Acronian Empire

The Acronian Empire was a massive empire from eastern Tamal in the midlands that existed between -3,000 and -800. The Acronian Empire was very long-lasted and made some incredible advances for their time.

Society

The Acronian Empire had its society divided into a rigid class system. The smallest minority at the top was the sorcerers, a group of magic users who acted as kings and priests. Below the sorcerers was the warrior class, which made up the highly respected military section of the empire. Below the warriors was the commoner class, which was made up of merchants, farmers, and artisans. At the bottom, and making up the majority of the Acronian Empire's population were the slaves, who did all manual labour work in the Acronian Empire.
The Acronians were a very prestigious people, they viewed all other cultures as barbarians and inferior, and the only times they ever let in outsiders was when they enslaved them. All of Acronian Society was supported by the vast number of slaves. The rest of Acronian society greatly valued wealth and luxury, and almost all Acronians would try to show off their wealth. Much of the society was also very materialistic and hedonistic, greatly valuing seeking pleasure and material possessions.

Architecture

The Acronian Empire had a very sophisticated and advanced architecture. Acronian buildings tend to be massive, being made up of arches, columns, and huge panes of stained glass, displaying beautifully coloured artwork, which is primarily green. Much of Acronian design is made up of rigid angles and geometric shapes. Acronian architecture represented advanced principals in physics that most other people had not discovered at the time, and the only other nation of advanced than the Acronian Empire was the Shorian city states.

Inventions

The Acronian Empire had some incredibly advanced machinery for their time. Their ballistas were extremely powerful, with more metal components than most other ballistas in the world. Their civil engineering was impressive too. They had very well maintained canals, and roads, and their sewer systems and cities were some of the most well designed in the world. Due to this, as well as sophisticated cleaning services, their cities were considered some of the cleanest in the ancient world. They also had very sophisticated glassworking, allowing them to make walls and rooves entirely out of large sheets of coloured glass, which they often used in temples.
The Acronians could manipulate sunlight in ways most other civilizations hadn't even imagined during their rule. They had developed a series of mirrors that were able to focus light on a specific point. This light was then projected outwards onto the back of a cutout design, and a large shadow could be projected. This was even further developed with devices that were able to switch between multiple images, and these were primarily used to tell stories. Some of the most complex of these devices had hundreds of images that would rapidly move in front of the mirror, creating a moving image.
The acronians made great advances in harnessing the power of magic in ways that hadn't ever been attempted before. Their sorcerer class was able to utilize crystal imbedded into complex machines to cause them to move mechanically. These machines tended to be used for rituals and displays of power, as only the priests and rulers could even use them. Some examples of these devices were the throne of the Acronian emperors, which could walk on its own when powered by the emperor's magic. Another one of these devices was a massive gate that could only be opened if an incredible amount of magic energy was channels into a specific point, and this would cause the gate to open, and behind the gate when a legendary sword. These devices were made primarily will bronze and iron. These devices fell into disuse after the sorcerer class fell with the Acronian Empire, and few civilizations since had a social class made up entirely of magic users that would be able to make any use of these devices.

Military

The Acronian Empire had a vast and skilled military. Their soldiers were armed with iron armour, as they had discovered iron very early on. These soldiers use many sophisticated tactics and formations. Their main army was made up of infantry that carried large shields and spears. They also made heavy use of war elephants. They were covered in iron armour and their tusks were covered in iron spikes. The Acronian Empire also had very advanced machinery. They used powerful ballistas and siege weapons, and the only thing they were lacking in was their navy, which was outclassed by the neighboring Rindish Civilization's ships.

History

The Acronian Empire was founded in -3,000. It was originally a series of several cities deep in the Tamal jungle. It faced many struggles during its founding. It was surrounded by dense rainforests and hostile tribes. In the first 500 years of the Acronian Empire, it cleared out areas of jungle, dug canals, build roads, and held back hordes of invading tribesmen. These tribes prevented Acronian expansion for hundreds of years, but over time they developed the military class of their society, and then further developed their advanced tactics and formations. Eventually they were able to drive off the barbarian tribes and founded several new cities.
In -2,600 after gaining new strength, they moved out their new armies and conquered the barbarian tribes, burning and plundering their villages, slaughtering the women and children, and selling all able-bodied men into slavery, which lead to the creation of their massive slave class. They continued conquering more tribes, carving out a massive empire in southeast Tamal.
In -1,900 they met the Rindish Civilization to their west. The Rindish people greeted them openly, but the Acronians took the opportunity to trick them and conquer them, and they invaded many of the eastern Rindish cities. After this attack, the rest of the Rindish cities united together and went to war against the Acronian Empire. This was began with Rindish ships raiding Acronian cities. Then the Rindish armies moved in, but were mainly defeated by the superior Acronian infantry. After these defeats, the Rindish armies retreated and drew the Acronians into a deadly war of attrition, where Rindish armies would set traps, cut supply lines while the Acronian Army was distracted. They would also constantly harass Acronian forces, and do whatever it took to gradually wear them down. Eventually the Acronian armies were forced to pull out of the Rindish lands, suffering heavy losses, but the Rindish weren't able to successfully attack Acronian cities, so the Acronians continued to rule over the previously conquered Rindish cities.
After this defeat, the Acronian Empire set out to conquer east and north, gaining even more wealth and slaves, and recovering from their previous losses. This continued for hundreds of years, and they even fought several wars against neighboring empires, which sometimes lead to them gaining new lands. In -1,000 the Rindish Empire suffered a major defeat in a war with a neighboring power, which was the beginning of the empire's dramatic decline. During this time, unrest began to increase in the empire. Slaves began to rebel, and the empire had stretched itself so thin that it was struggling to suppress the frequent slave rebellions. In the year -860 a massive plague swept through the Acronian Empire. This plague devastated the upper classes of the Acronian Empire, but left the slaves relatively unaffected. This lead to a massive empire-wide slave rebellion which would turn into a full scale war that would cause the total collapse of the Acronian Empire. They finally fell in -800, with the slaves returning to their tribal villages, and the vast wealth of the Acronian Empire being lost for thousands of years.