Arcturian Empire

*"What else, then, is all history, but the praise of Rome?"*
The **Arcturian Empire** was one of the greatest empires in the history of Asul. Based in what is today Arcturium, the Arcturian Empire ruled much of the Western Kingdoms, and enjoyed colonial provinces abroad as well. The civil war resulting from the grand and decadent Empire's dissolution led to the creation of many of the modern states of the Western Kingdoms, and to this day the cultural legacy of the Empire can be felt throughout the region.

## History

### **Founding**

According to legend, the Arcturian Empire can trace its history to Ektimous, the son of Euboea and a mortal Akhean. Fleeing the destruction of his home nation of Anchises, Ektimous' son, Tiber, would go on to found the kingdom of **Tiberium**, a predecessor to the Empire. The Tiberian Kings would go on to unite what is today the province of Ascanium as well as much of modern Arcturium.

The last king of Tiberium produced no male heir, but his daughter, it is said, was courted by a great Gold Dragon, and from their union was born Arcturus Tiberius Aurelius, the first Emperor. It is from Tiberius Aurelius that all subsequent emperors would claim descent, granting them a lineage both Draconic and Titanic in nature. Tiberius Aurelius would found the Empire proper and unite all of what is today Arcturium, as well as parts of what are today other nations.

### **The Infernal Wars**

*"Tanit Delenda Est."*
The **Infernal Wars** were a series of three wars fought between the Arcturian Empire and Tanit over the course of slightly more than a century.

As a culture plainly in the grips of the Horned Society and engaged in open Devil-worship, the mere existance of Tanit was something many Arcturians, among others, found abhorrant. Moreover, the coastal location of Tanit made it the sole threat to the Empire's dominance of the Inner Sea. War was, ultimately, inevitable.

The **First Infernal War** was primarily a naval war. Aside from a few disastrous defeats, the war was primarily a string of Arcturian victories. The long war was costly to both powers, but Tanit was more seriously destabilized. The war ultimately resulted in the Arcturian Empire emerging as the most powerful state in the Inner Sea region; its large navy able to prevent seaborne invasion of Arcturium, control important trade routes, and invade foreign shores.

The **Second Infernal War** is perhaps most famous for the land-invasion of Arcturium by a Tanitian army of Devils and other Hellish beasts. Despite this army's victories in Arcturium, the war, as per the first, was ultimately a victory for the Arcturian Empire, and saw Tanit reduced to little more than its heartland.

The **Third Infernal War** saw an extended siege of Tanit's capital, and ultimately the sack and ruin of its cities, the relocation of much of its people, and the establishment of the colonial province of Caelestis upon the ashes of what was once Tanit. While the people of Tanit hated their diabolic overlords and resented their rule for ages, and initially welcomed the Arcturians as liberators, they soon came to learn that while the Arcturians may have been preferable to the Horned Society, they were still nonetheless imperialistic overlords who expected obedience and tribute, first and foremost, and that their liberation from the Horned Society was simply a side-effect of the war.

### **Avernus**

During the reign of Imperator Publius Arcturus Crataegus, Scryers working for the Empire discovered a vast network of caverns and caves miles beneath the surface of Asul. Eager to discover what potential secrets and applications this underworld might hold for his empire, Crataegus I commissioned the aply named First Expedition. Despite the experience of its leaders and the various magical items they brought with them, the First Expedition was a disaster and slaughtered to the last man.

Avernus would be ignored for the next twenty years or so until Crataegus' successor, Imperator Marcus Arcturus Crataegus commissioned a colonization attempt, leading to the successful founding of the first Arcturian colony within the Western Vault.

Within a decade of its founding, however, a series of rockslides and quakes would leave the fledgling colony cut off from the surface and ultimately provoke it to declare itself an indpendant nation - the Kingdom of Avernus.

### **Fall of the Arcturian Empire**

The Arcturian Empire had endured for centuries and withsthood trials and conflicts that, even in retrospect, seemed apocalyptic. Nonetheless, nothing lasts forever, and the Empire eventually fell like all others before it.

The final emperor, Imperator Claudius Arcturus Domitius, had been born alongside a twin brother, Lucius Arcturus Domitius. Lucius was a gifted alchemist and a cunning, many would say sociopathic, manipulator. Worse, he had a cruel sense of humor and tyrannical and decadent tastes that distinguished him even in the overindulgent period of the late Empire. While by all accounts he was far smarter than his brother, he was also tempermentally unfit to rule by all accounts, and so when the matter of succession arose, the Senate crowned Claudius, and not Lucius.

Lucius then largely disappears from the historical records, besides the ocassional recorded public appearances are gladiatorial deathmatches. Eventually, however, he attempted to claim the throne which he felt was his by something greater than birthright alone; by *merit*. Assassins under his employ worked to eliminate all of his brother's heirs, while Lucius himself murdered his brother during a meeting of the Senate; evidently confident that in absence of any heirs, the Senate would see reason and grant him that which was his by all rights and merits. He was, however, wrong.

Lucius was killed nearly immediately after the murder of his brother, and it was not long before the Twelve Conspirators, as his closest confederates were known, were similarly dealt with. The Senate held things together for a while, but it was clear that many of the local provincial governors and kings were eager to claim their independance from the weakened and leaderless Empire. Eventually Saint Marianne of Lareaux declared what is today Lareaux to be a Cuthbertine state independant of the decadent and weak Empire, which had clearly lost the favor of the saint, and sparked a generations-long civil war, the War of Kings, which resulted in the ultimate dissolution of the Empire in any meaningful form and the creation of much of the current political landscape of the Western Kingdoms.

## Government

### **College of Augurs**

The **College of Augurs** was an Imperial institution consisting of sixteen skilled Oracles who would use Divination to forecast the future and advise the Emperor and the Senate on a great many matters. The Augurs wielded considerable political power and even when ignored by their clients could influence matters by publically declaring bad omens or portents and turning the public against their targets.

While primarily a state institution, wealthy individuals and families could hire the services of an augur to grant them a forecast.