Northern Khenomeric Empire

The **Northern Khenomeric Empire** was a state formed by the northern provinces of the Khenomeric Empire, caused by the division of the empire in two pieces by the growth of the Forest of Getting Lost. At first, it was but a mere administrative division of the Khenomeric Empire, but after a couple of decades of the Khoraqualumum government being unable to influence, let alone control the territory, it declared itself as an independent power. It lasted barely two centuries until it fragmented due to internal divisions. Its fall would cause the birth of nations such as Greater Elanxa, the Kingdom of Tarot, Florinth and Faarowt.

## History

The origins of the Northern Khenomeric Empire can be tracked to the banning and persecution of magic ordered by Pharakhan Kyle I. The decrees that ordered the stopping of any magical art from being used was received with a mixed reaction. The civilian population took the news with happiness: they hated the Magoclergy with a passion, due to their absolute dominion over their lives, not to mention the great damages caused by the war with Azan and the First Elven Empire. By extension, they hated the wizards who used their powers to force the authority of the Magoclergy upon them, unable to offer any kind of resistance to their magical powers. The rebellion of the royal family against the Magoclergy had been received with thunderous support, and their quick victory guaranteed the support of the populous in whatever they wanted, especially if it was against the dreaded wizards. However, this attitude was less frequent in some areas of the northwest of the empire: in these areas, the influence of the Green Order was the strongest, and it had much fewer ties to the Magoclergy than the rest. Adding to that, the local population of these areas was much more familiar with the powers and attitudes of the wizards of the Green Order, some of them adopting very druidic behaviors and customs. In the northeast, however, the local attitude against wizards was as strong, if not stronger than in the central provinces, though for different reasons. These areas were very prosperous, and had a ruling nobility who wished for more autonomy, but the iron grip of the wizards and the Magoclergy afterwards made them distrustful of them. The edicts against the wizards were received as something to be celebrated, but so long as that meant more freedoms. Many of the leaders of the northeastern provinces also began plotting for independence, but the central government was still too strong for a direct rebellion.

The edicts forbidding magics caused an uproar within the wizard community. However, there was little they could do. The defeat of the Khenomeric Empire in the Battle of Empires, the fall of the Magoclergy and the general decay of the schools of magic had caused the wizard community to shrink considerably. They did not have the overwhelming numbers they used to yield, and their popularity was worse still. Even if they faced the armies of the empire and won, it would not mean victory, since they would be too diminished to control the empire, and would be eroded into nothing by the rebelling population. And the wizards were not united in purpose: some wanted to restore the Magoclergy at all costs, others accepted the accusations against them and gave up on magic, living as regular mortals for the rest of their lives. The majority, however, refused to accept the decree, but did not oppose it directly. Instead, they try to flee the empire. The fear of the wizards escaping the Khenomeric Empire to build back a force that could one day pose a threat was not a prospect Kyle I, and so he ordered to pursue the wizards. Some ran away to the south, with the most famous case being that of the infamous Vandervax the Vile settling in the Okhost Islands, alongside a great number of necromancers. Most, though, ran to the north, from where they could flee to many other places of the world.

This chase would end up causing the creation of the Forest of Getting Lost. The many forests that covered the empire from border to border were already inhabited by wizards, most of them from the Green Order. They had decided to abandon the great cities to live simpler lives in communion with nature, acquiring more and more druidic characteristics. Some had seen the banning of magics coming, and had prepared accordingly, funding communities in the middle of the woods protected by many spells and enchantments. Many of these communities began accepting the fugitive wizards, expanding their charms and hexes to protect an ever-increasing portion of the forest, or creating new spells to affect new areas of the woods. Many wizards added spells of their own, leaving behind areas bewitched to slow down their pursuers. This went on and on, until the forests of the center of the Khenomeric Empire were bursting with magic. This caused a chain reaction, making the forests grow towards each other until they formed a singular mass, the Forest of Getting Lost. The fugitive wizards saw this as a chance to get away and regroup, either concentrating in the deepest parts of the woods, or living in secrecy in the northwestern side of the empire, where the more friendly population could hide them from the authorities.

