Karl Franz (WAR Lore)
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Leader of the Empire Army
A soldier, statesman and leader without peer, Karl Franz rules the greatest nation of men in The Old World. Karl Franz is not only a fearless and cunning general who leads his loyal armies from the front rank; he is also a patron of the arts sciences, and an advocate of innovation. During his reign, the Imperial Engineers' School has grown and the Colleges of Magic have thrived.
In the time that Karl Franz has ruled, the Empire has flourished, its armies claiming one victory after another against the savage Orc hordes and the dread legions of the Chaos gods. The Age of Reckoning, however, is war on a scale that even the Great Statesman has rarely seen. The people of the Empire are depending on the heroic leadership of Karl Franz to see them through this dangerous time, and all hope of survival for The Old World may well rest upon his shoulders.
Emperor Karl Franz I, von Holswig-Schliestein is the current ruler of the Empire. He is also an Elector Count of the Empire, holding the hereditary titles of the Count of Reikland and the Prince of Altdorf. Karl is the latest in a series of Reikland Emperors who have ruled for nearly a century. The Reikland Emperors are known for their reformist and modernizing tendencies; his grandfather, Emperor Mattheus II tried to establish a national constitution for the Empire, and succeeded in establishing parliamentary government for the province of Reikland. Karl Franz is often said to be the greatest statesman of the Old World, having brought the Empire through several invasions and crises during his reign. He is a formidable warrior, often leading the Imperial armies into battle riding on his pet griffon, Deathclaw. As Emperor, he wields Ghal-Maraz, the fabled Dwarf-crafted Hammer of Sigmar, and he also carries the Silver Seal, an enchanted medallion which protects its bearer against spells.
When the Chaos Plague first revealed itself, Karl Franz attempted to establish quarantines, but the Chaos plague defeated all efforts to contain it. Even in the face of the riots inspired by Morrslieb turning red, the Emperor did not forget the ancient duties of his people to the Dwarfs, dispatching several regiments to go to the aid of the High King, as he faced the Greenskin onslaught. When the Chaos Champion Tchar'zanek launched his invasion, Franz reacted swiftly by calling together the Kings of Ulthuan and Karaz-a-Karak to form a Council of Wisdom to coordinate the military alliance between Men, Dwarfs and Elves, and by forming the Order of the Griffon to give him direct control over the war effort in the northern provinces and bring the scattered forces of the Empire into a united front against the Great Enemy.