Jar Zorn



Jar Zorn (20 Sep 1256 - 7 Aug 1332) was an evil politician who served as the fifth Emperor of the Great Empire (1302-32), and is infamously known for threatening to dismantle the Empire, betray its people and their ideals, and weakening its power and influence, leading into the Great Civil War (1327-32), which  ended with overthrow, Zorn's execution, and founding of the Second Great Empire. He was preceded by Parmez Akdok and succeeded by Essemar Kuz.

Background
The early days of Jar Zorn are shrouded in mystery, though he may have been born into a wealthy family mafia. It is unknown what race he was, but it was humanoid. He began entering politics at age 21, and his insight was deemed 'questionable'. During his early years, he made several trips with friends to specific locations throughout space. The purpose of these trips remain unknown. His status rose as he attained higher positions and prominence, though his colleagues were skeptical of him. Zorn was opposed to the reign and policies of Emperor Parmez Akdok, which he expressed publicly but subtly.

Emperor
With the sudden death of Akdok, under mysterious circumstances, there was a nomination crisis over a successor. Zorn's action kicked in here, and was voted on by the majority of Empire leaders (even those who previously opposed him), and became Emperor of the Great Empire on 30 August 1302. Zorn 'attained full control, was charismatic, and calculating' during his first years. He rearranged the entire Empire Council and Court, much like 'packing', over the course of seven years. The newly formed council and court proposed policies that he agreed with, ones that would slowly weaken the Empire. It was noted that large sums of money were mysteriously exchanged during this period, along with several small wars occurring in space with Empire victory, as to aid Zorn's image as Emperor. Instead of converting the planets to democracies, they instead had slavery implemented and large corporations sent there for low-wage work and no taxes.

By 1320, Zorn's legitimacy began coming into question by most politicians and scholars, regarding allegations of exposed war crimes. Zorn betrayed and put the blame to his cabinet advisors, who were charged and imprisoned. In 1325, Judge Aleis Mormow deemed Zorn's actions unconstitutional and threatening of the empire. At this time, the people began protesting and demanding his impeachment. Though he was technically voted out, he paid to have the votes nullified. The act was exposed and he faced charges of race trafficking, corruption, fraud, and blackmail. He was tried in court through the spring of 1326, with the verdict deciding he was 'not guilty'. Immediately revolts and protests began. As the year went on, they became riots and violence increased. The riots were often neutralized by force sent personally by Zorn. On one incident, he ordered 21 protesters be 'put down', inciting public outrage, and one person burned the Great Palace lawn, with assassination attempts.

Zorn's actions were now deemed 'acts of war', followed by a large split and conflict within the empire, between those who supported the current conservative empire (but didn't necessarily like Zorn) and rebels who kept to the original liberal and democratic ideals, and supported its overthrow and reformation. Events escalated into the full fledged Great Civil War in 1327. Zorn kept quiet on this and never went out in public, as he paid to have the attention turned away from him, and instead focused on splitting the empire. Radical politician and freedom fighter Duncar Kuz, former school bullying victim of Zorn, became the Rebel Commander, while Zorn had his top military advisors lead the 'patriots' under his influence.

From 1327 to 1332, massive, bloody, and brutal civil war tore the empire apart. Few outside sources aided or took sides, however many were effected, as the empire was among the largest and most prominent in the universe. Duncar Kuz's brother, Essemar, became a political leader while his brother took military command. He exposed Zorn's war crimes and injustice. His supporters took this as a signal for execution. In May 1331, Duncar was assassinated by bullet, causing war to go into full rage and chaos as the rebels took to leading themselves. On 7 August 1332, Jar Zorn was secretly taking residence on Planet Earth (Lookout) in Supreme City, where he had secret councils. His location was exposed days earlier, and massive rebel forces came to 'visit him' in the city, where they met opposition, leading to the sacking and burning of the entire city. Zorn was forced out of the palace and bloodily beheaded in the street, signalling rebel victory. There were calls for him to be taken to trial instead, but they were too late.

In the following weeks, the Constitution of the Empire was revised and updated. Due to him, new legislation and precedents were established to prevent 'terrorists' like him from becoming Emperor. His entire system was purged and affiliates were charged. His actions weakened, destabilized, and tore apart the Empire. Essemar Kuz was nominated and elected as the first Emperor of the Second Great Empire. However, that fall, the new Empire accepted help and became part of Kastair United (which was supported by Zorn)--which would be their downfall later.