Thyraenis Empire

The Thyraenis Empire was the first human empire to have existed in Rheya. Today, many details of how the empire came to be or how it passed through time are unknown to even the most recognised historians, and most do not even know it had existed at all.

The time in which the empire prospered and grew is commonly referred to as the second age, or Age of Man. It is the first known time that humans began to establish a proper, large civilisation under a ruler.

Remnants of the Thyraenis Empire are scattered all across Rheya, such as ruins of ancient cities and statues.

Historians have estimated that the Thyraenis Empire was first established near the end of the first age, among tribal human societies. It is speculated that the empire existed for nearly 650 years before it met its end, when the Age of Man was concluded and the empire mysteriously fell into ruin. Exactly what happened for the empire to suddenly collapse after decades of prosperity is unknown to most, as very little evidence has been found pointing towards any theory.

Founding
The empire was first founded near the end of the first age, under the rule of King Hidoa Thyraen, who would later crown himself emperor. Hidoa was previously only king of Lynnea, which was back then recognised as a country, and one of the first areas where proper civilisation had been established. In Lynnea, most people lived in villages, while a single, large city that sat near the western coast was home to the king's personal friends, most loyal followers, and his army. This city was known as Fulin.

Hidoa's kingdom was prosperous, but when he looked outside his borders he saw many of his race still living in poverty, working day and night to provide themselves with food and water, some still living in makeshift huts. Hidoa saw it as a kindness to expand his kingdom towards the south, to include more people into his civilisation and give them the same prosperity that the people of Lynnea had lived in. At the same time, he would benefit by expanding his army and following.

When Hidoa travelled south with his army to claim more land from the western people, most saw them as holy men and women that would unite the world under one ruler and begin a new age of wellbeing and safety. Some, however, saw the Lynnean army as a threat and decided to fight, though few of the small and scattered civilisations ever saw a victory against Hidoa's superior, controlled forces.

Hidoa named the new lands that were added to his kingdom "Novus Lynnea" (New Lynnea), believing that they would see the same bright future that Lynnea itself would. Hidoa also first named the combination of Lynnea and New Lynnea the Thyraenis Empire, and hoped to find more people further south to add to this empire. With the founding of New Lynnea and the Thyraenis Empire, the people declared that a new age had started, one in which mankind would unite and become an all-powerful force in the world. As such, the Age of Man began.

Early expansion
As the years went by the empire continued to expand further south under Thyraen rule, its borders eventually reaching the land that the natives had called Bogren. Bogren was inhabited by a race the humans of the empire hadn't encountered before, much shorter and nimbler than them. They spoke with the humans in a strange language (which would later become known as the common tongue). As time passed, the two races became able to communicate, and the people of Bogren claimed they came from a land far to the north, their homeland, which they knew as Elemor.

When offered to become a part of the empire, the Elemorians, however, kindly refused, wishing to stick to their old life and traditions which had always served them well in the dark forests of Bogren. Luckily for them, the emperor at the time had no intention of adding Bogren to the empire, as its people weren't fit to become soldiers and had little of value to trade. Furthermore, the land's forests were inhospitable and there was little strategic advantage to taking it.

This changed, however, when the empire's soldiers ventured east from Bogren and discovered the old human tribes of Tasmir. The forest's tribes were territorial, constantly at war with eachother, and had little sympathy for the idea of a united empire. The tribes quickly became aggressive towards the empire's heavily armoured soldiers, seeing them as evil faceless demons who had come to destroy their land. This aggression caused the empire to annex Bogren, as it was in the right position to attack Tasmir from the west, as well as from the north. The Elemorians in Bogren were displeased, having had a peaceful relationship with many of the tribes in Tasmir before. The empire's generals began using the Elemorians as spies, forcing them to turn on their past allies.

The tactical advantage of the Tasmian tribes caused the feud over the land to eventually come to a standstill. Meanwhile, Bogren became an official part of the empire, with little say from the Elemorian inhabitants. As the feud continued, many Tasmian tribes sought aid from the neighbouring country of Rugarr. The Rugarri and Tasmian people had been in an unstable relationship for most of their existence, constantly at war with eachother over territory. However, the Rugarri saw the empire's soldiers as an enemy they had in common, and chose to side with the tribes, causing further trouble for the empire.

