ARETE: THE EMPIRE OF TOUSAV
(TOUVASSAUX - “ALL THE VASSALS”)
“TEAR BACK MANKIND’S DESTINY
FROM THE HANDS OF FALSE PROPHETS!
SLAKE YOUR THIRST FOR JUSTICE
WITH THE BLOOD OF LYING GODS!”
Tousav, or simply ‘the Empire’, arose from the dissolution of the Marathan Empire in the Late Third Age as a diverse array of nations under the Pallasian banner. Due to widespread famine, imperial mismanagement, and an ongoing war of succession in the Marathan Empire’s heartlands, the dukes of Pallas seized the opportunity to incite revolution in one of Marathas’ historic capitals, Varashal. Supplying weapons to a peasant army, the nobility assembled ragtag peoples’ militias and slew many of the viziers charged with enforcing Marathan rule in an event known as the Day of the Roaring Lion.
In the aftermath, the seditious dukes installed themselves at the head of a new coalition of states, and crowned Argal the Undaunted as their king. The King of Pallas, and the soon-to-be Emperor of Tousav, wasted no time in rallying his armies to begin the Pallasian March of Reconquest: an imperial project which bridged generations, aiming to continue—and eclipse—the Marathan legacy of supremacy by uniting the world under his command.
From the decadent halls of a rebuilt Varashal, King Argal’s descendants have orchestrated bloody campaigns in pursuit of his dream. In only a century and a half, many of the scattered vassals of the fallen Marathas, and their sovereign neighbors, have been brought to heel.
Rule of Tousav’s conquered territories is split amongst five distinct regions known as the Five-Point Throne, in which two Seneschals—junior emperors—govern alongside two Marshals—senior emperors—with the fifth region, the crownlands, ruled by a direct descendant of King Argal I. Under the rule of the Crown Emperor is ARGALAINNE, made up of: PALLAS, ROLIS, THRESIA, SERIDIA, and CHEVER. Under the rule of the Western Marshal is ORRALUNE, made up of: NAMIA, ER-EN, TOUSALE, OSHTARION, and SHIRAH. Under the rule of the Southern Marshal is VEMAIRE, made up of: LASTVADOJIA, INUARA, VALMYRA, MESHVOSTIA. Under the rule of the Eastern Seneschal is MONTCLAIVE, made up of: YETHSELUNE, EICHENCOURT, GUALD’RIDRIS, IBRUL, KALGHATSONIA, UNMAAR. Under the rule of the Northern Seneschal is LITTOIRE, made up of: EILIDH, PRISCA, URSIA, TYRIC, SEMVAR.
THE FIVE-POINT THRONE
ARGALAINNE (Pallas, Thresia, Rolis, Seridia, Chever)
The temperate valleys of Argalainne are considered the birthplace of dynasties and the breadbasket of empires. In the towering spires of Varashal, the Pallasian philosophers hosted symposiums on the components of a man’s soul, laying the groundwork for the Virtudom movement that would be championed by King Argal’s line. Thresian architects were contracted by empires across history, creating distinct marble sanctuaries that transcend borders and distance. And the Seridians, under the yoke of barbarous lords, formed one of the first standing armies in history—later to be refashioned into the Tousavi kingsguard.
Though the idyllic vistas were once chaotic, artistic, and unpredictable, the prosperity of Argalainne has infected its people with a wan apathy that touches the tallest towers and lowest hovels. Noble courts, swollen with aristocrats claiming descendance from the knights of eld, are weighted with ritual and smothering seriousness. The bureaucrats buzz, flattening the geometry of the world into coin and capital and avaricious flow. The common people, swept up in pageantry, live peacefully at the center of the empire; all the while blissfully unaware of the horrors at their borders. And the serfs, drawn from ravaged nations with fleeting promises of a better life, work the land that once fed rebellions.
At the confluence of these cultural fissures is the Imperial Palace, commanding the armies of conquered peoples to war against their kinsmen. But the rot of its predecessors has already set in, and peace with Lagain has beggared the inevitable question amongst kings: “When all the world is theirs, where then will they turn?”
Suggested Trades: Bookseller, Caravaner, Clerk, Commoner, Crusader, Farmer, Knight, Noble, Savant, Philosopher.
