Colby
| Colby | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, Accession Day 2045 | |
| Emperor of Ulmarka | |
| Reign | 1 January 2032 – present |
| Coronation | 1 January 2032, Great Arena, Vharnhold |
| Predecessor | Office established |
| Born | Officially 2001, Skerra, Ulmarka (disputed) |
| Wrestling career | |
| Discipline | Ulmarkan oil wrestling |
| League | Grand Circle League |
| Official record | 211–0 |
| Titles | Grand Circle champion (2022–2031) |
| Epithet | The Unpinned |
Colby (/ˈkɒl.bi/) (born 2001, by official account) is the first and current emperor of the Ulmarkan Empire, reigning since 2032. A champion of Ulmarkan oil wrestling, he led the Brotherhood of the Oil in the 2031 coup known as the Night of the Oil and was crowned the following year. He has ruled since as an absolute monarch and is the focus of an extensive cult of personality.[1]
Much of what is publicly known about Colby comes from official sources and is regarded by outside historians as unreliable. The Ulmarkan state credits him with an unbeaten career of 211 victories and no defeats, and promotes a large body of myth about his birth, strength and invulnerability, which is taught in Ulmarkan schools as fact.[2] Under his rule the empire legalised arena death matches, fought the Protectorate Wars, and began the persecution of the Cult of Landon in the Hand Trials.
Early life
[edit]According to the official biography, Colby was born in the fishing town of Skerra on the island's northern coast during a winter storm. No birth record has been published, and his family name is a state secret.[1] He entered the wrestling schools of the Brotherhood of the Oil as a boy and won his first Grand Circle League title in 2022, at an officially recorded age of twenty-one.
Rise to power
[edit]As Grand Circle champion Colby became the most popular figure on the island, and from 2028 he used televised post-match addresses to attack the elected government as weak. On 14 March 2031 he led the Night of the Oil, and on 1 January 2032 he was crowned in the Great Arena of Vharnhold, kneeling on the sand of the ring rather than on a throne. The ceremony is re-enacted every year on Accession Day.[3]
Reign
[edit]Colby rules by decree through the Grand Circle and the army. His reign has been marked by the Arena Law of 2034, the Protectorate Wars of 2035–2041, the banning of the Cult of Landon in 2038, and the empire's withdrawal from the Cohesive Global Concord in 2044. He continues to wrestle in exhibition bouts on Accession Day; he has never lost one, and his opponents are chosen by the Ring Guard.[2]
Myths and legends
[edit]Official folklore about Colby is extensive. Among the best known stories:
* That the midwife at his birth oiled him with seal fat to keep him from the cold, and that he wrestled free of her arms within the hour. * That at the age of nine he threw a bull at the Skerra harvest fair, and that the bull afterwards followed him home and lived in his family's yard until it died. * That he has never been pinned because "the ground refuses to touch his shoulders"; this is the origin of his epithet, the Unpinned. * That each New Year he wades into the sea at Vharnhold and wrestles the tide, and that the tide always turns. * That oil touched by his hands does not freeze, and that soldiers who carry it into battle cannot be thrown.
Foreign scholars note that most of these stories first appeared in state media after 2032, and that several are adapted from much older tales about the clan champions of the oil moots.[2] Possession of foreign material questioning the myths is a criminal offence in the empire.
Relationship with Landon
[edit]Colby's attitude to Landon has drawn particular attention. Colby has called the Cult of Landon "a religion of open hands for people who cannot close them", and its teaching of unconditional kindness is described in Ulmarkan law as a threat to the Way of the Circle.[4] Landon has made no public statement about Colby or the Hand Trials. The two men are not known to have met, though an unverified photograph circulated in 2047 appears to show them shaking hands.
Assessment
[edit]Outside Ulmarka, Colby is widely regarded as one of the most brutal rulers of the century, responsible for the deaths of the Protectorate Wars and the arena executions. Within the empire, where his image is everywhere, open criticism carries the death penalty, and the true extent of his popularity is unknown.[1]
See also
References
- ^ Desmer, P. (2046). The Held Ground: Power and Spectacle in Ulmarka. Ostralis University Press.
- ^ Varn, E. (2045). The Unpinned: Myth-Making in Imperial Ulmarka. Thymara Academic.
- ^ Halloway, G. (2040). The Night of the Oil. Aethelgard Institute Press.
- ^ Concord Human Rights Commission (2047). Report on the Hand Trials. Cohesive Global Concord.