Queen Ayumale Banxuni

Empress-Regent of the Hutsai Empire

This article was written for Summer Camp 2026. Therefore it is unpolished and lacking formatting and information. Feel free to comment with any questions or requests for clarification.

Queen Ayumale Banxuni - or Ayu, to those close to her - is the current Empress-Regent of the Empire of Hutsaih, ascending to the throne after the untimely demise of her husband, Emperor Tulonsi II four years ago. She is acting regent until her son, the nine-year-old Gawali, turns sixteen years of age and can rule in his own right.

Ayumale was born to the Banxuni clan, a noble-warrior family with a long history of war heroes. She was the second daughter of seven in a culture that value sons. Her father, Yansan, however, has always been proud of his daughters, and made sure all were educated to a level on par with the male children of his peers. Ayumale learnt mathematics as well as art and literature, and also learnt how to fight with an abar, a bladed polearm, and a sotenli, a lightweight curved sword. Her mother, Samala, also made sure that all of her daughters were trained in elocution, etiquette, and diplomacy.

When Ayumale was fifteen, the then-Crown Prince Tulonsi noticed her at the birthday celebration thrown in his honour, and made his intention clear that he was going to court her. She, in turn, demurred, and introduced him to her elder sister, Fenselakese, stating that she would be a much more suitable choice for the attentions of a crown prince. This amused him and only solidified his attentions, which caused a rift between the sisters. This rift lasted until Tulonsi's death, whereafter Fenselakese and her husband, decorated noble-warrior Xanbada Usedaren, moved into the royal palace to support Ayumale through her regency.

Four years into her reign, Ayumale is a popular ruler across the majority of Hutsaih, and less hated than her predecessors across the rest of the Empire. Through careful manoeuvring, she has won the support and loyalty of the Thirteen, the elite group of warriors who act as bodyguards to the royal family, many who believed at first that the regency should have gone to one of Tulonsi's brother or uncle. She has introduced mandatory education for all girls of the noble-warrior class in Hutsaih, and is working on the rolling this out to the lower classes and across the rest of the Empire.

by Theresa Ude

Most recently, she performed an act which garnered her a flurry of support from across the Empire. She showed mercy to a group of rebels who had broken into the royal palace with the intention of murdering her and her three children. Instead of the death sentence they should have incurred, she allowed them to keep their lives and instead banished them to the isle of Balar the most northerly part of the Empire. Whilst some saw this action as weak, it has greatly improved sentiment towards her as a ruler.