Continent: Ilaros
Region: The Jaurna
Government Type: Legalistic, hereditary Monarchy with Oligarchic elements
Ruling Bodies: The Nautilus Throne (Emperor), The Many-Armed (Council of advisors, intelligence network)
Current Leaders:
- His Sublime Cognizance, The Emperor Gedj Shjra Nyedanan (NE male elf Psion (seer) 6/bard 8)
- His eminence, the Grand Vizier Drosh Anarxa Mlor (LN eunuch elf logician 16),
- Her eminence, the Mayor of the Palace, Nirje Shjra Hvalö (N female elf wizard 13/aristocrat 3)
Economic Type: Mercantile
Colonial Type: Territorial Empire
Currency: The Whorl
Population: about 50,000,000 not including the population of tributary states and colonies
Species Demographics: 35% Elf (mostly Jaur ethnic group), 20% Human, 20% Gnome, 10% Dromite, 10% Sahuagin 5% other
Capital: Lutaj (4,434,346)
Largest City: Lutaj
Religion: Jauric Traditional Religions (official)
Symbols: A stylized nautilus in copper on a dark green field
Major Languages: Jaurlolai (Western Jauric Language), Parjen, Negweta
Nominal Alignment: LN
For two and a half thousand years the Ejantuli have been the dominant cultural, military, and economic force in southern and central Ilaros. Their ships are found in every port, their language is spoken by millions, and their power is rightly feared by all. Even the Maritime Republics and the Three Kingdoms are not without influences from the Ejantuli, though they are loath to admit this.
The Empire has waned in power over the last several centuries which many have blamed on the excesses of the previous dynasty. The current Emperor, and former foreign minister, has done away with the old ruling family, exiling some of them and executing others for their failure to prevent the loss of Vodna, the Sacred Island of Hnar Lor, and several overseas colonies as well as the crime of incompetence. In the forty years sense his rise to power, the Empire has begun a campaign to reestablish itself as the preeminent power in Ilaros.
History
Part I: Origins
The Jaur of Nyera began their outward expansion some six thousand years ago taking their strange carved ships to then unknown lands and settling in places which now bear names in the strange, throaty, languages of those people. They went further a field than most sailors of that era; the crossed the belt of the world and entered into the barbaric and uncivilized lands of the north. Their colonies dotted the coast of the Jaurna, their cities flourished all along the eastern coast of Ilaros and beyond. And this vast empire of the sea was knit together by trade and ruled by lords who were one part merchant and one part pirate. For a thousand years the Jaur controlled the Southern Ocean.
But such an empire could not last. The greed of the merchant princes, the great distances involved and the suspicious and vindictive nature of the Jaur themselves doomed their empire to fall apart and drown beneath the waves. And so the power was lost, but the memory of it remained. Time and again an upstart pirate lord would try to seize some small measure of the former glory, but their successes were short-lived. Twenty three hundred years passed and the dream of recreating the lost trading empire was consigned to the delusions of the mad. But there is truth in the old Jauric maxim, “Not all madness is folly” and there arose a young and arrogant pirate lord from the backwater island of Hnar Lor whose mind was aflame with visions of a restored Jauric power, one greater than all that had come before. He spoke in the temples, he spoke in the streets, he told his visions and his waking dreams to any who would listen. Slowly he built up a following, and finally an armada. His followers and companions took his name as their own, calling themselves Ejantuli “The Unending Fleet of Ejan”. The dreaming admiral had the beginnings of his empire.
From Hnar Lor Ejan and his fleet sailed west, following his visions of a land in conflict where the power of the ejantuli could bring order. His visions proved, as they always did, to contain the grain of truth and the peoples of the western Jaurna were indeed engaged in a long and bloody war. Ejan did not inquire as to causes, for he was sure that there were as many causes as their were warring parties, instead he searched for one among the hundreds who would offer he and his fleet safe harbor and a chance to prove their skill in naval warfare. The lords of the city of Lutaj saw in the dreaming admiral a chance to bolster their fleets with these newcomers who seemed so eager to die upon the waves. The ejantuli were given the seemingly impossible task of destroying the fleet of the kingdom of Gethnira and the lords of Lutaj thought that would be the end of the lunatics from over the sea. In this they were wrong. The ejantuli came upon the enemy fleet in the fog. Not a one could see much further than a few meters save Ejan who saw with his second sight. With such an advantage the ejantuli made short work of the Gethniran fleet; fifty ships were sent down to the deep embrace of the sea, and Ejan returned to Lutaj in triumph.
