Old Empire of Eal
When the Imperial Palace at Eal was destroyed and Empress O'Mala I of Eal killed at the hands of Jaspier Penrose, the Empire fractured into three factions. The Astromancers were the old allies of the Empress and her cousin, Al'Hazir the Dragonson. The old mageocracy clung to the old traditions of worship of death and the practice of necromancy - safely, under the restrictions of O'Mala's reforms, of course. Both the astromancers and the mageocracy agreed on little except that the Empire should remain intact.
The third faction, a military junta under the leadership of Salsten Riley, had had enough of bleeding and dying for the Empire. Consisting mostly of those eastern regions which had suffered most under the onslaught of first Jae'Kalan and then the Rotwood Conclave, this faction defected to join the Dinga States. With Riley possessing the loyalty of most of the legions and all of their elite troops, there was little the other factions could do to stop them.
That, however, was fifteen years ago. The old Empire retains the strength of the industrial powerhouses of old, and the fertile Southern Lushlands still grow the majority of Elanora's excess food. They have rebuilt their armed forces and have wisely integrated wizards and divine casters within them, both to monitor their loyalty and to bolster their combat prowess. The result is, ironically, the kind of Empire that Salsten Riley had been advocating for all along - one where the learned elite were as prepared give their lives for the nation as the legionnaires.
The Empire still holds to hope that they will reclaim their old territories and bring about a new order. The Astromancers have placed a price on Al'Hazir - for live capture only - who they intend to crown as Emperor whether he wants the job or not, as they have forseen the Empire cannot survive without him. The necromancers have quietly placed a similar bounty for Al'Hazir's and Salsten Riley's heads, while publically supporting the official position of 'strategic ambiguity' regarding the Empire's willingness to go to war with their old allies to the east and north. With the Little Warriors close ties to both figures, allies of Wintergreen will find only cold welcomes in the halls of power of the new 'Old Empire of Eal'.
The Empire has an insatiable demand for iron, especially now they've lost their eastern provinces near the Dinga Hills.
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