The Iron Empire
The powerful exact what they can, and the weak suffer what they must. ThucydidesThe namesake of the Demonic Imperium, the Iron Empire extends to every continent of Anacra. No matter which cultures it engulfs or where it spreads, a single-minded society hell bent on dominance, violence, and continuous expansion replaces what was before.
Structure
The supreme head of state for the Iron Empire is Uzhul, God Emperor. His ability to travel via magic and his coterie of fiends enables him to stay in contact with each territory of the empire. As God and Emperor, Uzhul has complete and absolute authority.
Beyond that, the empire functions as a military dictatorship. It is divided into provinces--conquered territories ruled by Uzhul's armies. Each province is ruled by an Archon, who serves as an envoy of the Iron-Throned God himself. Archons hold immense power and authority, including power of life and death over any of their subjects, but they serve at the will of the Destroyer, and should they displease him, they are replaced by someone more fitting. Archons may be mortals or they may be fiends.
Archons employ heralds, messengers, scribes, bodyguards, soldiers, treasurers and a variety of other attaches to fulfill their important duties. They appoint local leaders and administer the armies of their territories. An Archon's chief duty is military, and they are more likely to employ additional administrators to see to civil responsibilities than to cede strategic command to a general. That's a fast path towards being replaced.
By the will of Uzhul, every province follows certain organizational schema, from how the army is organized to how roads are built and fields are laid out. Within these parameters an Archon and their subordinates may adjust some things, but Uzhul may always decree a change in behavior to enforce his control
- Asere Province
- Braumus Province
- Eythgos Province
- Lorore Province
- Narzym Province
- Niach Province
- Orghal Province
- Valgirt Province
- Vatul Province
Culture
The Iron Empire revolves around the idea of the Great Chain. Every subject of Infernal rule knows their place in the Great Chain. For the vast majority of these unfortunates, the chain is iron-clad and brooks no change. If you are born into a low position in life, the only way you can rise is by making yourself as useful as possible to those above you.
In the Great Chain, Uzhul lies at the peak, the very highest of the high. Below him are the other Infernals and fiends, then the greatest mortals. Warlords and generals--those who command the wills of others and enforce their will upon the land--are the highest among mortals. Below them are intelligent and deadly warriors, and below them still are those who merely give into their bloodlust and become weapons in the hands of others. Your average citizen falls somewhere beneath warriors and above war-fodder, but only if they have some sort of skill that makes them useful to those above them.
Beneath all else are the beasts, plants and minerals of the world, which exist to be harvested and exploited to increase the power of those who rule.
Loyalty, strength, and utility are the chief virtues of the Iron Empire.
Public Agenda
The Iron Empire is out to conquer all other societies and spread their influence across the entirety of Anacra.
Assets
Huge armies, mighty and heavily fortified civic centers, vast swathes of arable land and more.
History
The Iron Empire was forged by Uzhul the Destroyer himself. After plunging the Blackiron Blade into Erecura's heart, he gathered his fiends into an army and began invading mortal tribes. It is said that he began his empire over the oceans to the distant west, tearing from one civilization to another, lifting up those who knelt before him into positions of power and installing them as Archons, then traveling to another land with his legions to do the same again.
Each Province has its own history, almost always beginning with a fiendish invasion and the rise of a local warlord who accepts Uzhul's offer of dominance. Then a bloody war of conquest, consolidation of power, creation of a capital city and continuous campaign of expansion. Each appearance of Uzhul is treated as a holy, messianic event, and the first Archon of that province becomes an object of reverence and worship second only to Uzhul himself. These are the so-called "Grand Archons."
Demography and Population
The Iron Empire spans multiple continents and its provinces are often completely isolated from each other, except by the processions of Uzhul across the world. Thus, each Province's demographics vary wildly, based on the original inhabitants who were conquered. That said, humans, hobgoblins, and tieflings are some of Uzhul's favorite peoples to conquer.
Thousands of fiends walk the earth in the days of the Demonic Imperium, and devils of all sorts make up the armies, legal systems, and other aspects of Imperial society. In urban centers, mortals encounter fiends every single day.
Territories
The Iron Empire is the largest of the Infernal Cultures by far. Its exact holdings are unknown, since the world is too divided for anyone to count all of its provinces.
Military
Uzhul's laws are ironclad when it comes to the organization of the military.
Fodder Legions are the least organized and most poorly trained, often consisting of mindless devils or hapless conscripts. They are sent forward in vast numbers to deplete enemy resources. Those who are sentenced to death in Imperial society are sometimes pressed into the fodder legions, which is as good as death.
