Z H O U X I A O L O N G
T H E Y O U N G D R A G O N , E M P E R O R O F G R E A T Z H O U
A P P E A R A N C E
Zhou Xiaolong is a handsome youth not yet out of his early twenties. He is tall and well muscled, but not stocky, with a lithe physique more suited to that of a runner than a wrestler. A wild mane of jet black hair tumbles down to his lower back when not bound and affixed with pins to hold it into place.
Despite being born of the highest of the nobility, there is a roughness and a ruggedness about his person. Xiaolong's skin is not the perfectly pale smooth complexion that most would expect of a royalty, instead he is lightly tanned from long hours riding under the open sky. It is also marked by two prominent scars, one creeps up across the left side of his high cheek bones to slash his dark brow in two, whilst another tucks under the right side of his sharp jaw, running down onto his exposed neck.
His eyes are dark, a brown so deep it also seems black until the light catches them. They're difficult to read, giving him a somewhat enigmatic quality unless he is overcome with particularly strong emotion. This, combined with his reputation, gives him something of an authoritative air, and he has been known to silence men with but a hard glance.
In his dress he strives for utility and function over aesthetics and ostentatious displays of wealth. He often dresses little better than a common solider when not at court, and even when residing at the palace he prefers his silks in muted tones of black and maroon. He rarely wears the full Imperial Mianguan Crown, preferring a small silver and jade Xiaoguan to hold his topknot in place.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
Command was something that thrust upon the Emperor from a young age. Xiaolong was leading armies and winning battles at eighteen, it has given him a commanding and domineering streak in his personality. He is used to getting what he wants, and bends the court and the imperial bureaucracy to his will despite his general unpopularity.
His callousness and ruthless nature is well known. Xiaolong is a man who has personally killed his own family members, and is responsible for the deaths of all but one of his siblings. Its whispered that he smiled as the Dowager Empress was forced to drink poison, a woman to whom he should have shown the upmost filial piety. It is widely believed he is a sadist who loves nothing more than wanton murder and destruction.
It is certainly true that the Emperor is most comfortable around men of bloodshed. He values the counsel of his generals much more than that of his civilian administrators, granting them greater privileges and favours. Those closest to him are all staunch loyalists from his days in the Northern Frontier Army, men who have fought alongside him for years, these are the few people he seems to genuinely trust.
Xiaolong is also in possession of an infamous temper, that has become the terror of many courtiers and ministers. He rages against the traitors and rebels that continually threaten the stability of his rule. His anger is also regularly directed at those who fail to enact his will through indolence, incompetence, or corruption.
H I S T O R Y
Third son of Emperor Zhou Longwei, Xiaolong was born of an affair he had with a common serving maid who was only later raised to be an imperial concubine. Xiaolong was always considered the least of the princes, being born half a commoner and under scandalous circumstances. His mother died young, when Xiaolong himself was still a child.
When he was sixteen Xiaolong was appointed a subcommander of the Northern Frontier Garrison, where he first gained military experience under the command of Guo Qiang, an old general who mentored the young prince. It is also where Xiaolong met his future right hand men, Marshal Fang and Commander Hu. Fang was another junior officer from a minor family serving with Xiaolong, whilst Hu was a common soldier under his command.
At eighteen his father, the Longwei Emperor, died and his eldest brother Honghui ascended the throne as Emperor. Not long afterwards Xiaolong took control of the Northern Garrison Army and declared war on his brother in order to place himself upon the Jade Throne.
After over a year of fighting Xiaolong slowly gained the upper hand in the conflict and faced Honghui in battle, ending in a decisively victory for his forces, with the Emperor being killed in the fighting. Xiaolong secures the capital with the death of yet more members of the Imperial Family, one of his first acts as Emperor is the execution the Dowager Empress, along with numerous former ministers and nobles who sided with Honghui. He is only twenty years of age.
The war is far finished however. Before the year is out, the Yan clan, former allies of the Zhou and the family of the Dowager Empress, revolt in favour of placing one of the former Empress’s descendants upon the throne. Together, along with the Prince of Chu and numerous other nobles hostile to Xiaolong's rule, the Yan declare Xiaolong's younger brother Zixin Emperor.
The fighting is particularly bloody, with heavy losses on both sides. In the end the Yan are slaughtered to a man, the Prince of Chu is killed in battle and his wife (Xiaolong’s older sister Lijuan) dies during the sack of the Chu capital. Many great families are brought down by the fighting. Xiaolong personally executes his younger brother. It is around this time Xiaolong earns the moniker, The Bastard Tyrant.
Sporadic rebellions and border incursions by steppe barbarians have marked the remaining years of Xiaolong’s reign, most of which has been spent on active campaign. The Zhou Imperial Family is a shadow of what it once was, with only Xiaolong and his younger sister Jiaying being seen in public. Rumours swirl about the fate of Xiaolong's nephews. Most assume they were quietly murdered by the Bastard Tyrant once he had them in his grasp.
