The Lords coalition and the birth of an empire:

The lord’s alliance initially blockaded Waterdeep from all sword coast trade in land or sea.
Waterdeeps strategic position was however a crutch to the lords as it made land transport
and trade between north and south much harder. During this time Rhogar focused on
rebuilding Waterdeep and ridding it of criminal organizations like the zhentarim and
xanathars guild. He enforced martial law and hundreds were prosecuted in Rhogars war on
criminality. He also massively increased the size of the army by creating a military service
program, the first of its kind. The alliance with the emerald enclave was also made official.
Both sides wanted a war. Rhogar believed his destiny was to rule the sword coast as
emperor while the lord’s alliance wanted waterdeep brought back into the fold. A large lords
alliance caravan was slaughtered by waterdeep soldiers near the dessarin river. This was
used as casus belli by the lord’s alliance to declare war on waterdeep.

The south led by Lord Zoren’s army of Baldurs gate would begin their march to waterdeep.
They would move very quickly but would however suffer heavy casualties. From the forests,
members of the emerald enclave would stalk and harass the army and deprive them of food.
Zoren’s army would lose about half of its troops before moving towards daggerford.
Unbeknownst to them the city had been captured by Rhogars army and had been preparing
for their attack. Zoren’s army which was tired, hungry and low on morale would be
slaughtered and zoren was shot down by arrows. Rhogars made the long march to Baldur’s
gate and began the siege of the great city. After only a week they capitulated. Rhogar fearing
the power of his co-general Rykard Juventus, gave him the title of lord protector of Baldur's
gate.

An armistice was signed between the northern lord’s alliance and Rhogar. Upon his return
to Waterdeep Rhogar was met as a champion and a hero. He decided this was the right time
to crown himself emperor. The sword coast empire (commonly referred to just as ‘The
Empire’) was now a reality. Both sides spent the short peace building up their armies to take
what they both believed was theirs. Rhogar also sent some smaller armies inward towards
some smaller strongholds/cities to increase the empire's control of the south. Rhogar made a
speech when the ‘Empire doctrine’ was declared. He claimed everything south of Waterdeep
and north of the cloud peaks belonged to the empire. When the former great city of Berdusk
was captured which Rhogar had once destroyed, Rhogar himself came to visit. He promised
to return the city to its former glory and decided the city would be renamed Rhogars Gate.
When Lords alliance spies were caught in Waterdeep he decided now was the time for a
sneak attack.

He sent a mostly southern army led by Juventus to Amphail with the goal of moving along
the long road and eventually capturing the rich mining city of Mirabar. He led his own army
towards the Thornhold with the goal of moving along the high road and capturing
Neverwinter. He sent orders to the Emerald enclave to send all their forces from the
neverwinter woods to siege Luskan. This was to stop Luskan troops and supplies from
coming to Neverwinter. He told the enclave to hold out during the siege and wait for Rhogars
forces to come before the assault on the city would begin. Thornhold gave up upon signs of
Rhogars army and the dwarf lords even welcomed the army as guests. During the feast
Rhogar gave the rousing speech about his dream of the united sword coast under one rule.
Rhogars greatest strength as a general was always his ability to build morale and give his
soldiers a reason to fight. “… and so that one day, all peoples of the sword coast may be
protected under one banner, free from the corruption and incompetence of the Lords
Alliance” – Rhogar, quote from ‘The Thornhold Adress’. His soldiers moved at lightning
speed and began besieging Neverwinter. Rhogar wanted a quick victory and sent orders to
Waterdeep and Baldurs gate to move their entire armadas (which had been built during the
short peace) outside Neverwinter.

Once they arrived, he sent word to Lord Nasher Alagondar and him to have peace talks.
Rhogar demanded Lord Nasher immediately sign documents agreeing to unconditional
surrender. Nasher refused. The next day massive shelling of the city began. With hundreds
dead and buildings turned to rubble, Rhogars army moved in and easily took the city as most
of the military immediately surrendered. Lord Nasher did not try to escape and instead
handed himself over and was arrested.

Upon entering the broken city, Rhogar decided another speech was necessary. “What has
happened to this city is a tragedy. A glorious city, with even greater potential. Hundreds have
died. There is only one man responsible and that is former lord Nasher Alagondar. I wish to
bring order and prosperity to this city and the entirety of the peoples of the sword coast. That
is something which the Lords Alliance is diametrically opposed to. This was so clearly
exemplified when the man who betrayed his people known as Nasher Algondar, who met
with me last night. Instead of saving the lives of your own people, you let hundreds die in
hope of keeping your worthless power, serving only yourself. Therefore, I hereby judge you a
traitor of the highest kind to the people of Neverwinter and mass murderer. I sentence you,
Nasher Alagondar, to die”. A bag was put over Nasher’s head and Rhogar himself beheaded
the Lord. His army cheered for victory. In the east Mirabar would soon fall as Juventus took
the city. Now the two armies were both moving for a joint assault on Luskan which had
already been besieged for weeks by the emerald enclave.

