Kaladean Empire
The Kaladean Empire, also known as the Sunlit Empire, is the dominating political power of Eina, the largest and richest nation of the planet, and an unrivaled colonial powerhouse. The Kaladean Empire is a Theocratic Monarchy that, over the course of multiple centuries, managed to conquer and unify the entire Kaladean continent under the rule of its Empresses and their divine husband.
Presenting itself more as a league of city-states than a continent-spanning Empire, the Kaladean Empire claims all of Artus, Eridia and the Orcades Archipelago as its sovereign territory, but the truth is that its influence struggles to reach further than a few dozen kilometers outside the walls of its cities due to the dangerous fauna, flora, and indigenous populations that populate the magically saturated wilds of Eina. This has of course not stopped the Empire from declaring inhabitants of the wilderness as citizens of the Empire, with varying degrees of acceptance from said populations, as well as promoting expeditions in an effort to expand its territory and exploit resources undiscovered.
Ultimately, no other forces on the continent can truly compete with the Empire, and they enjoy a cordial relationship with their only neighbor, the distant Liang-Xi, allowing them to focus on internal affairs and the delicate balance of power between the Imperial Court, its many city-states, called Palatinates, and the other settlements that it keeps under its hegemony.
Structure
At the head of the Kaladean Empire is the Empress, who rules in the name of her husband the god Menales from the Imperial Capital, and is in turn advised by two small assemblies of nobles whose role is to help her govern the lands.
The Empress's Council
To support and advise the Empress, a council of nobles named by the ruler holds permanent residency in the Imperial Palace. Some of those nobles, dubbed Stone Seats or State’s Seats, are chosen due to their official functions:
While others, the Salt Seats or Crown Seats are filled with nobles chosen by the Empress to assist her. There is no upper limit to the number of Salt Seats, although most Empresses keep between 4 and 9 of them. Currently, the Salt Seats are composed of:
The Palatine Chamber Composed of the leaders of the 12 recognized Palatinates of the Empire, the Palatine Chamber represents the interest of the different regions of the Empire. Those Palatines Princes are the descendant of dynasties who either ruled their city before its annexation or more rarely were placed in power by the Empire to replace a previous dynasty judged unworthy. Due to this ancient history, most can trace their lineage back to the patron deity of their city and through it, divine right to rule. Their role is two-fold, as they serve both as representatives of the Empress in their city, and as representatives of their city to the Empress, and although the Palatine Chamber usually serves only as an advisory council to the ruler, they can be bestowed greater powers such as appointing a new Empress when succession or the imperial seat has been compromised.
The Current Palatine Princes and Princesses are:
The Nobility As mentioned above, members of the Empress's Council and the Palatine Chamber come from, or more rarely are raised to, nobility. This small group of individuals (around 0.5% of the total population) represents the highest strata of Kaladean society. They enjoy numerous privileges in exchange for their perceived loyalty and duties to the Empire, amongst which were the right to buy land inside the walls of a palatine city, the right to own slaves, the right to vote and candidate for certain positions of power and the right to petition the Imperial throne in matters of justice.
