A Brief History of the Eskarin Empire.
1) From our Origins to the Tribes
The origins of humankind on this world are shrouded in myth and legend, but it is generally agreed that we came here from somewhere else. Every land, every culture has its own story, but all the say much the same thing. Our distant ancestors are said to have ‘made a great journey’, ‘have travelled a great distance’, or ‘voyaged from afar’. From where they came, why they came, how they came - there are no answers to these questions.
Nor is there any clarity regarding when this happened. Various traditions have put it at anywhere from about 5,000 to 50,000 years before the founding of the Kingdom of Eskarin (or BK, as is now becoming recognised as the standard means of recording early dates). We should, however, keep in mind that most of these legends are ancient accounts of oral traditions that may themselves date back several thousand years. It is not surprising, therefore, that huge variations exist. Most modern scholars within the Empire (and many from other lands) agree on a probable date of between 10,000 and 15,000 years BK.
There is more precision on the place where our ancestors arrived. Archaeological and textual evidence has placed this as being somewhere to the east of the current Empire’s borders, most likely in the area round Lake Cha’dhan. From there they spread in all directions - impelled by economic and population pressures, driven by violence or fear of disease, seeking new lands, new freedoms or new opportunities.
This dispersal may have begun almost as soon as they first set foot on this world’s soil: it certainly continued over thousands of years and it has been argued that it still continues. But that is outside the scope of this history, and it is therefore sufficient to say that the earliest inhabitants of these Empire lands probably arrived here in the period 8-9,000 BK. (This date is consistent with the information we have, but it is much disputed and the evidence is inconclusive).
What can, however, be said with some accuracy is that by the immediate pre-kingdom period (100 BK onwards) these lands were populated by thirty to forty different tribes, many quite small with only a few thousand members, some much larger. (The Itenli are believed to have numbered at least twenty thousand: the Grof Varnark were over thirty thousand strong, though this number were widely spread along the Northern coast, and they may not have functioned as one cohesive tribe).
It is also clear that these were dark times. There had always been a certain amount of raiding and pillaging, but this had escalated into constant warfare, with ever increasing savagery. As one historian has described it:
‘Scarce a day went by without the clash of steel, the shouts of fury, the crying of widows or the sobbing of the orphans. There was no peace to be found anywhere in the land, and blood stained it from end to end.’
But into these times came a man with a message of hope and peace. Mirrion the Preacher, also known as Mirrion the Prophet, for he claimed to speak the words of God.
- Mirrion the Preacher
While Mirrion was still a child, his tribe was destroyed by another, larger tribe - a commonplace event in those times. He was kept alive to work as a slave, which he did for several years. It is said that he ‘held a deep hatred in his heart’ and when the opportunity arose he took his revenge. He killed some of the family that held him and escaped into the Niyamah Mountains to the east.
He found his way through the mountains and wandered in the lands beyond for some time - at least a year, possibly longer, before coming to Lake Cha’dhan. In those days a small monastery stood there. The monks took him in and he spent some years amongst them. Here he found a healing for his hatred, and in time a calling for his future.
In approximately 50 BK he returned to his homeland. He found it changed, in that his old enemies had themselves been destroyed. But in other ways, all was as it had been. Those tribes that remained were still engaged in ceaseless war. Alliances were made and broken on a regular basis, and ‘There was no trust in the land, nor hope, only fear, hate and sharp steel’.
In this place and at this time, Mirrion began to preach of mercy and forgiveness, of the power that can be found in love, of hope that was better than vengeance. He called on the tribes to renounce bloodshed, to repent of violence, to seek God and find peace.
It must have seemed an impossible task. Who would listen to this lone voice? Indeed, Mirrion himself later wrote that he expected to be killed or enslaved at any time, and said ‘In those days, I fell asleep each night expecting to be murdered in the dark, and was surprised each morning to wake and find myself still in the world.’
But although he was jeered, mocked and often driven out with stones and curses, he was not killed. Year after year he journeyed from place to place, from tribe to tribe, preaching his message. And word got around. People gathered to hear him, and although many scoffed in public, in private people came to talk further with him. He was not often welcomed, but he was given food and shelter. After a while some began to walk with him. At first they came to hear more of what he had to say, but after a while they began to repeat it.
There was a terrible weariness in the land. People were tired of warfare, of pain and loss and fear. Mirrion offered an alternative. His call to peace may have seemed an impossible dream, but in every tribe he found those desperate enough to hope.
All the same, it was a long journey. Mirrion had been about his work for some forty years when he happened to arrive at the chief stronghold of the Itenli, at a time of celebration.
He had been there before, probably on several occasions, for they were amongst the largest of the tribes. It is said that about twenty years beforehand he had happened to come to the Itenli at a time when the Chieftain’s first son had just been born, and Mirrion was asked to speak a blessing on the child. According to some stories he then prophesied that the little boy would become ruler over all the tribes. However, although this incident is related in several sources, it is not recorded in any of Mirrion’s own writings that are known to us.
But the child’s name was Kerranard.
- Mirrion and Kerrandard
Mirrion was not the most welcome sight in these circumstances, and Kerranard’s father, whilst giving him a grudging welcome, forbade him from preaching. But later that night, Kerranard met privately with Mirrion - and did so many times over the coming days. For the young man, great warrior though he was, was sickened by the endless bloodshed and wanted to see a change.
When his father, the Chieftain of the Itenli, learned of these meetings he was furious. Kerranard was forbidden to meet or speak with Mirrion again, whilst the Preacher was thrown out and sent on his way, commanded never to return to the Itenli lands on pain of death.