Again and again Ejan was sent out upon the deadliest of ventures, and time and again he returned covered in glory; bloodied, broken yet victorious. The madman from over the seas had become a hero.
With each passing victory Ejan gathered more supporters; the lords of Lutaj now feared their admiral even as he brought victory closer to the city. Ejan was far too charismatic a figure for their tastes, for he and his followers were potential threats to their continued control of Lutaj. Assassins were sent to kill Ejan, but returned either dead or in disgrace; he had seen their coming in his dreams. The assassination attepts galvanized the ejantuli and the commanders under Ejan and they resovled to bring death to the assassins' masters. On the night of the festival of Ilja Maru, the day of attonement for past and future sins, the Lords of Lutaj were struck down, some in their beds while they slept, others as they sat alone in contemplation of their wrongs and some as they drank deeply from their wine. The bodies of the dead lords were brought to Ejan who stripped them of their rings of office and ordered their bodies torn apart and burried in the earth, a sign of perpetual damnation through a thousand lifetimes. With no rivals left, Ejan took controll of the city and declaired himself tülc a jen (master of all waters); the first Emperor of a new Empire.
From Lutaj, Ejan began to expand his power, conquering the neighboring city-states and petty kingdoms. Within a decade of his initial rise to power, he had laid the foundation for a new Jauric trading empire, and one that would endure far longer than the one now lost to the deep.
Part II: The Empire of the Unending Fleet
Long, drawn out explanation of numerous conquests, wars, the rise and fall of dynasties, intrigue, poisoning, scandal, innovation, decadence, depravity, religious persecutions, decay, renaissance, further scandal, and finally, a period of intense introspection and withdrawal from outward concerns.
Part III: The Modern Empire
Five hundred and seventy years ago, the Empire underwent a radical change. Increasing internal difficulties, problems with the colonies and the vassal states, and a general sense of fear and foreboding caused the Empire to turn inward to address the serious political and cultural problems that threatened to tear the Empire apart. What followed was a period of intense internal development and governmental change. For centuries the Empire had functioned as a quasi-feudal state with regional nobility taking on much of the responsibility for governance at the local level and away from the heart of the Empire. This changed when the seventh Emperor of the Vönjinag dynasty suspended the old traditions and laws relating to noble privilege and created a centralized government dependant upon paid civil servants. These civil servants were attached to the various noble families as advisors, secretaries, and analysts and watched over their actions and keep the nobles in line. The existence of the civil servants was, at first, decried by the nobles for they saw these functionaries as stepping on their traditional powers. However, when it was made clear that the nobles either accept the civil servants or be abolished altogether, most gave in and let the bureaucrats do their work.
While all of this was going on in the Empire, the powers of the Esuin sea saw a golden opportunity to expand outward. With the Empire distracted, the Esuin powers carved out trading empires of their own and transformed from political and economic backwaters into some of the wealthiest and most powerful nation in Ilaros. Although distracted, the Empire was not blind to the rise of the Maritime Republics and there were those in the Empire who feared that they would be eclipsed by these upstarts. This was dismissed by the Emperors, who were content with their growing internal powers, to their everlasting shame.
In 1402 CR , the nation of Cantabrig (An imperial power in central Ilaros, long a rival of the Ejantuli) descended into civil war partly through internal corruption and partly through the manipulation of information, economic forces, and general skullduggery on the part of the Republics. The Ejantuli were horrified that these heretofore unimportant countries could bring about the speedy collapse of their oldest and most tenacious rival. Action was called for.
The armies of the Empire sailed to Cantabrig and hastily carved out a vassal state from among the warring factions. From here they launched numerous campaigns against the Republics and their Cantabrigoi allies. Off and on for sixty years the Cantabrig wars were fought with the Ejantuli maintaining their defenses but all but incapable of driving the Republics from their holdings. A long stale mate was reached and the ancient and honorable Empire of Cantabrig was divided into parts, each controlled by one power or another. Although the Ejantuli claimed the largest portion of the once great power, theirs was not the richest nor the most developed and feelings of bitterness and animosity run high between the Empire and Orothos, the country which took the old trading center of Kuvan and the surrounding region.
