Avantine

THE AVANTINE EMPIRE

‘I am born of nobility, tempered in war, blessed by the gods and cultured

beyond measure. Ours is a manifest destiny. All that is left is to enact it.’

Nickname: ‘The Imperials’

Languages: Avantine

Population: Säuger 99%, Eluvian less than 1%, Drummon less than 1%,

Government: Senate of Imperial Nobility

Leadership: War Consul Lavinia Valentius Carnifexia, Home Consul

Flaavia Gracchus Paxia

Lifestyle: Technologically competent – low magical usage within the

country, Dichotomy between conquered nations and ruling Avantine

people.

SOCIETY

Ordered and militaristic, the Avantine are a people for whom a

constant war footing is a way of life. The Avantine people are

descended from several origins, forged into one people by the

dominance of invaders. Bred for war, the people of the Avantine

are clearly divided into several distinct classes based on the time

of compliance with their conquerors.

For the Avantine who are descended from the original forefathers

take a seat as Imperial rulers. These people form the leaders,

aristocrats and people in positions of power throughout the

Empire. For members of these seven great houses, lineage is as

important as money. The purer the lineage the better the positions

one has available to them. The ability to recite ones lineage is of

the utmost importance to members of these families, so much so

that it is custom that a young man or woman will be able to recite

their lineage to their families founding as a measure of the talent

and purity of lineage. All youth of the noble houses are required

to learn a measure of academia. Intellect and discipline have

allowed the mighty Avantine to conquer all before them and they

have taken care to make sure that this will always be the case.

For the Avantine from the central region, things are somewhat

more diverse. These cultures were the first to fall and as such have

been assimilated into the Empire with complete domination. There

is very little to tell them apart from the Avantine of the seven

houses save that their ancestry is far less grand than those of the

Ancient nobility. These people are also descended from the

servants of those great families having married and intermingled

with the people of the outlying communities. The only record

of these former neighbors of the Avantine now exists only as

region names.

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The Fallen Civilizations

For the last 800 years the Avantine have

conquered all before them, conforming

one people after another in the conquest

of their continent. Here is a brief

description of the three largest fallen

empires and their statuses.

The Chabo

Status – Fully Integrated

The first to fall to the invading Avantine,

this tribe of war like savages lived in a

hunter gatherer society for an untold

amount of years. Their lands are

surrounded by mountains that would

have otherwise sheltered their existence

from the other peoples of this continent.

The newly arrived Avantine, realizing

their precarious position, displayed much

of their military tactics and brilliance in

subduing these primitive Sauger.

However this compliance would cost the

Avantine in much needed men.

Fortunately their ability to till the soil

allowed them to calm the Chabo people,

bribing them with better food than the

Chabo could produce, buying their trust.

The Avantine allowed their own servants

to intermingle with the Chabo people.

The Chabo innate hardiness would be an

enduring legacy for the Avantine,

allowing their servants to become far

stronger in the generations to come.

Each of these regions is overseen by a Governor, who is

tasked with making sure that the tax of people for the

legions, food and coin is taken each year, as appropriate to

the regions ability to produce. Should a region suffer

misfortune, the people are not blamed for the first year and

instead the Governor is killed and his assets sold to assist

in the payments.

On the second year, however, the rulers of the Avantine

are not so kind. If a region fails this time, the people of

each town are made to stand in a line and then they are

decimated (every tenth person is killed). While this can be

seen as barbaric, it is to make sure that the same thing no

longer repeats itself. To date, no region has had such poor

luck three seasons in a row.

The last group of people in the Avantine Empire are the

newly conquered. Until a region is completely compliant

they are required to submit to Imperial control until fully

compliant. A region is only allowed its own name when

it has become fully compliant.

Compliance is only achieved when a culture completely

abandons its old ways and establishes themselves as a part

of Avantine proper. At this stage there are constant patrols

of Avantine Legionaries, hidden guard and arbiters,

constantly looking for signs of cultural nonsense. When it

finds people who are committing such atrocities, the

authorities taken them into buildings for re-education. No

one knows what happens within the walls, however those

that return are some of the most loyal people to the

Empire.

