Chaos of the Coronation
The Chaos of the Coronation was a chaotic succession crisis in the Kythiran Empire that would ultimately lead to the coronation of Emperor Louis Viromaro. The kaiser of the Imperius Reich used the chaos to take out House Mace, resulting in the Lotrican Genocide.
In the late Fourth Era, Emperor Louis Alexander suddenly and unexpectedly died during the Imperial Hunt. Upon learning of his death, the Grand Chancellor Lord Von Reventrad, send a messenger to western Ardoragh for Crown Prince Amantis Viromaro to both inform him of the news and to have him travel to Helmira as soon as possible to take over state functions and prepare for the official coronation. Whilst his wife Freya was send east with a royal carriage and a large escort of guards, the Crown Prince travelled to the port city of Kreonix. Whilst there, a massive storm began to gather, one of the strongest in living memory. Still, feeling it was his duty to be in Helmira as soon as possible, and wanting to give his father Alexander his last honours, Amantis offered a great sum of gold to the ship that would take him to the imperial city. In the Dodehavet Sea the ship was lost in the massive storm, and although in later years the shipwreck was eventually found, no survivors were ever discovered.
Once the ship did not appear when expected in Helmira, Admiral Villars sent out 20 ships to search for the missing vessel. When pieces of wreckage were discovered on the Alcanzari coast of the Dodehavet Sea, it was clear the ship and the souls on board were lost.
The news of the death of both the Emperor and the Crown Prince caused a frenzied state of emergency in the Imperial Palace. The last Viromaro, Prince Louis, had left Helmira on a private sail yacht four months earlier, and his current whereabouts were unknown to the government. Grand Chancellor Von Reventrad was named as Lord-Protector of the Empire, serving as a regent whilst imperial agents searched across the Empire for the prince.
After a month of no results, the seasoned General Malgeri of the Imperial Legion used the chaos to seize power. During a routine exercise, he marched his troops into the imperial palace, where they overwhelmed the imperial guards and arrested Lord-Protector Von Reventrad. Accusing him of high treason and "plotting against the Empire and House Viromaro by scheming to make himself Emperor". Von Reventrad was locked into one of the White-Gold Tower's dungeons, from where he managed to escape through an old tunnel once used by the second High-Lord Von Roterstein.
Wanting to legitimise his new government, General Malgeri demanded all six High-Lords would travel to Helmira in order to swear fealty to him. Instead, after five weeks, the High-Lords arrived at Helmira together with their armies and laid siege upon the at the time extremely poorly defended city. At the same time, High-Lord Vinkhuys had found Prince Louis Viromaro, who had been partying under a fake name in the Republic of Aqumis. He was rushed to Helmira, where he joined the armies of his High-Lords and the parts of the Imperial Legion that were still loyal to the crown.
According to eyewitness testimony, Prince Louis drove his white horse close to the primary city gate, demanding to be let in. Once the guards realised House Viromaro had not fallen, they opened the gates, whilst the population of Helmira began to rise up. They stormed the Imperial Palace, where General Malgeri was lynched. The palace was burned down, eventually becoming the Imperial Baths. The body of General Malgeri was dragged through the streets of Helmira, until he was eventually beheaded. His skull was kept on a spike atop the ruins of the White-Gold Tower, whilst his body was thrown into the Senfina Sea.