Tensions remained high for years following the Cantabrig Wars, but open conflicts were rare and the Empire continued to look towards self-improvement. However, with the outbreak of the Fifth Trade War some fifty years ago and the resultant independence of the Ejantuli tributary state of Vodna the situation could no longer be ignored. The Emperor, Agjan Gyoleg Sujirnye II, who refused to admit that Vodna has been lost, or that many of the colonies were in open revolt was widely seen as a symbol of the pervasive incompetence of his dynasty and plans were set in motion to remove him and his advisors from power.
The Ejantuli ambassador to Nacáil and a distant relative of the Emperor, one Gedj Shjra Nyedanan, returned home unexpectedly bearing evil news. Assassins from Orothos and Nacáil had been dispatched to slay the Emperor. So afraid of his death was he that the Emperor Agjan remained secluded in the palace and listened to no one but the Ambassador who seemed to be the only person able to thwart the nefarious designs of the assassins. What followed after can only be guessed as, but it is known that the Emperors five sons were all killed or vanished, his wife was strangled in her bed, and hundreds of servants and retainers were poisoned. Finally the Emperor himself was found dead, some say he was murdered, others that he took his own life. Rumors of darker things spread, some spoke of a mysterious feast which the Emperor partook of before his death, full of strange foreign foods, wherein his sons were said to have been served up to him as the main course.
When the tide of death and ill omen ceased, the former Ambassador proclaimed himself Emperor, thus laying the foundation for a new dynasty. The new Emperor declared that he would renew the Empire, restoring it to its former splendor and power. Already, the Ejantuli have begun to stretch out again, and their fleets sail further than they have in half a millennium, taking new lands in the name of the Nautilus Throne.
Political Structure
The nature of Jauric custom makes the governance of the empire somewhat confusing to outsiders. Although the tülc a jen (The Emperor) is theoretically in complete control of the Empire, Jauric law and custom somewhat complicates things and thus the Empire is actually ruled by a small body of ministers and advisors of whom the Emperor is head. This council serves at the pleasure of the Emperor and is hand selected by him for life. These advisors and, in some cases, co-rulers rarely leave the Emperor's side prefering to keep in touch with the ultimate source of political power, and to keep themselves open to oppertunities to increase their own influence.
The current Emperor rules with the assistance of a large and diverse Council which includes an impressive number of non-Jaur. The Master of the Ritual, a kind of private secretary and advisor on esoteric matters, is a pentagja gnome and the High Admiral of the Unending Fleet is a Sahuagin from the northern colonies. However, the ruling triad of Emperor, Mayor of the Palace, and Grand Vizier is composed entrely of ethnic Jaur.
The Tülc a Jen, The Emperor
petitioners, and of enemies. There are rituals for the raising of taxes, for the commissioning of armies, and for the making of judgments, and for the summoning of advisors. From the rising of the sun to ascendancy of the second moon the Emperor performes the requied rituals, eats the proscribed food, and abstains from those ill omened acts that the Book of the Ritual describes for the day, the hour, the phase of the greater moon, and the time of year. These rituals are simply symbolic acts, for their observance is necessary if the Emperor is to be protected and guided by the potent forces laid down in the foundations of the imperial palace. Should the Emperor falter in his regimine of observances the protective powers would be revoked, leaving him vulnerable to attack, disease, and madness and he, and often his dynasty, will fall.
Over all matters of abstract power the Emperor reigns supreme. The power of the military, indeed of all force, belongs solely to him. In matters of religion and of science the Emperor likewise is master and many an Emperor has changed the manner and practice of religion in the Empire. Over such matters as economics the Emperor has less power, for in matters of production, agriculture, and property are outside his preview. As a male and a Jaur, the Emperor is forbidden to own unmovable property, including land and buildings for the ownership of such things by males is deemed immoral and unseemly. Thus, power over these matters falls to another member of the ruling council, the Mayor of the Palace.