The creation of the Forest of Getting Lost was received with horror by the khenomeri authorities. If the forest managed to grow until joining fully, the empire would be neatly cut in two, and this being a magical barrier in a time without enough wizards, it would become an impassable barrier. The few wizards who were allowed to stay worked tirelessly to stop it, but after a couple of decades, the woods’ growth closed the few open spaces left. This meant that the northern provinces were practically isolated from the capital, with all what that implied. After a couple of years of attempting to keep regular communications through sea, the government had to accept that keeping any strong and direct control over the colonies was impossible. An ancient Kyle I had, some years prior, had signed a series of reforms that greatly increased the local powers, which worked well enough for the provinces south of the forest, but were proving to be insufficient for the lands north of the forest. As such, his heir, Pharakhan Klion the IIIrd, approved the creation of a special administrative division for the northern provinces: the Northern Khenomeric Empire.

The creation of the Northern Khenomeric Empire was received with mixed reactions. The central government did not, in any way, cede so much power to the northern provinces, known for a long time to tend to rebellions and sedition. However, trying to rule so much land from the sea was not a feasible option. The northern provinces were overjoyed at the news of the administrative reform, due to them receiving quite a lot of power, independence and control over the taxation of their regions. The ones in the northeast, much more prosperous and populated, saw this as the long denied opportunity for growth and success, without the strict vigilance of the capital. This actually managed to quell many of the loudest voices for independence, since if that opinion gained strength, the Khenomeric Empire would respond rescinding the newly given freedoms and powers, and a victory against the empire wouldn’t be guaranteed. The provinces in the northwest took this change less enthusiastically. Being free from the central government was a good thing for sure, but now they had to contend with their eastern neighbors, who now had carte blanche to rule the smaller western provinces as they saw fit. Also, the edicts against the wizards were not done, the persecutions were still ongoing, and both the central government and the eastern provinces hated wizards, so this caused the more wizard-friendly western provinces to be skeptical of this, hiding their wizards from the authorities and turning a blind eye to the congregations within their territory.

The organization of this new system was designed to keep the provinces as loyal as possible, keeping them content with their freedoms while also keeping their oaths of loyalty and paying their taxes. The central government put some of the most loyal administrators, nobles, governors and generals in some of the most important positions of the Northern Khenomeric Empire, trying to guarantee as much unity as possible. This meant that many people who were loyal to the royal family and the capital suddenly abandoned their posts to find better positions at the other side of the forest, which affected the administration of the central provinces for a couple of years. This initially displeased the local nobility and authorities of the Northern Khenomeric Empire, since they expected to have full control from the beginning, but they knew that complaining at this stage would only result in freedoms getting rolled back, so they played the long game. During the first decades, these groups were allowed to rule unopposed, letting them become used to their new positions and lands. The support of the local nobility was also rewarded greatly with lands, titles and positions of power, all while keeping the façade of subservience. Over time, however, the aristocratic houses began infiltrating the highest echelons of the administration through marriages, alliances and promises of power and independence. Slowly, very slowly, the Northern Khenomeric Empire began gaining more and more independence from the south. All the while, their economy became quite prosperous, boosted by the increased independence from the capital and the demands of a growing population. Some of the northern cities began rivaling the biggest cities in the south in both power and population, especially in the western provinces of the Northern Khenomeric Empire.

All this happened while the south’s economy and stability crumbled away. The original Khenomeric Empire was having problems of its own, keeping its territories obedient, and without most of the taxes from the northern provinces and the wizards to help, their resources were more scarce by the day. Adding to this, the gnoll began growing into more and more of a threat, not to mention the increasing population of goblins, raiding the countryside in great numbers. The corruption within Khoraqualumum grew, and many of the provinces went understaffed or were poorly defended, which led to revolts. This made the capital less capable to control the Northern Khenomeric Empire, which kept increasing its powers and faculties.

