Departure of the Last Sultan
The Council of Lysrella had determined, in the waning years of the relatively-short reign of Sultan Syliima III, the end of the Sultanate. Its mandate was the creation of a confederation, more reminiscent in manner of that of the cultural and economic ties between the early city-states, between the various factions which now vied for power in the Sultanate.
Those generals who had led their forces against the Sultan had been named, with more than a little ignominy for House Lysrella, Sultans of their own plots, and it was demanded then that Sultan Syliima step down in favor of his brother, Abdhul, who was comparatively friendly to the rebels' cause.
Syliima III was not exiled by the Council, but his departure from the city of Lysrella would begin a life that was for all intents and purposes, a life in exile. Syliima's short reign as Sultan, and birth of the House Lysrella, notwithstanding, he would take his leave from the throne as little more than a commoner, and he would wander Lysrella's poleis for some time attempting to make his trade as a merchant before ultimately entering the service of his people as a soldier, irony of ironies.
It was by this time that the Empire was proclaimed, and perhaps out of some sense of remorse or perhaps under the pressure of his family members, Emperor Abdhul IV permitted the former Sultan to lead an expedition to the Southlands.
Syliima would leave the Sultanate with some thousand men, and would march south through the deserts and plains, for time uncounted. This marks the Sultan's true departure, as from that point on Syliima III was no longer Sultan of the Lyscovians, but a man of the army.
It is told that he embraced his new role with vigor, and the peoples he encountered in the as-yet-uncharted lands he either converted or conquered in the name of the Empire. He would earn himself the title Syliima of the Wastes, and his efforts would go in great ways to the taming of the metaphorical-wilderness which existed beyond the recognized borders of the former-Sultanate.
Syliima would, despite his exploits, never return to Lysrella. He died many years after the Council as a soldier, and was beloved by his men and feared or worshiped (and sometimes both) by those he had brought into the fold. Supposedly there exists a shrine built to the Last Sultan, but insofar as it is known, its existence has never been proved beyond the tales of wanderers and drunks.
Syliima's reign, rightly or wrongly, would be remembered as the reign of the Last Sultan. It is thought that he was as just and wise a ruler as he was a just and wise commander, but this cannot be proven. What is known is that considering the troubles which had already surmounted him by the time he took the throne form his father, he could have done little to prevent the collapse of the Sultanate.
There was no funeral. Upon hearing of his brother's death, Emperor Abdhul would mark for future historians a date upon the calendar. Here, truly, was the Departure of the Last Sultan.
"... glory o glory, where are you for us now?"
