Hymsgardian Empire

Hymsgardian Flag

The Hymsgardian Empire is an authoritarian multinational empire, spanning across many countries of Fell. For most of its existence it consisted of Hymsgar, Gavafell, Jngvild and Western Lavadante, with Eastern Lavadante as a vassal state.

The Hymsgardian Empire is led by what many would consider to be a benevolent dictator. Emperor Z'evnar Mightuss is the undisputed ruler and has been since the empire's birth. A cult of personality surrounds him, with unending propaganda and his own charisma as a leader keeping his people loyal to him.

Many would describe the empire as utopian. There is no starvation or homelessness within the stable and developed regions of the empire. Despite this, it has more pernicious elements. Information is strictly controlled. Schools teach an idealised version of reality, portraying the empire as liberators and heroes, and their emperor as a steadfast and loyal leader with infallible integrity. A secret police known as Inquisitors scour the populace for any meaningful dissent in order to neutralise it.

The Hymsgardian Empire is an imperialist hyperpower on the world stage, often bullying other nations into submission and imposing their own ideology on other nations, and waging war against any nations who's ideology opposes theirs to an extreme degree. Often the Hymsgardian Empire will paint their wars as liberation wars, seeking to liberate the people of an oppressive government. It uses sanctions and sieges supply lines until the target nation relents to its demands.

## Political Structure

At the very head of the empire is Emperor Z'evnar Mightuss, a benevolent dictator who seems to genuinely care about his people. He keeps his power mostly through a cult of personality, seen by many as the true one ruler of Hymsgar and the only mortal capable of building such a robust nation.

Many stories are told about this individual and there is even a fringe cult who worship him as a messiah. The cult is not officially recognised or endorsed by the Emperor or the government, but no energy or resources have been spent to quell this cult.

The Emperor himself is a skilled warrior and a powerful mage. He's seen as an everyman, most well known for wearing a white coat with a purple sash around his waist, and only appearing in ornate and noble clothing when attending foreign meetings.

Directly below his majesty is the Imperial Court. Mostly made up of advisors who have been elected as spokespersons for each distinct culture and country within the empire. These people advise the Emperor on any sensitivities regarding legislation he has been asked to look at.

The next rung of command is the National Council, a group of elected officials from each city within a country under imperial control. Each member of the council represents a county or city within the country in question, and the council at large works together to solve internal matters of their nation.

Below the National Council is the People's Spokespersons. These individuals are elected through direct participatory democracy within a city. There are only two barriers to becoming a People's Spokesperson; You must be an adult of your species, and you must be an imperial citizen born in the territory you seek to represent. The People's Spokesperson is a very hands on role, often involved in a lot of activism and travelling all over the territory they represent. They handle any petitions that are gaining significant traction within the territory, presenting it to the National Council if it is important enough.

## Everyday Life

The average imperial citizen lives a comfortable, arguably utopian life. Universal Basic Income provides financial security, housing and basic groceries like vegetables and bread are provided for free thanks to the Good Neighbour Initiative, and most citizens grow fruits and vegetables in their back gardens to donate it to the state out of a sense of duty to the environment an the empire.

Workers' Unions are state subsidised, and corporations are heavily controlled as not to challenge imperial authority or undermine the people's freedoms.

Healthcare is free, paid for by taxes and it covers all forms of healthcare, including eyes and dental.

Addiction is treated as a disease and most low class drugs are legal to buy for adults, and legal to sell with a license.

Private education is abolished, and imperial curriculums teach a history that glorifies the empire as the world's saviours, depicting imperial soldiers as benevolent warriors fighting for the freedom of those outside of the empire. The Emperor is hailed as a hero, mythologised to be a man of pure integrity and the only person capable of leading the empire. The empires' enemies are portrayed as evil, oppressive and racist - a reputation that is founded in truth, but largely exaggerated most of the time.

