Empire of Red

## History

### Pre-Unification

In the early 200s ASB, before the formation of the Empire of Red, the region contained a plethora of independent Reddish kingdoms in the north and a multitude of Red duchies, counties, and baronies in the south. Aubboria, a powerful coastal duchy in the south-east, had good trade relations with the neighbouring duchies of Carmine, Cellieu, and Arandano.

### Nordhoff Dynasty

#### Octracio I

*Main article: Octracio I*

Octracio I (born Octracio Nordhoff) united the duchies of Aubboria, Carmine, Cellieu, and Arandano in 243 ASB, forming the Empire of Red (then called the Kingdom of Red). In 247 ASB, Octracio I converted to Gravelholdery and gained control of Chapelure. Just 2 years later, he made Gravelholdery the official religion of the empire. By his use of clever diplomacy, he slowly but surely expanded his empire to the south and to the west, uniting the southern duchies into a dominant force on the south of the continent.

In 269 ASB, Octracio I selected his youngest son Cervena I to be his official successor after consulting the Prefect of Chapelure for years. In 276 ASB, Octracio I died of old age and Cervena I became the Emperor of Red.

#### Cervena I

*Main article: Cervena I*

Cervena I continued Octracio I's expansion of the empire, though he prefered to use military force rather than diplomacy. After building roads and infrastructure throughout the southern regions empire, he expanded the empire to the north. In 286 ASB, he began the War of Aherre and the War of Crimstele, greatly expanding the Empire of Red's territory in a matter of months. Later in the same year, the Kingdom of Merisor invaded the eastern coast of the Holy Prefecture of Chapelure, prompting the Prefect of Chapelure to begin the War of Merisor.

In 287 ASB, Cervena I continued the northward expansion with the War of Alder and the War of Amrathan. Then in 288 ASB, the expansion began to slow down: whereas the previous wars of expansion took a few months at most, the War of Burgundy took nearly eleven months. The War of Oarecum took five years, lasting from 289 ASB to 294 ASB. It was at this point that Cervena I decided to stop expanding for a while, and instead focus on internal matters: he began by improving infrastructure throughout the new northern provinces but to pay for this he had to raise taxes in these provinces. This fostered resentment among these Northern Provinces.

In 301 ASB, Cervena I established the Conclave of Chapelure to select his successor. The Conclave would consist of all high-ranking nobles throughout the Empire of Red who would all suggest candidates for the next emperor, and the Prefect of Chapelure who would have the final say on which candidate would become the successor. The Conclave selected Cervena I's oldest son Simeon to be the successor. In 305 ASB, Cervena I tried to expand the empire for one last time in the War of Usk wherein Simeon was killed. Thus the Conclave was assembled once again and Cervena I's youngest nephew Rancho I was selected as his successor. In 312 ASB, Cervena I died and Rancho I became the Emperor of Red.

#### Rancho I

*Main article: Rancho I*

Rancho I inherited a large but disconnected empire. Thus, he decided to build infrastructure to help bring the empire together. In 315 ASB, he commissioned the construction of the Red Palace of Aubboria, and in 322 ASB, he commissioned the construction of the Library of Canneberges. With Canneberg becoming a kind of intellectual capital for the continent, the empire grew richer, allowing Rancho I to lower taxes in the northern provinces.

In 326 ASB, war broke out amongst the central provinces of Sur, Treux, and Poivre, in a conflict known as the Sur-Treux-Poivre War. The province of Hungsik, while not participating in the war directly, did provide aid to Sur and Treux. In 328 ASB, Poivre won the war, and demanded that the Emperor of Red grant them some land from the province of Sur. Rancho I declined, and instead established the province of Vermillioute as a kind of buffer state between Sur and Poivre. To punish Hungsik for their involvement in the war, the Hungsik coast was given to the Lordship of Canneberg, allowing the empire to become richer. The province of Treux grew to resent Aubborian rule.

In 349 ASB, Rancho I was assassinated by Dennis Monverre, the duke of Treux. The Conclave of Chapelure selected Rancho I's cousin Cervena II as the next emperor.

#### Cervena II

*Main article: Cervena II*

Cervena II was the first unpopular Emperor of Red. He undid many of Rancho I's reforms and raised taxes in the northern provinces. His unsatisfactory management of the empire sparked the Sur Rebellion on M2-25 356 ASB. After four months of chaos, riots, and inaction, Cervena II decided to split the province of Sur into West Sur and East Sur, to the dissatisfaction of everyone involved. Cervena II died in 358 ASB after falling off a wall of the Red Palace. The Conclave of Chapelure was called and they then selected Cervena II's youngest son Octracio II to be the next Emperor of Red.

#### Octracio II

*Main article: Octracio II*

Octracio II's first act as Emperor of Red was to install a flight of stairs near the hazardous wall where his father died. His second act was to look upon the past few decades of turmoil, internal war, rebellion, and discontent, and decide to unite the Empire of Red against a common enemy: the Gold State to the north-east. Thus began the War of Red and Gold in 361 ASB, which went on until 367 ASB when the Empire of Red was defeated. As a result of this defeat, many of the people in Merisor, Usk, Alder, and even Crimstele were taken prisoner and executed by starvation. Octracio II died in 391 ASB after falling down a flight of stairs. The Conclave of Chapelure then selected his youngest son, Julian Nordhoff, to be his successor, and he chose the regnal name Cervena III.

#### Cervena III

*Main article: Cervena III*

Compared to other Emperors of Red, the reign of Cervena III was relatively uneventful. He hired Rickshaw Aregona as personal caterer on M2-11 392 ASB and Aregona brought his son, Christopher Aregona to the Red Palace. On M1-10 403 ASB, Christopher Aregona became a palace servant, which would later allow him to rise through the ranks of the Red government. Cervena III was assassinated under the orders of Oscar Nordhoff on M6-23 407 ASB. The Conclave of Chapelure selected Cervena III's nephew Simeon Nordhoff to be the next emperor, and Simeon chose the regnal name Rancho II.

