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** Regions of the Empire
Midlands (Etra, Vala, Isla), the Provinces (Midwood, ?), the Colonies
(Cover Islands, ?), and the Golden Road.
The Empire
How long has the Empire been around? 111 ages, but how many is that?
Current one is 62 years, but some have been less than a year.
The best tax records in the oldest provinces say the empire is about
60 generations (or 3000 years) old. The average length of an 'age' is
therefore, about 27 years. The General Edict was given 62 years ago
and has done a better job of keeping the nation running than the
previous code did (the previous Emperor's reign was rife with civil
war).
**** The Emperor
Emperor Josef IV is the official name for Lady Lizbeth Yates, the
eldest daughter and only remaining survivor of the Yates line. Though
technically, only a man may claim the title of Emperor, few complain
that the Lady Lizbeth legally declared herself a man (or rather, few
who complained about the matter remain among the living).
*** The Continent
**** The Midlands
North of the Marble Isle
Like the Holy Roman Empire if it were actually in Rome. Very
melting-pot of cultures. High politics, medium magic.
I need to figure out the bodies of water to get more details.
Etra, Vala, Isla [transcribe from notebooks]
Gleimendun is like Constantinople, a second capital of a broken piece
of the Empire. Because it has broken off, the Song of Conquest is
diminishing, allowing more old magics into the land.
*** The Provinces
**** The North
There is a great difference between the area of the north claimed by
the Empire, and that controlled by the Empire. The only area of the
North (or Chill-Lands) from which the Empire has ever successfully
collected taxes is the southernmost border settlements (of which there
are 12) and Fort North.
It is often said that a single southern town could more than match the
value of the entire Northern province of the Empire, and that may be
true in terms of wealth or resources, but in reality few forts
anywhere in the Empire can brag the same quality of recruits brought
into the Imperial Legion as from the tiny northern fort and outlying
regions.
The occasional goliath barbarian or glacier dwarf fighter making their
way south and wanting to try their hands (and axes) at Legion life is
more than enough incentive to keep the fort fully staffed and
supplied.
**** The Midwood
The Northwestern-most stretch of the Deepwood, this is the most
'civilized' area of that great forest, or at least that most citizens
of the Empire could ever hope to reach.
Full of elves, gnomes, florans, faunus, halflings, and their kin, the
Midwood is one of the most ethically non-human locations in the Jar.
Regiments of the Empire's military raised from the Midwood are often
called 'menageries' and use strange, but undoubtedly effective,
tactics in combat.
The ghostwise halflings come from an ancient ruin just outside the
midwood.
*** The Colonies
**** Cover Islands
Oft beset by pirates and even more often by deadly storms, the Covers
are an expensive and dangerous colony to keep. That said, the islands
remain one of the few places for the empire to acquire rare volcanic
minerals and alchemical agents useful in the development of magical
weapons.
After the Black Tongues were disbanded in the Empire, many fled to the
islands, where they find, fewer and more lax regulations on their
activities.
*** The Golden Road
Running from the Citadel of Ice in the North to the Feet of the Last
King in the South and twisting, diverging, merging, and turning around
all sorts of places in between, the Gold Road is revered as sacred,
and it's tireless, invisible creator worshiped by those who would
seek safety traveling along its many gleaming golden cobblestones.
The Golden Road belongs to the Golden God, though it is claimed by the
Empire where it overlaps land claimed by the Empire. That said, the
Golden Guides maintain control of the road regardless of the claims.
You need a Golden Guide for the golden road, or you'll travel 100
miles and never lose sight of where you started, or worse, you'll go
90 miles to see your destination right ahead of you, then 90 more
without it seeming to get any closer.
The Golden Guides are either Travel Domain Clerics or (Fiend or
Celestial) Warlocks. Despite the ambiguity, the Golden God himself is
actually an Icon and a Fiend, a powerful one at that, and was involved
in the discovery of the spell which created the tiefling pact. Once a
gnome, the Golden God can be built as a [Gnome (Fine) Wizard 15
(Transmutation)/Patron 5/Icon 5].
The Golden God always needs more gold for the road, and the standing
orders of the Golden Guides are to find and aid parties that can
supply large quantities of gold. The Golden God builds the road
daily, moving it slowly towards an unknown end.
**** Lair
The whole of the Golden Road is the Golden God's Lair. The gnome
himself is cloaked in a Perpetual Greater Invisibility spell (via
level 5 Icon power) and can cast *fabricate* at will.
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