Ferrum dom Manus

Ferrus dom Vinicius
Heraldry of The Imperial House of Manus
Imperator of Cedronia
In office	1636-current
Preceded by	none (position established)
Patriarch of the House of Manus-Lysandria
In office	1629-current
Preceded by	Obsidianus dom Manus II
General Secretary of the Seresian National Resurrectionist Worker's Party
In office	1624-current
Preceded by	none (position established)
Imperator of the Imperial Armed Forces of Cedronia
In office	1636-current
Preceded by	none (position established)
First-Consul of the Republic Cedronia
In office	1630-present
Preceded by	none (position established)
Vice-Consul of the Republic Cedronia
In office	1630-1632
Preceded by	none (position established)
Legate of the Kingdom of Cedronia
In office	1625-1630
Personal details
Born	1590 (58 years old)
Political party	Resurrectionist Party
Spouse(s)	Adamentia dona Manus
Children	• Gravilapia dona Manus • Durumlapia dona Manus • Obsidianus dom Manus • Ferrum dom Manus II • Argentius dom Manus • Granitia the Younger • Aurumus dom Manus
Parents	• Obsidianus the Elder • Granitia the Elder
Siblings	• Aurum dom Manus (Younger brother) • Argentum dom Manus (Younger brother)
Military service
Nickname(s)	Iron Hand The Enforcer
Allegiance	Cedronia
Rank	Imperator
Battles/wars	First Coalition War Second Coalition War Third Coalition War Fourth Coalition War Cedronian Revolution Cedronian Civil War

Ferrus dom Vinicius is a Cedronian statesman and military leader who rose to prominence during the Coalition Wars and led several successful campaigns against uprisings against the Cedronian Kingdom. He is currently the Chancellor-Imperator of North Cedronia as Ferrus I, with his heir-apparent being his oldest son Ferrum dom Manus II. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the National Cedronain Armed Forces, the General Secretary of the Seresian National Resurrectionist Workers Party branch in Cedronia and the Patriarch of the Imperial House of Manus-Lysandria.

Ferrus was born to the House of Manus, a cadet branch of the Great House of Arven in the western mountains of Cedronia. During the Coalition Wars, Manus distinguished himself as a skilled warrior and a cunning strategist, rising through the military ranks and becoming a well known war hero. Ferrus was one of the leading figures of the Cedronian Revolution and led a campaign against his former parent house of the House of Arven, personally ordering the execution of the entire House. After pacifying his home region, Ferrus leads his army to the capital, arriving the day of the Obliration of Antiqupolis and the death of Lucius Regulus. With the death of many leaders of both sides, the revolutionaries and the royal government enact a ceasefire and divide the country into the Nationalist North Cedronia led by the Chancellor-Imperator Ferrus and the Royalist South Cedronia led by the last surviving member of the Royal family.

Arteus

Personality

Ferrum aiding in the overthrow of the Reynar Royal family in an attempt to create a more fair and just world, however in doing so he indirectly aided in creating a more hellish world than the one he wanted to live and grow a family in. Being a brilliant architect, he wanted to create beautiful works of art, but his work as Imperator forced him into destroying things without ever being able to stretch his creative muscles. He was a philosopher and an intellectual, but he was required to enforce dystopian thought control over the populations he conquered. He wanted to be respected and praised for his accomplishments, but was assigned mostly to garrison duty and various minor campaigns where he could never get any of the renown he so desperately wanted. He was a creative and empathetic individual, but nobody ever gave his ideas a second thought nor cared enough to get to know him. He wanted to find the sort of familial love that he was denied by his adoptive father, but his sister was terrified of him and his real father saw him as nothing but a tool.

History

Early Years

Manus was born in 1590 to the previous lords of the House of Manus, a cadet branch of the Great Noble House of Arven. When he was still a boy, his father rebelled against the House of Arven, causing the near extinction of the Manus's save for Ferrum himself who is taken in and fostered by the Arvens. During this time, he is raised as a son of the Arvens and befriends Quintus dom Arven, the youngest son.

