The Empire of the Sun
Ever since the Fae Insurrection and the creation of the Rift which ripped Faenera in half, many ambitious kingdoms have risen but quickly fallen as they all tried to unify the newly broken Faenera, a place that was rumored to be lawless and godless. This was the story of Faenera, of warring lesser factions all vying for control roughly 7,000 years ago, all the lands wild and untamed. This changed when one kingdom stood above the rest, and established themselves as the Empire of Faenera. This kingdom, known as the Empire of the Sun, has reigned control over the majority of Faenera for roughly 5,500 years, and they are still looking to expand and conquer the North.
The Empire of the Sun stood out from the rest of the other Empires, as Elvish and Human resentment was extremely high for that era, and the Empire of the Sun was the one of the only sovereignties that offered a safe haven for Elves and Humans alike. The Empire of the Sun is a Diarchy that is led by two separate Monarchs that have different bloodlines, either two Queens, two Kings, or one Queen and one King, however one must always be Human and one must always be Elvish. In this Diarchy Republic, Human and Elvish powers share the Executive Branch, the Human politicians control the Martial and Judicial Branch and the Elvish politicians control the Legislative and Castative branch; the Castative branch controlling the use of magic within the Empire.
The Empire is located in Hiyokuna Tochi, a land largely civilized with spatterings of small towns and mostly farmland that all connect to the Empire’s capital; Kiyosima. The Empire holds most of its control within the South, unable to fully extend its influence to the North due to the unique problem of traversing the Rift. Although the Empire has ‘claimed’ all of Faenera, many parts of the North lack the authority and the Taiyoken to make it so. Taiyoken, or Sunblades, are the guard and military force of the Empire.
Such frustrations are seen with Ketch and the Ballast as the Ballast has always troubled the Empire, and has proven to be the most difficult alliance. Although technically Ketch has been colonized by the Empire and is under their rule, the Ballast still stretches their laws, and keeps much of their independence while pushing the Empire away every time it tries to exert more control over Ketch. Due to the Goblinoid clans constantly reappearing and the economical difficulties to set up outposts in the Finelía Forest; it is not a worthwhile investment for the Empire to try and completely overthrow the Ballast, as it will be expensive and especially dangerous for the Empire’s economy as failure will result in the loss of their only port city and the Kellet Infantry that the Ballast provides.
The Empire of the Sun values Equality, Honor, and Progress more than anything else, and they are unique in the fact that they claim to have brought the godless lands their Gods back, and yet they are largely a spiritual government, but not a religious government. The Empire spends all of its funding on the scientific research of Solarmancy, a new branch of magic that utilizes the raw radiant energy of the sun in an arcane fashion, without the need of a communion or relationship to a Greater Deity. This phenomenon was discovered around 500 years ago by the ingenious gnome, Mydira Goldstamp. Since its inception, the Empire has greatly shifted in power and focus towards the arcane and the sciences. As such, the Empire is on constant look out for scientifically engineered minds; ones who can be funded within Kiyosima to further their research of Sunstones and Solarmancy. The Empire is eager under the current leadership to overtake the Rift, and finally fully colonize the North to gain access to natural resources they’ve previously been unable to attain.
One of such motivation would be the City-States of Muspelurn. The Empire regards the City-States of Muspelurn with cold recognition and greed, as they hold many natural resources that would be immensely profitable, and useful for the creation of Sunstones. Although the Empire has similar resources through Bhureat, Muspelurn and its city-states withhold very powerful assets through magma forges, abundant precious metals, and unique alchemical ingredients. The Empire however cannot convince Muspelurn to join the Empire, as they have no reason to, and the Empire can never fully launch a colonization attempt due to its location across the Rift, and being completely underground. Although relations are tense and mistrusting, the Empire is eager to do whatever trade they can with Muspelurn, and hopefully push agents on the inside of Muspelurn to better understand their resources and full power.
Because of the Empire’s adoration of arcane and scientific progress with the lens of spiritual enlightenment through the Sun, Empire laws tend to be more biased towards those who are in favor of the arcane. This does not apply to necromancy however, as recently a ban of necromantic magic except for the use of healing and resurrection has been put in place, to encourage the furthering of research that aligns with Empire interests.
The Empire of the Sun’s raw military forces are roughly 26,400 Taiyoken that reside primarily in Hiyokuna Tochi and its various settlements, 1,400 Shirobā that are contracted under the Empire, and 3,400 Kellets that reside within Ketch and the Finelía Forest. Although war between other factions has been extremely rare, the Empire of the Sun is known to utilize Solshbios, highly trained Solarmancers that have been taught to utilize Solarmancy to quickly and efficiently cut down armies with holy blasts of raw radiant energy.
Solarmancy itself is fairly restricted within the Empire. Although lower level Solarmancy spells are used fairly commonplace within Kiyosima, higher level Solarmancy spells are kept under strict supervision by the Castative Branch. Not wishing to let the secrets of Solarmancy spread to the world, the scribing of Solarmancy Spell Scrolls is illegal, and if a Solarmancer ever decides to leave the Empire, they have been known to be hunted down by Solshibos, or are kept under careful eye to make sure they don’t spread the knowledge of higher level Solarmancy spells.