Long ago, the most important of those duties was the administration of lands, but nowaday many nobles either lost their land or never were given any, and instead substitute it for economic ventures or political alliances. This has given rise to a sub-classification of nobles into three groups:
More generally, the nobility is divided into titles who organise in an internal hierarchy with higher titles gaining more privileges in exchange for more responsibilities. From highest title to lowest:
In any case, nobility regardless of rank was undoubtedly a great boon that often came with preferential treatment and was synonymous with both power and influence. It was also a status both very hard to gain, and very hard to lose. Most nobles obtained their title hereditarily, from either their mother, father, or both, and exceptions were rare occurrences. As for losing it, this only came as a last resort, a punishment reserved for traitors and those who committed the most heinous of acts. The power to grant or remove titles of nobility rested entirely in the hands of the Empress and the Palatinate Princes. Imperial Citizens Below nobility, where about a third of the Empire's population belongs, is Imperial Citizenship. Granted hereditarily, from at least one parent holding citizenship, or through the process of renting land inside of the walls of a Palatine City (the latter from which the terms derives), the status of Imperial Citizen denotes one's supposed residency in one of the cities of the Empire, and comes with a number of privileges. First is the right to rent land inside a city directly from the Imperial Throne, and operate a business on it. This is the core of the Imperial Citizenship, and the land acquired is often intricately linked to the citizenship itself. It allows the citizen to enrich himself with a degree of protection from the exploitation of nobles, and is often seen as an indispensable part of social climbing. It is important to note that every noble of the Empire is an Imperial Citizen, with its title of nobility giving them additional rights and duties in addition to those of their citizenship. Free Folks Below Imperial Citizens, and representing another third of the Kaladean population, are the Free Folks. Named so to separate them from the slaves, Free Folks are any member of the Kaladean Empire who holds no imperial citizenship but is not a slave. Most often this means that Free Folks are those that live outside the walls of an Imperial City, and/or under the service of nobles, living on their lands. With very few rights beyond the often flimsy protection of the Imperial Law, Free Folk are often exploited by both nobles and imperial citizens, especially near or inside the walls of a palatine city. This leads to many either trying to become Imperial Citizens, with the favored path being military service, or turning to criminal endeavors. There are however special cases, that technically are part of the Free Folks, but are often considered to stand apart: The Elder Realms.
Due to their economic and military power, remote and isolated locations, as well as a healthy amount of esteem from the Empire, the realms of elves and dwarves are given special rights akin to limited sovereignty within their borders, forming racial enclaves within the greater whole of the Empire. Slaves At the bottom of the social hierarchy is the last third of the Empire's population, the slaves. Considered property by law, and with no rights, slaves were owned either by nobles or directly by the state. Moreover, the condition of slaves could be permanent, or temporary, depending on how they became one. There is three main way of becoming a slave:
The distinction between permanent slaves (most often simply called slaves) and temporary slaves (legally known as indentured servants) is primordial, as indentured servants, while often rented to nobles, remain in most cases the property of the state and as such are given a minimum of protection, with anyone injuring it or causing its death subject to a fine for damaging public property. This "protection" also extends to any of the slaves owned by the imperial throne, whereas slaves' property a noble could be subjected to any treatment without the risk of legal repercussions.
History
Foundations, the Century of Blood, and the Fair Peace
The Ascendency to godhood of Menales marks the official start of the Kaladean Empire, but its history can be traced back hundreds of years prior to around 450 B.A., when the man who would later become Menales started gathering followers in his quest to attain godhood. Thanks to powerful magic, he slowly grew his following during the next centuries, eventually settling in the prosperous city of Ortus around 250 B.A., gaining popularity and rising through the ranks of the city to become its king and eventually, its god.
After Menales' Ascendency, his throne is given to his then consort, who became the First Empress of the Kaladean Empire. An extremely powerful spell-caster herself, and imbued with the blessings of her now divine husband, she quickly begins annexing nearby tribes and eventually sets her sights on the neighboring city-states. The conquest of the Artusian continent begins in 19 A.A. with the invasion of Olyria and ends in 210 A.A. with the defeat of Methalamis and the end of the bloody 2nd War of the Red Wastes.
By then, Empress Kallistia has succeeded her grandmother. Renowned for her beauty, Empress Kallistia manages to bring the Lemon Isles into the empire through marriage and unify the Artusian continent. Dubbed Kallistia the Fair, she ushers in an era of peace that will last nearly a century, remembered as the Fair Peace.
Time of Strife and Reconciliation Period
The death of Empress Kallistia in 306 A.A. marks the end of this golden era as her eldest daughter, Empress Basilia, is already an old woman by the time of the coronation, and dies just a few hours after her ascension to the throne. This death, which will later be discovered to be due to a poison delivered to her by agents of the Church of the Black Snake, plunges the Empire into civil war as both Basilia's half-sister, princess Klea, and daughter, princess Eleoni, attempt to claim the throne for themselves. The Empire is ripped into as the cities take sides and wage war 5 years during until finally princess Eleoni comes on top and is declared empress, while Klea is forced into exile and finds refuge amongst the elves of Caelduin.
But the end of the civil war does not mean that this dark period for the Kaladean Empire, later dubbed the Times of Strife, has come to an end. All the contrary, as Empress Eleoni enact a regime of terror and repression against those that rebelled against her and those she perceive as responsible for the civil war, from the elves that welcomed Klea amongst themselves, to nobles from opposing houses suspected of conspiring against the Imperial Throne. This persecution, which has earned Empress Eleoni the nickname of "The Vengeful", finally culminated in 319 A.A. with a punitive expedition to Lailamis, where tens of thousands are massacred and the Great Temple of Ekir is burned. To many, this act is the cause of Eleoni's violent death, trampled by a horse, and the curse that seems to plague the Imperial Line for the following decades
Empress Kallistia II succeeds her mother in 334 A.A., inheriting an Empire wracked with social unrest and widespread fearmongering. Remembered as "the Mage Bane" due to her belief that most problems in the Empire found their roots in the practice of the arcane arts and her subsequent ban on the practice of magic outside of religious ceremonies, Kallistia II sponsored the creation of the witch hunter organizations and encouraged systemic racism against races closely associated with magic such as beast-folks, gnomes and especially elves. She orders multiple disastrous military campaigns against the Elder Realms of Caelduin, Aercalen, and Amonlaur that lead to her eventual assassination by agents of the elven kingdoms in 352 A.A.
Empress Kallistia II is succeeded by her daughter Empress Heleni who reigns for 11 calamitous years of near-constant revolts and elven attacks, during which all four of her children die, until her death from a fall of her balcony, all of which earned her the moniker of "the Cursed". She is succeeded by her niece Empress Alexandria, dubbed "the Shy" due to her supposedly never leaving the Golden Palace once during the entirety of her reign. Recognition of the Imperial Throne's authority by the Palatinates is reduced to mere lip-service, with the cities acting independently in all but name, with many nobles exploiting the common peoples and the different churches paralyzed by infighting. In 374 A.A. a massive slave uprising further destabilizes the Empire, taking nearly 3 years to be suppressed, and in 381 A.A. Empress Alexandria dies under suspicious circumstances.
To this day many suspect Empress Alexandria to have been poisoned by her own daughter and heir, Empress Katharine, with the complicity of the Church of Menales who she immediately begin reforming upon her ascension to the throne. She grants them increased authority and military power in an attempt to use the organization to quickly bring the Palatinates back in line. This violent enforcement of Imperial Authority is met with heavy resistance from the Palatinates and in 384 A.A., the tension between them and the Imperial Throne reaches its breaking point, with the execution of the son of the Telosi Palatine Princess on accusations of magecraft sparking an uprising of the Palatinates. For 15 years the Palatinates will fight against the Empire and the Menalean Church in what will be named the Palatine Revolts until finally the last of the Palatine cities surrender in 399 A.A. The signature of the Treaty of Ortus that year marks both the end of the Palatine Revolts and that of the Times of Strife, with the Empire returned to relative order and under the guidance of a strong Empress. The Palatinates are the big losers of the war, ceding a number of rights to the Imperial Throne and the Menalean Church and with the installation of the Ortus Gates in each of the cities to reinforce Imperial Control and authority. The nobility especially takes a hard hit as Empress Katharine enforces many new laws meant to protect citizens of the Empire, earning the favors of the latter and the title of "the Holy" due to her privileged relationship with the Church of Menales.
Following the Times of Strife comes the Reconciliation Period, a time to mend the Kaladean Empire and restore its luster. Empress Katharine spend the rest of her reign asserting her authority over the Palatinates and restoring order and trust in the Imperial Throne, before finally dying of old age and being succeeded by her granddaughter, Empress Menoli, in 448 A.A.
Empress Menoli's reign is marked by the renewal of diplomatic relationships with the powerful city of Hemetrea leading to joint expeditions into Eridia and the Orcades Archipelago. For the first time a full map of the Kaladean Continent is made, but the curiosity the Empress holds for distant lands is seemingly endless and so she finally sets her eyes on the distant lands far to the south-east, from where rare adventurers sometimes arrive on their strange boats.
Unfortunately, after multiple unsuccessful expeditions meant to establish diplomatic contact with Luang-Xi, Empress Menoli's frustration comes to a peak and she takes the helm of a fleet of vessels herself, placing her half-sister Adria on the Throne before setting sail toward the distant continent, never to be seen again.
