Ardeschen Empire

The **Ardeschen Empire**, also known as **Ald-Ardesch** ("High Ardesch, Old Ardesch"), was a mighty nation that existed during the Sixteenth Age.

## History

The Ardeschen Empire was the successor of the Trelchian Empire founded by Emperor Herimann, having risen during the Gunpowder Wars to seize more Tuksharan weaponry scattered throughout the world after the defeat of the Tuksharan sky-cities. Its emperors sent fleets and armies into Rifandi and Palkyras, competing against the other realms of Naria and Scenarium to replace the Tuksharan Empire as a global superpower.

They sometimes sent expeditions into Rifandi to punish their opponents in Kikori, but many of these expeditions ended with defeat.

At the latter part of this empire's history, the Mardaau sect emerged at the northwest of Ardesch. It was a rebellion that sought to return to the gods before the empire's formation, before the days of Emperor Herimann. In their attempts to become a great army to overthrow the Ardeschen imperial government, the Maardau rebellion became more barbaric and monstrous, murdering and devouring whoever they found to make themselves mighty and brutal.

Nolaan became prime minister of the Ardeschen Empire, and mobilised his nation to war to conquer its neighbours. His teachings were readily adopted by Ardesch's enemy, Rannar, who used them to became a warlike fascist regime. That was considered by many of his people as a form of "treason", so an assassin murdered him.

The misrule of one of its final emperor, Aldaforas III, dragged it into a global financial crisis, and when he died without any heirs, the various competing factions all over the empire tore it apart in a civil war.

Its successors include Directorist Ardesch and Red Ardesch.

When the Ardeschen Empire fell, its space colonies broke away and formed their own empires. Some of them managed to thrive as independent states, refusing to continue the authority of their wicked emperors in favour of forging newer and better paths, as "Father Herimann intended". Some of those colonies later influenced some nations - human and alien alike - to adopt their mannerisms as a fashion trend, and one of them was Vovtarla with its modernised military etiquette, gentleman culture, and uniforms.

## Government

### List of Emperors

* Freginald II - during his time, the Maardau rebellion broke out
* Ruvaltin - he allowed Nolaar to manipulate the government, seeking to make Ardesch into the mightiest empire in all of Jerde.
* Aldaforas III - the last emperor

## Military

The Ardeschen emperors continued the tradition of raiders, the *kregalden*, in the form of expeditionary armies and privateers. Some of these privateers settled on islands along the western coast, becoming the founders of the pirate nation of Black Ardesch.

Although the Ardeschen Empire also used clones to supplement its armies, it did not primarily use cloned soldiers as its successors did.

## Society

See also: Ardeschen folklore, Ardeschi language

Prostitution was considered acceptable throughout the Ardeschen Empire.

Ardesch was notorious for its slavery and superstition. Its social ills were a result of greed and obsession with wealth and pleasure, forgetting righteous doctrines in favour of tyranny and a corrupt clergy.

## Trivia

* The Ardeschen Empire was based on the British, German, and Belgian Empires.
	+ The classical culture of the later Ardeschen Empire, known as "Ald-Ardeschen", was based on Victorian England.
* Pith helmets were originally an Ardeschen trend, but opponents also wore pith helmets. People who fought against imperial rule painted stripes on their pitch helmets, representing the usage of Ardeschen technology against their oppressors.
* This may be why Rukanians and other peoples that fought against the Thralondian empires used striped pith helmets as a symbol of independence. Due to Rukanian influence, this was carried over into Bujan, where the helmet became popular enough to be used as crowns for modern Bujanski monarchs.