Clarati Empire
"One of Callisthenes' greatest mistakes was equating the Clarati organization with the Telmunic Empire, as if they different iterations of the same thing. We know now that what we call the Clarati Empire was nothing of the sort, and the name has misled scholars for centuries." - Arvandus
After the Clarati wiped out the Empire of Muria along with most of its population, they left the Great Ring for the continent of Sange, across the Brillante Sea to the east. They never explained this decision to anyone, and to this day nobody knows exactly why they moved there. What is known is that they used their magic to erect the great and magical city of Luxe, and made it the capital of what is commonly called the Clarati Empire.
What little is known about the Clarati Empire has been gleaned from those Clarati who participated in the Conquest of Ynys and ruled over that region for a thousand years. The most important thing to note is that it was not an empire in the sense most people use the word. There were no armies of the Clarati, and beyond Ynys they made no effort to conquer, expand, or rule territory. They did have a single leader, who went by the name Illuminata, but it is unclear exactly what her duties and powers actually were.
A Magical Realm
The Clarati Empire was built by and depended on magic. All of the Clarati were true mages, who could use the powers of the spirit realm to achieve incredible things. They were never a large population, but they had freed themselves from aging and death. There were no children among the Clarati, but no elderly either. All of their needs, from food and drink to entertainment and purpose, were provided by their magic. They spent their time in pursuits of their own devising, many of which seemed so arcane as to defy any understanding.
The Conquest of Ynys
For most of the history of the Clarati Empire, they had no interaction with the Great Ring. This changed when a small group of Clarati sorcerers appeared one day on the island of Ynys, intent on seizing control of the population. They used magic to bind and control the inhabitants of the island, both mortal beings and Numina, and were the sole powers remaining after only days. Those who have studied the records of the Conquest claim that it did not resemble a war at all - it had more in common with a fishing boat scooping thousands of tiny fish out of the sea than any contest between equals.
With this, the Clarati Empire became one of the great powers of the Million Islands. Word spread and people prepared for the invasion to continue, but the expected assault never came. When merchants began to tentatively visit the conquered island, they found that other than being declared a part of the Clarati domain, there was little that changed in the everyday life of common folk. The sorcerers established their strongholds and demanded that what orders they gave be followed, but concerned themselves very little with actually governing their new subjects. Instead they were engaged in a series of magical experiments around the Egregoric Force, using magic to implant specific ideas within the minds of the populace to rapidly direct and guide the power of collective belief. While the frequent invasions of their minds was unsettling, it seemed to be the worst effect of the conquest. It would be generations before the true results of these experiments would be seen.
The End of the Empire
While we do not truly understand the function the Empire served for the Clarati, the way it ended does provide some clues. When the continent of Sange vanished in a great magical cataclysm, leaving a dark stain on the eastern horizon and causing The Becalming, the Clarati who still survived on Ynys seemed to go insane. Within the first few days they began to attack each other, first in duels, and then in full-scale wars that included magical monsters, incredible spells, and armies forcibly conscripted by magic. Their sole goal seemed to be the extermination of anyone who had power at levels similar to their own. This is known to historians as the Age of Warlocks, and it ground on for over three hundred years. In the end, the Clarati exhausted themselves and their magic, and were slain by rebels who would no longer tolerate being puppets of powerful mages. To this day, True Mages are disliked and distrusted on Ynys, and most consider the Clarati to have been a curse laid on their ancestors.
It is speculated that the Clarati Empire must have served as some kind of check on the impulse to destroy each other that consumed the survivors after it vanished. Nobody can say for sure exactly how this was achieved, although many think it was less the empire and more the power of Illuminata that stabilized the Clarati. But without a member of that mysterious race to provide an answer, it is likely that we will never know.
The Memory of Sange
After the sudden and mysterious destruction of Sange, the famous dreamwalker Kailo Moana attempted to investigate the disaster by visiting the Dreamland created by the memory of Sange within The Dream. What they found there is unknown. When Kailo Moana returned from that trip, they founded the O le Feagaiga specifically to keep any other dreamwalkers from seeking out the cause, and the group continues to patrol the edges of Sange's echo to this day. You can read more about the O le Feagaiga here.
The Return of the Empire
Not everyone thinks that the world is better off without the Clarati, and there are those who are trying to recreate the Empire by resurrecting the Clarati who died as Numina. They would use the practices and techniques of the Godcrafter's Guild and the eidolons of the Clarati of Ynys to create new gods, and establish an empire under their rule. This group is called The Cult of the Clarati, and you can read more about them here.
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