The Tawdonian Empire

The Tawdonian Empire, or just "The Empire" stretches from the edge of the Great Wastes to the shores of the Northam Sea and then south through the Rocklands, along the coast of the West Hurn Sea to the Southern Forests. It is ruled by an Emperor, who oversees the entire Imperium from his throne in Tawdic City. The Empire is a vast, organized culture, due to its history of imperialism. Imperials consider themselves to be at the forefront of human innovation and progress.

Imperials have been raised to believe in a single Deities and a single church. They are unlikely to be tolerant of ideas different from the ones they were raised believing. They have been taught that anyone who does not believe in NOS is a heathen, or that their Deities is just NOS in another form. The church of NOS teaches its followers that balance in life is the key to happiness. All Imperials strive to find balance in their lives. The happier an Imperial is with the state of their life, the more vigorously they will pursue balance. Fearing, that if they become too unbalanced, that they may lose those thing which are making them happiest.

Despite the social disruptions caused by The Plague, the Empire is still a highly structured society. There is very little if any chance for upward social mobility. This is seen as the proper way of the world. “NOS has put me here for a reason”. The two pillars that are The State and The Church dominate the society. The driving financial motivation for most citizens is to earn enough money to buy their citizenship the following year.

From the time they are small children, Imperials are encouraged to pursue talents they possess as far as they can take them. There is a great need in most Imperials to be the best at something (or possibly several things). To an Imperial there is no such thing as good enough. There is always some aspect of every skill to be perfected or improved on. Greatness is defined as being very, very good at one, two or three things, not being adequate at a great number.

= Roleplaying an Imperial =

Looking like an Imperial
The dress of most Imperials resembles that of Medieval Europe, or the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The upper classes wear expensive fabrics and ornately decorated robes and gowns. The Merchant classes, while they cannot afford the expensive fabrics or decoration of the aristocracy, will still dress in bright colours and may own several changes of clothing. The poorest labourers and slaves tend to dress in simple earth tone fabrics unless they are lucky enough to obtain an old garment from their employers. But under these circumstances the garment are likely to be mended.

Imperial soldiers wear mostly metal armor. A Knight of NOS would not be seen on the battlefield in anything less than full plate. It was the evening sun reflecting off the plate of the Imperials, which earned them the nickname “red knights” during the first battles with the Conthestani. Foot soldiers wear as much armor as they can afford. Most veterans have chain and some plate.

Sounding like an Imperial
Imperial speech is riddled with references to their god. Learn which areas of life are covered by each aspect and make reference to them when speaking of these things. For example, Sim is the aspect responsible for winter (and as such for snow and ice). While we might say, “Be careful, the bridge is slippery this morning”, an Imperial might say “Sim has left his touch on the bridge. Be careful not to slip.”

The Imperials divide the year into three seasons. In each season, one aspect of NOS dominates over the other two. These seasons are called The Reign of Sim, The Reign of Ney and The Reign of Olt. Traditionally, weddings take place during the Reign of Ney and it is considered lucky to have been born during the Reign of Olt. (See Important Dates)

Imperial Names
The Tawdonian Empire is heavily influenced by the Roman and Byzantine Empires, so Roman, Greek, or Latin names are typical for Imperials. They also branch into typical Medieval Fantasy, so these name options can stretch into French, Spanish, and other central European languages. German and Germanic sounding names, however, are reserved for Conthestani. Imperials like titles and organization, so any title an individual may have is proudly displayed before their name.

Example Imperial names are Leona Rey, Doctor Iroveth Cato, Dominus Dignitas.

= History of the Tawdonian Empire =

= Religion = See NOS.

= Important Imperial Places =

Tawdic City
Tawdic City, or Tawdic, is the capital of the Tawdonian Empire. It is where the Primus and the Emperor reside. It is a huge, sprawling city, with clearly defined rich and poor districts. It is also home to the heads of all the Guilds, although there is no public office of the White Roses.

The city is patrolled by the Tawdic Guard, though there are also two Talon Knight outposts found here as well. The Tawdic Guard is paid using the citizenship costs of the city, though it is not unusual to see bribes take place when its thought that no one is looking. The Tawdic Guard, though not explicitly, generally ignores the poorer end of the city, prioritizing protecting those with power and the money to back it. Complaints about this from the lower classes have so far fallen on the deaf ears of the Emperor.

Tawdic is also home to the biggest NOSian cathedral in the Empire - The Tawdic Cathedral. This cathedral is gilded in sacred silver, but only from ten feet up, as all gilding below that has been scraped off and sold by those who covet the rare material. It is here that, only religious holidays, the Primus visits in prayer, before giving a large public sermon in the centre of the city. Tawdic Cathedral is run by priests, clerics, and paladins of NOS, and is attached to one of the Talon Knight outposts.

= Important Dates =