Early Career

Manus joined the military in 1607 at the age of 17. Like all nobles, Manus was able to immediately attain the rank of Centurion upon joining the military, however he chose to start as common soldier, believing no one should be granted special privileges due to the birth. Manus quickly rose through the ranks and in 1609, he applied to the Royal Military Academy for army officer training. From his readings, Manus, who frequently spoke of "dignity, glory, and freedom" in his youth, became enchanted with the stories of national liberators and heroic conquerors; a military career became his chief priority. As well, while in the academy Manus began to develop nationalist sentiments and spread those sentiments to other officers-in-training. He graduated in 1610 and was commissioned as Centurion, the rank that Quintus had retained for three years.

First Coalition War

Shortly after graduated, the First Coalition War started with the newly formed Celestial Hegemony. Manus was quickly put on the front lines of the war and despite the initial winnings of the Coalition against the Hegemony, he wrote of the Cedronian army's unpreparedness, saying "our soldiers were dashed against fortifications". Manus's thoughts were proven correct as the war became stalemated in 1612 and in 1613 the Coalition was beginning to lose ground.

By 1616, the war had reached Coalition lands and was clear to all that the Coalition could not hold out for much longer. However, Manus and his Century held an area that became known as the Agar Pocket. On 12 July, he was lightly wounded in the fighting. By August, his Century was surrounded by the Celestial Army. Appeals for help from Ashkal's Army went unheeded, but the brigade refused to surrender. Finally, in 1617, a peace accord was signed and Manus and his men were allowed to return home unharmed. After the war, Manus learns that his father died from wounds he received in an effort to relieve Ferrum and his men from the encirclement. With his father's death, Ferurm became the new Patriarch of the House of Manus.

Patriarch of the House of Manus

Manus, for his actions during the war, was promoted to Military Tribune and received critical acclaim from the Royal government. It was in the capital, that he meets his first wife, Larissa. After a week, the two get married. Shortly after their marriage, Manus's liege lord and adoptive father, demanded all loans incurred by both Ferrum's father and the royal government, to be paid in full, something Manus could not achieve and the King unwilling to. The King, finding a common interests in dealing with the House of Arven, promises Ferrum a chance to avenge his family's massacre as well as gain the title of Dominarch, with the House of Manus being the new ruling lords of the Megara, in addition they would have the full backing of the royal military to subdue the Arvens by any means necessary. Manus, feeling an obligation to his King, agrees and lays siege to the city of Nicosia, the seat of Arven power.

On the fifth month of the siege, it became clear to all that Manus would achieve victory whether that was through the starvation of the defenders or storming the castle being the only question. In a desperate bid to parlay, the Arvens kidnap Larissa and her unborn child. Manus outraged at this, announces to the city that every man, woman and child will be put to the sword due to the actions of their lord in 24 hours. The only way to evade this fate was to be found holding the head of a House of Arven member. The city, already anxious immediately tears itself apart. 24 hours later, Manus and his army walk into the city, facing little to no resistance. True to his word, he orders the death of every person who is not carrying an Arven head, which turns out to be noone. Arriving at the palace in the city center, Manus believes he will find the Arven family hiding in one of the rooms. Instead, he comes across his wife, unharmed. During their reunion, Manus is told that they have found the Arven members in the throne room.

Upon entering the hall, there is a lone Kushari man sitting in the throne, at his feet is a the heads of all seven members of the House of Arven. Impressed, Manus elevates the Kushari to the status of noble and grants him the desolate city of Nicosia and it's lands. The Kushari, a man named Ashamara founds a new noble house and swears undying fealty to the House of Manus.

Second and Third Coalition Wars

In 1619, the Second Coalition War broke out. Manus was sent back south to aid the non-Celestial Tovak states once again. After two years of fierce fighting however, the war ended with another defeat of the Coalition. At this time, Manus began to grow disillusioned with the Royal government, seeing them as ineffective, weak, corrupt, and nothing more than a puppet to the Federation. It was around here that Manus joined the Ressurectionist Party with some of old peers from the academy. Manus played a key role in recruitment of new members due to his heroic status.

