One could not find a less impressive looking Drakken if they were given a lifetime to search. Easily 6 inches shorter than that most Drakken with short, stubby horns which he commonly covers with a hood or helmet, apparently out of shame. His build is also far less imposing and his arms far thinner than those of his taller brethren, lacking the same degree of muscle when compared to other drakken. At a glance one could be forgiven for not realising he was one of the Drakken and perhaps merely an extremely muscular if dull looking Gem. However, those seemingly mundane brown eyes hide a burning lust for power, supported by an expertise in military strategy and a sound grasp of how to weave his elemental powers into combat. The darkest creatures of the blighted south would be hard pressed match his brutality. - Description of Zakroti Unalim as given by a Gem Representative
Zakroti Unalim "The Usurper"
Race:Drakken
Age:82
Element(s):Fire, Earth
Height:5'11
Bio:Zakroti was easily identifiable as a runt upon his birth and in accordance with the wishes of his father, Orstaki Unalim, was to be left out to die in the elements. His mother managed to placate his father and convince him not to have the baby put to death.
His father abhorred him growing up and he was routinely looked down upon by his taller siblings, indeed Zakroti existed as a blot in his immediate families gaze. Outside of his immediate family, his other relations did not care much for him as he was simply another nephew or grandson and were it not for his remarkably small stature he doubted any would even remember his name.
His small size was and in many was still is a source of humiliation for him and as a child he was only able to take solace in his mothers presence, partly due to her being the only person he was taller than. She was one of the very few members of his family to show him any kindness and he was understandably devastated by her death despite her position in Drakken society being little better than a concubine.
On his 15th Birthday Zakroti led a small force of Drakken warriors across the border into the territory of a foreign peoples and sacked two small towns, returning with nearly one hundred and fifty slaves. The fledgling lord sent them off to his father as a gift. Grudglingly, his father acknowledged the achievement and granted the boy the holding of Mu'Fanla, a small fortress situated in the otherwise barren mountains to the south of his families holdings. Although this was somewhat impressive for a first military achievement, given that few expected to see him in any form of leadership role at any point in his life time and certainly not so young, he first rose to true prominence during a conflict in the western lands, in which he saved the life of a prominent noble and was gifted the holding of Mu'Kasi, a large fortress situate overlooking the pass out of Drakka and into the neighbouring territory. Zakroti exacted a toll on armies passing through and raised considerable funds from this, which drew the ire of several nobles.
Mu'Kasi was eventually levelled after the toll fees offended a particularly ill tempered noble, which resulted in a retaliatory campaign that culminated I a siz month siege; The lord agreed to pay for the reconstruction of Mu'Kasi and Zakroti has been careful to ensure that it has a considerable garrison at any given time. By this point, a number of Drakken nobles and even a handful of members within his family had begun to see Zakroti's potential as an ally.
At age 50 an opportunity presented its self that Zakroti could not ignore; His father had fallen out of favour with the family and the king and, as such, Zakroti seized the chance and met in secret with a number of family members and Drakken nobles to hatch an insidious plot
With all the pieces on the board set, Zakroti challenged his father to honourable combat. As expected, his father refused; Consequently, Zakroti led a force of Drakken and mercenaries to sacked his fathers estate, winning in spite of the fact that his army was outnumbered two to one. The young lord had his father thrown into an oubliette where he allegedly remains to this very day.
Zakroti claimed dominion over his fathers lands and vassals by right of conquest and alleged that his father had refused to fight him out of cowardice. This was upheld by the family court which ruled in favour of Zakroti, though not out of any love for the young lord himself but rather so as to avoid invalidating a right of conquest claim that the family's head was pursuing; His father had already fallen out of favour after refusing to commit his forces to a war effort two years prior and so this was considered to be an acceptable trade. Further, two key family members with positions in court had been amongst those who conspired with Zakroti to bring about his fathers downfall.
A considerable number his siblings refused to accept the leadership of their runt of a brother and openly rebelled against him and by extent the ruling of the family court. As such, Zakroti engaged in a decade long internal war of stabilisation with the nominal support of his grandfather. This war was drawn out by repeated outside interference as many Drakken nobles joined the war on various sides simply for the joy of fighting or in order to further their own ambitions. The war ended with the Sack of his brother Lakli's estate, crushing the final credible threat to his rule.
The consolidation that followed this infighting resulted in Zakroti having five of his brothers and three of his sisters hung, drawn and quartered. Two of his brothers were forced to eat pieces of their own skin as they were flayed alive. Lakli himself was sewn into a bag along with various venomous serpents and diseased animals before being tossed into the river and washing off downstream into the ocean; His body was later found washed up on Gemminite shores, shrivelled up like a prune. Zakroti had two of his sisters publically defiled and enslaved, giving them off to be handed around the Drakken nobles who had supported his side in the rebellion. Initially, Zakroti had planned to engage in a war with the nobles who had supported his brothers cause, however the Drakken Court had been planning a major offensive and did not wish to see their numbers decreased by the infighting and thus passed down an official order to prevent further escalation. This edict officially declared Zakroti to be the rightful successor of his father by right of conflict in order to prevent any further infighting. Asa result both sides reluctantly backed down with neither willing to incur the ire of the Drakken Court or King, knowing that they would be all too willing to crush the weakened lords if given an excuse. The Court, however, did not force the family to accept Zakroti onto its internal council and as such Zakroti was now allowed to claim his fathers seat under the pretence that it still de jure belonged to his living father
Regardless, resistance had been crushed and many had been sent to meet Krenta during these efforts. Any siblings that still harboured misgivings about his position wisely fell silent after this; After all, the strong rule in Drakka. With his position finally secured, Zakroti spent his 60th birthday plotting out reconstruction efforts and rebuilding his power base in preparation for another conflict
Towards the end of his 81st year, Zakroti pledged his armies to his families cause during an invasion of the dreaded south and was elevated in status due his exceptional performance, finally being allowed to claim his fathers seat and thus a member of the family court and gaining significant prestige as a result. With his new station came the privilege (and indeed, the obligation) of taking a bride or several. Zakroti was ordered by his great grand father, the head of the family and one of the powerful Drakken warlords, to take at least one Gem Bride from the next group of selectees, a decision the lord is somewhat reluctantly obeying. Indeed, Zakroti has shown little interest in taking a bride outside of the pure pragmatic value.
Other: Zakroti's small stance and the humiliation that was derived from it has led to the development of a superiority complex; That is to say, he presents an elevated sense of importance in order to mask his underlying fears of inferiority. As such his primary driving force was to find some validation in the world, to find some way in which he doesn't always feel so... Weak. He found that power and brutality brought him reslect and fear, and has cloaked himself in the two ever since.
Zakroti holds a considerable envy of the Gems due to the condition of their homeland, though purely because he believes Gemminia would serve as a better powerbase than Drakka as it would be able to support more people and in turn field larger armies, though this view has proven to be unpopular among the Drakken and thus he is usually rather quiet about it.