However, all was not smooth sailing for the Northern Khenomeric Empire. The issue of fugitive wizards had been a thorny subject since the closure of the Forest of Getting Lost. The western provinces were much smaller in size and population, but over time, they had gathered a considerable amount of wizards. Many of these had fled westwards, to form what would be considered the Isle of Wizards, but many others remained, especially those who had fully turned to a druidic way of life around the Sun Payus River. Many of these provinces still had some ties to the wizard populations within the Forest of Getting Lost, though more and more even these communities were unable to counteract the mystical effects of the forest, and became reclusive and isolated. However, while the hatred for wizards had subdued a lot, the memories of the Magoclergy still lived within the population. The presence of the wizards in the western part of the Northern Khenomeric Empire was a very loud secret, and if everything had been going fine, it would have been left ignored. However, the western provinces, more and more abused and abandoned by the eastern ones, began rallying around the subject of the legality of magic as a way to push back against the rule of the eastern ones. This reached a boiling point, where the western provinces pushed so much for the recognition and the legalization of magic back in the empire (not just the Northern side, but all the Khenomeric Empire) that it threatened to turn into a full on secession.

This caused quite a conundrum for the eastern provinces. On the one hand, they did not want to break their ties to the western provinces of the Northern Khenomeric Empire. They were the biggest producers of food for the region, and a breaking of relations with them would clog the economy. They were also needed to push for more independence and rights from the central government, the western provinces alone couldn’t really influence khenomeri politics, even with the creeping crisis. On the other hand, the eastern provinces had no qualms about their distrust of wizards, seeing them as a potential political threat in the making. They wholly agreed with the official banning of wizards, participating alongside the government of Khoraqualumum to round up wizards in hiding. Plus, many nobles and aristocrats had made a name for themselves as wizard-hunters, some doing this for generations, and they were quite powerful and influencing. They saw the western’s love of wizards as an irresponsible choice that could lead to disaster, turning into an uncontrollable force that would seek vengeance for their previous persecution.

Having to choose between the two sides, neither one really beneficial to their interests, they supported a very tepid independence. Support for independence had little enthusiasm in the east due to the implicit wizard support, and many nobles and officials kept secret ties to the Khoraqualumum government just in case this situation was temporary. This would turn out to be a wise decision, since the western and eastern provinces of the Northern Khenomeric Empire would end up fighting each other immediately after, since the west’s push for more wizard’s rights was utterly rejected by the east. To avoid a long, civil war, the east argued with the Khenomeric Empire for support against the wayward western provinces, which they granted.

This began a pattern in the Northern Khenomeric Empire: every century or so, the region would push for independence from Khoraqualumum, and then the internal fight between the west and the east would end up with the nation rejoining the Khenomeric Empire in search of stability. This cycle would repeat itself many times, and every time this happened, a part of the Northern Khenomeric Empire would not rejoin, becoming fully independence. All of this happening while the central government was becoming weaker and weaker, reaching a point where even the eastern provinces of the Northern Khenomeric Empire began seeing it as a burden more than help to control the wayward provinces.

In 1.933 ABE, the House of Doroseck of Nogar managed to earn a great victory against the Khenomeric Empire. Against all odds, they had managed to push back the khenomeric armies repeatedly, forcing Khoraqualumum to offer them independence before it extended to other regions of the empire, busy that they were with goblins, gnolls and other rebellions. This, however, caused a ripple effect within the Northern Khenomeric Empire. This massive admission of weakness would mark deeply the Northern Khenomeric Empire’s opinion of the Khoraqualumum’s government, and this time, they were the ones who began arguing for independence. And this time, the Khenomeric Empire was not rich enough to sway their leaders, nor powerful enough to intimidate them into submission. In 1.940, the Northern Khenomeric Empire declared its independence from Khoraqualumum, and this was answered with silence. The Khenomeric Empire had to recognize a fact that they could no longer conceal or counteract. However, by that time, the Northern Khenomeric Empire barely included the territories from Elanxa to the eastern side of the Kingdom of Tarot. Even then, the divisions were too great, and in 2.094 ABE, the Northern Khenomeric Empire was dissolved, leaving Greater Elanxan as its heir.