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.