The Great and Holy Empire of Endolia
Where as other parts of the world have changed over time, and great powers have risen and fallen, Endolia has stood firm. When the dark came to swallow the world, and force everything into chaos, Endolia brought light and order to destroy the chaotic dark. When great strides were made by mankind, Endolians were there to witness it. When heretics came spouted their nonsense of other worthy gods, Endolia silenced them. When the monstrous creatures tried to think they were better than us, Endolia burned their homes to the ground. When nonbelievers thought they were better the great Goddess herself, Endolian spears pierced their hearts and carried their bodies over field wreathed with holy fire. Endolia will stand. Endolia will fight. Endolia will lead the world into a grand new age for humanity.
Structure
- At the top is the Emperor of Endolia. He has the most power in government, but also the most responsibility, and if he is lazy with his responsibilities, the other parts of the government can overthrow him, and replace him with someone they believe is better.
- Slightly below the Emperor is the Grand Beacon, the head of the Church of Alyna. He is the second most powerful person in the Endolian government, and acts as both an adviser for the emperor, as well the head of religion.
- Each king controls one of the three regions claimed by Endolia. They have their own armies, but owe fealty to the emperor. While they must follow the edicts of the emperor, and give him a quarter of their total tax revenue. They, at times, can also act as advisers to the emperor.
- Counts control fiefs, lands handed out by the kings, they collect taxes for their king, and enforce both kingdom and imperial law.
- Mayors are charged of towns, and their political power depends upon how big the town is.
- Clergymen and Knights serve as protectors of the faith and the people. The Knights consist of many different orders that receive jobs from The Inquisition, and can own land. Clergymen, clerics, and paladins, can't own land, but they can establish religious sites, and have more sway with the people than the Knights.
Public Agenda
History
In the Age of the Ancients, humans first arrived in ancient Endolia from the south, and settled in those lands. These people were the Ancient Endols, and according to ancient legends, they were supposedly lead to these lands by the voice of the Goddess of the Light and Order, Alyna. They settled all across Endolia, but there were already strange races there. The Kobolds controlled the mountain mines, the Halflings lived in the forest, and the Orcs rampaged everywhere else. Alyna told the humans to claim the lands for their own and push out the monsters that threaten them.
And so the humans spread across Endolia in a great diaspora. Though they were met with heavy resistance as the Orcs traveled in great hordes, and would trample any army that would try and dislodge them from the land. The Kobolds had labyrinths of tunnels in the mountains, making it near impossible to catch them in their territory, and the humans suffered at the hands of arrows and knives in their backs. Even the Halflings, which didn't have the strength of the Orcs or the expert engineering and guile of the Kobolds, halted the advance of the humans through their allies; the Beastfolk.
These races bared the path for humanity for many generations, and even caused some of the Endols to leave and settle on the steppe, eventually becoming the Teuntenkan. Some humans decided to go north, figuring that the visions were wrong and that they needed to go further north, into the arctic tundra. Those people eventually became the Northymbrains. This left the Endols with less and less people, and for a time it seemed like Endolia would remain in the hands of the non-humans.
By the time the dwarves began to properly record their history, the Endols had already pushed most of the non-human races out of Endolia. There are many legends in the Great Library in Augsburg that tell of many different contradicting stories about the ancient Endol tribes and their struggles against the other races. Though by the end of them conquering Endolia, they had again gone from some form of a united tribe to a fractured group of many different smaller tribes. This happened supposedly because the leader of the Endols, who pushed out the other races, died without having an heir to whatever government they had. Many in the Church of Alyna say that the reason for this was that he had taken a vow to never have children until his people were safe and united, but because his people could never truly be safe, he died without having children.
Whatever the case was, this made it so that throughout most of the First Age, the Endolians would be a fractured society. With power switching between the different tribes, until the years 478-534 of the First Age where some of the larger tribes would call themselves kingdoms, and a basic feudal system began to take shape. This happened because some of the Northymbrain tribes had come down and began raiding into Endolia. Along with the Northymbrains were the kobolds, and the Orcs from the east, who were eager to get revenge on the Endolias after being pushed out of their homes.
