MAGIC IN THE IMPERIUM:
Magic is not unlike smithing, writing, or any other craft. No individual is born with more magic than another; it is learned like any other skill. In order to master the skill of magic, one must go to school for eleven years, dutifully learning the ways of magic. Students can begin at 15, and first go to Aleron University, where they learn the basics for three years. They are considered a Magician Maverick after a year in Aleron. After basics are done, and if the student passes, they go to Malcolm University, where they learn after another three years. After one year in Malcolm, the student is known as a Magician Moderate. If they pass Malcolm, the Moderate goes to Erubury Tower, where only genius Magicians and dutiful workers graduate. After they graduate, the former student is now a Magician Master, where they can work as an artist, writer, healer, or secure a place as a military strategist or general. They can also return to any university and work as a teacher. Many Magicians, however, are philanthropists, and choose to help the poor and weak in impoverished areas on the Imperium. Many humans tend to associate magic with Tiberians, although this is not the case. Humans make for almost half of the Magicians in the Imperium. Many Magicians choose to drop out after they gain the title of Moderate, not seeing the gain of becoming a Master after another six years of training. One common magical artifact is a Waygate, which is a magical crystal that bonds with others of the same kind. When bonded, a person can pass through a Waygate and appear on an opposite, bonded Waygate. These are very expensive and are owned by the rich of the Imperium, as well as all Councilmen and occasionally Magicians. They resemble mirrors. The largest Waygate known to man is in Pellwood, in the Council Chambers, which allow dozens of Councilmen and woman to pass through the Waygate simultaneously and travel home and to Pellwood. The Pellwood Waygate, a huge chunk of raw crystal, is as large as a small house.
RECORDED HISTORY OF THE IMPERIUM: NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN KINGDOM
Auster, Advenus, Sirius
The Nomadic Era: Tiberians and Humans alike had no borders, no countries, but they rarely saw each other. As it is now, Tiberians stuck to the desert and Humans stuck to the Great Plains and tundra, travelling as nomads in small, tight tribes, hunting and living off the land. They had rich culture, music and artwork, and only minor civil wars here and there.
The Farmer Era: The blissful way of the nomadic people died like it existed: quietly, peacefully. People began to settle down as a desire for a peaceful and constant life arose. Farm villages appeared over the land, but they were small and spread out. The farms in the icelands and desert were centered around oases and meant for raising animals.
The Warlord Era: People all over Arena, greedy as they are, took advantage of the weak farmers. Marauder gangs were formed and men began to claim large amounts of land as their own. Tiberians were especially violent: they ripped the desert apart and flooded it with blood. There were several dozen major warlords claiming territory all over Arena by the end of the Era.
The Monarchal Era: The oppressed people realized that the Warlords would eventually destroy all life on Arena if they did nothing. Former farmers raised their weapons and protested around the world, more and more as people caught word rebellions were possible. Warlord after warlord was taken down by their people. Eventually, local leaders rose up and called for the need of a government, or else the Farmer and Warlord Era would repeat itself. The military hero and leader Ban from the north used his cunning diplomatic skills and prowess on the combat field to win over other local leaders and drew a border with Tiberian leaders from the south: using his cunning wit and shrewd tactics, he managed to outwit the Tiberians of almost all of Arena except the Sebaran desert. To this day, it is considered one of the best achievements of the ages by the Humans and the greatest insult the Tiberians have ever received by the Humans.
Ban went on to form Sirius, what is now the Northern Kingdom. Eventually, the Tiberians produced a unified leader, Ariano, who united the Sebaran desert and formed the country of Auster.
Under King Ban’s rule, Sirius grew into an economic and military superpower while Auster struggled under King Ariano. For a very brief period, King Ban annexed Auster, but was met with violent protests and forming terrorist groups, so the King withdrew. King Ariano never forgave the Humans, and once tried to wage war with Sirius; Auster was quickly beaten down by King Ban and Ariano slain by Ban himself. After the brief war, Auster and Sirius left each other alone, but tensions were never lessened.