While many would find this endless need to conquer

socially stifling, the Avantine take it upon themselves to

take the parts of a conquered society that they like and

claim it for themselves. When conquering the people of

Jian -Do, many of the dishes, spices and even apparel have been incorporated into the Avantine whole

as if it had always been a part of their culture. So long as it is not completely an alien thing, such as a

change of language, or directly flaunted in public, such changes are seamless.

Until the Truce and Treaty of Nations, the Avantine had no magical aptitude what so ever. Instead this

lack of power transformed itself into a new kind of belief – one in the Magnus Intellectus. This

concept was formulated by Princeps Valius Cornaius, a great scholar and philosopher who opened the

first of the Magnus Intellectus Academies. His supposition was that Sauger have the potential to

achieve great feats of wonder through explanation and mental discipline as opposed to superstition and

wonder. He surmised that all Sauger could be connected to a single great intelligence; that if all

knowledge were controlled, regimented and relegated to paper and text, such tragedies such as the

destruction of their once great home would never have occurred.

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The Fallen Civilizations continued

The Xiong

Status – Fully Integrated

The rugged nomads of the Xiong were a

test of the Avantine’s guile and cunning.

A horse riding people with great

advantage in mobility and speed, the

Xiong considered the mountains from

which the Avantine were to come taboo.

When the Avantine came, many Xiong

believed this a sign of displeasure from

the gods and willfully joined the

Avantine in hopes of reducing the gods’

anger. The wily War Consul, Gaius

Cassuis Vulpus, gained their obedience

and turned them into willing Avantine.

With new insight into the tactics and

stratagems, Gaius Cassius quickly routed

the horse lords in every encounter, and

with each encounter bore more willing

converts to the Avantine cause.

Now all of the original Xiong who first

encountered the Avantine are long since

dead and their children have instead been

brought up as loyal people of the great

Avantine Empire. Any record of their

existence as a separate entity has been

completely removed from all but the

most hidden of texts in libraries in

Aventus.

What these academies have achieved has been astounding.

This high degree of free thinking and experimentation have

resulted in technological feats long thought impossible. For

example, with their aqueducts they have been able to move

fresh water over long distances to inhospitable regions.

With the establishment of great coliseums, people can watch

in comfort the gladiatorial contests that are performed there

for entertainment. There advances in medicine, alchemy and

engineering are marvels to behold and with each conquered

civilization comes new ideas to integrate and new ways to

improve a grand society.

LAW

Laws are strict and tightly controlled. A tribunal of three

listen and judge all cases regardless of priority. While

incredibly slow, this does allow for fair and equitable justice

under the laws of the nation. Violence is outlawed, save as

part of training or the gladiatorial contests, while even

carrying a weapon when not on duty is considered gauche

by many Imperial nobility.

Punishments for crimes are almost always severe. Minor

crimes such as theft, trespass and destruction of property

usually result in a monetary payout to the accuser.

For larger crimes such as murder, arson and rape – servitude

in the gladiatorial contests make up the bulk of sentences –

prisoners fighting their way to glory and fame in the pits. In

fact it has not been uncommon for a former murderer to end

up living a good, if particularly dangerous, life in the pits.

However for the most serious of crimes, such as murder of

an Avantine highborn, sedition or treason, the only

punishment is death, usually by hanging but in the larger cases it is not uncommon to see more

gruesome methods of execution.

Of course this does not apply for cases of self-defence – such as fighting off highwaymen or the like.

Such menaces are always to be dealt with appropriately as needed.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

It is custom for those who live in Avantine to follow the career of those come before them. Thus it is

not uncommon to see or hear from a third, fourth or fifth generation fisherman or carpenter whose

families are still in these roles. While now youth are trained in the guilds for the most part, many

parents teach their children with the wisdom of their vocations.

For those that are noble born, a far more diverse range of skills are taught more suited to a child’s

desire. While academia of all sorts are pursued it is also important to note that all citizens should be

battle ready should the need arise and many of the nobility take time in the service of the Imperial

Armies.

While still currently frowned upon, the Magic Guild is seen as something of an eccentricity. Some

youth willing to rebel are even trying to dabble in these powers as a sense of uniqueness in such a

regimented society. This being said no other building in the Empire is as closely guarded as the Mage

Guild’s building save the portal stone of Aventus, the Capital city of the Avantine.

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The Fallen Civilizations continued

The Jian-Do

Status – Compliant

On the Eastern most side of the Avantine continent is a large portion of land containing the advanced

civilization of the Jian-Do.

Unlike the Chabo, who were primitive, or the Xiong, who were spiritual, the Jian-Do possessed the same

gift that the Avantine had – Intellectus.

When first approached the Jian-Do had constructed a great wall in order to defend against the Xiong who in

turn ignored the presence of the Jian-Do. This allowed for the civilization to flourish without the

interference of other cultures. Highly xenophobic, when approached by the Avantine, the Jian-Do would

have little to do with them, refusing to speak to the terrible demons at their walls.

Wielding a mixture of weapons including long curved swords that could cut through stone and strange

throwing weapons shaped like stars, this culture presented a new problem for the Avantine to overcome.

This warrior culture was indeed a rival for the Avantine nation.

With this in mind, the sages of Magnus Intellectus Academy set to work to bring the wall down and came up

with a solution – the war machine. These catapults and ballistae, previously unknown to the world, took

their toll on the dividing wall bringing it down and forcing the Jian-Do people into a prolonged combat.

While the warriors of the Jian-Do were far better at fighting individual combats, having been taught superior

martial skills from birth, the Avantine’s tactics and rigid discipline meant that they never faced these mighty

warriors alone. Legions of troops poured into the exotic lands of the Jian-Do and swiftly took their capital,

their leader Zhong Hao conceding defeat.

Rather than risk a potential uprising, the Avantine leaders made it clear to Zhong Hao that he and his heirs

would be a part of the Avantine Empire and instead of executing the leader, they gave him an Avantine

bride and executed his thirty one children and their mothers. Many other top officials were likewise given

new husbands and wives, eliminating any possibility for entrenched uprising from the top.

That said the people of the provinces did not take kindly to being conquered. In some parts of this land, the

people still try to resurrect their fallen nation. The Empire of course takes a dim view of this and publicly

executes anyone who is suspected of being an insurgent. Until these malcontents are removed, the Jian Do

will never be truly one with the Empire.

However the extra time spent complying the land of the Jian-Do will be worth the trouble. Rich in silks,

spices and other unusual plants, the trade alone is valuable to the Avantine people. More than this, the Jian-

Do were also experts in several intellectual fields – metallurgy, martial skills, philosophy, and alchemy. The

Avantine intellectuals have descended into the area trying to learn all of their precious secrets. While

complete compliance will be several generations away none can deny what will happen when the warriors of

the Jian-Do are fully integrated into the Avantine Empire.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Externally, the Avantine have little use for mercantile trade. They have conquered and dominated all

that have opposed them and have vast resources to spare. At this point they clearly hold vast quantities

of silks and exotic spices not found on the main continent. While some merchants do ply their wares

from the continent of Dantir, there are several tax laws requiring up to 25% of all profits to be paid to

the war chest of the Avantine on all transactions.

However, the black market trade on such goods thrives and there are rumours of ports within Avantine

where anything can be bought or sold. Internally, Avantine maintains a healthy amount of free trade

within its borders so long as taxes are paid and the people comply with any demands made of them.

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RELIGION

In an oddity for the rest of the world, the Avantine have broken their views of the three gods into nine.

For the Avantine these gods are faces that each of the three show to the people, each one baring a

different viewpoint and domain of responsibility. They are:

Pugna Dahr, Goddess of War and glorious combat

Fortuna Dahr, Goddess of Luck and good fortune.

Mortem Dahr, God of Death and the eternal cycle

Tempestas Halb, God of Weather and the unknowing sea

Scientia-Halb, Goddess of Knowledge and unlimited power

Sapientia Halb, Goddess of Wisdom and perilous foresight

Terrus Rund, God of Ground and fertile growth

Domus Rund, God of Home and warm hearth

Vita-Amor Rund, God of Life and purest heart

There are temples to each built in every city and worshipped throughout the Empire, although in the

newly conquered regions this can take a while to transition.

