August I Kemerskai

August I Kemerskai, The Vengeful, was Baron of Vinnin from 979 to 1004. He came to power after the Republican Revolution at the age of 50, after the death of his father, Aldus Kemerskai, at the hands of August's younger brother and Republican revolutionary Alexander Kemerskai.

Republican Revolution
August escaped the fate of his father, fleeing with his children into neighboring Feathisia, where he was greeted with open arms. August would eventually return to Vinnin when the counter-revolution occurred, however, he found his city in ruins. For the death of his father and the destruction of his city, he turned to the Imperial military and to the Emperor, swearing his undying loyalty to Grover V and claiming that a traitor like Alexander would never destroy their dynasty again.

Traditionalist Activism
August, as a member of the Imperial nobility, was a staunch conservative, and supported efforts to postpone further reforms based on the agenda of Grover IV. He believed, as he wrote in his 995 memoir Brother of the President-Marshal, that Grover IV "destroyed the Empire through his reckless pursuance of reform, that drove the common folk into a laziness that could only be satisfied by more and more placation." When that placation ran out during the regime of Grover V, August said, "Total chaos and revolution followed, as the populace were denied what they believed were their so-called "lawful rights" under Grover V, which were of course, more and more useless benefits and redistribution programs."

Assassination
August Kemerskai had ruled Vinnin as a prestigious ruler until 1004, where he went on his final visit to Griffenheim to sware fealty to Grover V, Emperor of the Griffonian Empire. While driving down the streets of Griffenheim, he was fatally shot and wounded - when he made it to the hospital, he was pronounced dead. August's son, August II, stated in his coronation speech that it was the President-Marshal who committed the deed, driven by a desire to crush the nobility and the entire Kemerskai family for their petty actions against him.

The terrorist was identified as a Republican - however - no ties could be found to the government in Cloudbury. Born and raised in Angriver, the terrorist was a member of the NRP, but not Kemerskai's entourage. August II, however, could not agree, and was driven into rage. He rose the ranks of the Imperial army in the following three years out of pure hatred for the Republicans that murdered his father and grandfather, determined to put a stop to his uncle's "mad regime", as his father called it in his memoirs.