The Magical Era: A new leader arose from Auster: Camilla the Sage. Camilla was one of the only Magicians in Arena, and she had a vision. Modern scholars say that Camilla was just as clever and resourceful as King Ban, but up in Sirius, women were treated as second class citizens, so Ban basically wrote off the Tiberians after Camilla’s raise to power.
In order to bring her people to greatness, Queen Camilla constructed a university for magic in Aleron. Thousands of Tiberians passed through the halls of Aleron Univeristy and learned the basics of magic from the Magicians Camilla gathered to teach the people of Auster. The Tiberians were able to greatly improve their standard of living after more and more Tiberians became adept in magic.
The Dark Era: Ban’s death ended the Magical Era with a bang. It is said that when Ban died, Karic and Aura appeared over the skies of Arvall and brought Ban back to the heavens. Ban had ascended to godhood and is still worshipped today in the Pantheon.
After Ban died, his son Claudas took power as King. The young liberal King made unprecedented changes to Sirius, most notably removing restrictions that made women lesser than men. He then made diplomatic contact with the Tiberian, Queen Camilla. Auster was growing in power and some people feared that the Magicians would try to invade a second time.
After diplomatic advances were made, Claudas proved that he was truly the son of Ban. Secret documents were stolen and Sirius’s own Magic University was constructed in the remotest place in Sirius: Erubury. Camilla was none the wiser as Claudas taught at least a thousand Humans the way of Magic. But one spy, a Magician named Safir, informed Camilla of everything. In retaliation, Auster launched an attack on the now destroyed town of Iber and overtook it. Camilla promised severe punishments would be inflicted upon Sirius as the Tiberians proved they would be pushed around no longer.
It never came to be, though. The same spying Magician, Safir, assassinated Claudas shortly after Iber was sacked. After a quick power struggle, a smooth talking and rich politician from Valici, named Gareth, took the throne. Gareth was a conniving man, and devious too. He captured Safir and used Magic to reprogram the spy and make him a double agent. Safir entered Auster and assassinated Queen Camilla, but was killed in the process. There was no rest for the weary, however, and Gareth was killed after he traveled to Auster under the guise to discuss Auster’s surrender.
Now Sirius and Auster were on the verge of collapse, without leaders. Some feared that both kingdoms would break up and the Warlord Era would repeat itself. Other thought a war would break out that would extinguish all life on Arena.
These worries persisted until what was known as the Intervention. Until recently, neither Sirius nor Auster communicated with the Western Kingdom. That was about to change.
The Imperium Era: The Western Kingdom was known as Advenus at the time, it was an entirely Human nation. It was running a clean democratic rulership on their secluded island; everyone lived in peace, there was universal healthcare, crime was down… it was a utopian society. The High Council of Advenus, representatives of major cities on the island, called for Sirius and Auster to adapt their ways of government, they claimed it was the only way to live in peace.
Not seeing an alternative, Auster quickly agreed. It took a very long time, but eventually Sirius agreed to adapt Advenus’s government… for a trial period. Under Advenus’s guidance, Sirius and Auster held elections in each city-state, and politicians, doctors, artists, and other popular aristocrats were elected to represent their home. They formed separately at first, and began to sort out their government. Sirius found it surprising; they could manage an entire empire and keep the interests of the people prevalent in every debate. Auster was slower to adapt, but eventually they learned to accept Advenus’s government.
Sirius and Auster were at a loss for words. In a process of two years, they had become democratic and were so busy fixing their internal problems they barely interacted with each other. Advenus’s High Council persisted their personal agenda: the unification of the entire Arena continent. At first their attempts had failed, but a motion in Sirius changed the continent’s outlook on things.
A rogue warlord rose up in the Great Plains and gathered a small army of mercenaries and assassins. They invaded Auster and began to slaughter any Tiberian they saw. Reports say that over 2,500 Tiberian civilians were killed before the army wiped out the invaders.
Sirius realized that it had a very severe racism problem. While citizens cried in Auster over the genocide, a disturbing amount of people in Sirius seemed unaffected by the news or even appreciated the fact that the Tiberians were taken down a notch.
