The Eternal Commonwealth
Humans came to Aramanth over 10,000 years ago, crashing down upon a massive void ship that scattered them across the world's surface. When they found they couldn't escape, the humans used their lore and technology to build an empire that would touch every corner of the world. This empire would eventually come to be known as the Eternal Commonwealth, and there is not a person alive who has not been touched by it in one way or another.
The long life of the Commonwealth has not come without cost. Millenia of laws, rituals, reforms, conquests have slowly compounded upon the Commonwealth to create a nation that is wealthy beyond the imagining of its subjects but also weighed down to the point of stagnation under intersecting and often counter-acting systems and agencies. Within the capital province of Saltus, millions of people spread about several cities, and within each city is a sprawling mass of interlocking class hierarchies, archaic guilds, and stratified governmental organizations. Within these sprawling cities are communities that barely comprehend the existence of life outside their given quarter, much less beyond the walls into the Indigo Grasslands that expand out in every direction.
Ironically, it is in this part of Aramanth, where entire classes of people exist who never look beyond their city walls, have entire culture sets arose from the peoples who serve to port the vast amounts of resources and goods to and from these cities to the lesser Commonwealth communities. These Convoy Communities have lineages dating back thousands of years, building minor nobilities that intermarry between one another. These groups are the rare exception on Aramanth--a class of people who regularly travelled the lonely roads running through the Wilds to the various isolated towns and cities of the world.
Until their recent decline, the population of the Commonwealth was almost evenly divided Nessus and its satellite cities the exponentially smaller communities spread across the rest of the world. Though life in between these populations was as different as night and day, a few things remained common. Freedom of faith was allowed, but Exultist primacy was still mandated. Loyalty to the ruling Autarch was to be unquestioned, and the laws from Nessus held supremacy overall. An appointed Archon would oversee the day-to-day governance and an Exult Priest sees to the community's needs in terms of faith and Tek (sometimes these two roles are combined, with an appointed Priest Archon.) Beyond this, however, a great deal of variance was allowed. Commonwealth Legions garrisoned each community to provide protection against the monsters and abhumans of the wilds and wastelands, but it was the Priests who ultimately determined the best way for a community to navigate their particular threats and dangers.
Though this dichotomy between capital and subordinate community still exists, time and a deadly war have changed the formula considerably. In the modern-day control over much of the land once owned by the Commonwealth has either been withdrawn or wrested from its weakened grip, such that the Empire now consists only of its primary province and a scant few external regions outside the Indigo Grasslands. The Autarch still rules from his palace in Nessus, and the Emerald Pope still looks down over the faithful from the House Absolute, but a world which once held only those two positions of total power, now sees a crowded arena of forces seeking to rise above them.
Culture
With the steady loss of Commonwealth territory, citizens of the Empire have slowly taken on a conservative bent, tending towards an emphasis on the ancient traditions and rituals of the Empire. To the increasingly nostalgic peoples within the capital cities, these things are seen as symbols of the once unbreakable consistency of their nation. Increasing skepticism is shown faiths and traditions arising in newly independent nations, and a slow resentment grows towards these upstarts.
Despite this, Nessus and it's satellite cities remain the richest, most powerful, and most populous communities in the world and the influence they hold over the rest of the world in terms of culture and trade is undeniable. The majority of Exult Priests still come from Nessus, as do many Nanos, Delves, Wrights. The choices made in Nessus ripple down to even the smallest community, sooner or later.
Public Agenda
Each ruling Autarch since the end of the Voidgate War has sought to reverse the slow and steady decline of the Commonwealth, thus far to little success. Often the Autarch must content with the Emerald Pope who oversees the Exultist Church, an organization once almost inexorably tied to the Commonwealth, but now forced to consider relations with several other nations it now finds its temples operating within.
Assets
Despite their decline, the Commonwealth is still presently the richest and most powerful nation on Aramanth, with libraries of lore that would take lifetimes to sift through, stores of both newtek and oldtek (though the proper understanding of their use is often lost to history), and the largest military force on the planet. The ability for any one person, organization, or even the Autarch, to quickly and effectively utilize any of this, however, is questionable.
History
The Commonewealth's most known recent history is its part in the Voidgate war, where it spent nearly its entire standing army preserving the known world. For all the elves' power, they greatly underestimated the power and unpredictability of the Commonwealth's supply of tek, which they made extreme use of in their defense against them. The tek rarely worked to its full capacity, and often failed in its operation or outright backfired due to age or lack of understanding, but it gave enough of an edge to the Commonwealth that they were able to stretch the invasion from the expected few decades to over three centuries, holding off long enough until the elves' means of executing the invasion was eventually destroyed by the actions of a rebellious sect elves and the Aramanthian nanos, jacks, and glaives who aided them.
Religion
The official faith of the Commonwealth, and it is from the House Absolute, an ancient facility built into the earth in the earliest days of the empire, that the Emerald Pope oversees the operation of the faithful. The Papacy holds power nearly equal to the Autarch themself, and in recent years as the Empire has slowly broken apart, tensions continue to grow between the two power centers as the Autarch's focus shifted to a resentful desire to reclaim lost lands, and the Pope remains steadfast in the church's aims to maintain stability across Aramanth's settlements.
While these tensions have yet to arrive at anything near armed tension or violence, it is notable the increasing number of Legion soldiers re-occupying long empty fortresses, and the greater number of the angelic Heirojules making their presence known about the House Absolute.
From the First, to Forever
Founding Date
Year 0 of the Imperial Era
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Alternative Names
The Commonwealth, The First Empire
Demonym
Imperial
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Despotism
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
The Krisos
Official State Religion
Location
Neighboring Nations
Comments