Khagan Dead
April 4413
The royal press office has announced that Manil II khagan has died at the age of 61. The news came after four months of endless speculation about his state of health. The Khagan had ruled over the northern half of the Great Jelbek Steppe for 22 years, the last eight years marked by an intense conflict with his southern neighbour the Katonid Khanate. He is survived by his wife Khatun Mri and their three daughters. Following the announcement of his death, the Council of Mnistrs signed a Yassa (decree) drafted by the dying Khagan which proposed the appointment of Khatun Mri as Regent of the Northern Khaganate. The new Regent is the daughter of the mighty Wekj clan, one of the most powerful clans in the entire steppe and will be assisted by her brother Shmil Juhnsrmko Wekj, a close advisor to her late husband.
It is expected that policies will remain largely the same although there is the elephant of the succession thundering in the room that is the North.The Regent is believed to favour appointing one of her daughters as the first female sovereign on the Jelbek steppe since the contested Khanum Clarisse (r. early 38th century) over her husband's third cousin Prince Petr who is said to be hovering in a nearby country waiting for a call to the throne. A number of conservatives have called for sticking to Manil I Khagan's old reform to the succession and appointing the last male dynast as Khagan. Many anti-Deltarians however are willing to accept a departure from tradition and avoid the installation of a man thought to be "not unfriendly enough" to the southerners. A third option remains in the senior line of the Dorgon clan of Bianjie who are the scion of a Suadjakai female cousin of Manil I's. This option is not likely to be considered seriously with the Dorgons embroiled in their own dynastic conflict at home.