Shorian Empire

The Shorian empire was located in the south coast of Borea, and on the north east coast of the Isonian sea. The Shorian empire was a massive and enormously influential civilization. The Shorian empire was a city state originally, it had been at war with several other city states for centuries. Each city state was extremely advanced for their time and had a special asset that gave them all advantages against each other so they were constantly at war with each other for these assets. If every city state was brought together they could combine all of their special assets to form an extremely powerful industrial nation. This happened in the year -450 when the city of Runemar. conquered the other city states and created the Shorian empire. The Shorian empire rapidly began conquering nearby areas and the year -210 they had created the largest empire in the known world. The Shorian empire made use of it's steam powered weapons of war and highly efficient system of factories, trains, roads and fleets to rapidly expand their empire. This gave them a huge advantage because the rest of the world was at best at an iron age level of technology while the Shorian empire was early modern era.

Architecture

The architecture of the Shorian empire was mostly made out of stone and metal because they wanted everything they made to last a long time. Shorian houses usually had roofs that reach nearly to the ground and reach a peak in the middle of the house, the arches on buildings were made with stones forming a triangle shape, although they used arches when they needed too. The ornate designs of the buildings are made up of straight lines with sharp angles, and commonly decorated with runes, Shorian cloths also used similar designs.

History

Pre-Empire Shoria (-2500 to -450)

Before the Shorian Empire was formed, the region of Shoria (in southeast Borea ) was made up of several warring city states. These city states shared a common religion and culture, with some differences between each city state. They all shared a similar fashion of architecture and art, they all shared the same legal system. They also shared the same religion, a religion the highly promoted rapid technological development. This fanatical draw to include machinery into everything lead to the Shorian city states to far outpace the rest of the world in technology. By the time everywhere else was using iron, they had already construction semi-mechanized factories and railways.
The pre-imperial Shorian World served as the technological center of the ancient midlands. Their inventions had a wide influence and scholars, philosophers, inventors, and engineers travelled from around the world to study in Shoria. Their greatest testament to their love of knowledge was the grand library. The grand library was a massive library in the city of Runemar in Shoria, and every traveler who entered Runemar had their books copied and the copies would be stored in the library. Eventually this process lead to the grand library being an immense treasure trove of knowledge that served to help further advance the Shorians, and even the rest of the world.

The Beginning of the Shorian Empire (-450 to -400)

This period of warring states went on from about -2,500 to -450. In -450 one city state finally gained a crucial advantage and was able to conquer the rest of the city states. With the combined population and industrial capacity, the newly formed Shorian Empire was one of the most powerful states in the world. The mighty king of Shoria, on his great throne of steam and steel, assembled great powerful armies and set out to conquer the rest of the known world. These armies were armed with full plate steel armour that had been mass produced, and they mainly used shields and pikes. They also made heavy use of artillery. This artillery was made like massive steel cable crossbows that fired metal balls or Liquid Fire, these shots could be fired hundreds or thousands of meters. Using their technology, By -400 they had conquered all of Borea.

Failed invasions and innovations (-400 to -365)

The Shorian empire, after -400 launched several campaigns against the people beyond Borea. First they attempted to conquer Merindia to their south. This invasion had mixed success. They were able to conquer new lands in northeast Merindia, but they also took heavy losses. This campaign also was useful because the Shorian Empire was able to test out their new weapon prototypes, improving their war machine's power significantly.
The Shorian Empire saw the vast wealth and resources of the Regian Mountains, but also saw the civilization there, that had now become so technologically advanced that they were able to compete with the Shorian Empire's technology. The Shorian Empire decided to conquer the Regian Mountains anyway. The invasion began in -380. The war started with a sudden and rapid surprise invasion against the ancient Regians, that saw great initial success, however, after 1 year of progress the Shorian war machine ground to a screeching halt. Both sides would then fight battle after battle for 4 years, with both sides having little success. The final 2 years of the war came with Regius gaining the advantage with advanced new tactics, and pushing the Shorian Empire out of their lands, and pulling in a costly but necessary victory.
During this time between -371 and -365 the Shorians developed their greatest invention yet, the steam engine. By the year -355 the Shorians had fully mechanized their empires, installing railways, steam ships, and many new innovations in weaponry such as automatic bolt-throwers and more powerful artillery. The Shorian Empire's population had also grown much larger at that point, allowing for a larger work force and bigger armies. Their industrial capacity had also massively expanded, and they could now produce everything much faster.