After several more years, the military presence in Tasmir dwindled as the empire began to believe that the land had little of value, as there were other ways to reach what was beyond it. Tasmian tribes continued small-scale assaults on New Lynnea to the north as an act of revenge, but most of these attacks were dealt with with relative ease.

The Concili Haera
Not long after the feud over Tasmir had begun to settle, the current ruler of the empire, Horenis Thyraen, died, leaving his two sons and daughter with equal claim to the imperial throne, as he had never selected any one of them to succeed him before his untimely death. They established the Concili Haera (Council of Heirs), and chose to rule together as equals, although reluctantly. They rid themselves of their advisors, claiming they knew how to rule an empire by themselves. The constant infighting between the triplet, however, caused the empire's expansion to stagnate, as they were too occupied with achieving total power to worry about the lands they were supposed to rule.

It wasn't long until the citizens of the empire got word of the foul play within the Concili Haera and their uncaring nature towards the empire they themselves chose to rule. Near the end of A2Y183, Hercanil Thyraen, one of the siblings in the council, murdered his brother and sister, telling his people that they succumbed to illness. He assumed complete control over the empire and its countries, leaving the rulers below him with no power over their laws and customs and having the entirety of the empire strictly governed by the Imperial Army's generals.

Hercanil's dictatorial empire didn't last long, however, as a band of assassins known as the Sandanis Phenti soon stepped up and managed to assassinate Hercanil, being stopped only by the few remaining of the Imperial Guard that were still loyal to him.

Pyrifica's betrayal
With Hercanil dead, the leader of the Sandanis Phenti, Dun Pyrifica, betrayed the order and took the imperial throne for himself. Due to his strong ties to powerful families in Fulin and their support, he was able to gain the loyalty of the Imperial Guard and Army and have the members of the Sandanis Phenti hunted down and executed.

Dun, although his rise to power may have been fueled by mischief, ruled the empire fairly, keeping to his promise of upholding Sanda Thyraen's values, one of the siblings in the Concili Haera that the Sandanis Phenti followed loyally. Out of respect for her, and because Dun had previously grown attached to her in private, the flag of the empire, displaying the Thyraen family crest, remained as it was, as a sign of respect.

Discovery of the Sidec
Under Dun Pyrifica's rule, most of the empire faired reasonably well, though it wasn't until A2Y193, three years after Dun had taken the imperial throne, that things truly changed for the empire. In the mines of a town in the east of New Lynnea, known as Huldlirus, something very ancient was discovered. The miners had dug into a massive cavern full of foliage and subterranean trees, and at its center, a large, unknown object shaped like a scythe, seemingly made of some kind of crystal, and humming with a strange energy. The miners that first discovered it kept it a closely guarded secret for some time, believing the pure crystal that the object was made of might be worth a fortune.

As time went on, however, and the miners were thinking of a way to move the hovering artefact, some of them began mysteriously disappearing in the night. At the same time, those who had laid eyes upon the artefact began hearing whispers. They became drawn to it, and some even began to worship it. A mad cult formed in the town, made up of people who visited the artefact every day and night, praying to it, and holding ominous ceremonies. The cult named the object the 'Sidec', the imperial word for 'scythe', for its similar shape. The cult called themselves the 'Sidecus Fati', translating to 'Faith of the Scythe' in today's Traders' Tongue.

The Sidecus Fati became more extreme as time went on, and eventually, innocent citizens of the town went missing more and more often. The cult members became obedient to the whispers of the Sidec, and had begun to sacrifice the local townsfolk to the Sidec for some unknown purpose. It wasn't long before the people of Huldlirus got word to the capital, Fulin, and the news reached the ears of Dun Pyrifica. A small band of soldiers was sent out to deal with the unruly cult, along with the emperor's personal scribe, Junius Larc, who would help to find out more about the object the cult had been worshipping.