Iron Empire of Durgheim

A consolidated empire whom do not worship the gods, but worship the concept of law and justice.

A consolidated empire whom do not worship the gods, and once worshipped the concept of law and justice. A book of laws given to the nation by the first Iron Emperor, called the Iron Law, dictates every aspect of their lives. However despite the seemingly oppressive landscape, it leads to a nominally peaceful life, seemingly without crime. In the year 1024, these precepts changed (see below).
An empire of a long and bloody history, created from the ashes and husks of small kingdoms and city-states past that were once under the control of Kingdom of Zenith, Durgheim once created was pressed to prominance after its secession by some of the best blacksmiths in the world, who created a unique way of blending metal called Durgheim steel.
Each Iron Emperor once ruled indirectly, guided by the Iron Council. In the year 1024 the Iron Emperor Jorg von Kalheim usurped the Iron Council, and rules directly. He is usually seen fighting alongside the Iron Guard. This vassalized mercenary company is loyal first and foremost to the Iron Empire, but will accept premium prices for their ruthless efficiency of the battlefield.
Each Iron Emperor is chosen from the Council of Iron Law as the best military leader, and then a suitable replacement in the Council is also voted in from the military. Fed by the cities of Beata, Iron's Fall, Eisendorf, and Kalburg, the Iron Empire has secured its economic stability through strict organization.
Populated mostly by Humans, even since its secession from Zenith, several other races have nevertheless made their homes in the Iron Empire. Uniquely among the kingdoms of Erolan, the Iron Empire has banned worship of all the gods, promoting state sponsored atheism, and either imprisoning or banishing those who are caught in acts of worship.
Once in trade with several nations, notably Il Paraonde and the Boreal-Lurin Bazaar. Neutral with most other nations, the Iron Empire is notably currently in a state open veiled hostility, declaring a war of expansion and domination. The Iron Empire has attempted on several occasions to "rid Draioch of its dependance of false idols", but Draioch understandably rebuked the Iron Emperor.

The Iron Laws, as interpreted under the previous Iron Council:
The price paid is determined by the Courts of Iron, it is a price paid in iron or in blood. They must be equal.
One shall not Murder
One shall not Slander
One shall not commit Theft
One shall hold oneself Liable (if one owns a dam, and the dam is broken, flooding farms, owner is to blame)
One shall not commit Unfair Trade
One shall not Disobey Orders
One shall not commit Littering or defacing of public property
One shall not be Unfaithful to Ones Spouse
One shall not worship any deity, the Iron Law is above all.
In the early weeks of the Spring of 1024, the Iron Emperor Jorg von Kalheim declared war. In a smuggled eyewitness report, Kalheim gathered his generals to his throne room, before announcing that the Iron Empire marches to war with the blessings of “older powers” than the false gods of Erolan. At the far end of his throneroom, a tall Black Mirror ripples, and from its liquid surface steps forward a strange fae, with a crown of feral-curved horns adorning his brow. The figure stepped towards Kalheim, who bowed his plated helmet in apparent submission. Only when the fae-thing stood beside him facing the generals, a cruel smile hanging from its fanged mouth, did the Iron Emperor speak again. “Our benefactor has granted us every advantage we will need in the campaign to come. With the bolstered forces at my command, none will resist us.” Kalheim’s forces marched out from the walls of Durgheim, bolstered by armored hulks that were more monster than man. Taking the field himself, Kalheim’s chariot drew him out of the city, pulled along by a monster that was little more than a mass of muscle and fangs, growing new limbs as it moved step by step.
Rebellions years in the making exploded across Durgheim in the following days, the people pushed over the edge by the blatant warmongering and acceptance of such eldritch horrors as allies. The people now call Kalheim the "Iron Warlord", and they gather in knots of rebellion that just barely manage to slow the monstrous war effort pushing outward in every direction from the Iron Empire.
9/1024 - The brutal war for dominion continues in the Iron Empire of Durgheim. The Iron Emperor Jorg von Kalheim, now called the Iron Warlord by those who oppose him, continues to press hard on all fronts. Only the forces of Azerak have managed to hold his forces at their borders of their own territory, with the western and southern fronts all having lost miles of territory and smaller settlements quickly to the forces of the Iron Warlord. His well regimented soldiers, empowered by the foul bestial magics of the Kahlheim’s strange ally, fight swiftly and brutally with little concern for their own safety.
Not all goes well for the Iron Warlord. While he has succeeded in putting down multiple smaller rebellions, multiple larger cells have merged leadership, and fermented descent in large swathes of the populace. The rebels loosely call themselves the Iron Freefolk, and have been destroying supply lines, stealing rations and weapons, and performing guerilla raids across the Iron Empire, putting extreme strain on the Iron Warlords war effort. It is rumored that the Iron Freefolk have linked up with the Crepuscule Coalition in Zenith, who have been smuggling them weapons and supplies for months. It is uncertain if this will be enough to slow the advance of Kahlheim’s legions, and few are sure if anything but the direct defeat of the Iron Warlord himself will stop the war.

Cultural Dress
Sturdy pants, and plain tunics, usually only decorated with ones house symbol or the symbol of the Iron Emperor.

Kingdom Skills
Iron Dominance: Once per day, target is immune to fear for 5 minutes