Alexander I of Valeria

His Imperial Majesty Tsar Alexander I (November 19th, 1957 - April 1st, 2012) was Emperor of Magnus Valerius and Shorehaven (2000 - 2012), and the first man from House of Borivich-Vassilakos-Seleukios to ascend to the Valerian throne.

Early Life

Alexander I Feodorovich was born in Borivich Selo on November 19th, 1957 to Feodor Borivich and his wife Ivanna. Alexander was raised in opulence. He was given the best education possible and earned high grades. Throughout his life, he was at the top percentile in terms of academic performance, but Alexander's grades made him a pariah amongst school children. He was often lonely until he fell into a group of kids that included his future wife, Constantina Meijidovna, daughter of Meijis I.

In the year 1978, Alexander graduated from Tsar Ivan I University in Leda, Valeria, within the top percentile of his class, with a degree in Political Sciences. Alexander seemed destined to just exist for the rest of his life as a minor noble in Borivich Selo outside of Isangrad. In 1981, Alexander's father had negotiated with Tsar Meijis I for a marriage between Constantina and Alexander. The couple were in love, but since Alexander was of minor importance, he could be rejected. To the surprise of many, the benevolent emperor allowed the marriage to take place. Alexander's marriage to Constantina, the eldest daughter of Meijis, gave him the chance to ascend to the throne. It would change the history of the Empire. Alexander married Constantina in January 1982 and they soon started a family:

• Theodora (1983 - 2047)
• Alexander (1984 - 2045)
• Sophie (1988 - 2000)
• Aleksei (1993 - 2000)

In 1994, Feodor Borivich died, leaving Alexander in charge of the affairs of House Borivich. However, Alexander watched with ambivalence as the heirs of Meijis died in freak accidents or of disease. Soon, Meijis died in the year 2000, leaving Alexander the throne.

Reign, the Orissan Conflict, and the Creation of Shorehaven

Alexander was coroneted on March 12th, 2000. Soon after, however, aristocrats dissenting from the rise of a petty noble to the throne of Magnus Valerius banded together and met in the city of Orissa (Magnus Valerius) in the northeast of Magnus Valerius. This council, mostly of barons and enemies of the House of Borivich-Vassilakos-Seleukios, hired mercenaries and outside help to try and coup the government. The coup ended up being unsuccessful, but it flared up the Valerian-Orissan Conflict. These dissenters essentially wanted to make the small port city of Orissa secede from the Empire to form its own duchy with the rebel barons at the helm.

This civil war lasted for two months. At the Battle of Tyendahl Peak, 15,000 Valerian cossacks routed the Orissan forces, killing an estimated 40,000 Orissans and clearing a way for the cossack army to conquer the city. In the meantime, guerilla forces enlisted for the Orissan cause launched rockets at the Imperial Palace, destroying two rooms which, unfortunately, held Empress Constantina (Alexander's wife) and Alexander's two youngest children, Sophie and Aleksei.

Embroiled with rage and filled with grief, Alexander had the small city of Orissa razed and had the majority of its populace massacred or raped. He captured the rebel leaders and had them shot to death on a field about an hour east of Isangrad, with the Emperor there to witness their deaths. He personally crushed the skulls of the corpses before heading off to the capital. If the guerillas had not killed half of his cherished family, Alexander might have granted them lenient terms.

With his wife and youngest two children dead, Alexander quickly went downhill psychologically. He was reported to assault imperial guests with dining chairs and silverware, shouting obscenities especially at his two remaining children, and taking up heavy drinking. Although he was wasting away, he made one leap forward for Magnus Valerius when he founded the colony of Shorehaven. Shorehaven was discovered by a shipwrecked group of Valerians, who were on a cruise ship that sunk off the shore of what would become the city of New Batavia in Shorehaven. Alexander I quickly sent settlers and troops to claim the land for Magnus Valerius, and thus created Magnus Valerius' quickly growing and beneficial colony. Despite Alexander's issues, his leadership remained stable for the rest of his years.

Death

Alexander's drinking excesses and mania soon caught up with him as he progressed into his final years as emperor. While he was recovering from a major hangover, he grew feverishly ill, had developed the breath of the dead, and had started to turn a yellowish complexion. Alexander summoned doctors to determine the source of the afflicitions affecting the emperor as acute liver failure. Alexander's liver failure came suddenly and he soon died. On April 1st, 2012, he was deemed dead and passed on the throne to his son, Alexander.