But Kerranard refused to accept his father’s command. Instead, he renounced his position as heir, and left with Mirrion.
The Chieftain sent warriors to kill Mirrion and bring Kerranard back, in chains if need be. But they failed to do so, and instead Mirrion continued on with Kerranard by his side.
This seemed to be the lowest point of Mirrion’s long ministry, with the most powerful of the Chieftains seeking his life. But it proved to be the turning point. Kerranard’s position and reputation, allied to the respect Mirrion had built up through the long and weary years of preaching, gained them hearing from other Chieftains, and there was a growing sense that change was coming. If such a man as Kerranard believed in peace, than perhaps it was possible.
The renouncing of his Chieftainship only added weight to Kerranard’s plea for peace. He stood before other Chieftain’s and War Leaders, their equal in birth and prowess, but no longer a rival or a threat. Instead he was as vulnerable as Mirrion had always been, bearing neither sword nor shield but only a staff to aid the walking.
And things began to change. Slowly at first, as some of the tribes made new alliances that were not broken. Ancient feuds were ended. Enemies were reconciled - often grudgingly, but with a mutual recognition that without change there was no future but blood.
Mirrion and Kerranard oversaw the first of these - but Mirrion, growing old and weary of travelling, spent more and more time in his humble retreat on a remote island in a lake, a place not claimed by any of the tribes. The lake is now known as Sh’thran: Mirrion named his island Eskarin, which meant ‘silence’ in the dialect of his tribe. A place of silence, of peace, of retreat, where he had time to pray, and think, and write. It is believed that it was in this place and at this time that Mirrion composed many of the writings that bear his name. (Of these, the Sermons and the Songs are best known, but there were others, many now lost, such as the Testimonies, or deliberately suppressed, as were many parts of the Mirrion’s Histories).
Kerranard, however, continued to travel around the tribes, urging them to follow Mirrion’s teachings and to seek peace. One by one, the tribes gave their assent and slowly an alliance formed amongst them, in which they vowed not to make war on their neighbours, to solve disputes by negotiation instead of violence, and to come to each other’s aid if attacked.
This was one of the most significant clauses, and probably owes more to Kerranard than to Mirrion, for as a warrior he recognised the need for secure defences if peace were to come. And it worked. In time the alliance became so strong that none of the other tribes could dare to attack it.
The biggest turning point was when the Itenli came into the alliance. Kerranard was reconciled to his father, but would not again take up his place as heir for fear that it would destroy all the work he had done. Instead, he continued the work as a humble wanderer, a pilgrim and a preacher.
But the tribes began to call on him to become their leader, a High Chieftain over all the tribes. It was something Kerranard resisted at first. By his own testimony he feared such power coming into any one persons hands, and especially feared it coming into his own hands. But Mirrion himself supported the idea. According to Kerranard’s account, the Preacher’s argument was that the tribes would have a leader, come what may, and it was better that this place be taken by a man like Kerranard than that it should pass into some other hands, perhaps less trustworthy than his.
Mirrion had one stipulation, however. Kerranard should not become High Chieftain. That would be too much a continuation of old ways, whereas what was needed now was something new. Instead, the Preacher proposed a new title, something not previously heard of among the tribes - King.
The idea was well received among the tribes - though some insisted that ‘High Chieftain’ be included amongst the new King’s titles - and, still with some reluctance, Kerranard agreed to it. A time was set, the place agreed, the tribes gathered at Lake Sh’thran, and there on the Isle of Silence, the newly wrought crown was placed on Kerranard’s head by Mirrion and acclaimed by all.
Despite his reluctance, Kerranard proved to be fit for the task. He had the skills in diplomacy and negotiation necessary to hold the tribes together - above all he had the skills in leadership. He was trusted, even revered. Indeed it seemed that after his coronation these skills had increased. It was said that no one could ever lie to his face, for if he looked into a persons eyes he could see into their heart. Moreover, no one who ever met him failed to doubt Kerranard’s own word to them, or his true desire for the well-being of all. He himself claimed that this was a Gift given to him by The Divine, in a meeting or a dream which took happened the night before he was crowned. And Mirrion gave an account of it in some of his own writings, though these were amongst those lost and hidden away for many years.
Of that more later.
- Kerranard the First King
(The one sad exception to this was the tribe of the Zyx, who persisted in their ways of violence, preying on their now peaceful neighbours and refusing to be persuaded even by Kerrarnard. Eventually they had to be be put down by force, and their name and blood disappeared from the land. It is said that Kerranard wept bitter tears for them - though few others did).
Mirrion saw little of this. Now very aged and infirm, worn out from his long years of labour, he spent the last few years of his life on the island of Eskarin. It is not known when he died, or where he was buried - it is recorded in several places that by his own wish his passing and burying were kept secret: he did not wish his grave to become a shrine. But it is recorded in several places that his last words were ‘I am content.’
The joining of the tribes was aided by Kerranard’s own long reign. He remained strong and in good health for so many years that this became accounted as another of those Gifts bestowed on him by The Divine: and according to tradition he remained King until 100 AC (After Coronation). He had not married until about 50 AC, but had then had a number of sons and daughters, all of whom had inherited his Gifts. His eldest son Tenarl, by then about 45 years of age, took the crown when Kerranard abdicated. It is said that the First King then withdrew to a monastery or became a hermit, and lived a great many more years in peace and solitude.
