Empire of the Emerald Winds

Structure

The Empire of the Emerald Winds is organized very strictly by social strata, with little to no upward mobility; Citizens of the Empire are taught from a very young age to find solace in their assigned role in society and to seek to serve the Empress of Spring as best as they can. This assigned role is based solely on one’s race, with the Spring Court of Archfey taking up the top of the societal ladder, followed shortly after by the High Elves, then the Humans, and lastly by the Half Orcs and Orcs. The members of the Spring Court are the ruling body of the Empire, advising the Empress and governing the five great provinces of the Empire. The High Elves are the bureaucrat, artisan, and warrior caste, fighting in service of one of the Spring Fey and overseeing the day to day administration of the Empire. The men of the Empire are primarily farmers, tradespersons, merchants, and sailors. In times of war, it is the right of the Spring Court to levy an army of human soldiers to fight under a high elven general. Half-orcs find themselves at the bottom of what is accepted in polite Imperial society, an unfortunate byproduct of orcish raids on human settlements, half-orcs are largely shunned from most settlements and find themselves serving as custodians, miners, foresters, and in some cases, assassins and spies.

Public Agenda

The Empire of the Emerald Winds seeks to wrest control of Athandros to ensure the Theocracy of the Great Sand Sea cannot use it as a trade post, as well as to sabotage future raids from the Kingdom of Everfrost. Their bitter disdain towards the Harvestfall Confederacy has left some to believe that should they gain control of the island, they would use it to mount an invasion upon the smaller and less organized nation.

History

The history of the Empire prior to the arrival of the Spring Court is riddled with mystery, as many records predating the Spring Court have been sought out and destroyed. What is known is that the time before and shortly after was fraught with infighting, both among the nobility and peasantry. The five provinces once made war with one another as independent kingdoms, before being united under one banner by the might of the Spring Empress. For the safety and stability of the realm, the Empress declared that humans and half orcs would be barred from bearing arms within the Empire unless enlisted within the Imperial Millitary. The so-called "lower races" were then bound to work the land and serve as serfs to satisfy their betters. To this day, orc and human rebellions still occur frequently, forcing the Empire to maintain the largest standing army in the known world, comprising mostly of humans and half-orcs that are motivated by the slight chance at social mobility.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Alternative Names

"The Empire",