The Illian Empire

Overview:
The Illian Empire, more commonly simply referred to as The Empire, is the single largest polity—both in size and population—in the known world. It dominates the Proximian culture sphere and no single country can rival its global projection of power. There are nations which the empire competes with—the resurgent Aeneian’s would be considered a great power, for example—but there is no country on equal footing with the Empire’s war machine. The Illlian Legion is a major contributing factor of this. The Illian Empire is the globe’s singular super power.

There are numerous provinces, duchies, principalities and counties which constitute the Empire. It is important to note, however, that the Empire is not a single nation as such. Rather, it is an ethnically diverse confederation of fiefdoms and nation-states that owe fealty to the Magnus Basileus, their penultimate and unifying liege. It is through the Magnus Basileus that they claim legitimacy, and the only thing that they have in common is their shared Imperial culture, a common tongue, and their unwavering belief in the Proximian religion.

The Magnus Basileus, as the leader of the greatest Proximian nation on Phoenicia, is seen by her people as the steadfast defender of the faith. As such, the relationship between the Holy City of Nova Carthago and the Illian Empire can be described as cordial—this is owing as much to the Illian Empire’s role in expanding the faith as it is the shared dynasty of the Magnus Basileus and Proximus. This friendly relationship benefits both the church and the Empire, as Nova Carthago presently finds itself land-locked and completely encircled by Empire territory.

The Illian Empire stretches from the barren Savage Lands to the West, through the lush flatlands in the center, to the densely wooded Aelmil forest in the East. North of the flatlands lies the frosted peaks of the Forsaken mountains, the Five Dragons lie to the South.

The Flatlands and Southern Coast:
The Empire’s heartland is its most populous. Nova Lumia, Titan’s Nest, Silverwall, Seacastle and Highlake are collectively referred to as the Five Dragons; as city-states that are powerful enough to exert their clout on the global stage, they form a thriving trade zone on the Empire’s South-Central coast. With a population of 18 million, Titan’s Nest is the smallest city in the region. Nova Lumia is the most prominent city among the Five Dragons, as it is the Empire’s capital and seat of executive authority. The Empire’s central holdings are also its breadbasket; North of the coastline there are vast, irrigated plains of crops and huge livestock pens. The South-Central coast is the most urbanized region of the empire; plantations and farmsteads dominate the center. The sovereign city-state and holy city, Nova Carthago sits in the center of the Illian Empire's heartland.

The Aelmil Forest:
The Aelmill forest’s dark, primordial woods sprawl out in a nearly unbroken fan of ancient woodland on the Empire’s Eastern frontier—only the rapid current of the Lignum Vitae divides them in half. The Lignum Vitae is the longest river in the Illian Empire, discharging more than 2 million cubic meters of water into the ocean per second. It is as wide as a small sea and is nearly untraversable by ship due to the whirlpool of its swiftly moving waters. The Aelmill region is the ancestral home of the Empire’s elven population, and the architecture of its cities reflect that. Summerbush and Deepmere are not built into the woodland—the cities sprout up around it like organic sentinels of twisted oak and glass.

The Forsaken Mountains:
The Forsaken Mountains command the Empire’s Northern boundary in ways that few geographical features can—it is a chain of peaks and ice-capped mountains; individually, each of these colossal summits would be a landmark on their own. Collectively, they form a curtain of towering rock that separates civilization from the wild lands of the Northern Wastes. The magocracy of Cycien is the empire’s northernmost settled province; beyond it and across the Forsaken Mountains lies land that is untamed, uncharted, and dangerous. All manner of magical beasts call the wastes home—from dragons, manticores, giants, and everything in between. The Forsaken Mountains’ frozen peaks were once an elven colony, but the Dark Elves that call the subterranean web ways beneath the mountains home have long since adapted to life in darkness and can only be considered distant cousins to their modern-day brethren.

The Savage Lands:
The Savage Lands are dry, rocky, and largely barren. They are mineral rich and vegetation poor—sparsely populated except for the oasis city of Quetz'A-Telako. Pre-conquest, the Savage lands consisted of primarily nomadic efreet tribes. Though their population was greatly diminished in the Djinn wars, the Savage Lands are home to more efreet than any other place in the Empire. Castle Ostview is nestled in the far North of the Savage Lands, straddling the salt flats and the beginning of the Forsaken Mountain chain.