Holy Irillian Empire

During it height in 1750 AE

  • Capitol Andali
  • Official Languages(s) Irillian
  • Regional Languages(s) various dialects
  • Religion
  • Demonym Irillian
  • Government Theocracy Socialism
  • Area 1,300,000 km2 (50,000 sq. mi)
    • Slightly larger than Peru [circa 2016]
  • Population 52,000,000
    • 1,040,000 Isolated
    • 46,280,000 in 102,845 villages (4 km distance)
    • 3,120,000 in 624 towns (46 km distance)
    • 1,300,000 in 109 cities (108 km distance, including big cities)
    • 260,000 in 3 large cities
  • Currency Aureus, Denarius, Sestertius, Dupondius, As
  • Military
    • 1610 Standing Fortifications
    • 1040 Active Castles
    • 570 Ruined/Abandoned Castles

For 68 years the Irillian Empire fell into ruin and some of the warlords broke off from the Empire and reformed into independent landholders, while others were conquered by their more powerful neighbors. From this tempest arose the Irrishite church. For many years it served as the glue that held the various tribes together and now it used that position to hold the throne.

During those first years the church used its influence and wealth to put several Emperors on the the throne. None of them were strong enough to stop the divisions forming in the Empire. With little choice remaining and the Empire crumbling around them, the church took the throne for itself. The Irillian commoners, long oppressed by the warlords, rose up in support of the church and overthrew the warlords in a very bloody revolution. The church renamed the Empire, The Holy Irrishite Empire, and started the calendar at 0 to mark the new world.

The first social act of the church was to abolish the old Feudal Warlord structure and replace it with a duality system of patricians and commoners. The patricians were those non-ordained members of Irill that held land, the commoners were the remaining freeborn people of Irill. The patricians held their station in deference to the church and must submit themselves to the church. The clergy of the church were seen as occupying a station higher than patricians, but stood outside of its laws. They could judge, but not be judged by the laws of the Empire. Only the laws of the church bound the clergy.

To make these laws the church formed an Imperial Senate and granted each Senator the right of imperium, which gave them the power to make and judge laws. At least two patricians were put forward by each Diocese to stand as Senators, who would be voted on by the first man of each household within that Diocese. The top two patricians were sent to represent them in the Imperial Senate. The Senate started with around 300 Senators when it was first formed, by the time the Empire collapsed there were over 620 Senators standing.

Two Senators, not in the same Diocese, were selected by the Senate to serve in the role of consul and lead the Senate. If one of the men could not stand then a proconsul was selected instead. When the Senate failed to act, the church would appoint a member of the Clergy as dictator until the crisis passed and the Senate could again take up its duties. Serving the Senate were hundreds of patricians in various positions to see to the needs of the Empire.

To counter the weight of the patricians, the church also created an assembly of the commons. This assembly was formed within each province and served as both the judge and jury on secular matters within that province. Each assembly was appointed two Senators to provide wise guidence and serve as their patrons within the Senate. Further the church appointed a single member to see that all judgements were carried out in the name of Irrish.

Under this system of government the Empire grew rapidly from the few core cities to controlling almost 80% of the original Empire in just 10 years. By Y37 the Empire had regained its lost stature and peacefully conquered the Bambara, Ibibio, and Hausa tribes. They also militarally conquered the Fulani and Nupe tribes on their northern border. At this point in history, the Holy Irrishite Empire was the largest Empire in the Realms. This was a golden age of philosophy, art, and literature as the church encouraged patronage of the arts.

It wasn't until Y59 that things began to change. With most of the elders that created the New Empire passed on, a new generation of priests rose to power within the church. These new priests saw the need to expand the power of the Empire and thus bring the power of Irrish to the farthest reaches of the realms. They saw the remaining bestial religions as heretical and the growing Temple of Light among the Dakarians as a direct threat to their own beliefs. Thus it was in Y64 that they launched the First Crusade.

The First Crusade was considered a great success and brought the head of the Caragan Sea under their control for the first time. They pushed the Dakarians back up the Zun River and established a new Diocese in the north. Unlike the previous Empire's war, this crusade set up churchs within the conquererd territories to convert the natives. They encouraged the legionaires to take up semi-permenant residence and marry into local families. As the Diocese converted to Irrish they would be granted every greater power, eventually becoming full citizens of Irill.

After this success, in Y71 they launched the Second Crusade into the southern lands of the Pah. The Pah refused to be pacified, but they could not stop the Irillians from conquering much of their best lands just along the southern edge of the Caragan Sea. This new Prefecture of Selcaria was formed with Lucius serving as its first prefecture maximus. The Pah would be trouble throughout the remainder of the Second Empire, but could not seriously mount any campaign to push the Irillians back.

The Holy Irrishite Empire now stood as the largest Empire in the history of the Realms. The Empire was now at peace with its neighbors, at least enough to see the passage of trade as beneficial. They still would launch two more large crusades to the east. The first was wildly successful, but the second gained only a small section of land (still it was enough for the dictator of the army to declare victory. For 150 years the Empire stood as the shining beacon of culture, peace, and prosperity to the world, until the rise of Julius Germanius in Y246.

Julius was considered a radical priest his superiors within the church, but he was the most skilled oratator of his time. His fiery speeches against those that stood against church doctrine are now considered the most powerful of his time. Single-handedly, and then with a small group of converts, he changed the course of the Empire. He saw a single Empire, dedicated to Irrish, stretching from the eastern to the western sea and only those heretics among us would try and hold back this vision. In Y251 he declared a holy war upon the Elves and thus it was that the Irillian Legion marched again to war.

The elves stood as the single largest obstacle to overcome to reach the western sea. With Irrishite legion marching from both the south and north they were caught in a difficult situation. With only a small army they defended their lands as best as they could. When the Irillians formed the city of Valparia on the shore they now had a way to resupply their army without taking the long overland route. Still the amount of land to conquer was large and Irill's legions were being depleted. So, in Y251 they hired several mercenaries from the north and east to fight in their army.

Its armies stretched out and trying to control large sections of land it wasn't too long until the army could no longer maintain the same rate of advancement. As the Irrishite army slowed down, the elven army was there to strike back. Led by their maiden archers, the elven army drove straight to Valparia. While in the north the Dakarians attacked and cut off the northern overland route. About the same time the Pah moved to reclaim their lands from the Irrishites. While the Irrishite army held, this was increasingly taxing the church's coffers until the church was deep in debt to several of the largest merchant families.

It wasn't until Y260 that the string finally broke. The elves took Valparia, sailed across the Caragan, landed and marched their army directly to the Holy Temple of Irrish. Although the Holy See was one of the most defended places with the Empire, they could not hold back a vengeful Elven army. When the elves took control of the building in the winter of Y251 they kept it intact so that those responsible could never rise up again. This would serve as a constant reminder for all Irillians.

The conquest of the Holy See by the elves started the house of cards to being falling. Selcaria broke away, claiming no ties between themselves and the original Irillians that lived there. The Kingdom of Dakar took back the lands around the northern tip of the Caragan Sea. Finally the city of Valparia broke away, forming a treaty with the Elven Army to secure their own peace. By Y280 the Empire lay in ruins, its provinces broken away, its legions scattered, and its most holy city occupied by the elves.