Male Names: Argal, Piers, Estienne, Roch, Ignace, Rémi, Dimitri, Thierry, Enki, Olivier.
Female Names: Selene, Charlotte, Germaine, Bérangère, Margaux, Béatrice, Maryvonne, Isolde, Laurine, Elodie.
ORRALUNE (Namia, Tousale, Er-En, Shirah, Oshtarion)
The mires and mountain ranges of Orralune have long been regarded as places of great mystery. The Namian marshes stretch as far north as Aardayn, its vast thickets obscuring clans of mystics who divine prophecy from depthless lakes. To the south is their sister province, the Tousaleans—a proud and spiritual people who built impregnable fortresses in the heights of snowy mountains, housing enclaves whose ancient traditions had outlasted the turn of Ages. It was the armies of Tousale, at the counsel of their democratic sage societies, that first supported Argal’s peasant rebellion. The name ‘Tousav’ originates from their emphatic participation in his March of Reconquest.
However, the Pallasians did not leave the Tousalean favor unpunished. After generations of faithful service to the empire, Argal’s descendants ordered the sage societies disbanded, and the ancient temples of Silvermere—devoted to their Second Age idols—to be razed and rebuilt as sanctuaries to Virtudom. Historic archives of the primordial gods were lost to the pyres, their ghosts remembered only in the stories of Tousav’s saints and prophets.
Today, the people of Orralune are considered stubborn and backwards due to their reverence of the old ways and the principles of their erstwhile democracy; a reputation propagated by the Church of the Unsullied Soul, which has made the cathedrals of a reborn Silvermere into their center for religious study. Aspiring clergymen and scholars from across Tousav journey to Orralune to receive their education, though some are swayed from the path by the sage societies, who struggle in secret to preserve their lost culture against the will of the Empire.
Suggested Trades: Crusader, Healer, Hunter, Miner, Monk, Savant, Scout, Soldier, Priest, Witch. Male Names: Caelum, Emrys, Ishtaran, Osharic, Branoc, Taliesin, Vesar, Sahl, Zain, Ilyaas. Female Names: Aerona, Brisen, Eirwen, Shahla, Morwenna, Nimue, Serafina, Talara, Najlaa, Manaara.
MONTCLAIVE (Unmaar, Ibrul, Kalghatsonia, Guald’ridris, Yethselune, Eichencourt)
The tragedy of Montclaive’s destruction is one keenly felt by all its inhabitants. Once, the lush forests of the region blanketed sprawling hills in verdant green, broken only by the grottos that the Guald’ridrians tended, or the lakeside ruins of the Second Age that the Unmaari had restored. Eichencourt and Yethselune, captured Lagainian territories, are newcomers to the sprawl—themselves former hubs of trade at the precipice of empires. Yet lifetimes of war waged by the Pallasians, passed down as birthright between their dynasts, has ravaged the land and excised it from history. The bleak deserts of Montclaive are now home only to soldiers, mercenaries, and the devoted few whose love for their home outweighs their hatred for its murderers.
Guald’ridris, whose people are far from the capital and least affected by its rule, has rejected the encroachment of Tousavi custom. To the nomadic tribes which have ensconced themselves in the cold dunes, the human body is twin to the human soul—both sacred, both entwined with cosmic destiny—and, by contrast, the Tousavi are faithless tricksters pursuing their insatiable lust at the cost of peace. They are a deeply communal people, and owe no loyalties to any but themselves; as such, they have fought for both Lagain and Tousav throughout the Century of Skirmishes, cunningly courting the great powers to maintain primacy in the region.
The Unmaari, less lucky, have been largely displaced by Tousavi soldiers and statesmen, who are determined to profit from the wars they wage. Meanwhile, status-seeking traders descend like vultures upon the Second Age cities, despoiling their artifacts and appropriating them as relics of Virtudom. Because of this, and the chaos at the warfront of the Century of Skirmishes, a strong rebel presence has grown within the cities of Unmaar. They have come to revere the mythic image of a man connected to his true heritage, his true family, shedding the fetters of the royalists and denying their desire to rule the very memories of mankind.
Suggested Trades: Antiquarian, Enforcer, Herder, Mercenary, Rogue, Soldier, Smuggler, Warrior.
