Isaac Angelos

Isaac Angelos was Emperor of Byzantium from 1185 to 1195 and again from 1203 to 1204.

"Those who show no loyalty should expect none." - Modi, ("Fallen From the Ranks...")

History

In 1185, Isaac Angelos overthrew the Komnenos dynasty of Byzantine rulers with his own line, with his brother, Alexios Angelos, serving at his side.

Emperor Isaac was at the Great Palace in 1195 when Shahrizad entertained him and the audience at his court with the tale of Youhanna Al Diyab. When the storyteller stopped her tale short for the evening, the Emperor insisted she continue, but she assured him that the story's resolution would happen the following evening. This drew the ire of his brother, but the Emperor assured his brother that Shahrizad knew her craft. He then relieved his personal bodyguards, the gargoyles Magni and Modi for the evening, when he saw Angelika approaching them.

The pleasant evening was interrupted when it was discovered that his archivist, Abu Jafar Ahmad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Al-Kammad, was murdered and the Eye of Odin was stolen from the Palace's collection. He ordered the arrest of two suspects – Demona and an unknown Scotsman – and conferenced with his brother.

When it was concluded that the Scotsman was the culprit, Emperor Isaac Alexios ordered his execution. Just as Modi was prepared to swing his battle axe, Shahrizad proposed that the guilty party be executed by his own murder weapon. The Emperor liked this form of poetic justice, but when Modi switched weapons, Magni realized that Modi was attempting to frame the Scotsman for his own crimes. When the Emperor asked how, after ten years of loyalty, Modi could betray him, Modi reminded the Emperor of his own oath of loyalty that he broke when he overthrew the Komnenos line of emperors. The Emperor then ordered the gargoyle's capture, but was talked out of it by Alexios.

It is likely that he and his brother heard Shahrizad tell the tale of Cain and Abel the following night. ("Fallen From the Ranks...")

Appearances

• "Fallen From the Ranks..."

Real World Background

Isaac Komnenos Angelos (in Greek, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος) was the son of Constantine Angelos and Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Alexios Komnenos and Irene Doukaina, and therefore part of the royal family line he overthrew when he dethroned his cousin Andronikos Komnenos in 1185.

See Also

• Isaac Angelos at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia