The Vulgar Empire
The second largest nation in the Isles, and rivalling the Dominion’s in the size of its army, the Vulgar Empire was one born in blood, fire and sweat, and has a reputation as one of the toughest nations in the known world as a result. With a powerful military asset, a strong and stable population, and a diverse and varied terrain, the empire truly deserves its status as the Dominion’s main rival.
Despite a warm and fertile land, the centuries of warfare against rival nations as well as fending off Jazyart raids from the south means the empire is a formidable opponent, and from Volgigrod they have forged an empire of several different peoples under their leadership, commanding respect and authority across the known world. With war-tuskers, griffins and the notorious ‘drakuuns’, the empire’s soldiers are recruited from across the known world as mercenaries or bodyguards, rivalled only by the Vunkish.
Structure
As an absolute monarchy, the Velykoroj, directly translated as ‘high king’ though often translated as ‘Emperor’ in Phurzic, does not have the constitutional limitations present in Xu, nor the feudal limitations of Evergnon, and so often the law is arbitrarily defined by the interests of the reigning head of state. The bureaucracy centred around the court also assist the Velikoroj in his decisions in the establishment, offering edicts to the princes of the other cities of the empire.
Culture
Having migrated over from Porpuda in the aftermath of the Fires that rocked the world, the Vulgar people and culture bear significant similarities to the Svotz Republic in ways, such as their language and their customs. As with the Svotzi, Vulgars celebrate days of birth among their families, and both also celebrate the grand Festival of Nuyurvega, the commemoration of the Buried God Yurveg, a fertility god who was buried alive by the demon king Njarenug in their mutual mythology. As a result of their migration into Tzunar, however, they adopted many customs of the other tribes and kingdoms they warred against and later conquered. The adoption of the Kemation tusker deity Jhamad, under the name of Kirov, was one such way of assimilating the culture of other peoples in the region. One other such is the principle of learning; Vulgar nobility are expected to be well read and educated on many topics, even ones that may not be relevant to their position in society.
Fire was always considered a significant element of the Vulgar religion, and this grew even more following the Black Horde ravaging the Vulg Basin and surrounding lands, requiring fire to burn it back. As a result, the fire god Sigyurd rose to the most prominent in their pantheon. Cremation in their faith is considered the only way to enter the afterlife, so it is considered a punishment for the most heinous of criminals for their bodies to be left to rot, or even buried alive in an especially cruel way. This puts them at a gross contrast with the Jazyart hordes of the south, who see the body being burned as denying an afterlife, and so theologically the two cultures are irreversibly at odds.
Assets
Military assets
Possessing natural reserves of tar and coal, flammable materials are found without as much difficulty compared to other regions, being a useful weapon either as flamethrowers known as ‘drakuuns’ or as handheld bombs to throw at the enemy. While due to the harsh weathers of the Kiiyun Straits, naval assets are difficult for the Vulgar to build, their fire producing weapons make a great way to defend against nations with more competent assets, such as the Dominion, Xu or even Vongchou. Almost extinct outside of the Vulgar Empire, there are still a few thousand wild tuskers living in herds across open habitats, and shoveltooths in the wetlands too. The tuskers are often considered the national animal of Vulgar, and as the largest animal in Tzunar, they are especially well prized in the military. Frequently harvested, and with a captive population in addition, the beasts are worshipped by many of the tribes, and the Volgar god Kirov takes the form of a man with a tusker’s head. At any one time, anywhere from two hundred to six hundred bull tuskers may serve in the military, along with similar numbers of females serving in logistics. With four straight tusks and a large build, the Vulgar may make them even deadlier through applying steel armour, blades attached to the tusks, and towers on the back with archers. When in the battlefield, few soldiers, let alone horses, would dare stand against a legion of enraged bull tuskers. The presence of redwood trees and other tall conifers around the northern coasts provide some of the hardest wood in the known world, even harder than the bluewoods of Xu, though harder to obtain through trade. The mountains and caves provide the cities with ready supplies of tin, lead iron and silver, and even rare gems. While poor in soil, the mountains give way to the drier plains in the lowlands and open wood, which allow the growing of grapes, olives, citrus, tomatoes, peppers and the unique Sapphire fruits. These delicacies provide a staple part of the diet of Vulgar, and some of their rarities, especially compared to the arid northern Dominion, make them well prized.History
