Daulerim Empire

The Grand Empire of Mankind

"We will rise agains, anew as the defenders of humankind"

The Daulerim Empire is the dominant human state during the Second Age of Humanity, otherwise known as the Age of Dauler. This Age is set after the victory of the Battle of Illangar and the foundation of the Daulerim Empire by Dauler the Great.

Early Period

Foundation

There are two possible foundation dates for the Daulerim Empire. One is the exact year of the Battle of Illangar and the final victory of Dauler against the Shatun. The other however is the year 33 when Malaral became the capital of the Empire. Until then it had been mostly an alliance, an endeauvor lead by Dauler's Kingdom of Illangar. It was a strategic move to have Malaral as capital, as the fertile delta region might have been a threatening enemy for the young realm. It also an act of union to move the centre of one's operation from one's homeland to what would else constitute an ally's territory. The fact that Dauler could easily make Malaral capital is tantamount to the authority he already had. Thus there are conflicting dates. While the Age of Dauler begins with his victory, the foundation of his Empire isn't finished till 33 years later.
Another contested point is the name of the realm. The Empire is nowadays and in hindsight called the Daulerim Empire, named after the dynasty of its founder. Its however never assigned this name to it. To him it was merely the Empire of Humanity, a dream of a united humankind. Contemporaries called it the Empire of Illangar, as this was Dauler's original realm, from which he set out to conquer humanity. Just much later after the death of his heir Astalan and the beginning of the Wars of the Crownless it became important to bear the name Daulerim. The Empire was now basically held together by the appeal to the dynastical legitimation of the Daulerim themself. Each new pretender had proof his legitimacy by proving his descendency from Dauler. Those like Ebelan the Tyrant, who could not or refused to do so, were met with staunch opposition. The title Daulerim Empire became a cornerstone after the Reformation of the Empire by Irian Dauler.
Before becoming Emperor, Dauler was a king of half-elven descend of the Kingdom of Illangar, a Kingdom much of his own doing. He was not heir, but bastard to the King and an elven sorceress, whom he had exiled. In a small rebellion, Dauler overtook the Kingdom. Despite his half-elven descend he was interested in the betterment of humanity. At the time human kingdoms were in constant conflict from the invading Shatun. Dark-Elves allied with the Second God. In his war for humanity, Dauler set out to eliminate the threat of the Shatun once and for all. He did so by united the fractured human realms one by one and gathered allies among the elven and dwarven nations. Finally at the Battle of Illangar he won, but his vision for humanity went further. He wanted not only to defend humanity against the Shatun, but bring an age of prosperity to humanity.

Golden Age

The rule of Dauler and his heir Astalan are generally refered to as a Golden Age of the Empire. This age lasted till the death of Astalan in 227. The extend of this Golden Age of the size of the original Empire itself varies. Its size and power are likely overstated by later historians. It can't also be denied that Dauler was already during his lifetime considerably deified. It is clear that he never ruled humanity as a whole, despite claiming this. Yet his Empire was massive and many foreign peoples traded with it. This trade might have been interpreted as tribute. Yet the trade networks of this time are larger than previously and even more extensive than modern trade.
A lot of the elves, whom Dauler had allied with chose to integrate into human society. This lead to the rise of a large number of Half-Elves within the population of the Empire. Half-Elves aren't the majority of the population tho, but to some degree they might be considered to be. While first generation half-elves are very uncommon nowadays, the majority of the Empire, especially in urban areas, had some mixed ancestry of elves and humans. The human part is much large for most people however. Some few have a larger elven ancestry and call themself Eiler, as a sort of additional new elven nation. Most of the elves who integrated stem from the Aldrim nation, some also from the Dumul and Geleter nations.
This new connection between elves and humans gave rise to a new generation of human mages. Human Sorcerers were a rare sight and those which existed at trained under elven tutalage. Human magic was until then mostly limited to Druids, Shamans, witches and other forms of folk magic. Now schools for mages were established everywhere in the Empire. Orders like the Order of Edlam were founded to aid and promote the training of mages. This new kind of magic was different, but deemed more progressive and powerful. It also helped in the defense of the human realms against the Second God.
Dauler was succeeded by his grandson Astalan in the year 172. Astalan was appointed heir by his grandfather directly. He was similar in style of how he ruled. Yet by the end of his rule, succession was still unclear and Astalan had to appoint his own son Kediran successor.

The Age of the Crownless

The Crownless Princes

The Crownless Princes is a term used for the heirs to Dauler, who never inherited the crown. Dauler had many sons and daughters, many with claims on their own. He had even more grandsons and so forth. So many of his progeny never came to inherit any titles from him however, that they were collectively called the Crownless Princes. The problem arose mainly due to the long lifetime of Dauler himself. He a trained mage could prolong his life, living longer than most normal humans did. His heir Astalan, so similar to him was also a capable mage and lived till the age of 126. When Astalan was appointed, everyone respected the judgment of the great Emperor. Astalan himself set a great example and was almost universally accepted heir. He himself chose another grandson of his, Kediran.
Kediran, although wise, was not a mage and had no magically prolonged lifespan. He was already in his 70s and did not want to rule. When Astalan died he decided it was best to abdicate and appoint his own son to rule. This angered his brothers, who saw themself next in line instead. Other Crownless Princes too were angered by this decision. Soon they gathered in different factions, each supported different pretenders.

Religion

The person of Dauler takes a central role in the religion of the Empire. Already during his lifetime he was deified. With the later decline and reformation of the Empire, he had become an almost legendary figure. His deeds were known throughout the world and he was worshiped as just and mighty ruler. Most of all he was credited with ultimately saving humanity. His war against the Shatun was made into a potentially world ending conflict in which Dauler and thus humanity prevailed. His enemy were not just mere Dark-Elves, but subserviant to the Second God. This force, in the human narrative came to be known as Corruption. Thus Dauler saved the world from this Corruption in an epic battle. This force called Corruption would become the main antagonist of the world in the mind of humans. Prophecies came about that this Corruption either lingers on and would become stronger again or would reappear altogether. Thus had to be defeated a second time, by either a figure like Dauler or Dauler himself reborn. Stories on Dauler spread, about both real and fictional deals. One of the most prominent ones is his ascendency into heaven, when he died and his spirit went up into the nine heavens. In each sphere solving a problem or doing a ritual until he reaches the top, where he would live in a heavenly palace and rule the world.

Name
Karrush Daulerim (Daulerim)
Taoler Kartoosh (Emat)
Type of State
(Human) Empire
Capital
Malaral
(formerly Illangar)
Type of Government
Feudal Monarchy
Current Emperor
Elamon Dauler (Daulerim Emperor)
Foundation
0 or 33 by Dauler the Great
Language
Daulerim
Emat (literary)
Other minority languages

Demonym

Daulerim

Controlled Territories

• Malaral
• Port of Dumin
• Targa

Neighboring Nations

• Empire of Illodia
• Tribes of Alwaein

Notable Members

• Dauler the Great
• Ebelan the Tyrant
• Elamon Dauler

Related Ethnicities

• Daulerim