Kerranard’s Gifts proved to be just as strong in his children - as did his love for his people, Tenarl ruled well and his siblings aided him. They travelled throughout the kingdom, arbitrating in disputes, interpreting the law, allocating resources and so on. They acted as magistrates, governors, diplomats and - on the rare occasions when it was required - military leaders.
They carried no formal titles in those days. They were known simply as ‘Kerranard’s Children, a designation that carried on to all their descendants, as did the Gifts themselves. This practice continued for hundreds of years: local tribal authority and customs continued, but all deferred to the Children and ultimately to the King.
Under the Kings, there was peace and prosperity. Even relationships with neighbouring nations were cordial, and trade flourished.
But nothing in this world lasts.
- The Rise of the First Order, and Duthgard’s Terror
Not all agreed with this point of view. But those who held to it grew stronger, and more organised. Some took to describing themselves no longer as ‘Kerranard’s Children’ but as the ‘First Order’.
In 510 AC a group of like-minded Children founded the ‘Society for Consideration of the Proper Organisation of Society Within The Kingdom’. They insisted that they were no more than a discussion group: but one of their priorities was to discard the term ‘Kerranard’s Children’ entirely and replace it with ‘First Order’. With all other people automatically becoming ‘Second Order’.
For a long time the society - soon becoming generally known as the ‘First Order Society’ - operated discreetly. The bulk of the population did not take well to being designated ‘Second Order’ with its implications of inferiority, and most of the Children dismissed their thinking as flawed, if not unsavoury. But no steps were taken to stop them sharing and spreading their philosophy. Indeed, there was no means by which this could be done and even the idea that this might be necessary does not seem to have occurred to anyone. To oppose them with force was not even to be considered - it would be like returning to the terrible time of tribal conflicts.
So it was that the First Order continued: opposed but unchecked, bringing unrest and turmoil as it gradually expanded its influence, until it reached even to the throne.
In 741 AC, during the reign of King Ollantine, 7th of his line, Crown Prince Duthgard announced himself to be one of the First Order, and set about to promote and expand the Order’s influence. His father was first dismayed, then furious, and set about doing all he could to persuade Duthgard back to the old ways. But instead, the split between them became more serious, as Duthgard persuaded many to follow him, and stirred up trouble with the people of the land - or the Second Order, as they were increasingly known.
Eventually Ollantine took the unprecedented step of banishing his son from the Kingdom, and announcing that one of Duthgard’s younger siblings would take the throne after his abdication. Duthgard left in a fury, vowing that he would yet claim his birthright.
This took place in 765 AC. Duthgard’s banishment brought some peace to the Kingdom, but in the coming years tragedy struck Ollantine’s family. Several of his sons and daughters died: five were drowned all at once in a terrible accident out on Lake Sh’thran. Another fell from his horse, and one son announced himself to be First Order and followed his elder brother into exile.
Coming to the hundredth year of his reign, the King decided that his one surviving child, a daughter, was yet too young to take the throne, especially in this time of crisis and sorrow. He therefore broke with tradition and did not abdicate after his hundredth year on the the throne. Instead he vowed to remain King until such a time as his daughter was able to take the burden of ruling the land.
This caused renewed unrest, as the First Order - all supporters of Duthgard - were furious that the Prince was thus denied his rightful place. Many declared that they would no longer recognise Ollantine as King. The most outspoken were banished, or fled, but others decried the choices Ollantine had made that had brought the Kingdom to this. Amongst those who still called themselves Kerrenard’s Children, there was a longing to return to the days of peace and stability, and they begged Ollantine to be reconciled to Duthgard and return the Kingdom to its former state. But Ollantine and those closest to him were adamant that the crown must only go to someone worthy of the Gifts.
How long this situation might have continued cannot be known, for in 801 AC, after ruling for 101 years and on the very night that should have seen his abdication a year previously, Ollantine died suddenly and mysteriously.
In these days, such an occurrence would have been deemed suspicious. It is now known that there are certain poisons that are fatal even to the First Order. But in those times it was an inexplicable mystery and a tragedy.
Shortly afterwards - indeed, within a few weeks of his father’s death - Duthgard returned from exile, and claimed the throne. He expressed his deep sorrow for the division that had occurred between himself and his father and promised to do all in his power to end the disputes that had so troubled the Kingdom.
These fair words were confirmed by the Gift. All who spoke with him were convinced of his sincerity and his true commitment to peace in the land. So he took his place on the throne with the full approval of all the people of the land, and there was great rejoicing.
But it was a lie. A lie that should have been impossible, with the Gifts, but it soon became evident that Duthgard had no intention of keeping his promises. To this day it is not known how he managed to subvert the Gift.
Once secure in power, Duthgard appointed his followers - all members of the First Order - to positions of power, whilst demoting those who held to the old ways. Then he set about destroying them. Duthard’s Terror began with the disappearance of Ollantine’s youngest daughter, she who was to have been his heir. Then all other members of the Royal Family were arrested by the First Order and their servants. They were taken before Duthgard, accused of plotting against him, and in many cases summarily executed. Others simply vanished. The same fate then befell others who had been prominent in their opposition to the First Order.
And after that, the rest of the Children.
Within a very short time - weeks, perhaps, months at the most - Duthgard destroyed Kerrenard’s Children. Some escaped the Kingdom and went into exile. Some renounced their old beliefs, renaming themselves as ‘First Order’ and giving allegiance to Duthgard. Some were murdered, some died fighting, some were executed, some simply disappeared.
Nor was the Terror confined to the First Order. As soon as he felt himself secure on the throne, Duthgard turned his fury against the leading members of the Second Order. The ancient tribes were still remembered, and the hereditary tribal Chieftains honoured. Duthgard destroyed them and all members of their families - anyone who had any claim to authority, anyone of wealth - rich merchants, landowners, local authorities and officials.
Indeed, anyone of standing in their communities became liable to be arrested, interrogated and summarily dispatched. Clerics were particularly targeted. Poets, writers and other artists - not only those who spoke out against Duthgard, but any who might even be able to speak and gain a hearing. The Terror took them all.
It became clear that Duthgard’s intent was to reduce the entire population to just two categories. The Second Order would be his slaves, the First Order Duthgard’s servants and the enforcers of his will. He would allow nothing else.
Resistance was sporadic, disorganised, and ineffectual. Which seems strange given that the Second Order and Kerranard’s Children far outnumbered Duthgard’s followers. But the land had been at peace for nearly eight hundred years. There were few weapons left in the land, few people with knowledge of their use, fewer still who had the desire to use them. The First Order were wolves amongst sheep.
And they themselves were driven by fear of their master. Duthgard would tolerate no dissent, no questioning of his will. Far from abating, his bloodlust grew, and not even the First Order were safe from it.
Few records of those terrible times survive, and those only because of their preservation in the Hidden Libraries of the Arravine Friars. So it cannot be said exactly how many died in the Terror. But amongst the First Order it was certainly hundreds and perhaps into the thousands: and probably thousands more amongst the Second Order.
Nor did it seem that there would be any end to the madness. But the very means by which Duthgard had achieved his power bore the seeds of his downfall. In subverting the first Gift it seems that he had also weakened the others, and made himself vulnerable to all those things that the Children had been protected from.
His increasing paranoia proved to be just the first sign. He became ill - first from common and normally mild diseases, which nevertheless ravaged his body, even as his mind became weaker. He began to age rapidly: some accounts suggest that he gained the weight of many years in just a few weeks or even days. Yet more severe malady’s assailed him, many simultaneously. His strength failed, and in less than a year after his coronation Duthgard died. He was not more than sixty years old.
He left a land ruined and a people traumatised. There was a desperate need for someone to take control.
- Ekharden and the Office of Purification
None of Ollantine’s immediate family had survived the Terror. But one came forward who offered a claim to the throne, based on a tenuous connection through his mother. This was Ekharden. By his own word he had been a follower of the First Order when Duthgard returned, and had given him allegiance, but had refused to participate in the Terror and had instead gone into hiding.
It is not known how true this was, and it is impossible to verify his story. Rumours circulated that Ekharden had, in fact, been one of Duthgard’s chief lieutenants and a willing agent of the Terror. But nothing can be found to confirm this, not in the Imperial Archives or even in the Hidden Libraries of the Arravines.
There is good reason for this lack of information - but of that, more later.
Ekharden was acclaimed as King - by the First Order, by the remnants of the Children, even by the Second Order, or such of them as had a voice. After the chaos and bloodshed of Duthgard’s rule, any promise of order and stability was to be welcomed. So it was that in the autumn of 802 AC, less than a month after Duthgard’s death, Ekharden was crowned with full ceremony.
He set out at once to restore much of what had been destroyed. New officials were appointed to restore the rule of law, to re-establish trade, and in general to rebuild the nations trust in their king and government. Of course, all these new officials were of the First Order - for who else was there to take on such roles? And if some of them were granted titles, and land, and revenues - was that not reasonable, given their new responsibilities? Of course, the Children had seen things in a different light - but of those very few who had survived, none were given a role in the new kingdom.
The measures worked. A traumatised land began to heal, as life returned, in some respects at least, to normality. And if the new normality was not quite the same as what had gone before, well, after all that had occurred that was perhaps not surprising.
And indeed, who was to say that it was very different? Officially at least, nobody. Ekharden led the nation with a firmly positive message: the past was behind, and best forgotten about, as the Kingdom moved forward into a new and brighter future.
In order to promote and spread that message, Ekharden established the Office of Purification just a few weeks after his coronation - though it was done so quietly that very few seemed to have heard of it. Those who did were informed that the Office’s purpose was to ‘review the situation of the Kingdom and to remove from it such errors and mistakes as may have contributed to poor governance and unfortunate events of the past’
(This from one of the few surviving documents of the time, the Royal Decree by which the Office was established).
The wording was innocuous, and deliberately vague, and offered nothing that any could have objected to, even if they had known about it. But the true mission of the Office of Purification only became evident over time.
Operating under the direct command of the King, and with almost unlimited powers at their disposal, Agents of the Office set about systematically re-writing the Kingdom’s history. They began by removing and destroying all documents relating to Duthgard and the Terror. First, all official records and decrees from Duthgard’s short reign were taken. Then local sources of news and information were searched and ‘purified’. Even private diaries and letters were sought out. Anyone seeking to write of the time, either in history, memoir or novel form, was discouraged from doing so, and all draft copies and notes confiscated. Anyone who refused to co-operate with the Office might be arrested. Or might simply disappear.
As the power of the Office grew, it extended its reach even into people’s conversation. It was considered ‘unhelpful’ to talk of the Terror. The name of Duthgard was not to be mentioned. It became a criminal offence to spread ‘Retrograde Ideas’, these being ‘Detrimental to the good of the New Kingdom’.