This is an established truth of the Empire of the Sun, and very few know the origins of such restrictions nor the reasoning behind it. Those who do know, which include a very select few of the Solûns and the Elvish monarch, have access to the third layer of the High Prison, and understand the secretive creation process of Sunstones. This secret is dire, and they all have the understanding that if the secret of the creation process of Sunstones were to be released, it would spell absolute disaster for The Empire of the Sun.
Goals
Due to the sizable tithes from the settlements that are under the Empire flag as well the natural resources gained from Bhureat and Hiyokuna Tochi, the Empire has a steady economy that they utilize primarily for scientific research. The Empire of the Sun wishes to master the art of Solarmancy, with the eventual goal of pioneering a powerful enough Solarmancy spell that can dispel the Rift together; so they can truly unite all of Faenera.
Although the Empire is aggressively ambitious in wishing to absorb the Ballast and the City-States of Muspelurn all under their flag; the Empire of the Sun strives for equality among all lineages and wishes to rekindle Human and Elvish connections throughout Faenera, and hopes that one day it will be an object of the long forgotten in the past.
The Empire equally despises Undead and the art of Necromancy that is not used in Healing; and sects of Solarmancy research investigate the possibilities of banshing undead forever, and en-masse consecrating lands that were previously desecrated; especially the Pinalus Swamps.
Relationships
Citizens of the Empire tend to be rather content with the Empire as a whole, understanding that the civilization it provides, and the protection against the various monstrosities and dangers outside of it, outweigh the hefty tithes and laws. However there are always citizens that are not fully content with the Empire, typically being citizens who don’t ascribe to the Empire being a Human and Elvish Diarchy, and instead believe that the cultures should just exist separate from each other and not integrate so deeply. In addition to this, there are those that believe the Empire is too spiritual, and strangely not religious at all, believing that the Empire has ulterior motives in how they glorify science and the sun, and tend to push others who are not as intellectually gifted to the side.
The Empire is in direct relation with the Claw of Bahamut, constantly hiring and contracting Shirobā to work as protectors, wardens, and even powerful soldiers in the midst of their military. The Empire feels rather neutral towards their reverence of Bahamut and their ultimate goal of destroying Chromatic dragons, but is happy to lend a hand in hopes of eventually understanding and gaining access to their rare weapons and armor.
The Eye of Ioun has proven to be useful to the Empire in educating individuals in the arts of magic, be it divine or arcane, and the Eye of Ioun holds many brilliant minds within the Pearl Library. Although their philosophy differs from the Empire, the Empire understands their importance on the Faenera, and will occasionally request their aid in exchange for sparse information on Solarmancy that they would normally refuse to grant the Eye of Ioun access to record.
The Natural Order has always been a thorn in the side of the Empire. With most of the Natural Order’s influence and base of operations in the North, the Empire has never been able to fully squash their existence. Their feelings of suspicion and anger against the Empire due to their questionable creation and acquisition of Sunstones has mostly proven to just be incredibly annoying to the Empire. Although the Empire does not believe the Natural Order to be a large enough threat to declare war upon, their practices and insignia are still considered to be taboo within much of Hiyokuna Tochi, and outwardly claiming one’s allegiance to the Natural Order will certainly result in jail time.
Although the Empire of the Sun would never outwardly support Riftwalkers, nor their practices, the Empire is still known to be in hidden contact with those who research the strange; mutating effects of the Mist within the Rift. Although the Empire sees this as a way of further understanding the Rift and what makes it so dangerous, there are always those who believe they simply wish to utilize the Mist in the same way that Riftwalkers seek to do so. The Empire has recently been interested in the rumors of the Riftwalker’s ability to quell the spread of the Rift Husk’s curse within a body, however this proves difficult as the facade is still kept up that Riftwalkers are an entirely dangerous entity for the sake of the public, which proves only partially true.
Figures of Interest
King Bertrand Tremmald
Queen Leiastris Sulinya
Male Taiyō Human
King Tremmald was raised with strict Empire beliefs, and he made his way towards royalty through hard work and determination, over the course of many years. As his age wanes, inching closer and closer to senility, King Tremmald worries about the future of the Human side of the Empire. Elves have longer lifespans than Humans, and since he spent most of his life working for his spot on the throne where he can further the ideals of the Empire of the Sun, he is concerned that the Elves will simply have more time to amass more influence while his legacy will be awaiting fruition. As such, Tremmald has been spending much of his influence looking back at the history of the Empire, to find a lasting answer to keep the Human side of the diarchy in power; and he plans on doing this by having an heir that is Half-Elvish. This is a well-kept secret within King Tremmald’s close circle, but he continues to plan so that the Empire’s legacy will last beyond his lifetime.
