Empire of the Red Hawk

The Empire of the Red Hawk, also called the Redhawk Empire, the Vhaluzian Empire, or the Great Southern Empire, is a huge imperial state which controls most of Vhaluzia, parts of far southwestern Achuirea (including a narrow coastal strip on the Emerald Ocean which extends up to the south edge of Belekesh), and sizable holdings in Arrakoth (the easternmost portion of Ulthark). The Redhawk Empire is a tough, martial society with a long history of constant warfare against the orcs of Ulthark. Its borders have fluctuated greatly over the centuries, sometimes extending deep into Arrakoth as the frontier of orcdom is pushed back, other times retreating drastically as orcish invasions have crossed the Gates of Barossus and overrun parts of western Vhaluzia. The imperial succession is matrilineal according to the Sarino'atma law (and claims descent from Myrru Xhuramensu, Tarquenus’s eldest daughter and one of the original high priestesses of the Rhantaseppa), so the empire is ruled by an empress who is also its highest-ranking priestess.
The empire’s name is derived from the sign of the crimson hawk (often shown in a threefold or ninefold arrangement), which is considered the imperial insignia of state and the symbol or emblem of the empire as a whole. The origin of this lies in an auspicious omen, nine red hawks sent by Fimra as a sign to Nayalla the Unflinching, the paladin-priestess and warrior queen who launched the conquest of Vhaluzia against the orcs who once occupied it. Upon receiving the omen, she decreed that the red hawk would be her personal insignia, and swore that all that her forces conquered would be ruled in the name of the Rhantaseppa under the standard of the red hawk. The full or formal name of the empire is “The Rhantashani Empire of Vhaluzia and the Dominion of the Sacred Banner of the Red Hawk.” Likewise the Empress’s full title is "The Serene Rhantashani Empress of Vhaluzia and of all the Dominions of the Sacred Banner of the Red Hawk". She is typically referred to as the Serene Empress (in Vhaluzian lands) or the Redhawk Empress, the Vhaluzian Empress or Empress of Vhaluzia, or the Great Southern Empress (in foreign lands).  
Inhabitants of the empire, or especially members of its soldiery, are frequently called simply “Redhawks” by outsiders. The imperial capital is Macharadus, in Myrrene.