Calradic Empire

## Location

The Calradic Empire in purple prior to the civil war

The **Calradic Empire**, also known as the **Calradian Empire** or the **Calrad Empire**, is the unified collection of three empire kingdoms in *Mount&Blade II: Bannerlord*.

### Calradios the Great

The Calradic Empire can trace its beginnings to a warlord named Calradios the Great, who led a band of exiles northwards into the land that would eventually be named Calradia in order to make a new home for themselves through conquest. His descendants, the Calradoi, became one of the many tribes living in the hills bordering the Southern Sea and the Battanian woodlands.

It is believed Calradios or one of his descendants found the first Calradoi settlement of Charasea which would later be known as Charas. From this place of Calradios' landfall, the Calradoi began to form colonies in the lands around them such as Pravend and Ortysia. Eventually, the Calradoi moved their capital to Pravend. During this early wave of expansion, the Calradoi subjugated their neighbors and forced them to join a confederation of city-states.

### End of the Monarchy

The Calradoi were governed by a monarch until its last ruler, the tyrant Cypegos, was slain by Echerion. After this event, the Calradoi were governed by two bodies: an assembly of free citizens who would meet occasionally and a permanent Senate of elders, mostly comprised of the largest landowners. Only when military necessity required it would the Calradoi appoint an emperor to serve as their supreme commander.

### Expansion

Calradios and his descendants conquered many of the natives and incorporated them into the burgeoning nation under the Dragon Banner, many ancient tribes such as the Palaic, Ialoic, Laconians, and Dryatic  and assimilated as imperial citizens. The Empire came to stretch all the way from the western coast of Calradia to the Great Grass Sea in the east, the single greatest power on the continent for hundreds of years.

During the years of expansion, emperors were appointed more frequently until they simply remained in office even after the military need was gone. The imperial capital was moved out of Pravend and based where ever the emperor was typically in an army camp. When the free assembly of citizens met with the emperor, the army's veterans could shout down dissenters. The senators grew wealthy and corrupt, moving out into the conquered territories to stake their claim on new landholdings.

### Peak and Decline of the Empire

The Empire had a policy of keeping the border tribes in a state of disarray: creating clients and allies in the Nahasa Desert and reducing the power of any ambitious Battanian king or nomadic khan through bribes and assassinations. Despite this, the Calradic Empire still experienced its share of conflict with these foreign states, sending imperial legions and hiring Vlandian mercenaries from overseas to continue its expansion and protect their borders.

However, for sometime before the reign of Emperor Neretzes, the Calradic Empire was in a state of decline. Matters of imperial succession often caused a crisis which had to be resolved on the battlefield.  A great interregnum struck the Empire in which the most eastern and most western territories fell away and were only ruled by petty kings, governors and generals while the center fought over the crown of the Emperor.

Nearly a century before the events of Bannerlord, the Vlandian mercenaries who had settled within the Empire's borders declared their independence under Osric Iron-Arm, seizing control of the capital city of Baravenos (which was later renamed to Pravend) and the rest of the Western Coast. Meanwhile, the steppe and desert tribes united into the Khuzait Khanate and the Aserai respectively, with the Khuzaits pushing west into the Empire and taking its eastern provinces.

During the year 1077, the Empire experienced one of its worst defeats in all its history. An alliance of Sturgians, Battanians and Vlandians had declared war against the Empire and its Aserai and Khuzait allies. Under Emperor Neretzes, the army marched into Battanian lands, culminating in the Battle of Pendraic , wherein the imperials were slaughtered by falxmen, Vlandian horsemen, and Sturgian warriors. Neretzes fell in battle as the imperial camp was stormed by the enemy, with the dragon banner lost and only a handful of soldiers escaping to the safety of imperial territory.

### Prelude to the Civil War

The leader of the Imperial rearguard, Arenicos, was declared the new emperor by the Senate. Arenicos fought in several engagements along the border and restored order to an empire in fear. A charismatic leader known for his opposition to corruption, Arenicos was able inspire the people while placating both populists and the Senate. He spoke widely of a restored empire, but was not forthcoming on the details. During his reign, Arenicos established the Vaegir Guard (Bannerlord) who were loyal only to him and turned a blind eye to cults which made him the object of their worship.

