Taldor

Knights, fair maidens, heroic adventures, and righteous quests—these are the legends of old Taldor (pronounced TAL-door). But the once-powerful empire has fallen from its former glory. Now rival nobles battle each other with bitter knights and proxy armies for personal power rather than honor. A smoldering truce with Qadira again threatens to ignite into war, and Taldor's daughter states look down upon her with contempt. Yet there is still greatness in Taldor; a stone foundation under the flaking gold adornments. Sons and daughters of forgotten royal bloodlines hear change on the wind—but is it the whisper of greatness to come, or the death rattle of an empire long past its prime?

Structure

Royalty Taldor's royal class is comprised of dynasty-inheriting houses, most of which trace their lineages back to one emperor or another. Its members hold byzantine titles such as patrician, magister, proconsoul, mandator, exarch, viceroy, duke, and others. A large number of scholars in the Primogen Library keep and update the genealogical records, as each title has a subtle place in the hierarchy of the empire. In the history of Taldor, the royalty have contributed to the greatness of its emperors, but also to their downfalls. The Grand Prince can raise a citizen or senator of the empire up to royalty by bestowing a title and wealth, but does so only once a year in a huge celebration at the Imperial Palace.[33]
Ranks and privileges Among the numerous noble titles conferred upon Taldan citizens there remain several ranks which retain a specific function within the governance of the state. While the meanings and grandeur of these titles may change over generations, the current government recognizes the following noble titles in hierarchy from greatest to least.[40]

• Grand Duke: Ruler of a prefecture. This title is limited to a maximum of 62 grand dukes; 12 grand high dukes who rule the formally recognized prefectures, and 50 lesser grand dukes whose lands have been lost or subsumed by other prefectures over time.
• Governor: Appointees of the Crown who rule a province. Many governors also bear the title of lesser grand duke.
• Duke: Landed dukes administer a duchy within a prefecture and report to the grand duke thereof. Dukes who have not been conferred land, but serve the grand duke, are referred to as "attending dukes".
• Senator: All senators must bear another noble title in order to be installed in the Senate. All senators may vote in the Senate.
• Marquess: Serves as the guard of a wilderness or border region and typically has a standing army to defend this region.
• Count/Earl: Both counts and earls administer a county within a duchy. These titles are generally equivalent in rank.
• Landgrave: Similar in function to the role of Marquess, the landgrave administers an unsettled, but important, tract of land. Landgraves do not typically command an army to defend their region, and thus are seen as lesser than a marquess.
• Baron: Landed barons rule large territories known as a barony. A barony may contain a significant portion of land with numerous villages, or a large city. Barons who do not administer a barony often serve as advisors to the Crown.
• Baronet: A lesser assistant to a Baron who carries out many of the mundane administrative tasks in the barony.
• Viscount: Oversees a portion of a county, typically a couple of small villages and their connecting roads.
• Tribune: Typically serves as mayor and justice for a community, such as a village or a neighborhood within a larger city. This is often an elected position, though it may be conferred upon an individual for political reasons. Tribunes usually report to Barons.
• Lord: A ruler of a specific land. Lords often report to barons, though occasionally they report to a viscount.
• Knight: The lowest rank among Taldan nobles. Typically children of nobles are conferred this title first, especially those with military service.

Senatorial class Taldor's senatorial class consists of the hereditary members of the senate, the governors of Taldor's prefectures, and various heads of the bureaucracy. With exceptionally good work and long loyalty to the empire, a citizen can achieve a title in the senatorial class.[33]
Social status for both royalty and senators is tied to their lavish beards, which by law only they can legally grow (leading to them being called the "bearded"). Greater, more extravagant beards are a sign of a higher status.[33]

Culture

Taldan culture is obsessed with only one thing: Taldor. It is incredibly insular and Taldans are only interested in events that occur within Taldor, and view all foreign events as inherently dull and uninteresting. They have a similar view of anyone who is not Taldan, seeing them as inescapably provincial and inferior in breeding, education, and interest. This can make it quite difficult for any outsiders living among them. There is a reason for this cultural arrogance: as the oldest existing civilization in Avistan, Taldor has had millennia to perfect its crafts and artistry, making it a desirable place to learn one's trade.[2][3] Taldan arrogance manifests in differing ways in men and women. Male Taldans tend toward extreme machismo that borders on misogyny, using terms of conquest and territorial disputes when speaking about women. "Bringing civilization to the barbarians" is a common way of discussing their amorous encounters with women of other ethnicities. Taldan women appear less vulgar, but can be just as biting and caustic as the men. When discussing foreign women, Taldans often become overly critical, eviscerating every aspect of their target's dress, hairstyle, or body features. They can turn this nasty gossip even toward other Taldans, although only in the closed company of their own people, and never with the same venom. These attributes are, naturally, not possessed by all Taldans, but enough of them display varying degrees of these behaviors that the stereotype tends to stick more often than not.[3]
Taldan personality attributes are not all bad, however, especially when they are inspired by their nobler emotions. They tend to be generous to a fault, both in time and money, and it is not unusual to see a beggar with a convincing hard-luck story draw out a large sum from Taldans (especially if the beggar is Taldan himself). This behavior is often shown when Taldans find themselves suddenly impoverished, and needing to rely on the kindness of others.[3]

