Editing HC History (section)

==YP 463-498 Silver and Gold==
Perhaps sensing that the Empire is set to break itself in two, the Emperor reveals that he has been told in a dream to travel over the sea; that the lands at the foot of the Rendwall are rightfully his. Over seven years, he builds an army on gifts and promises and from Alaya emerges the largest fleet of ships ever seen. In 471 the Empire invades the far east, though with very few contingents from Sirdehaar. 

By 490 the coastal lands are pacified an the bulk of the army has returned home with loot or has taken parcels of land in the new territories. It is increasingly difficult to raise an army for new conquests so the Emperor turns to Sirdehaar. A new, small but highly capable force is united and travels up into the mountains above the coast. In an epic campaign, they find and take the valley of Potomanchu, and soon the Empire is flooded with silver and gold. Initially, the bullion heads mostly north into Sirdehaar. With the Sird skill for working metal, many items of great beauty are created. But, the Emperor swiftly decrees that the land of Potomanchu is his and his alone. It was his father, after all, who had the dream whichled the Empire over the sea. Privateers begin to operate from the coastal city states of southern Sirdehaar. 

The Battle of the Boar's Den: A conflict in the War of Eastern Conquest, the battle centered around a hidden forest fortress used by Eastern barbarians to launch attacks on Imperial settlements. When one of their concubines betrayed their location to Hugaar spies, the barbarians settled in for a siege and were surrounded by Leo III's forces. In an unexpected development, a goblin tribe and creatures of the wild were mysteriously drawn to the forest and attacked the flanks of the Imperial army, inflicting numerous casualties. The Heartstone Knights proved critical in holding the line and ultimately winning the Boar's Den from its defenders.

In 496, Emperor Leo III was assassinated. He was found dead in his bedchamber one Winter morning with a single poisoned thorn under one of his fingernails. The Imperial investigation pointed to a gift given to him by an ambassador of the Mud Children, a small Sird tribe recently brought into the Empire. The ambassador and his entourage were summarily executed after an abbreviated trial in which they protested their innocence. Rumors abound that they were falsely accused and that the guilt party lies closer to home.