Editing HC History

Back to [[Heartstone Codex]]

''Empire of the Sun and Mooon. Hatha. Hugaar. Empire of the Twin Stars. Empire of All the World’s People. Land of the Sun. Empire of a Thousand Years. Empire of the Blessed Womb. Empire of the Giants’ Seed. The Brothers’ Kingdom.''

''The essence of the Empire is Union. Union between Hatha and Sird, between Huth and Newelaar, between Sirdehaar and Hugaar, between Hugaar and Pasin, between East and West.''

''You cannot understand the Empire without understanding this.''

=The Age of Giants=
'''In the Beginning – The Time of Giants, Hatha and Sird, The Making of the World and the Birth of Man (Sons of Lorn), Calla Queen of the Witches and Huth the First of the Gods.''' 

==The Making of the World. The Brothers Hatha and Sird==
The First Giants, the '''Rend''', were great workers of stone, and were driven by a great impulse. They strode across the world carving out mountains and valleys we see today. They wrought things of great beauty out of stone. To help them in their labours and people the world, they carved sons out of the rock. 

The names of most of the Rend are now lost, but two stand out and are known to this day. They are the brothers '''Sird''', wrought of basalt, and '''Hatha''', wrought of granite. Sird was carved first, he was the stronger and the more cunning of the pair, and the better craftsman. He is power and might in its starkest, most imposing form, and is desire, anger and vengeance. Hatha was wrought after his brother and was the wiser of the two, the more thoughtful, the lover of beauty. 

The pair made great mountain ranges together and wielded massive iron clubs in fierce battles with other Rend. They constructed the '''Rendwall''' which binds the east of the world, and made the great plain to the West which later became the '''Plains of Fire'''. In the south they carved out a great rents in the ground and this later became the '''oceans'''. They wrought great clubs of iron they had pulled from the ground, and used these to fight fierce battles with the other giants.

Sird’s desire and anger had transformed into a slow cunning. He had learned to pound his club, '''Niddighugger''', into an edge, and to hone this edge on the rocks. Hatha, considering himself wiser, stood apart from his brother and accused him of folly. This greatly angered Sird, so the obsidian Giant struck his brother almighty blow with his great edged club and cut him open.

==The Blood of Hatha: Water and Ice. Sird the Rendking==
The two brothers had fought one another many times before, and had fought the other '''Rend'''. But this was new. '''Hatha''' was cut open by the '''Niddighugger''''s iron blade and it was '''water''' which spilled forth from his wound; so much water that it filled the valleys, covered the lowest lands, and filled even the great rent in the ground, giving rise to the '''Oceans''' and the '''Seas'''.

'''Hatha and Sird''' never again quite understood one another, but from this act, much of the world was made. Sird called himself the '''Rendking''', cowing his subjects with his new weapon. Hatha was now creeping along the lowest grounds, his body long gone, having now no substance but Water. To show how different he was from his vanquished brother, Sird moved up to the highest of the mountains and built himself a '''great castle'''. Still he loved his brother, so he took some of '''Hatha’s blood''', the new thing water, with him. Filling his helm with water, he bore it up to his mountain fastness. But there, Hatha showed a cold indifference to his brother and the water froze and spilled out of the helm, turning Sird’s mountain retreat to '''ice and snow'''. At first, Sird was indifferent. He used the ice to carve for himself a '''throne''', to spy better upon the world. But in his isolation, only receiving occasional visits from below, he spoke to the ice and sent it south, in glaciers or in ice floes, to bring him news of the world. To his dismay, the ice never returned.

==The Crafting of the Sun ==
When '''Sird''' had made his geat blade of iron and sharpened it on the rocks, he had noticed that he also made great heat and sparks of light. So, seeking to relieve himself of the cold, he took his weapon and struck it against the rocks, many many times. He wore whole mountains down with his iron and gathered the heat up into a great bright burning ball. This ball of burning fire and light he named the '''Sun'''.

When he was done, though, the '''Rendking''' found he had no control over this new thing. In truth, the Sun was the first being to see Sird for all had been '''darkness''' before, and it told the King what a gnarled old creature he was and that he was too ugly to be in the Sun's radiant presence. Worse, the Sun told Sird that the only beautiful thing about him was his mantle of ice and snow; that is to say, Sird’s vanquished brother. So as not to risk melting this thing of beauty, the Sun said it would leave Sird's gloomy realm and take a place in the '''sky''' where it could gaze at things of beauty in the world. This it did.