After hearing the fate of Neverwinter and Nasher, Luskan surrendered before any of the
empire's actual armies had arrived. In Luskan, Rhogar would sign a new order expanding
the empire doctrine. He laid claim to all land south of the spine of the world, north of the
cloud peaks and west of the frozen sea. Once more Rhogar returned to Waterdeep as a
hero. He declared peace in our time and that ultimately all peoples of the sword coast were
the true winners of the Lord’s alliance destruction. “This is only the beginning!” Rhogar
triumphantly claimed. He declared rebuilding of the sword coast would now begin.

Pax Rhogarum:

The long peace as it became known during the times of unease was a prosperous era for
the sword coast. 5 years after the peace began a man named Faelen attempted to
assassinate Rhogar during one of his visits to Neverwinter. Faelen’s family had been killed
during the bombardment of Neverwinter. He ran up to Rhogar and managed to impale him
three times with his dagger. Faelen was immediately caught and executed the same day.
When Rhogar was alone in his room he secretly called for an archdemon, Arkhon, who he
had had run-ins with, in the past. Arkhon said he wanted Rhogar on the empire's throne for
as long as possible and granted Rhogar something he called the eternal flame. He would
imbue Rhogar with it.
The rebuilding would impact every aspect of life in the sword coast. Culturally the empire
wanted to create an identity for the citizens of the empire. Everyone who lived there were
empirials and the government tried to strengthen this identity. This however also included
removing local traditions and cultures in some places. After the unsolved death of enclave
leader Fathomir, an even more pro-empire leader, Naomi took over. She made a deal with
the empire to integrate all great forests into the empire with some level of autonomy.
During the long peace the empire became incredibly rich because of multiple factors. The
city of Mirabar would become the first industrial city with thousands of people working as
miners collecting minerals and making the whole empire incredibly rich. Trade also
strengthened the empire as they now had multiple strong port cities (Luskan, Waterdeep,
Baldur's gate). They could easily move resources across the coast and then through the
empire. This was also helped by the building of infrastructure like Rhogars road. It took a
long time to build but when it was done it made travel through the empire incredibly easy. It
connected Luskan, all the way down to Baldur's Gate as well as forking and splitting off to
the inner empire areas. The empire massively built up its armada becoming one of the
strongest in all Faerun.

The only war of the long peace happened 30 or so years after the unification. Rhogar
wanted the moonshae isles ruled by Jarl Raoul Iron to open up to trade as well as pay
annual tributes to the empire. Raoul refused and so the massive armada moved to the
archipelago. Only one sea battle happened, and the island's entire fleet was destroyed. The
commander of the armada Horatio Nellsworth was given the highest title one could be
bestowed in the empire of true imperial. After this Raoul had no choice but to surrender and
signed the ‘unequal treaty’ as the islanders referred to it, which included all the previous
demands as well as allowing the empire to put heavy tariffs on their trade while not allowing
the islands to put any tariffs on their own exports to the empire. The emperor was also
granted the right to hand pick the jarl of the moonshae isles upon succession and their
military was heavily reduced. An invention, local to the islands known as gunpowder, was
now being exported at a very low price. This led to the imperial army using blunt weapons
less and less as flintlocks, blunderbusses and artillery being invented and used more
commonly.

Politically Rhogar was an autocrat however he did have his council who he would call on
once a month and in case of emergencies. There were five seats. One for the lord regent of
baldur's gate, a Juventus (after Rykard Juventus death in a hunting accident the title of lord
regent of baldurs gate would become hereditary in his family meaning a Juventus would
always have a seat on the council). The second seat was for the head of the emerald
enclave who ruled the great forests. The third seat was for head of the army which is a title
Rhogar had given to himself for life. The final seat was for archpriest of the empirial church.
The church would morph under Rhogars rule. Rhogar himself due to his ‘heroic’ deeds and
unnaturally long life for a dragonborn was given the title of Rhogar the Eternal as well as
patron saint of the empire. The church also strengthened his position as leader in the eyes of
the people. They also formed the inquisition. A group of witch hunters who search for
heretics in the big cities as well as the smaller villages to stop any heresy. This includes any
sign of criticism of the empire and Rhogar as he has ascended to holy status. The Archpriest
is hand picked by Rhogar and the Archpriest picks someone who will become head of the
inquisition. The head of the inquisition title is usually given to people who have proven their
ruthlessness and brutality towards the heretical.
The long peace is a time of very early industrialization and beginning of early technology and
machines. Mirabar is one of the most industrialized places due to the mining resources. The
head of the enclave agrees to allow the chopping of trees which most of the other people in
the organization don’t like. The empire needs the trees as a source of fuel and construction
with the population increase in the empire. Luskan becomes rich from the hunt of Whales
which is their primary commodity. More specifically whale oil which is used to power most of
these machines. Baldur's gate and Waterdeep both become centers for factories in textile
and other materials.

