Empire of Eleyha

Long ago, in the centuries of confusion following the Ordering of the World, the elves of the fertile region between the Thalha and Tedhan rivers in the north-eastern stretch of the great Rokari Desert developed agriculture and became the first sedentary society since the First Age. As their population exploded, their villages became cities and their hunters became explorers. They began exploring beyond their river valley, the region known to them as Nerua, and soon their merchants established caravan routes across the desert to trade with the scattered peoples beyond the desert. Due to their prosperity and the great cities they were constructing, they began referring to themselves as High Elves to elevate themselves above their "wild" brethren.
The natural fecundity of their region, combined with the wealth which the Trans Rokari Trade Route brought them, made the Neruan a target for the surrounding peoples, who began raiding their lands. Principal among these were the ork tribes of the Rokari Desert and the Tefhá mountains, although human clans from the Tesgur'á Plateau and Rokari desert were enemies as well. Defending themselves from the constant raids led to the militarization of the Neruan, who, after their original capital of Eleyha was left a smoldering ruin by an ork raid on their holiest of days, stopped trying to simply fend off attacks and began aggressively following the raiders back into the hinterlands to end the threat permanently. In time, the superior organization and technology of the Neruan led to the complete conquest of the raiding tribes. To keep these groups from returning to war, the Neruan annexed their lands and relocated many of the conquered people throughout the Neruan civilization, while at the same time moving high elven colonists into the pacified areas. This was the beginning of what would come to be called the Empire of Eleyha, named after their original capital city.
The Empire, now led from the city of Ede'an, had developed a taste for war and conquest and continued to expand. Ostensibly this was to bring their advanced culture to the "primitive" peoples beyond their borders, but in truth, many simply wished to continue the culture of war and conquest which had, by then, become a traditional part of their society. At its height, the empire controlled the majority of Niru and Thovan, and most of the remaining regions were made up of client states paying tribute to Ede'an.
The empire's expansion could not last forever, however, and eventually power struggles within the ruling elite, rebellion in the northern provinces, and a disastrous attempt to conquer the Nakan Empire to the south left Eleyha too weak to survive the Year of Dark Sun. Now the empire is no more. Most of its once majestic cities lie in ruins, looted by its former subjects and left to rot. Few, if any, skilled artisans survived the chaos following Skyfire, and so many books were destroyed or scattered that most of the empire's knowledge has been lost. Now, a few short centuries later, the surviving peoples of what was once the empire marvel at the colossal ruins their ancestors inhabited wondering how such mighty structures came to be.
Over its long existence, the Elven Empire of Eleyha incorporated a great many races into its borders. Often, these peoples were intentionally dispersed amongst other parts of the empire under the policy of Zihadh, or "homogenization", a policy designed to ensure that there would not be sizable groupings of any conquered ethnic group, thereby reducing the chances of an uprising. Furthermore, it was hoped that this displacement would hasten the conquered people's assimilation into Eleyhan society. As such, the inhabitants of the core regions largely lost whatever cultural background their ancestors might have had and became culturally and linguistically Eleyhan. Linguistic drift has begun to occur and dialects from regions distant to each other are becoming substantially different.
The empire ran as a meritocracy; however, the large amount of "merit" required to advance to the upper echelons of society meant that it was difficult for the shorter-lived races, those without High Elven magic to extend their lives, to rise to positions of power. This left the ruling class mostly High Elven with a few scattered exceptions. The Kabarati dwarves controlled most of the commerce and trade within the Empire, and as such, were a substantial power, even if they lacked any official role in its governance. The rest of Eleyhan society was very racially, if not culturally, diverse.
The empire, even in its deteriorated state preceding Skyfire, was a cultural marvel. Its enormous cities were organized in concentric rings along well ordered streets and consisted of multistory buildings with plumbing. The Neruan loved being around plants, and even in the desert, their cities were filled with trees and gardens. They had libraries and universities, and all children were required to attend public school until the age of 17, at which point they had the opportunity continue to a university if they were deemed to have the aptitude. Those who did not, or who chose not to, could enter into a trade, join the army, apply for a clerical position in the government's bureaucracy, or become a laborer. Although the Eleyhan rulers were chosen along family lines, making them exclusively elven, a degree of social mobility existed for all citizens, as excelling at school could bring a poor child to a university from which he or she could go on to a middle class, civil-service job.
The patron goddess of the empire was Erúe, goddess of the stars, although most other deities were worshiped as well.
The empire had a very advanced understanding of magic. The vast nation was connected by a rapid transport network of spirit roads: portals that connected to each other via warded paths through the Otherworld. Traveling a spirit road was roughly 21 times faster than traveling by conventional means. Many of the portals were destroyed during the empire's fall, though some simply lie dormant and forgotten.
Eleyhan artificers did not build airships like the Naka, The Empire of Scale, or Iron Kingdoms. Instead, they used their magic to create magical beasts to serve them or captured and domesticated magical beasts such as wyverns and dragons. Minotaur, merfolk, centaurs, griffons, and other Fi'urer were all created to serve the needs of the empire. Now, without anyone to guide them, these former thralls have begun forming their own societies.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Demonym

Eleyhan

Currency

The Silver Star (comes in denominations of 1/2, 1, 10, 50)