Male Names: Askhar, Kaleth, Taghral, Varesh, Godfrey, Edmund, Yvon, Valdris, Ostavar, Maerek.
Female Names: Selidra, Vera, Zothara, Alys, Cecily, Sibylle, Umbara, Durathi, Moshvara, Ibrula.
VEMAIRE (Valmyra, Inuara, Lastvadojia, Meshvostosia)
Since the dawn of the Third Age and the emergence of the world’s great powers, the collection of nations now named ‘Vemaire’ has been at war. First they fought alongside Krasna Khagan and the hordes of Ensas; then as members of Varashal the Great’s Marathan legions; today, they are allies to King Argal’s Tousavi armies. Over the years, a proverb of the Lastvadojian war-priests became: “a man at home is bored.”
In this region life is short, unpredictable, and violent. Marauding warbands rule the arid steppes, exacting tithes from the scattered hamlets, their reign tolerated so long as the Southern Marshal’s men receive their cut. All the while, Vemaire’s warriors are conscripted in the war against Lagain, gradually diminishing industry, trade, and stability. What remains is a decimated province neglected by the Empire, and a resilient but cynical people adapting through simple pleasures and gallows humor.
The troubadours of Inuara draw on the traditions of Aardayni skalds, whom they were sent by Marathas to fight centuries ago, in the writing of ‘daylife elegies’. These somber melodies emphasize the beauty in the mundane moments of a man’s life, evoking impossible distances of love, loss and yearning. This practice is especially prominent in the lands of Valmyra, home to some of the most ancient burial grounds on the continent. Fields of swords, skewering the earth where dead men lie, span the dales between mountains. Mourning soldiers carry their brothers’ arms back from the warfront to the seat of forgotten battles, laying them to rest with their ancestors. In these iron forests, nomadic priests roam to offer nameless warriors their last rites, praying that one day flowers might bloom from the blood-soaked earth.
Suggested Trades: Bard, Enforcer, Herder, Master-at-arms, Mercenary, Priest, Soldier, Warlord.
Male Names: Dragomir, Niko, Radovan, Zoran, Branimir, Miro, Bogdan, Milivoj, Velimir, Dobrosav.
Female Names: Milena, Radmila, Vesna, Jana, Zorka, Dobrila, Vukosava, Desanka, Srebrenka, Elka
LITTOIRE (Eilidh, Prisca, Tyric, Ursia, Semvar)
The conquest of Littoire represents Tousav’s bloodiest march since the early days of the Pallasian March of Reconquest. Subjugated mere decades ago, the diverse array of clans—once holdings of Aardayn, Lagain, or themselves sovereign nations—were laid low by the Empire’s most ruthless general. The villages along the straits of Ursia, and the stone-built Sedalic ports of Semvar, were of particular interest: claiming these at last opened a path from the crownlands to the northern waters, and heralded a new era of mercantilism for the rising power.
Yet the human cost was immeasurable: reaching the Yiegdran Sea required the slaughter of the Eilidhese, the Priscans, the Tyrics, and—critically—the Tousavi armies. While Littoire is technically a province of the Empire, the Seneschal has been so far incapable of mustering the manpower to effectively reinforce their rule. Were they to try, it would be tantamount to surrendering the eastern warfront to Lagain, or disarming their western armies before Aardayn. What followed Tousav’s pyrrhic victory was an endless procession of rebellions, insurrections, and mutinies.
To the Eilidhese, the Tousavi invasion poses an existential threat to their way of life. From the sacred grottos of the riverside vales, the druid-kings of Eilidh employ councils of bards to chronicle their history in sonnets and verse. The massacre of their capital, Glamis Rock, by the Imperial army severed the human threads tying them to antiquity. Many Eilidhese have since defected to Lagainian agents in Sedalic lands, joining a pitched battle against their oppressors.
The Tyrics, a proud people, trace their lineage through epics to the gods of the waters. Believing themselves hewn from stygian depths, their superstitions surrounding the tumultuous northern seas go unheeded by the Imperial seafarers; there is little time for the ambitious merchant, in the charting of gold-heavy vessels, to abide such backwards nonsense. The result is a caste of sailors who see doom in every horizon, and opportunities to avenge their gods in clandestine dealings with Menehysi pirates.
