Nikos I

First Amethyst Emperor Nikos (7821-7906 DC), most often simply referred to as Nikos I or First Emperor, was the founding monarch of the Nikosian Empire, which is named for him. He reigned from the establishments of the Empire in 7855 until his death in 7906.

History

Early life

Nikos was born as Defter Tiraye in 7821, from a breeding stock of slave-felines meant for exclusive use as servants of the Leograu Imperial House of the Nemeon Dynasty. As a child, he was considered frail and diminuitive even for his race, which endeared him to Princess Jarayi Nemeon, the older sister of then Crown Prince Reolex Nemeon II, who practically raised him and groomed him as her manservant, a role he performed faithfully for seven years until her sudden demise in 7841.

Seeds of the rebellion

With Jarayi's death, ownership of him was transferred over to Reolex II, who cared little for his sister's pet and routinely mistreated him. As a result of that, Defter found himself in the company of other malcontents within the imperial serving staff and before he knew it, he became a cell leader in an underground rebel faction in Leograu, and for a few years, he embezzled funds and supplies from the Imperial palace to the rebels. During this time, he met and fell in love with one of his rebel contacts, Saïr Nikkuu, a highly skilled dark feline smuggler from Darkfallow who had come to Leograu after hearing of more concentrated resistance effort against the Empire there.

Rebellion in full swing

As efforts with the rebellion ramped up in 7850, as did Imperial efforts to quell it, which in, among other things, manifested in tightened security in the Imperial palace. Eventually, during a routine skimming of the palace supplies, Defter was caught handing goods over to Saïr, and in the ensuing fight, Saïr caught a blade in the gut and died while Defter got away with his life. Struck with grief and anger, Defter vowed to destroy the Empire and changed his name to Nikos, in honor of his lover.

As Nikos was now effectively exiled from the palace, the remnants of his cell joined the main force of the rebels, and in the next five years, Nikos would exploit his intricate knowledge of the Empire's inner workings to secure his role as the rebels' chief tactician. In 7852, following an assassination attempt were Reolex II was poisoned, Reolex II, while surviving the attempt, abdicated the throne in favor of his 25 year old son, Reolex Nemeon III due to his health being ravaged by the poison. Reolex III immediately set himself to the task of utterly crushing the rebellion, but only narrowly escaped with his life following another assassination attempt during a public appearance in a matter of days of his ascending to the throne.

In 7855, the rebellion had another opportunity to strike at Reolex III, as they had gotten wind of plans for him to move to a new imperial residence that had been erected in Jangara a few years prior. Nikos decided to head the mission to infiltrate the palace himself along with a squad of Darkfallow assassins. He personally slit the throat of Reolex III as he had sat down to enjoy his first meal at the new residence, while Reolex II, who was also present, was behaded by Saï's father who had accompanied Nikos on the mission.

Return to Leograu

Following the massacre in Jangara, the full force of the rebellion, now dubbed the Nikosian Rebellion, marched up on the Imperial palace, led by Nikos with the heads of the two Emperors mounted on a pike, demanding the immediate and unconditional surrender of Imperial forces. Since much of Imperial guard had been dispatched to Jangara, the palace defenses were weakened and General Pavio Turize of the Imperial Guard surrendered the palace in the face of a superior foe.

Following this, Nikos was crowned Emperor of a new Empire.