The Empire Of Man
History
1000-900 years ago
Approximately 1000 years ago a fleet of ships, carrying many of the indigenous races of the material plane crashed ashore on Eternium, who knows why or how they crashed, supplies were plentiful, the men women and children were fit and strong, they simply just ran aground.
Moving to the centre of the continent, desperate to find a source of long term shelter the group of thousands settled atop a great hill, this would come to be known as Camelot, named after the great city of old, now resigned to fairy tales for children. This would become their home, shelters were quickly erected, mud huts shortly followed, eventually gaining the materials they needed the settlers built themselves houses, small woods and copse were cut down for wood, mines were dug for stone, slowly but surely the various groups built their way from mere settlers to established villagers.
Years later through exploration, navigation, and sheer force of will the villagers found themselves totally alone on this massive island, various heads were elected (as was the dwarven way) from each race and the peoples lived in harmony with one another.
Then the troubles came, old racial hated re-surfaced, Orcs against Humans, Orcs against Dwarves, Orcs against Orcs, the races took sides and in a moment of clarity a cease-fire was called. A meeting, “the last great moot” was called for, every man woman or child was brought to witness, a great debate was held, what were they to do about the in-fighting, a few ideas were given, most of which involved killing the other races, but one remained, if they so wanted to be apart, why didn’t they just move to different sides of the island, it was big enough that if they truly wanted, they would never have to see one another again.
And so it was that whomever wished to leave would be free to do so, a portion of the wealth split evenly between all peoples was given to those who wanted to leave, the Dwarves, Orcs, and a spattering of other races went north, the Elves, mysterious Dragonborn and some others went south, The humans being the weakest and most neutral party stayed where they were vowing to welcome back anyone with open arms.
900-800 years ago
Two generations have passed since “The last great Moot” only the oldest amongst the humans remember a time in which all races lived together equally, tales told to children in front of roaring hearths, of mighty Orcs working alongside gracious Elves, and tiny Halflings running around playing pranks on the Humans, the village of Camelot a full township now, a jury of elected leaders run by an overarching Prince (for he was yet to marry). Families had split off from the main town, taking their wealth, knowledge, and skills, and looking to start a village of their own.
Trade had started, once a year the Dwarves came down from their hills, bringing carts laden with stone, metals, gems and all other sorts of useful items, the Elves came north with great swathes of wood in tow, magical secrets glimmering in their eyes. Although neither race would directly trade with one another, both were happy for the humans to be the brokers between them.
Thus, began the annual Mid-summers court. With all parties wishing to trade goods, learn of each other’s knowledge, and perhaps even try to best one another, the Humans once again held council, by the end of this era a great castle had been built, food stocks were plentiful and a feast was called as part of the court.
Trade was negotiated over wine, food, sports, and other such activities. Secret trysts no doubt occurred within these halls, but none are either willing or able to tell of it.
800-700 years ago
The town and Castle of Camelot is by now a full blown city, with humans breeding as humans do, each generation is much larger than the last, the Ducal family have now been in power for the last century, ruling fairly and justly as per their family creed, townships are starting to pop up around the place and smaller more remote farming village are now too coming to fruition.
Trade is booming, the humans being the shrewd race they are, have been working negotiations in their favour for the past century, the coffers are filled, relations are good, the only memory of a combined group of all races are those told in tales, or remembered by the oldest of the other races, the world of the humans knows only the borders of the ocean, the knowledge of how to build boats long forgotten as it was no longer needed, masters of animal husbandry the humans are slowly cementing themselves in history as the best horse breeders of the world
700-500 Years ago
A strange new resource has become apparent in the empire of man, one they wish to know more about but as of yet are not sure where to start.
In a small village to the east of Camelot a small dense woodland grew overnight. In the centre of it a stone pile with an entrance, few have ventured into it, as those who do have either never come back, or have come back screaming about how the caves were alive, infested with monsters of every variety, and the plants themselves even attacked.
A group of kings guard (rumoured to be the best fighters in history) were sent in, after a few days the King thought them dead, instead when they arrived back at the castle they boasted a great wealth of treasure, herbs, and other such materials.
The first dungeon had been found within the Human empire. Were these dungeons commonplace? Had all the other races been laughing at him the whole time, free gold to whomever was brave and strong enough to defeat these dungeons? Gods know the races to the north were a hardy bunch, built to survive the most extreme of battles and weather, if all the dungeons were like this, who’s to say they weren’t all sitting on thrones of gold by now.
The king sought to keep this resource to himself and his council, surely, they wouldn’t betray his trust, he would investigate this dungeon, see if he could hoard the resource to himself.
