Lucon Osticos is the emperor of the Northern Empire, leader of the Osticos clan, and a claimant to the imperial diadem of the Calradic Empire.
Before the events of Bannerlord, Lucon was serving as a junior officer in the staff of Emperor Drosios Neretzes. Following the defeat at Pendraic, he became a member of the Calradic Senate and gained great influence. When Neretzes' successor, Arenicos Pethros, was suspiciously murdered, Lucon became the leader of a group of powerful senators who claimed the Senate should take the role of ruling the Empire. Lucon's claim is based on the old Imperial law that the Senate should elect the person for the role.
Rhagaea Pethros and Garios Comnos each contested this claim, leading to the three-way Calradian civil war.
Official Description[]
| “ | The northern third of the Empire is ruled by Lucon, who represents a long-standing oligarchic trend in imperial politics. It holds that strict adherence to imperial law is the best guarantee that the empire will not become a tyranny. Oligarchs like Lucon also tend to believe that only landowners can have the extensive education, experience in government and stake in property to really understand and appreciate the law, and thus the senate should be supreme. | ” |
Politics[]
Lucon favors a return to an oligarchic Senate, and is politically opposite to the militant populism of Garios, while fundamentally opposed to the hereditary monarchy of Rhagaea, his two imperial contenders. Lucon sympathized with Drosios Neretzes and his handling of the Battle of Pendraic — recalling the desperate circumstances the Calradic Empire was in at the time. Though he begrudgingly looks on Arenicos Pethros for his politics, he admits transparently that his reign was the stabilizing force that the Empire needed at that time. As the Emperor was assassinated just before selecting his heir, the succession dispute saw the Empire's military fall in for Garios, and its southern landholders and aristocracy throw their weight for Rhagaea, the Emperor's widow. Senators found themselves confronted with populist radicals who would do away with the oligarchy or feudal aristocrats who would back an absolute monarch and do away with the Senate. Thus, the Senate elected Lucon as Emperor, despite the military and aristocracy separately raising their own claimants, drawing the border for the three-way civil war that would follow.
Claim[]
Lucon's claim to unify Calradia as Emperor relies on him holding the support of what remains of the Imperial Senate. Because of their support, Lucon asserts that he is the only one with legal precedent to be Emperor. How exactly the Senate supports his claim is still unknown, as is the traditional method of Imperial succession, but it is expected to be further developed as the game advances. Lucon's claim to unify Calradia as Emperor relies on his popular backing of the Imperial Senate. Because of their support, Lucon asserts that his election as Emperor proves that he is the only legal claimant to the title. As the last and only two Emperors (that we know of thus far) were elected by the Senate, the claim has won over the backing of the more ancient and prestigious clans of the Empire. Perhaps most notably of all, Lucon vows to do away with the title of Emperor once the war is won, and instead permanently reinstate the Senate as the primary authority over the Empire — a decision perhaps correlated to the strong backing he has won with the most influential senators.
Istiana, former spymaster of Emperor Neretzes, considers Lucon "the most knowledgable in the Empire's laws and traditions" out of the three claimants to the Empire.
Quotes[]
| “ | We're of a very old family that has done great service to the Empire. But I'll tell you something — a man, whatever his bloodline, is only as good as his honor and his obedience to the law.
The Senate chooses the Emperor. That is our law. It has been twisted, broken, or ignored for a hundred years, but it has never been changed. Without law, without fealty to the written word, there is but tyranny and the mob. |
” |
| — on Politics | ||
| “ | Yes. I was a junior officer on Neretzes' staff.
People say much about the battle that betrays a lack of understanding, of Neretzes and of the circumstances he faced. Neretzes had an obligation to avenge the Battanian attacks on our land. He marched out, with all the forces he could gather. The Vlandians betrayed us, but that's what you expect from honorless barbarians. Fortune favored the enemy. What matters is that we did what honor required. Perhaps Neretzes was rash, sending our infantry up into the hills to storm the Battanian fort. But he thought he could grab the pass quickly, before the enemy had time to reinforce it. If he had made the other wager and that turned out to be wrong, people would say he was hesitant. I stayed with Neretzes until we were forced back to our camp by the Sturgian infantry, and then fought on the battlements. Eventually we could hold them no longer. I did not see what happened to Neretzes or to our banner. Arenicos got us out of there, and got us home. I did not respect Arenicos before, but that day I saw he was worthy to be Emperor. |
” |
| — on the Battle of Pendraic | ||
| Northern Calradic Empire | |
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| Monarch: | Claimant: |
| Emperor Lucon | Unknown |
| Vassals: | |
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