It was, of course, impossible to remove all memory of the Terror from the minds of those who had experienced it. But the Office of Purification was entirely First Order: time was on their side. They had only to remove all records of Duthgard, and suppress all talk of him: then the passing of a Second Order generation would make it as if it had never been. The First Order would remember longer, of course, but it was in their own interest not to talk of it, since so many had been complicit.
But the Office’s aims went further than to wipe Duthgard from history. The full truth of the time before, the Old Kingdom, was also systematically erased. History was rewritten. Kerrenard did not receive his Gifts from the Divine, but he was rather one of a different race, who had these qualities from the beginning. The First Order were inherently superior and had the natural rulers over the Second Order. Mirrion’s role was downplayed, he had merely been the speaker for the First Order, but it was they who had united the Tribes and established the Kingdom.
Ironically, the Kingdom of Eskarin became truly a Kingdom of Silence: the truth of the Kingdom’s history could no longer be spoken.
- Knights and Friars
Ekharden responded with strength. The authority of the Office was expanded still further. In 810 AC, he established the Knights of the Pure Heart, who became known as the Purifiers.
Knights had not existed in the tribal days, and there had been no need of them under the Old Kingdom, but the concept of a military order dedicated to a particular cause or creed was known in other nations. Ekharden borrowed the idea in order to give the Office a harder edge and to enforce its aims against those who resisted it, especially those of the First Order.
It was never a return to the chaos and bloodshed of Duthgard’s Terror, but the Knights of the Pure Heart proved effective in their task, whether by fear or by violence. They were much more subtle and circumspect than Duthgard’s enforcers had been, but no less ruthless. In time, even the original Office of Purification was itself quietly removed from most records, and all its functions taken over by the Knights. They became a secret order, carrying out their work in the shadows. The silence had closed in on itself.
However, there was an answer to that silence, if only a whisper. In the same year that the Knights were formed, a small group of Second Order clerics and like-minded lay persons founded the Arravine Order of Friars. The name came from the small town in the west of the Kingdom where the first House was established, and it’s initial purpose was to train dedicated men to teach basic schooling to the children of poor Second Order families.
There were already other Teaching Orders in existence, as well as various schools and colleges supported by the Church. Some were quite extensive: the Sisterhood of Knowledge had branches all over the Kingdom, though their focus was the teaching of girls and young women, especially those in service. But the Arravines had another and more secret mission, which was to preserve the knowledge and the history that the Purifiers were seeking to erase.
This was dangerous work. The Purifiers already had the power to search any premises for proscribed writings, and to arrest anyone found in possession of them. Even those who could not read could be arrested or summarily executed for repeating old stories, and entire families were known to have vanished.
So the Arravine’s kept their true purpose concealed - even from most of their own members. It is believed they had support and aid from some people of wealth and position, even from among the First Order, but so well did they keep their secrets that few of these are named, even within the Hidden Libraries themselves. Yet to those unknown people and to all the Friars who kept safe the true knowledge of the past, we now owe an incalculable debt.
The Purifiers never discovered the Hidden Libraries. Indeed it seems that they never even suspected their existence. Had they done so they would have sought them out with all their ruthless efficiency. But for all their power they never realised that it was the humble Arravine teachers who were the greatest threat to their cause.
Any more overt rebellion was swiftly crushed, and the past became as Ekharden decreed it should be.
- From Kingdom to Empire
The borders of the Old Kingdom, largely determined by the extent of the tribal lands, had not extended further south than Lake Sh’thran, nor further east than the hill country beyond Lake Zyxhal and Lake Paran. In the west, the district now known as Fornessy was a semi-independent vassal state of Murkarin, who’s main part was then as now on the other side of the great Obsidian Mountains. In the north-west, what is now the Scla valley was then entirely part of Murkarin, the Kingdom’s border being along the western arm of the Hyata Mountains, and in the hill country running north from them to the sea.
In those days, relations between the Kingdom and its neighbours had been generally good. Ekharden was uninterested in good relations. He had been steadily building his armies since his coronation: now he unleashed them. First against Fornessy, which had been the most serious transgressor during the Terror and had expanded some way to the east. In a short, vicious campaign he crushed their forces, destroyed their leadership and gave the population the choice of accepting his rule - and that of new, First Order, Lords - or leaving at once for Murkarin. An attempt by the King of Murkarin to intervene was swiftly defeated, and gave Ekharden the excuse (if such were needed) to move his army north west and claim Scla. Murkarin itself, behind the great wall of the Obsidian’s, was too difficult to attack in strength, but their King wisely decided not to provoke Ekharden into trying. A treaty was hastily signed, conceding all Murkarin lands east of the Obsidians.
The following summer Ekharden led his armies north east. These were still tribal lands, not wealthy or well populated. Nevertheless, the harsh terrain and difficult conditions made it a long campaign, and winter closed in before it was completed. He returned in the spring, and conquered all the land between the Niyamah Mountains and the sea.
The south-west came next. Those arid lands were of little value to anyone, but the raids by the desert tribes into Kingdom lands had long been an irritant. Ekharden set out to scratch the itch, which he did by systematically identifying all sources of water and building forts to control them. The people of the sands were left with a choice of submitting or dying of thirst. Ever pragmatic, they mostly chose the former, and came under Ekharden’s rule.
The strongest neighbour was the great Southern Confederation - an alliance of several tribes with various city-states and small kingdoms. The core of this nation was centred on the Ferabard Peninsular, but Ekharden’s increasing aggression over the past years had led many other groups to join together in a somewhat uneasy and often quarrelsome grouping. This was exactly as Ekharden wished, since he had now just one enemy to overcome. Which he thought to do easily.
