THE
AUGUSTINIAN EMPIRE
Location LL16
Ruler His
Imperial Majesty, Augustus X, Ruler of Centurions, Favored of the Gods.
Military Army
is rated good: 42 (Size 7, Quality 6)
Navy
is rated average: 8 (Size 1, (2), Quality 5)
Major
Cities Augustine (pop. 55,000) (capital)
Hero's
Return (pop. 12,000)
Population 750,000
(80% human, 5% dwarven, 5% halfling, 5% gnomish, 5% other)
Resources Agriculture,
gems, metals, cloth.
Major
Religions Greco-Roman,
Christianity, Judaism, Celtic, some demi-human pantheons. Very tolerant of other religions.
History & The Augustinian Empire is a political entity that
arose after the Second Drow
Description War.
With the end of that war and the disbanding of the Mortal Heroes,
Augustus the Heartless, as he was then known, left Hero's Return and built a
citadel in the readily defensible foothills southeast of the Dwarven Kingdom of
the Iron Hills. The area at that
time was in a state of political chaos, with no seat of power, and with several
bandit lords vying for control.
With the help of the Mage Lawrence Dreamstalker, Augustus gathered and
trained an army from among the
populace of the region, and defeated many of the bandit lords and drove the
remainder from the region. The
grateful populace of the area, relieved
to be able to lead their lives in relative safety, asked Augustus to become
their king. Augustus agreed,
and Lawrence Dreamstalker became the chief advisor to the Court. Augustus became even more popular with
the people of the area when he chose from among the common people a girl
named Athenia to become his queen.
He ruled wisely and well, and his old name was changed so that he became
known as Augustus the Just, and thereafter the rulers of the country had the
name of Augustus Justinius. For
twenty years he ruled, aging so little during that time that it was rumored
among the people of the country that it seemed the intent of the Gods that
Augustus should rule them for hundreds of years. After twenty years, however, Augustus and Lawrence
disappeared from the court of Augustine.
The people of the country were shocked and upset, but gradually the
feeling became prevalent that Augustus and Lawrence had been called away by the
Gods for some greater purpose, and Queen Athenia became regent for her young
son. She ruled very well as Regent,
giving the throne to her son when he turned eighteen. She never remarried, hoping that Augustus would some
day return to her. Augustus has
not yet returned, but the legend surrounding him says that he will return to
aid Augustine in its hour of greatest need.
Augustine's
most important political alliance, that with Keeli, was founded some one
hundred years after the end of the Drow Wars. At that time, Augustine was making use of the port
facilities in Keeli as its access to the Azure Sea. A few conniving ministers managed to convince Augustus the
Fifth that Augustine was powerful
enough to annex the city state of Keeli. Augustus the Fifth sent messengers to the Ecclesiastical
Council of Keeli with an ultimatum — Keeli would become a part of
Augustine, peacefully or not. The
head of the Ecclesiastical Council, a Jewish Rabbi named Saul, sent back a
messenger with expressions of shock and outrage at Augustine's audacity. Saul conceded that it was possible that
Augustine could conquer Keeli through sheer force, but that the people of Keeli
would see to it that what the Augustinians obtained through conquest would not
be worth having. Saul also hinted
that Keeli would bring the Citadel of Stormgate into the matter. Augustus the Fifth decided to test
Keeli's strength and determination by sending a flotilla of boats down the
Grosser River with a regiment of his best soldiers. Keeli, however, seemed prepared for such a test, because
they intercepted the flotilla two days north of Keeli when the flotilla beached
for the night. The Augustinian
Regiment was captured by Keeli with slight losses on both sides, and was taken
back to Keeli. Saul decided that
rather than punishment, the soldiers would be set free in Keeli. Saul appealed to the soldiers on the
basis of their alignments (all were either good or neutral), to leave the
innocent people of the city in peace.
There was some dissension among the more militant of the troops, but the
regimental commander was a wise man, and he returned to Augustine to confront
the emperor. Much to the
commander's surprise, Augustus the Fifth was completely in agreement that
Augustine should not only leave Keeli to itself, but that Augustine should
cement strong ties with Keeli. It
turned out that Augustus the Fifth had had a dream on the night that the
regiment was captured. In this dream,
Augustus the First conveyed his displeasure with his great-great grandson's
actions, and hinted that further military overtures would cause him (Augustus
the First) to be very, very disappointed in Augustus the Fifth. The outcome of the situations was that
an agreement was reached between Augustine and Keeli that would be of
great benefit to both. Augustine
was granted privileged use of Keeli's port and Keeli would defend the
Augustinian ships, while Augustine would provide military support to Keeli in
times of danger. This agreement
has worked out exceptionally well for both countries, who remain strongly
allied to this day.
Among
its other geographical neighbors Augustine has not fared so well. Augustine and the Iron Hills have
always maintained and neutral and somewhat distrustful opinion of each
other. While neither Augustine nor
the Iron Hills wants the territory that the other occupies, and while both
countries are good aligned, the racial disparity of the two areas has caused
suspicion and mistrust over the years.
Augustine
and Deerhart, on the other hand, have always maintained a state of cold
war. Deerhart is an expansionistic
country, and is always casting covetous eyes at Augustine and the
unclaimed territories to its south.
Augustine does not want Deerhart to move any closer than that country
already is, and Augustinian and Deerhart troops will often clash in
neutral territories. While no
formal declaration of war has been signed, there is little doubt that
sufficient provocation will lead to war.
In the current state of political crisis on Darkhold, Augustine is
suspected to be formulating plans of all out attack against Deerhart should the
opportunity arise.