By 550 there were four major kingdoms in Endolia. To the west, controlling the western coastline and sporting a very competent navy, was the Kingdom of Odyssia. To the east, sporting strong, cavalry, heavy armies and a large peasant population was the Kingdom of Mygrosh. To the north, sporting well-equipped soldiers and controlling all the trade northwards was the Kingdom of Dazgel. Finally, to the south, sporting the most skilled and zealous warriors in Endolia as well as having the ability to control a majority of the trade with the many southern Seraman kingdoms and city-states, was the Kingdom of Gaius. Each of these Kingdoms wanted control of Endolia as a whole, but bad blood between each of the monarchies had dashed any hopes of a peaceful unity.
It was also in 550 when the Kingdom of Gaius sent out waves of priest and missionaries to deal with reports of heretics. Now, at this point in time, the Church of Alyna was only powerful in the Kingdom of Gaius. The other kingdoms instead had polytheistic religions, with Alyna as just one of the many gods within their pantheon. So when the missionaries went out to fight off the heretics, the kingdoms thought that Gaius was trying to cause problems within their borders. However, the Church of Alyna had legitimate reasons for the aggressive advance of their priesthood. As many of them had received visions of daemons and devils advancing from the north, east, and west.
Then, from the year 567-666, the radical Northymbrian clans, called Clan Fenrir, Clan Surt, and Clan Jormungandr, took over most of Northymbria and started raiding into the Kingdoms of Dazgel and Mygrosh. They tried also getting into Odyssia, but their warships weren't strong enough to punch through the naval armada that Odyssia had. Unlike past years, when the Northybrians came down to raid in Endolia, the Northybrians seemed more coordinated than in years past. These raids became increasingly worse over the years as they eroded away at the fringes of the kingdoms. Many citizens wanted the armies to go up and fight the Northymbrians, but the Kings couldn't send their armies north without fear of being pounced upon by the other Endolian kingdoms.
This all came to a head in the year 666, when the First Great Invasion took place. All over the world, each of the children of Dorchadas entered the mortal realm and began sowing chaos everywhere. The elves and dwarves were forced to deal with the Daughter of Damnation and her Dullahans in the east, the Lizardfolk were forced to deal with the Son of Destruction and his Devils and Dragons in west, and Endolia was left to face the Spawn of Defamation, and the legions of daemons and the Northymbrian clans it controlled. The Kingdom of Dazgel fought bravely, but they were the first to fall, and many of the citizens were forced to flee into the Northern Forest and into Gaian lands.
The remaining kingdoms, Odyssia, Mygrosh, and Gaius, all mobilized to fight the daemonic threat. However the kings of the Endols refused to work together, instead, each one focused on a part of the invading forces. The Odyssians fought the Clan Jormungandr and the daemons of the sea, the Gaii fought against Clan Surt and the never-ending hordes of daemon-kin spawning and tearing at the fabric of mortal minds, and the Mygrosh fought Clan Fenrir and the land itself as corruptive shamans bent it to their will.
In the first year of the Great Invasion, due to the sheer force and speed of the invading daemons, the Endolian kingdoms were pushed back, despite the valiant efforts of the soldiers and the early success they had. By the year 667, the Odyssian navy had been crushed and they were losing their lands quickly, the Gaii were suffering internal conflict as daemons infiltrated their borders and started mass cults, but the Mygrosh actually had success, despite having lost most of their fights, they were able to hold onto important locations and their flatlands benefited their cavalry heavy army. Another reason for Mygrosh's success was due to their large amount of peasants that they used as frontline troops, compared to the other kingdoms who put their best soldiers first. It is also said that after the Mygroshian King had almost died in the Battle of Wolf's Den, the King of the Mygrosh acknowledged Alyna as his one true god and his savior. Though it is unclear if this was the case.
During the winter of 667, the assaults from the human components of the Great Invasion stalled. This was due to Northymbria not being fully developed, meaning that the invading clans couldn't supply their armies completely. This wasn't helped by the fact that the daemons would destroy most of what they came across and possess most of the able body men and women to bolster their own already infinite army. Another problem facing the invading forces was that any outpost that the Northymbrians would make, the daemons would demand subservience and sacrifices. The Northymbrians couldn't keep up with the rising demands of the daemons and started to become bitter, but more importantly, they couldn't support the mostly monstrous and the swarm like infantry of the daemons.
