The Thonian Empire was established by King Robert of Genova.

726 years later, Thonia becomes a Republic. It is still a republic today, but in name only and Iyx is the current Emperor.

What happened in year 726 that made the citizens proclaim Thonia a republic? Interestingly, this coincides with the Revolt of the Ten the year before which lead to the Heroes of Ten being driven out and relocating in the Duchy of Ten.

Now, I think that in order to keep things less confusing it is better to keep the Genova bloodline as goodguys. We don't know how many generations the Genova Dynasty lasted for, but things seem to start going wrong for the Thonian Empire some time between the destruction of the Temple of Id and the 700s when we see the beginning of waves of "Unwanted" starting to flow into Blackmoor and the Duchy of Ten.

I think it would make sense that the Genova Dynasty ends sometime priror to the 700s. I would like to see the assassins guild involved (see DA1 for details) and perhaps some attempt by another noble family to establish a new line of kings. I could see this evil throne unsurper being backed up by the hidden Cult of Id. The Heroes of Ten (sometimes Knights of Ten) could have been old supporters of the Genova Dynasty who made a final revolt in 725 which was then stopped by the new king's armies, forcing the heroes to leave for the North. However, as a backlash of the King's use of force, the remaining nobles and overall population declare a Republic, placing the power in the hands of the Senate. I would like to think that the Senate ('m using that term because it fits with the overall analogy to Roman history) was etablished by King Robert I.

The idea of a King never went fully away in Thonia though and over the next centuries, the power balance between the King and Senate seem to have shifted back and forth over time.

During the early days of adventures in Dave Arneson's campaign, Thonia (The Great Kingdom) seems to have been a benevolent realm that gave its support towards the heroes and nobles of Blackmoor against the Egg of Coot. This would have changed again with the ascendance of then Child Emperor Iyx in the year 1000 and his actions which eventually resulted in Uther's Rebellion.

So what do you think of the Genova Dynasti? What do you think caused their eventual downfall and when did it occur?

Where did the other kings come from?


-Havard

If you look at real world dynasties, 700 years would be extraordinary. Only the Japanese, under a very different sort of culture, have done better than that.

Egyptian dynasties, for instance typically lasted 100 to 400 years with most being somewhere in the middle. So I would suggest that maybe a couple dynasties have come and gone by the 700 year mark. Perhaps a good old king had died and a tyrant took his place?