==The Sons of Lorn – Man==
While King Sird was up his icy fastness, his subjects, the other Giants, were still driven to craft things out of rock. Now, though, they began to mix '''Hatha’s blood''' with their stone and they began to craft new wonders. Sird himself never did this and is known as the hardest, least malleable of beings. But the other Giants, themselves sons of the First Giants, began to make their own sons out of this mud. These were new, smaller, softer and suppler things and one of them, a Giant named '''Lorn''', noticed that the smaller and softer he made his sons, the cleverer they were, until they themselves could work the mud and make their own sons. This was '''Man''', although the first of the Men were great towering beings, larger even than our brothers we now give the name giants, or '''Sons of Lorn''' or '''Rendsons'''.

==The Daughters of Hatha – Woman==
While a part of '''Hatha''' was up in Sird’s Castle of Ice, he was mostly down in the lowest places of the world, unable to lift himself up and walk as he had once done. He saw his brothers and cousins, the other Giants, making things of stone, and regretted that he no longer could. He saw them take some of his waters and use them to make the new softer things, but he gave that no thought. Not yet. Instead, frustrated, he would fly into great rages and beat upon the stone, trying to do what he had been born to do, but he could do very little, only pound it into pebbles. The more he beat at the stone, the more formless it became.

Eventually, his rages died down and he grew calmer. He found he could little affect stone, as he had once down, but he could at least imagine '''forms'''. These forms, once imagined, began to speak to their father in '''whispers'''. This greatly pleased Hatha; he gave these spirits names, and so they became ever less formless, the first, and most powerful, of the '''Witches'''. Their whispers became the '''winds''' and they could fly freely through the world. They told Hatha of his brother, they told him of the Sons of Lorn.

==The First Great Magic and the Wedding of Man and Woman==
One thing that the '''Witches''' learned was that the Sons of Lorn were able to craft their own sons, replicas of themselves, out of rock and water. This was something the Witches were not able to do. Seeing that these sons of the giants would eventually be far greater in number than themselves, they grew jealous of the craft and thought to steal it. These Witches were great enchantresses. They went among the sons of the giants and stole an item from each and every one of them. Then they weaved a '''great magic''', a great spell which they used to wrest this power from the giants.

When the Sons of Lorn, in their rage, drove the Witches back into the Seas, they found they could no longer craft sons. But this was the first time the Witches had cast a great spell together, and it was imperfect. They were unable to wield this great power they had stolen. Inevitably, after ages of fruitless hostility, the '''Sons of Lorn''' and the '''Daughters of Hatha''' realised that they would only ever be able to wield this power in '''unison'''.

=The Gods' Age=
'''The First of the Gods and the end of the Giants. Huth’s Vow and Betrayal. Pasin and Newlaar. Huth builds the Mountains of the Stars. The Sun is Captured and Huth weds Newelaar. The Moon. The last of the Gods is born.''' 

==Queen Calla. Huth is born==
While the Sons of Lorn and the Daughters of Hatha were peopling the world, the '''Gods''' were born. '''Queen Calla''' was one of the most powerful of Hatha’s first daughters. It was she who invented '''language''' and had shown the others how to cast the first great spell. She was proud, though, and wanted a husband to match her, not one of these Men made out of mud.

So it was that she flew up to '''Sird'''’s Castle of Ice and there sought audience with her uncle. At first, the Red was angry and threw great boulders at her, or tried to cut her with his great iron sword. But this was no trouble to her, for she simply became the wind and laughed at her uncle. Eventually he tired, and sat down to listen to Calla. This was the moment of her victory, for as soon as she began to speak, the old Giant was enchanted and seduced. So was born the first and greatest of the Gods, '''Huth'''. 

There were many Gods. '''Children of Calla and Sird''', they built a '''court''' around their father’s icy throne and filled it with laughter and with tales of adventure. Soon Sird had forgoten all about the other Giants, and so their time ended. The remaining giants and their sons dispersing to the south, to the east and to the west, where they built kingdoms of their own. Only a few remained, among these '''Lorn''' the Father of Man. Calla herself is known as a Goddess, as are Hatha and Sird. The common man or woman often does not know who was first a Giant, a Witch or a true God, and it makes little difference except to the greybeards who devote their lives to such matters. Even some of the first Men are now called Gods, while some great kings believe they can travel up to the Castle of Ice and live with the Gods

Many Gods were born and a few died. They invented many of the things we know today: music, poetry, art, the rules of war, wine, gold and silver, languages. The greatest of the gods was named Huth. First and most beloved son of Sird and Calla, he was a beautiful god, strong and clever, fiercely loyal and given to great passions.

