WE HAVE MOVED. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEW FORUM!
Please note that this forum is now archived, and some links may not work. To access forums, please click on the text above the banner and NOT the banner itself. If you have any questions please contact CGJ
|
|
|
|
|
Claim your spot on the map Join the Regional Assembly Check out the Hall of Guidance Get involved in some Open Roleplays |
Time until The Independent Order's Fourth Birthday: |
Vice Chancellor: CGJ Premier: DaveIronside Vice Premier: SatanLord Minister for Home Affairs: Yolotan Minister for Foreign Affairs: Tama Speaker of the Assembly: Zee Lord Chief Justice: Achkaerin Roleplay Moderator: DaveIronside |
None Debates: Roleplay Realism Buff Act Request for an Inquiry into the use of mass-alts in the Z-Day episode |
| Welcome to the Independent Order Archive. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. If you previously had an account on the forum, then feel free to login. If you're new, please note we have moved to a new forum and have left this forum here to serve as an archive. |
| The Ardian Empire | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: 6th September 2014 - 02:20 AM (135 Views) | |
| Aeviternus | 6th September 2014 - 02:20 AM Post #1 |
![]()
|
A History of the Ardian Empire Pre-Empire: The earliest known record of the Ardian people is from 230 BC, when a Caelidian text refers to the growth of the “ciudades occidentales,” translated as the “Western cities.” The timeframe corresponds with discoveries of pottery, jewelry, and ruins of Ardian origin that began to spread northward towards the coast. Expeditions into central Ardia have revealed significant amounts of artifacts from numerous cultures, implying that as the Ardian people conquered other civilizations they sent wealth back to their cities of origin. The ethnic mixing of the modern Ardian continent additionally implies that conquered people were sometimes enslaved and transported throughout the civilization. The stratigraphy excavated on the Ardian coast shows that native Celtic villages were razed with Ardian buildings constructed atop the rubble. The social impact of these practices is presumed to be that indigenous cultures were suppressed to force integration into Ardian society. One of the earliest epics written by the Ardian people is of their conquest of Caelidia 212 AD. Entitled Vincentibus Gallice, it tells a story of an Ardian prince named Vincent the Fearsome being lead to victory by obeying the god of war. It extolls the superiority of the four Ardian gods over their enemies. Unlike most other conquests, the Ardians did not enslave the Caelidians. It is hypothesized that Caelidia was more civilized than other conquests and the people were identified as being more valuable as craftsmen and writers than as laborers. While the Ardian civilization’s heart was located in the center of the continent where it originated, power was divided locally depending on the most powerful family in the cities. The Ardians were primarily divided into city-states that were mostly autonomous apart from its reliance on the homeland’s trade and commerce. Slave revolts began in 701 on the outermost reaches of Ardia, which were aided by a new monotheistic faith that defied the four god pantheon of the Ardians. Fearful of the revolts spreading inland, more powerful Ardian cities sent armies to quell the rebellion causing the revolting peoples to flee. The Empire’s Beginnings The presence of the mightier Ardian armies in the extremities of the civilization resulted in an opportunity to unify the Ardians into a singular empire. As a result, an agreement was reached between the city-states to appoint a singular emperor for the whole of Ardia. The Ardian Empire was therefore established with the rule of Gaius the First in 774. By 950 the Ardian Empire stretched Southward and to the Northeastern coast. It did not attempt to invade the Nation of Quinntopia, most likely due to an unwillingness to overextend itself in a costly war. While slaving eventually ceased to exist within the Empire, a feudal social structure was established everywhere the Ardians set foot. Whenever a new people would be conquered the Ardian families would establish themselves as Lords of the main city within the region, while the indigenous populace would become the laborers and servants. Warriors who served the most powerful family would be granted rule over towns or large swaths of country-side as payment for their service and loyalty. Ardians intentionally disallowed natives from owning their own land as a tactic to prevent any part of the conquered territories from being in the hands of a non-Ardian. Each Lord of a city paid homage and some tribute to the Ardian Emperor, but was primarily autonomous in establishing local law. The Middle Imperial Age With nearly half of the Ardian continent as a part of the Empire, Ardia faced relative stagnation as its economy had been largely motivated by conquest and collecting tribute. In 1,134 the 360-year-old Gaian dynasty had ended, and the new Emperor Vestatian Titanus commissioned explorers to travel across the Sea of Kyne, where the island of Dauntel was first discovered, as was the Albion continent shortly thereafter. It is believed that the