The Empire of Mor Ardain is one of the nations in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Mor Ardain is ruled by the young Emperor Niall Ardanach. The Titan, Mor Ardain, is very hot, and as it approaches its imminent demise, the temperature rises. It has a very hostile relationship with the Kingdom of Uraya and is constantly on the verge of war because of a dispute over the ownership of the Gormott Province, which Mor Ardain took by force as a mean of solving their resource crisis. This is seen as a direct attack upon Uraya's influence by the Urayan.
Since the country was found, it was ruled by an imperial family. The rule of succession follows a male-preference primogeniture rule. It means that the power is always passed from father to son unless there is no male heir. In that case, the crown will pass to a daughter of the emperor. If there are no heirs, it will pass to the eldest of the remaining brother. If every sibling is dead, then it passes to their own children and the male-preference rule is repeated until a suitable heir is chosen. The order of succession also follow an order based on Driver potential. If a younger male has the potential of awakening Core Crystals, he will be chosen over their older brother. The following list is a list of the known members of the imperial family.
Ephem: The first emperor of Mor Ardain who discovered the Titan in a quest to make a name for himself.
Ephem's son: The second emperor of Mor Ardain who fought against settlers making their own nations on the newly discovered Titan. He eventually unified them under a Titanwide empire.
Hugo's father: Not much is known of him aside from his death, which happened when Hugo was still quite young. He ruled in the years leading to the Aegis War.
Hugo Ardanach: The Emperor who ruled over the empire during the Aegis War, an Alrestwide crisis. Hugo died to protect Addam Origo, a prince of the Kingdom of Torna during the battle which saw the end of the kingdom and the defeat of Malos in the closing days of the Aegis War.
Hugo's elder brother: Unable to awaken Brighid and Aegaeon, he was passed over in favor of Hugo in the line of succession. He was ruling in his brother's absence during the Aegis War as Hugo was on the battlefield. After Hugo died without an heir, the crown passed to him and he is assumed to be the ruler who had to deal with the aftermath of the war.
Niall's father: Niall's father is the emperor who ruled before his own son. He is assumed to be the ruler who defeated the Gormotti during the annexion of the Gormott Province at least 10 years before the main game. For a while he was unable to have children so his niece was assumed to be the next emperor. He finally had Niall after she had already awaken Brighid and been raised as a future empress so she was put into the possition of Special Inquisitor instead.
Lord Eadraig: Niall's uncle and Mòrag Ladair's father. He is assumed to have died before Niall's birth as he would have been the heir instead of his daughter.
Niall Ardanach: The emperor who ruled the empire during the Aegis' return around 500 years after Hugo's reign. He had to deal with the crisis with the Kingdom of Uraya caused by Torna in order to bait both country into war. The land crisis that would soon happen as a result of Mor Ardain's imminent death. Their Titans was also almost destroyed by Praetor Amalthus during the attack on the World Tree. He is assumed to retain his position once the Titans are fused together by The Architect into a new landmass.
Mòrag Ladair: Born the daughter of Lord Eadraig, she was the heir to the throne and raised as such until Niall's birth. She then became the head of the army as the Special Inquisitor and gained a reputation of fierce warrior with the help of her Blade, Brighid. She joined Rex on his quest to find Elysium in hope of finding new land for her dying country.
