The Rikxia Empire, like all great monarchies, was a brutal engine of meritocracy and political necessity. The Ice Monarch, Roman Lionhart, fathered children far too numerous to count, a veritable legion scattered among his many wives and concubines. To prevent the inevitable, bloody civil war that a massive pool of candidates would guarantee, a firm, ancient rule governed the succession: only twelve of the Patriarch's most talented sons, chosen by the Monarch himself, would be officially recognized.
These twelve recognized sons, and their direct male descendants, formed the Main Line. They alone were eligible to succeed to the Patriarchate of the Lionhart family and, consequently, the throne of the Rikxia Empire.