In a controversial move, Arenicos disbanded the Imperial legions, relieving the strained Imperial treasury. Military duties fell to the imperial archons who were charged with maintaining their own retinues.Those legionaries who opposed this call established the Legion of the Betrayed.

Following one successful campaign, he returned to his palace in southern Lycaron to spend time to rest. But as his guards came in to check on him, Arenicos was found dead in his personal chambers. With his death, the Empire collapsed into civil war.

### Mount&Blade II: Bannerlord

By the year 1084, the Calradic Empire has descended into a three-way civil war: the Northern Empire, led by Senator Lucon, seeks to reestablish the primacy of the senate in electing an emperor, all the while being opposed by the veteran Garios and Empress Rhagaea. The former seized the Western Empire, desiring to have the imperial military choose the new emperor, while the latter sought to have her daughter Ira succeed her father from the Southern Empire.

Despite the disunity, the Empire's armies continue to be feared. They are masters of combined arms warfare with cataphracts, spear-formations and archers.

### Mount&Blade: Warband

By the time the Player arrives in Calradia on the 23rd of March in 1257, the Empire is long gone. The varying monarchs of Calradia all lay claim to the throne of the old emperors, based on forgotten dynastic marriages and the Empire's unwritten constitution.

Companions often tell stories of the empire, with Lezalit mentioning how they ruled all of Calradia and beyond while Jeremus talks of how there was no formal imperial line of succession. Bunduk will tell you about how the Empire had tribunes, who were the people's representatives under the emperor.

## Economy

* Different for each of the three factions due to the initial position, the availability of resources (including expensive ones) and their cost, opponents on the borders, the number of villages, castles and cities etc.

## Military

A force consisting entirely of Imperial soldiers stands a cut above the Empire's neighbors in two things: troop variety and armour. Their troop selection has the most versatile composition, enabling the three different types of ranged support options, two variants of infantry and having access to the most powerful lancer cavalry in the game from their noble troop line. Along with their heavy armour, their troops will have little trouble with contending against their rivals.

Their only true weakness in evenly matched battles is being unprepared for the most specialized opponents, such as Sturgian shield and axe advance, extremely long range Battanian volley fire or becoming encircled and scattered by a horde of Khuzait horsemen. They have somewhat late access to cavalry forces as well, but since imperial villages are numerous, it's still possible to recruit and field their light lancers early on even if the Empire's heartland sees more than its fair share of incursions by both foreign cultures and the ongoing civil war.

### Strengths

* Extremely versatile composition of troop tree; one of the only two cultures (Vlandia) that have access to crossbow troops
* Top-tier units possess excellent armor and survivability
* Early access to archers
* Imperial forces are recruited from the large central region of Calradia, enabling their availability to all factions

### Weaknesses

* Units require more training and upgrades to specialize fully
* Early infantry lacks polearms, increasing vulnerability to cavalry
* Many troops do not possess full loadout; lack of throwing weapons or extra quiver reduces skirmishing ability
* Imperial region is surrounded by opposing factions and its villages are often exploited, weakening recruit availability and economy potential

## Trivia

* The Calradic Empire is heavily inspired by the Late Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire.
* Like the Battanians, they are not visible on the game map by the time of *Warband*, 200 years later. All their territory has been conquered in that area. However, as Warband's overworld map is smaller than Bannerlord, the possibility exists that the Empire did manage to keep some of its territory further to the south and east in the non-playable area, as its inspiration the Byzantine empire did in the year 1200.
* The various imperial clans give the title of Archon to their leader, a title of Greek origin also used in the Byzantine Empire.
* The symbol of the empire, used by the three factions in the civil war and their ruling clans, is a two-headed eagle, a symbol strongly associated with the Eastern Roman Empire / Byzantine Empire.

## References

1. ↑ Settlements.xml; game file, entry for "Pravend"
2. ↑ Settlements.xml; game file, entry for "Charas"
3. ↑ https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/45
4. ↑ Settlements.xml; game file, entry for "Galend"
5. ↑ Settlements.xml; game file, entry for "Diathma" and "Argoron"
6. ↑ https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/45
7. ↑ https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/46

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