The Empire was founded in 1291 following the conclusion of the Elemental Wars. The victorious Fire Tribe amalgamated all the elemental tribes into one, settling in the newly constructed city of Lorendell. Lorendell is characterised by its enormous city walls, leading to the colloquial name for the capital of the Empire—City of Stone. Other tribes have other, less flattering names for the city, depending on their interactions with, or view of the Empire.

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The Empire tend to overvalue magic, structuring their society based on peoples’ perceived worth following their categorisation at their Testing. The Testing reveals whether someone is a magical, a spell caster, an object wielder, or a non-magical, and ranks their magical strength. 

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The Empire believes in a range of gods, each assigned to a specific function (such as the god of fire, the god of war, and the god of death, to name a few). Most calamities of the past have been ascribed to causing a specific god displeasure, and there was traditionally a strong belief that sacrifices and praise for that god would resolve the concern.

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In recent times the Empire’s dedication to religion has waned and there are very few devout left in their ranks. More, the Empire is interested in wealth and expansion, and have recently emerged from a period of exploration, that essentially resulted in the wealthiest citizens of the Empire increasing their money and lands.

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The biggest conflict that faced the Empire since the Elemental Wars was the invasion of the Mind Controllers from the north. Though the Mind Controllers never truly penetrated Lorendell’s walls and they eventually withdrew, the conflict left an impression on the Empire, and they remain fearful of another attack.

 

In response to this fear, the Empire has twice annexed the minor tribes of Southern Valoris, forcibly joining them to the Empire. The First Annexation was essentially an annexation in name alone, however the current annexation has seen the Empire attempt to bring the tribes under the Empire’s control. The cruelest manifestation of this has been the collars, developed by the City Druids—a small number of Druids loyal to the Empire—that block a person’s magic.