Suggested Trades: Agent, Apothecary, Assassin, Chronicler, Pirate, Rebel, Seafarer, Trader, Witch.
Male Names: Pàl, Seumas, Niall, Fionn, Seòras, Murchadh, Eimhir, Solveig, Ailbhe, Líadain.
Female Names: Brighde, Annveig, Caitir, Aislin, Bláithín, Sollaug, Siofra, Ríona, Ylva, Sif.
PATRICIENS & CHEVALIERS
The story goes that King Argal, on the day of his coronation, hand selected from the crowd his new council; accounting for their service during the Day of the Roaring Lion, and the stormy days of the rebellion. This is reflected on as the mythic foundation for the Empire’s merit-based ideals, and the division of nobility, knighthood, laymen and serfs. Land-owning men or women of Argal’s council received the titles of Patricien and Patricienne—nobility—whose suffrages dictated the internal affairs of Tousav. Beneath them were the Chevaliers, knights, who did not own land but swore fealty to Argal and his cohort; regarded with the highest honor, and given favorable positions in military and bureaucracy. Then there was the homme du peuple, the commoner, who possessed neither imperial standing nor fortune. He exceeded in rank only the serf, of which there were many.
The prevailing myth of Tousav is that a man can climb these steps towards the Five-Point Throne; a serf could earn his citizenship through loyalty to his patron, then as a commoner may, by enlisting in the military, achieve the rank of Chevalier through meritorious service. From there he might be gifted title by the Crown, join the peerage as a Patricien, and then amass prestige until he is bestowed the honor of Seneschal. From serf to emperor, there are seven ‘stages’ which embody an advancement in merit and reward to the assiduous. In practical reality, however, Patricien is a hereditary title, and few Chevaliers are ever granted it without an existing connection to nobility. That does not stop the nobility from proclaiming that the Empire rewards merit, and smoothing the cruelty of a serf’s lot.
Of these stages, the Chevalier is the most complex and circuitous. The Empire requires a period of mandatory military service once a man comes of age, and upon the completion of his term he may either choose to re-enlist or separate. Those who remain advance their careers until, through seniority or achievement, they may swear fealty to a Patricien, becoming an officer and a Chevalier. These vows often manifest as fatuous hazing rituals imitating legend, and are designed to humble the Chevalier and bind him to a grander national purpose.
It is tradition, upon swearing this oath, for a Chevalier to join a chivalric order, or one of the many branching fraternities. These orders represent certain values of honor, brotherhood, and offer the opportunity to “augment” other military units in which the Chevalier might possess advantageous skills; he may also encounter a protege from these units who he takes under his ward as an esquier.
Corps et Ordre d’Argal
Also called “The Chapter Bravery” or “L’Ordre du Lion,” this chivalric order is a common choice for aspiring military officers due to an existing rank of bannerets, cavaliers, and constables. Their coat of arms is a roaring lion haloed by swords. They espouse values of courage in the face of death, martial prowess, and loyalty to one’s brothers and betters.
Ordre des Hospitaliers
Also called “The Chapter Hope” or “L’Ordre de L’Hermine,” this decentralized order commonly ventures abroad to guard pilgrims and caravans in foreign lands. Although there is little chance for advancement within their ranks, they nonetheless hold appeal for the pious and the venal, who stand to benefit from proximity to the faithful or rich. Their coat of arms is an ermine, whose pure white fur symbolizes a willingness to risk death or capture over dishonor.
Ordre de la Hatchette
Also called “The Chapter Justice” or “L’Ordre des Chiens,” this order directly collaborates with judges and clergymen to hunt those charged with offenses against the faith or crown; its Hatchetmen operate, typically, as justiciars within the crownlands. Their coat of arms is a hound with swords and axes protruding from its back, symbolizing persistence in spite of all obstacles. They value comfort with contempt, a strong sense of ethics, and deference to the rule of law.
