The year is 108 Imperial Ascension (1154 Standard Calendar, SC for short.), The forces of the dragon empress have conquered the lands of what was formerly the realms of Iavhlis. It's armies, after years of small skirmishes and raids, decisively smashing through the forces arrayed against it and utterly destroying the realms, scattering the peoples of the Iavhlian realms to the four winds and ensuring that the realms rested fully in the hands of the empire.
Now, the dust settles from the conflict. While the land is conquered, the sheer devastation and depopulation requires more people to colonise the bare, if developed territory.
You are one of those granted land within the new territories, in return for faithful service in the empress' armies or as a chance for a new life in a relatively new land.
CHARACTER SHEET:
-Mandatory Fields
Name: (Make it sound good please.)
Species/Race: [Drow/Kobold/Dwarf/Orc/Hobgoblin] (Some species may be limited in Character Creations options, check the Races spoiler for more info)
Sex: [Male or Female]
Class: [Lower/Middle/Upper]
Age: (Something reasonable dependant on species. AKA no kids or old people
)
Half Dragon: [Yes/No] (While almost certainly more powerful, this option carried a much greater difficulty.)
Service to the Empire: [Veteran of the War/Assigned Administrator/Fresh Landholder/Other] (If you guys can think of another good reason for the land grant, put it down and mark it being a non-standard option by putting other in parenthesis)
-Optional fields (A sheet with these filled will be more likely to be chosen than a sheet without.)
Background:
Description:
LOREThis'll be updated as the game goes on, so anything not on here likely exists I just haven't written it down yet.
The Races of the empire are few yet diverse, consisting of unlikely allies united by the dragon empress, along with those smashed and rent apart by the bloody conquests of the empress or otherwise neutral to the affairs of the empire.
DROW:
The dark elves, or drow as they're commonly known as, have been with the dragon empress since the beginning, being her initial army and her most wealthy supporters. Prominent in the empire for making up a major part of it's nobility, the drow have seemingly abandoned the depths of the underworld for that of their surface holdings, their striking white hair and dark skins a constant reminder of who rules in the empire for it's conquered subjects. The Drow have gained great wealth since throwing their support behind the dragon empress, profiting greatly from looting and pillaging the conquests. Serving primarily as wealthier soldiers in the imperial army, drow and seldom seen in the front line, being used mostly as infiltrators and raiders. What few drow are on the frontlines are typically strong foes to face, well armed and armoured, with a high chance of both weapons and armour being magically forged or enchanted after forging, and serve as officers.
Tangentially, the drown are known as plotters and back-stabbers, something that hasn't really left them even under the reign of the dragon empress, though any that plot against the dragon empress have themselves and their entire extended families executed. Drow characters cannot take Lower Class as a character option.
KOBOLD:
The kobolds are the fanatical supporters of the dragon empress, and the essential backbone of the empire. While only the kobolds know how many exist within the empire, their numbers and rapid breeding indicate that they are a major portion of it's population and economy. Almost every administrative position is filled by kobolds, their loyalty to the empire a factor in this state of affairs. The small, reptilian species has always had a reputation as crafty, and with their status of those maintain the law has ensured the law is effective though biased in the empire's favour. What soldiers the kobolds contribute to the empire are typically engineers, trained in the use of siege weaponry and trapbuilding most kobolds rarely see field action, only seeing combat in sieges where their creations can be used to best effectiveness.Kobold characters cannot take Veteran of the War as a character option.
DWARF:
Originally standing on opposition to the dragon empress, the allegiance of the dwarves came to the empress after a particularly harrowing set of negotiations, effectively annexing the dwarves into the empire. While hardly bedfellows with the other races of the empire, the dwarves co-operate with the others well enough with little trouble nowadays. Occupying all levels of strata in the empire, the dwarves have become a well-known and steady sight, with one peculiarity; the the high prominence of dwarven playwrights and poets. The amount of dwarven-made plays, poems and songs in the empire and the popularity of them are staggering, though the imperial policy of making any new works go straight to the empress first for judgement and the relative conservativeness of the works go a fair way of explaining their predominance. Seen as a arduous and honourable career choice, many dwarves young and old join the military, serving as the heavy shield wall that hold the empires lines, and bristling with spears to ensure no enemy gets close. A few end up training more severely, being assigned as stalwart and reliable bodyguards to officers.
