The Empire



The Empire (Known as "Imperium Superioratus" in the Imperials native language.) Was a military super power from a far off land in the west. And until ten years ago, was disbanded after a devastating civil war.

The Empire's second coming (known to the Imperials as the great migration.) began 10 years after the civil war far east in a town known as Manuk.

Institutions
Due to their pride in warfare and warriors, Imperial territory is divided by the greater generals and Legates currently in service of the army. When a Legate or general finally retires from duty or dies in battle, the newly assigned commander will take command of both the position and the territory in fief of the former commander.

Even if the governor has total control of the town/city/ or even province, the Emperor in power still has total authority over his land, and can remove (Sometimes forcefully) the governor from power and take command of the land until a more suited governor can be found.

The Emperor
To become the Emperor of all the Empire, you first would have to have been a child of the previous Emperor, be of the age of 18, and to have superior military thinking. The trials to become the next Emperor starts at a very early age of 12. As soon as the child reaches age, he begins studying the full history of the Empire from several scribes, these studies continue until the child is 14 or when the scribes deem him worthy of continuing his studies.

at 14, the child is given to a praetorian (also known as a regiment captain.) to train in hand to hand combat, horse riding, archery, horse archery, and sword/shield combat. The Praetorians training is long and extremely brutal, and bones are bound to be broken. at 16, the child is given to a legate, general, or grand general depending on who is more willing to take the child. The child is expected to follow the commander and stay by his side during actual combat. The child studies the commanders strategies and troop movements, learns infantry, calvary, archer, and several other unit tactics and formations, and must study day and night to master the art of war in ever aspect. This continues until the child becomes 18, and is deemed fit to rule when the current Emperor resigns or passes away.

The Emperor is revered and respected by his peers, being the all powerful leader of the Empire, he has total authority of every aspect, and can change anything to his liking.

History
The Empire didn't officially become the empire until 300 years after its founding, when at first it started as the Asevian republic, a nation dependent on its neutrality and peaceful nature. Asevian was surrounded by potentially hostile nations consisting of elves, orcs, and other humans. For the first 300 years, Asvenia was known as the "Boot-lick" of the western world, constantly paying tributes and offering woman in hopes of quelling any thoughts of invading the small country.

This cycle continued until the Elven nation of Talgeran, invaded Asvenia to connect its boarders with Monzak, one of Talgerans valuable trade partners. Enraged by the senators decision to surrender, a man by the name of Darius led a revolution against the Republic, and only in the matter of days, the republic fell to Darius's rebels. Making quick reformations of the governmental systems, military, and economic system. The name Asveian republic was destroyed all together and replaced simply with "The Empire".

Darius, now the first official Emperor, was quick to strengthen his nations military in preparation to repel the coming invaders. The war only lasted 3 months and claimed thousands of Talgeran lives due to the Empires implementation of Guerilla and hit and run tactics.

As years passed, the Empire became more and more powerful, occupying several provinces of Talgeria and expanding its military force into the hundreds of thousands. It was at this time that Darius implemented the "Zero tolerance" doctrine where even the smallest act of aggression will be met with total Imperial hostility. And in months, Talgeria was completely overrun and destroyed, its leaders butchered and its people enslaved. The Empires victory in Talgeria was one of the first of coming campaigns against its neighbors, its now mighty armies spread through the lands like wild fire.

It wasn't until the reign of the third Emperor, Emperor Titanicus, that the central lands of the western world were under complete Imperial control. The Empire remained neutral for hundreds of years, this gave the remaining non-imperial factions time to come to a conclusion of how to deal with the expanding military and economic power. While the orcs refused to fight with elves and men and remained isolated from the conflict, the elves and men created the freedom coalition, in a attempt to dislodge the Empire from its boarders. The war raged from the reign of Emperor Titanicus all the way to the 94th Emperor Marcus. After the hundreds of years of war against the coalition, the Empire redirected towards the last remaining faction, the Orcs. Using both traditional and blitzkrieg tactics, the Orc country was quickly conquered within 2 years, and the western world was entirely in Imperial control.

