Birth of an Empire
Then came Eurustace.
Eurustace was born to a military commander who had served in the Kingdom of Sorcery. It is thought his father must have taught him much of the art of war, because legend says that Eurustace was an adept soldier and general at an early age.
He set himself up as a prophet and a savior, insinuating even that he was the long-awaited Herald of God, and men flocked to his banner. He was charismatic and riveting. It is said that he could turn men?s hearts with a word.
He gathered an army and took his first nation, renaming the capital Durelius.
From there, his army moved outward, conquering all that stood before him. Slowly, over the next fourteen years, he took more and more countries, uniting them under his yoke.
The dragons of the Dragon Peaks tried to stop him. For years they succeeded, destroying any troops that tried to cross a mountain range into Belkan?th, and it looked like he would have to settle for half the world.
Then he discovered the secret of using the Almian Great Roads. He renamed them the Emperor?s Roads, and the Dragons were no longer an obstacle. This brought Belkan?th and the other corners of the known world into his reach.
With the aid of the Emperor?s Roads, Eurustace was unbeatable. He captured every Human, Gnomish, and Halfling nation within a five years.
Next came the Elves. It took seven years to conquer the Elves. When it was done, he turned his eye on his only foe, the Dwarves.
With the aid of the Emperor?s Roads, he entered the Dwarven kingdoms behind their defenses. For millennia, the Emperor?s Roads had been disused. Few in the Dwarven kingdoms even believed they still existed.
The Dwarven kingdoms fell in a single day.
With the lands conquered, Eurustace looked on his Empire in sorrow. With regret, he set about ruling what he had taken.
His Empire in hand, Eurustace settled down in Durelius and made it the capital of the first Empire. He named the Empire Vurtus and began gathering his power.
He declared this the first year of rule, Ano Imperii. He declared all years previous before the Emperor, Pre Imperetor.
The first job of any ruler is to produce an heir, and so Eurustace took a wife from the daughters of one of the kings he?d conquered. In the year 2, she gave birth to his first son, Stanterius.
The known world languished under the rule of Eurustace for twenty-one years, until he was assassinated by unknown parties. His son, Stanterius, took control of the Empire.
Stanterius was a good man. He honored his mother?s moral code and took the responsibility of ruling the known world very seriously. He even considered dissolving the Empire, but knew that this would only result in chaos.
In the year 23, Stanterius implemented a comprehensive legal system. He felt that his father?s method of judging by whim was unfair to his people. Once he?d written the legal code, he had them taken to each corner of the world and carried out by the judges there.
In the year 50, he created a Senate of elected officials to represent the will of the people. He gave them ability to legislate laws for the Empire, subject to Imperial veto. They were even granted the ability to remove the Emperor with a unanimous vote of no confidence.
In the year 53, Stanterius died of a heart attack. He left his son Gavinus to rule in his place.
Stanterius? rule was considered a golden age for the Empire, full of joy and promise. It showed that even the most horrible beginnings could be redeemed through compassion and honor.
Gavinus decided there needed to be a series of mundane roads throughout the Empire. Something for the citizens to use. And so he began construction in the year 60.
Gavinus wanted these roads built and well maintained, but he knew that if that was left solely in the hands of the government, this would not be the case. So he implemented a series of tax breaks to any landowner who maintained a section of road. This ensured the roads were well maintained for centuries to come.
In 152 the roads project was finished. The Empire was now joined by a network of roads.
In 161 the Emperor commissioned the Imperial University. The Imperial University was to be the greatest institute of learning in the world. It was finished in 170 and quickly gained renown.
To continue this atmosphere of learning and intellectual pursuit, the Emperor commissioned the Academy of Warfare in 197. It was finished 14 years later. All officers in the Imperial Army began moving through the Academy. The Academy strove for a level of excellence unmatched by any other school of learning.
In 268 the Emperor commissioned the building of the Center of Mysteries. This was designed to be the foremost school of magical study in the world. Not long after it was completed 21 years later, it succeeded.
In 385 the guilds of the Empire, uncertain about their power among the entrenched might of the Emperor, held the first gathering of the guilds. This was a conclave designed to discuss and protect the interests of merchants and craftsmen throughout the Empire.
They practiced fixing prices and controlling trade throughout the Empire. They found they could exert much power when they acted together, even more than the guilds did on their own.
A year later, they met again. This time, the Emperor sent troops to seize them. The troops surrounded their compound and refused to let anyone enter or leave.
The Emperor entered the compound to meet with the merchants. He expressed his displeasure at their attempts to take power away from his throne and announced that he was going to fire the compound.
