Grain Rot Pact
By the time The Eternal Empire had set its sights one the Tarsan city-states, most had fallen under the sway of the Dragon Kings, who were able to call upon the most powerful creatures in the world for protection. Even the might of the Empire was no match for the dragons, and early attempts to annex the city-states led to disaster. Early in her reign, The Eternal Empress charged her consort, Kelik the Hunter, with eradicating. The task took him centuries, but eventually he and his huntsmen succeeded in banishing Dragons from this realm of existence.
Without the dragons to protect them, many of the city-states submitted to imperial rule. Others fought, with varying decrees of success. Over the next hundred and fifty years, all but one city, Khezvaros, submitted to the Empire. The City of Ten Thousand Daggers was able to leverage its wealth, importance, and alliances (particularly with the Horse Lords) into victories against the Empress's forces. In the end, it wasn't the imperial legions that brought Khezvaros under the Empire's sway, it was a plant disease known as Grain Rot, which decimated crops in the western part of the world for several years. The city-states under imperial rule were able to survive on imperial grain shipped in from other parts of the empire, but Khezvaros had no such reserves. Their usual trading partners were suffering the same shortage and all attempts to establish trade routes farther afield met with imperial embargo.
By the fifth growing season after the Rot began, Khezvaros had lost nearly a tenth of its people to starvation. When signs of the Rot appeared on that year's crop, Ispan Sholyom Bartos IV and the other city leaders decided that peaceful annexation by the empire was preferable to waiting until the inevitable conquest of a city depopulated by hunger. The city's submission to the empire was sealed by the signing of the Most Humble Petition by the Dissident City of Khezvaros for the Salvation, Enlightenment, and Protection Benefiting a Protectorate of the Eternal Empire by Submission to the Merciful and Divine Eternal Empress. It is more commonly known as the Grain Rot Pact.
Purpose
The Grain Rot Pact made the city of Khezvaros and all its outlying lands a protectorate of the Eternal Empire.
Document Structure
Caveats
While the Grain Rot Pact is essentially a statement of complete submission to the Empire, the city's diplomats were able to secure a few protections, most notably the retention of ancestral lands and holdings (but not title) by Khezvaran nobles not judged to be Enemies of the Peace.
Historical Details
Public Reaction
The people of Khezvaros were not overjoyed to become subjects of the Empire, but most understood that it was preferable to slow starvation followed by armed subjugation by the Empire. The loudest voices of opposition were nearly all silenced by the Peace Tribunals that followed.
Authoring Date
623
Ratification Date
623
Location
Authors
Signatories (Characters)
Comments