Charliss was the nineteenth emperor of the Eastern Empire, and an Adept-class mage. He was thirty when his father, Emperor Lioth, passed the crown on to him, sometime before the reign of King Arden and Queen Leesa began in Valdemar.
Charliss was in full command of his power as a mage when he inherited the throne, and like his predecessors, he used magic to prolong his life. He ruled for a "century-and-a-half."[1] Having channeled massive amounts of power for so many years bleached out Charliss' coloring. He is described as "having been handsome in his day." He had white hair and "his once-dark eyes were now the same pale gray as an overcast dawn sky."[1]
However, even magic can only go so far, and the body begins to decline. Knowing he was in his last years, Charliss began his search for a successor. He narrowed the field to Grand Duke Tremane and Baron Melles. He then sent Tremane, his favored candidate, to conquer Hardorn to prove his worthiness of succession.
The Mage Storms eroded Charliss' rejuvenation magic, leaving him physically weakened and mentally unstable. He blamed Valdemar for the Mage Storms, and Tremane for nearly everything else, declaring him a traitor to the Empire. He named Melles as his successor and Heir, and spent his last days contemplating vengeance. He decided he would pour every bit of magic energy he could access, from his devices and from his mages, plus his own power, and his own life force (as a twisted version of a Final Strike) directly into the Mage Storm. His plan was to super-charge the Cataclysm-level storm in order to burn out the world itself. Melles interrupted his casting and killed him, but was horrified when the spell did not dissipate with the Emperor's death. The uncontrolled energy whirled around his body, rays of light shot out, sparks jumped ... and then it settled into the Iron Throne and went silent.[2]
In the series[]
Charliss appears in the following works:
- Storm Warning, Mage Storms, volume 1
- Storm Breaking, Mage Storms, volume 3
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Storm Warning, Chapter 1
- ↑ Storm Breaking, Chapter 10