Citizenship is easy to acquire in the empire for immigrants and refugees, and the empire at large welcomes foreigners with open arms, with the philosophy that every single person strengthens the collective.

## Law and Order

The Imperial justice system focuses on reform over punishment with the exception of a few major crimes.

Most prisons are rehabilitation facilities, with resources to educate inmates and equip them with new skills for when their sentence is over.

Becoming a guard within the empire is a public duty. They are selected from the population in a similar way to how a jury would be selected. This ensures that the police force is trustworthy and stems any corruption that may spring up among the public guards.

More specialised police roles are full time jobs like special victims units, anti-terrorism cells and social workers.

In the upper echelons of the anti-terrorism cells are Imperial Inquisitors. These individuals are highly skilled warriors, often ex military who act as a secret police to stem any major dissent among the population. Often times anyone found to be causing major disruption to a community's loyalty to the empire will be abducted. Usually a cover story is made for these individuals as not to raise alarm among their friends and family. During their time away, they are taken to re-education facilities where various non-violent means of brainwashing are implemented to scrub any animosity towards the empire. Once they are confident the dissenter has seen the error of their ways, their memories are altered to match the cover story given on their behalf, and they are returned to society.

## The New Kingdom's History

### Z'evnar's Arrival in Hymsgar

Hymsgar had lain dormant for over 500 years by the time Z'evnar fled there after the Battle of Duskwall. Arriving with only his father's old vorpal sword Valagar, he spent a year mostly alone on the island. Discovering an ancient dragon egg in the mountain near Fuil Shore, he inadvertently awoke the wyrmling within, triggering its hatching. Naming the amethyst wyrmling Helania, he cared for her as best he could.

### Z'evnar's Loyalists' Arrival in Hymsgar

A year after Z'evnar had arrived in Hymsgar, a ship named Death's Angel made port in Fuil Shore, transporting refugees loyal to Z'evnar. Believing him to be dead they paid for passage to Hymsgar to rebuild his ancestral homeland in his honour.

Reactions were mixed among them when they discovered him still alive, seemingly waiting for them in Hysmgar. Some claimed it was planned by Fate, others claimed he was just a guiding spirit, while others fell to their knees in worship of what they believed to be a living god, or at least the fragment of a god's very soul. Refusing to linger on any of those ideas, Z'evnar put his people to work immediately. Supplies were gathered and expeditions across the island were planned. Harrow - the captain of Death's Angel - was commissioned to bring new supplies back to Hymsgar to help them.

### The Night of Unity

On 15/1/542 2E, the new settlers of Hymsgar and their soon to be king gathered in the town square as they always do. Tensions were high and all 80 of the settlers seemed to be worried and unsure of their leader and the future. An argument broke out and lasted over an hour, with various people blaming Z'evnar for the fall of Duskwall while he and those who defended him argued that they were helping the Sanguinius vampires by spreading discord amongst them. When the argument died down, Harrow decided to speak up. Rather than giving any kind of speech, he sang. He sang an old song named Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Old Land of Our Fathers), an old Hymsgardian song in the dialect of Gwyrdd Wall. Even Z'evnar - a man known for refusing to sing at public gatherings - joined everyone in song as all bad blood between everybody disappeared. Sharing drinks and singing together solidified unity amongst the citizens of the reborn Hymsgardian Kingdom.

### Coronation of King Z'evnar I

On 29/1/542 2E, Z'evnar Mightuss was crowned King of Hymsgar, by birth right of his father being the last king. With nobody disputing his claim, a small ceremony was held as he officially donned the Hymsgardian crown and gave a ceremonial speech. The coronation is seen as a major event within early Imperial history that solidified the nation's sense of unity and loyalty to the crown.

### The First Inquisitors

#### The Conflict Preceding the Inquisitors

In 548 2E, the New Kingdom of Hysmgar was struggling with resource management. There were food shortages and few amenities to keep people occupied and happy. As unrest grew a group of people announced their intent to return to Gavafell, stating that the New Kingdom was doomed to collapse, just as the Old Kingdom did.

