#Illyrer

[dragonfelling]

HAPPY STORYTELLER SATURDAY!!!! What is Rryme, the dragon goddess of the abyss of the sea, up to at the moment?

She doesn't have much going on day to day 😌

Rrymes typical day usually consists of rest and deep meditation in her shrine when shes not patrolling her territory. A nice pamper from her humonculi, Capricorn and Illyr. Perhaps a visit from Cextos or Demaskus, god of Life and Death from Midonia.

Most recently, writing wise, shes found herself comforting one of her many children- a Lord of the shallow seas that surrounds the Dredhe islands. Lumi had attacked someone, and drank his blood to share with their sisters and with Rryme, the crimes of the man named Abel Derre. (This is a common practice by those who worship Rryme- Collecting the blood of someone a person wants to damn, and pouring this blood out to the sea so Rryme can taste it and pass her judgment upon them so that she may pull their soul into Ishidan hell if she see it fit to.)

[crowandmoonwriting]

Happy WBW, Crow! 

We’re observing All Hallows’ Day here, which inspired my question: what do funerary rites look like in your setting(s)? Are there any additional traditions related to mourning?

Happy All Hallows' and Feliz Dia de Muertos!

So I'm doing some fresh worldbuidling for a D&D campaign I'm doing (for writeblr D&D, if you want to be added to the discord just ask!), so I'll be doing this for one of the countries therein.

Grynvyr is an icy, inhospitable country, and death comes swiftly to the unwary. Digging into the hard permafrost is not ideal, so burials go one of two ways: in seaside towns, bodies are lain in simple boats dowsed with accelerant and pushed out to sea before being ignited by a flaming arrow. In landlocked towns, they are still lain in boats, but these are placed on top of pyres and then burned. A common Grynvyrian belief holds that the ocean and the wind hold paths to the underworld, and when you pass, you either sail or swim to your final rest. It is considered a courtesy to release the soul by burning the body, and give the soul a boat to ease their journey. However the body is burned, the family or friends gather what ashes remain and cast them into the sea. Even landlocked families will travel hundreds of miles to reach the sea to do so. This is believed to release all remaining contact with the material plane, so that the dead can truly rest in peace.

D&D Taglist:

@moondust-bard

@bluetonguedskinkthings

@elshells

@lordfenric

@cljordan-imperium

@pb-dot

[acourtofthought]

Hi I was wondering if you still think eluciens book is next after hofas?

Even after HOFAS, I still think Elucien's book is next especially because as of HOFAS, Az still does not seem to give credit where credit is due in terms of Elain.

SJM gave Chaol a book but not at the expense of Aelin finding the person with whom she was meant for.

I like Chaol very much but I don't think it can be denied that he was unable to truly embrace Celaena for everything she was. Dorian once said to him that he didn't get to pick the parts of her that he loved and it was true. He struggled with thinking she was assassinating people at the Kings orders though that is what she was hired to do. He struggled once he found out she had magic. He struggled once he found out she was really Aelin.

So imagine if SJM gave Chaol his HEA with Yrene before Aelin fell in love with Rowan? It would send the message that "hey, it's cool you had prejudices and here's your reward in Yrene!"

People in the fandom go gaga over Az. They either moon over his interactions with Elain or over his interactions with Gwyn.

But his attitude towards both Elain and Lucien often gets swept under the rug unless it's being addressed in a post trying to prove why he and Elain aren't endgame. There's a sense of "he doesn't respect Elain and therefore will not end up with her" and then many move right on to how he and Gwyn would be great for one another while completely skipping over the fact that he probably needs to learn a lesson or two before that ever happens.

It would be like SJM giving Tamlin his HEA with someone before Feyre ended up with Rhys. Or Tamlin getting his HEA before Lucien.

I'm not saying Az is exactly like Tamlin but there are similarities there and I think it's odd that we would all probably agree Tamlin should not have gotten his HEA before Feyre or get one before Lucien because of the way he treated them while some believe Az, with the way he acts towards Elain and treats Lucien, should get his HEA before them.

Az's behavior is problematic but many want to turn a blind eye, believing that as long as he is with Gwyn, he'll be a better male.

To me, Az's true growth will not ring as true until he sees that Lucien is in fact good enough for Elain, that she does in fact have interest in him, that Elain and Lucien are in fact just as powerful and capable of Az himself and him feeling happy for them, him being able to acknowledge he was wrong.

Az finding his mate in the next ACOTAR book and him suddenly being gracious as a result is not a lesson learned. "I got my mate so now I can admit you're a good guy Lucien, sorry about that."

It rings insincere. I think that as we just got the first hints of a Gwynriel mating bond introduced in SF, it's not crazy to think that SJM will give their story a little more time to cook while Elucien's mating bond is first dealt with.

Beyond that, I don't think a Gwynriel book at this time moves the plot forward with Koschei, Beron, Tamlin, Vassa, or the peace treaty.

Suddenly drawing the current "villains" into Night Court territory drama with the Illyrians, the Valkyrie or the Prison lands doesn't make a lot of sense to me because then, Elucien's story would be set in the NC.

I think it's clear that the current main issues in their world exist outside the NC borders.

Beron wants Spring lands and the NC needs Springs armies as an ally yet Tamlin isn't getting better.

Koschei wants to free himself of the lake to become master of their world (not just one territory).

The fae in Vallahan want to move into human territory.

Vassa's curse takes her back to Koschei's lake on the continent.

The Valkyries and the Illyrians have nothing to do with these plots. People claim that Koschei is connected to the Illyrians because of the Rite but that was Briallyn's plot for Nesta because she needed to wear Nesta's powers down. "Your power is too strong - throwing you into this primitive spectacle wore you down". It really had nothing to do with the Illyrians themselves.

I also don't believe that SJM is going to heavily tie Merrill and time travel into what's going on across the continent and Spring. I think SJM laid the groundwork for her future series which I imagine will deal with more crossover plots, Merrill as a villain and world walking but the Valkyrie storyline which consists of building up an entire legion of elite female warriors is not something I see happening within the same year that the idea of the Valkyrie being reborn took place. And there's no point in suddenly tying the Valkyrie / Illyrians to Koschei and the peace treaty in a single book when we know Elucien's book will not take place in the NC. It makes no sense for SJM to turn Beron's attention to the NC when Rhys remains the most powerful HL and could easily wipe Beron off the map if he dares to enter NC territory. The reason Beron is looking to Spring is because of it's weakened state.

I once called it a marble run but SJM recently used the airplane taxiing metaphor.

Yes, Gwyn talked of wanting to leave the library but Vassa has been trying to free herself from her curse for much longer.

Yes, Gwyn and Az have both been given mysterious backgrounds but both Lucien and Elain have had unexplored powers and Lucien's still hasn't learned of his real father for a much longer time.

Yes, Gwynriel had the first hints of their mating bond established but Elucien's "will they / won't they?" has been one of the main questions of the ACOTAR series since ACOMAF.

Yes, Gwyn has her own story to tell but Elain is Feyre's sister and she's been waiting to tell her story for much longer. And I do think the underdog deserves her chance to shine when SF continued reminding us that there are still some who feel it's alright to speak for Elain and who don't believe her capable.

This series is not going to end up only being about the Archerons, I imagine SJM will continue on with Mor's story, Gwynriel's story, and more on Nesta's journey outside of Feyre and Rhys.

But to me it doesn't make sense that she would skip over Elain to tell Gwyn and Az's romantic arc first, especially when Az is one of the guilty parties of underestimating Elain.

SJM herself spoke of how her stories revolve around the female's journey and while I admit she also writes books that start off because of a male's journey (Chaol), I think Az getting a book before Elain would completely go against the foundation of what she typically writes. A problematic male character's happiness gained at the expense of a female character's happiness (and an unproblematic male like Lucien) would not be a very Girl Power message.

But of course, that is only my opinion and I have no idea whether SJM sees it that way or not.  

[gwandas]

will never admit this on main because people are obsessed with emorie over 1 comment from em, but i'm like 95% sure balthazar was introduced (positively) in acosf as a potential mate for emerie

and i kinda prefer him (non-violent, more interested in politics) for emerie over someone who calls her people (not just males) animals and says her home (windhaven) should be burned to the ground

in general the portrayal and treatment of the illyrics in these books is just plain racist. sarah needs to realize she doesn't have the range or the knowledge to write this kind of stuff

heyyy anon!

I feel like the emorie lovers are all on the IC stan side of the fandom. Most of my mutuals aren’t into it for the same reasons you stated—I think it can be done but like you said, SJM isn’t creative enough to make it interesting. She’s just throwing two random gays together and going “that’s enough diversity for today I think ❤️” without unpacking what an emorie dynamic really means considering Mor’s past comments.

I always saw Balthazar as a Ressina/Alis/Wraith Twins type character who just exists to be a plot device, but it’s SJM, so who knows. Eris was just a plot device to develop Lucien and Mor until SJM decided to give him importance.

The only reason I think it’s emorie in the end is because Mor doesn’t have a love interest yet, but who knows!

[readobituaries]

Here is an easy download for the ACOSF bonus chapters!

[razistoricharka]

The Korjenić-Neorić Armorial is possibly my favorite and most indictive insight into south-slavic history. It's the foundational work of illyrism and later south slavic nationalism, and was an armorial of half-made up half-stolen emblems of south slavic nations (one of them, Primordia, completely fictitious) created by a Spanish guy to feign descent from eight noble families. All in order to be promoted to an admiral.

[azsazz]

Hi! I’m the one that sent in the ask about the Prison becoming Valkyrie territory and I sent the link to that theory, but I wanted to ask and make sure you got it, because my Tumblr can act stupid at times.💙

Hi! Yes, sorry, I've been having a rough week and haven't had the energy to answer asks the last few days, but I'll add those links here and put the other under a cut because of the cc2/3 spoiler 🥰

I have yet to read them but i'm hoping to this weekend! Thank you for sending them over 💙

Valkeries and the Prison:

About Az's book potentially being next: (contains spoilers from hofas)

[cryptotheism]

Like starving horny rats, the problem with Aristocrats is density. Get enough of them in one place, and its only a matter of time before they start breeding or cannibalizing each other. The noble houses of New Babel found a new path: Both at the same time.

Traditionally, every few generations, the good honest people of New Babel would put aside their differences, roll up their sleeves, and nail some white-wigged and pea-coated mouthbreather to a tree by his ankles. It was a good system. The Aristocracy got a friendly reminder that they could be next, and the peasants got a weekend off work.

The Concourse of Five Houses was an innovation. The Nobles could continue to kill each other, but they had to pay the peasants a reasonable salary to get involved. Now, the Aristocrats could only slaughter each other with things like snide comments at dinner parties, or confusingly worded tariff contracts, or expensive assassins. Now that patricide could be done with minimal property damage, New Babel entered an era of peace and prosperity that continues to this day for everyone except the factory slaves. All thanks to the Concourse of Five Houses

To the annoyance of historians everywhere, the Concourse of Five houses now actually contains six houses. It would have been nice and neat. One house for each of the five cities. All it took was one generation after the concourse for Hosten Maciae to impregnate an actress on the other side of the river Is, spawning a bastard, a succession crisis, and the newly upjumped House Illyr, who took the house epithet “The Dauntless and Gentle” just to make sure irony was still dead. 

The Cessation of House Illyr the Dauntless and Gentle was a kerfuffle of such magnitude that Isin burned to the ground, melted in the rain, and then sank into the swamp. The bastards responsible? Ask any New Babylonian, it’s always the vicious thugs on the other side. 

The construction of New New Isin started a few miles upriver. It lasted almost twelve whole winters before a colossal mudslide buried it as well. Sign-painters were getting tired of adding more “New” and demanded that the next try be the last one. New New New Isin was constructed at the mouth of the river Is. This time, it was given a good, solid, non-flammable, foundation. It worked. New New New Isin bit into the world like genital mites, and held. A newly revitalized harbor brought in workers, material, and exciting new sexual diseases. 

Years passed. The city spread up the river. Families like mourners built homes on the graves of the old city. Migrants brought new songs, and food, and flowers. And slowly Isin chewed up the dead parts of itself, a cicada devouring its molted shell, a great blooming sepulcher at the mouth of the river Is. 

Today, it is upon these great concrete dikes that one can sit, watch the sea, and overpay for suspicious dumplings.

-- An Addict's History of New Babel, by Ord Mornie

The city of Isin is not actually the city of Isin. Technically, it's the city of New New New Isin. That was the trouble with Isin. It was all wrapped up in itself. Like fabric around a nun, or a baby, or a whore.

People had been there, as in the physical location, for longer than history could be expected to remember. People have been in Isin since the word "people" meant something very different.

The first city called Isin was dragged kicking and screaming into the world by Heralds of the Church of the Third Sphere. A fourth-era religious order known for staunch orthodoxy and insufferable smugness. A cult whose grandest miracle was being almost universally despised by anyone who heard their sermons. Isin to them was a Good Rock. A polite term for "delusional pipe dream about the future City of God."

And it was a rock, a miraculously barren rock in the midst of a freezing swamp that only seemed to produce the sort of wildlife that stings and gnashes. Kunaabe oral history does seem to know of the location, but also seems to assume the foolishness of anyone attempted to actually travel there. This did nothing to deter the Church of the Third Sphere, as records indicate they were not aware of Kunaabe presence in the area.

The first 400 years of Isin's history were typical of other Good Rocks: regular periods of plague, mass starvation, and hyper-niche religious conflict boueyed by the occasional successful interaction with nearby Kunaabe and Baquari communities, at which point the enterprising trader would be ritually banished for speaking to hererical, racially impure outsiders.

Significant improvements were made to Isin after the local potentate promised that the Third Sphere would appear in the sky that spring. After the date passed, and no celestial body appeared to unite the Sun and Moon, the potentate was ritually burned to death, and his body was cast into Isin's only source of fresh drinking water. The fervent believers promptly died of several drinking-water related things at once. Those with a lick of sense brushed up on their Kunaabe and got busy creating a new sub-ethnicity, leaving Isin abandoned.

A decade passed. And much like the local chitin eel population grinding the corpse of the arch-astrologer into algae food, Isin soon became host to a new, beautiful population: Good, honest, criminals.

-- from An Addicts History of New Babel, by Ord Mornie

[dragonfelling]

A little guy with an elusive nature

[crowandmoonwriting]

Hey Writeblr D&D besties, new lore just dropped!

Art by Devlin Arduini

Check out the discord channel for the lore for Illyr, the setting for my Writeblr D&D campaign! I will be updating it bit by bit as I evaluate how much worldbuilding I want to give my players before session 0. I might post other things there, images and playlists or ambiences to get you in the mood for the world and for the starting location, so keep an eye out!

D&D Taglist:

@moondust-bard

@bluetonguedskinkthings

@elshells

@lordfenric

@cljordan-imperium

@pb-dot

[coffeenewstom]

Bosnischer Kaffee-Moment: Zenica

Mit dem Bus gibt es zwischen Brod und Sarajevo nur einige reguläre Stationen: Doboj, Maglaj, Žepče, Kakanj, Visoko und Ilijaš. Die meiste Zeit geht es durch eine liebliche, gebirgige Landschaft, durch grüne Täler und durch versprengte Dörfer und Weiler. Und dann gibt es Zenica, eine Stadt zwischen Žepče und Kakanj und völlig anders, wie alles, was einem auf dieser Strecke begegnet. Erst fährt…

[ratt-fried-this-pasta]

reposting info about Junot :>

Jean Andoche Junot

was known as "The Tempest" for his passionate bouts of anger and impulsive life-style. He was a gambler and alcoholic and was very charismatic. Here's an excerpt about Junot:

"He present excellent extemporary speeches and composed poetry, which Junot's future wife wrote was quite good. He also had a quick wit and was considered a good comedian. He could dance, act, and draw as well. Combined with his good looks, easy demeanor, and his free hand with wine, Junot was often the life of a party"

Sample of Junot's handwriting ^

Napoleon Bonaparte met Junot at the battle of Toulon when Naps needed someone to write and deliver a letter in the midst of battle, Junot excitedly volunteered. As he was writing the letter a shell hit the ground close to the two of them but Junot didn't flinch. He made a joke about how the impact of the shell made it so he didn't have to wait for the ink to dry. His composure while under fire impressed Napoleon.

After Toulon, Napoleon was unemployed and lived with Junot and Marmont at a hotel. Junot was the breadwinner! Andoche's parents would send him money and he would make more money by gambling. And they were roommates (oh my god they were roommates)

"these ambitious young men relied on each other during their impecunious days in Paris. Describing how Junot 'loved Bonaparte as one loves at the age', Laure Junot implies that the young Jean-Andoche developed an adolescent crush on Napoleon, as the two young men grew in intimacy."

They went on garden dates together! (I still can't believe this was real, it reads like a fanfic)

"They plunged into the shadows where they found the air heavy with the perfume of thousands of blooming rosebushes that filled the flowerbeds... the two friends walked slowly, silently holding each other by the arm, squeezing each other’s arms from time to time, as if to consult the heart and respond. At this moment, the two friends were much closer … speaking to one another, heart to heart, they were then much closer the one to the other than they have ever been since."

Anyways he challenged a guy to a duel at Egypt because he insulted Napoleon too much. (he has a habit of challenging people to duels)

"Despite Bonaparte’s strict prohibition of dueling among his officers, Junot challenged Brigadier General Pierre Lanusse to a duel on the banks of the Nile in 1799 because of Lanusse’s open disapproval of Napoleon’s leadership. Addressing his opponent, Junot reportedly said, 'We must fight; it is essential that only one of us survive. I hate you because you hate the man that I love and admire as much as God, if not more'" ... "Both Lanusse and Junot were seriously wounded with saber lacerations to the face and chest. Napoleon was reportedly furious, but was said to have later remarked, 'My poor Junot … wounded for me!'” 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 !!

Ok I can't find the exact point where he did this buy he killed six guys all by himself one battle.

Anyways after Egypt he was kidnapped by Horatio Nelson and got upset so Andoche chucked someone overboard and the British thought he was so badass that they gave him a gift basket of fruit.

As time went on, he started to become more mentally unstable. Napoleon realized this and started to distance himself from Junot and put him in lesser-positions. This drove him to madness as historians often say about him.

Junot was heavily devoted to Napoleon to the point of insanity, he loved him "with the affection of a savage for the sun" (yes he wrote that himself). The Russian campaign was devastating for him and he was desperate to win back Napoleon.

"At a ball at Ragusa ... [Junot] arrived stark naked except for his epaulettes, gloves, dancing shoes, orders and decorations"

"In this ballsy ballroom display, Junot presented his disfigured body as bitter proof of his lifelong devotion to a man whom he once loved, for whom he frequently risked his life ... the scarred body that astonished the Illyrian ladies that evening was the body of a battered lover who had sacrificed his youth and vitality to a violent and abusive man ... Junot’s cerebral trauma symbolized the degenerative effects of rampant Napoleonic madness."