NAMES AND LANGUAGE

The Avantine conquerors require all people to use the Avantine language. However, over time the

language has come to incorporate many words and phrases from many several languages. Place

names are most often derived from old names in traditional languages. The Avantine have adopted a

limited use of the Creole language from the mainland, but only as much as necessary for trade and

similar purposes. However there are some locations – especially the Mages Guild and other

guildhouses – where the use of Creole is required, much to the dismay of the Avantine noble caste.

Within the Avantine people, most highborn Avantine citizens have a two or three-part name. The parts

of this ‘tria nomina’ (three names) are the personal name, family name, and in the instance where the

person has earned one, a nickname. The nickname may refer to features, qualities, occupations,

origin, and so on. They can be inherited, especially in large families. It is possible to have more than

one nickname, for instance, as honorifics after some career or campaign success.

The lower caste citizens usually use two names, and occasionally adopt the three names like the

nobles. Occasionally only a single name is used, one arising from the older, conquered cultures. But

most Avantine families name their children using the Avantine traditions, giving them the best chance

for advancement within the society.

Example names:

Male Personal name: Aulus, Appius, Caeso, Manius, Nonus, Numerius, Opitor, Sertor, Tullus,

Volesus

Female Personal name: Appia, Caesula, Decima, Gnaea, Hosta, Mino, Nona, Paulla, Quinta, Vopisca

Family names: Acilius, Bucculeius, Caesetius, Epidius, Furius, Horatius, Ninnius, Rufrius, Velius

Nickname: Aebutus, Curio, Dexion, Fastidius, Grumio, Orissus, Tiberillus, Ursus, Vala, Zeno,

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DRESS

The Avantine are conservative when it comes to dress sense. For the highborn, long sheets of material

are worn in a loose fashion surrounding them, referred to as togas. These allows for freedom of

movement in warm climates. However in colder weather, these are worn on top of other tunics and

garments. While usually made of cotton cloth, since the conquering of the Jian-Do, many Avantine

have taken to wearing exotic silks and satins instead of plainer material, even going so far as to use

coloured material. However this is looked upon as highly eccentric and only those wielding great

authority would dare break the standard conventions.

HISTORY

From early records of the Magnus Intellectus

-30 BA to 0 AC : The Beginning

It is during the reign of Claudius of the Grand Septorian Alliance that our history as its

successors truly begins.

With his downfall at the hands of anarchists and rebellious traitors, this once mighty Empire met

its demise in the bloody uprising and massacre that was to follow.

Our forefathers, who were of the noble court of Claudius, escaped the purge and waited by the

plinth on the gods on the far coast of what was once our home.

Long were our Ancestors cries to the gods, to each of its facets, to the nine that we revere. And at

our most urgent need, surrounded by the bloodthirsty savages at our doors, the gods answered,

taking us all to the new land, to our new home.

Of those that came with us, each brought with it the skills and knowledge to build our new city

and become our nation.

Each of our founding fathers took a most sacred oath, to one day retake that which was rightly

ours. That in our saving by the gods it revealed to us a manifest destiny to bring the peoples out

of the darkness and to rule them with compassion, wisdom and order in one unified cause.

It is with this declaration that the nation of Avantine was born and the city of Aventus founded.

-0 AC to 182 AC : The Assimilation

The meeting with the indiginous Sauger of this paradise did not go well. Believing our ancestors

to be evil spirits, the natives attacked the newly formed city of Aventus looking for blood.

Through superior tactics the Avantine would defeat their attackers, validating the concept of the

manifest destiny of the Avantine people.

In many respects these cultures would set the method of integrating nations into the Avantine

Empire. The Avantine consuls would use superior tactics, troops and discipline to defeat

overwhelming numbers, then send of diplomats to confirm that the Avantine could not be

beaten, followed by the implimentation of Compliance on the conquered. Once compliance had

been achieved, the lower classes were allowed to mingle and take spouses among these nations,

bringing them into the Avantine as Avantine people rather than the tribes they were before.

Countless tribes fell under the banners of the Avantine. In several generations these civilisations

no longer remembered who they had been before.

What halted progress for a time was the large forboding mountains that surrounded the region

on all sides, locking the Avantine armies into their own region. It was only after some major

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advances in technological engineering that several tunnels were able to be safetly bored out of

the mountain and reinforaxed, alowing safe passage to the lands outside their borders.

