Steward's Domain

The War of Three Empires as we know it has ended over two centuries ago. For some people, it never did.

For the most part, travelling across the Steward's Domain is the same as travelling across the Ardenian Empire. If anything, they believe they are its part, the last loyal part of the old Empire. Just be careful not to praise the ruling Ardenian family too much, or worse yet try to persuade the locals of the emperor's divine right. It never ends well.
It was two brothers and a sister fighting for the throne back then. Two of them lost and died, the third one prevailed - but not everyone accepted the outcome. Among them was the old Imperial Steward appointed by the claimants' late father, the last steward of the old empire. For some people, he had more right to rule the lands than the false emperor - not as an emperor himself, but merely acting in his stead. To this day, the steward's family rules vast lands awaiting for the return of the emperor's true heir.

Public Agenda

The Steward has never accepted the death of his liege and the victory of another claimant. He believed there were distant relatives to be found, relatives that he was willing to support in their fight for the throne. That commitment stands still, and for some people the last Imperial Steward prior to the civil war has more legitimacy than the emperor's victorious son.
Many would share such beliefs and choose to join the Steward's Domain, so they can wait for the return of a rightful emperor together. Now, who do you think would qualify as a rightful heir? Everyone has their own idea, and there are many heated discussion about it. On one thing all of the Steward's followers agree - it is not the people who currently rule the Ardenian Empire.

History

Same as all nobles of that time, the Imperial Steward was forced to choose between three pretenders. He chose to back the late emperor's daughter, believing her to best represent the character of her father. The other two claimants responded by appointing their own Stewards, and the country got torn into three pieces. These wer some of the darkest days the Empire's people has seen.
But such wars always come to an end, and after decades of fighting and two of three claimants dead the Empire has finally got its peace. Or what was still left of the old empire, at any rate. Many nobles were generously offered pardons in exchange for swearing fealty to the emperor, and most of them accepted. Some seceded, hoping to be kings of their own right. The steward did neither, choosing to establish a hereditary line of Imperial Stewards to guard an empty throne. To surprise of many, the lands that shared in his ideas have managed to fend off all Ardenian invasions to this day.