So as the Great Invasion dragged into its third year, the Endolian kingdoms had regained some of their lands. The ships of Clan Jormungandr had started to crumble under the corrupting use of the daemons, the leaders of Clan Surt had started to mysteriously die off, and Clan Fenrir had openly rebelled against The Spawn of Defamation. The Kingdom of Gaius had started setting up the first Paladanic Creeds, as a way to inspire the people and to combat the daemonic forces, the Kingdom of Odyssia used early versions of modern guerilla tactics to start whittling away at the Northymbrian war machine and leadership, and the Kingdom of Mygrosh began accepting help from Clan Fenrir and the Beastmen of the Northern Forest, which caused some dissonance between them and the Kingdom of Gaius.
Finally, at the Battle of the River Augs, the Kingdom of Gaius and the Kingdom of Odyssia was able to drive away the daemons and the Northymbrian Clansmen by defeating both of the jarls of Clan Jormungandr and Clan Surt and destroying a being known as the Avatar of Defamation. This caused most of the daemons to return to their master's realm and a mass route from the Northymbrians. However, this would not be the last battle for the Endolian Kingdoms, as another invasion force set its sights on Endolia, the Daughter of Damnation and her dullahans.
Spies and refugees from the Teuntenkan Plain told the Mygroshian King about the invading forces, so he again sought help from Clan Fenrir; however, the Northybrian Clan had suffered greatly because of their betrayal, and couldn't offer much save a few units of elite wolf riders, some huskarls, and few units of javelin throwers. The King then turned to his fellow Endolian kings. The Odyssian's were too far away and too battered to help, but the Gaii did agree to help under the condition that they give up their sovereignty as punishment for their heresy. And that if they didn't do this, the Kingdom of Gaius would burn all of Mygrosh to the ground. It is said that the Mygroshian King locked himself in his quarters for three days, and no one saw him except for the servants that gave him his rations. Then, on a sunny day, he gathered all of his soldiers, his retinue, and attendants. He gave a grand speech that stated that he did not want to betray his new Northymbrian allies, but he also did not want his people to suffer at the hands of the radical Gaii. The King's answer to the problem was that he would excommunicate himself from his kingdom and the Church of Alyna, he would go to the Northern Woods to call for from the Beastmen and help lead Clan Fenrir in defending the Mygroshian Kingdom as enemies of Endolia. It is said that every Mygrosh citizen, even the ones that weren't there, cried out to their king and tried to join him in his exile, but he ordered them to stay.
On Maius the 14th, 668, of the Standard calendar, King Scanderbag Albion Wilhelm "the Martyr" of the Mygrosh, waited on the rolling hills of Teuntenkan plain. He, along with Jarl Sigurdson, waited for the army of Damnation to come. Those few Mygroshians that had snuck into the ranks of the Northymbrian infantry would remark how different he would be. "The horns attached to his iron helmet were a pristine white," one account writes, "the color of his armor no longer had the normal brown and blue color scheme of the Mygrosh, but instead dazzling patterns of green and white. He had a new sword too, a strange, shiny blade with the hilt completely covered by tree bark, and his cloak seemed to be made out some large feathers."
It was that day when the last records of King Wilhelm of the Mygrosh were written in the Endolian history books; however, his legendary battle on those seemingly normal fields have echoed into the modern day. It is said that not only did the Beastmen and Clan Fenrir join him, but Orcs, dwarves, elven refugees, the Teuntenkan, kobolds, halflings, and even a giant that had come down from the far northern mountains, came to help this one human king. A few thousand years later, Emperor Adrian von Holstein Liberalis would commission a memorial for the legendary figure of Mygrosh, and christen him as an unheard saint of Alyna. That despite the accusations heresy, he died protecting their home, so the Endolia could continue on and prosper.
After the Great Invasion finally ended, Endolia began a period of reconstruction. The surviving kingdoms began picking up the pieces, leaving each other alone. At least that's what the Kingdoms Odyssia and Mygrsoh tried to do. The Kingdom of Gaius had other ideas. They were serious when they said that they wanted sovereignty over the Mygroshian Kingdom; however, the new king, King Naxos Scanderbag Wilhelm, was the opposite of his father. Where is father was very honorable and generous, King Naxos was cutthroat and frugal, though that was a fact that King Naxos had kept hidden from most people, as he was a shrewd man to boot.
