Atrisian Emperor

The Atrisian Emperor, also known as the Emperor of Atrisia, was the title of the ruler of the Atrisian Empire of the Human-inhabited Core Worlds planet Atrisia. The first holder of the title standardized the writing system used in the Atrisian Empire, and the following emperors carried out bloody conquests. The Atrisian Emperors of the Kitel Phard Dynasty attempted to unite their homeworld, and the dynasty culminated with the reign of Uueg Tching, the fifty-fourth Atrisian Emperor. Tching expanded the Atrisian Empire's control—either direct or indirect—over the entirety of Atrisia, thereby also establishing the use of the Atrisian script planetwide. Renowned for his successful tyrannical rule, Tching authored the Sayings, a combination of parables, analogies, and instructions concerning political manipulation, grand strategy, internal rule, and conquest. The document was meant to serve as a guide for Tching's successor emperors and marked a significant change in Atrisian politics.

Following Tching's rule, which took place at least three millennia prior to 11 ABY, several Atrisian Emperors were part of the Tching Dynasty, including Oeana Tching and Eoaq the Expansive. The latter enacted many reforms to the bureaucracy of the Atrisian Empire, although his simplification of the Atrisian script proved to be among the few lasting ones. Around 1489 BBY, the ruling Atrisian Emperor had the Sayings printed in a small run for the Atrisian nobility in order to further his own prestige. The Atrisian Parliament wrested power from the Atrisian throne by 539 BBY; however, its general-public release of the Sayings only served to further cement the enduring reputation and legacy of the Atrisian Emperors that outlived the existence of the Galactic Republic, with Atrisia itself sometimes being referred to as Kitel Phard after that ancient dynasty.

Description

The Atrisian Emperor,^[1] also referred to as the Emperor of Atrisia,^[3] was the title of the ruler of the Atrisian Empire, which was a nation on^[1] the Core Worlds planet Atrisia, one of the approximately two hundred settled worlds in the Atrisian Commonwealth region. Atrisia was inhabited by a culture of Humans known as the Atrisians.^[4] The Atrisian Emperor could authorize conquests^[2] and utilize special forces units.^[5] They could also enact reforms to the empire's bureaucracy as well as the standardization and simplification of the writing system used in the Atrisian Empire.^[2]

History

Unification of a planet

The First Atrisian Emperor standardized the Atrisian script. The early emperors of Atrisia were pitiless and carried out brutal conquests. At some point, the Kitel Phard Dynasty came to rule the Atrisian Empire,^[2] and its rulers set about eliminating opposition^[3] and also spreading the Atrisian script planetwide.^[2] The emperors of the dynasty employed the special forces unit Atrisian Assault Corps, which was fast, effective, and able to defeat any enemy it encountered. It itself included such units as His Majesty's Roto-gunners and Queen's Own Armored Cavalry Troop.^[5]

The Human^[4] Uueg Tching was the fifty-fourth Atrisian Emperor^[1] and a member of the Kitel Phard Dynasty.^[6] By the time of his reign, a group of inhabited continents was discovered by the Atrisians, and Tching proceeded to triumph remarkably over the peoples and nations of those landmasses.^[3] In the process, he expanded the Atrisian Empire to rule—either directly or indirectly—over the entire planet,^[1] and, with Tching's victory over the last of the continents, the use of Atrisian writing system was likewise established planetwide.^[2] The fifty-fourth emperor of Atrisia thus concluded^[1] the Kitel Phard Dynasty's efforts to unite their homeworld and usher in a golden age.^[3] Subsequently, Atrisia was sometimes known as Kitel Phard after the dynasty.^[4]

A successful tyrant

An enlightened despot,^[1] Tching employed ruthless but brilliant political gambits,^[2] and his rule was both tyrannical and successful, the latter of which he attributed to having insight in diplomacy, grand strategy, and effective use of spies.^[1] Nevertheless, at least thirty separate rebellions were planned against Tching's rule, although he managed to subvert all of them.^[3] On one occasion, he gave a speech on the rooting out of corruption that was also written down,^[6] and he provided subtle political and strategic advice in writing, as well.^[2]

At some point, Tching had his court scribes,^[2] who followed him everywhere,^[1] hand-record what would become known as the Sayings.^[2] It was a collection of parables, analogies, and cold-blooded instructions^[1] and advice^[2] that was intended to serve as a guide to Tching's heirs. Covering political manipulation, grand strategy, internal rule, and conquest, the document marked a change in Atrisian politics from brutal warfare toward the use of infiltration, espionage, and assassination. Tching later made hand-written additions, clarifications, and notes on the scrolls containing the Sayings, and, at least three thousand years^[1] prior to 11 ABY,^[7] the original manuscript of the document was stored in the Rare Books Department of the Atrisian Imperial Historical Library, where it remained for millennia.^[1]

Successors

Tching eventually became a legendary Atrisian Emperor^[3] who was remembered by the Atrisians for being skillful at diplomacy, war, and the maintaining of order. He was succeeded by the Tching Dynasty; however, few of its emperors bothered to heed the advice contained in the Sayings. Some exceptions who did do so where Oeana Tching—the famous "Invisible Empress"—and Eoaq the Expansive.^[1]°

