The Cordaint Empire

"They say that the rose symbolised unity, safety through defense, with sharp thorns protecting concentric petals. Let me make one thing clear. In that place, there was no safety. It was always doomed to fail. I suppose that's just the way of empires"

— S

The Cordaint Empire was an empire that ruled most of Orlend over 400 years ago. After many of the suppressed inhabitants rebelled, combined with a major natural disaster at the nation's capital, it collapsed. While it is no longer in existence, it's effects are still very much seen across the world in the form of strongholds, the formation of nations, and culture.

Structure

The empire is ruled by the Marca, the highest possible military rank, and the ruler of both the central province of Cordaintia and the Empire as a whole. This is done in tandem with the senate, which while holding little power to make decisions in its own right, is responsible for electing these positions. The senate is in turn elected by Cordaintine citizens. Most major positions of authority have a place in the senate, including major lawmakers, the Marca, and other roles.
With the nation a stratocracy, the majority of politically powerful positions are military, at least superficially.

Disbandment

While the empire was initially successful, many of the annexed nations rebelled. The empire had spread too quickly, and was unable to communicate between the empire's capital in the center, and the areas of rebellion towards the edges. The catalyst for the Empire's fall was the Great Rebellion, in which the suppressed Erdantines of the province rebelled. Word of this quickly spread further north, and the Kelbrike peoples rebelled too. Finally, the Empire's capital, Borio, was destroyed in a freak storm, in which the city went up in flames. The cause of the destruction of Borio is unknown. The collapse of the Empire caused a massive power vacuum, the land in central Orlend splitting up into multiple nations - Emmerion, Yannurrin, and the Kingdom of Eliron. Erdantia also pushed west, taking large areas of land.

Territories

The empire ruled the entirety of Orlend, with the exception of most of the Senestrian plains and what is now Shadra, as it lies behind a mountain range that was considered too difficult to cross, and was without much incentive for colonisation, as the presence of Kakellium was not yet discovered. Its provinces are as follow

• Cordaintia, the capital province. It lies to the west of the empire.
• Erdantia, which spans the Peninsula of Erdantia
• Senestria, which encompassed the norther half of the modern-day Senestrian plains.
• Emmer, which now makes up the northern portion of modern day Emmerion
• Elir, which makes up around half of the modern-day Eliron Region
• Yannur, historically known as one of the more loyal territories, and making up modern-day Yannurrin.
• Kelbrike, the northernmost province

Military

The Cordaint Empire is a military state, and as such it is very militarised, conscription used for all able-bodied inhabitants of the empire (with the exception of slave classes), for at least 3 years.
The head of Cordaintia's 15 Legions is a small council of 7, who answer to the Cordaintine senate and to the Marca, and who are led by the High General of of the Cordaintine army. The High General was also a senator in their own right and was appointed by the military council, rather than the public or Marca. The name of the High General at the time of the empire's fall is unknown, but he is described as having worn a mask and had a booming laugh.

Cordaintine legionaries wear steel armour over a wine red linen gambeson. The armour covers the torso and shoulders, but not the arms. On the legs, only the shins are protected, and the head is protected by a metal helmet, which provides protection to the head and the mouth unless struck from specific angles.

Religion

While the main religion of the Cordaintine people itself was Libran, a monotheistic religion, the empire was very tolerant of other religious practises, something likely necessary considering the cultural diversity present within the empire. Some religions (for example Supradia) were banned as a method of preventing immigration from areas such as Eseris.

Foreign Relations

The empire had very few alliances, keeping trade to between its provinces. It kept very shaky relations with Shadra, any sort of diplomatic progression hindered by both language barriers and prejudices. When refugees from Syndal arrived at the southwestern reaches of the empire, they were initially left alone due to strong natural defences, with some diplomacy even happening between them. An invasion was planned eventually, with the City of Renn, Erdantia, to be used as a major naval base in the resulting conflict. However, after these refugees, who now made up the theocratic state of Eseris, came to Erdantia's aid during the Great Erdantian Rebellion, an invasion was started early, but was stopped within two years due to overextended military resources.

Trade & Transport

The Cordaint Empire was an almost entirely self-reliant autarky, all trade happening within its borders.

Education

Education at Cordaintia, the central province of the empire, was quite advanced, but the people who had been annexed as opposed to Cordaintine citizens, did not generally receive an education (although there were exceptions, especially towards Yannur and in the Erdantian province).

Infrastructure

To aid in the transport of troops, materials, and information across the empire, a large road system was built, with Cordaint-era roads still in use today in many countries, often integrated with roads built more recently. Examples of such roads include the 2 roads spanning the Peninsula of Erdantia east to west and several crossing Orlend, again east to west. A large canal was also built cutting across the Peninsula of Erdantia, which is still operated by the Kingdom of Erdantia today, and is considered a key asset in trade across the eastern coast of Orlend.
Defence infrastructure varied wildly depending on place and importance, but most settlements of any real size had some wooden fortification resembling a motte-and-bailey, but in some cases could be much larger fortifications. Watchtowers and defensive walls outside of urban areas were common. The Cordaint Empire maintained the largest fortified building in the history of Elemaran, Borio Castle, which stood in the capital of the same name. Even ruined, the castle is an incredible sight to see, for those who are willing and able to go to the effort of visiting.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Borio

Demonym

Cordaintine

Government System

Stratocracy

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

The Petta

Legislative Body

Laws of the Cordaint Empire were largely split between provinces, and could be passed to specific provinces either by the local Tribune and a small office assisting them, or by one of the nation as a whole's five tribunes, each specialising in a specific field and each with their own office, similar to the local tribunes. The specific fields, also known as tables, were as follow.

• War - Details the rules of war as well as certain rules of conduct that soldiers must follow
• Interaction - Details crimes performed by one person against another. e.g theft or murder
• Civil - Details crimes such as fraud, and various practises that businesses must follow
• Social - Details laws around tax, conscription, and court procedures
• Treason - Details crimes such as terrorism, regicide, and other serious threats to the state

In some provinces in which local leaders were allowed to keep power, some alternative laws, including religious law, were also present.

Official State Religion

Libran

Location

Orlend

Official Languages

• Cordaintine

Controlled Territories

• Castle Ordine
• The Pillar of Erdantia

Neighboring Nations

• Eseris
• Shadra

Related Ethnicities

• Cordaintines

It was divided into 7 provinces, each divided into 2-3 districts:

Entraris

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The central province of Cordaint rule.

Ebris

The Capital district of the Cordaint Empire [h2Ethris The eastern district within Entraris

Losaris

The western districr within Entraris, largely taken up by the Eliron Region.

Solbro

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Directly south of Entraris. It has a hot climate with a mix of desert and Mediterranean climates.

Kopres

The name given to what is now Eseris. It was given up along with Silas and the province of Tashia after a series of conflicts with Senestrian insurgents.

Silas

Directly east of Kopres, Silas has largely the same climate as Kopres.

Tashia

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A large desert area, now referred to as the Senestrian plains.