The Courage of Ahraz
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Overview
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During the Autumn Equinox 386YE, Hazelelponi of the Shattered Tower asked the researchers at the Lepidean Library to investigate the life of the Emperor Ahraz and to "look further into the Auras and Courage surrounding Emperor Ahraz, so that knowledge gained may gird those who seek liberation, both tomorrow and in years to come". The request was linked to the ongoing attempts to liberate Asavea and the need to ensure that future attempts to free people were not affected by unsavoury auras.

Emperor Ahraz sat on the Throne from 324YE to 329YE and much of his official life was already a matter of public record. He was declared an exemplar of Courage by Isaac di Sarvos in Summer 378YE but his personal life is less well known and there has been longstanding interest in the Empire's only Freeborn Emperor - from both the Brass Coast and the Imperial Orcs. In 384YE, Vaclav Mladenovich Kosti, the Minister of Historical Research at the time ordered research into the names and lives of the honour guard of ten orcs interred in Ahraz' tomb alongside the Emperor's remains.

Birth on the Coast
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Emperor Ahraz, was born Ahraz i Tamerlin i Guerra, a poor child of one of the poorer families on the Brass Coast. There is little record of his early childhood which appears to have been largely unremarkable. He was taken as the apprentice of a scrivener, Marats i Casta i Guerra, who seems to have acted as something of a mentor to the young boy, teaching him to read, to write rather than encouraging him to attend the local school as others would.

His teacher appears to have had a huge influence on the young boy. Ahraz always spoke of Marats with great fondness his entire life. He is quoted saying of him that "while my peers had their minds drowned in a choking sea of tedious facts, Marats taught me to sail a sea of infinite possibilities. He taught me that the people of the Coast are born free, and showed me how the world constantly clambers to take that freedom away. That we must fight for our Freedom with every breath we draw, or we will be lost."

Such rebelliousness was always likely to lead to trouble and so it proved. As he grew to be a youth, Ahraz had numerous run-ins with magistrates and the law. The Freeborn have always detested slavery, but by Imperial law it was legal at that time, and there were people who possessed orc slaves who would visit Freeborn ports on occasion. Ahraz was caught breaking the law, engineering the escape of slaves, on three separate occasions. He was considered a smart lad, quick-witted, eloquent and sharp-tongued, so if he was caught three times they were likely not the only times he made the attempt.

At his third trial, he received a huge fine of 8 thrones for his actions. According to the court reports, the size of the fine was set high because he obstinately refused to plead clemency for his actions and proclaimed that there was nothing in the Way that absolved him of guilt. When the magistrate asked him if he would repeat the crime given the opportunity he is said to have brazenly boasted that he intended to free every slave in the world and that he would permit no law of any kind to stand in his way.

The fine was effectively a death sentence. His family might have hoped to raise a few crowns, maybe even a throne or two by borrowing from other families, but there was no way they could possibly raise such a princely sum. The young lad's story would have ended there were it not for what some claim is a miracle. According to the legends, someone placed an empty amphora in the market place with a sign above it that simply read "A night of guilt-free sleep - 1 ring". The next day they took the amphora to the magistrates and used it to pay the whole of Ahraz's fine with the rest distributed to the poor.

On the face of it, Ahraz appears to have learned his lesson after that, certainly he never got in trouble with the Imperial law again. In practice it is clear that his brush with death had simply made the young firebrand realise how much more he might achieve if he took the time to plan what he was doing. He said of this time "The magistrates didn't impart Wisdom, but they did teach me the overwhelming importance of Ambition."

The Journey to the Throne
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Ten years later Ahraz arrived in Anvil still burning with the passion of youth to change the world. He came alone at first, and took the Coast by storm. He was chosen as adjutant by one of the Freeborn generals by the end of his first summit, and by the end of the year he had rallied a large group of young, passionate, politically active Freeborn to his banner. Officially they ran a parador, called Freedom to Breathe, which became infamous for the extraordinary parties hosted by their Sutannir, an entrancing musician called Elaine i Casta i Guerra.

