Lord Sulla

Lord Sulla was a distinguished Kinshra lord who reigned in the Year 164 of the Fifth Age. Sulla was responsible for orchestrating the War of 164, a multi-racial conflict that nearly eliminated the nation of Asgarnia and almost escalated to a multi-national war.

For much of his life, Sulla was a battle commander that led brutal raids upon small settlements in and around northern Asgarnia. Sulla rose to lordship amongst the Kinshra in the winter of 164 by assassinating the successor to the late Lord Shadwell. Sulla's willingness to use force was well-received by the Kinshra at the time, and there was virtually no open resistance amongst them following his inauguration as ruler.

Sulla was crippled following the Siege of Falador, losing both hands to the 17-year old Kara-Meir. After nearly being killed by his own men, Sulla was rescued by the Morytanian werewolf Jerrod and fled to the Wilderness. From there he travelled to Varrock, blackmailing various prominent citizens who had done business with the Kinshra. He rose to fame by slaying the Wyrd, but escaped to Port Sarim where he intended to flee to East Ardougne. Before he could he was killed, his head sent to Varrock and his body fed to Jerrod.

Early life
Despite Lord Sulla's prominence in modern history, little is regarding his pre-Kinshra origins other than that he was one of the charred people of the north east wilderness. The first documented case of his existence comes from his position as Kinshra commander, at which point he was already heavily scarred and middle-aged. His family, place of birth, and non-Kinshra life remain impossible to determine.

At an unknown point early in his life, Sulla sustained heavy injuries to his upper body, particularly his face. The entirety of his head was scarred and mutilated, and hair ceased to grow on his head. His left eye was rendered completely blind. The severity of these injuries suggests either that he suffered a period of prolonged torture or possessed a massive amount of combat experience even when he was young.

As Commander
After many years of service to the Kinshra, Sulla became a prominent commander responsible for a sizable contingent of soldiers. Because a political standstill kept the Kinshra and White Knights from waging open war during his time of activity in the 140's and 150's, Sulla used these powers largely for personal amusement. He oversaw innumerable raids on small farms and villages in northern Asgarnia. Although many of these raids were necessary for strategic position and supplies, Sulla waged many raids for little reason.

The raids overseen by Sulla were infamously violent. Men, women, children, and infants were slain indifferently under Sulla's orders. Pointless torture was often utilised, and the trained dogs used by Sulla's men became infamous. Entire villages were completely annihilated and forgotten.

An Enemy Made
In the winter of 154, Sulla commanded a standard raid on a small farming community in northern Asgarnia, near the base of Ice Mountain. Although Sulla did not know it, he had been sent on the mission by Lord Shadwell because the Kinshra spy Sir Finistere had reason to believe the White Knights held a presence in the village.

Sulla raided the village successfully and personally oversaw the murder of Sir Justrain, an exiled White Knight that had been gathering information on the Kinshra in the area. Justrain, who had been reluctantly exiled through a technicality around 148, had been posing as a woodsman in order to escape attention.

Justrain's eight-year-old daughter personally witnessed her parents' death from a distance, and was forced to flee from Sulla's dogs and men to a large nearby pond. She crossed the pond's frozen surface and hid on a tiny islet, where she waited for days. She was discovered days later by Master Phyllis, a dwarven elder. She had slain a wolf, cut it open, and rested inside it for warmth from the freezing winter air. Phyllis took her in, naming her Kara-Meir. Unbeknownst to Sulla, Kara-Meir would return ten years later as his greatest foe.

Rise to Lordship
In the Year 164, Sulla put into motion a plan that ultimately allowed him to rise to lordship amongst the Kinshra. Forsaking his commander status, Sulla silently gained the allegiance of many of the Kinshra's more influential lords and commanders. The Kinshra's then-leader, who's name has since been lost, had failed since his inauguration to resolve the Asgarnian conflicts both militarily and politically. There were virtually none who openly opposed his plan; even the highly conservative Commander Daquarius gave him his loyalty.

After successfully ensuring that he would be supported as Kinshra Lord, Sulla resolved to assassinate the Kinshra's current leader. Sulla was not certain, however, that even he would be given the opportunity to slay him first-hand. Instead he managed to manipulate one of the Lord's closest slave girls, threatening her with death should she refuse to comply. Sulla gave the girl a vial of deadly poison, which he ordered be administered to the Lord secretly.