The latter Atrisian Emperor brought about numerous reforms to the Atrisian Empire's bureaucracy. Although the Six Savage Viziers enacted counter-reforms that rolled back most of those changes, one that endured was the emperor's simplification of the Atrisian script.^[2] Approximately fifteen hundred years prior to^[1] 11 ABY,^[7] the ruling Atrisian Emperor—in order to display the superiority of Tching and, by extension, himself—had a small run of the Sayings printed for the Atrisian nobility.^[1]

Impact on the Republic

The Atrisian Parliament eventually wrested power from the Atrisian throne and, to demonstrate that authority,^[1] around 539 BBY^[8] it made the Sayings publicly available both in a general database format and in a special printed edition.^[1] After Tching's work began to make its way offworld, employees of^[2] the intelligence-gathering agency known as^[3] the Special Acquisitions Branch of the Library of the Republic came to appreciate the ancient emperor.^[2]

On the date 14:9:04, SAGroup chapter members of the Galactic Republic's Commission for the Protection of the Republic held a parade on Coruscant,^[6] the Republic's capital planet.^[4] During the ceremony, which was broadcast live throughout the Core Worlds, the fifteen-year–old SAGroup brigade leader Nenevanth Tion recited a speech by Tching, a fact that was later noted by a news report of the Core Edition of the HoloNet News.^[6] In rhetoric addressed at the senators of the Galactic Empire^[9] that was formed from the Republic in 19 BBY, Republic Supreme Chancellor–turned–Galactic Emperor^[10] Palpatine promised to bring about a galactic golden age akin to that achieved by the Kitel Phard Dynasty, a claim that was later noted by Rebel Alliance Chief of State Mon Mothma in a speech held on the planet Agamar.^[9]

Later legacy

By the time shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Atrisians still remembered the rulers of the Kitel Phard Dynasty with pride.^[3] The Special Acquisitions Branch's appreciation of the fifty-fourth Atrisian Emperor carried over to its successor, Imperial Intelligence,^[2] with the latter's Infiltration branch being particularly interested about Tching's dealings with the rebellions against his rule and with new Infiltration recruits being told legends about the ancient ruler.^[3]

The Atrisian Emperors, including Tching, were mentioned in a compilation of Imperial documents—including an Imperial Security Bureau report sent to the ISB Central Office—made shortly after the Battle of Yavin by Rebel historian Major Arhul Hextrophon for Mothma and other Rebel officers.^[3] They were also covered in a lecture by the xenoarchaeologist Doctor Corellia Antilles given at the Galactic Museum^[1] around 11 ABY.^[7] During the lecture, Antilles speculated that the original manuscript of the Sayings disappeared into Palpatine's private holdings approximately twelve years earlier because the Galactic Emperor had mastered the methods espoused by Tching and wanted to possess the scrolls containing his work as a trophy.^[1] In 38 ABY, the xenolinguist Doctor Milanda Vorgan's publication "The Written Word: A Brief Introduction to the Writing Systems of Galactic Basic" also documented the contribution of the Atrisian Emperors to the development of the Atrisian script.^[2]

Behind the scenes

The title "Emperor of Atrisia" was first mentioned in Greg Gorden's 1989 Imperial Sourcebook that was published by West End Games for use with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.^[11] In August 1997, the article "From the Files of Corellia Antilles," which was authored by Timothy O'Brien and published in fourteenth issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal magazine, identified the title as the Atrisian Emperor.^[1]

The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas featured the first illustration of an Atrisian Emperor—Uueg Tching—which was done by Chris Trevas;^[4] furthermore, according to an outline for Fry and Paul R. Urquhart's 2012 reference book, The Essential Guide to Warfare, that work would have featured a section focusing on Tching. However, the section was ultimately not included in the book.^[12] During the writing of the 2010 StarWars.com Hyperspace article "The Written Word,"^[13] which mentioned the Atrisian Emperor Eoaq the Expansive's reforms to the bureaucracy of the Atrisian Empire and its script, the author John Hazlett^[2] was inspired by the reforms made by the real-world^[13] 17th–18th century tsar and later Emperor of Russia Peter the Great,^[14] including those made to the Russian Cyrillic script.^[13]

Appearances

• "Republic HoloNet News Core Edition 14:9:04" — Star Wars Insider 70 (Mentioned only)
• The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic I: Remnant (Mentioned only) (Epigraph)

Sources

• Imperial Sourcebook (First mentioned)
• Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition
• "From the Files of Corellia Antilles" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 14 (First identified as Atrisian Emperor)
• Rules of Engagement: The Rebel SpecForce Handbook
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III ("Tching, Uueg")
• The Essential Atlas (First pictured)
• The Written Word on Hyperspace (article) (content obsolete and backup link not available)
• Endnotes for The Written Word on jSarek's Infonet — John Hazlett's StarWars.com Blog (original site is defunct)

Notes and references