So when they Gaian representative came with King Naxos' replacement, King Naxos order every one of his servants that were in the throne room to stop and listen to their supposed new king. Naxos then proceeded to question Gaian on the culture and history of the Mygrosh. Whenever he was silent for too long or was going to say something that wasn't an answer, like stammersing or trying to change the subject, King Naxos would cut him off with another question. Soon enough the two Gaian representatives were the laughing stock of King Naxos' whole court. Then, to rub salt into the wound, King Naxos told his servants that they were allowed to gossip about this incident, and he even encouraged them to talk about it, so that the whole kingdom knew about this affair.
The Gaian representatives needed an armed escort in order to get out of the capital. This sent waves throughout Endol. Odyssia recalled their diplomats that they had sent in order to negotiate an alliance with Gaius. The few Dazgelians that had survived the Great Invasion, and had been "protected" by the Gaii, began making their own small kingdoms and trying to throw off the yoke of the Gaii. It seemed as if the Endolian kingdoms would again fall into strife and war until the Odyssian King stepped up and called for a meeting of a kings.
He called for all the kings to meet at a field near the Augs River. While at first the Mygroshian and Gaian King refused to meet each other, one because they hated each other and two Dazgel didn't have a proper king making it a mote point, the Dazgelian nobles quickly elected someone to represent them. Albriech von Rooker was a well-respected man among the Dazgelian peasantry and nobility. He helped save many lives during the Great Invasion and protected the rights of the Dazgelians while in Gaian land. He also had the most land and power at the time.
This made King Naxos consider going, while he did still hated the Gaian king, he knew that another war was not what Endolia needed, and since the Dazgelians now had someone to speak for them it made sense for him to go. And the Gaian king went, because he didn't want to be shown up by King Naxos. So the leaders met at the River Augs. The proper ceremonial words were said, and each of the leaders prepared their demands for a grand debate. When they sat down, they said nothing at first. None of them wanted to make the first move, lest they seem greedy or lesser in their peers' eyes. Eventually, talks began, but they quickly turned into arguments and it seemed like none of the leaders would ever agree on anything.
Then, after a week of none-stop bickering, the flaps to their tent flew open and a great gust of wind blasted all of the guards down. The three men sat in awe as a young woman, with bright blonde hair, radiant orange eyes, and dressed in peasants clothes, came in and spoke with a divine voice. The voice of the goddess Alyna herself. After some arguing from the Gaian king and the Voice proving herself, the meeting continued in earnest. And finally, on Janus 1st, 670 of the First Age, a government was formed, a form of government that would soon turn into today's empire.
Government worked like a coalition. The Odyssian King would manage the economic and civil needs of Endolia. Albriech von Rooker became in charge of rebuilding the Dazgelian region as well as some of the other areas hit the hardest in the Invasion, as well as Dazgel's unofficial sovereign. Those two men would join together to eventually form the Inquisitorial Party. King Naxos and the Gaian King became in charge of the military needs of the coalition, and they both would soon form the Knightly Orders and Paladanic Creeds, as well as the rivalry between the two institutions. The Voice of Alyna became the first Grand Beacon, the head of the Alynan Church, as it was soon found out that she was Godtouched. These five people laid down the building blocks for the Endolian Empire, but it was still a long ways away, and more troubles were still up ahead.
The Coalition spent the rest of the First Age rebuilding its destroyed lands. Also during that time, they built the city of Augsburg to act as neutral ground for all the factions' emissaries. By the swing of the next age, the political climate had been thoroughly laid out before the people of Endolia. In the regions of Odyssia and Dazgel, the Inquisitorial Party, otherwise known as the Inquisition, held the most sway. To the south, the former Kingdom of Gaius and the Church of Alyna merged together to form Manus Deae or the Hand of the Goddess. In the Mygroshian area, the Traditionalist party and the Chivalric parties formed. The Inquisition wanted to increase the wealth and prosperity of Endolia, Manus Deae wanted to spread the Alynic religion and make the state religion across all of Endolian, the Traditionalists party wanted to make a monarchy across all of Endolia and instate ancestral worship into their polytheistic religion, and the Chivalric party wanted to create a law that allowed Knights to go out of the country and solve the world's problems, as well as hunt the monsters roaming the wild, left behind by the last invasion. The Chivalric party also wanted to decrease the influence of the Paladanic Creeds, which had slowly been increasing over the years.
