Modern Dwendalian Empire
For three hundred years, the empire has expanded
and prospered under the rule of the Dwendalian line
of kings. King Alfwin Dwendal increased the empire's
military power by establishing the stronghold of Bladegarden
and assimilating Grimgolir into the empire,
seeking to hold back the savage creatures of Xhorhas.
King Theoderich Dwendal's benevolent nature brokered
the partnership with the Clovis Concord of the
Menagerie Coast without bloodshed and ushered in new
opportunities for trade with the rest of Exandria. King
Willamar Dwendal established the initial prominence of
House Truscan and granted them oversight of the Truscan
Vale, to the displeasure of the other noble houses.
Other kings have come and gone, but few have made
as immediate and lasting a mark as King Bertrand
Dwendal. On assuming the throne in 790 PD, King
Bertrand immediately demonstrated his love of spectacle
and social manipulation by instituting town criers
across the empire to disseminate Crown-approved
messages. With the aid of Master Ikithon Trent of the
Cerberus Assembly, he captured the imagination of the
masses with well-crafted tales of his deeds, proclaimed
by the criers in every town square.
Seeking to bury any dissent against the Crown, King
Dwendal began to use the empire's spy network to seek
out sources of unrest in the public and punish those
who sowed thoughts of rebellion. Public holidays and
celebrations were given greater funding to quell the
masses and distract the people from the increase in taxation
implemented across the valley. This allowed King
Bertrand Dwendal to rise in popularity while also ruling
with a far more ruthless and self-serving agenda than
most kings before him.
King Bertrand maintains the isolationist world view of
his predecessors, even in times of need. By ignoring political
alliances from distant nations, preventing the construction
of any skyship docks within the empire, and ignoring
calls for aid-such as the fight against the rising
threat of Vecna two decades before-the King believes
he has made the empire stronger than it's ever been.
However, the king's focus on isolationism fades as
tensions with Xhorhas grow. Worry about his legacy
mingles with the new and deadly threat of the Kryn Dynasty, now emboldened and pushing into his kingdom
with strange magics and dangerous warriors.
He mistrusts the very Cerberus Assembly that grants
him so much influence and arcane might to combat
the ever-darker world that barks at the borders of the
empire. Public approval of his rule wanes with growing
economic disparity, and the whisper of Myriad power
returning under his nose only heightens his paranoia.
When the Kryn orchestrated an attack on the Halls of
Erudition in Zadash, the Cerberus Assembly pushed for
a display of military power to rally the people and bring
unity to the national identity of the empire. The king declared
war on the Kryn Dynasty and the people of Xhorhas,
embroiling the region in this new full-scale conflict,
with the hope that, as history has proven, people are
easier to unite against a common enemy.
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