The Ancient World

Before the modern day, much of the world was ruled by the Argent Imperium. The
Argentines were originally a vassal state to an earlier empire, the Midian Empire, but
the man that would eventually become their first king the warlord Lanaeus led an
uprising that overthrew the Midians and made the Argentines the most powerful
nation in the known world.
Lanaeus consolidated power, established a code of laws (the Argent Code), formed
the first true army of its time, and marched on the various neighboring states. He first
sent emissaries who asked for capitulation and acceptance of the new order. Those
that submitted remained much as they had been, merely under the rule of a new king
of kings. Those that declined were invaded and subjugated, their men killed, their sons
castrated and sent to serve the Empire as eunuchs, the wives and daughters
enslaved, and their infants hurled from cliffs or into the sea.
Over the next 40 years, the Argent Empire grew, adding over a dozen neighboring
city-states to the greater empire. Each of the new territories were either left largely to
their own devices (if they welcomed the invaders) or given an imperial governor and
occupied by Argentine troops. Through their acquisitions, the Argent Empire increased
its wealth, expanded its borders, and grew its army.
When Lanaeus died at nearly 70 years, his eldest son, Arias, ascended to the throne.
A warrior like his father, Arias led expeditions even further out, adding even more
territory to his empire. With his brothers and brothers-in-law leading his armies and
governing his lands, Arias focused almost completely on both increasing his holdings
and suppressing rebellion. Whenever a territory rose up in revolt, Arias would personally
lead his forces in and retake the rebellious lands, then torture and execute the leaders
in as gruesome a fashion as possible.
Arias, a warrior true, fell in battle on the tenth anniversary of his ascension to the throne,
struck down by an enemys spear. During his reign, the Argent Imperium expanded
westward, extending its reach and adding three new provinces (two through
capitulation, one through conquest).
Arias younger brother, Mestis, claimed the mantle of leadership. Less a warrior than
an administrator, Mestis was despised by the military for his proposed reductions in
funding and in the size of the imperial armies. He was opposed and shortly thereafter
deposed (and disposed of) by Arias most trusted general and brother-in-law,
Iapetus.
Iapetus accused Mestis of sorcery and dealings with profane spirits, then killed him in
a six-man coup involving his own friends, brother and brothers-in-law. Iapetus took the
throne a mere 40 days after Arias death and Mestis ascension.
Like his more martial predecessors, Iapetus expanded the Empire, but south and
eastward rather than further to the west. Iapetus and his forces encountered another
empire, smaller than his own but still wealthy and powerful. In a war that lasted five
years, the Argent Imperium gradually wore their adversary down, forcing a lopsided
armistice and claiming lordship over its vast holdings, including its powerful navy.
By the time Iapetus finally secured the Imperium and its borders, it was nearly ten times
its original size, stretching from the east coast to the west, and from the northern wastes
to the great southern deserts.
Unfortunately, with Iapetus death ten years later, the Argent Imperium passed its
prime and began a decades-long decline with one subpar leader after another. By
the tenth decade after its formation, the Argent Imperium was fractured and
factionalized. Provinces broke away or broke apart, and the Imperial military was
simply unable to contain the numerous revolts. Over the next decade the Argent
Imperium disintegrated, with its borderlands invaded and conquered by barbarians
or local warlords and their loyal soldiers.
The capitol of the Argent Imperium Argenteum became a powerful but
increasingly isolated city-state, nearly all its former holdings lost. It remains the seat of
power not only for the shrunken empire, but also for the Holy Church of Argenteum,
the primary monotheistic human religion in the land. Indeed, the Bishop of Argenteum
the first among equals of the Churchs Council of Bishops holds more financial
and military power than the Emperor himself.