Fearing that these separatists would reveal their presence to the Sanguinius House of Duskwall, Z'evnar began enacting laws in a pernicious attempt to get them to stay. It started with simple and harmless laws. A neighbourhood watch was formed and its members were selected randomly, replacing them randomly once more the next week and repeating each week to ensure there were no divisions between the guards and the people.

Not long after, Z'evnar announced that every morning a gathering would be held where he would address everybody and inform them of what was needed for that day, and he would inform them of any news regarding other settlements on the island.

After this, Z'evnar began gathering his most trusted advisors, and they began drafting signs and posters together, eventually creating them and putting them up in public spaces where everybody could see. At first these pieces of propaganda were made to inspire, reminding the reader that they were essential to the survival of those around them and that loyalty to the crown was an essential virtue.

#### The Inquisitors' Recruitment

On 14/3/550 2E, Z'evnar had scouted the most loyal members of his people using the neighbourhood watch edict. He had them brought to him for a private meeting individually where he offered them a simple proposal; to serve his people on a higher level by being his King's eyes and ears among the workforce. All 8 of them accepted his offer, and became the first Inquisitors. These inquisitors were simple informants at first, passing on information of who was sympathetic to the separatists and where they were organising. Soon after they began doing active investigations on behalf of the crown. Piece by piece the inquisitors were given more and more authority to cut out dissent at the root, and the propaganda being disseminated across Fuil Shore changed to match it. The old posters were taken down and replaced with more authoritarian messages, chastising the separatists as traitors who sought to reveal them to others for money. Whether this was true or not didn't matter, as that was the focal point of Z'evnar's campaign against his opponents. As this propaganda spread and the inquisitors continued to root out dissent, public opinion turned against the separatists. In response the separatists began organising properly, forming a leadership amongst them who would keep order during meetings and rally them during the protests they would organise and enact under the growing pressure of Z'evnar's boot.

Leaders of the separatist movement organised rallies and speeches at the foot of the stairs leading up to the palace ruins, protesting the methods of control Z'evnar was using and chastising him for spreading what they claimed were lies about them. When guards moved to disband the protest, Z'evnar came down the steps and stopped them from doing so, insisting that they had a right to challenge his authority as long as they didn't harm anybody. Z'evnar's public attitude towards the separatists was calculated. While he spread misinformation and propaganda about them and their motives, he kept an amicable tone towards them in order to sway public opinion in his favour.

### Z'evnar's Counter Speech

After several weeks of protests from the Separatists with public opinion worsening towards them, counter protests began to crop up, encouraged by the inquisitors. On 57/3/550 2E a protest had been organised by the tavern. Z'evnar was amongst the people listening to the speech being given before he decided to step up onto the rudimentary stage. Insisting that he had let them talk for these past 6 weeks, he demanded that they step down and let him address his people. Sensing that public opinion was already against them they relented, letting Z'evnar to deliver a passionate speech to his people as they gathered with their drinks and food for the evening. Rallying his people in the face of adversity, many of the separatists were swayed to Z'evnar's side as a result of the speech.

### The Night of Broken Bones

On 75/3/550 2E, the last remaining members of the Separatists gathered at the docks with their belongings, attempting to commandeer a ship and return to Gavafell. A crowd of people had gathered to attempt to stop them, although guards had gathered and were preventing the mob from stopping the Separatists. Arriving at the docks, Z'evnar announced that anybody who wished to leave his kingdom was no longer under his protection, and signalled for the guards to stand down. Of the 14 people who were attempting to leave, 3 of them were killed and the others were badly injured and required medical care. This event marked the end of the Separatist movement, and was a foreshadowing of the brutality the Mightuss regime would be capable of in the years to come.

As the next morning gathering was held, Z'evnar gave a speech explaining what had happened the night previous, praising those who stopped the Separatists from leaving for their acts of loyalty to him and their fellow countrymen.

