Lordosi Empire

The **Lordosi Empire** is one of the largest empires in the history of Palurin. It spans over almost the entirety of Wendos, including the lands of Torland, Vunendos and Thelia. Its vassals are Palnia, Balshkia and Dolhaegia.

The Empire is built upon the worship of their God-Emperors and a unbridled hatred of magic. Lordos is currenlty in a state of decline, many of its vassals operate almost entirely autonomously from the empire. A recent line of weak and ineffectual emperors has let power fall into the hands of local leaders.

## History

The people of Lordos originally sailed across the ocean from the land of Daenar, to the west. According to Lordosi legend, Daenar had become wicked and
hedonistic. The use of unnatural magic had become rampant and Daenar stood on
the edge of damnation. Until one day, a holy man named Lorran started a crusade
to rid the world of the devilish magic. The followers of Lorran lost this war
and were driven from Daenar. Travelling east, they founded what is now called
Lordos in the early 8th century 9E.

The fleet of refugees that fled from Daenar was vast, making settlement of the people difficult. The fleet originally attempted to land in Beltheria, but they were turned away by the Beltherian navy. The Beltherians were rebuilding after the horror of The First Black Veil War and were in no position to accept thousands of refugees. The fleet then sailed south, avoiding the dark and desolate lands of The Black Veil Mists, and landed in southern Wendos.

### Early Settlement

The land in which the followers of Lorran settled was relatively sparsely populated, so they were able to set up make-shift settlements. The early years for these folk were fraught with difficulty. The settlers were poor and isolated, many succumbed to disease and hunger during the first winters. The land they settled was not particularly fertile and any attempts made to move into more bountiful land was met with opposition from the lords who owned it.

These first settlements were a complete disaster. Lorran had tried to keep his followers together, but this was proving to be an impossible task. He then decreed that the settlement would be abandoned and his followers should spread out across the land, taking his message with them. The followers then set out on a mission to bring the word of Lorran to their new home. Some of these followers were welcomed as weary travellers, others were not so lucky. Many people took offence to the anti-magic sentiment that the followers were spouting and drove them away.

Over time, the message of Lorran spread throughout the continent. As the word reached Tor, The Arcane Cabal grew cautious of these zealots, fearing that they may threaten their power. Any followers of Lorran found preaching in the city were jailed immediately. This was the beginning of a long and brutal animosity between the two factions.

### Expansion of Lorran's Teachings

Over the next few centuries, the influence of Lorran grew immensely. Many of The Free Cities of Wendos had completely outlawed followers of Lorran gathering and publicly speaking. This proved to drive the religion underground, where spread like wildfire. In the city of Tor, a general feeling of distrust for the mysterious Cabal had started to fester. This was unease was stoked and fed by the followers of Lorran, who wanted nothing more than to eliminate magic use.

As the popularity of Lorran's teachings grew amongst the common-folk, Lords and Kings started to adopt the religion to appease their subjects. The greatest boon to the following came when Eadmund, the lord of the city of Thel, converted to the religion and outlawed magic within the city in the year 224 of the 10th Era. As this anti-magic sentiment spread throughout the south, many mages were forced to flee north to more tolerant areas. With the conversion of Thel, the followers of Lorran started to shift from a religious movement to a political one. Many scholars suggest that this was the true beginning of the Lordosi Empire.

### The Kingdom of Thel

After Lorran's religion became widespread in the south of Wendos, the followers found themselves in a position of power. Centred in Thel, the religion began to shape the surrounding areas. Although Eadmund was the first leader to adopt the faith, it was his grandson Eathven who looked to expand when he took . For most of its history, the city of Thel was an independent city state. Eathven decided that he wanted to extend the power of his city into a kingdom.

Eathven was an ambitious leader and used his faith to galvanise the followers of Lorran in the surrounding lands. He would conduct speeches before great crowds of people, preaching that the only way to escape the horrors of the world was to follow the teachings of Lorran, who had know reached a god-like status. His influence spread and he soon amassed a large kingdom in the south of Wendos. He then set his eyes south, to the lands of Palnia.

The people of Palnia were seen as devious, hedonistic and impure, the polar opposite to the respectful, refined and pious followers of Lorran. Eathven saw an opportunity to expand his empire into the lands of Palnia. He shifted the ire of his followers towards these deviants to the south. He drummed up public support by claiming to bring the guiding light of Lorran to these uncivilised folk.

The crusade into Palnia was met by vigorous enthusiasm by the people of Thel. Thousands of peasants signed up for the militia and Eathven's forces swept into Palnia almost unopposed. Although the early days of this campaign were very successful, the momentum slowly wore down and Eathven's armies got bogged down by the Palnians in the northern mountains. As the progress of the campaign slowed, Eathven found his army fracture and splinter off to fight in hundreds of small skirmishes. The Palnians were experts in lightning-fast hit and run tactics and guerrilla warfare. This served to hamper the progress of Eathven's vast, yet unorganised force. Eventually, Thel forces managed to consolidate north of the mountains and the war ended in a stalemate. Although he did not accomplish what he set out to do, Eathven returned to Thel a hero. With this new territory under his influence, the priests of Lorran declared that Eathven was the chosen successor of Lorran. The king renamed his kingdom "Lordos" to honour his spiritual leige.