The Sirius High Council made immediate talks with the Auster High Council and Advenus High Council. An emergency vote was called and the majority voted to unify their countries, creating one military, one economy. From that point onwards, Sirius, Auster, and Advenus no longer existed. All that there was now was The Imperium: a continent wide nation that was experiencing reduced tensions and over many generations, less racism and issues between Humans and Tiberians. The nation’s names were changed simply to the Northern, Southern and Western Kingdoms. 27 people made up the High Council, and three had ultimate power: the representatives from the three former capitols’ votes counted three times as much than the other 24 councilors, and they had veto power on any measure being sent through the council, the lawmaker of the land. These were the councilors from Arvall, Camoran and Pellwood.
Modern Era: The previous Era ended over one thousand years ago. The Imperium was no longer a new subject; it was old and accepted. Racism was lessened, but some Humans and Tiberians alike still held old grudges. The Western Kingdom declined slightly after integration with the Northern and Southern Kingdom, no longer a utopian society but still very well off. The Western Kingdom has since built a magic university of its own, in Malcolm.
The current High Councilmen from the three capitols were: Taliesin Taye of Arvall, Caidan Marhaus of Camoran, and Constance Vaughan of Pellwood. Times have been rough on the people of the Imperium, they face a continent wide recession and poverty is rampant in every corner of the world. The gap between high and low class is widening. The Council hold office in Pellwood, in their headquarters, but they live in their respective cities by travelling through Waygates.
Regarding the Eastern Kingdom: The Eastern Kingdom is thought to have once been a part of the Imperium, but all records are strictly classified by the Council. It is unknown how they even fit into history, a subject many scholars are endlessly irritated about but can’t do anything to help it. A very common conspiracy theory is circulated around the Imperium: The Eastern Kingdom wanted to break off from the Imperium, so they started a civil war. Not only did the Eastern Kingdom lose the war, but they were entirely destroyed, wiped out, not a single survivor. How such a thing was done can only be speculated, but it is chilling to think the Council holds such power over its people.
MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS:
Auroran Pantheon:
Aura: Life-Giver to the Aurorans.
Karic: Created the Earth.
Isabella and Rowena: Created nature, trees, air, plants, dirt, weather, clouds, sun, etc.
Sebar: Created animals.
Ban: The Mortal God. Ban ascended to Godhood after his deeds in Sirius.
Creation Myth:
It was Karic who created the world, but not for humans, originally. Karic was a great artist, and Aurora, named after his beautiful wife Aura, was his canvas. He created worlds and destroyed them time and again, playing with mortals as he saw fit. There were two species that he created for his enjoyment; however, that Aura took a liking to. These were, of course, the Human race and the Tiberian race.
The Tiberians – The ashen skinned people of Aurora live in the southern lands of the Sebaran desert. Their skin is pale, whitish grey, and their hair is a dull white color. Their eye color varies between purple, yellow, green, and grey. They aren’t longer lived than humans, the average life span being around 120 years.
Aurora:
On the continent of Arena, there is snowy tundra to the north. To the extreme north, it is snow all year round. South of the tundra, there are seasons, switching between a cold and snowy winter and a slightly less cold summer, revealing plains of grass and a few farmlands. To the south: a vast desert, the Sebaran Desert. A large amount of oases dot the desert, which makes it easy for people to live there. This is known as the Southern Kingdom. To the west is the ocean, expanding into the unknown. A large island is off the coast, the Western Kingdom. To the east lies the Eastern Kingdom, more commonly known as the Forbidden Lands. No citizen knows what lies beyond the Eastern border.
If I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll find a way to squeeze Cicero, or maybe even just some references, in there lol
We'll see how things go. What's a good date to start at? I was thinking a few years before the Great War so we can have more of an 'our story', meaning we'll mostly ignore some events that are included in the actual Lore. I will however keep most of the major events that effect the Empire and the Dark Brotherhood in general, but I'll throw them in at random times so the players expect it less.
But I'm very much looking forward to being a DM!
) another.