## The Birth of the Empire

The Hymsgardian Empire was officially born on 54/3/575 2E, when Z'evnar Mightuss won the proving trials in Jngvild and was coronated High King of Jngvild. He had been fighting in the proving trials for over 5 weeks before finally facing High King Arvid in one on one combat.

### Jngvild's Integration

Jngvild's culture and society was vastly different from Hymsgardian equivalents. Hymsgardians valued communal ownership of resources, social equality and veneration of the King, while Jngvild valued the old ways of feudalism, social stratification and to venerate Minus before any mortal man.

The first reforms enacted by Z'evnar involved the nation's agriculture. Citizens were given the tools necessary to own small farms in their houses, using their gardens to grow vegetables and keeping small livestock like goats, chickens and geese.

Z'evnar then began consolidating his power in Jngvild, appealing to the lower classes and their frustrations with the nobility in a mind game with the nobility of Jngvild to keep them in line and obedient under the implicit threat of allowing the commoners to have their heads. Once the nobles fell in line, 5 year plans were drafted before being enacted. The first 5 years was the industrialisation of Jngvild, introducing Imperial technology to the Jngvildians and improving their quality of life to be on par with Hymsgardian standards. While this was happening, he assembled armies in Jngvild and marched them north to bring war to Lavadante as an act of revenge for aiding in the battle of Dagger Sheath Valley against him 35 years prior.

### Hymsgardian - Lavadantian War

The uneasy alliance between West and East Lavadante was put under heavy strain as Jngvildians marched into the west of Lavadente from the southern bridge, and Hymsgardian Ships began closing in on Lochcliff. The royal family and nobles of Lochcliff demanded that the Divine Council send aid immediately to fight back the Hymsgardians. While messages were sent via sending, sending an army to Lochcliff in time to intercept the Hymsgardians was going to prove impossible as Lochcliff was already under siege by the time soldiers had been organised and began their march in Elden Stone.

The Siege of Lochcliff proved to be a display of Hymsgardian might, and military dominance. Lochcliff had never fallen to siege thanks to the bridges that led into the city being easily cut off from advancing armies, and the city being elevated high up from the shore, atop a cliff. Despite these advantages, the Hymsgardians had technological superiority. They sailed several ships up to the coast and began bombarding the city with artillery that came from above. The siege lasted only 4 hours before Lochcliff submitted to an unconditional surrender. Satisfied, Hymsgar stationed a heavy garrison within the city. Originally, Z'evnar wanted to have the entire royal family executed as revenge for aiding those who had executed his daughter and son-in-law decades prior, however Harrow talked him down from such a decision as King Julian XI had died only a year prior to their arrival. Instead, a law dubbed the "Aristocrats' Penance Act" was passed that forced the nobles of Lochcliff - and later Dawnwall - to give up their first born child to the Empire to be trained as commanders for the Imperial military.

By the time eastern forces arrived in the west to fight the Empire, the west had already capitulated to the empire so the Divine Council held a meeting to discuss their next actions. No military engagements had happened between their forces and the empire's so they voted 16 - 2 in favour of also capitulating to the empire and discussing a treaty to ensure their religious doctrines would not be disrupted.

### The Treaty of Elden Stone

The Treaty of Elden Stone was an agreement signed by Emperor Z'evnar Mightuss, General Xarxes, and all 18 Grand Priests of Elden Stone.

The treaty's terms ensured that Elden Stone would remain mostly independent from the empire, and able to conduct its affairs as usual without any disruption from the empire. In return, the Divine Council would recognise Z'evnar as their Divine Overlord - a title proposed by Benito Alberti, the High Priest of Minus, as a way of both giving the empire authority over Elden Stone and the territories that swear fealty to it, and also maintaining the Divine Council's legitimacy as leaders by claiming it was Minus' will that they would sign this treaty with the empire.