The merchants were desperate, but being the finest negotiators in the world, they kept their heads. They brokered a deal with the Emperor, a deal which granted the Emperor himself a percentage of all profits, a deal that circumvented the normal channels of tax revenues and directly profited the Emperor.
As time went on, the Emperor?s taxes became more and more excessive. The people began to despise the Emperor and sought an end to taxation.
A man named Kanil organized the disenfranchised people of the Empire and attempted to rise up. He marched against the Emperor, wearing a crown of thorns to match the Emperor?s crown of gold.
For five years, Kanil took cities on the way to the capital. He managed to raise more troops than the Emperor, and Kanil rampaged for five years while the Imperial legions used the Emperor?s Roads to outmaneuver him.
At the end of the five years, Kanil marched on Durelius. The harassment of the Imperial legions had greatly reduced the number of Kanil?s troops, and he was defeated. His head was placed over the gate of Durelius and his limbs sent to the four corners of the world.
The Thorn Rebellion had ended.
But the sentiments had not. Emperor Trelius was slain by an assassin the next year.
His son, Aulius, took the throne and began a holy war against assassins. Every assassin in the Empire ran scared as the towns and cities were scoured. Those suspected of being hired killers had their flesh slowly carved away by torturers until they died.
In 472, the remaining assassins gathered together for survival. They formed a secret guild of their own, the Assassins? Guild. From there, they worked as a single man, protecting each other from the Emperor?s legions.
In 480, having solidified their holdings, the Assassins? Guild decided that it was time to announce their presence to the world.
On the last day of the year, an hour before midnight, they struck. In every city throughout the Empire, they slew the lord. They then carved the symbol of the Guild, a coiled garotte, on the forehead of every victim.
The next morning, war was declared on the Assassins? Guild.
For almost five years, the Emperor?s troops sought the Assassins? Guild. Those assassins? they found were tortured and killed.
Finally, they discovered the location of the headquarters of the Assassins? Guild. Troops were gathered and the headquarters razed.
The guild was thrown into chaos. Members scattered to the four winds. It took a year for them to reunite.
In 486, the Assassins? Guild struck back. Over the next five years they began a reign of terror. Dozens of Emperors were slain. Some of them sat of the throne less than an hour.
The Assassins? Guild had infiltrated every level of the Imperial Palace. By the end of five years, the Emperors were terrified to rule. They could do nothing but cower and wait.
In 491, the assassins finally called an end to the war. It had been years since the Emperor had called off the war on his end, and they finally decided that enough was enough.
In 502, after the smoke had time to clear, the Assassins? Guild sent an agent to Emperor?s bedchamber in the middle of the night. Several other meetings followed.
Later that year, the Emperor and the Assassins? Guild signed a secret pact. Known as the Killing Accord, this pact gave the Assassins? Guild legitimacy within the Empire.
In 565, the Thieves? Guild approached the Emperor, emboldened by rumors of the Killing Accord. After several meetings, the Stealing Accord was signed, legitimizing the existence of the Guild.
This trend was continued in 581, when the Church of Bamon and various Demon cults presented themselves to the Emperor. They swayed the Emperor to their will, and that same year, the Emperor announced that all people were free to follow any religion in the Empire. The evil religions were now able to flourish.
This opening of religions led to an increased corruption of the other churches, as traitors who secretly followed Bamon were protected by law when revealed.
In 590, this trend continued to worsen. The Emperor declared the worship of the now Archdemon Eurustace was publicly approved, not merely allowed.
A day of holiday was declared and celebrations held throughout the Empire. Statues were unveiled in the capital, all depicting Eurustace, the Butcher.
In 605, the trend played out as the Emperor declared the worship of Eurustace the official religion of the Empire. People could still worship whom they wished in their free time, but services to Eurustace were compulsory.
In the ensuing century, things became worse. The followers of Eurustace grew in power. The freedoms of those who followed other religions dwindled. The priesthood knew incredible prestige and power. The common man knew despair.
In 747, the Emperor declared that in the footsteps of the Confessors, Inquisitors of the Emperor had the right to delve into the minds of the accused to discover the true natures of their crimes. These Abolishment of Privacy Acts sang the death knell for the freedom on the people. There was only one step further to fall.
In 771, the Emperor instituted the Crime of Thought Laws. This meant that now, even the wish to commit a crime was considered illegal.
The only source of light in the dim final days of the Empire was the fall of the Assassins? Guild. In 803, the Thieves? Guild and Assassins? Guild went to war. Unfortunately for the Assassins? Guild, they were not told ahead of time.
In the dark of the night, the Assassins? Guild was assaulted by the Thieves? Guild. Thieves outnumbered the assassins one-hundred to one, and the assassins never stood a chance.
It is rumored the war had something to do with a woman.
