Zetopa

Zetopa was an Orc male who was the King of Orcanth, and later the Emperor of the Immortal Empire. Zetopa was born in 2036 AT in Volcan, Orcanth.

Zetopa learned diplomacy and leadership skills from Tulkon Zoruha, whom he succeeded as Monarch of Orcanth upon her death in 2093. He continued the Golden Age she had begun for the country. Zetopa eventually realized that he was immortal, with the trait likely having been passed down by an immortal ancestor. He ruled Orcanth for centuries and became more power-hungry. It was around this time that he first conceived his plan to take over the world with the help of the other Immortal monarchs, although he saw no reason to carry it out yet. Following the Orc Conquest in 2493, Zetopa's country became a target of anti-Orc propaganda that had been disseminated during the conflict. Zetopa allied with Tulkon Giha to fight the propaganda and change the image of Orcs in the rest of the world's eyes, especially because Orcanth was not one of the aggressors.

In 2702 AT, Zetopa was visiting his hometown when Volcan erupted, destroying about half the country. Tulkon E'Acoradi rescued Zetopa but was unable to save most of his family, leading to a grudge with the young Tulkon. E'Acoradi spent years working on recover efforts before leaving the country, allowing Orcanth's economy to re-stabilize. However, Zetopa was still angry with E'Acoradi, and decided that now was the time to carry out his plans for world domination. He began preparing its infant stages, which included spreading a nationalist doctrine in Orcanth, building up its economy and military, promoting his form of Savatism, and forming alliances with other Immortals.

In 2876 AT, E’Acoradi noticed the growing militarism and nationalism in Orcanth and went to confront the King. Zetopa, understanding that E’Acoradi was onto him, killed him, and spread propaganda that E’Acoradi attempted to assassinate him. Zetopa claimed to have ended the Tulkon cycle, and also banned the religion of Tulkonism. This led to a widespread hatred of the Tulkon. E’Acoradi reincarnated into the Dwarves without the knowledge of the rest of the world.

During the childhood of the next Tulkon, whose identity was unknown to the world, Zetopa and his immortals - Etesh of Honsin, Topo of Gogeget, Ino of Usybork, Eberil of nodal, and Keaghuz of Nen Ren - prepared for their coming conquest. Most of them had personal vendettas with the Tulkon that motivated their willingness to defame them. Above all, however, the Immortals wanted power.

They moved to the island of Nen Ren, a secluded location where they would remotely command their armies. He was not the most powerful of the cabal but he was the most cunning and ambitious. The spread of anti-Tulkon propaganda before and after the death of E’Acoradi was a deliberate attempt to delegitimize the Tulkon and make the public more willing to accept the immortals as heroes. Zetopa’s movement had supporters from all over the world, thanks to the locations of its leaders: most of the immortals were from Däegarden, and Ino and Etesh were president and VP of the council of the Republic of Independent Human States, so Zetopa had all humans to count on as allies. In 2880 Zetopa declared the formation of the Empire of Orcanth, which Gogeget, Nodal, Nen Ren, and most of the RIHS willingly became a part of.

The Immortal war began in 2896 after years of preparation when Zetopa renamed the Empire of Orcanth the Immortal Empire and declared his intentions to annex all lands. The RIHS fell very quickly to Zetopa's enemies, so he punished Ino and Etesh with death. In 2905, A temporary ceasefire took place, but it was a ruse orchestrated by Zetopa. Von Hamobora, a Dwarf who was unknowingly the Tulkon, decided to track Zetopa, whose whereabouts were unknown to most of the world. Zetopa sensed that Von Hamobora, also known as Vonha, was the Tulkon and was on his tail and sent Eberil to fight her and ordered bombings of Norte-Muldox and A’Roastad, killing Vonha’s family and causing both countries to surrender for fear of any further losses. Since most soldiers were at home for the ceasefire, the Free Armies were crippled. The Ilois Republic, which also had the rest of the IHS under its jurisdiction, surrendered as well. Zetopa had won, and all lands were under rule of the Immortal Empire. Vonha, however, refused to back down and continued to track down the immortals. She found them in Nen Ren and was able to kill Keaghuz and Topo quite easily. Before their final confrontation, Zetopa told Vonha the truth of her identity. Vonha, shocked, found herself unable to kill Zetopa until he taunted the loss of Vonha’s family, and she quickly changed her mind. In the aftermath of Zetopa’s death, the Immortal Empire completely crumbled.

Despite his notoriety, Zetopa was admired in former member states of the Immortal Empire. Several small groups, collectively known as the Cult of Zetopa, formed in the aftermath of the Immortal War and opposed Tulkon Ico years after Zetopa's death. They practiced a form of Savatism known as Zetopan Savatism that the late Emperor promoted.

Zetopa lived for 868 years, making him the second longest-lived person of all time, after Vagh Neodore, a Dwarf who lived nearly 1100 years.