The Empire of Theron

The Territories of the Theron are highlighted in pink in northern Liphuma.

The Therons were an olive skinned, short, lean people. Therons were a largely peaceful commerce driven naval people, opting to serve their empire with through positive trade relations rather of conquest. A very old and rich Empire, many considered the Empire to be decadent and vulgar. Shortly after the Tumult the Empire of Theron launched a surprise attack on the divided and disoriented Dominion, it is not known how this conflict has progressed.

### Food

Therons drank a fermented grape liquor called vinum that they diluted with water and sometimes they added fruit. They ate flatbread, rice, meat and fruit, seasoning their food with many expensive spices.

### Recreation

Therons were a senusal people, with sex and nudity not being seen as taboo. Public copulation and orgies were a common occurence in the Empire.

Therons were enamoured with mock battles, depicting important historical conflicts in massive open stadiums with thousands of participants.

Therons were known to drink copious amounts of vinum, often not diluting it with water as is done elsewhere. A common stimulant among the Theron was a brown powder called snuff that is snorted up the nose. It is extremely addictive and after prolonged use it can cause deleterious effects.

### History

Founded in prehistory, little comes down to us about the origin of the Theron. Most of the information known about them comes from a handful of contextless mosaics and stone reliefs that still survive to the present. What is known is that a great conqueror united the various agricultural chiefdoms of the Theron peninsula into one of the first empires in the world. After a productive period of peace this empire would fall due to cultural divisions and tensions between its people.

After centuries of impotence and strife three agricultural kingdoms formed the Theron league. Though their cooperation made them powerful enough to defend themselves, trade between league members was strained with each polity trying to gain supremacy over the others. After an unspecified catastrophe hit the area (thought to be a volcanic eruption) the Theron were forced to advance beyond their traditional lands to survive. It is during this time they developed their naval tradition and established their status as humble, neutral traders.

This influx of trade and influence made the Theron league inordinately wealthy, and eventually two of the three member states joined forces to destroy and absorb their rival in a surprise attack, however, with the leadership of the now legendary Azar the Great the outnumbered league member managed to defeat the armies levied against it. Though its foes had been defeated, Azar knew they would simply rise up again. In his wisdom he created the Empire, from now on conquered peoples of the Theron would retain their customs, religion and even leadership. Local governors would become Satraps, retaining control of their cities but pledging fealty, taxes and troops to the Empire.

This policy of tolerance has allowed the disparate kingdoms and peoples of the Empire to remain unified, bound together by the wealth and stability their union allows. Now a rich and powerful people, the Empire would receive its first existential threat in the form of a rebelling colony. After the great catastrophe of 1600 BT, refugee settlers had headed north into the largely unsettled continent of Thalassia. These rugged frontier people would come to hate their progenitors, deeming them weak and effeminate from the decadence endemic of their excessive wealth. Over the centuries these sentiments would ferment, boiling over in 272 BT when the Kingdom of the Dominion would declare their independence from the Empire of Theron.

Up to now engaged in a conflict with the war-like B’ennyanaja, Theron was forced to sue for an unfavourable peace to avoid a war on two fronts. After assembling one of the largest naval forces in history Theron was delivered a series of crushing defeats at the hands of the rebels. With little remaining defences many Satraps decided to switch sides and join the Dominion in their uprising, allowing for a swift invasion and near collapse of the Empire. In 271 BT Farhad II organized one of the most ambitious counter offensives seen in war to that point, utilizing his extensive knowledge of his homeland and its terrain and inhabitants as well as a revolutionary asymmetric style of fighting still dubbed Farhadian strategy in military circles.

After regaining nearly all of their territory the conflict would become one of attrition with neither side able to outdo the other. In 260 BT each would attempt to dominate the new frontier of the Continent. This proved to be disastrous for Theron however as this new front contributed little to the war, only further draining them of men and resources. In 255 BT the Empire of Theron was forced to acknowledge the Dominion as an independent polity, suing for peace and losing much of their rich western coastline.

The Empire of Theron would spend the years before the Tumult growing their strength, engaging in a successful conflict with the B’ennyanaja to reclaim their ceded territory. In the year 0, the last ships to attempt to leave the Continent were a Dominion relief force bound for their homeland after a Theron surprise attack. It is not known how this conflict is progressing, however all hands of this flotilla were drowned in the deadly current.

### Combat

The Empire of Theron lacked a professional standing army, opting instead to either hire mercenaries or call upon the local forces of their Satraps. The Theron army prided itself on the diversity of its forces, often each unit was from a different region of their empire, utilizing their local martial specialities. With the purple clad spearmen of the northern isle to the glittering slingers of the southern mountains, Farhad II was quoted in 272 BT, remarking to one of his officers "See them, Captain. My army is in bloom." Some viewed this system as a massive hostage operation, with Theron generals in possesion of hundreds of their Satraps citzens at any given time.

### Governance

The core of the empire (former Theron league) was led by a council of elected officials accountable to a popular assembly of land owning families. The remaining regions were led by their local Satraps, however most had taken the Capital's lead and enacted some form of representative governance.