The Great Expansion (-360 to -350)

The Shorian Empire had grown much stronger. It now had larger armies, and with their new technology they were able to move further faster, and do more damage. The Shorians decided that they were going to try again to conquer the Regian Mountains. They invaded in -360 and the war lasted for 5 years, and was tough victory for Shoria, but they had secured massive amounts of metal and stone resources. The Shorian Empire then conquered the Volundric Empire to the south. The war was also difficult, but ended in a heroic victory for the Shorians, and their empire was greatly expanded. By the year -300 the Shorian Empire had expanded massively. Their natural resources, technology, and population had become truly mighty, and it was only a matter of time before they conquered the rest of the known world.
The Shorians had also made more great discoveries since then. They discovered how to create vehicles powered by steam that were able to move under their own power independent of rails, and that means that weaponry and troops could be transported much faster and further. They then used this new power to conquer all of Arctus and try to assimilate the giants that lived there. This was another great victory, and with every large conquest the Shorian Empire's reputation as an unstoppable force continued to grow.

The Invasion East (-350 to -260)

The Shorians looked east for more land to conquer, and set their eyes on the great unexplored wilderness of Shigir. They first set out their explorers, and they didn't find any large nations there. They then set in soldiers and more explorers to claim the land, and settlers to set up a permanent Shorian presence in Shigir. By -290 all of Shigir had been fully claimed by the Shorian Empire.
After claiming Shigir, The Shorian Empire came into conflict with the Shenrian Empire, which also wanted to claim Shigir. This eventually escalated into war. In -283, with it's new fleet of mighty steam-powered Great Ships and Steam carts, Shoria set it's armies east, in preparation for another glorious conquest. The armies crossed the arctic ocean to the north and travelled east, and landed on the north coast of Elendrum. In -282 the Shorian Empire and the Shenrian Empire's armies finally met, and fought. While the Shenrians outnumbered the Shorians, they were slaughtered by artillery and fire from the powerful Shorian Crossbows and mechanical bolt throwers.
Several more battles would occur, Shenrian forts and walls were destroyed by powerful artillery fire, their armies were burned and shot at by crossbows, artillery, and Liquid Fire. The Shenrian Empire was finally forced to surrender, and in -272 the Shorian Empire took a large amount of land in northern Elendrum. A large railway was also built that ran from Shoria to Elendrum. This railway ran north through Arctus, east through Shigir, and even further east to Elendrum. The raillway was completed in -260.

More Expansion and Innovation (-260 to -190)

The Shorian Empire continued expanding further and further. They conquered Meru, northern Cocar, most of Mora, and some arctic islands. This happened between -260 to -150, but their largest invasion was yet to come. They set their eyes west, to the continent of Lenuria. They first invaded from east and west in -150, and saw great initial success. They kept pushing further into the continent, while they did have some trouble with fighting the many empires and nations there, their invasion was still going well. By -190 they had conquered all of Lenuria except for south Lenuria, and gained a massive amount of new land.

The Shorian Civil War (-160 to -158)

After 2 decades of peace, it would all be shattered by a war more devastating than any that had ever happened before. The Shorian lands in Elendrum and Lenuria came into conflict with the rest of the Shorian Empire, and this conflict eventually developed into them forming together and declaring independence from the rest of the empire. The Original Shorian Empire decided they needed to battle the Separatists into submission, and first set out to war in -160. Battles between the two sides were devastating. Hundreds of thousands of people would die in ever battle and landscapes would be ruined. Cities would be destroyed, but through all of this devastation new technologies would be invented. Fully armoured steamships would be created, stronger artillery would be made, and new war tactics would be devised. The war would finally end with severe losses on both sides, but a victory for the original Shorian Empire.

The Shorian Age of Peace (-158 to 100)

After the Shorian Civil War, a great age of peace came. The Shorian Empire recovered from it's losses, new technologies would be discovered, new cities would be made and old ones improved. New farming technologies would be devised that allowed for more efficient farming and farming in permafrost, which lead to a great expansion of the population. A new calendar was invented too, and this lead to the years being split into negative and positive years. Trade would also prosper, but this also lead to the Shorian Empire's enemies beginning to adapt to using Shorian technology.