History

History The Empire of Taldor once stretched from the Windswept Wastes on the edge of Casmaron in the east all the way across Avistan to the shores of the Arcadian Ocean in the west. By today's standards, the Empire of Taldor was enormous, incorporating land that today falls within the nations of Galt, Andoran, Isger, Molthune, Cheliax, Nirmathas, and Lastwall. Since that heyday in the first half of the Age of Enthronement, it has suffered numerous defeats and setbacks, yet still controls the oldest and largest territories in the Inner Sea region.[3][4]
Founding years The people of this land were descendants of Azlant[5] who built a small settlement where the capital of Oppara now stands.[6] They intermarried with the local human tribes (whose descendants would become known as Taldans) and began trading with the Keleshite tribes further east.[5]
Taldaris, a young military leader from the city-state of Oppara, was named heir to the grand prince of Oppara just prior to his predecessor's death in -1295 AR. Using his tactical prowess, superior forces, and uncanny luck, Taldaris then led his troops in a 12-year-long war of conquest beginning in -1293 AR that transformed his title in Oppara to a fledgling unified nation of city-states. He first attacked the larger cities along the Inner Sea coast that posed the greatest threat. Once he had secured their allegiance and resources, he turned his attention on the more distant settlements of the area. He then declared his new nation as the Principalities of Taldaris, ruling over an area that stretched along the coast from the southern Verduran Forest to the Jalrune River.[7][8][9]
The Principalities of Taldaris became Taldor in -1281 AR, with Taldaris crowned as First Emperor.[10]
The Tarrasque The beast known as the Tarrasque rampaged across the World's Edge Mountains and into Taldor in -632 AR. The city of Oppara was destroyed in the process and although the nation eventually recovered, the wounds of the rampage can still be seen across the land.[11][12]