With the arrival of the human tribes from the western tip of Porpuda, the demographics of north-east Tzunar changes substantially, as the tribes feuded with one another and the original locals, though many intermarriages occurred to. These lands like the Vulg valley were fertile, with great rich forests in the northern coast, and the island’s largest population of tuskers, which provides ivory, prestige and beasts to be tamed. The lands, while not exactly peaceful, we’re certainly prosperous. The arrival of the Black Horde, however, changes the region forever. With an outlaw Vrain colony growing to unprecedented size and power, the tribes had to either unite, flee south or die. The Volgar chief, Vochislov led his tribe into the first major turning back of the Black Horde at Sedimir in 356AF. In this battle, he used a combination of fierce war-tuskers with blades on their tusks, and a new found weapon capable of spitting burning oil and fat at enemies, great for exploiting the Vrain’s weakness of fire. Over the next sixteen years, Vochislov either won over less powerful tribes or invaded them to add them to his own army, before the last stand of Kovnigrod, where the swarm was declared defeated. At this battle, he ended up sacrificing the lives of thousands of his soldiers, at least six tuskers, and the last two known members of the ‘Great Tusker’, a giant race nearly a quarter larger than the modern race, and with two tusks instead of four. Upon this defeat, Vochislov took the skulls of the majestic beasts slain, and forged the infamous Tusked Throne to consolidate his power, along with the Ivory Crown. He turned his old tribal home in the middle of the Volg valley of hills into his new capital, of Volgigrod. With the tribes of the forests and valley alike under his control, he and his descendants settled much of the formerly semi-nomadic peoples into cities, to protect their people against the Vrain threat and the other rising nations.
Over the centuries, no fewer than five wars were fought against the Dominion and one against the Xu. As well as this, expansion was made into the northern tribes of the Jazyart plain, picking off the more vulnerable and less manoueverable tribes for addition. The most recent territorial addition to the empire was the Principality of Skelloth, obtained when taking advantage of one of the Dominion’s civil wars. While not without dynastic and ethnic tensions, the Empire has had a more stable history than the Dominion or Xu, kept together by fear of the Vrain colonies.
Demography and Population
With the exception of the Kust island’s Yamachai and the centaurian Naday in the south-west around the Talon river, almost all of Vulgar is human, though divided into several ethnicities and cultures, of which Vulgar is or course the most dominant. Vrain are heavily persecuted in these lands due to the historical fear from the Black Swarm.
Military
While possessing well equipped infantry and decent archers, the three cores of the Vulgar military are the Stormbringers’ heavy cavalry who somewhat resemble the cataphracts of the Dominion, and even include some of their own, the notorious Drakuun engineers, who’s fierce flamethrowers can burn many men in a single shot, and most infamously their tuskers, equipped with steel plate armour, blades attached to their already long tusks, and towers on their backs full of archers or crossbowmen ready to strike. As a result, this along with their very large army make many opponents avoid them. However, these two great units have been used against them in the past, such as at the Battle of the Gaptooth.
Fire cleanses all.
Founding Date
372
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Alternative Names
The Kirovites, The Empire of the Tusked Throne, Volgigrod
Training Level
Trained
Veterancy Level
Trained
Demonym
Leader
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Federation
Economic System
Command/Planned economy
Currency
Segs, are the name of the silver coins most commonly used throughout the population. Round unlike the rounded triangles of the Dominion, they bear the image of a bull tusker’s face on one side, and that of the Vulgar Emperor on the other.
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
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