Zaphken Aourlas (born Gamileno, 1710 - 1769) was Wellenesian emperor and Head of the Grand Zaphkenate from 1752 to his death in 1769. A reformer belonging to the reformist Janurai school, his ideas contributed to the Wellenesian Revolution which overthrew the Northern Artian Empire in 1747, and the proclamation of the Empire of Wellenesia in 1750 directly under the Grand Zaphkenate of the East. During his reign, Wellenesia transformed from a feudal state under the Artians into a major imperial power, and modernized Zaphkenism as a whole.
At the time of Gamileno’s birth, Wellenesia was a feudal and pre-industrial oligarchic republic dominated by two political families: the Tralugalids and the Asgulids, which ruled over Wellenesia’s several hundred prefectures, counties, towns, enchantas, tribes, and other subjects. The temple was neutral in Wellenesian politics, though it legitimized imperial elections. The corrupt dictatorship of the last significant emperor Thaeobo Tralugali (1729 - 1747) fueled domestic demands for reform and modernization. Gamileno was a vocal opponent of the two-family system from a young age, and broke temple customs by rallying behind the opposition.
When the Wellenesian Revolution was triggered in 1747 and a republic was subsequently declared, enchantai (Zaphkenist magical knights) mostly from the mountainous central Wellenesian enchantas of Glasa and Musast, as well as enchantas from neighboring Zaphkenist states, rose up in support of the Zaphkenate. Following a Kivan invasion, the struggling republic capitulated into warring factions; of which Zaphkenist enchantai led by Gamileno and backed by conservatives and populists subsequently reunified the country in 1749 and defeated the Kivans. A year later, his brother Zaphken Sashula was made the first Wellenesian emperor.
Gamileno held massive influence in the republic and his brother’s tenure as emperor, but he became emperor in his own right in 1752 following Sashula’s abdication. Taking the name “Aourlas”, meaning “sunrise” in Wellenesian (leading him to also be titled the Sunrise Emperor), he issued the Constitution of Wellenesia in 1758 and reformed Zaphkenic succession via the Succession Act. His reign oversaw the modernization of Wellenesia, dissolving the enchantai that have previously ruled the country as a military caste and replacing them with a modernized military. His reign also coincided with Prime Minister Rylas tau’Avis, embracing free market reforms which rapidly grew the economy. Other events which occured during his reign include the establishment of the Imperial Diet in 1754, the Imperial Cabinet in 1761, an overdue modernization of the Zaphkenic Council of Experts, an act moving the capital of Wellenesia from Nomorevat to Oirpolo in 1763, and military victories over the Fashi Reech in the Second Cyarik War, gaining suzerainty over the Shiban and annexing Talaway in 1769. Zaphken Aourlas died aged 59 in the Prophet’s Palace in Oirpolo, resulting in the longest conclave in recent history which elected his eldest son, Kyonios.