### The Kingdom of Lordos

Over the next 94 years, the Kings of Lordos expanded their borders west, to the shores of The Medriac Sea. By the year 462 9E, all lands south of the Krethdine River were under the control of Lordos. Many of the lords and landowners submitted to Lordos willingly, having already been converted to the Lorrani faith. But much of the new territory was earned with blood. The fledgling kingdom was still relatively new to the art of warfare, so these campaigns were long and fraught with setbacks.

The military expansion of Lordos could not end there, however. The lords north of the Krethdine were loyal to the city of Hask and their proximity to Thel posed a serious risk. The powers to the north had grown increasingly wary of the expansionist zealots to the south. Trade had ceased to flow south from Hask which lead to food shortages in the new kingdom of Lordos.

Spurred on by animosity of their neighbours, Lordos began to push north to capture more territory. Over the next 112 years, the growing kingdom conquered Hask and pushed its borders north to Ormkirk and Dalry. With most of the south under their control, Lordos started to prove a serious threat to Tor.

## The Lordosi Empire

Over the centuries, Lordos expanded. As the religion of Lorran grew, the power of the mages of Tor diminished. The Empire expanded its influence and conquered the feudal lords of central Wendos. Eventually the empire even conquered the once free cities of Wendos, including the mighty Tor. With the wealth gathered from these campaigns, the empire was able to expand to the east and south, conquering southern Dolhaegia, Balshkia and the rest of Palnia.

At the height of its power, Lordos controlled almost the the entire continent of Wendos, but a series of defeats and misfortune halted its conquest. By the Xth century 10E, the empire had spread itself very thin. The extremes of the Lordosi religion did not sit well with the largest atheistic Palnians and did not meld at all with the strange and ancient gods of Balshkia. The emperors had to send more and more soldiers into these regions to quell insurrection and so, the campaigning forces suffered. The empire suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of Leyenne, whose griffin cavalry rained death upon the slow moving infantry of Lordos. The army also encountered fierce resistance when they tried to venture into the ancient forests of northern Dolhaegia. The twisted roots of the forest slowed the advance of the Lordosi and the mysterious Thaidah were masters of ambush, wiping out scores of men whilst stalking between the trees.

The defeats that were dealt to Lordos in Leyenne and Dolhaegia forced the empire to consolidate once more and cease its dreams of conquest. Many scholars suggest that it was at this point that the empire started to stagnate. The animosity between Lordos and its conquered territories also continued to grow. It became evident that these lands could not be integrated and so a plan was enacted to turn them into vassal states. These realms would maintain some level of autonomy in exchange for swearing ultimate loyalty to the empire and paying heavy taxes. This allowed the vassals to retain their culture, while still obeying the laws of the empire.

## Religion

In the Lordosi Empire, the Emperor is the most important
figure. In life, the Emperor is seen as a holy figure that guides his people
along the path of righteousness. In death, the Emperor ascends to godhood and
joins his predecessors.

Although he died before the Empire was officially founded, Lorran is heralded as the patron and chief god of Lordos. It said that upon his death, a chorus of angels descended from the sky and led him to
heaven. Since Lorran, it is believed that all Emperors of Lordos ascend to
heaven and become gods upon their deaths.

The people worship the emperor in life and in death. Lorran,
being the first, is the chief amongst these deities. The Lordosi are obsessed
with death and the afterlife, the wealthy devout their fortunes to building
grand and elaborate tombs so that they might join their God-Emperors in
paradise. Those who cannot afford such extravagance will do whatever they can
to make sure they will be given a proper funeral. The Tenants of Lorran teach
that all must serve the emperor with dignity and solemn obedience if they are
to achieve a place among the righteous.

The faith is controlled by the Clergy, a group of high
ranking men that all clerics and priests of Lorran must obey. The Lordosi are
very pious people, any that do not participate in church services are usually
exiled from the Empire or made an example of. The Clergy run the church with an
iron fist, stamping out any descent or heresy with their greatest weapon, The Golandri.

The Golandri were formed to hunt down and destroy those who
practice magic within the Empire, as magic is hated above all else in Lordos.
These Golandri possess the ability to sense magic energy so they can track its
source and destroy it. Since its inception the Golandri have been highly
successful, all but eliminating magic use within the Empire. The Golandri now
spends most of its time hunting down heretics and non-believers as well as
those preaching blasphemy and the word of other gods.

## Government

Lordos is a theocratic monarchy, with the Emperor acting as both head of the state and church. The Emperor wields supreme authority and his power is absolute. The title of Emperor is hereditary, passing to the eldest son. There have been few cases where the mantle has been passed to a daughter, but these are very rare.