ORC:
Serving as the mass of bodies in the empire, along as being a way to secure the borders, the orcs swearing fealty to the empire and the empress are the shock troops and horde used to batter an enemy into submission or crush them utterly. Typically settled apart from the other races in swathes of land called an 'Orc March', these swaths of land shift easily as the borders of the empire grow, though the inhabitants need little motivation aside from new foes and looting opportunities to emigrate. The Orc marches serve to destabilise a border whilst giving the empire a casus belli to invade and conquer; the orc raids from the marches desolate the border regions, and the empire eagerly waits a counterattack for it to send forth it's armies to conquer the offending nation that tried defending itself. Within the tribes orc culture has changed relatively little, save that the dragon empress is effectively their god.
Of course, not all orcs are tribal. The few intelligent and cunning enough to play politics have found themselves with their own noble houses in the empire. From these houses come lineages of warriors both intelligent and extraordinarily tough. Combined with heavy set bulls as their mounts (Horses cannot reasonably carry an orc, armoured or not.) and well equipped, these orcish knights are far more feared than their tribal cousins, and while a measure more disciplined still barrel into their foes with reckless abandon.
HOBGOBLIN:
If the other races in the empire have particular 'niches' in the empire, then the hobgoblins have carved their own by not having one. Effectively one of the more populous races in the empire, the hobgoblins are typically referred to as jacks of all trades. Equally adept in one trade or another the hobgoblins are are able to cover a variety of trades and roles with equal adaptability. The militaristic culture of the empire combined with the ethos of the hobgoblins ensure a steady supply of both troops and small landholders to keep the empire's people fed and it's armies staffed, with hobgoblin troops filling a variety of roles and forming the mainstay of the army.
DRAGON:
Revered and honoured by the empire, the dragons are considered wizened and powerful servants of the gods. While the empire has gotten along with them, it has had issues with a few others. The empire sees little distinction between metallic and chromatic dragons, as both are considered equally regardless of shininess.
HALF-DRAGON:
Not so much a species as it is a combination of two by the usual method, half-dragons are revered in the empire as demigods, and for good reason. The empress has a standing order of a gift of land and the promotion of any half dragon into the ranks of nobility. For many lower class families the gift in itself is enough of an incentive to try wooing a dragon. Yet there are those who reject the gift, and thus choose the second option; service to the dragon empress in a direct manner, serving as her enforcers and agents in the empire, advancing her goals ever forward.
While most historians agree the empire was founded at 1046 SC, not many know what the catalyst for it's formation prior to the dragon empress appearing inside the Drow realm of Kvorgral, soon subjugating nearby areas in the underworld with it's armies of both drow and kobolds. This burgeoning realm soon had enough material and manpower to start expanding onto the surface, it's primary reason it could not being access. It wasn't long before it set it's sights on the neighbouring dwarves. Pre-empting what would've likely been bloody war the dragon empress managed to negotiate the integration of the dwarven realm into her empire, adding the potent dwarven warriors into the ranks of the imperial army.
It's sights firmly set on the surface after adding the dwarf realms, the empress made overtures to the orcs in order to add their strength into the imperial army. Given the orcs proclivities, the resultant violence committed by the empress that day had a resounding legacy amongst the orc tribes with the empress taking a seat at the top of the orcish hierarchy. To secure the orcs into imperial service would take a much bigger feat. With the ancient animosity between orcs and elves, the decision was made to invade the kingdom of Lonufari, with the goal of exterminating the elves there. Bloody and vicious with many dead on both sides, the war was eventually victory for the empire, driving the elves out of their ancestral home and turning it into an orc march, securing the modern south-eastern border of the empire. In the years following the empire expanded massively, carving out chunks from the old realms that were powerless to stop it, integrating the hobgoblins in short order.
Then the empire's borders reached those of the realms of Iavhlis, and paused. Consolidating it's gains while it looked ever towards the lands of Iavhlis. While orc raids were initially carried out as standard, an imperial decree come down a few weeks after the raid started; all humans were to be annihilated. Any consorting with them were to also be annihilated. The result of this were raids and counterraids that were devastating, with the realms of Iavhlis using bands of adventurers to retaliate against the brutal orc raids. With no proof of who had hired the adventurers, the empire was stymied in it's regular response to the raids on the orcs. Coming up with the bright idea to fake a raid against the orcs, the empire used a false flag to justify an invasion of the the realms, to devastating effect; within a week of orchestrating the raid the imperial army had driven deep into the realm, exterminating what humans had failed to run from the advancing armies and in a scant few months had managed to secure the entirety of Iavhlis.
Little is known about the ruler of the Dragon Empire, save for the fact she is half drow, half black dragon. The Empress' rise to power is hardly known and most never see the empress in their lives, and those that do see only the ebon black of her armour, with little speaking witnesses to any that have seen the empress in the flesh.
((Feel free to ask any questions you have about the setting and such to help with character backgrounds and the like.))
Author
Topic: Reign of the Dragon Empress (SG/Quest) (Read 1627 times)