Firstling Empire

The Firstling Empire was the greatest empire within the history of man, founded by the Aerinth, marking the event know as Aerinth's Ascension. Its territory stretched from the northern sections of what is know today as The Concords, reached far west into what's known today as Cinderfall Dominion and even stretched into the yellow wastelands of the Djedii. The Firstling Empire was continuously ruled by a single line of the Firstlings and fell once the last of the Firstlings died. The ending of the empire ended the Firstling Epoch and began the Wizard Epoch.

## History

### Founding

The Firstling Empire was founded when Aerinth declared themselves the ruler of all men, when Quintex was founded as the city-state that we know today. The transition from disunited and often adversarial tribes of men to a functioning empire was surprisingly fast, even if somewhat turbulent - the early Firstlings were extremely efficient in their law enforcement and cultural assimilation.

### Initial Expansion

The empire began moving west from Quintex, following the southern coastline and quickly took over the tribes inhabiting the locale that is now known as Ol Mahum. Even before the founding of the wizard kingdom by Punishment, this is where the ancient empire gathered a large number of primordial wizards to help them in their further conquests.

Next came what today is know as Cinderfall Dominion. The tribes there, even back then, were experienced and capable horse-riders, they even gave the Firstling Empire its first defeat of the conquests. Even so, the disjointed local tribes couldn't stem the disciplined tide of the Firstling legions and eventually succumbed to subjugation.

Soon after Cinderfall, came the turn of the Harvest Meadows to the north of Quintex. The land was mostly made-up of isolated farming communities, so the empire had little trouble taking over the region, especially since it now had the famed Cinderfall riders within their ranks.

Initial conquests ended soon after, as Aerinth died sometime around 68 A.A. and the heirs decided to consolidate the empire rather than further expanding it.

### Second Expansion

The second wave of expansion came during emperor Augustav's reign (253 A.A. - 307 A.A.). This is where the emperor, known as the "Silver Fox" launched multiple campaigns into the Greater Reedlands, Amberweald and what is known today as Runa Engren.

Outside of conquering the burgeoning kingdoms within Runa, the campaigns usually ended in disaster. Amberweald simply refused to allow large armies to enter itself and had them feet grim fates by either drowning them in swamps or feeding them to hordes of monster. The Reedlands were rather resistant too, however they had actual human settlements to conquer, once those ran out - so did the campaigns. A vast part of the land conquered by the second expansion was within the empire only in a *de jure* sense.

### Late Expansion

The late waves of expansion came over a longer period (302 A.A. - 426 A.A.), these were much slower campaigns, that saw the empire take over various smaller slivers of land within Dahn, and eventually the north of Eond, the area that is now known as the Land of Djedii. This period saw the empire at its largest, even if it quickly started to shrink, both to external and internal problems.

### Dissolution

The empire ended after the year 925 A.A. with the death of the last known Firstling, emperor Marcelius the Feeble. Even then, it was difficult to call the Firstling empire an empire and that point, as it had shrank down to just Quintex and a couple surrounding city-states due to various reasons, mostly due to dynastical strife.

Not a single state has filled the gap of the empire in the following years, even if many tried to. All the wizard kingdoms failed, all the self-proclaimed emperors and Firstlings in the following years failed as well. As far as anyone is concerned, the years of the independent city-states might be here to stay for a few millennia longer.

## Culture

### Pax Quintex

A term that is sometimes fondly used to commemorate times of peace and prosperity within the empire. As long as Quintex prospers, so does the rest of mankind. Quintex, being the ever-present seat of the emperor was very important to the well-being of the state, as it was the center of trade, culture and military, with Stagfort producing seemingly countless disciplined soldiers and military engineers. If one city was struggling, but Quintex was prospering, you can expect that worse-off city-state to get a healthy stimulus package of coin, food, goods and whatever else. The system worked for as long as it was in use, until a few greedy rulers in a row made it suspiciously disappear.

### Languages within the Empire

The Firstling Empire was renowned for its capabilities within the field of cultural assimilation, most languages vanished within a hundred years once the most popular export of Quintex - the common speak was introduced by an imperial governor. The land used to have a lot of tongues before the Firstlings came around, but those tongues have turned into only accents nowadays as very few actually still peak the language of the old people. The only area that somewhat retained its original tongue is the Land of Djedii, as the locale was conquered way later and kept for a shorter period of time. Even so, the locals only sprinkle their own language into common speak, emphasizing certain sentences with local sayings.

### Legal Status

There were essentially two casts of people within the empire legally - citizens and colonials. Citizenship was granted to anyone born within settlements that were legally identified as cities (that means most major city-states), while everyone else was a colonial. Colonials had less rights and guarantees, and the only way to gain citizenship was to spend 10 years in the imperial army and serve as a legionary. To people that lived in farms and the countryside this didn't mean much, but to anyone that wanted to be a merchant or a scholar - citizenship was a must. Slavery didn't exist either, as it had no traditional background.

Gender legally had little sway in the rights and duties of a person, most differences between genders were based purely on tradition.

## Military

### Leadership

Traditionally, the generals of the empire were all nobility, with the Firstlings themselves being given the highest rank, regardless of their actual abilities or education. This unsurprisingly lead to many strategical and tactical mistakes in times of war. However the saving grace was the fact that most lower positions were based on merit, rather than birthright. Officers usually tried to cover for their leader's tactical mistakes with various levels of success.

### Soldiery

The armies of the Firstlings were made up of various types of soldiers that were specialized in different areas. Different regions usually had some unique units at their disposal, however there are some standardized units that could have been seen everywhere.

#### Legionaries

Outside of their officers, legionaries were completely made up of colonials. Due to their motivation to gain citizenship, these units were very disciplined and capable. These soldiers were used not just as the bulk of the military, but also as builders, carriers, logisticians, guards, etc.. Even with their lack of citizenship, these units were by far the most important in the military due to their sheer number.

* Lightly Armored
* Lightly Armed
* Unmounted Infantry
* Carried a substantial amount of supplies

#### Outriders

Units trained in Cinderfall to ride horses. These soldiers were exceptional riders and warriors, dangerous both on horseback and on foot. Depending on the region of deployment, you could see them use bows, spears, swords, maces, etc.. They could serve as scouts, vanguard and flankers within any given army.

* Moderately Armored
* Well Armed
* Utilitarian Cavalry

#### Praetorians

By far the most heavily armored and armed troops within the imperial army. The praetorians couldn't even carry their equipment to battle, so they had to ride to combat on horseback or cart and then dismount to actually fight. These were usually veteran, career soldiers who served as vanguard and bodyguard troops of any army.

* Heavily Armored
* Heavily Armed
* Mounted Infantry