==Huth’s Vow to Queen Calla==
'''Huth''' grew to be a great God. He was the pride of his father Sird but in the world, he acted as his mother’s agent, for he loved his mother above all things. Of the many great events enacted by Huth, one of the greatest was that he sought his uncle and grandfather, '''Hatha''', and made peace with him on his '''mother'''’s behalf. After this, he sought to show her his love by gifting her with the most beautiful thing in the world. He swore to her that he would capture the '''Sun''' and bring it bound to her in the '''Castle of Ice'''.

==Huth meets Pasin==
Huth travelled down, out of his father’s mountainous realm, '''Sirdehaar''', to wamer lands where the Sun might more easily be found. He took with him a '''tribe of giants''', some of the younger and more venturous of his father’s subjects. He had heard tell of a place called the '''Land of the Sun''', so it was to this place that he led his band. 

Huth’s '''wanderings''' are the stuff of legend. Many were the travails he had and many were the contests won. But eventually he found himself in a beautiful land, a warm place of flowing wine, where the people had made instruments which sang even more beautifully than the sighings of the winds, and told great tales which matched even Huth’s own epic journey. Here, he saw that the '''Sun''' could indeed be seen lingering, and Huth thought he could understand why. Huth concluded that he had arrived in the Land of the Sun, so he asked to meet the lord of this land, the god '''Pasin'''. 

Huth had made no secret of the purpose of his quest, so Pasin knew that he had to be very clever. If this strange northern god took the Sun out of the sky and carried it north, the grapes would wither and Pasin’s people would have to go about in furs. Pasin spoke to Huth and learned that his resolve was great; he would not easily be dissuaded from his task. So Pasin vowed to help Huth, to be his boon companion and to do his all to help capture the Sun. Huth was greatly pleased, most especially when Pasin told him of the Sun’s habits.

==Huth and Newelaar==
The '''Sun''' was, as ever, proud and vain. Every day, as it travelled overhead, admiring things of beauty in the lands below, it would pause at the edge of Pasin’s realm, above the '''Placid Sea'''. Here it gazed upon the most beautiful thing in the world: its own reflection. '''Huth''' begged his new friend to take him to this Placid Sea and '''Pasin''', of course, did so. 

But there was one thing that Pasin had neglected to tell Huth. His sister, the Goddess '''Newelaar''', resided at the Placid Sea and was perhaps the most beautiful of the Goddesses. With Huth’s first look, his heart was taken. He vowed to himself that he would make this goddess his, and he was moved to swear to her all kinds of oaths, make all kinds of promises. When he finally asked her what in the world he could give her to make her his, she replied that only one prize would make her his. The Sun.

==The Star Mountains==
Blinded by love, '''Huth''' swore that he would do exactly this. He would build a great tower into the sky and there would capture the sun for his goddess. So began the construction of the first of the '''Star Mountains''', on the shores of the '''Placid Sea'''. This was the first time such an undertaking had been taken on since the Rend had roamed the world. But Huth had with him his '''twelve companions''', themselves sons of the world builders, so before too many lifetimes had passed, his mountain was up among the clouds.

During this time, his companions had themselves met twelve of Newelaar`s handmaidens, '''Hathari nymphs'''. Just as their lord had done, each had fallen deeply in love with his respective nymph and they had, emulating their mistress, bid each of their suitors to gift them a '''star'''. So, while Huth built his own tower, his companions each built their own, each one a demonstration of love. Each of these towers, built on the shores of the Placid Sea, was of such dimensions that they each became a mountain, the '''Star Mountains'''. Each of these giants, each of his brides, and each of the stars, is a story in its own right. '''INSERT LINK'''

==Huth’s Gift==
When '''Huth''' finally finished his mountain, he reached for the '''Sun''' and siezed hold of it. Despite the agony of holding the ball of flame, he brought it down to '''Newelaar''' and proferred it to her as his wedding gift. With perhaps the most beautiful smile which ever adorned a face, the goddess told her suitor that he had shown the depth of his devotion and he must now place the Sun back in its place. This he did and the two were wed.

