Egassio Corie

Egāssio Cōrie (20 February 749 - 7 December 816) was a Vahay naturalist, explorer and sailor from Tharabor, made famous by his book, The Fireborn Emperor: Tales of the Tsitrang Kingdom and Its Rulers, which he wrote during his fifteen-year stay in the Crescent Empire as aide, mentor, confidant and lover to Emperor Heqai. At the time of Cōrie's arrival to the Citrang lands, the Crescent Empire had just begun contact with the outside world, and Cōrie was remarkably one of the first non-Nahiiri, Zatay or Qojj foreigners to ever visit the Empire.

Early life
By his own account, Cōrie's birthplace is unknown. He arrived as an orphan child to Tharabor, and was taken by a local boat repairman who raised him. As a young man, Cōrie was educated by Maester Sessidio Verisio, a Nubelor-born Tharabori naturalist who is mostly known for his encyclopaedia Flora of the Vahay Outer Islands, the most comprehensive botanical treatise of its time. From an early age, Cōrie was exposed to exploration and sailing, and had "seen most of the known world" by the time he was 26.

Arrival and first years
After hearing rumors of a far-away land beyond the Qojj deserts, in the far-eastern Septentrion, Cōrie decided to sail through the Lion's Sea to visit these unknown territories. In Cōrie's time, the Lion's Sea was a largely unexplored ocean, as there were little easily-extracted resources in it and Vahay sailors often avoided it. He took his deceased maester's ship, Ciēirē Machie, and set sail south-east.

In spring of 774 he reached the coasts of Sengor and encoutered a small fishing village on the riverside of the Lawbi. There, he found a Nahiiri-speaking Citrang man who took him and his crew to Bagwa, where he parted ways with his crew and the Ciēirē Machie, decided to stay in Sengor and see the coronation of the young Prince Ernīm as Crescent Emperor. He met Paigu, a young Citrang merchant who agreed to take him to Rimeng, where the imperial court was temporarily sitting. The imperial capital of two centuries, Shiqai, had been destroyed 16 years before in a volcanic eruption.

Return to Tharabor
In the winter of 789, Cōrie was approached by a nun who warned him of a plot brewed by the Forty-Three to assassinate him. Knowing if he told Heqai he would put the Emperor's life in danger, possibly by pinning Heqai against the powerful Forty-Three, Cōrie decided it was time to leave the Empire. He had helped the Emperor become fluent in Vahay and had taught him all he knew of the world beyond the Lions' Sea and the Qojj drylands. Their romantic relationship was all but over, as Cōrie's repeated affairs with women in the Imperial court had distanced Heqai from the naturalist romantically. Additionally, the move of the capital to Bagwa had been remarkably successful, and so Cōrie deduced his time in the Empire had come to an end. He'd been considering returning to Tharabor to publish his journals and spread the word about the Citrang lands, and shortly after the encounter with the nun he told Heqai (and later the entire Imperial Court) he intended to return to his home city. Heqai was initially heartbroken, but publicly conceded it was time for the naturalist to return home. Cōrie left the port of Bagwa in the Nahiiri ship Aja, taking with him presents from many nobles and treasures given to him by the Emperor himself.

Cōrie arrived in Tharabor in 790. The arrival of the mighty ship Aja caused a great impression in Tharabor. Upon his return, he became a famous man and was highly sought after for stories of his exploits in the Citrang lands; his Citrang gold and treasures earned him prestige in the city, and in 791 he was named Knight of the Order of Tharabor. Commerce between the Citrang and the Vahay increased after Cōrie's return, especially through Nahiiri markets.

In 794 Cōrie bought lands in the outskirts of the city and became a Drēsian Ragas, a landlord with strong ties to the big city. He married Airaēlla Sadrie, a Nubelor-born apothecary, and had a son, Brachē.

Personal life
Much of Cōrie's personal life is known through his correspondence and his own journals, and what little he made mention of in The Fireborn Emperor. Numerous accounts of Cōrie's romantic relationship with Emperor Heqai exist, and both men made allusions to it; Cōrie in his journals and Heqai in poetry he often wrote, dedicated to Cōrie. Though no precise records exist, it's generally assumed the relationship began around 776, when the Emperor was 17, and Cōrie was 27. Cōrie's relationship with Heqai often made the Emperor clash with nobles of his court, who insisted he take a wife to produce an heir. Though Emperors and Empresses engaging in marital and extra-marital relationships with people of the same sex was commonplace in the Empire, monarchs were expected to produce offspring to secure Emperor Ni's bloodline remained in the throne. During his years in the Citrang lands he also had affairs with Citrang women, most notably Paigu and Qōrtheňsai Shue.

Cōrie was a follower of the Faith of the Anath Ardas, albeit a non-strict one, as was common in the large free cities of Vahay at the time. He also wrote at times being attracted to many of the teachings of Trangism. In The Fireborn Emperor, he stated he believed "both the Anath Ardas and the Mother may as well live together in the Heavens".

Upon his return to Tharabor, Cōrie married local apothecary Airaēlla Sadrie, with whom he lived until his death in 816, aged 67. He had one son with Sadrie, Brachē Cōrie, who also visited the Crescent Empire and lived there until his death. Brachē published many of his father's memoirs and journals, some of which were compiled alongside The Fireborn Emperor as The Fireborn Emperor and the Man from Tharabor and published in 823. Brachē also translated the book into Citrang.