#### Rancho II

*Main article: Rancho II*

On M6-08 415 ASB, the town of Durieu was invaded by a naval force lead by Dervot IV. On M6-18 415 ASB, Rancho II traded the Magnare Peninsula and its associated islands for a Red-Clay alliance, to the dismay of Joshua Miel, the Duke of Pragornia and Magnare. On M5-26 416 ASB, Miel went to the Red Palace with several other noblemen to negotiate compensation for the land they lost. The negotiations went poorly, and Miel then shot designated regent John Phergone. Christopher Aregona then tackled Miel, thus preventing him from assassinating Rancho II. For this act, Christopher Aregona became the new Designated Regent for the Empire of Red.

Throughout the next few years, tension and discontent rose throughout the Empire of Red, particularly among the provinces of Oarecum in the northwest and Usk in the northeast. Rancho II was defenestrated by Thomas Seplache on M9-22 420 ASB, sparking the Red Civil War. Since the resulting turmoil made it difficult to assemble the Conclave of Chapelure, Christopher Aregona became Acting Regent of the Empire of Red.

### Red Civil War

*Main article: Red Civil War*

On M9-23 420 ASB, the West Reddish Separatist Movement (WRSM) seize control of the Oarecum Redoubt and declare independence as the Transitional State of Oarecum. Aregona immediately sends the Imperial Army in an attempt to take back the Oarecum territory. Shortly thereafter, the Usk Redpublican Coalition (URC) storm the Usk Redoubt and declare independence as the Free Redpublic. Two days later, Jacob Miel declares himself emperor of Miel's Empire of Red, which consisted of territories in Amrathan and Burgundy. On M9-28 420 ASB, Dervot IV sends aid to the Empire of Red at the request of Aregona. After the arrival of these reinforcements, Aregona appealed to the Conclave of Chapelure to extend his regency until the end of the war. The Conclave agreed to extend his regency until M11-04 421 ASB.

On M7-21 421 ASB, several republican riots broke out in Pragornia and Magnare in response to the war in the north. Over the course of the year 421 ASB, the conflict grew into a large-scale two-front war in the north of the Empire of Red. On M10-18 421 ASB, Redpublican forces captured Chapelure, and the Conclave extended Aregona's regency until further notice.

On M10-21 423 ASB, Duke Octracio Vermor, accompanied by an entourage of other provincial leaders, confronted Aregona and threatened to secede from the Empire of Red if Vermor would not be given access to the throne. Aregona thus agreed that Vermor would later be crowned Emperor on M1-30 424 ASB. In the meantime, Aregona saw the two-front war and decided to appeal to Dervot IV for aid. Dervot IV arrived at the Red Palace on M1-22 424 ASB, and worked with Aregona to negotiate for peace with the Free Redpublic. On M1-27 424 ASB, they arrived in Usk and negotiated with Redpublic President Simon Rakturn, resulting in the Treaty of Usk, which established a ceasefire between the Empire of Red and the Free Redpublic provided that they work together to fight against the other factions. On M2-02 424 ASB, Dervot IV delivered the treaty to the newly crowned Octracio III, who was unsatisfied with the treaty and promptly exiled Christopher Aregona to the Magnare Peninsula. Rickshaw Aregona was executed two days later.

On M6-15 426 ASB, the forces of WRSM surrendered and the Red Civil War was declared a victory for the Empire of Red by the Treaty of Aubboria. With the war over, Octracio III attempted to re-unify the Empire of Red and the Magnare Peninsula with the "You are not Clays you are Reds" speech.

### Vermor Dynasty

#### Octracio III

*Main article: Octracio III*

On M6-07 428 ASB, Christopher Aregona was appointed as the Governor of Magnare. On M3-07 429 ASB, the War of Heordian Deposition broke out. Octracio, as revenge for Dervot IV's Treaty of Usk which he perceived to be a betrayal, refused to send aid to Clayistan, and later refused to send aid to Dervot IV's successor Claysando II to fight against the Shale Empire. On M2-11 437 ASB, Clayistan terminated its membership in the League of Soils and the Clay-Red alliance. Two days later, Octracio III retaliated against Clayistan by closing all ports to ships from the STC, except for the Republic of Silty Clay Loam.

On M1-20 440 ASB, Claysando II orders the construction of a border wall separating the Magnare Peninsula from the Empire of Red. The wall was completed on M2-22 440 ASB. On M2-22 441 ASB, the Empire of Red launched an invasion of Clayistan, sparking the brief Red-Clay War of 441 ASB which ended by ceasefire on M7-02 441 ASB.

## Politics

### Government

The Empire of Red is governed by an absolute monarch, the Emperor of Red. The Emperor of Red has the power to appoint nobles to govern each of the provinces in the empire, though this power is rarely, if ever, used in practice. Typically the nobles are chosen locally and hereditarily, though in Sur, Treux, Poivre, and Vermillioute, the nobles are locally elected. Because of the history of the Empire of Red, the northern provinces, often called "Kingdoms", have some independent control from the Empire of Red that the southern provinces, often called "Duchies", do not have.

### International Relations

The Empire of Red is on good terms with its northern neighbours, the Ish-Concrete Federation and the Redpublic. However, relations with the Kingdom of Clayistan are less-than-cordial.

## Geography

The Empire of Red dominates the south of the Precious Metals Continent, bordering the Redpublic to the northeast and the Ish-Concrete Federation to the northwest.