D’ni Restoration Archive

Ji - Took the throne in 4438 at the very young age of 36. The combination of an apparently immature and weak King, along with the tension that was growing within D’ni over the outsiders and religious principles, went down in history as a bad one.

At the start of his reign, government records say Ji was overtaken with his new palace life and the luxuries it afforded him. “He seemed much more concerned with what kind of food he would be served for breakfast than whether or not D’ni should pull back all of its people who were living in outside Ages, as some were suggesting,” wrote one anonymous author.

Because of his apparent lack of concern over the real issues, it was the Grand Masters who quickly became the most frustrated with Ji. It was said by a few Grand Masters, in private journals, that Ji would whole-heartedly agree with them, while they presented their strategies and plans, and then agree with their challengers an hour later.

The indecision by Ji made for little evidence of progress and complete frustration for most of D’ni. For the first time in many years, the signs of division began to appear as they had during the 2500’s. The once unified religious beliefs showed signs of splitting, the once unified classes began to separate into rich and poor, and the once confident “Rulers of Worlds” began to wonder whether they could rule even themselves.

Adding to the confusion, were the words of The Watcher. The Watcher, as he had come to be called, was the child who had been born between Ages and now, rumors said, had the ability to see beyond time, past, present, and future.

In 4500 he wrote “Words”, a 625-line volume describing his visions of D’ni. Much of the book dealt with a great destruction of D’ni that would one day occur, and the signs that would come with that destruction. Many claimed that the book was seizing upon the chaos of the day and dismissed it as rubbish, while others seemed to be rather intrigued.

Also in 4500, Guild Master Kinef of the Guild of Legislators brought forth a proposal that would allow the use of private education, separate from the Guilds. Although many seemed frightened of the idea, as education and the Guilds had always been thought of as inseparable^1, the proposal eventually passed by a slim margin^2. Ji seemingly had little to say on the proposal one-way or the other.

Ji was married in 4502 to Milane, a woman who had been married three previous times. It was Ji’s first, and the prophetess advising him had strongly spoken against it. The marriage lasted twenty-five years before ending, and marked the first time any King had divorced one of his wives.

Ji remarried in 4565 to a woman 100 years younger, something culturally excepted. It was the rumors that she was the daughter of The Watcher that created problems. She denied the claim but did show quite a bit of interest in his writings and convinced Ji to do the same.

The marriage lasted until 4645 when Ji’s wife vanished. Some said outsiders had taken her^3 (since nothing had been resolved concerning them), others said Ji had murdered her^4, and others said she had returned to her father, The Watcher (even though the Watcher died in 4606)^5.

Ji’s final wife was one of his own prophetesses he had sought for advice, marking another first for a King. The two were married until Ji’s death in 4692. He left the throne to the third son of a close friend. He was 290 years old.

To sum up Ji’s reign, one author wrote, “There was a collective sigh of relief throughout the cavern on that day he finally left us.”^6