### Annexation of Gavafell

Once business with Lavadante was concluded, the empire immediately set sail for Gavafell. Starting with Dawnwall, Imperial ships made port in Dawnwall's docks. A legion of soldiers marched into the town square, led by Z'evnar himself. Marching up to the palace, Z'evnar spoke with King Gilfius who had been coronated over 25 years earlier. Initially Z'evnar was reluctant to speak with Gilfius and the new leadership of Duskwall however he agreed to hold a meeting to discuss their cities' relationships with the empire after some coaxing from Harrow. Both cities agreed that they would cede power to the empire, with Duskwall rejoicing that they were once again under the leadership of their founder and former Lord. Gilfius got to keep his throne, remaining king of Dawnwall, however he swore fealty to the Imperial crown and abided by Imperial laws when ruling his city.

## Colonisation of Kalan

On 8/2/20 3E Imperial scouts returning from Kalan reported that they had found various rich sources of oil and coal within the land that was ripe for harvest. Immediately the leadership of Hymsgar began disseminating calls for brave colonists and soldiers to sign up to travel to a new land where they would bring prosperity to untamed land. There were many volunteers from all of Hymsgar's territories, and the first colony ships set sail for Kalan on 31/2/20 3E.

### Hymsgardian - Laprancian War

While the empire was spreading propaganda to encourage its citizens to travel to Kalan, the old, stagnant empire of Laprancia saw an opportunity to wake from its decadent slumber in order to acquire new and exotic slaves as entertainment for the nobility, and hardier slave stock for the workers to buy and sell amongst themselves. After amassing the military resources to secure territory in Kalan, Hymsgar took notice and tension between the two empires began to rise.

These tensions culminated on 15/1/21 3E in a firefight between Hymsgardian colonial guards and Laprancian soldiers in Loftrow. The soldiers stormed Loftrow, outmatching the colonial guards in both numbers and weaponry. Four days later, Z'evnar gave a speech in Fuil Shore back in Hymsgar declaring a state of war with the old Laprancian Empire.

Immediately forces in Fairfield began organising before marching on the now occupied Loftrow. A brutal skirmish ensued with the more technologically advanced Hymsgardian forces hunting securing a decisive victory. Surrendering Laprancians were rounded up and executed in the main square as a message to Laprancia that Hymsgar would give no quarter in this war.

The conflict that followed was an incredibly bloody one, with both sides suffering heavy losses of life and resources to the war. Hymsgar had Laprancia on the back foot and managed to gain the upper hand by utilising soldiers from Jngvild to attack Laprancia from her western border while they pushed Laprancian forces back towards the northern border at the bridge into Kalan.

The war came to an official end when Tsar Ivan XV sued for peace on 60/3/40 3E, and peace talks between the two emperors reached a conclusion on 74/3/40 3E with Z'evnar agreeing to cede Lockwell to Ivan, on the condition that all slaves within Kalan that Laprancia owned would be freed and allowed to leave Laprancian territory if they wished to do so. Both emperors signed the treaty, marking the end of the war for now.

### The Castle Conspiracy

On 48/2/22 3E, Z'evnar arrived in Fairfield in order to appease Jngvild's citizens. Accusations of cowardice had been spreading in Jngvild, claiming Z'evnar was a coward who would not lead his troops to battle. In order to put these claims down, Z'evnar held a public speech in Uvain - Jngvild's capital city - announcing that he would be travelling to Fairfield to oversee Kalan's colonisation.

Appeasing the Jngvildians, Z'evnar traveled to Fairfield, and upon arriving an assassination attempt was made on his life, as an assassin fired a shot at him from a nearby clock tower. A former broodcaste commander named Adam tackled Z'evnar to the ground, saving him from the bullet, and the assassin was apprehended by a group of mercenaries who were present when it happened. Hiring the mercenaries, Z'evnar instructed them to investigate the leads Adam had given them and they would be rewarded for their efforts.