Unofficially many people started referring to them as the "Firebrands". It was meant as an insult, but they took it as their unofficial moniker. The group were beyond passionate, driven and utterly committed to their cause, they were everywhere, and involved in everything. They were active in Conclave, constantly pushing the Conclave to act. They raised controversial judgements in the Synod, and would work Anvil three times over until they found enough priests to vote for them. Ahraz later said of this time "We came to Anvil, determined that we would either save the Empire from itself or burn the entire rotten edifice to the ground. We thought we were gods. We believed there was nothing we could not achieve."

The Firebrands continued to grow in power, and there was talk that Ahraz or his scrivener might earn enough money to buy the senate seat for Madruga. Before that could happen however, the Orc Rebellion began. The rebellion had an electrifying effect on the Firebrands and transformed their political fortunes.

In response to the rebellion, the civil service presented briefings that described opportunities for the Empire to consider before each summit, offering a number of ways the Empire might respond to the growing crisis. At each turn the Firebrands argued passionately that the Empire should seek to make concessions with the orcs - they failed each and every vote. The Senate chose instead to tighten their grip on the situation, even sending armies to deal with the orcs. Each time the situation grew worse, and every time it did, political support for the Firebrands continued to spread.

By 324YE it was clear to everybody that the situation had become intolerable and that everything the Senate had tried had failed. On Friday night, an amphora was placed in the clearing of the Freedom to Breathe parador with a sign that again read "A night of guilt-free sleep - 1 ring". The next day, Elaine i Casta i Guerra, was elected senator for Madruga. Her very first action as senator was to raise a motion calling for an election to the throne.

Nobody was surprised when Ahraz stood for the title, but they were surprised by his speech. There were three rival candidates, all of whom delivered obsequious speeches praising the Senate and talking of how important it was to be a voice for the Senate, to reflect its wisdom.

Ahraz went last and chose a different path. He proclaimed the doom of the Empire and said that if it didn't change course it would be destroyed. He tore into the senators, lambasting them for every decision they had taken on the orc rebellion. He personally called them out by name, shaming them for the decisions they had taken, the crowd loved it, but it was very clear he was winning no friends where it counted.

Then at the crescendo of the speech he loudly proclaimed that if the Senate elected him to the Throne he would end the rebellion within a single year or stand down. The announcement thrilled the crowd even as it shocked them to silence. He dared the Senate to prove him wrong and claimed that if they didn't vote for him it was because they wanted to stop him from being proved right. Moments later Firebrands in the crowd began to shout his name. Stunned senators found themselves voting while surrounded by a crowd of hundreds all chanting for Ahraz.

It is well known that some of Ahraz most fervent opponents voted for him. The Varushkan senator for Miekarova, Ingra Colvaera, who detested Ahraz was explicit about it. She later told the Anvil press that she only voted for this callow youth because his arrogance demanded that he be given the rope he needed to hang himself.

Despite his triumph in the Senate, Ahraz came close to failing the second test. He narrowly survived a vote by the Imperial Synod to veto the Senate motion to appoint him. Senators who had been bounced into supporting him by the crowd turned their coats once the throngs had melted away. A rumour spread that Ahraz was a heretic, based on the fact that he was bonded to a rare Freeborn magical item called the Shackle of Freedom. This belt of chains boosted Ahraz's personal conviction and passion, allowing him to respond with a burst of passion to anything that might influence his feelings, (like a circlet of falling snow), but it had the unfortunate side effect that it concealed his aura from any attempt to read it, much like a Shackle of the Unvirtuous.

A hasty inquisition was passed through the Synod and Ahraz was compelled to appear before the Assembly of the Nine. They demanded he remove the Shackle and allow them to examine his aura. A winter mage duly broke the bond with the item, and his aura was read and the Assembly confirmed he was dedicated to... Ambition.

Unfazed by this unexpected result, one of the cardinals demanded to know if Ahraz had ever been dedicated to any other virtue. Ahraz is reported to have responded calmly and said "I have been dedicated to many Virtues - the one constant in my life is my dedication to the Freedom, Prosperity, and Dignity of the inhabitants of the Empire." The rest of the