Official History of the Cennti Empire, 300 to 400 AU

Marcus the Eleventh begins military reforms starting in 310 AU, the first is making iron weapons the standard of the Army, with the Navy following suit in 312. Up until this time bronze was mostly used by Imperial forces, but with new advancements in metallurgy and the massive amounts of iron now coming from Briathone, the transition could finally be made to iron. In 333, chainmail is adopted as part of a standard infantryman’s armor. While the designs for such armor had existed since the 200s, bronze was too brittle for chainmail, but with iron being more common now, a much more malleable material, it was possible. In 339, the first outpost on Himlothland now has a population of over 10,000. The Emperor decrees that if a world has more than 50,000 Imperial citizens living on it, enough for at least one representative, it will be considered for annexation by the Cennti Empire. The decree is backed by the majority of the Senate. Marcus the 11th dies in 343 AU.
Marcus the Twelfth was born in 300 AU, the second born of his father, he had a mind for tactics. When he was a boy, his father sent him to Mostron Academy in Recun, where he learned the art of war. By age 30 he was made First General of the Gelgoreg Army, second only to Lord General Aiten Pike. In 343, his father and older brother were taken by disease, leaving him as heir to the Empire. Marcus the 12th had no mind for politics, he preferred to take his enemies head on, yet there were no external threats to the Empire at this point in time. For the first 22 years of his reign, he was considered a poor ruler, that was until contact was made with new race, the Orcs. Barbarians, with skins of red, green, and brown. They were came from a distance cluster, appearing around Himlothland. Diplomats sent to make contact were killed, and the Orcs began raiding the small settlements on Himlothland. The Emperor ordered all fleets to converge on the world and blockade the star. Orc ships were no match for the Cennti when it came to firepower, but they did have numbers. Small and fast raiding ships would board Imperial ships, and fight the crew hand to hand. The Empire did eventually win the day, but not after losing over a third of their fleet. With Orcs no longer being able to enter or leave the system, all that remained was the extermination of those already on the world. While the history books call this conflict the Green War (365-368), most of the Orcs were actually Red Orcs, they were the dominant subspecies at the time, though this is not longer true as of the 11th century. The Orcs were actually rather easy to find, they detested hiding, preferring open battle with the Cennti army, under direct control of Emperor Marcus the 12th himself. While the Orcs won some minor engagements, they were eventually pushed into a valley and surrounded by Cennti forces in 368. The Emperor had his troops defend all exits out of the valley, and let the Orcs starve inside. The Orcs tried again and again to push out, but their disorganized hordes were funneled directly into the waiting spears of heavily armored and disciplined Cennti infantry. After close to two months of this, when the Orcs were forced to killed and eat eachother to just survive, Marcus had the army advance into the valley. It was a massacre, the main Orc, whose name is still unknown to this day, he was killed before anyone could learn it, had his head stuck on a pike and paraded around the army’s camp. It now resides in the Imperial Palace, perfectly preserved by magic. After the war land on Himlothland was awarded to the men who had fought, this created a population boom, surpassing the requirement of 50,000 Imperial citizens. Himlothland was officially annexed by the Cennti Empire. Marcus the 12th died peacefully 4 years later in 372, and is remembered as one of the great Emperors of the Golden Age.
Marcus the 13th is often forgotten by historians, having died only five years into his reign. In 374, a plague ravaged Eot, the Emperor was forced to close the gates to his palace, making governing very difficult. In 377, after three years of isolation, the plague managed to make its way into the palace, killing the Emperor and much of his court.
Marcus the 14th was fourteen years old at the time of his father's death, and was being educated at the University of Gelgeth on Gelgoreg. For his own safety, the new emperor did not return to Eot until 381, when the plague had finally ended. Marcus the 14th came to be known as the Foreign Emperor by nobles, having spent most of his life on Gelgoreg instead of Eot, he had developed an accent. While it was detrimental to him when dealing with the nobles of the homeworld, it proved to be a huge advantage when dealing with outworlders, especially those from Gelgoreg, which almost rivalled Eot in power at this time. In 385, Marcus the 14th declares a second OuterWorld Initiative, giving even more representation to the other worlds, and allowing increased autonomy. While many praised the Emperor for this initiative at the time, it proved very detrimental to the Empire in the long run. One of the policies in the second OuterWorld Initiative was that territories within the Cennti Empire could fight amongst themselves, as long as the scale of the conflict was limited and the Empire itself was not at war with anyone. In 394, disputes over territories on Gelgoreg lead to a war with the kingdoms of Alba and Eire against New Aeosha. Marcus the 14th purposefully made a point of keeping others from interfering, by 396 New Aeosha surrendered, and was split between Alba and Eire, keeping some lands in the north for themselves. Several smaller but similar wars broke out before the turn of the century.