==Calla’s Anger. The Moon and The Bastard God==
Although the '''nymphs''' bore many children to '''Huth’s companions''', his own marriage to '''Newelaar''' was barren. Eventually, he learned from the goblin seer '''Herak''' that his mother, '''Queen Calla''', had laid a curse on the union and that the fruitless union was but the first consequence of the curse. Huth had always been one for appeasement so he sought out old '''Hatha''' for advice. His uncle and grandfather, knowing his daughter better than any, told Huth that only a gift from Newelaar, one of equal beauty to the Sun, would appease his mother. Newelaar agreed to this.

To craft her gift, the goddess inspired herself on the Sun. She herself had seen the Sun gazing upon its reflection day after day so she constructed an image of the Sun, one of the same size and the same form, but crafted out of her own silvery substance. This was the '''Moon''' and Huth took it north to his mother. Although partly consoled by the gift, '''Queen Calla''' was by nature vengeful. She took the gift and gave it a place in the sky, but demanded one more gift of her son, that she, his mother, carry the seed of Huth’s firstborn rather than his bride. 

Thus, although Huth and Newelaar had many children, '''Huth’s firstborn''' was the '''Bastard God, Umer'''.

=The Age of Chaos=
'''City States in Conflict. Enslavement by the Divine Majestrix. The Curse of the Witches of the North. Hugaar and Pasin Unite.''' 

==The City States==
What followed was a dark time for Mankind. Although Huth had founded his beautiful granite city, '''Hugaar''', nestled among the '''Star Mountains''', and Pasin’s home, '''Pashnaar''', too was growing, there was no unity. These and other cities formed their own governments and fought over lands and trade routes. The lands between were '''wilderness''', the territory of '''predatory goblins'''. The '''Tribes of Sirdehaar''' too were disunited, wading through century-long blood feuds.

==Mankind Enslaved and the Dragons==
'''Hugaar''', '''Pashnaar''', and the other states at the '''centre of the world''' were ripe for picking. '''Saurian''' merchants were increasingly to be seen, accompanied by hired guards. But they were just preparing the ground for what was to come. A great '''army of lizards''' came from the south and, in a '''bloodless war''' never quite understood to this day, '''enslaved mankind''', halting only at the '''foothills of of Sirdehaar'''.

While the Saurians had lived in the cold (for them) centre of the world, they had entertained dreams of conquering the frozen north. As they require heat to live, however, they had sought to change themselves to carry their own heat with them. They conducted '''great magics''' in which volunteers '''ingested fire'''. Although many died in this ritual, some survived and became '''dragons'''.

==The Witches of the North==
Although centuries of subjugation to the '''Divine Majestsrix''' followed, there are no records or memories of this time. The dominance of he '''Saurians''' was such that they were able even to control the '''memories''' of their subjects. What we do know of this time is that many many people were taken south as slaves or as food. Eventually the '''Witches of the North''', taking pity on their southern cousins and fearful lest the dragons move north, united and created a '''great curse''' on the '''Divine Majestrix'''. The disunity which had always characterized the human tribes now became a feature of the Saurians. Their hold over humankind, bit by bit, crumbled.

==The Saurian Legacy==
It was if mankind awoke from a dream. Much of our culture took years to be reconstructed from '''fragmented memories''', but Hugaar was now stronger than ever before. Although the Saurians had gone, they had left behind some of their most valuable inventions: '''arithmetic''' and '''geometry''', and an '''administrative hierarchy''' which they had taught to their slaves and had left in their hands.

==Hugaar and Pasin Unite==
One of the first acts of mankind was to '''join Hugaar and Pasin'''. United, they set to reconquer the '''wilderness''' from the '''goblins''', driving them into the mountains and deserts, and to expel the wild predatory '''dragons''', driving them west. When most of this bloody work was done, however, a '''great army''' of giants and witches came from the north and the exhausted Empire changed hands.

=Empire: The Second Cycle=
'''The Dominance of Sirdehaar and Devotion to the Bastard God. The First Invasions of the Visters. Sturian Church. Transfer of Power. First Year of Pasin. The Wars of Descent. The Spring Assassinations. Pogroms and Decay.'''