Besides the political tension this age brought there was also racial and international tension as well. The Orcs roaming the eastern steppe started forming into tribes and started creating tributary states out of the local nomadic human tribes. To the north, Endolian spies report that Kobolds, Halflings, and Gnomes were still alive, and even thriving in the Northymbrian mountain ranges, which angered the Manus Deae. Also, some of the Northymbrian clans began to reform into cohesive groups, which incited some fears of another invasion. And on top of all of that, a new race of humanoids came into being, the Chaoswoken. The First Invasion had done more than just ruined the lands of Endolia, killed thousands of people, and caused the formation of the Coalition. It also caused some Endolians to become infected with a chaotic influence, making their children come out strange. Some children would have sanguine, azure, or coal-colored skin; others would also grow horns on their head or at their joints; others would have strange powers on top of this, similar to a Godtouched; and others would grow wings, pointed tails, or be able to see souls.
Throughout the early years of the Second Age many Paladanic Creeds would attempt purges in towns and cities all across Endolia. Knights would fight the Paladins in order to try to keep the peace but only escalated the fighting. The Knight's cause wasn't helped as Klan Buruden, a wealthy dwarf klan, began arming and funding some groups of Chaoswoken, who would then begin rebelling and hurting people around them. These rebellions would raise up and be crushed by the local army and militia, and on occasion by a band of Paladins and Knights. These rebellions started out small, and disjointed, but eventually would start to gain some traction in some areas. These rebels would call themselves the Green Sashes, as they would usually wear green sashes or any other green clothing to identify themselves with each other.
In the year 333, an open civil war started due to members of Manus Deae and the Inquisitorial party fighting in the streets of a Mygroshian town, Heimlerruhe, injuring and even killing some of each other. No one knows who started the fight, some say the two groups planned to fight each other from the beginning, others say that some dwarfs paid off some people to help start the fight, others say that some Green Sashes started the fight and were the reason that people got hurt; however, it didn't matter. The cinders of civil war had grown and matured into an inferno, and Endolia would be yet again, thrown into turmoil.
War had broken out. Knights and Paladins fought each other without remorse. The common folk began to support the Green Sashes. And the outside forces stoked the flames of chaos within Endolia. One man looked upon this from his mayor's office and began to meditate. He then looked down at a map of Endolia, pieces indicating troop movements spread around the map. He stroked his chin and began moving his pieces, and the pieces of his enemies. A messenger walked into his office and told him that his general's experiencing victory due to his orders. The man smiled and prepared to dawn his armor.
Far away a bulky man with his two Northymbrian companions began to sail into port. As the man pulled into the harbor he looked up to see soldiers harassing a woman and her child, who was a Chaoswoken. Some other soldiers along with a group of paladins and priest were keeping a crowd of people away and preaching their truth. The man had his crew tie down the ship as he pulled out a green sash from his bag. His companions dawn their sashes as well and pulled out their weapons. Tyranny had no place in their sight.
In a temple, a woman sits in prayer. Outside a fire rages as warriors and peasants alike fight for their lives. She prays for their protection but knows that Alyna doesn't value inaction and words. The barred doors to the church are slammed with something. She hears axes slash into the wooden frame, slowly breaking down the door. Everyone else, except for a single scared peasant, had already left the church in hope to find better safety. The woman knew they would have most likely perished by now. She knew Alyna only allowed one recourse for these actions. The woman stopped praying and picked up her halberd. The world around her was corrupt, and she would be the one to end the corruption. The peasant looked at her in awe and picked up his sword, for he would not let her fight alone. The doors fell down and the two people, being the opposite of each other in every way, fought with each other like true friends.
Kruger von Rooker, Emilia Liberalis, and Jackob "the Dragon of the West" were all the most instrumental leaders in this time. So much so that this era has been written into many overdramatized novels, poems, and plays. Kruger von Rooker had many blood connections across Endolia. His father was a Mygroshian frontiersman, and would always go out to fight the Orc tribes infesting the Teuntekan Steppe. Kruger's mother was an aristocrat from the Gaian area and has traveled all over Endolia. She was also quite intelligent in the realms of statecraft and theology. Kruger would shadow both of his parents from a young age, learning everything he could about military, statesmanship, and theology. This turned him into one of the smartest strategists in Endolia. He turned his tiny shanty town into a hub of trade and built up his own personal guard only loyal to him.
