Age of Expansion
Absalom recovered gradually, rebuilding its old alliances and trade networks. When the Shining Crusade waged war against the vile Whispering Tyrant, Absalom contributed generously, redeeming it in its neighbors’ eyes. When the lich struck down Arazni, herald of Aroden, Absalom rallied in outrage, pouring support into the Crusade and celebrating when the hero Iomedae devastated the undead armies and later passed the Test of the Starstone. Having re‑entered the world stage, Absalom began founding new settlements—some on its own shores and an increasing number of colonies opportunistically claimed in under‑defended realms. Meanwhile, rising fortunes expanded the city’s middle class, sparing more time for leisure and encouraging a renaissance of Absalom’s hunting lodges. With renewed pride in the city and a sincere belief in its destiny, many citizens began to refer to this period as a “Mithral Age,” an idealized perception still carried among certain traditional inhabitants even today.
If Iomedae’s apotheosis helped sweep away Absalom’s perceived decline and restore its old grandeur, Cheliax’s aggression under the leadership of the “Mad King” Haliad I gave the world a new bogeyman. Absalom passed the Edrentar Doctrine in response, justifying preemptive maneuvers to defend the Inner Sea from Cheliax. What began as a defensive initiative slowly transformed into a moral policy as Absalom once again saw itself as a shining example of integrity and sought to intervene where it sensed injustice. Without a doubt, Absalom was admirable in its charity, abolition of slavery, and legal reform during this time. However, the Edrentar Doctrine eventually spawned Absalom’s Virtue Corps, formal aid expeditions sent abroad to promote freedom and justice.
These expeditions were a public relations disaster. Faulty intelligence and cultural misunderstandings led to Virtue Corps trying to end problems that didn’t truly exist or antagonizing locals through opportunistic vigilantism. Each expedition increasingly served economic and political interests over ethical ones, and Absalom exploited these initiatives to take control of foreign ports. For the first few decades, the Virtue Corps were popular and fed Absalom’s belief that it so overflowed with virtue that the city must export its philosophies. Within a century, the world retaliated. Over two years, Absalom sustained two sieges. First, Rahadoum invaded in the Red Siege, infuriated at Absalom’s waves of Arodenite missionaries who undermined Rahadoum’s anti‑divine codes. As the dust from that conflict settled, Vudran ships assaulted the shores in the Siege of the Ravenous Raja, incited by a large Virtue Corps’s misguided attempts to free Vudrani “slaves” following a gross misinterpretation of the region’s merit‑based caste system.
Its ego bruised, Absalom stepped back from international intervention, leaving the heroics to the countless adventurers who called the city home. The glory days of Absalom’s hunting lodges had passed, yet independent heroes and newfound organizations, such as the Pathfinder Society, captured the public’s imagination. Most famously, the hero Lady Kayle and her companions vanquished the dragon Maejerx Steeleye in the Kortos Mounts, ending the dragon’s raids and thwarting her imminent plan to invade Absalom with a reunited army of minotaurs and harpies.
If Iomedae’s apotheosis helped sweep away Absalom’s perceived decline and restore its old grandeur, Cheliax’s aggression under the leadership of the “Mad King” Haliad I gave the world a new bogeyman. Absalom passed the Edrentar Doctrine in response, justifying preemptive maneuvers to defend the Inner Sea from Cheliax. What began as a defensive initiative slowly transformed into a moral policy as Absalom once again saw itself as a shining example of integrity and sought to intervene where it sensed injustice. Without a doubt, Absalom was admirable in its charity, abolition of slavery, and legal reform during this time. However, the Edrentar Doctrine eventually spawned Absalom’s Virtue Corps, formal aid expeditions sent abroad to promote freedom and justice.
These expeditions were a public relations disaster. Faulty intelligence and cultural misunderstandings led to Virtue Corps trying to end problems that didn’t truly exist or antagonizing locals through opportunistic vigilantism. Each expedition increasingly served economic and political interests over ethical ones, and Absalom exploited these initiatives to take control of foreign ports. For the first few decades, the Virtue Corps were popular and fed Absalom’s belief that it so overflowed with virtue that the city must export its philosophies. Within a century, the world retaliated. Over two years, Absalom sustained two sieges. First, Rahadoum invaded in the Red Siege, infuriated at Absalom’s waves of Arodenite missionaries who undermined Rahadoum’s anti‑divine codes. As the dust from that conflict settled, Vudran ships assaulted the shores in the Siege of the Ravenous Raja, incited by a large Virtue Corps’s misguided attempts to free Vudrani “slaves” following a gross misinterpretation of the region’s merit‑based caste system.
Its ego bruised, Absalom stepped back from international intervention, leaving the heroics to the countless adventurers who called the city home. The glory days of Absalom’s hunting lodges had passed, yet independent heroes and newfound organizations, such as the Pathfinder Society, captured the public’s imagination. Most famously, the hero Lady Kayle and her companions vanquished the dragon Maejerx Steeleye in the Kortos Mounts, ending the dragon’s raids and thwarting her imminent plan to invade Absalom with a reunited army of minotaurs and harpies.
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