Monumental in person, actions, and effect, Devon-Lars I oversaw the age of the greatest successes of the Uzdumalian empire, not only in expanding its borders, but in artistic and cultural accomplishment and wide-ranging reforms. Devon-Lars' mentor, General Leontalos, guided him to assume control of the empire for himself when he was still very young, a mere twelve years old, and many of the most radical reforms of Devon-Lars' reign date to the first eight years---when he was still young enough simply not to care what his older advisors (excepting Leontalos, whose advice, while he lived, always weighed heavily with the young Emperor) or indeed the general populace thought.  The Air-Palace, deemed a strategic folly while still in planning stages, was a product of Devon-Lars' sixteenth year, and the Baloghs are two years younger.

The reforms that the young Emperor pushed through by means, in most cases, of sheer obstinacy eventually found acceptance because of their apparent success: his strategic innovations, despite not being the product of study, led the burgeoning empire to victory after victory on the battlefield, and the unwillingness to bow to social niceties that prompted the first and only major overhaul of the Uzdan class system bore fruit in a civil service that functioned better and more smoothly than it ever had before.  And the artists and patrons of the arts of this period continue to be renowned.  This has led to a certain amount of hagiography among misty-eyed historians who appear to believe that the accomplishments of this so-called golden age mean it was free from all sorts of base skullduggery and low politicking.  The widely-disseminated anecdote concerning Devon-Lars' visit to Ambarak demonstrates this amply.  The basic form of the story is widely known: seeking to unseat the Glenrid elites of the city, which was still semi-autonomous, and bring it under his power more thoroughly, the boy emperor assembled both the elders of the city and their young acolytes in the oldest of their sacred groves.  While the Soltan elite were hemmed in by armed guards on all sides, Devon-Lars went from ancient tree to ancient tree with an axe, chopping into each one.  (The trees were then felled by a team of soldiers.)  Letting the elders go but retaining their acolytes in what was left of the grove, Devon-Lars told them that soon enough they would assume the places of their masters as they died of old age.  He pointed out to them the sickly shrubs that had lately been overshadowed by the sacred trees and told them that, just as they would now be able to grow tall and enjoy the light of the sun themselves, so too would Ambarak itself---provided that it abandon its old ways and submit to him, who would enable that growth. He said to them that if they became his clients, he would return in thirty years and, if the city and the trees had not both become strong, he would allow any citizen of the city one pass at him with the very axe that had given the first cuts to the ancient trees.  True to his word, he returned to the city and lay in the square, but no one took him up on his offer: the city had indeed become prosperous and notable under his rule.

We see a hint of the savage in the way the elders of the city are dealt with: but really.  The traditional second half of the story is almost too cute to be true.  We know, of course, that the offer was only extended to citizens of the city, and that there was a substantial noncitizen population.  Of course the Emperor, no mere boy any longer, would separate out from those actually in the city that day those who were not citizens.  And in doing so why should we not believe that he separated out all those who would in fact desire to nick his neck?  In those days he traveled everywhere with a substantial security presence.  And although the whole affair is generally cast as renegotiation of the terms of the suzerainty between Ambarak and the Empire, consider the situation more closely: the Glenrid elders practically driven mad by the destruction of their trees, and their acolytes still under the armed surveillance of Devon-Lars' guard, the refusal of his offer (whose terms were by no means light) was hardly a possibility.

There is no doubt that Devon-Lars I's reforms were quite effective at what they did, and that social unrest during his reign was remarkably low (though it should be born in mind that the country was constantly at war, and elements that might have contributed to that unrest were generally fighting in some hinterland for the greater glory of Uzda).  But the image of him as an enlightened and beneficent ruler owes more to his officially sanctioned biography than the historical record.  In fact, it is likely that he never stopped being a 12 year old boy suddenly invested with the means to get his way no matter the cost.  His way often turned out not to be too damaging, but his reign was one of impetuosity, not wisdom.  It is no accident that most of his accomplishments come from the period when General Leontalos still lived.

Air-Palace of Leontalos

Ambarak

Balogh-Isoherranen Exams

Chronology: Early, Later, and Last Periods

Class Systems of the Uzdumalian Empire

Glenrid Tree Worship

General Leontalos