He spiraled into despair because of his love for Napoleon. If anyone deserves to continue through this tournament it should be the man who devoted his life and body to Napoleon.

Jean-Andoche Junot

a. “Napoleon's mentally ill bestie who basically fell in love with Napoleon (please he had such a tragic life and death that he deserves to win the sexyman tournament as compensation)”

b. “THE HAIR DEAR LORD THE HAIR…”

Pyotr Bagration:

“From what I’ve read, he was a shy sweetheart outside of war, and an absolutely badass during battle. Like- it was partially that shyness that got him caught up in his less than favorable marriage. Also, have you seen his portrait by George Dawes?! It makes me swoon at the sight of it.”

“The best, the sexiest and certainly the greatest NOSE in the Russian army and perhaps all armies of that period. Noseys of Napoleonic era, beware! Believed to be a target of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna's affections, a soldier's soldier celebrated for his courage and spirit, respected even by Napoleon and widely beloved... with the noted exceptions of his own wife and one Barclay de Tolly.”

“His sideburns and his nose”

[vulnerability00]

[imperium-romanum]

Dozens of ancient ships, many of them dating back two millennia, are lying on the sea bottom 450 km off the coast of Albania, most of them originally laden with priceless antiquities that have recently been looted.

According to an Athens-Macedonian News Agency report, most of the wrecks are Ancient Greek, Roman and Illyric ships, often loaded with treasures. After the collapse of the Albanian Communist regime of Enver Hoxha, many of the precious shipwreck sites, with vessels carrying gold coins and priceless artifacts, have completely disappeared or been looted.

Illegal antiquities traffickers can make a fortune on the worldwide market for ancient art and artifacts. Inside Albania an ancient amphora found in the sea can fetch 100 euros, but on the worldwide art and antiquities markets its price can skyrocket, reaching hundreds of thousands of euros.

Continue reading

[st-just]

So devil is a fundamentally political designation - the hells were at some point discovered or created or excavated (accounts differ), and if they have native inhabitants it's a closely guarded trade secret. Instead, to be damned to them is just something that someone with the right access and power (which, for the past centuries, has been exclusively the Illyric Throne) can do to anything with a soul they have at their mercy. Neither the process of damnation nor existence in any of the hells used for this purpose are exactly pleasant experiences.

Diabolism is the discipline of using the flaws and chains that damnation burns into a devil's soul to call up and command them, either as a servant or a power source. Within the empire itself its reputation is pretty mixed. Outside of it it's mostly treated as basically equivalent to enslaving and then eating babies.

(sorry for the slow response. I, well, forgot.)

A Very Rough Political Timeline of the Holy Illyrin Empire

Era 1: Prehistory - -1,000-0

Begins: Mythically, founding of Imir by the gods and transmission of knowledge of wall-raising and iron-making

Ends: The Hierarch crowns Grand Duke Siegvald of Belthaya as King of Illyrin and Defender of the Faith

Era 2: Beltyhic Dynasty – 0-142

Begins: Belthayan-Illyrin personal union formed.

Notable Events

First recorded instance of diabolism

Repeated wars with Abharic kingdoms and principality of Lussello

Final subjugation of the wild gods of Illyrin to the Orthodox Hierarchy

First Goblin War

Ends: the Pale Queen and her host conquer southern 2/3 of Belthaya slaughters the royal family

Era 3: Senguari Interregnum – 142-196

Begins: First Prince Alessandro Senguari of Lusello is named Defender of the Faith by a desperate Hierach

Notable Events

Spread of vampirism throughout six southern Belthayan duchies under Abharic rule

Balamite raiders and pirates dominates most islands that are today considered obviously part of Lusello

Illyrin falls into widespread anarchy. Wessen dynasty rises to fame as paladin-counts, restoring justice to the land and going to war against the increasingly common warlocks and demonic incursions. Eventually reunifying the kingdom.