However, things did not go as he had expected. Ekharden’s armies were beaten twice in the first year of campaigning, and were forced to retire behind their own borders. Various rebellions and disturbances, probably inspired and certainly supported by the Confederation, kept Ekharden busy within the Kingdom for several years, and when he returned to the South, the Confederation had built stronger defences and bigger armies.
The war dragged on for year after year. Not until 873 AC was the last Confederation army defeated at the Battle Of Gromark.
After more than forty years of warfare, Ekharden was now master of all the lands between the Northern and Southern seas, and between the Obsidian and Niyamah Mountains.
He celebrated by renaming the Kingdom an Empire: and he himself was crowned in Daradura as the First Emperor of Eskarin.
The rest of his reign was largely peaceful. It may be that even he had had enough of warfare. Certainly no one felt inclined to attack the Empire.
Unlike the Kings of old, Ekharden did not abdicate. He continued to rule until his death in 917 AC, at the age of 146 or 156. (Records on this are contradictory. It was, of course, a considerable age by Second Order standards, but only normal for the First Order - and less than that often attained by the Children of Kerrenard in the Old Kingdom).
History records him as the great warrior, and the creator of an Empire. But as we have now know, his greatest achievement was to have been the re-writing of history: and in this he ultimately failed. Though it has taken two thousand years for that to become apparent.
Through all that time the silence has continued, and the Empire has remained in ignorance of its own true past.
- The End of Empire
Objectively, this is nonsense. A great deal has happened. Thirty seven individuals have ascended to the Imperial Throne (including two at the same time, during the ‘Rule of the Twins’). Some have been strong rulers, some weak, some have been largely uninterested in ruling at all.
Fifteen major wars have been fought, and there have been numerous ‘Incidents’, ‘Skirmishes’ and ‘Limited Military Deployments’. For a period of nearly a hundred years, parts of the Southern Empire were occupied by a nation of pirates and bandits, before one of the strong rulers came to power and dealt with the matter.
There has been trade, and exploration, and the mapping of distant lands. There have movements in art, developments in science, periods of religious growth and times of moral weakness. There have been terrible storms, famines, earthquakes and other natural disasters, but also bountiful harvests, the growth of markets and the increase of wealth.
Much of this has been recorded - letters, memorandums, essays, diaries, invoices, judgements, articles and reports covering this time have been meticulously catalogued and archived and filed away. It has been said that the most remarkable thing about the Empire is the sheer volume of paper it has accumulated.
And of course over all that time, great numbers of people have been born, have lived their lives, studied, played, gone about their business. For them, this has not been ‘non-history’: they have happened.
However, it is also true that when looked at as a whole, the history of the Empire over all these years is remarkably uniform. All the lives that have been lived, all the rulers, all the officials, all the events, fashions, discoveries and tragedies have not caused any substantial change. As has been often noted, if a citizen were to happen to pass, by some mysterious means, directly from Ekharden’s funeral to Anatarna’s coronation they would hardly notice that they had missed two thousand years.
This stability is unique in human affairs. While over this time the Empire has simply continued, in other parts of our world entire civilisations have come into existence, grown to maturity, decayed into decadence and vanished. Ruins in the jungles of Far Amheer testify to the truth of that (and the different styles of ruin suggest that it has happened more than once). That region is now almost uninhabited. The Caith Islands in the West are totally uninhabited, though legend speaks of their wealthy and industrious population.
Even our closest, largest and most contentious neighbour, Murkarin, has changed enormously over this time - from a kingdom through several political variations back to being a kingdom, but a very different one. And it is well argued that its continuous identity as Murkarin is owed to it’s proximity to Eskarin: it remains Murkarin because that is what the Empire calls it - and the Empire is the reference point against which the whole world is measured.
What is the reason for this remarkable consistency over such a length of time?
This has been much discussed, of course, but the conclusion is always the same: it is the Gifts that mark Eskarin out, and it is by them that it has endured so long. The stability of the Empire is derived from the stability of its ruling class.
Yet as it is now known, that stability is not guaranteed to continue. The Gifts can fail, and in recent times that failure has become very evident. Moreover, it has become clear that the suppressing of the truth about the Gifts origin and purpose - as instituted by Ekharden - has been the reason for this failure. The creator of the Empire also sowed the seeds of its destruction: in the silence, the truth died.
If the Gifts fail, then the Empire fails. The logic of this is inescapable - as is the evidence that this very thing has nearly happened in the living memory of even the Second Order.
So perhaps the real question is, not how has the Empire endured but how have the Gifts endured, with their true nature denied and a lie substituted.
I hold to this theory (as many others do).
The Gifts remained as strong as they were for as long as they did because the truth behind them has been re-discovered over and over again. We now know that the strength of the Gifts comes from love. It was Kerranard’s love for his people that led to him receiving the Gifts in the first place, and it is by love - especially love between First and Second Order - that the Gifts are released to their full potential.
This is the central truth that Ekharden denied and suppressed: but love cannot be suppressed. The Purifiers could not prevent love from happening. And where it did - where love sparked between the Orders - the Gifts grew afresh.
Studies now being carried out into the records of the past indicate that this has happened many times over the history of the Empire. Records of First Order lifespans show sudden and unexplained increases occurring all over the Empire and throughout its span. Moreover, these increases continue to show themselves in the succeeding generation, sometimes for many generations.
