Viennedan Empire

The *Milliarum Viennedii*, or Viennedan Empire in common, is the post-consular government which encompases most of the coasts of Midian Sea, laying claim to all the rest of it’s territory. It is a mostly human hereditary monarchy with a legislative representative body called the Consulate, and built upon commerce, fishing and slaves.

From the Laying of Laurels until today, the Empire has openly sought to reclaim the Pallium, the territories and prestige of the Pallium, a fallen nation of millenia ago, which the Miliar Mezur I claims to be the antecessor of the Viennedii.

# History

## Kingdom

The prehistory of the Viennedan Kingdom has been lost almost completely, and all records depicting the initial stages of this nation we have are either written long after the events proper or highly fictionalized and debated. However, it is known that the Kingdom was formed by Viennedus Mezurius Talario who, according to traditional oral retellings, was a great chieftain of the tribe of Montes that managed to unify all the human tribes of the Midian Sea, with the help of dwarven auxiliaries and a blessing from Varducus God of Time; he unified them in an effort to reclaim the Pallium. The validity of these claims are subject of great debate, as not a single proof of Viennedus actually existing has been found; the topic remains highly taboo in lower viennedan society, and is only discussed in hushed tones in monasteries of the Empire.

The more reliable records show that for many decades Viennedus did reign, but when his successors started to take the throne, they led constant civil wars against each other, and King after King was deposed by their brother, sisters, mothers and kin. The instability led to frantic rulemaking and taxation, which in turn led to the Sesterian Riots. The Sesterian Riots, ex post name, were multiple popular uprisings sponsored by the Sesterii (the wealthy fish and slave tycoons of the Kingdom). In these riots, farmers, urbanites and garrison soldiers confronted the Royal Guard. The escalation of the conflict led finally to the Tribal War.

## Consulate

Discontent with how the descendants of the great Viennedus led the Kingdom, the descendants of the tribal leaders unified by the Old King came together, took upon the name of Consuls, and decided to capitalize on the discontent of the Sesterian Riots, fracturing the country. It wasn’t long until the last descendant of the Old King was put to the sword, and hanged from the plaza of Montes.

The Consuls formed the Viennedan Consulate, reorganizing the nation into a collective of oligarchic holdings, which answered directly to the Primus Pilus (First Pilar), elective leader of the Consuls.

The Consulate reigned over the Midian Sea for long, and it eventually grew complacent, or so do the historians of the Empire say. As such, the Army was disbanded, only leaving city garrisons and personal retinues for the Consuls. The Sesterians took this as a venture opportunity, creating the Mercians, for hire mercenary companies; these Mercians were originally used for the defense of the frontiers, yet soon they began to be used as pawns in the political game of the Consuls, dwindling the resources of political rivals. During these times, it was said that the Mercians were the true Consuls, and provinces fell to disarray, abandonement and other opportunistic empires.

## Empire

As the Consuls squabble amongst themselves, a relatively routine elvish raid stood unopposed, quickly becoming a full on assault, destroying and burning the coastal province of Palateria. The common folk believed something had to be done in order to stop the advance of the elves.

It was during this time that a Mercian by the name of Mezur rallied the farmers and urbanites of the Consulate, quickly gaining the loyalty of other Mercian companies and taking the Capital by storm; during the siege, in an old temple of Varducus surrounded by Mercians, Mezur took a wreath of laurels and crowned himself the last descendant of Viennedus the Old King. This was called the Laying of Laurels, a highly controversial episode at the time, and highly propagandized today.

Consuls were, surprisingly, offered the possibility to stay in power, continue ruling as they once did, but they had to recognize Mezur as Milliarium (Emperor/General) and give him the power necessary to stop the downfall of the viennedan and take the elves by storm, enslaving them all. The Consuls agreed.

# Society

As a slave society, the rights and status of humans and non-humans are subject to the extensive legal reglamentation of the Empire.

Human society is divided into four categories: Summii, Sesterii, Liberii and Malii.

* **Summii** are the political (yet not economical) elite of the Empire, being the descendants of the old tribal chieftains that swore loyalty to Viennedus; they now hold control of the cities and provinces of the Empire and are the only ones formally allowed into the Consulate.
* **Sesterii** are the current tycoons of slave and fish in the Empire, holding no blood relation at all to the ones that orchestrated the Sesterian Riots (they see blood relations as the topic of “lesser folk”); Sesterii is not a legally recognized division of human society and they technically are just Liberii, but it is plainly evident to anyone that this is not the case.
* **Liberii** are the common citizenry of the Empire, allowed to do anything but be Consuls, while only the Liberii can be part of the Mercians; citizenry can be obtained by blood or by being born to Liberii in imperial holdings.
* **Malii** are humans which have gained the ire of the Viennedan legal system, having been marked in the forehead for exile, execution or slavery.

Non-human society in the Empire sees limited Liberii rights to most dwarves and constructs. However, all other non-human species are subject to slavery. None are as persecuted as elves, in a perceived social retaliation for the Burning of Palateria.

# Government

The Milliarum is a highly militarized bureaucratic monarchy with a legislative body in the form of the Consulate. But it'd be a lie to describe the Empire as solely binary between the Consuls and the Miliar, since many groups have managed to seize control of important political positions across the massive imperial bureucracy.

The Miliar is the Grand General of the Empire, leading all of the Mercians (now the official standing army) into battle. The Miliar also is the Primus Pilus, directing discussion and vetoing requests during Consul meetings. All ceannardis (the coinage of the Empire) bears the face of the Miliar, and Mercian companies are to carry a banner with the Miliar’s insignia.

The Consulate is the legislative body of the Empire, also being the official political forum for the Empire. Only Consuls can propose and vote on laws, which include taxation, political regulation, military spending, religious holidays and many more topics. All Consuls have direct control of either a Province or a Free City.

The Sesterian Chamber is an unofficial political gathering of the Sesterii in the Empire. They control the market, and the Consulate cannot regulate the slave trade or the fishing laws without consulting a representative from the Chamber. The Chamber was a staunch supporter of Miliar, until he practically expropriated the Mercian companies from them.

The Varducii Collegiate is the main religious body of the Empire, lead by no one and preoccupied mainly with the worship of Varducus, the study and preservation of viennedan culture and the well being of the general populace. In recent years, the Collegiate has taken the role of protector of the Liberii interests in the political machine of the Empire.

The Mercian Corpus is the officer gathering of the standing army of the Empire, composed by the leaders of the different Mercian companies. Companies fight with differing mindsets and aesthetics, however, the unified military theory of the Miliar has succeded in making the Mercians more homogenous, while remaining true to their old customs acquiring after years of mercenary work. Every Mercian Company has it's own distinct color, symbol and song at the very least. The closer to frontier work a Mercian company is, the more they differ from the standard set by the Miliar.