travels, the then-princess adopted a secret identity, calling herself the Sapphire Viper, so as to throw off any potential enemies of her family. This enabled her to meet commoner born Seelesh Arvanti, and Tulrnor Hagryn, the women with whom she spent the next ten years adventuring with. Over those ten years, the trio exploring many of the ruins north of the Sea of Sand, and visited most of the islands off of the southern coast, saving more than one lost soul along the way. A full account of the adventures has been recorded by Uermont the Bard, though can be summarised as a long journey counter-clockwise around the empire, resulting in the defeat of two liches, capturing of a sand-dragon, and collapse of no less than three cannibalistic zombie-like societies.

Eventually, upon reaching the south-eastern edge of the Scattered Bay, the trio settled in Mola-Geegan for just under three months while they established a means of fairly splitting their wealth whilst also pursuing those pleasures and paths of life unable to be found whilst travelling on the road. It was during this time that word of vampiric assassins hunting down the Vahn-duj family reached the then twenty-seven year old Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj. By this time, all of her cousins and brothers had been slain, and it was rumoured that her father was but a thrall in the service of the vampires. Knowing that she was likely to be next, the young princess in hiding departed company from her adventurers and sought employment within the Silver Shields.

Silver Shields
The Silver Shields, considered the be the most elite fighting unit in the Sellederre Empire, and perhaps even the world, has an exceptionally rigorous selection process, and an even harder training regime. Usually, only those who have excelled within the Sellederre military for over ten years are even considered for entry, and once admitted, they are subject to up to another five years of intense physical and arcane training designed to prolong their lives as ultimate fighting machines. The young empress, having gained fame and fortune as the Sapphire Viper, was immediately admitted accepted onto the training regime, and was able to talk, bribe, and otherwise strong-arm her way through the training in less than three months: A record which has never since come close to being beaten. Once in the force, she ensured her assignment to the most dangerous and prestigious tasks, enabling her to quickly rise through the ranks and eventually be assigned a temporary palace guard position in the capital of Vahn-Gegal, where her father was still thought to be. Once inside the palace, she quickly discovered her fears were true: her family was dead, with the exception of her father, who was held in thrall by the vampires. She is said to have faced the vampires and slain them in battle whilst simultaneously fighting off her Silver-Shield comrades who were bound by honour to follow the orders of the enthralled emperor. Uermont the Bard suggests that the battle raged for three days, until the silver-shields were exhausted and the vampires were starved and cornered in the highest tower of the palace. A more likely account suggests that the battle lasted around six hours, still an impressive duration, and resulted in the majority of vampires being slain, after which her father regained his mind.

The emperor, grateful for being rescued after months of being a prisoner within his own mind, awarded the Sapphire Viper the title of First Spear of the Silver-Shields - a highly esteemed honourific somewhat akin to a knight-commander of knighthood, making her the most highly established military authority in the Empire. Regarded as a legend across the entire Empire, it was at this time that the Sapphire Viper publicly revealed her true identity as Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj, the only bloodline heir of the Vahn-Duj family. Her father, enraged that his young heir already held a legacy greater than his own, retreated to solitary brooding for the next five years, during which time, Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj continued to excel within the Silver-Shields. She eventually departed from the Silver-Shields in 930PR, when her father died of natural causes, making her Empress of the Sellederre Empire.

General
Generally, the Empresses rule has been beneficial. Although lacking the formal training of her forefathers, the Empress has nonetheless surpassed them in achievements, ensuring improved social welfare and justice across the lands. Great strides have been made to tame the southern regions of the Sellederre Empire, which is thought to have resulted from her personal experience having travelled those dangerous lands. Furthermore, relations with the desert tribesmen of the Sea of Sand have remained positive as a direct result of life-debts owed to her from chieftains and other tribesmen of influence.

Policies
Empress Ma-Jah Vahn-Duj has placed far more emphasis on unification than any previous ruler of the Sellederre Empire, and has also been a great deal more successful in doing so than ever before. Her approach to politics across the empire has reduced competition within the look-duj families, whilst continuing to improve the prosperity of all citizens of the empire. Furthermore, she has made great progress in securing consistent trade agreements with the other great nations of Varia, without having sacrificed military stability.

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