Emilia Liberalis was a simple priestess in the Gaian area. She didn't receive much attention until she started having visions of the future. The Church of Alyna took her and made her the first auger of the Church. Emilia was moved to the holy city of Sol, where she was kept for a long time. While she was there she noticed that the Church was not as holy as she imagined it to be. Many priests and bishops would extort the people, and the paladins seemed cold-hearted and cared little for collateral damage they caused. Emilia became disgusted with the Church but could do nothing to change it from her position. Eventually, she was placed in the City of Augsburg, right before civil war broke out. It was during the Burning of Augsburg where she would meet someone that would change her life. A peasant named Joseph Cantor, who was an indentured servant to a bishop in the city, but his master died so he pledged himself to Emilia. Joseph wasn't smart and had didn't have much strength, but he more than made up for it with his wisdom, expertise in discourse, and his bravery. The two became fast friends under the light of fire and smoke.
Jackob was a Chaoswoken himself. He had blood-red skin, horns, and wings like a dragon, which earned him the moniker "Dragon of the West". Not much is known about Jackob's childhood, but Dazgelian records show him to come from a local fishing family. It thought that due to persecution, he joined a group of explorers journeying into Northymbria. It is this mission where Jackob met his two close friends, Regus, a sly gnome with a knack for stealing things and causing trouble, and Bjorn Fjordson, a Northymbrian huskarl with a grand sense of adventure, what is right, and booze. Jackob left his party to join these two until he heard about the tyranny of the paladins back in Endolia, and the Green Sashes' uprisings. Jackob landed in a western Dazgelian port and accomplished something no other Green Sash leader could do, take a town, hold a town longer than a month, and expand his influence.
While there were other warlords and people of note, these three seemed to usually be in the center of the action. Nearly every warlord at the time had some sort of connection to these three. The three warlords would fight and expand their territory. Attempts at diplomacy met mixed results, especially when it came to alliances. Each of the warlords had their own version of a united Endolia, some of these ideas meshed together; others were met with animosity.
"The Dragon of the West" easily took control of the Odyssian region, as the people there were more accepting of change and of different cultures, meaning that he easily gained support from the people. He also put in food policies that brought in more food than in years past. Kruger established his power in the east, taking out smaller warlords with both diplomacy and his armies. He also set up many vessels to him, in order to take other warlords without him actually having to attack. Emilia was stuck in an extremely difficult position. She held the destroyed city of Augsburg, giving her legitimacy to her rule, she was beset on all sides. To the south, the Church of Alyna branded Emilia as a traitor and the Green Sashes were rampaging everywhere.
This status quo lasted for about 3 years. Emilia built Augsburg into a bastion and raided into the lands of her neighbors in order to supply the city. Many people attempted to take the city from her but failed as either another army would come and attack the besieging army, so they could besiege the city, or Emilia would force the enemy army into assaulting the walls by using the mages in the city and herself as human artillery platforms. The mages would man the walls, blast down their magic onto the ranged units, and then retreat when the assault started.
In the year 340 of the Second Age, the Church of Alyna gained a new Grand Beacon.
Demography and Population
There are four main demographics within the Empire: Odyssian, Celestant, Dazgelian, and Teuntenkan. Odyssians live mostly on the western side of the Empire, and usually thought of as shrewd merchants and master sailors. Their skin is usually slightly tanner than most Endolians, as they usually spend time working and traveling. Dazgelians are live mostly near the northern border of the Empire, and they are considered to be gruff and stubborn folk. They tend to be apart of the workforce or military, as they tend to be bigger and stronger than most other Endolians, on average. The Teuntenkan live on the eastern border of the Empire, and they make the bulk of the farming communities, small businesses, and fine arts communities in Endolia. Teuntenkan tend to be very free-spirited and creative, making them the demographic most likely to leave the Empire, and so lots of conflict between the Celestants and Teuntenkan have risen up in the past. The Celestants are found mostly in the southern and central areas of the Empire. They tend to be the most religious and nationalistic demographic, which has caused problems with the other cultures with the Empire.
Territories
Religion
Foreign Relations
Infrastructure
The Goddess Protects
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