Blood Treaty

Diplomatic action

Roughly 200 years after the start of the formal conflict between Khalimed and the Nomadic Tribes that had been ravaging the western borders of the kingdom, the agreement known as the Blood Treaty signs the end of the conflict. With this treaty, the tribes are allowed to continue their life style as long as they do not damage too heavily the empire borders. In exchange, the tribes have to send some of their strongest young promising warriors to the empire to act as auxiliaries in the army or serve the emperor in other ways.

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These 200 years of conflicts are the closest thing to a defeat that the Khalimedi Empire had. The vast, dry steppe was a terrain that heavily favoured the non-confrontational figthing style of the tribes, which also varied between different tribes depending on the races abundance in the tribe itself, making it hard for the Khalimedi armies to know how to prepare and counter their enemy (as an example, tribes with a high number of goliatsh and minotaurs used to suddenly appear and strike hard on a weak point of the formation, to then retreat as soon as the tides changed, while tribes heavy on centaurs and aarakocra engaged from a distance and never fully committed to the fight). In addition, the fighting areas were within the regions where the nomadic tribes frequently made camp, fought or traveled, giving them superior knowledge on the terrain of battle and, according to some Khalimedi historians and mages, reinforcing the magic of the tribes' spellcasters.

The treaty

The Blood Treaty itself allows the tribes to continue their life style as long as they do not damage too heavily the empire borders, but does not strictly prohibit them from occasionally raiding the human borders. In exchange, the tribes have to send some of their strongest young promising warriors to the empire to act as auxiliaries in the army or serve the emperor in other ways. Because of the highly competitive and meritocratic nature of the tribes relations, this was seen as a honor: even if it meant leaving the family and the tribe to travel to a far-away land and a possibly hostile government, only the best of the best were allowed to go on such an adventure, and proving to be the best is an occasion that most tribe members, especially if young, will never pass on.