==Dominance of Sirdehaar==
'''King Tullis''' came south and west from the '''Tegayet Plateau''', southern Sirdehaar, with an army of men, of giants and of witches, drawn from several of the most powerful of the tribes of Sirdehaar. Claiming descent from Umer, the Bastard God, he claimed Hugaar as his birthright and laid siege for three years. He wed the queen of Pashnaar '''name?''', herself descended from Huth and Newelaar, to form a new royal line. He ascended Mt. Huth and built a '''great tower''' at the top of the mountain. There, he used a '''net''', crafted by his witches, and carried by his giants, to capture the Sun as a gift for his queen.

The queen was wise and knew that he had to set the Sun free, but she told Tullis to take some of the Sun's powers. This was done and the Sun was set free. The queen gained the power of '''Sight''', and Huth the power of '''Fire'''. Tullis instituted worship of the '''Emperor and Empress as Gods''', and placed Umer highest.

==Invasions from the West, the Sturian Church==
At first, the Empire was poorly administered. Unprotected, the porous western borders allowed a series of invasions by hordes of '''Visters'''. Nonetheless, a group of explorer-scholars rediscovered the '''Stone Library''' of Sturt and his '''Life of Truth'''. The teachings therein bolstered the Empire and a Vister horde is halted at the gates of Hugaar.

==YP 1-62 Transfer of Power==
Administrative power is transferred to Pashnaar and the calendar begins with the ''1st Year of Pasin''. The poor administration continues, largely due to the soft life in Pashnaar. Huth takes prominence in the pantheon once again and the Bastard God loses sway. Hugaar begins to take on the mantle of the holy city it is today.
 
==YP 63-121 The Wars of Descent==
Disputes over the Imperial bloodline lead to civil strife but end one spring in a series of assassinations in which most of the noble families are purged. This leads to the coining of the saying, ''When the spring snow melts, Death knocks at the gate''. A Senate is briefly and unsuccessfully instituted in Pasin. 

==YP 122-148 War of Unification, Pogroms and Decay==
The empire is collapsing. In an effort to halt this, the Emperor launches the '''War of Unification''', an unsuccessful attempt to unite the doctrines of the '''Sturian Church''' into a coherent whole. Scapegoats are identified, whether religious or racial, and the population at large engages in enthusiastic and bloody murder.

=Empire: The Third Cycle=
'''Pasin Opens its Gates to Huth’s Blood. Conquest and Expansion. Marriage to the East. The Twin Star Empire. Silver and Gold. Prophecies and the End of the World.'''
 
==YP 149 Pasin Opens its Gates==
The Spring snows melt and for the second time, a northerner '''name ???''' arrives to claim the Empire, this time riding a drake and escorted by a bodyguard of Visters. He claims direct descent from Huth but many simply call him Death.

==YP 149-312 Renewal, Conquest and Expansion==
One of the usurper's first acts is to put the majority of the Empire's bureaucrats to the sword, in a week which turns the '''river ????''' red. The survivors are put to work reconstructing an administrative system but it is stretched to the limit. 

The Emperor's right hand man is the Archon '''(name???)''', a theologian of note who is later canonized. Although the Emperor's reach is weakened by the thinly stretched administration, the Church is considerably strengthened through a series of reforms, most notable of which is a new freedom of worship across the Empire. The Church is revitalised and, led by several new orders of holy knights and renewed enthusiasm on the part of the Sirdehaar tribes, the Empire begins a new period of expansion and conquest.

==YP 313-349 The Inglorious War. Marriage==
The '''Emperor''' leads an army into Alaya to 'reclaim' the lands which were occupied by the 'invaders' while the Empire was resolving troubles close to home. He has the backing of theologically watertight documents which prove the heretical nature of the Alayan church. After skirmishes and devastation of the countryside, a siege begins at the City of Mages. This lasts eleven years and ends when the Emperor, who is already wed to a Sirdehaar witch, weds an Alayan princess and names her Empress. Half of the army is comprised of Sirdehaar tribesmen, and these quit in disgust for home. As they have earned very little booty in the campaign, many groups detour through Hugaar itself, sacking at least a dozen minor cities.

With the marriage, the Emperor founds the '''Empire of the Twinned Stars'''.

==YP 350-462 Twin Star Empire==
The Empire now has two centres, Pasin and Hugaar in the west, and the City of Mages in the east. For a time, his works well, but a rivalry steadily grows. The Empire neither expands nor declines. In the west, the Sirdehaar tribes send much more modest forces to guard the borders from the Visters, or cease to deal with Imperial representatives in any form. Vister raids increase. To the east, the sea represents a natural barrier to expansion and citizens turn their throughts to more peaceful pursuits such as agriculture and the arts. 

