The Emperor of the Tapani Empire was the hereditary ruler of the Tapani sector during the Dynastic Era (5,392-11,138). The first Emperor was the warrior prince Shey Tapani of House Melantha, who unified the Noble Houses through a number of bloody civil wars that lasted nearly twenty years. The last Emperor, of the Kappela Dynasty, fell to a military coup in 11,138 that followed a gentle and steady decline into regional factionalism.