AUTARCH GENERATOR

I realised that we haven’t ever actually seen a random generator for the lives of the Autarchs who once ruled Vaarn. Given the flexible approach to historical canon that the setting is known for, this seemed like an oversight to me, so I have rectified it.

It’s not overly complex: you get a random Autarch name and ordinal, as well as the nickname their subjects gave them and the iconography they are usually depicted with. You also get some very basic biographical details: their posthumous reputation, the length of their reign, the cause of their death, a few details about their spouse, and who they left behind to continue the dynasty.

My hope is that if you ever need a random Autarch to be depicted on a vase or mural, you have a quick reference point here. In my personal canon the Autarchs were a science-fantasy blend of the Pharaohs and Roman Emperors, so I’ve defaulted to them being male patriarchs who passed down their Autarchies patrilinarly (although this doesn’t have to be true for your version, and I’d wager there were at least a few Autarchs who were Goddess-Queens even if you assume the system as a whole was patriarchal).

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d20	Forename	Family Name	Ordinal	Known As	Iconography
1	Ardar	Eld	I	the Strangler	Dove
2	Ibbn	Al	II	the Bloody	Sandworm
3	Uluz	Ibb	III	the Devout	Scorpion
4	Rama	Uz	IV	the Hesitant	Lion
5	Luxim	Esk	V	the Scholar	Alzabo
6	Uzziah	Un	VI	the Beggar	Jackal
7	Zezek	Oz	VII	the Wasp	Wasp
8	Irenet	Liss	VIII	the Serpent	Serpent
9	Qetet	Surt	IX	the Silent	Ibis
10	Xalfar	Abn	X	the Poet	Peacock
11	Othor	Usk	XI	the Traveller	Crocodile
12	Hekau	Yosk	XII	Full-belly	Cornucopia
13	Meskhep	Ak	XIII	the Empty Handed	Hawk
14	Leontinax	Ik	XIV	the Gatekeeper	Keys
15	Khonori	Yix	XV	Who Waited	Hourglass
16	Valexios	Dul	XVI	the Starwatcher	Stars
17	Nehmeel	Ebb	XVII	the Painter	Sun
18	Hahalik	Utt	XVIII	the Dancer	Full Moon
19	Justux	Od	XIX	the Fool	Hollow Skull
20	Zephthys	Apse	XX	the Lawgiver	Mountain

d20	Reputation	Their Reign	Cause of Death	Autarch’s Spouse	Heirs
1	Despised Monster	Four Days	Poisoned (Wine)	Extrasolar Prince/ss	Named a Non-sentient Animal
2	Evil Coward	Fortnight	Poisoned (Arrow)	Famed Warrior	Twin Bastards
3	Fratricidal Lunatic	Six Months	Poisoned (Candle)	Famed Enchanter	Sickly, Unsuited
4	Spineless Failure	Two Years	Murdered (Viziers)	Famed Charioteer	Infant; Mother Ruled as Regent
5	Brutal Glutton	Six Years	Betrayed (Soldiers)	Beautiful, Miserable	Seven Daughters, No Sons
6	Negligent Wastrel	Ten Years	Executed (Own Clone)	Ruthless Climber	A Coward and a Braggart
7	Aesthete Idiot	Sixteen Years	Murdered (Spouse)	Masked Mystic	Timid Painter
8	Pious Dullard	Twenty Five Years	Eaten by Alzabo	Famed Poet	Thirteen Bastard Sons
9	Barely Worth Mention	Fifty Years	Hunting Accident	Spent Their Days Drinking	No Direct Heir; Several Feuding Cousins
10	Folk Hero	Six Decades	Trampled by Zoxen	Died Young; Autarch Never Remarried	Five Awful Sons
11	Generally Forgotten	Seventy Years	Fell from Window	Synthetic Bride	Innumerable Children
12	Scholarly Nonentity	Eight Decades	Died in Battle	Known as the True Ruler	Left None; Succession Crisis
13	Brave and Bold	Nine Decades	Heart Attack at Orgy	Erratic Murderer	Gambling Addict
14	Serial Bigamist	100 Years	Thrown out of Airlock	Dull but Kind	Single Irresponsible Daughter
15	Cunning, Cruel	110 Years	Teleportation Accident	Anti-Synth Fanatic	Identical Triplets
16	Icy Manipulator	120 Years	Vehicle Crash	Patron of the Arts	No Children, Cloned Self
17	Religious Zealot	140 Years	Ritual Suicide	Ex-Gladiator	Named a Synth; Scandal
18	Married own Siblings	150 Years	Choked on Olive	Relative of Autarch	Child Not Truly Autarch’s
19	Overly Cautious	170 years	Earthquake	Daemon Worshipper	Reckless Idiot
20	Loved by All	200 Years	Old Age	Subject of Famous Statue	Well-liked and Suitable

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Some Random Autarchs

Finally, as is customary, I’ll roll up a few suzerains of Urth and see what we get.

First Autarch: Uzziah Oz XVI, whose subjects knew him as the Hesitant Autarch. He is depicted holding a key. He is remembered as being overly cautious, reigned 25 years, and died of old age. His spouse was a masked mystic, and he was succeeded by five awful sons.

Uzziah XVI seems like a minor figure in the history of the Autarchy. One wonders at the significance of the key: was this a true gate that he was hesitant to open, or does it symbolise occult knowledge that he hesitated to fully grasp? His mystical wife may have been the source of the knowledge Uzziah refused to understand. His tomb may hold the answers…

Second Autarch: Ardar Surt XII, whose subjects knew him as ‘the Beggar’. He is depicted beneath a full moon. He is remembered as a fratricidal lunatic, whose eighty year reign ended in ignomy when he was trampled to death by stampeding zoxen. His wife is remembered as the true ruler of the Autarchy, far more cunning than Ardar XII, and he left behind a single son: a gambling addict.

Ardar XII was clearly of Lunan descent, and if his symbolism wasn’t proof enough, we can see that he’s remembered as a ‘lunatic’, the men of Luna often mocked on Urth as unstable and somehow feminine. The two spheres were sometimes at war and sometimes unified during the High Autarchic period, although it’s unusual to see a full-blooded Lunan ascend to the Peacock Throne. Ardar XII’s nickname stems from his practise of dressing up as a beggar and roaming the streets of Luz to listen to what his common subjects were saying of him, a disguise somewhat hampered by his mighty stature and pale Lunan features. Regrettably his reign ended in the zox markets of Luz, when a careless stablehand discharged a firecracker and caused a stampede that claimed the lives of sixteen lowfolk and one God-king in disguise. That this was an accident did not spare the stablehand from the full penalty for Autarchicide, and his suffering was long indeed.