The Dawn of the Age of Guns (100 to 200)

In -100, a large alliance formed between many of the Shorian Empire's enemies. It was made up of nations that had adapted somewhat to Shorian technology and had large populations. These nations also had made a crucial discovery in secret: gunpowder. They banded together and formed a large army armed with primitive muskets, and in the year 100, they ambushed a Shorian army, destroying it. This defeat came as a shock to the Shorian Empire, and they quickly mobilized their armies to destroy their new enemy. They fought, but had lost the advantage they had had for hundreds of years before. It ended in a costly Shorian victory, but the Shorians had also discovered gunpowder by the end of the war (115), and had begun experimenting with it. They developed muskets by the year 120 but preferred crossbows mostly. But then alliance against Shoria struck again, and at this point had become almost equal in terms of technology and population to the Shorian Empire. This new invasion was devastating. Shoria's enemies pushed fast and hard into Shorian lands, forcing them back further and further. The Shorian empire lost Mora, most of their lands in Elendrum,all of their lands in Cocar, and were pushed back to the gates of Einharnassus, their walled city on the southeast border of Borea. The battle of Einharnassus was the bloodiest battle of all time, over 1.5 million people died in that battle, but the Shorian Empire won a decisive but costly victory. A peace treaty was signed after that battle. The Shorian Empire was forced to surrender it's lands in Elendrum, Mora, Cocar, and Merindia.
This was a crushing defeat for the Shorians. For almost all of their history, they had ruled the world from their seemingly insurmountable throne of power, but now they were forced to surrender huge amounts of land to the people which they had viewed as barbarians. The Shorians wouldn't accept this and quickly began experimenting with new ways to regain their former glory.

The Reconquest (200 to 310)

The Shorian Empire could not and would not accept defeat so quickly. In secret, they devised new ways to gain the upper hand in their planned war to retake their new lands. They invented rifled gun barrels, automatic fire, cartidges containing gunpowder, as opposed to just musket balls, massive gunpowder artillery with explosive shells, and tanks. All of these new technological advancements gave the Shorian Empire a massive advantage, the advantage they needed to retake their lost lands.
In 250 The Shorian Empire finally set out. Their bolt-action rifles overwhelmed their enemies and their muskets. Their artillery far out-ranged the enemy's artillery, and their tanks broke the enemy's lines and shattered their morale. They quickly pushed out, annihilating their enemies with their mechanized warfare and deadly new weaponry. By the year 310, they had finally re-taken all of their lost lands.

The End of the Shorian Empire (310-400)

For the next 85 years, the Shorian Empire was in a new age of peace and prosperity. This all came to an end when a massive empire-wide coordinated rebellion finally broke the Shorian Empire, and the parts of the empire that rebelled later became several countries including the Merindian Empire, Regius, Meru, Alaric, and Taurith. The Shenrian Empire also retook it's lost northern territories. The only territory that the Shorian Empire still controlled was Borea, and the remaining remnant of the Shorian Empire formed the Shorian Kingdom, which would persist for another 340 years.

Disbandment

The Shorian empire collapsed after a series of worldwide coordinated rebellions and in the year 400 the Shorian empire fell and became the Shorian kingdom which ruled Borea until the year 740 when they started retaking their lost lands and formed the New Shorian Empire (NSE)

Territories

Military

The Shorian army was the strongest army in the world for 800 years, they utilized countless powerful machines and technologies to slaughter their enemies, their archers used Shorian Crossbows to shoot down their enemies with unparalleled power and speed, they used highly organized and heavily armoured pike formations to stop enemy charges and destroy cavalry, they had powerful artillery that could blast through enemy fortresses and shoot Liquid Fire to scorch their enemies. All of this was transported by a sophisticated network of railways and Great Ship, all powered by their greatest invention, the Shorian Steam Engine. All of this was mass produced with their many great factories, which use also use the Shorian Steam Engine and are still in use today.
The Shorian empire never developed gunpowder but still were able to create weapons that could outperform muskets and cannons using advanced engineering.

Agriculture & Industry

They found ways to farm very efficiently using machinery and they also found a way to farm even in permafrost, allowing them to have a massive population.

Trade & Transport

They had an ingenious series of railways which they used to transport people and supplies very quickly. They also head steam ships which could sail through harsh weather and transport more materials much faster than any other ship at the time.

Education

They were the first to develop public education, which they had used since -800, before the empire even existed.

Infrastructure

The Shorians had meticulously developed systems of sewage and water transport, roads, rails, and they always made their cities in precise grid patterns.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

Founding Date

-400

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Government System

Monarchy, Constitutional

Major Exports

The Shorian empire sold their technology and vast supply of most materials to dominate trade all throughout The Midlands.

Official State Religion

The Shorian Gods

Subsidiary Organizations

• New Shorian Empire

Official Languages

• The Shorian Language

Organization Vehicles

• Great Ship