Ordre du Trône Vide
Also called “The Chapter Piety” or “L’Ordre du Filleul,” this order is among the broadest in scope, training crusaders for the war against Lagain and helping to oversee the bureaucracy and financial operations of the Church of the Unsullied Soul. Its members are distinguished only by zealotry. The believers chase death in righteous battle; the teamsters ensure that death yields profit. Their coat of arms is an empty dais, symbolizing the irreclaimable throne of the messiah. They value the pursuit of absolution, a desire to answer the calling, and suppression of sin in oneself and in others.
VIRTUDOM AND THE UNSULLIED SOUL
So it was, in the early days of the Empire, that the dukes were eager to be rid of the Marathan faiths. They had spread from the southern Marches to the eastern dunes; to the western heights and northern rivers; and they had fractured and evolved so many times as to be nigh unrecognizable to one another. Centuries of disinterested Marathan rule had done little to remedy this. And that made the myriad peoples harder to govern.
Orthodoxy was the first step. In Varashal, Pallas, philosophers were contracted by the Patriciens—many of whom had taken a sudden interest in philosophizing, too—to reinterpret the Mazzaroth, the souls, the olden Gods, and to reshape the mantle of god-king to fit Emperor Argal. Virtudom arose from their symposiums. Clergy were gathered from across the crownlands to form the Church of the Unsullied Soul, a new religious organization for the modern age; they preached of an old world made new, and of a new king made divine.
THE SAVAGE GOD, THE LION, AND THE LATENT SOUL
In the beginning there was nothing. And from this emptiness at the beginning of time, the Savage God shaped the heavens and earth. He created monsters, spirits—all manner of things, until he made men.
Servile by nature, men were incurious and deferent to the Savage God. They toiled the land and brick by brick constructed his kingdom upon his earth. Until the spirits, born cunning, took notice of men and devised a scheme. “Yours is to be a slave’s lot,” the spirits told men, “but God has shared with us the power of creation; to conjure miracles when he grows weary. But he does not feed us, and has not granted us bodies, for he fears that we would no longer need him. Become our mortal instruments, and together we will overcome our nature.” But their promise was false. Men became supplicant to the spirits, and turned away from the Savage God.
This enraged the Savage God, who in his passion devised to slay men and their idols, beginning the world again without these twin transgressors. It was only by the counsel of another spirit, the only one who remained loyal, that the Savage God was deterred. Varashan, the Lion of Pallas, who dwelled among men and had grown fond of them, begged for a chance to save humanity from the spirits. “They have been deceived, for they were created ignorant,” he claimed. “Allow me to teach them. We shall counter treachery with truth.” And so the Savage God permitted a period of respite for men: he would not strike them so long as they remained true to the Lion’s designs.
So Varashan returned from the Savage God’s vault, and through holy miracle gave rise to a boy with no destiny—one who possessed a Latent Soul, untouched by the providence of men or their spirits. Together, with the boy as his earthly muse, they swayed the greatest king of the era—Argal, first to listen and first knower—and preached to him of mankind’s impending destruction. Only through the Lion’s commandments could he save his kingdom. The Empire’s mission thus became to eliminate false idols and redeem humanity.
KING ARGAL, THE SAINT-KNIGHTS, AND THE LATTER HALLOWS
From Argal’s council of Patriciens and Chevaliers, there were but a handful who were willing to shoulder the burden of the Lion’s mission; to attack and depose their enemies’ false gods would mean waging war against all the peoples across all the lands. Yet the undaunted few became Varashan’s disciples, and together they journeyed across Yiegdra—defeating wicked kings, slaying lying prophets, and liberating humanity from the delusions of the spirits.
This small but faithful band became known as the Seven Saint-Knights, and the virtues they exhibited became a philosophical concept within the Church of the Unsullied Soul known as Virtudom. It posits that, in order to fulfill the Lion’s wish for humanity’s survival, one must live in accordance with the examples which the Saint-Knights set. For this reason, it is common for a Chevalier’s vows to be a pastiche of the Saint-Knights’ legendary oaths to King Argal; young Patriciens in the crownlands have been known to swear similar oaths to the Emperor when coming of age, or to choose a patron Saint-Knight to embody their aspirations and the values of their noble house.
