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Recent History
The rapid rise of Imperial power following the apparent success of the Southern Crusades lead the Royal House of Sextus to great folly in announcing themselves the rulers of the world, without taking the time to learn which other powers occupied the world of Oerth. This lead to the Imperial Wars, a war on two fronts consisting of three campaigns. The first a partial invasion of the United People of the Pools in the Southlands who later allied themselves with the Kingdom of Tír against the Empire, the second an unprovoked assault which laid siege to the City of Mor’Koc by the Kingdom of Tír, and the third a invasion of the Kingdom of Tír. After a short and bloody campaign, the Nameless took direct control of the first Legion and left the Elven Capital devastated. This in turn led to the direct intervention by the Lord of the Forest in the scouring of the Imperial Court. Since then several members have sought to remove themselves from the ‘cursed’ and unwanted position as head of the Empire, and thereby avoid the divine interference of the Gods. This has resulted in the Empire becoming ‘headless’.
Currently the Empire exists in a re-active state, carefully maintaining its current borders and unable to assert full Imperial control over its vast territories. The Empire finds itself divided, unable to direct its resources in the ruthless achievement of its goals, such as occurred in the founding of the Duchy of Mor’Koc. The Empire has as such been unable to show any reaction to unexpected events such as Manzil's annexation of the undefended former Dwarven lands.
Taxation
A key aspect of Troll society, predating both their knowledge of writing and recorded history. Trolls and other races within the Empire are issued with a basic stipend which supports their lifestyle, however this is limited to the first six children since the Empire’s inclusion of Lesser Catfolk and Halflings. This is due to both races having a tendency towards large families, if left unchecked.
The Imperial Stipend is generally enough money for a citizen to survive within its borders if they live frugally. This generally results in most citizens engaging in gainful employment or education. Exceptions are generally noted amongst the Lesser Catfolk and the independently wealthy.
All citizens are taxed on both their income and capital gains, using an ever increasingly complex system of rules, regulations, and local adjustments. This system is administered by a strict requirement for all graduates of Imperial Schools to provide no less than 3 years unpaid work to the Bridge Toll Agency. This gives all young trolls, and most other races, a grasp of basic taxation within the Empire. In return, the Agency recruits the most able of these youngsters for senior roles such as managing future youngsters and the development of the Troll Taxation code.
Further taxes are raised in the form of tradition bridge charges which date back to the first bridge between Trollopolis and Gok’Raj’Ka. In recent times, this charge is primarily levied against travelling merchants and their caravans.
These taxes fund the state’s basic stipend, improvements to its cities and general repair work and wages.
General Description
Covering vast areas of Oerth, the Empire’s landscape and scenery varies vastly from area to area; the lush forests of the Faerie Isle, the wild valleys and windswept moors of Tír, the bustling urban sprawl amongst the wetlands of Mor’koc, the pastoral hilly farmland of the surrounding Duchy, the snowy polar forests of Na’ka’ve, the rocky crags and boulders of the Home Islands and the barren desert wasteland of the Southern Pale all come under the Empire’s jurisdiction. As such, the lifestyle of its citizens is just as varied.
Political Situation
Currently the Emperor ‘to be’ or ‘not to be’ is known as the Bard, a wandering minstrel who is followed at all times by the descendent of the Dark’s Paladin's Dracolich. This makes his attempts to hide from the Imperial Army sent to recover him a challenge. He is known by this alias and often found “sowing his wild oats” amongst his youthful Imperial citizens. His current whereabouts are unknown, but rumours persist of his Dracolich in Tír and several elite Troll soldiers trawl the lands looking for him.
Government
The Council of City Governors took over from the Council of Equals, which represented all known Oerth countries at the time of its founding and served as the rulers of all Oerth. The Council of Equals was led by the Imperial Empress known only as the Equal. This greatly diminished the direct influence of the Yeti wine merchants, who lost had their share of the votes diminished, however rare vintages have nearly become a second currency among the Empire’s most wealthy. Nowadays the Council acts as a senatorial government in absence of the Emperor.
The Council meets annually and as events dictate, to oversee the standing orders of the Imperial Legions, influences, but rarely controls, taxation policy and invests in the development and maintenance of the Empire. The council proceedings are recorded by the Department of Internal Affairs which both records and stores the minutes generated by endless Troll led meetings.
