By Valenca Arvina, Historian-in-Residence at Gwylim University
Much has been written about the great kings of the Reman dynasty. But between Reman I, Reman II, and Reman III, the Second Empire endured the reigns of less illustrious leaders. For example, Emperor Brazollus Dor. Famously uninterested in affairs of state, Brazollus Dor nonetheless held the throne for thirty-four years.
Brazollus Dor’s unreadiness for the throne began with the circumstances of his birth. He was the illegitimate son of Reman II and a common-born maid named Irinia Dor, who caught the eye of the newly crowned Emperor when he was visiting Skingrad. Although Reman II was fond of Irinia, he had to seek a marriage more suitable for the Ruby Throne. He soon left Irinia with a child and set up a comfortable estate to provide for them both.
A powerful, handsome youth, Brazollus strongly resembled his illustrious forebear Reman I, but he had little of the great man’s ambition or intuition. Since it was expected that Reman II would soon enough produce a legitimate heir, Brazollus settled into the life of a Colovian lordling, not an Imperial scion. He spent his days looking after his vineyard, hunting, and entertaining friends.
Then, in 1E 2843, the Ruby Throne fell to Brazollus when Reman II was slain in battle. With a heavy heart, the young man assumed the throne as Emperor Brazollus Dor, choosing to keep his mother’s name. For a time, he did his best to meet his new responsibilities in Cyrodiil. He even resumed his father’s campaign in Morrowind, fighting valiantly enough. But the White-Gold Tower weighed him down with administrative and diplomatic duties he was ill-suited to deal with.
Unhappy in Cyrodiil, Brazollus soon retreated to the Colovian countryside he loved, spending more and more time away from the capital. He delegated everything he could to his potentate, Sidri-Ashak, while he instead busied himself with the construction of Villa Doria, a palatial estate in the hills west of Skingrad. Brazollus returned to the White-Gold Tower less and less frequently, until soon enough he stopped bothering to go back at all.
For the last twenty years of Emperor Brazollus’s reign, the Villa Doria served as the Imperial court, although little official business was actually conducted there. Instead, it was a place of entertainment and diversions. The Emperor spent his time in games and revels (many of which turned into debauched orgies, to be perfectly honest), while Potentate Sidri-Ashak quietly administered the empire.
Brazollus Dor died suddenly in 1E 2877, still hale and hearty in his sixty-second year. Some suspected foul play. It was rumored that factions unhappy with Sidri-Ashak’s growing power decided to neutralize the potentate by bringing a vigorous new emperor to the throne. Reman III was only fourteen, but he quickly moved to return the Imperial court to Cyrodiil and exercise power in his own name. Brazollus Dor’s beloved Villa Doria was all but abandoned and later fell into ruin under the Akaviri Potentates.
What is the historian to make of Brazollus Dor? Few emperors accomplished less, yet the empire flourished during his reign. Alas, the same cannot be said of many of his more capable peers.
