After a glorious 113-year reign as the Batal Kibir, the champion of the Sayran Council, Dirar Hamza has died from sudden organ failure – a common death for sayran as strong as he because the dense, rigid muscles of his torso put too much strain on his organs.

He came to power in 560 after besting the then-Champion in single combat and taking his position.

Sayran society revolves around structured and orderly duels, where disputes are solved by clans putting forward their best warriors to fight. The Great Clans, those that sit on the Sayran Council, cannot survive without strong duelists. While the Great Clans may bicker on the council, the council’s champion, the Batal Kibir, is only sent to defend the council, or ensure their will is enforced. He is the strongest sayran alive.

Dirar Hamza was victorious in over 900 duels on behalf of the council (which doesn’t include the challenges to his position). He blocked over 50 coup attempts and brought rebelling clans to heel for decades. Dirar created a prolong period of peace and stability despite the surrounding chaos of the AEE.

Dirar’s most famous act, now a very popular poem among clan singers, was Under The Moon’s Bloody Gaze. In the year 618, enemies of the council used procedural tricks to schedule 13 duels with the Council’s Champion in a single night. He accumulated damage and fatigue over that long night, but nevertheless pushed through and defeated the best the anti-council faction could bring.

Most Champions are ‘cursed beings’, and in exchange for great powers have debilitating weakness that’s eventually found and exploited, leading most Batal Kibirs to reign for under a decade.

Batal Kibir Dirar Hamza was not a cursed being. He was simply a monstrously strong sayran who had no weakness to exploit.