183 AC to 654 AC: The Conquest

With the new access to the rest of their continent began a series of large scale wars that would

bring low mighty empires in their own right. This period of conquest would last for almost five

hundred years.

Unlike the tribes of the assimilation era, the civilisations that occupied the rest of the continent

were far more advanced from a technological standpooint. Armed conflicts turned ugly for all

concerned with the Avantine foraxed to retreat at times and consider thier options.

However the Avantine did not lack for depth of intellect. When presented with a problem, those

that worked at the Magnus Intellectus Academy would analyse, hypothosise, design and test

options for whatever issue came up.

When water purity became a supply issue, the Magnus Intellectus developed a way of boiling the

water and capturing the steam, driving it into another vessel where it would become liquid

water once more.

Armed with this new technology and weaponry, the compliance of the rest of the continent was

all but assured. However full integration is still some time away. Due to the size of many of these

cultres and the importance placed on absorbing useful technologies and skills, several cultures

are still under compliance even in the present day.

654 AC to 853 AC: The Preperation

With the conquest of the Jiang-Do, the Avantine had dominated their new homeland. However

this would not make them happy in the slightest. With the aquisition of the maps of the Jian-Do,

and the Jian-Do skill in navigation using stars to show them the way, the Avantine conquerors

identified new land massess to the south of their Isle.

Scout vessels were sent to find suitable places to attack and make landfall. For nearly two

hudred years the Avantine trained soldiers, gathered supplies for the jouney and awaited their

scouts return.

When they finally identified the location of an easy city target, the Avantine prepared to

reconquor the land they thought was once theirs.

854 AC to present: The return

Great ships, far larger than those used on the mainland appeared on the coast of Kenaan and the

Kenaani clans quickly found themselves outmatched by the discipline and regimented foraxes of

the Avantine Legions. The Kenaan city of Haspurund was but the first of many cities to fall.

Almost half of Kenaan was lost before the High King, Bortello of Septoria, rallied the other

nations of the alliance and drove back the Avantine in pitched battle.

In the years that were to follow, the Avantine would launch several attack fleets at the mainland.

It is documented from their scholars that a fleet was sent toward the islands of the Ekhai Lahui

however they were never heard from again – the islanders claim never to have seen such a fleet.

Likewise several fleets were sent south and further to the east, hoping for easier prey – finding

only the Orax menace and the Jorgenwyld ready and eager to do battle.

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To the north, things do get worse. Unaware of the fanatical devotion of the Toraneyan people, an

Avantine commander, War Consul Forus Dominus Auxillius, struck a Toraneyan Temple of Dahr,

believing it full of the enemy’s war coffers. Instantly the legion found themselves not fighting

standard warriors but zealous temple warriors hounding for their blood. Had the High King not

intervened to spare the life of Forus, the war might be raging on even now.

Bortello quickly seized this opportunity to begin diplomatic negotiations with the Avantine,

citing their shared heritage as a starting point to negotiations. The negotiations were

unfortunately out of the War Consuls depth and he quickly agreed to peace and the secession of

all captured land with the exception of the city of Haspurund, now renamed Paxus. In return the

Avantine were allowed to join the council of the High King, adding a ninth voice to the deciding

of future high kings. However they were also foraxed to share their incredible technology,

absorbing them into the crafts guild, and were also foraxed to accept both a mages college and

the guild system in general as institutional rights.

Forus was then sent home, fully believing that he had done the best in the interests of the

Avantine. Instead he was thrown from the Tarpasian rock, a reward for traitors to the Avantine

people.

The Home Consul, Julia Gracchus Secombia gave a glorious oratory speech at the end of her War

Consuls demise.

‘Never before have we been brought so low by one of our own. Never before have we been so

humiliated by those who should be our subjects. Never before have we been forced as we have by

this weak fool. However think on the humble willow tree, my countrymen! See how it bends before

the storm, yet never breaks nor yields regardless of the storms ferocity. So too we must be willow

and wait for the storm to break.’

ENVIRONMENT

The continent of Avantine has a wide range of climates. The climate is overall warmer than the

main continent of Dantir, however Avantine does not have any truly arid regions.