Thus have the Gifts endured, and thus has the Empire continued.
However, these studies have also shown that there has been a slow but steady decline in the Gifts over the centuries - evidenced mainly by the general shortening of First Order lifespans. This decline appears to have accelerated in the last few hundred years: comparison with records recovered from Zyx Trethir match this to the renewing of the Purifiers. They had been a largely moribund secret society lingering on in some First Order families, but new infusions of money and purpose had begun to make them a real force for maintaining ‘proper’ distinctions between the Orders. And in doing so, of course, ultimately destroying the Empire.
This was largely the work of Grand Duke Brodon, though it may have been initiated by his father. But the links between the Purifiers and Brodon’s Traditionalist party have now been revealed, as has the Grand Duke’s various schemes aimed at taking control of the Empire and remaking it according his personal vision of greatness. It has been these revelations that have caused some historians to say that ‘Paused History restarted when Brodon became Grand Duke in 2745 AC.
Others would put this point at the Ascension of Anatarna to the Imperial Majesty in 2772 AC. It is certainly true that Brodon and Anatarna were the principle players in what was to be the Final Act of the long running Eskarine Empire. Whichever one of them had won their confrontation, irrevocable changes would have followed and the Empire would have ended.
If it had been Brodon who prevailed, that ending would have come in chaos, bloodshed and a civil war whose horror would have matched or exceeded that of Duthgards terror. In the mercy of the Divine, he failed. And through this, the Silence was broken, the lie that had suppressed the truth of the Gifts and the Empire was exposed, and all was changed.
We stand now on the brink of a new world. Anatarna will be the Last Empress - by her own decree. She has already set in place the mechanisms for a new form of Government, and with her passing they will take full control. Eskarine, which was a Kingdom, then an Empire, will become a Republic. The biggest change in two thousand years.
But what will remain will be the Gifts. There are suggestions that the terms ‘First and Second Order’ should be done away with, though suitable replacements have not been agreed on. But it is already clear that there is a very different understanding of these terms, and of how the Gifts bind us all together.
Of course there are still tensions between the Orders. How can there not be, given the events of history? Especially of recent history. And of course, there is always the deepest problem, that the First Order live longer than the Second, an inequality that cannot be dealt with by political means.
But at least it is now understood that the purpose of that longer life is better service. And now that the Silence is broken, we talk together and find ways to work out our differences.
For if there is one thing that our history as taught us, it is that we need each other.
Anatarna an’Darsio
The School House
Tynam
15 Serral, 2858 AC
Ranks of Nobility in the Empire of Eskarin
1/ Empress (or Emperor)
All power is centred in their hands. However, in practice they cannot rule the Empire alone. Their chief officer is the Grand Chancellor - note that this is a job title, not a noble rank - who commands a large bureaucracy. There is also the Council of Lords, in theory representing all of the First Order (who were also supposed to represent the interests and concerns of the Second Order under their care) but in practice dominated by the wealthiest and most powerful of First Order families. As such they command considerable power, and an Empress facing concerted opposition from the Council would be in serious trouble.
2/ Grand Duke / Duchess.
A Duke of exceptional power and wealth, having command over, or the allegiance of, other Dukes. As with Grand Duke Brodon, who by Imperial Command but also by tradition, wealth and through other means commanded all other Dukes in the North of the Empire (with the possible exception of Duke Endranard of Vorgranstern). His full title, Grand Duke of the North Marches, denoted the area over which he had dominance.
3/ Duke / Duchess.
A Lord or Lady holding substantial lands and/or wealth and with a number of lesser Lords under his command or influence. Often also given the governance of an Imperial Province or Provinces, as with Duke Vordivan who is also Governor of West Fornessy. However, Governor is a job title, rather than a noble rank.
4/ Count / Countess
In the Old Kingdom, a military title granted to someone who held command of a Royal castle, fortified town or other major defence - thus a job title rather than a rank. However, these positions tended to become hereditary and often associated with other landholdings. Under the Empire it came to be automatically given to anyone having command or ownership of a major fortification, whether their own or someone elses - and if their own, therefore a sign of rank. The definition of ‘major fortification’ being somewhat vague, the title itself became rather loose in its application, and was normally found in conjunction with other titles. Thus. ‘Grand Duke Brodon’ officially ‘Grand Duke of the North Marches’ was also ‘Count of Zyx Trethir’, in reference to his own massive fortress.
5/ Grand Baron/ Baroness or (especially in the North) High Baron / Baroness.
A Baron having command over other Barons, by tradition, wealth, and/or by Imperial or Ducal ducal decree. Technically, Baron Crombard could claim this title, as he was one of the wealthiest noblemen in the North, rivalling some Dukes. But he preferred to emphasise his title as Lieutenant of the North, a position he was appointed to by Grand Duke Brodon, and by which he had much more power than as a Grand Baron.
6/ Baron / Baroness
A noble granted lands by a higher ranking noble, usually a Duke or Duchess, or by Imperial Decree, or directly from the Emperor / Empress. (Possibly by a High Baron, but this would be very rare). This lands were then held in perpetuity, and like all noble ranks, passed on to an heir. They could only be removed by due legal process, or by the death of the holder and all claimants. The grant usually included castles, manors, farms, villages and any townships not having an Imperial Grant of Independence, or coming under direct Imperial or Ducal rule. Many Baronial grants were very old, going back to the beginning of the Empire.