The Cormyr affair:

Cormyr a bordering kingdom to the empire and held friendly relations, had been for years
fighting a bloody civil war between the crown vs anti-monarchist rebels. These rebels were
led by a man known as Aid ‘Mage Slayer’. He garnered the nickname after slaying the
archmage of cormyr who was immensely powerful. After many years Aid’s rebels won and
executed the royal family. The empire had publicly supported Cormyrs monarchy as well as
sending monetary support and military volunteers and attachés to aid the royal army of
cormyr. This left relations between the empire and the new revolutionary Cormyr in a bad
position but it worsened. Rhogar and the rest of the imperial leadership supported extremist
reactionary organizations within Cormyr by sending weapons and money to them. This was
done through a scheme where different imperial nobles started charities for the peasants of
cormyr but were actually a cover for the smuggling of weapons and gold to the new
reactionary rebels. When this plot was exposed Cormyr demanded huge compensation for
the damage the reactionaries had caused. The Empire would not give in. Cormyr knew that
they would not stand a chance in a war with the Empire, especially since they were still
recovering from the bloody civil war. The cormyrian government decided however to close all
trade and cease all diplomatic relations with the empire.

The times of unease:

200 years after Rhogars coup and once more ‘Dignity Day’ is celebrated. The anniversary of
Rhogars coup. For the first time ever Rhogar would not make his annual speech. Instead
Archpriest Baelen gave the speech. This was shocking to the empire. Rhogar was
essentially the central force behind the Empire and people for a long time had speculated
that after his death the empire would dissolve. When news of this spread down south, lord
regent Rykard V Juventus saw an opportunity. He suspected that Rhogar was dead and
since Rykard I was such a close ally to Rhogar this could be an opportunity to claim the
Empire whole.

Trouble had been brewing elsewhere. ‘The Order of Destruction’ , a successor organization
to the harpers (who had essentially been wiped out) were making big plans. Their popular
leader Jessawyn had been captured and hanged however, his successor, Radagon the
Apostle was even more popular. When the order was created they had one goal and that
was to create the circumstances required for the destruction of the scourge known as
empire. Radagon had staged multiple attacks against the empire and its leaders as well as
quadrupling the order's member count. They began using asymmetrical warfare in their
‘great freedom war’ as the order members called it. They were also behind organizing the
great miners strike in Mirabar which started on dignity day.
 The miners stopped working and tried to barricade Mirabar. Fighting broke out between
workers and Empire soldiers/city watch. A lot of the empire’s soldiers were locals and
couldn’t bear killing their own. This led to a large number of soldiers joining the miners and
the miners getting arms as military armories were raided. The first three days ended in a
success for the workers as Mirabar was now de facto under their control and the Empire had
no influence. The Empire’s forces had retreated and were waiting for reinforcements.
Mirabar was a vital city for the Empire's economy. The archpriest would send a small force to
Mirabar but they would fail as their force was much smaller than the mirabar bastion and had
lower morale. It ended in a bloodbath for the empire as well as a humiliating defeat. Many
generals would call for a direct intervention of the emperor himself to show his might and
crush the miners. The call was not answered.

During the dignity day speech the archpriest showed a document signed by Rhogar which
would declare the archpriest emperor regent. The archpriest claimed that Rhogar had
become sick and that he would rule in his place temporarily until Rhogar recovered. Rykard
V was infuriated and decided now was time to strike. He declared the Archpriest a false
leader and due to the Juventus family's long history with Rhogar that he was now the true
emperor. He would also say that Rhogar had been captured by the Archpriest and that the
Archpriest had put Rhogar under a demonic spell. The civil war had now broken out and the
fate of the Empire was up in the air.

The Jarl of the Island’s decided to stop paying tribute to the empire as well as confiscating
any Empire trader ships. To stop any Empire retaliation he sent the Island’s armada (which
had been built in secret) to Luskan to destroy any docked army ships. The archpriest signed
an immediate peace treaty with the Islands. The treaty made the islands fully independent
from the Empire. Rykard V declared the treaty illegitimate as only the true Emperor could
sign such a treaty. To better his odds the archpriest made an alliance with the islands as he
had their best interests in mind.