It is finally in 471 A.A. that Empress Menoli is officially declared lost at sea, leading Empress Adria to cede the throne to the rightful heir, her niece Empress Leoni. Remembered as "the Shrewd" due to her great intelligence and political acumen, Empress Leoni succeeds where 10 generations before failed and secures an alliance with Hemetrea by taking the heir of House Tel-Ani, a relatively discrete Hemetrean dynasty, as a consort and helping them rise through the ranks of Hemetrean nobility through the sponsoring of a merchant alliance in exchange for the promise that a daughter born from their union will rule Artus and Eridia upon her ascension to the Imperial Throne.
Over the following decades, the Tel-Ani and their merchant alliance gains more and more power inside the rank of the city's ruling council, to the point that when Empress Leoni dies in 494 A.A. and is succeeded by her daughter Empress Laylia, Hemetrea is fully ready to join the Empire, a transition that is carried out with little to no bloodshed over the course of the next 2 years. Finally, in 501 A.A., Isthos agrees to join the Kaladean Empire willingly, unifying Artus and Eridia under the rule of Empress Laylia "the Eridian".
Unjust Wars and the Reparation
The additions of Eridia to the Empire brings many luxuries to it as trading through the Strait of Myr is bolstered and exploration of the lands south of the Eridian Desert is intensified. But soon the influx of Eridian natives, especially beast-folks, begins raising tensions throughout the Empire. Latent racism from the era of Kallistia II mixed with perceived favoritism from the Imperial Throne towards Eridians leads to brutal persecution by the Artusian population toward beast-folks known as the Beasts Wars, first of the Unjust Wars, and marking the end of the Reconciliation Period.
For more than a decade, the Beast Wars rages on, with countless beast-folks massacred or forced to flee their home, culminating in 529 A.A. with the Massacre of Alten Cross, better known as The Night of the Golden Blades, during which thousands of beasts-folks having come to the Imperial Capital to plead the Empress for help were round-up at night by nobles and summarily killed. Upon witnessing the pile of corpses left at the crossing in the morning, Empress Laylia was said to have collapsed and nearly died. Shortly after, she would enact the Edict of Shared Soil, ensuring basic rights and protections to all citizens of the Empire, regardless of race.
Unfortunately, Empress Laylia would be murdered only two years later, in 531 A.A., by conspiring Milean nobles opposed to the Edict of Shared Soil and what they saw as Eridian invasion. She is succeeded by her daughter Empress Sofia who in response to the attack orders the capture and public torture to the death of the responsible nobles, as well as the end of the special privileges held by Milean nobility since their joining of the Empire, over 3 centuries ago. Empress Sofia also begins in secret the construction of the Academy of Ortus, better known as the White Palace, shortly after ascending to the Imperial Throne, in response to rising protests against the ban on arcane magic still in place all over the Empire. Multiple petitions for a lift of the ban are pushed forward by the Telos Palatinate until finally in 541 A.A., on the 200s anniversary of the ban, Empress Sofia lifts the ban on magic, replacing it with a series of rules restricting the use of magic to the students of selected organizations and graduates of the newly opened White Palace. Empress Sofia reveals herself as magically gifted, becoming the first Headmistress of the White Palace and being dubbed "the Mage".
In 566 A.A., the Palatine Prince of Othonessos is killed and the city is taken over by a group of vampires calling themselves "The Night Covenant". The city shuts its doors and all but secedes from the Empire as no more contact can be made with the inside. Multiple crusades led by the Church of Menales are launched through the Ortus Gates, starting in 568 A.A., with no success and few survivors, until finally the decision is made in 598 A.A. to cut the city from the world with powerful magical barriers.
Empress Sofia dies with no heir apparent in 605 A.A. leading to a war for succession between three factions, each backing a different cousin of the late Empress. This War of the Three Sisters (also known as the War of the Three Crones), named so due to the fact that the mothers of the three claimants and the true culprits behind the civil war, are in fact half-sisters, being all of them daughters of Empress Laylia. During 23 years, the Empire is ravaged by war, weakening it to the point that its very existence is threatened by monster invasions. Eventually, the Elder Realms are forced to involve themselves to end the senseless violence, which at this point has already caused the death of all three original claimants, ending a matrilineal line reaching back to the foundation of the Empire.