The grant included a responsibility to maintain law, administer justice, and manage the lands and industries. From these lands, the Baron or Baroness was expected to pay taxes to whoever had made the grant.
7/ Squire
This term was borrowed from other lands where a fully feudal system was in use (most notably Murkarin). Here, it originally referred to a young nobleman in attendance on a knight and in training to become one themselves, but in the Empire ‘Knight’ only referred to members of military orders, most especially the ‘Knights of the Pure Heart’. However, ‘Squire’ was adopted sometime during the early Empire to refer to First Order nobles who held land from, or administered it on behalf of, a more senior noble, usually a Baron or Baroness.
There was no feminine version of the title in Murkarin, but the term ‘Squirene’ came into use in the Empire, though this began to be considered old-fashioned and ‘Squire’ was used for both sexes.
Many Squires came to own some land in their own right, whilst continuing to hold land from another noble. They very often served as local justices and held considerable power within their lands.
In the South, wealthy and/or landowning members of the Second Order were sometimes referred to as ‘Squire’, but this was a courtesy title only, and many of the First Order frowned on the practice.
8/ Lord / Lady
All members of the First Order were considered noble and were entitled to be addressed as Lord or Lady. It was not necessarily linked to any wealth or other status. Those of the First Order without any other rank could be referred to as ‘Untitled Nobility’, though most disliked this designation.
1/ Empress (or Emperor)
All power is centred in their hands. However, in practice they cannot rule the Empire alone. Their chief officer is the Grand Chancellor - note that this is a job title, not a noble rank - who commands a large bureaucracy. There is also the Council of Lords, in theory representing all of the First Order (who were also supposed to represent the interests and concerns of the Second Order under their care) but in practice dominated by the wealthiest and most powerful of First Order families. As such they command considerable power, and an Empress facing concerted opposition from the Council would be in serious trouble.
2/ Grand Duke / Duchess.
A Duke of exceptional power and wealth, having command over, or the allegiance of, other Dukes. As with Grand Duke Brodon, who by Imperial Command but also by tradition, wealth and through other means commanded all other Dukes in the North of the Empire (with the possible exception of Duke Endranard of Vorgranstern). His full title, Grand Duke of the North Marches, denoted the area over which he had dominance.
3/ Duke / Duchess.
A Lord or Lady holding substantial lands and/or wealth and with a number of lesser Lords under his command or influence. Often also given the governance of an Imperial Province or Provinces, as with Duke Vordivan who is also Governor of West Fornessy. However, Governor is a job title, rather than a noble rank.
4/ Count / Countess
In the Old Kingdom, a military title granted to someone who held command of a Royal castle, fortified town or other major defence - thus a job title rather than a rank. However, these positions tended to become hereditary and often associated with other landholdings. Under the Empire it came to be automatically given to anyone having command or ownership of a major fortification, whether their own or someone elses - and if their own, therefore a sign of rank. The definition of ‘major fortification’ being somewhat vague, the title itself became rather loose in its application, and was normally found in conjunction with other titles. Thus. ‘Grand Duke Brodon’ officially ‘Grand Duke of the North Marches’ was also ‘Count of Zyx Trethir’, in reference to his own massive fortress.
5/ Grand Baron/ Baroness or (especially in the North) High Baron / Baroness.
A Baron having command over other Barons, by tradition, wealth, and/or by Imperial or Ducal ducal decree. Technically, Baron Crombard could claim this title, as he was one of the wealthiest noblemen in the North, rivalling some Dukes. But he preferred to emphasise his title as Lieutenant of the North, a position he was appointed to by Grand Duke Brodon, and by which he had much more power than as a Grand Baron.
6/ Baron / Baroness
A noble granted lands by a higher ranking noble, usually a Duke or Duchess, or by Imperial Decree, or directly from the Emperor / Empress. (Possibly by a High Baron, but this would be very rare). This lands were then held in perpetuity, and like all noble ranks, passed on to an heir. They could only be removed by due legal process, or by the death of the holder and all claimants. The grant usually included castles, manors, farms, villages and any townships not having an Imperial Grant of Independence, or coming under direct Imperial or Ducal rule. Many Baronial grants were very old, going back to the beginning of the Empire.
The grant included a responsibility to maintain law, administer justice, and manage the lands and industries. From these lands, the Baron or Baroness was expected to pay taxes to whoever had made the grant.
7/ Squire
This term was borrowed from other lands where a fully feudal system was in use (most notably Murkarin). Here, it originally referred to a young nobleman in attendance on a knight and in training to become one themselves, but in the Empire ‘Knight’ only referred to members of military orders, most especially the ‘Knights of the Pure Heart’. However, ‘Squire’ was adopted sometime during the early Empire to refer to First Order nobles who held land from, or administered it on behalf of, a more senior noble, usually a Baron or Baroness.
There was no feminine version of the title in Murkarin, but the term ‘Squirene’ came into use in the Empire, though this began to be considered old-fashioned and ‘Squire’ was used for both sexes.
Many Squires came to own some land in their own right, whilst continuing to hold land from another noble. They very often served as local justices and held considerable power within their lands.
In the South, wealthy and/or landowning members of the Second Order were sometimes referred to as ‘Squire’, but this was a courtesy title only, and many of the First Order frowned on the practice.
8/ Lord / Lady
All members of the First Order were considered noble and were entitled to be addressed as Lord or Lady. It was not necessarily linked to any wealth or other status. Those of the First Order without any other rank could be referred to as ‘Untitled Nobility’, though most disliked this designation.