Ends: First Prince is defeated and killed in battle by first Wessen king, who installs a bastard son of the previous Hierarch in his entourage on the throne in Imir

Era 4: Wessen Dynasty – 196-365/368

Begins: First Wessen king crowned in Imir

Notable Events

Development of a much more powerful and assertive royal government, old Illyrin nobility (descended from pre-imperial priest-kings) and to a lesser extent Imiran (overwhelmingly cadet lines and landed bastards of Hierachs) disenfranchised and marginalized in favour of knightly royal companions.

First Crusade: Reclamation of Belthaya, damnation of the Pale Queen

Order of the Constant Dawn founded: anointed order of chivalry vampire hunters

Abharic magi generally slaughtered, but scholars and jurists with noble patronage retain many necromantic secrets, even after later rebellions are suppressed it remains a deeply entrenched part of Belthayan society

Truly incredible amounts of bribery secure election of reigning Wessen queen as First Prince of Lusello, beginning 500-year personal union

Crypkeeper’s March: suppression of ancestor worship and grave cults across Belthaya, to much resistance

Second Crusade: Destroys Balamite influence around Lusellan coast, and secures the Wyrmpeaks as a south-western border

Ends: Some controversy over the Time of Troubles begins with the coronation of King Alwin the Silent or the incarnation of a greater Caller of the Host and escalation of the Third Goblin War

Era 5: The Time of Troubles – 365/68-405

Begins: See Above

Notable Events

Third Goblin War ravages much of central Illyrin

The Red Duke attempts to establish a vampiric kingdom

The wyrm Zytharos Pyresoul declares itself God-King, incinerates most of the royal household and seizes a major royal fortress as a lair

Widespread disorder and confusion over who the legitimate king is, with at least a dozen different men claiming to be the lost Prince Alfred over the course of a decade.

One False Alfred, supported by several Great Men from the then newborn League of Free Cities, seizes much of Lusello before being assassinated by a chambermaid

Ends: Count Christope Pericourt slays Zytharos, marries Princess Ethel with the full support and backing of a vigorous young Hierarch

Era 6: The Hierarocracy – 405-491

Begins: Christophe I crowned Emperor of the Holy Illyrin Empire

Notable Events

His lands untouched by the late troubles and with a developed religious bureaucracy, the Hierarch becomes the most important man in the empire, with the rich and glorious court in Imir becoming the de facto capital

Empire centralized and tied together on religious grounds, with clerical courts hearing more cases than either local nobles or imperial magistrates, and tithes drawing more money to the center than royal tax collectors ever could

Foundation of many militant religious orders, most prominently the Poor Fellows of the Sacred Pyre, witch-finders claiming universal jurisdiction

3rd Crusade: Grand effort and gruelling war conquers Abhari, slaughters its magi and Damns its gods. The flower of Imiran enthroned as the lords and knights of the newly established Southern Marches.

(4th and 5th crusades called in response to major rebellions overthrowing newly installed Marcher lords)

Ends: the Year of Two Suns: a greater demon of the Choir of Falling Stars incarnates in Old Imir itself, destroying the Hierarch’s court and much of the city, and very nearly corrupting or exterminating the entire sacred bloodline

Era 7: The Court of Blades – 493-550

Began: Victorious 6th crusade sacks and purifies demon-haunted Old Imir, brings peace to the Empire

Notable Events:

Numerous rebellions and minor civil wars as the imperial throne neutralizes overmighty vassals and assets more rights and revenues

Firearms and artillery become increasingly dominant in warfare

Hierarch largely ceases to be a relavent figure in Imperial politics, with royal agents handling most secular governance and ecclesiastical appointments even within Imir itself

Official organization of the imperial household guard into the Order of the Unicorn

Discovery of the Outer World filters to empire

Khasali Hegemony crushed, navigation rights and dominion over the lands of the Pearl and Opal Seas claimed as royal privileges.