The Current Emperor
Gedj Shjra Nyedanan is a cunning and charismatic leader, devoted to making the Empire the power it once was. He is gregarious, arrogant, charming, intelligent, and endlessly ruthless; a combination of traits that make him a formidable ruler and one who is not lightly trifled with. Despite his arrogance and sense of destiny, Gedj welcomes dessent among his advisors and publicly praises those who show enouch courage to disagree and suggest alternate courses of action. He has said on numerous occasions that he would rather be advised by his deadliest foes than by an army of toadies who fawn over him, for he can at least trust the motivations of his foes.
The Agli sva Gline, The Mayor of the Palace
Traditionally, the position of Mayor of the Palace belongs to a close female relative of the Emperor, usually a sister. She is entrusted with power over the land, its productivity and the maintenance of infrastructure. Should the Emperor wish to raise property taxes, change farming practices, or construct a new building he must beg the Mayor of the Palace to implement his wishes. Any more this is often a matter of formality rather than of substance, but it remains a fact that the Mayor of the Palace wields considerable power in the Empire, and on more than one occasion it has been the Mayor rather than the Emperor who truly ran the Empire.
The Currant Mayor of the Palace
Sense the rise of Gedj Shjra Nyedanan to power, the office of the Gline has belonged to his younger sister Nirje Shjra Hvalö, a shrewed and careful administaror. Nirje is fiecely loyal to the Empire and by extention her borther, but she would think nothing of betraying him should it be in the best interests of the Empire as a whole. Although she is not a gregarious as her brother, she is a forceful personality and makes her views well known in council. Her belief that an outwardly strong Empire must show equal strength in internal matters has led to a renewal of some of the more ambitious public works projects such as the completion of the Imperial Canal system, an empire wide system of shipping canals linking all the major cities and town of the Empire to each other and to the sea.
The Jalät Mrai, The Grand Vizier
The position of the Jalät Mrai is a relativly recent invention in Ejantuli politics having arising to prominence only in the last few centuries. Originally the office of Jalät (the term means 'thinking clerk' or 'analyst')was held by a low level member of the Emperor's personal staff whose job it was to provide consise summaries of the data gathered from around the empire. Everything from agricultural produiction to foreign intelligence fell to the Jalät compile and analyse and the position was a demanding one, which offered little praise or status. With the expansion of the Imperial bureaucracy the role of the Jalät became more important as the reports filed by the civil servants were now essential to running the empire. It was no longer possible for a single Jalät to read and analyse all the information that was flowing into the capitol and so what began as a single position became an entire arm of the government. At the head of this collection of clerks, analysts, and information gathers, is the Jalät Mrai (the supreme 'thinking clerk') who directly advises the emperor.
The Current Grand Vizier
Drosh Anarxa Mlor was made for his current position, both literally and figuratively. Like many high level civil servants and advisors, Anarxa is a eunuch for it is believed that eunuchs show greater intellectual development and fewer tendencies toward rash judgment than the 'unmodified'. Physically, Anarxa is an imposing figure for he is both tall and corpulent, the latter being partly due to his being a eunuch and his sedentary life, but his formidable appearence pales in comparison to the powers of his mind. Anarxa was trained from early youth to be a logician, a kind of abstract reasoning machine capable of nearly supernatural feats of deduction and inference, and has been attached to the service of the current Emperor for decades, begining when they were both still young. The loyalty of the eunuch to his Emperor is unfailing, for they are the closest of friends.
The Governance of the Empire
The Empire is divided into a number of prefectures which act as the basis for regional governence. Each prefecture has some degree of freedom concening purely internal matters, a fact that was made necessary when the Empire absorbed a large number of non-Jauric peoples. Each prefecture also has an Imperial Prefect who acts as the voice of the Imperial government and is tasked with overseeing the region and keeping the populace in line. The prefects are all appointed to their offices for life, and are generally not native to the prefect over which they rule. This is to help ensure than the representatives of the Imperial government remain detached from the people they rule and thus are more resistant to corruption. In the cases where a prefect has become too enmeshed in local politics, or who seems to be threatening to carve out a petty state, they are recalled to the capitol and either sent off to the colonies where they can cause no further trouble, or simply assassinated.
Peoples and Society
The largest single population within the Empire is that of the Jauric elves and it is from their culture that most of the social values, civic customs, and leagal traditions of the Empire are derived. Unlike the Jaur from Nyera, however, the Ejantuli have had to deal with a substatial non-jauric population and thus many of the old traditional systems of social organization have been modified.
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