Saint-Emperor Argal of Varashal, the Undaunted
Said to represent the virtue of Bravery. In myth, Saint-Emperor Argal embarked on his quest as a young and inexperienced king, keenly aware of his shortcomings but determined to overcome them. The example he set taught the other disciples to keep heart in the face of adversity; to this day, he is worshipped as a chosen of Varashan, or an aspect of the Marathan deity Varasha.
Saint-Empress Selene of Silvermere, the Kind
Argal’s first Empress. Said to represent the virtue of Charity, her limitless love and devotion to her Emperor allowed him to grow into the man that would unite the world. While his warring with the heathen-kings could have made him cruel, it was Selene’s affection towards himself and countless others that kept him benevolent. She is worshipped as an aspect of the Marathan deity Manta.
Saint-Knight Yvaine of Peren, the Righteous
An expatriate of the southern Marathan vassals and a canny swordsman without equal, come north seeking recompense for a great wrong done to him. He is said to represent the virtue of Justice, as it was his unflinching commitment to balancing the scales that saw many heathen-kings charged in the Imperial courts. He is worshipped as an aspect of the Marathan deity Seridia.
Saint-Knight Orion of the Fifth Quadrant, the Patient
An enigmatic figure from Ansium, said to have emerged from the Marathan heartlands bearing only a shepherd’s crook and an uncanny knowledge of the Savage God’s apocalypse. Her inhuman patience embodied the virtue of Temperance, and balanced Yvaine’s ferocity with a forethought that transcended the turn of ages. Her teachings are still studied in Silvermere, where she is worshipped as an aspect of the Marathan deities Sundra or Garuda, depending on whether she is venerated for her mercy or her wisdom.
Saint-Knight Enki Rinnal, the Faithful
The ward of a heathen-king, who saw the truth in the Lion’s warning and turned against the forces of darkness to fight alongside King Argal. His uncommon loyalty, and his willingness to abandon his title and inheritance for the sake of others, casts him as the embodiment of the virtue Humility. His devotion to an unlikely master is an example for Chevaliers across generations. He is worshipped as an aspect of the Marathan deity Amsel, or—uncommonly, for it is considered emasculating—Ista.
Martyred-Knight Minerva Ráthbuige, the Selfless
A northern warrior of the Yiegdran coasts, believed to be the first woman to become a Chevalier of the Empire. Over time she came to mentor the other Saint-Knights, until at last she sacrificed her life to triumph in an impossible battle against the strongest of the heathen-kings, Enki’s ward. Her martyrdom caused many within the army to defect and join King Argal’s cause, and for that she represents the virtue Hope, as well as the grand legacy awaiting those who die honorably. She is worshipped as an aspect of the Marathan deity Zvan.
The Nameless Messiah, Lion’s Muse
Immaculate child of the spirit Varashan. He possessed a Latent Soul, something unheard of before or since, and his purity of spirit came to embody the virtue Piety. Little to nothing is known about the Nameless Messiah—it is, in fact, illegal within the Empire to depict him in any capacity. For that reason, he is represented only by an empty dais, his unclaimed throne, that was intended to be given upon the completion of their journey. Before he could claim it, however, he was supposedly slain by a coalition of the heathen-kings: a death that echoed throughout the heavens, and opened the way for the virtuous to be returned to earth as Gallu. It is said that since his martyrdom, those who are resurrected have been judged worthy of a second chance by Varashan, and are taken in as penitents by the Church of the Unsullied Soul.
While the Saint-Knights are universally venerated by the crownlands, the Latter Hallows are a class of holy spirits regarded with equal parts reverence and suspicion. In an effort to homogenize the culture of the Empire and all its subjects, the pantheons of conquered peoples would be stripped of their history and names; what remained would become a Latter Hallow, a supposedly redeemed spirit who was swayed to Varashan’s path of righteousness, and is sanctioned for worship within the Empire as a result.
Explicitly, these Latter Hallows are not considered gods by the people of the crownlands or the Church of the Unsullied Soul, and—at most—are thought to be saints or blessed spirits. Within the Church, doubts persist about the wisdom of permitting Hallow worship, as the truly faithful consider them to be an extravagance and unnecessary compromise. Meanwhile, those whose gods are transformed into Latter Hallows rarely acknowledge the Tousavi myth; it is only for their own safety that they oblige in public, so that in private they might continue to address their deities by their true names.