Astryanian Empire

The Empire of Astryania

The Astryanian Empire is an Empire on the decline. At the height of its power, it once held great swaths of land, controlling almost everything east of the central mountain range. However, today it has been greatly reduced in terms of its size. In a desperate gamble to stave of the machinations of other nations, the Astryanian Empire introduced the Hero System widely used today. This has led to somewhat of a resurgance within the Astryanian Empire, although with that has also come a large amount of instability.

### Rise to Power

(250-450 AGS)

The Astryanian Empire sprouted up from humble beginnings as a city state. Being positioned far from the any major bodies of water, the Empire remained relatively isolated for some period of time. However, as the lizardfolk to the south began to expand their reach, Astyrania was eventually in their line of fire, and joined up with other nearby city-states in order to defeat them. After their victory, Astryania and its allies joined together in a confederation, led loosly by one elected king from among them. Astryania was not the largest of these city states, nor were they the best at anything, but as time went on, Astryania eventually began utilizing this to their advantage until they eventually established themselves as the clear heads of the alliance, utilizing the fear of the lizardfolk to keep their nation united.

### Lizardia Wars

(400-700 AGS)

With their power solidified, Astyrania began a long series of wars agains the Lizardfolk to the South. The Lizardfolk, however, were supplied from the south by the wealthy Enclave nations. To counter this, the Astryanians began arming the local Steppe Tribes, enabling them to do battle against the Enclave and reduce their ability to supply the Lizardfolk. For several hundred years, the two nations remained locked in a struggle, with the Lizardfolk losing more often than not, slowly losing ground. Eventually, they were reduced to such a state that, in one massive campaign, Astryania was able to deal a deathblow, destroying most of their major towns and cities, sending what remained of the nation into complete disorder. They were not able to maintain a hold on this land, but had successfully crippled the Lizardfolk, and wiped their nation from existance.

### Expansion

(500-650 AGS)

Concurrently, the Astyranian Empire took whatever opprotunities it could to expand its territory, estalbishing and conquering many of the lands around it. With this as well came its unusual series of wars and alliances with Drakaenia. Just as Astryania was locked in war against the Lizardfolk, Drakaenia was locked in a series of wars against the Elves to the north, with Drakaenia suffering losses more often than not. While they did fight wars against Astryania, they also often allied with one another, and provided aid in the others wars. After the Drakaenian capital was ceased, Astyrania managed to subjugate the remnants of Drakaenia and retake the lost Drakaenian lands. After the completion of this conquest and formal subjugation of the Kingdom of Drakaenia, Astryania dubbed itself and Empire.

### Complacency and Decline

(650-800 AGS)

After the period of expansion came to an end, there was a short string of rather competent emperors, followed by a long series of infighting and incompetent leaders. Civil wars raged across the empire as many struggled to keep control over it. These wars would prove costly, decimating the population, the finances, and the trust people had in the Empire.

### Collapse

(800-900 AGS)

While cracks had begun to grow in the empire long before, the first major blow was dealt as the Steppe Tribes surged forth. After many years of peace between the two factions, the Steppe Tribes rapidly took out frontier settlements, along with those garrisoned there. The few armies the Astyranian Empire sent to quash the Steppe Tribes were either wiped out, or were simply avoided by the tribes during the battle. With a flood of refugees coming from the border lands, many of the coastal cities began to flood with refugees, but saw little help from the Empire. After several years, many of them rose up simulatenously in revolt, and with their fleets, largely blocked any actions taken by the Empire to stop their rebellion, thus forcing the empire to give up a large bulk of the territory. To the North, Drakaenia rose up in arms against the Empire, and a bloody civil war ensued. If it were not for dragonborn loyalists in the south, the Empire may have been wiped out in whole. However, the pious loyalists fought fiercly, and managed to contain Drakaenia to the Northern side of the river. While a few more attempts would be made by other cities to break away, Astryania would be able to hold them, and stabilize to some extent.

## Modern Day

(900-1000 AGS)

With the past 100 years, a great deal has changed within the Empire. The Hero System was established immediately following the loss of Drakaenia, and enabled the Empire to right itself and bring in skilled and talented manpower. With that, it was able to stabilize and now, remains one of the great powers of the continent, although there is still much unrest within the country. As adventurers have begun settling in and swearing fealty to the Empire, infighting has become more commonplace among the lower nobility. However, the royal army and holdings, as a whole, have remained relatively stable and strong, as have most of the major lords.

## Regions

The Astryanian Empire is largely divided up into 6 distinct regions.

### Astraya

Astraya encompasses the capital, and the region immediately around it. It contains around a million people. The two greatest contributions of Astraya to the Astryanian Empire are its politics and the Hero System. Aside from that, Astraya does not produce a significant amount of resources of any type.

### Drakenhold

Drakenhold is the Northeastern most region of the Astryanian Empire, and encompasses around two million people. Drakenhold is often viewed as a backwater, full of Dragonborn who are generally distrusted by the rest of the Empire. However, Drakenhold serves as the Empire's greatest defense against aggression from Drakenia to the North, and its troops are by far the most elite and well equipped within the empire.

### Placeholder Farm Region

The **Region** is the Northwestern most region of the Empire, and it contains around four million people. The region is responsible for nearly the whole of the empire's food production.

### Placeholder Trade Region

The **Region** is the Southeastern most region of the Empire, and encompasses around three million people. This region is heavily focused on trading within its local sea, and produces a significant portion of the Empire's income via tarriffs, as well as taxes. While the region is by far the wealthiest of the Empire, its also historically been a hotbed of rebellion. Multiple families have risen and fallen within this region, and yet, the money it gives these families access to continues to corrupt new families that come into power.

### Region of Marcher Lords

The Region of Marcher Lords is the Southernmost region of the Empire, and encompasses around one million people. This region is a heavily militarized region, and was historically one of the most important regions in the early empire. The region stood as the main line of defense against incurssions by the Lizardfolk into the empire. Many great battles were fought in the region. Today, the region still clings on to its heritage of military prowess, and produces a great many rangers. A disproportionate number of those in the military are from this region. Within the past several hundred years, this region has faced significant decline, as the perceived threat of the Lizardfolk has been reduced, causing many to seek other opprotunities.

### Wildlands

The Wildlands are the Eastern, region of the empire, and by far the largest by area, encompassing around three million people. This region produces a large amount of timber and raw ores. Historically, this region contributed greatly to the wealth and prosperity of the capital. However, for the past several hundred years, the civil wars that ravaged the empire decimated the region. Many rebellious groups launched raids into the area, causing a great deal of damage to wide, lowly defended area. While other regions experienced this same effect, other regions were more easily able to recover, thanks to various factors. Similarly, many within the Wildlands region moved to these other areas after depopulation events, finding the opprotunities there better than in the wildlands. Today, the Wildlands are a rough, hardy region of the Empire. Many from the Hero System explore and live in this vast region, as it contains much opprotunity, but also much danger.

## History of Monarchs

#### Rainlight Dynasty

1. Langianus: 254-271
2. Son: 271-282
3. Son: 282-285
4. Sister: 285-297
5. Bastard Daughter: 297-310

#### Second Dynasty

1. Son: 310-332
2. Ordovacer I: 332-354
3. Sister: 354-380

#### Argeian Dynasty

1. Arenenian II: (865-888)
2. Marson I: (888-934)
3. Kalbur III: (934-962)
4. Brenutus I: (962-996)
5. Ordovacer IV: (996-Present)