As the king lay in his deathbed, he told his only son of the Dungeon, the vast wealth he had hoarded these past few decades, and the lives lost to keep this secret his, the son was aghast, his father the king, involved in such treachery?
The son, a much kinder person by far, thought nothing of raising the issue at the next mid-summers council. The greatest feast that has ever been was held that day, with food, drink, and dancing for all, every person no matter of race or creed that arrived that day, was well fed, re-dressed and sent away with enough gold to live for a year, his grand gesture nearly bankrupting the palace, but he finally felt peace from the great secret his father kept.
With this grand feast, and great reveal of the dungeon, many sought to try their hand, to get rich quick, to prove themselves against this dungeon, so much so that it eventually became dormant, just like the land does when over farmed, the Humans had stripped this dungeon of its resources whatever they may be.
In this time the guild was set up. A way of limiting the access to dungeons, to find more of them, and to research them as much as possible to see how they worked. Having not had time to fully develop mercenary groups also targeted the dungeons trying to get rich and make a name for themselves.
500-300 years ago
“Two more dungeons have been found” was the call spread across the land, there are more of them than we thought, the other races must have some in there lands too!
The summer at the court decided it best to map the land, and draw territory lines, a soft border that in time would change with the finding of new dungeons and the right to claim those dungeons being pressed.
The guild, no longer in its infancy, were building headquarters in every races capital, its members spanning all races, and its rule now absolute on the dungeon, its members were allowed unfettered access to any and all dungeons, but had to report of what they had found there, no one race was to hoard too many dungeons within its borders, and any new dungeons that were found were to be tested by the adventurers within their ranks.
The Empire of Man was now a force to be reckoned with, trade relations were still good between them and all races. The Guild had set up its main headquarters on one of the islands just off the coast, a place duly named Haven. The Ducal had maintained their seat of power on the throne, and the world, as far as the Humans were concerned, was at peace.
300-100 years ago
The world continued to turn, the sun to rise and fall again, that was until a great dungeon was found, one so large, so dangerous that the guild put out a call to arms, every guild member, every person who was willing and able were to battle this dungeon, who knows what secrets it held, could it be freedom from Eternium, the secret to living forever, the reason these dungeons were appearing, any or all of these were thought to be possible.
Unfortunately this is where our records stop, due to the very few survivors babbling nonsense and the dungeon disappearing from the world no one will ever know what happened that fateful day, we can only guess, all we know is those guild members never returned.
100 Years ago – Today
After a few decades of strife, blame, mourning the loss of the great guild and so many people, new kings and rulers sat on the various thrones of the great nations, approximately 20 years ago the guild was reformed, Haven taken back from the natural infestations that plagued it, and the old rules set back up, as best as could be deciphered from the remaining texts.
The Empire of Man a shell of its former self the current king, King Rupert Fields is working with the other great nations to rebuild, whilst the coin is still there, the value of it is little compared to what it used to be, what was once a simple task has now become a chore, groups of bandits and mercenaries have cropped back up, and with the Adventurers guild only just finding its feet The first line of defence is the people that live here.
Military
Each city has its own city guard, the royals have the royal guard, and the villages, have village guards.
There is no standing army within the Empire of man, having never needed one, however some of the noble houses may have a standing guard on retainer guarding their properties.
Technological Level
Somewhere in the range of the Middle ages, with magic thrown in for good measure.
Agriculture & Industry
The Empire of man is an agricultural empire, with the production focused on farming animals the the vast swathes of land surrounding them.
Trade & Transport
Horse and cart are the main means in which people and goods are transported, only the richer populace have learnt to ride their own horse, and the guild controls the teleportation network.
Education
There are schools in all major cities, some of the richer folk send their children to school as a matter of course, this will help them decide their vocation at a future date.
However villagers and children of said villagers have a basic understanding of reading and writing common.
Founding Date
Founded in 100E
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Leader
Family Leader
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Copper coins
Major Exports
By far the most diverse Empire, the Empire of man wants for very little unless committing to a major project, having spent hundreds of years building good trade relations with all the other races, the Empire of man has a well stocked coffer, and the means to get what they need, when they need it.
The do However produce their own grain, meat, and vegetables.
Major Imports
The empire of man imports nearly all of their goods, stone and metals from the Dwarves in the north, Wood and textiles from the elves to the south.
Legislative Body
The Royal Family and reigning nobles have final say on the laws of the land
Judicial Body
The royal guard, and head guardsman will preside over any disputes that involve the law.
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Official Languages
Controlled Territories