Taldor's golden age The old tribes dating to before Taldor's founding were eventually conquered by soldiers from the Empire of Kelesh in -43 AR, who founded the satrapy of Qadira and fortified the border between the two nations, sparking a conflict that continues to this day.[13]
Taldor continued to grow and expand, but did not truly become an empire until the beginning of the Age of Enthronement and the founding of the first Army of Exploration, a now-legendary collection of soldiers, scholars, diplomats, surveyors, spies, and adventurers. It headed north along the Sellen River from Oppara in 37 AR, conquering as far as what today is the town of Sevenarches in the River Kingdoms.[14]
Their efforts were enlarged by the Second Army of Exploration in 499 AR, who traveled farther than the first, all the way to the edges of the Hold of Belkzen, and explored the lands around Lake Encarthan.[13] The army greatly expanded both the military and economic reach of the empire by building numerous supply depots, many of which eventually grew into larger settlements.[15]
The Third Army of Exploration was perhaps the most successful. Once again beginning in Oppara, it clung to the northern coast of the Inner Sea, conquering westward all the way to the Arcadian Ocean. It founded the city of Corentyn in 1520 AR under General Coren, thereby securing control of the western access to the Inner Sea for the empire.[14][16]
In 1553 AR, Grand Prince Urios III and Satrap Xerbystes I signed a peace agreement between Taldor and Qadira that would be known as the Urian Peace. This accord would amazingly last for over 2,500 years.[17]
The exploits of the Fourth Army of Exploration were minor compared to the Third, but they still managed to bring the area known today as Andoran under their control by 1683 AR, along with a brief (and unsuccessful) foray into the dwarven-controlled Five Kings Mountains.[14] After defeating the native tribes of the Arthfell Forest, Andoran became the newest province of Taldor in 1707 AR.[13]
The Fifth Army of Exploration pushed north through what today are the River Kingdoms, reaching the edge of Iobaria in 2009 AR.[13] After this they turned back and mapped the many branches of the Sellen River by 2014 AR.[13]
Setbacks Despite tremendous successes, Taldor suffered a number of serious blows during this period. Raiders from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings wreaked havoc on settlers in what is now western Cheliax, forcing a naval engagement in 2000 AR, which Taldor barely won. The Ulfen raiders counterattacked in 2003 AR, savaging Taldan colonies near the Arch of Aroden and demanding 100,000 gold pieces in exchange for hostages. Taldor capitulated, resulting in a peace treaty between the Ulfen king and the Taldan Grand Prince.[18]
Less than a century later, a disastrous campaign into the Mwangi Expanse by the Sixth Army of Exploration led to the massacre known as the Battle of Nagisa by the forces of that era's Gorilla King in 2089 AR.[19] It was a failure from which Taldor never fully recovered.[14]
Slow decline By the beginning of the fourth millennium AR, the Empire of Taldor dominated the Inner Sea region, controlling all of the northern shores of the Inner Sea. Its government soon bloated to the point where its byzantine bureaucracy numbered in the tens of thousands, and its territory was too large to control. Corruption spread throughout the government, and its ruling class became more interested in pursuing their decadent pleasures than good governance. Responding to this growing indifference, those furthest from the capital city of Oppara began to revolt. Taldor's military responded with brute force to quell these uprisings, leading to further discontent and unrest.[21][22][4]
Shining Crusade Even though Taldor had fallen from the zenith of its power, it nevertheless was still the dominant nation in the Inner Sea region, and challenged any foe that might usurp it. One such instance led to the Shining Crusade, a decades-long war fought with the cooperation of the dwarves of the Kingdom of Kraggodan, and the Knights of Ozem against the forces of the Whispering Tyrant of Ustalav. It began in 3754 AR and ended with the Tyrant's defeat and imprisonment in 3827 AR and the founding of the country of Lastwall the following year.[23][24]
War and secession
Taldor's history is marked by many wars. As Taldor's military focused on crushing internal revolts, the long-time rival nation of Qadira took advantage of the situation and invaded from the southeast in 4079 AR. Taldor, with Qadira's army at the footsteps of its capital, recalled its armies from the outlying provinces in order to protect the heartland. The resulting war, dubbed the Grand Campaign, lasted 524 years. With the bulk of the military back east, rebellious Cheliax seized its opportunity. King Aspex the Even-Tongued declared independence in 4081 AR in what became known as the Even-Tongued Conquest. Still tied up with its war with Qadira, Taldor was unable to respond, and Aspex proceeded to annex Andoran, Galt, and Isger, and finally signed a peace treaty with Taldor that recognized its independence.[22] At the same time, the former province of Lastwall declared its independence from both Taldor and Cheliax, stating that it wished to only focus on the containment of the Whispering Tyrant, and not become involved in political concerns.[25]
The loss of Cheliax and the war with Qadira led to a sharp decline in power, and Taldor remains in decline even several generations after these events took place; corruption runs rampant through its bureaucracy, and its lower class has been stricken by poverty. Its prefectures fight border skirmishes, its noble houses fight one another, and its sparsely populated frontiers have become lawless. Taldor's vast wealth is the only thing keeping the empire alive.[22]
Religious upheaval The church of Aroden, in response to corruption present in the Taldan ruling class during the years of the Grand Campaign, moved its center of worship from Taldor to Cheliax. Later during the same conflict, Grand Prince Stavian I began what is known as the Great Purge: believing Qadira's invasion of Taldor had been assisted by members of the Cult of the Dawnflower, Stavian I outlawed the worship of Sarenrae in 4528 AR,[22] which was not again legalized until after the end of the Grand Campaign in 4603 AR.[26]
Final Army of Exploration The last Army of Exploration was chartered in the last year of the Age of Enthronement in 4606 AR.[26] Desperate to revitalize the nation, General Orphyrea Amandar set sail in the hopes of finding a new land to rule far to the east. Despite being battered by tremendous storms mere months after leaving port, Amanandar weathered the death of Aroden and arrived in northern Shenmen in Tian Xia.[27] After she and her army disembarked at the city of Kamikobu in 4608 AR, they defeated a dozen bandit warlords and took control of the region, renaming the city New Oppara, and founding the nation of Amanandar.[28]

For the people, for the realm.

Founding Date

-1281 AR

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Capital

Oppara

Alternative Names

The First Empire

Demonym

Taldan

Leader

Grand Prince Stavian III

Leader Title

Emperor of Taldor

Head of State

Grand Prince Stavian III

Head of Government

Grand Prince Stavian III

Government System

Monarchy, Crowned Republic

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

Gold Standard

Location

Geography of Taldor

Controlled Territories

• Oppara