After four years of peace, Emperor Marcus became paranoid of his son Argustus, due to rumors and whispers from his advisors. Marcus sent a assassin and several knights to eliminate Argustus but only managed to murder his slave (who was his secret lover). Enraged, Argustus killed the attackers and made plans to escape into the wilds, only to be intercepted by his old Legion. The Legion pledged their loyalty to Argustus, claiming that he is truly the rightful heir to the throne.

More than half the Imperial Army joined Argustus's Rebellion and a devastating civil war plagued the lands. The War was officially over with the death of Emperor Marcus at the siege of the capital.

By the end of the civil war, the nation was in ruins and beyond salvaging. The Imperial people freed the slaves from defeated countries and disbanded the empire, either settling in small tribal villages, or becoming nomads. Most veterans from the war travelled and became mercenaries or just wandering warriors.

It would not be till ten years later with the reappearance of Argustus in the east that the Empire would rebuild itself. Thousands migrate east to Midgard, occupying the once ghost town and now capital of the Empire, Manuk.

Culture
-Emperor Darius, founder of the Empire.

The Imperials thrive on warfare, Considering it a test of both mental and physical limits. Almost every aspect of life in the Empire is influenced by the military. Recruitment posters liter the streets, store owners pay small taxes to fund equipment and training, high ranking generals govern entire provinces. Every soldier strifes to be a legend in battle, but only few have the honor of statues built in their honor, to be remembered for eternity.

Imperial society is divided into three castes. The War caste, soldiers and generals, the peace caste, workers and builders, and the god caste, Heroes and the Emperor himself.

Imperials have a very strong sense of Justice, especially when it involves foreigners. A simple thing such as a nekoras stealing from a store could lead to racial hostilities for many years. But it is not to say that imperials are racist, up until slavery was abolished by the founding of the new Empire, it has left a major mark in many Imperial family lines. Many Imperial men and woman had some sort of relation with their slaves during these times and it has left a small touch of Xenophilia in many Imperial citizens, especially to elves and distorted humans to a extent.

Military
BE STILL, I COMMAND IT!

- Praetorian Gustuv to a elven soldier before slaying him during the coalition war

As stated before, the Empire is strongly influenced by its military power, while many nations avoid warfare, the Imperials are in a constant state of it, and thrive for battle. The Imperial army is split between Legions, exactly 120 legions were formed during its reign, with anywhere from 3,000 to 100,000 legionary cohorts. The Legions in turn where split into cohorts, each cohort had exactly 480 men in it. While archers were armed with the normal bow and arrow, Legionaries were generally armed to the teeth. Each legionary was armed with a long Spatha, a tower shield, two javelins for throwing before a charge, and a dagger in a last ditch attempt. Each man wore a steel helmet and chest plate, with red undershirts to hide blood from the enemy. A Imperial soldier is trained to not just fight the enemy, but utterly despise them. They see the enemy as not a living thing, but a monster only worth killing or enslaving.

Religion and the Imperial cult
By the lighting, and the tempest, Emperor deliver us!

-Odenus the Pious, before the great slaughter of Mcree

The only religion recognized by the Empire is the Imperial cult. The Imperial cult is a pious group dedicated to worshipping the Emperor as a god. While the Emperor may renounce himself as merely human (Such as the 55th Emperor Odakus) the Imperial cult will still worship him.

They believe that the only way to truly serve the Emperor is in battle, and thousands of fanatics will gladly volunteer to aid a local legion setting off to war. In battle they are sometimes a very vital piece in the battle, what they lack in skill and training, they make up for in numbers and sheer furiousity.

The Imperial cult will outright renounce all other religions, not caring who they insult, and will sometimes even call for a holy war against other religious groups, but are usually ignored.