Next, Spear Legions are well organized, self-contained armies of up to 10,000 warriors. They are strictly regimented into tents, camps, cohorts, and entire legions. Warriors in these legions are not conscripts, but full-time professional soldiers who undergo rigorous training and drills. Much of the output of Imperial society is dedicated to weapons and armor, and so the Spear Legions are very well equipped. They often have spellcaster detachments of imperial warmages, dedicated fodder legions to soak enemy fire ahead of them, and employ brilliant tactics in battle.
There is a reason the Iron Empire has spread so far throughout the Mortal World.
Religion
Uzhul is both God and Emperor. The state religion teaches that Uzhul and the Infernals came to Anacra to realize its full potential and tame it, but the Sovereigns and Titans who dwell there rejected their wisdom. The powers of nature are shrouded in fear, chaos, and ignorance, and must be conquered so they can be harvested and put in good order.
The death of Erecura was a great act of liberation as Uzhul overthrew the jealous and petty Old Gods, driving them back and reclaiming the world for order and civilization.
Dragons are hateful beasts, unholy harbingers of chaos. To slay a dragon is a great feat of piety and civic pride.
Foreign Relations
The Iron Empire is largely adversarial with every other major power, as its expansionist mandate puts it in automatic conflict. That said, the Iron Empire has an uneasy truce with other Infernal cultures, such as the Designers, the Xethian Cults, and even the wandering bands of Raveners, though they can only be so controlled.
Agriculture & Industry
While individual industries vary from one province to the next, Uzhul's strategy for each involves consolidating and centralizing production. Farmland is seized by the Archon and reorganized to optimize output in order to feed armies. Resources are similarly claimed, any minerals in a newly conquered province will be located and extracted with maximum efficiency. The use of devils as administrators enables a shocking level of productivity at the expense of mortal suffering and loss of freedom.
Aside from architecture, a very high emphasis is placed on metalsmithing, especially weapons, armor, and tools.
Trade & Transport
Provinces only trade when it suits them--beyond that, it is better to take than to buy. To facilitate the movement of armies, the Iron Empire builds roads and infrastructure wherever it goes.
There is very little nautical transportation in the Iron Empire--the will of Li-Ban is against them.
Education
Education varies widely by social class. Most education focuses on military training, unless a subject has been marked for a specific skill or trade. Those in the lowest classes receive imperial indoctrination from heralds who speak publicly in town squares, mandatory religious observance, and monuments and iconography.
Infrastructure
Each time Uzhul establishes a new province he places a heavy emphasis on infrastructure development. Roads, fortifications, bridges, and more must be built up quickly to ensure the advancement and longevity of the new province.
Founding Date
6413
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Demonym
Imperial
Leader
Leader Title
Founders
Head of State
Government System
Dictatorship
Economic System
Market economy
Legislative Body
While the Conclave of Archons has a nominal say in the operations of the empire, in reality Uzhul's will overrules all. He keeps a coterie of fiendish advisors who collectively evaluate the optimal set of laws to increase the productivity and power of the empire and disseminate it to the Archons for enforcement. There are twelve of these fiends, known as the Amanu.
Judicial Body
The Law must be enforced according to the will of Uzhul. It lies within the power of the Archons to condemn any non-warrior to death for any reason at any time. This includes Fodder, the lowest rank of fighter, who are considered not warriors, but weapons.
That said, each Archon has one or more Tribunes, often fiends sent by Uzhul to ensure that the laws of the Amanu are enforced. These Tribunes, usually fiends but sometimes mortals, interpret the Laws of the Iron Empire and dictate outcomes. If the will of an Archon and the interpretation of the Law are in conflict, The Laws must be upheld. That said, the Laws are written in a way to collect power and resources in the hands of the most loyal subjects of the Destroyer, including the Archons themselves.
In particularly dire cases and to resolve appeals, Uzhul may send the Grand Tribunal, a group of inviolate diabolical judges, to hear a case. When all else fails, the greatest arbiter of Uzhul's law is Uzhul himself.
Executive Body
This once more falls to the Archons, who employ Praetors to enforce the law. Praetors and Inquisitors are drawn from fiendish or mortal stock, follow stringent codes of obedience, and carry incredible authority. A Praetor or Inquisitor may arrest almost anyone in society below a certain rank. Warlords, True Warriors and the like are summoned before court by a Praetor, and are expected to obey as befits one of their rank. If they do not, the law may strip them of their rank and subject them to arrest.
Subsidiary Organizations
Related Ranks & Titles
Notable Members
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