The girl, afraid for her life, had no choice by to comply. She personally saw that the poison was placed in his wine. When he drank it, he was not immediately slain; Sulla, wanting to torture him further, made sure that the dosage was enough only to bring him to the brink of death. After entering the dying Lord's chamber, Sulla ordered the slave, with whom the Lord had secretly been engaged, to kill him. Left with no other option, she stabbed him to death, before slaying herself to prevent being punished by the Kinshra for her crime. In a matter of days, Sulla had become Kinshra lord.

Early Diplomacy
From the beginning of his ascension to leadership, Sulla's plan was ultimately, at least at first, to overthrow the White Knight order, Asgarnian federal government, and overtake the nation of Asgarnia. However, the Kinshra were, alone, not nearly sizable enough to accomplish such a task.

Whilst hoping to fortify the Black Knights Fortress and prepare his forces for a possible defensive strategy if needed, Sulla immediately embraced the idea of becoming more open with enemies of Asgarnia. Asgarnia, having been established in the Year 8 of the Fifth Age, had not existed long enough for old hatreds to die. Taking advantage of this, Sulla approached numerous other racial factions and political entities.

The Chaos Dwarves
Amongst Sulla's earliest formed alliances was that with the chaos dwarves, a Zamorakian order that inhabited the caves and mountains of northern Asgarnia. The dwarves were immediately taken with Sulla's willingness to act on Zamorakian ideals. Their leader, an elderly dwarf named Thorbarkin, was long an extremist and accepted Sulla's intentions as genuine. The dwarven order had long been a foe of both the Dwarven Realm and Asgarnians, who had kept them from utilising mines throughout the region and largely forced them to inhabit the Wilderness.

Sulla's main reason for allying himself with Thorbarkin's people was because of their powerful artillery technology. The mortars they used were similar to the multicannons used in the Keldagrim - Troll Country War and, he suspected, were capable of tearing through the walls of Falador or virtually any other city he needed engage. The chaos dwarves also added significantly to his ground forces; more than 500 new footsoldiers were immediately placed under Sulla and Thorbarkin's joint command.

The Wilderness Mercenaries
The Wilderness Mercenaries were quickly recruited by Sulla in order to bolster his numbers during the Siege of Falador and any later conflicts. The force effectively allowed Sulla's forces to outnumber the Asgarnian and Dwarven Realm resistance, although they were not as loyal or properly trained as his Kinshra knights. The mercenaries often ignored orders once within Falador simply to loot and create chaos. Nonetheless, they proved effective in the early stages of the battle.

The mercenaries were almost completely eliminated during the Siege of Falador, and after Sulla's defeat and overthrow the few remaining soldiers were disbanded.

Post siege fall from grace
Following his failure to take Falador by siege, he attempted to enact vengeance upon the heroine of the battle, but lost his hands. He was captured by the men he formally commanded and was en route to be executed for his failure when he was rescued by Jerrod. Together they fled to the Wilderness, but Sulla became heavily dependent on Jerrod, and he despised this weakness in himself.

Plans for Revenge
After gaining the loyalty of some bandits in the Wilderness, Sulla travelled to Varrock to blackmail certain individuals who had dealings with the Kinshra, such as the thief Straven. After Jerrod received orders to kill the wyrd, Sulla accompanied the werewolf and four mercenaries to her lair. Jerrod killed the wyrd and was banished for doing so, so Sulla hid Jerrod in Varrock and strode into the palace with the wyrd's head, where he became a hero.

Escape and Betrayal
Shortly after turning up with the wyrd's head, a Kinshra agent within the palace started leaving threatening notes, and he was pressured to reveal the location of Jerrod by the Society of Owls. He led Simon into a trap, killing him and escaping in the process. After killing the Kinshra agent, Sulla fled to Port Sarim, where he tried to charter a ship to Kandarin, but was killed, his head sent back to Varrock and his body fed to Jerrod.

Trivia

 * Sulla is also the name of a Roman dictator, who was also a 'successful' general. Gaius also has a Roman name.