A number of religious issues also threaten to divide the Empire. The comparative religious freedom is taken too far by some and the Church, based in Hugaar, grows ever less tolerant. In remote regions, heresies are preached, while in the major population centres, cults become fashionable, even among more notable families.

On the eastern seaboard, a federation of city states is created around Saphet. For the next century, the '''Sapethian Alliance''' frequently switches allegiance from Sirdehaar to Hugaar.

==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.

=YP 498 Whither the Empire? Prophecies and the End of the World=

It is 150 years since the Empire of Hugaar, Pashnaar and Sirdehaar joined with Alaya, a move which threatened its very integrity. Doomsayers then said that the Empire was losing its way.

Thirty years ago, this seemed to be coming true. The Empire was stagnating but

''It is the 498th Year of Pasin. The attentions of Emperor Rhamnus II are in the south and east, with tales of wars to come against the Saurians and of new lands to conquer. At home, priests and scholars vigorously discuss their interpretatons of ancient texts, while the last two years have seen barbarian incursions from the west. New creeds and cults arise. An ancient prophecy is remembered: “Huth will rise and fall thrice, then the Worm and the Devil will fight for the World. The Pale Man will show the future in Silver and Gold.”'' Interpretations abound.

=Imperial Line=

*Hatha
*Huth
*Umer
*...
*Tullis I
*...
*Leo III d.496 m.Pacine (of Alaya)
*Rhamnus II 496- m.Dava (of Sird)
@@ Line 158: / Line 158: @@
 =YP 498 Whither the Empire? Prophecies and the End of the World=
-''It is 150 years since the Empire of Hugaar, Pashnaar and Sirdehaar joined with Alaya, a move which threatened its very integrity. Doomsayers then said that the Empire was losing its way.''
+It is 150 years since the Empire of Hugaar, Pashnaar and Sirdehaar joined with Alaya, a move which threatened its very integrity. Doomsayers then said that the Empire was losing its way.
-''Thirty years ago, this seemed to be coming true. The Empire was stagnating, yet Leo III defiantly took its armies across the sea, returning with new lands and unrivalled wealth. The Empire had fatally overeached itself, many said, the Rendwall had breen breached and the consequences would be grave.''
+Thirty years ago, this seemed to be coming true. The Empire was stagnating but
-''It is now two years since Leo was assassinated. His son Rhamnus has wed himself to Sirdehaar, in a bold return to the old ways. Optimists see this as an attempt to appease the northern allies and conservative factions in Hugaar; a snub to Alaya. But skeptics say this are more surprises to come.''
+''It is the 498th Year of Pasin. The attentions of Emperor Rhamnus II are in the south and east, with tales of wars to come against the Saurians and of new lands to conquer. At home, priests and scholars vigorously discuss their interpretatons of ancient texts, while the last two years have seen barbarian incursions from the west. New creeds and cults arise. An ancient prophecy is remembered: “Huth will rise and fall thrice, then the Worm and the Devil will fight for the World. The Pale Man will show the future in Silver and Gold.”'' Interpretations abound.
-''Meanwhile, the Church is in turmoil. Sacred art has always been a feature of Sturian worship. Leo III, however, decreed that images of the gods and saints should be destroyed. This edict has not been universally obeyed, least of all in a remote abbey on the Tegayet Plateau.''
-''The winter has been harsh but the air now is crisp with the promise of spring. As the first snows melt, a band of travellers arrives at the Abbey of St. Alcuin, begging refuge. Declaring that they are pilgrims on their way to the Heartstone, they cannot be refused entry and shelter. But nothing about these travellers says pilgrim. The old saying is remembered, "When the spring snows melt, Death comes knocking".''
-'''It is the 498th Year of Pasin. The attentions of Emperor Rhamnus II are in the south and east, with tales of wars to come against the Saurians and of new lands to conquer. At home, priests and scholars vigorously discuss their interpretatons of ancient texts, while the last two years have seen barbarian incursions from the west. New creeds and cults arise. An ancient prophecy is remembered: “Huth will rise and fall thrice, then the Worm and the Devil will fight for the World. The Pale Man will show the future in Silver and Gold.”'''
-'''Interpretations abound.'''
 =Imperial Line=