Zulikaarme: A House of Broken Spirits

I’m continuing my deeper dive into the foundations of my fictional universe. In the world of Lucardia, kingdoms rise and fall, and ancient legacies shape the destinies of those bound to them. The Zulikaarme family and their ancestral capital city of Brae stand at the center of a tragic tale of ambition, sacrifice, and resilience—a story that forms the foundation of Absolution of the Morning Star series, the prequel Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest, and the offshoot The Novice of Thanatos.

The Zulikaarme dynasty is one of Lucardia’s most defining forces, known for its relentless ambition and the shadows cast by its victories. Their story pivots on the fall of Brae, an event that would propel King Vesper Zulikaarme to pursue unity at any cost, igniting the War of the Twelve Kingdoms and reshaping Lucardia’s fate.

This blog delves into the origins of this family, the rise of their influence, and the choices that tore them apart, leaving a legacy of broken spirits and heavy consequences that echo across Lucardia.

The Kingdom of Brae: From the Spire to Zulikaarme’s Seat

With a legacy spanning over 500 years, the Zulikaarme Kingdom’s capital city of Brae traces its origins to the shattered empire of King Rhime of the Spire, briefly the second uniter of Lucardia. After Rhime’s empire fell, his younger brother, Ragnar Battenborne, took the name Zulikaarme—meaning “coiled snake” in the old tongue—and established Brae as an independent kingdom. Known for its rich orchards and seafaring people, Brae grew to embody resilience and tradition—qualities that would make it vulnerable to war some twenty generations later.

The Assassination of King Berwyn and Vesper’s Rise to Power

The War of the Twelve Kingdoms began with the assassination of King Berwyn of Anworth, a calculated move by the Garrish Kingdom. In the chaos that followed, House Garrish seized the chance to expand its power, claiming South Dardark and exerting control over Zulikaarme’s traditional fishing territories. With Berwyn’s death, Garrish positioned itself as a regional powerhouse, threatening the much smaller Zulikaarme kingdom’s trade routes and resources.

In response, Vesper Zulikaarme moved quickly before his kingdom was choked to death, marrying Berwyn’s daughter, Constance, to forge an alliance with the Anworth Kingdom. This marriage and the blending of dynasties upset Lucardia’s delicate balance of power and was opposed by the rest of the Twelve Kingdoms. Before Vesper and Constance were bogged down in the politics of their act, Vesper launched a surprise invasion of South Dardark under the auspices of vengeance. He clashed with Garrish’s forces and killed their king in the colony of Grafton Notch, igniting alliances and rivalries that would plunge Lucardia into all-out war.

The Siege of Brae

As the War of the Twelve Kingdoms escalated, Brae became the first city in Lucardia to suffer a bombardment from ship-mounted artillery introduced by the Battenbourne forces, Garrish’s allies. Within days, Brae’s walls crumbled under the relentless assault, and explosions echoed across the countryside. Scorched stones, twisted metal, and ash replaced the once-blooming orchards. The Battenbournes left only charred memories, torching the ruins and piling bodies high until Brae was lost to ash. The savagery of Brae’s annihilation shocked the realm, marking a dark turning point in the war.

Vesper was in Runemaul, ancestral seat of the Anworths, directing the northern campaign when he heard the Battenbournes had moved on Brae from the sea. Confident Brae’s defenses would hold against a traditional blockade, Vesper continued his northern push toward the Battenbournes’ own capital. But this wasn’t a conventional siege, and Brae fell swiftly. Though spared dying with his city, a part of Vesper withered upon seeing his beloved Brae reduced to rubble, forever altering the course of his ambitions and the kingdom’s fate.

Vesper the Uniter: A Legacy Forged in Ash

The fall of Brae marked a pivotal transformation for Vesper. Set adrift and searching for purpose with his ancestral home in ruins, he remembered a vision glimpsed in the wattle-and-daub church of his youth, giving him a new purpose. He envisioned an empire unified under the Caspian faith—a Lucardia that could rise from division into a realm of light, bound by Caspia’s Great Beholding and emblazoned with the image of the Sword and Sun. With nothing left to lose, Vesper was given the impetus to face unimaginable odds.

Brae’s loss was more than a wound; it severed a gangrenous limb of Vesper’s past and gave the future emperor the resolve to forge a new order through conquest and spiritual unity.

Koen’s Reflection on the Cost of Power

For Koen, Vesper’s second-born son, the fall of Brae was more than the loss of his home; as a boy, the searing devastation he witnessed etched indelible scars that would fuel his later doubts about his father’s ambitions. Later, as a man, he returned to Brae’s ruins, now overgrown and left untouched as a memorial. There, he saw a city lost in the pursuit of unity, marking a point where he began questioning his father’s legacy. Thus, Brae would again become a defining symbol in another son of Zuilkaarme.

The Price of Empire

The Zulikaarme legacy is one of resilience tempered by profound loss. Brae, once a thriving metropolis and the heart of a proud kingdom, became the first casualty of Vesper’s vision; its ruins symbolize the cost of ambition. Driven by the devastation of his homeland, Vesper built an empire of light, but the shadow of that empire would weigh heavily on his descendants. Fifteen years later, Koen and his younger brother, Prince Sylvanus, would rise in rebellion, their defiance underscoring the sacrifices that marked Vesper’s reign—a legacy built on broken spirits, haunted by the toll of power.

Thus, the stage is set for Vesper’s grandson, Erikson Gray—a new heir to both the aspirations and burdens of Lucardia’s troubled legacy. In his journey, Brae will once more become a crucible of choice for the Zulikaarme. But to uncover Erikson Gray’s fateful path, you’ll have to delve into the pages of what’s to come. Destiny of the Daystar, book 4 of the Absolution of the Morning Star series, will be available in January 2025.

Cheers!