Malkenian Imperium

The Malkenian Imperium's flag, featuring the red-and-white clam, which symbolizes the longevity of the Imperium.

## Society

### Races

Humans, with significant demographics of Suli, Ratfolk, Catfolk, Gith, and various other majority races of conquered territories

## Politics

### Ruler Title

Imperator

The **Malkenian Imperium** was a Third Era nation that spans across the entirety of the Malkenian continent. Known for its authoritarian, imperialist government, stark and violent anti-magic stances, extremely powerful military and constant meddling in the affairs of Eukitia, they are not looked upon favorably diplomatically, however are rightfully feared. The Malkenians are known primarily for their expansive military technology, boasting industrial might only dreamed of by other nations by virtue of the nation's vast hyperil reserves that are used to power them.

## Culture

The Imperium and its culture is defined through their imperialism and oppressiveness. In the Imperium, freedom is viewed as lack of purpose, the strong deserve to rule over the weak, and militarism is palpable even in civillian society. A nation whose culture and economy is entirely constructed on a never-ending war machine, the Malkenian Imperium is almost constantly in some form of war, whether they be conquering new territory to exploit or fighting amongst themselves.

Highly authoritarian, the Malkenian Imperium views any degree of freedom as weakness. While the government cannot directly govern the lives of every single citizen, it does so to the best of its ability, offering rigid pathways and methods to success. A life spent outside of these rigid and immutable paths, considered to be "not in service" to the Imperium, is seen as dreadful and pathetic by many members of Malkenian society.

While many nations across Rosenwelt have by and large put the exact species of a member of their society to the wayside, the Imperium has not. As a result of their constant conquering of new territory, and the often discontent populations of those who have been occupied, there is a tense relationship between humans and the majority races of many other conquered nations in the Imperium.

As a result of the Draconic Cataclysm, the early Third Era Malkenians grew extremely wary of magic and the manipulation of Focus. As a result, they took an extreme anti-magic stance, and have held it throughout the period. The use of magic is outlawed in the Imperium, and none of their technology uses or manipulates Focus, instead using hyperil to fuel them. Mages are often arrested or even executed on sight in the Imperium upon showing any sign of their skills.

The Imperium pushes a cultural agenda that implies that the strong deserve to rule the weak. Much of the Imperium's ideology and justification for its imperial nature falls to this simple idea. Individuals who are weak serve the strong, and the strong serve the stronger. The entirety of Imperium hierarchy is built on this idea, and many of its citizens worship this idea as fact, rather than a moral justification for imperial attitudes.

## Military and Technology

The military of the Malkenian Imperium is perhaps one of the most impressive features of the nation. As a result of the vast hyperil reserves the Imperium has access to - in fact, being the only place on Rosenwelt it appears in enough quanitity to be harvested reliably - their engineers are able to power technology that artificers of other nations could only dream of. This has led to the Imperium having some of the most impressive technology on Rosenwelt, and even within the Material Planes, with immense production power and the only nation that can be truly described as industrial.

### Military Technology

Much of the technology developed by the Imperium is put towards their war-waging efforts. These technologies include, but are not limited to:

* Firearms, developed roughly around the same time as they appeared in the Far East and New World. While far from the only nation with access to firearms, the Imperium is the only one that can produce enough of them to outfit their armies with them as standard-issue.
* Imperium Tanks are slow, hyperil-powered armored vehicles that move on treads, armed with massive cannons. They were designed specifically to counter Balgarkely war-mages during the Imperial Invasion of Balgarkely and since have been used as invasion tools in other campaigns.
* Warmachina are essentially steelbound that do not have attached souls, and instead function purely upon hyperil. Functionally robots, the warmachina are designed to be terrifying and destructive constructs on the battlefield, not unlike small Steelbound Titans. Most warmachina are unmanned, however particularly large and expensive units will usually have an ace pilot at their helm.
* Steamships, naval ships fuelled by hyperil engines allowing them to propel themselves across the ocean at immense speeds without draining Focus-based resources.
* While airships became somewhat commonplace in the late Third Era and were used by those nations and companies that could afford them, the Imperium was known to possess airships that were more advanced than their competitors, and in greater numbers, often using them for aerial bombardments.

### Malkenian Imperial Legions

The primary unit of the Malkenian military is the Legion - about 6000 soldiers and military equipment such as warmachina and tanks, split into 10 groups of 600, called Cohorts. Each legion is granted a name from the region or city they originate from - for example, the legion attached to the Imperial capital, Hieropolis, is known as Legion dam Hieropolis. Legions will primarily pull manpower from the city or region they originate from, however will occassionally pull from lands farther away if they are not capable of filling all of their ranks.

Legions tend to operate relatively independently of one another. They will typically be granted a command from the Imperator, which will be carried out by the commander of the legion, the Legatus. Outside of this, legions operate mostly on their own and achieve their objectives under their own power.

Each legion, alongside its 6000 soldiers, is often equipped with various supporting equipment such as warmachina, tanks, and airships. Each legion is equipped depending on their actual needs, and the military equipment attached to each will vary as a result. However, most legions will have at least one Imperator-class Airship, which they use to carry their forces and move quickly to deployment zones.

While uncommon, legions will occasionally form rivalries with one another that can result in violent outcomes. When a legion is operating alongside another legion in a large scale conflict, if one legion fails their duties and it impacts the effectiveness of another - which it often does - rivalries will often be formed between one another. These rivlaries can become so intense that legions will sometimes purposefully attack other legions, to prevent them from getting in their way in combat.