Thankfully, another legitimate heir is discovered by the elves of Caelduin from within their own home. A half-elf descendant from the line of Princess Klea after her exile, the last hope to maintain the integrity of the Empire. Brought to the Imperial Capital by a procession of elves, she is quickly recognized as the true heir to the Imperial Throne, taking one of Empress Sofia's nephew as her consort to further legitimize her bloodline and being crowned in 628 A.A. Empress Aurelia "the Promised", aged only 16.
With the combined forces of the Church of Menales, the Elven Realms, and many amongst the Empire who are tired of the war, Empress Aurelia manages to repel the monster invasions and end the War of the Three Sisters in only two years. Peace treaties are signed with the Elven Realms, ending 300 years of open conflict as well as marking the end of the Unjust Wars and the start of the Reparation.
Not satisfied with ending the civil war, and bolstered by her reputation as the Savior of the Empire, Empress Aurelia sets her eyes on the Orcades. In 636 A.A. she orders the construction of a massive fleet with the open objective of conquering the archipelago and putting an end to the pirate rule in its isles. In 642 A.A. the new Imperial Fleet set sail for the Orcades, and two years later Akryssia falls, and tens of thousands of pirates have been executed, including the queen of the isles herself. For the next decade, more and more isles will fall to the Empire as the pirate adopt guerilla tactics to escape the Empire, hiding in hidden coves and desert islands. Unfortunately, Empress Aurelia is injured during an assassination attempt as she prepares to deal the final blow to Lailamis, the last stronghold of piracy, forcing her to return to the Imperial Throne only months before the city falls in 652 A.A., marking the end of the Orcadian conquests. The Empress will never truly recover from the attack, ruling from the Capital until her death in 675 A.A.
She is succeeded by her daughter Empress Leoni II who quickly orders the lowering of the barriers around Othonessos, intent on launching the first crusade to retake the city in a century. In response, the Night Covenant extends an invitation to meet her which she initially dismisses. But after 5 years of arduous military campaign, she finally accepts the Night Covenant's invitation, entering Othonesss alone through the Ortus Gates only to return a week later with a signed treaty of capitulation from the Night Covenant. A new dynasty is placed in charge of Othonessos but no one knows what happened inside the walls as the Empress does not talk about it. Combined with her overly serious demeanor, rumors spread of her dabbling in necromancy and demonology, and her being dubbed "the Grim". Empress Leoni II dies during childbirth 5 years later, in 689 A.A., and is succeeded by her younger sister Empress Alithia.
Empress Alithia quickly gain the nickname "the Mad" due to her erratic behavior, staying on the Imperial Throne only 7 years before being relieved from power by the Church of Menales due to “failing health” and replaced by her niece, Empress Menoli II, nicknamed “the Surprise” due to her being raised far from politics and not normally destined for the throne. She is counseled by the Menales Church during most of her quiet reign, dying in 728 A.A. and being succeeded by her daughter, Empress Aurelia II.
Time of Discovery
Empress Aurelia II, who is fascinated by technological advancements, sponsors numerous inventors and pioneers, jump-starting a period of societal and scientific revolutions lasting to this very day known as the Time of Discovery and gaining the surname of "the Visionary". For the rest of her reign, she offers grants for promising research and sets up the foundation of modern schooling, with her pursuit of knowledge only ended in 747 A.A. with her untimely death in an accidental explosion that also destroys parts of the Golden Palace and causes a fire that kills most members of the Imperial Family. She is succeeded by her only surviving daughter, Empress Leoni III.
Empress Leoni III continues the work of her mother but puts more emphasis on infrastructure as well as establishes stricter regulations for inventions in an effort to avoid incidents such as the one that cost her mother her life. She is nicknamed "the Builder" and dies of illness in 781 A.A. Empress Lydi inherits the throne and for a time is content to continue the work begun by her mother and grandmother. But in 794 A.A., she decides to send a diplomatic mission to Luang-Xi, a journey long considered doomed to fail. She manages to convince Luang-Xi adventurers to guide Kaladean ships on their way back, and in 799 A.A. the diplomatic mission returns with marvelous tales of the distant land of Luang-Xi, their boats loaded with exotic merchandise. Ambitious merchants soon begin to send ships to the distant isle, gathering information on ways to cross the dangerous sea and approach the isle hidden in mist, with most ships never returning from this deadly gold rush.