Female Soldis Elf
Queen Sulinya always has her eyes raised towards the horizon. A strong believer in the ideals and glory of the Empire of the Sun, Queen Sulinya wishes more than anything to banish the Rift that plagues this continent, and to spread the influence of the Empire to all the corners of Faenera. It irks her constantly how frustratingly close the Empire is to fully colonizing Ketch, and Queen Sulinya is constantly pushing her influence to send more troops, scouts, and Solshibos to gather more information and set up outposts in the North. Queen Sulinya is rather young for a Queen, and intends to do much in her lifetime, but will not waste a second of her time waiting for anyone.
General Godric Gloryrunner
Lawbearer Allucina Felaurian
Male Human
Godric Gloryrunner is the general of the Taiyoken and the commander-in-chief of the Martial Branch. General Gloryrunner experiences a hefty amount of opposition within Kiyosima and with many of the political figures as he is a foreigner, and originally comes from Enikera. However King Tremmald made an exception for General Gloryrunner due to his mastery of tactics and his expertise as a commander. Although he is on the older side, rather gruff, and mistrusting of Elves more than King Tremmald would like, he is loyal to the Empire, and is always prepared for War. Rumor has it that General Gloryrunner himself actually trains a select few Taiyoken, which under his tutelage, become near-godlike warriors.
Female Somnitar
Lawbearer Allucina Felaurian is rather young, atypical for the Grand Lawbearer, which is usually a spot reserved for the eldest and most wizened within the Judicial Branch. She has risen to power under the guise of Human, with an uncanny knack for understanding people and their motives. The Royal Court dispels magic upon entry and magic itself is not allowed within the court, however Lawbearer Felaurian knowingly breaks this rule, instead using her connection to Kabni to peer into the minds of those within her court, gathering their ideas, thoughts, ideals, bonds, and fears. On the outside however, Lawbearer Felaurian is known to be gentle, comforting, and is always willing to hear every side of the story; but as soon as someone steps into her court, she already knows what they are going to say, and why they are going to say it. To Allucina, it is a necessary bending of the rules to ensure that the corrupt politicians and criminals are always seen for what they are, despite whatever silver tongue they may possess.
Solûn Miralithe Trïstacia
Solûn Mythras Valquien
Female High Elf
Miralithe Trïstacia is a middle-aged High Elf, whose family dates to noble blood far before the Empire’s existence. She is one of the Solûns overseeing many of the projects and discussions within the Castative Branch, and has proven to be incredibly intelligent and quick-witted. She believes that Solarmancy itself is incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands, and although she is inspired by Solarmancy and the scientific progress it brings, she wholeheartedly believes that scientific progress of the Empire will be stunted if the secrets of Solarmancy are shared freely. As such, she is constantly vying to restrict the usage of Solarmancy, and fully supports the branding and criminalization of individuals who have unauthorized knowledge of Solarmancy.
Male High Elf
Mythras Valquien is an older High Elf, who is enamoured by the glory of Solarmancy. Born and raised within the Empire, Mythras Valquien worships the ideals of the Empire and he personally pushes for every aspect of Solarmancy to be advanced and researched. Although sometimes seen as over-zealous, as he wholeheartedly believes that the usage of Solarmancy is innately spiritual and will eventually lead those who use it towards spiritual enlightenment, Solûn Valquien is incredibly critical of arcane work, and is a phenomenal teacher, debater, and critic. He is one the largest contributors to the recent ban of Necromancy, and believes that Solarmancy should be accessible to all who are willing to learn its glory. Mythras is one the few Solûns who understands the truth behind Sunstones and has access to the third layer of the High Prison.
High Archivist Craezum Lossxalium
Representative Iaynore Suulmathin
Male High Elf
High Archivist Craezum Lossxalium is one the eldest figures within the political sphere of the Empire. Having lived through two Queens and four Kings lifetimes, things have gotten rather dull for him, and his will to live continues to wane. Lossxalium was gifted ever since he was a child with an immaculate eidetic memory, and he was destined to keep track of written laws, judicial trials, and important documents. This job has continued to plague Lossxalium, as he believes he has seen too much of this world then he cares to, but continues to persist living for the wishes of the Queen and King, as he understands that his role is unique and very beneficial for keeping tabs on the history of the Empire. Lossxalium secretly partakes frequently in the illicit drug, Forget Me Not, as he feels truly alive when he’s finally able to forget all that he’s seen.
Female Wood Elf
Iaynore Suulmathin is the representative of Kiyosima in the House of Lords, and acts as the tiebreaker vote in the Legislative branch, as well as the representative of the people when it comes to the Queen and King, and other political matters. Considered to be rather young for her position, Iaynore has won the hearts of many, as she is one of the few political figures to frequently travel outside of Kiyosima to understand the people better, actually sitting down and speaking with civilians so she can better understand what her vote is going to directly affect and how to actually represent them. Although this is what many see, there are a very eclectic select few who see past Iaynore’s gentle and understanding demeanor. In actuality, she is bound by the Tribunal, owing a debt of blood, and knowing that any day they can call upon a favor from her, she spends her time gaining favors from every lord and lady within the Empire, through subtle social manipulation whenever she favors one side over the other. To many, it seems like she is being just and fair, but she is counting the favors in her grasp hoping that one day they might be enough when the Tribunal comes to collect.