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Message: <blockquote data-quote="apocalypstick" data-source="post: 1034612" data-attributes="member: 12356">The Kylearian Empire: An OverviewThe Kylearian EmpireThe Kylearian Empire is defined by three things: a corrupt and unwieldy bureaucracy, ruthless enforcement of draconian laws, and an overbearing military strength that keeps its citizens subdued and nervous. The rich histories and civilizations of those who once dwelt upon the Known World, from the “savage” Fenrin hunter-tribes to the wise and studious Pendarin, have been all but lost. Beneath the thumb of the Emperor, the Known World has become a bland cultural hegemony; One World, One People, One Law.The Emperor is a figure of awe and mystery, a name with no face, an immortal being whom few have ever seen or spoken to. He exerts his control over the Known World through his many layers of officers and magistrates, who in turn control the soldiers and courts, who in their turn control the populace at large. This is, however, a gross simplification of the Kylearian Empire. Even to those who work within its ranks, the Empire is a confusing tangle of status and offices, a bureaucratic nightmare that even its highest-placed officials often cannot make sense of. The only thing that most Imperial officers are certain of is who they answer to.Noble families hold the power within the Empire, but those families are often supplanted by others who wish to advance within its ranks. Treachery, seduction, and assassinations are the most common tools used by Imperial Nobility wishing to rise above their peers. Sons, brothers, daughters, wives; every member of an ambitious family takes part in the machinations of an ambitious Lord’s designs. The Empire does not frown upon such behavior. The truly ruthless rise to the top.But though the Empire is clumsy and unwieldy, it makes up for this with its unforgiving laws and strict enforcement of them. The common citizen gets the short end of the stick by far. There are few who are willing to act or speak out in defense of the persecuted for fear that they will share their inevitable fate. Often told is the tale of the farmer from Taer Enkiel who tried to hold back the tenth part of his crop from the tax-collectors so that he could feed his starving children. He was betrayed by his neighbors; soldiers came to his farm during the harvest and razed his land; when the farmer protested, both he and his family were sent to the gallows. It is telling that his neighbors simply accepted this as the way that things are done, and squabbled over his land after he was executed.The picture painted here of the Kylearian Empire is a cruel one, but is should not be said that the Empire is always intentionally cruel toward its citizenry. In fact, the great majority of those within its ranks are not evil folk, but simply struggling to survive in a system that even they can no longer make any sense of. Corruption spreads easily through the ranks as those in a position to put a stop to it choose instead to use their knowledge for blackmail, so as to gather more pawns as they continually ascend through the endless ranks of the Empire.Unfortunately for its citizens, however, the structure of the Empire is rotting from the inside out, and those who dare to stand up or speak out are ruthlessly beaten back down into their place.</blockquote>

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