In 806 A.A., Empress Lydi dies and is succeeded by her daughter Empress Katharine II, whose fascination with Luang-Xi leads her to extend an invitation to the Emperor of the distant country, who accepts and travels to the Imperial Capital in 811 A.A., staying as a guest of the Empress in the Golden Palace for multiple months during which negotiations are held to establish treaties between the two Empires. A Luang-Xi embassy is created in Ishtos and a Kaladean embassy in Luang-Xi. To seal the deal, Empress Katharine II in turn sails to Luang-Xi the following year to be received by the Emperor, and officially establish trade routes between the two countries. With the establishment of the new trade routes and the combined benefices of three generations of rapid societal and scientific development, the Kaladean Empire is reaching seemingly unprecedented levels of quality of life. Empress Katharine II is dubbed "the Beloved" due to her popularity across all stratas of the Empire, enjoying a peaceful reign, fruit of her and her ancestors' labors. Yet all of it is threatened in 819 A.A. when the Conspiracy of Nine takes place. Empress Katharine is murdered and her only daughter seemingly lost at sea, all in an effort to place her niece Princess Daphni on the throne as a puppet.
Thankfully, the reappearance of the heiress in 820 A.A. exposes the conspiracy, which is finally squashed at the Battle of the Jewelled Gates. Empress Kallistia III is crowned at only 7 years old to fill the power vacuum, making her the youngest Empress in the Empire's history and earning her the title of "the Child Empress".
In the years since then, the Empire has kept its stability, trying to deepen its diplomatic relations with the still heavily isolationist Luang-Xi, all the while slowly expanding its inner territory by taming both the wilds and the many bandits and rebels hiding inside it. But soon the Empress will come of age and her decision will guide the future of the Kaladean Empire, be it to greatness or torment.
Demography and Population
Races and Cultures of the Empire
The Kaladean Empire is home to an estimated 13 750 000 souls, from the many races and cultures that reside in the lands of Artus, Eridia and the Orcades archipelago. Amongst those, the humans make up the clear majority, representing by themselves around 80% of the Empire's population. Of those 80%, roughly 4 out 5 are Artusian, while around 10% are Eridian and 5% Orcadian.
Outside of humans, the most common races are the Elves, representing 6% to 7% of the Empire's population when taking into account their half-blood progeny, followed by Halflings with around 5%, Dwarves with 2%, and Gnomes and Goblinkind accounting for combined 1% of the Empire's population each.
Another significant part of the non-human population is Beast-Folks, whose combined population is estimated to take up to 3% of the population. As for the remaining 2%, we find most prominently amongst them orcs, fairies as well as Giant-bloods, Plane-bloods, and Dragon-bloods.
The Imperial Cities
Slightly more than half of the Empire's population lives inside the walls of an Imperial City, with another 40% living in the lands directly next to them. Of those 13 million souls, around 0.5% are nobles, 5% are members of the clergy, 44.5% are merchants, clerks and artisans and the remaining 50% are farmers, fishers and laborers. With limited space to exploit, most of the secure land beyond the walls of the Imperial Cities is dedicated to farms, with fields dotted with the occasional homesteads and very rarely, small settlements usually centered around a temple. Those lands are for the most part properties of ancient and powerful noble houses who rent them out to freefolks or exploit them directly with a slave workforce, and although life is mostly safe close to the walls, it is not rare for noble to try and push further away for the cities in search of profit, at the cost of their workers.
With most of the land outside the walls of the cities dedicated to crops and husbandry, the inside of the cities is where nearly all of trade and craftmanship takes place. Combined with the rules of citizenship of the Empire, this dichotomy leads to a steep economic and social contrast between those that live inside the city, and those outside of it. People inside the walls of the city enjoy a richer, safer life overall, in exchange for more cramped space and more oversight from the Empire and its many powermongers.
Founding Date
1 AA
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Alternative Names
Sunlit Empire
Demonym
Kaladean
Leader
Leader Title
Government System
Monarchy, Theocratic
Power Structure
Federation
Economic System
Palace economy
Currency
Imperial Talon
Official State Religion
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Related Species
Comments