Many historians cite the downfall of the Darian Empire as having begun within the reign of Emperor Ysac Arnwell IV.  Affectionately known as "Axewell", his acts of depravity and madness primed the masses towards seeking their desires. A revolution.

It is important to note, the nickname developed in the latter years of his rule.

However, to simply blame the fall of an entire empire on him would be inaccurate. Discontent has continually been present within the hearts of the lower facets of every society since the advent of civilization. That is hardly a reason to revolt. There needs to exist a trigger to spur people on. A cause or an event that would allow the creation of a united front. This such cause was provide by the calamity known as "The Blight".

Before getting into the Blight and its impact on the Empire, we must first introduce you to the state of the Empire at that time. 

The road to the Nether is often spoken to be paved with good intentions. This was the case with the Blight; an unexpected result from otherwise worthwhile ventures.

The Emperor was by all accounts quite insane. Drawn to whims and fancies, he mostly left the court duties to his younger brother, Lowis Arnwell. It was interesting that despite the irresponsible and maniacal  ways of Ysac, the love and consideration he showed to his brother was astounding. If Lowis so wished it, Ysac would have relinquished the crown. 

 The crown prince at that time, Lowis, was ten years his brother's junior. Yet he was, based on the records of ballads written throughout those ages by bards, who the populace wished was their first choice. His strength of body often the topic discussed, with his strength of mind following closely. He was awarded the post of Chancellor of the Empire by his father at only fifteen. Obviously, many viewed this as nepotism. That was until the Chancellor launched the Osla reforms within his first year in office; so named after the capital city of the Empire. This was later changed to the Lowis reforms to honour him.

 He was able to create Ministries, which would act as self contained divisions aimed towards governance within specific margins. This was in his efforts to make sure the problems of the Empire were constantly being addressed. He established the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Transport and Land Surveys, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing,  the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Civil Protection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of War. These unprecedented changes, while setting up the system of government which in present times is universally accepted as the most efficient, were seen as the cause of the second civil war within the Empire's history.

The Nobility, were who previously decided on what laws and ordinances were put in place, while using a Royally sponsored budget to accomplish these goals. Lowis regarded this as a failure; corruption being rampant among the nobility with no real oversight from the Royal family. With Lowis's proposed changes, the Nobility would lose substantial amounts of their power as well as access to the Royal treasury. He proposed that a senate be created. Each house from the noble families is awarded a seat to fill with a representative of their choice. The design, creation and budgeting of laws was no longer within their purview. There would be ten seats for each member of the ten ruling houses of the major provinces of the Empire. In addition to these seats, ten seats for duly elected officials chosen by the common folk were created. Needless to say, the nobles were not happy. 

The assassination of Lowis Arnwell was the turning point in the Emperor's insanity. Going from his pathetic ineptitude and relegation of all of his duties to his brother, full tilt towards deranged lunacy. This change was what caused the slaughter of nearly every member of the ten great houses of the Darian Empire. The Emperor assumed a Noble family was to blame, and to avoid any chance of guilty parties escaping, he ordered every member of the households to be executed. To this day, historians are still unsure as to whether the Noble families were involved.

The few he seemed to miss took offense to the massacre and one of them was none other than seasoned Alchemist Hilam DaSonne. Just as violence begets violence, madness begets madness. And madness was something they both ended up having enough of to spare. The Emperor seemed to awaken some primal bloodlust, as public executions became the flavour of the day. Between the last two emperors, enough people were executed to actually lower the mean temperature of the Empire.

 This common saying was actually proven to be inconclusive based on executions, because of how many people The Blight and wars claimed as well. 

 It took almost a decade, but eventually while in hiding, Hilam engineered a concoction meant to make sure he was not the only person suffering. With his concoction, known thereafter as The Blight, he steeped the Royal capital in a poisonous miasma that spread for miles in all directions. Ten thousand souls lost their lives in that one day. He would have succeeded with his wish of extinguishing the Royal bloodline if he had carried out his attack three weeks earlier, before the Empress and their newborn son traveled to one of the more remote provinces to visit her family.

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In hindsight, many historians would say that it's a pity Ysac Arnwell V was allowed to live that day. 

-   Excerpt from So you want to know about the Darian Empire? by Jules Soldanis