It has previously found itself outranked by the General of the 1st Legion who continues to act upon the last Emperor’s final orders: “Defend the Faerie Isle to the death”. The council has also struggled to influence far flung territories such as North Tir, Ja’Pa and Fuk’Mar and countless villages which rely on Dragonling post for updates.
Titles
The rulers of the Empire have traditionally given up their given name in favour of a title which reflects their intentions as ruler, or origins, these include “The First Being”, “The Equal”, “The Lord Paladin” and the current Emperor “The Bard”. To a lesser extent some Imperial officers follow this tradition, favouring the use of their titles over their given or family names. Many of these are officers which put loyalty to the Empire above all else and include the Governor of Gor’Raj’Ka, first and foremost.
Mor’Koc
The Empire hovers on the brink of destruction, held together by the economic might of Mor’Koc which dwarves entire countries and the sheer force of will of its immortal Governor. His policy of inclusion regardless of race has been widely accepted across Oerth and lead to craftsmen and intellectuals flocking to the city, driving the city’s economy and culture ever higher.
The economic power of Mor’Koc should not be underestimated, as the city carries out public improvements such as running water and the irrigation of their farmland via the canal system built at the end of 2A, these improvements place it as the forefront of the civilised world and grant its citizens a level of luxury not seen in any other place on Oerth. This is further backed by the Grand Mor’Koc Library which is the largest known in Oerth and holds the greatest collection of magic books outside of the Order’s towers. As such access to certain floors is heavily restricted, and the Library Guards are recruited from veterans of the Adventurers Guild, Order of Journeymen and retired clergy/Paladins of the Nameless.
The Grand Duchy of Tír
The Empire currently holds the centre of the Grand Duchy of Tír by the point of the sword, despite the appointment of Elven governors and officials to run the duchy the situation shows few signs of improvement.
To the north of Tír lies the thinly populated and near economically valueless Moors, here the people live hand to mouth prefering to avoid much of the conflict with the more powerful Empire. The Countess Viore of Fód openly supports the best interests of Tír through aligning herself with the Empire in the name of peace.
Meanwhile, in southern Tír there are struggles to cling to survival among attacks by undead Sun Elves and Elven freedom fighters. Southern Tír imports much of its vital food supply from Mor’Koc, a process constantly halted by pirates, bandits, Sun Elves and Elven rebels but is usually blamed on the Empire.
Manzil
The Empire chooses to avoid any conflict with their powerful and newly risen neighbour. Despite the annexation of multiple small areas of their land during the Imperial Wars and the annexation of nearly all of the Dwarven lands over the course of about 30 years. Due to the unknown strength of Manzil’s military might and the devastation the conflict would cause no war has been attempted to reclaim these lands. This policy has proven unpopular with parts of the Troll population who insist the Empire is at the height of its power. Other, small groups, recall the days of their ancestors and their alliance with the Nagi, a founding race in Manzil.
The Southlands
The military fortress of Ska’kil, was established as a staging point for the Southern Crusades and later used as a major base in the Imperial Wars. It is currently manned by the entire 3rd Legion. This arid and famine ridden land is only habitable on the east coast due to the near daily Imperial Navy supply runs, by Imperial Navy escorted conveys, which replaced the Imperial Air Force. For this reason, the so-called “Southern Pale” is considered the most undesirable Legion posting in the entire known world. To the western border lies the state of the United People of the Pools, with which the Empire have been in a cold war since the end of the Imperial Wars in 3A 2. The situation is politically tense, and the two nations engage in near constant espionage on each other with varied levels of success, though both sides fervently deny it.
North of Ska’Kil lies the Imperial City of Fuk’U, the smallest and poorest civilian city in the Empire. Due to the Bridge Toll Agency using it as a punishment for it’s agents, it is the only city where the number of tax collectors exceeds the number of those who pay tax. Its tax revenues regularly fall short of the cost of public services within the city, draining the resources of the overstretched empire.
Colonies
The Imperial colonies lie scattered around the world, a mixture of semi-independent states, frontier towns/villages and official Imperial regions. These often do not attend council meetings preferring to look after their own affairs, while they await the Emperor’s return and his Imperial ascendency. The Imperial colonies generally refers to Ja’Pa, Fuk’Mar and Na’Ka’Ve, though smaller towns and villages claim this title as well The city states of Ja’Pa and Fuk’Mar are technically independent, but most commoners consider these Imperial lands of minor importance.