continent was so named from the Ardian word “alba,” meaning “white,” for the white sanded shores that were discovered. The commissioned explorers disagreed as to where to travel from Dauntel, with the first group traveling South from Dauntel and landing on the Western shores of the continent. The city of Ravensfort was soon established in 1204 as an advance supply post of the Ardian Empire on Albion. Eventually, the Ardian Empire established a colony on Western Albion named Decapolis in 1223, and in 1278 the city Aquilae was founded as its capital. Other explorers traveled East from Dauntel until they landed in what is modern-day Dartfordia on King George Peninsula, establishing a small colony that grew as additional supplies eventually arrived from Ravensfort. It is believed, however, that the Empire exerted little direct control over these settlements, as it at times does not appear on contemporary maps. In 1301 the Ardian Empire reached its geographic and military peak when the Titanian dynasty ended with the sudden death of the Emperor. The Titanian dynasty had lasted 167 years, and the second ruling family had no heir or appointed successor. The many families competed over the imperial crown of the empire. [The successor of the crown to be determined by the feudal RP] ![]() A map of the Ardian Empire at its highest point of power, not including Ardian settlements on King George Peninsula. The new ruling family was successful in building its legitimacy as the new imperial dynasty, but the overextended empire had difficulty maintaining order in the outer provinces. As a result, the Empire removed its military from Albion in 1467, including the island of Dauntel. In Western Ardia, a brief war broke out in 1472 amongst the Ardian colonists who then founded the independent Armed Republic of Decapolis in what would later become part of the Kingdom of Tytor. The Ardian colonists in Northern Albion, however, remained a part of the Ardian Empire in spite of a lack of direct military control from Ardia. Unlike the colonists in Decapolis, the peninsular colonists felt no need to break away from the Empire. It was not until 1544, after two generations of no contact between the Ardian Empire and the Northern colony, that the colonists separated from the Empire and other kingdoms began to emerge on King George Peninsula. By 1577 there were two kingdoms, Southfleet and Littlebrook; and four principalities, Wilmington, Stone, Hawley and Darenth. From approximately 1450 to 1500 the Empire would also allow the native populations of its Southernmost provinces to reassert authority and break away. The Ardian Empire did continue to conquer smaller kingdoms around Lake Escurion and the Andean Peninsula, even progressing to cross the Matilda Canals and annex the small kingdoms of Cotf and Aranye in 1520. The Ardian Empire did not, however, realize that their new vassal kingdoms were a part of a larger continent, but instead believed it to simply be an island off of Ardia. The Ardian Empire then named what they presumed to be a small landmass after the kingdoms, which then later became the accepted name for the continent as a whole. In 1592 Ardian explorers happened upon the Island of Rokkenjima, which at the time had been only sighted by fisherman who had assumed it to be an uninhabited rock. These explorers, however, found it to be filled with abundant natural resources and claimed it for the Ardian Empire in spite of its native inhabitants who initially believed the Ardians had been sent by the goddess Irivia. The oppression wrought by the Empire resulted in skirmishes in 1604 and 1614. The Ardian Empire maintained its occupation of Rokkenjima for 41 years until Adriana, the Great Matriarch, lead the United Tribes in expelling the Empire from the island in 1633. The Ardian Empire was also forced out of part of the Northeastern coast by the Rokkenjimmans. However, it would remain in control of the Northern part of the Ardian Peninsula until 1752 when the Rokkenjimans established themselves as a naval power and expanded into the Empire’s former territories there. ![]() The Ardian Empire in 1600 during its brief occupation of Rokkenjima [Gap in history – To be determined] The Late Empire In 1914 when WWI began, the Ardian Empire had been reduced to a shadow of its former glory. While still an expansive nation, it now only controlled native Ardia in the center of the continent and parts of the Northeastern shore, which it had held onto dearly to maintain access to the sea. All Northern, Southern, and Southwestern provinces had long broken away. ![]() The diminished Ardian Empire pre-WWI. [Causes of WWI and the downfall of the Empire to be determined] |
![]() Dominiscius - Dominiscian Factbook - Graphics Workshop | |
| Aeviternus | 6th September 2014 - 02:21 AM Post #2 |
![]()
|
OOC: This article is currently under construction. Please do not post in this topic, as it is to be treated an IC history of the region. If you have suggestions as to how to improve or add to this article, please contact Aeviternus. |
![]() Dominiscius - Dominiscian Factbook - Graphics Workshop | |
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · History · Next Topic » |
| Track Topic · E-mail Topic |
^ 12:52 AM Jul 11
|
May the force be with you.