7th Crusade: Conquest of the Viceroyalty of Caile, first and largest Illyrin dominion established in the Outer World

Humbling of the Stedry

Ends; Death of King-Emperor Oskar the Lion, the last reigning monarch to die in battle

Era 8: The Pericourt Golden Age – 551-626

Begins: Coronation of Queen-Empress Marianne the Just

Notable Events:

Foundation of the Order of the Silver Blade, the imperial inspectorate devoted to investigating potential conspiracies and preventing tyranny and perversion of justice by local lords

Construction of the Palace-City of Alntyr, nobility of Illyrin proper progressively reduced to courtiers and attendants

Foundation of the Imperial Colleges of Magic, bringing together leading enchanters guilds and fraternities into the new chartered institutions through a mixture of bribery, flattery and outright coercion

Ends: Death of King-Emperor Joseph II, attempt by Prince Rupert to seize the throne after being denied the regency for his late brother’s infant daughter.

Era 9: The Reign of the Brimstone King – 627-680

Begins: Victory for the legitimate Queen-Empress in the resulting succession war, in large part due to the full support of the College of Binders and the use of diabolical warbeasts and legionaries. Grandmaster Lambert of the College assumes the regency.

Notable Events:

Use of devils spreads throughout Illyrin, and to a lesser extent the whole empire, like never before.

Damnation becomes the standard punishment for traitors to the crown – an increasingly broad category.

The Lord Regent’s wars of expansion meet with mixed results – the loss of several profitable colonies in the Onyx Sea, successfully sacking the Free City of Chirital, a failed attempt to conquer the principality of Valmont, etc.

Queen-Empress Elizabeth ‘falls ill’ and dies the month before she comes of age, and her 5-year old cousin is enthroned with Lambert remaining regent, resulting in several brutally repressed rebellions and an increase in unrest across the empire.

The unfortunate King-Emperor Frederick III is sickly and weak-willed, incapacitated in bed for months at a time. Whether he was like this before Lambert became his regent is an open question, but the Grandmaster continues ruling in his name even after he comes of age.

Imperial charters are granted to an unprecedented number of newly minted cities and towns, and guildsmen and urban patricians of no real standing appointed to many royal offices.

Royal appointees – overwhelmingly minor gentry or prosperous commoners entirely dependent on the Lord Regent’s favour – increasingly usurp all rights of justice and taxation from the nobility and estates across the empire.

It becomes increasingly obvious that the Lord Regent hasn’t visibly aged in decades.

Ends: The Diet of Alntyr, an assembly of very nearly every great lord and prince across the empire, denounces the Lord Regent in a violent coup. His lengthy public execution draws a crowd of tens of thousands.

Era 10: The Years of Splendour – 680-729

Begins: Abdication of Frederick III on the ‘advice’ of the Diet, coronation of Katerina I, hailing from a more vital cadet line.

Notable Events

In her coronation oath, Katerina I swears to respect sweeping ‘ancient’ rights and privileges now claimed by the Belthayan Diet and the Lusselan Royal Assembly, and to respect the traditional authorities of various provincial estates and marcher lords.

Great houses reclaim a monopoly of most high offices, and appointments to local courts and magistracies is de facto left to the most prominent local nobles in exchange for freely given gifts to the crown with each ‘recommendation’.

The War of Chains: bloody suppression of several partisans of the former Lord Regent and their diabolical armies

Foundation of the Hellknights as hunters of the poorly bound, escaped,or fraudulently summoned devils common across the imperial heartland afterwards

Renovation and expansion of Alntyr into its glorious and world-famous modern self.

Several reverses in the colonies and border provinces, culminating in a comprehensive defeat in the War of the Rotten Boar

Creation of the Cimbri Pact, binding together (incredibly theoretical) Imperial vassals and allies across the Opal Sea into a single alliance to act on a check to rival powers.

Present Day