Planning of the Party was put on hold however at the outbreak of the Third Coalition War, which only lasted for a year. Manus had noticed that with each war, the Coalition grew weaker and the Hegemony only grew stronger. Realizing this war of attrition would end with a complete defeat of Cedronia and the Seresian world as he knew he, he began to connect with other known revolutionaries. One of them being Lucius Regulus, another famed war general who was the leader of a burgeoning republican movement. The two connected and became both political allies as well friends. Both Regulus and Manus, in addition to Regulus's half-brother Centurion Tedric Veldon, attempt to bring reform to the government through politics however the nobility, being well-entrenched with the new king, rejected all proposals that would lessen their power.

Fourth Coalition War and Revolution

In 1625, Manus, now a Legate, was sent south for what would be the final time during the Fourth Coalition War. During the course of the war, Manus witnessed how uncaring the elite of Cedronia was to the both the common people and the soldiers fighting this seemingly endless string of wars. Famine and disease became rampant throughout Cedronia and for the first time, the Celestials had begun to cross into Cedronia proper. In 1628, Manus and a series of commanders including Regulus met and decided that the age of kings must end. Regulus was recalled back to northern Cedronia to put down a Unionist uprising and it was during this time that Regulus instead combined his forces with those of the Unionists. Manus, at the same time moves his army north-west to his home province of Mountains. There, with the assistance of his brothers who have managed to create an army of supporters, he leads a successful campaign against the House of Arven.

After this, Manus and his army march to assist Regulus in the siege of the capital. However, by the time he arrives the capital city had already fallen and the royal family either slain, exiled, or in the case of one prince, imprisoned. In 1630, the royal government collapses and Regulus becomes the Interim-Consul with Manus as his Vice-Consul.

After two years of a provisional government, elections occurred with Regulus winning by a landslide with the support of both the republicans and the nationalists. However, a few days after his election, Regulus was assassinated. Manus, being the Vice-Consul, was immediately sworn in as the First Consul much to the anger of both the Unionists and members of the republican faction. In an effort to appease these two groups, Manus forms a triumvirate with the Mother Sigourney Scapula being his Vice-Consul and Legate Tedric Veldon being the Arch-Legate.

Ruler of Cedronia

Cedronian Republic

Due to Manus's support from the newly formed middle class, he had created a large and loyal base and filled many key positions in the government with these members. For four years, Manus slowly packed the government with those who supported him however this was not lost on the other two factions of triumvirate who voiced their outrage of Manus's co-opted of the government. Tensions came to ahead in 1635 when, the unionists and republicans, seeing their power lessen and feeling desperate, attempted to assassinate Manus. In tandem with this, Scapula and Veldon launch the Black Rebellion in an attempt to take the country from the nationalist-dominated government.

The assassination attempt failed and much of the republicans who had sided with the Unionists were killed or imprisoned. While Veldon was the Arch-Legate, he never achieved the support and love of the military like Manus was able to gain. In contrast to this, the Unionists managed to gain a strong foothold in the Great Plains and received a groundswell of support from people not just in Cedronia but in other parts of the Seresian World. The remnants of the rebel republicans, feeling betrayed by the Unionists, joined the clandestine royalist movement and with this additional support, Crown Prince Ares dom Reynar who had been living in exile in various parts of the world, returned to his home country in an attempt to reclaim his birthright as King of Cedronia. These events are accepted as the beginning of the ongoing Cedronian Civil War.

United Seresian Empire of Cedronia

With the country being fractured, many of the loyalists felt the position of First Consul to be weak and wished to create a stronger seat of central power. Through much urging, Manus was crowned Emperor and the country was renamed to the United Seresian Empire of Cedronia. Despite this, others began to take advantage of the weakened state of Cedronia and wished to accrue power for themselves. In the borderlands between the Celestial lands and Cedronia, a mysterious warlord by the name of Cruentus Skulltaker created a breakaway slave state known as the Free State of Urius. The Kushari, a large minority in southern Cedronia who had long been abused by the royal government and neglected by Manus's government, broke away to form a new separatist state of Kusharidan.