Heyano fan Mardelli Relesárizi

Heyano fan Mardelli Relesárizi (1825 - 1882 4A), commonly known simply Heyano fan Relesári, was an Empress of the Asatic Empire from 1850 to her abdication in 1862.

Born into the family of Emperor Cvante fan Relesári, Heyano was expected to ascend to the throne of the Empire one day. In 1843, she married a Coeric noble, Haylan fan Mardelli, breaking the tradition of marrying the relatives of previous (non-Relesár) emperors to cement the power base, and instead opting for expanding and strengthening her power in the north. The union resulted in three sons: Ratsa II, Meliàr and Fedula.

Upon ascension, Heyano became the first female Empress in the line of Luidare. Due to the vast difference in prestige between the families of Relesár and Mardell, Heyano continued to be publicly referred to as a Relesár and a member of that dynasty. However, officially she and her heirs would found a new branch of the dynasty, the Mardelli Relesárizi - "the Mardells of the Relesárs".

The title of a relesár
See also: Relesár

Because of her marriage to Haylan and official change of name, Heyano was no longer "a true Relesár", though she was usually referred to as one anyway.

Eventually, "relesár" in this usage evolved into a common noun / title to refer to the Emperors and Empresses. Though Heyano herself was never called "relesár Heyano", her offspring would carry the title in common parlance - e.g. relesár Ratsa II fan Mardelli, until the title became official almost a hundred years later with the relesár Lóhsalengo fan Casteri.

Appearances and character
Much like her father, Heyano was comparatively fair for a Relesár; she had auburn hair, light skin and greyish green eyes, the former two traits being inherited from her mother, the Bantazi noble Araiśa fan Dwétizi.

Heyano was a strong-willed and calculating person, who didn't share her father's love for poetry and the arts. She wasn't afraid of war and violence, was somewhat short-sighted in economic and diplomatic affairs, and had a fierce belief in her right to rule not because of her descent or in spite of being a woman, but because of her qualities and being a woman.

Reign and death
Heyano was pronounced Empress of the Asatic Empire in 1850, following the abdication of her father Cvante. The abdication had come as a result of his worries for the chances of Heyano to ascend to the throne, despite women inheriting titles and positions was not unheard of among the Arazi nobility and the Empire had had previous female regent Empresses. Cvante's fears were presumably motivated by his own disputed succession and the brief military conflict surrounding it.

Heyano was a capable and determined ruler. She was the first of the Relesári emperors to reignite the Asatic war machine, mostly in response to pressure in the East from Seturh people and the rising power of Danoedan, expanding the Imperial territories to the east, albeit mostly as tribute-paying vassal states instead of incorporated territories.

Like her father, Heyano abdicated in 1862 in favour of her son Ratsa the Second. She died twenty years later in 1882 from natural causes, just two years after witnessing her own son abdicate and her grandson Ratsa III fan Relesári take the thrown. According to traditional thought, her dynasty continued on; however, she is sometimes said to have been the last of the true Relesár monarchs, as her descendents were all Relesár-Mardell.