Game Events For 1997

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#C0C0C0" LINK="#FFFF00" VLINK="#808080"> <TABLE WIDTH="400" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><IMG SRC="../../images/mhb1.jpg" ALT="Magic Horizons Title Graphic" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="398" HEIGHT="162"></P> <H2>Origins of the Pragmatic Empire</H2> <P>The Pragmatic Empire (PE) is the direct descendant of a band of two thousand humans who, fleeing the Purple Wars in 638, left the Verslans to colonize the fertile valley of the Flumen Serpentis on the Polyps Peninsula. There they founded the free city of Testudopolis on the limestone bluffs overlooking the fertile Serpentis Delta, and accepted Lepidus as their Duke. Fed by a continuous stream of adventurers, refugees, and fugitives, Testudopolis grew rapidly. Quarreling with, and soon defeating the Scar Face Orc tribe, the Testudopolites carved out a duchy comprising the river delta and the banks of the Serpentis to the Montes Negres, where they founded Tachyopolis as a trading post with the dwarves. The humans continued to expand, defeating the Bloody Club orcs at the battle of Three Squares, and the Stone Ax orcs at the battle of Burning Sedge. While orc raids on outposts would continue to be a problem, orcs would not pose a serious threat to the nascent human kingdom for another one hundred years, when the combined orc tribes were decisively defeated at the River Sangr. </P> <P>The success of Testudopolis led to other coastal settlements where the land was fertile and a bay provided a good natural harbor, notably Ord in 667, Wassen in 668, Nand in 679, and Kinsho in 682. While piracy was still a major problem, and up to one third of all individual ships sailing to the Polyps were pillaged and sunk, large colony fleets were usually too formidable for individual pirate ships, while larger pirate fleets usually accepted payment for 'escort and protection'. By 700, several cities had been founded inland, including Enli and Ziln which were founded by settlers from Testudopolis. The founding of these cities led to the concurrent founding of two of the empires most enduring institutions, the Cortes and the Common Council, which were initially instituted as financial and political councils to the Duke. The human population continued to grow, numbering over forty thousand by 700. Most still lived in fortified settlements, but a significant number now lived in the open around Testudopolis.</P> <P>By 750, the population of Polyps had grown to almost one hundred thousand, as the pirates were briefly swept from the ocean by a vigorous Verslan duke, allowing immigrants to pour into the new lands. Leto Aemelius I "The Borrower", Grand Duke of Testudopolis, as he now styled himself, claimed the west bank of the Flumen Serpentis, and all the land east of the great river to the Ferrum Colli. Most of this land was inhabited only by orc tribes, though human traders, trappers, and hunters tramped through it on a regular basis. He also attempted to assert more control over the affairs of Testudopolis's colony cities, Tachyopolis, Enli, and Ziln. Two major obstacles faced him.</P> <P>The first was a growing desire for more independence in the three cities. Tachyopolis was growing rich from the Dwarven trade, and saw little need to support Testudopolis. Enli and Ziln had little lust for new conquests; they were busy enough holding what they had against goblin and orc raids. Additionally, Enli, having finally established trade with Wassen down the Flumen Ixodes, wanted to establish a military presence along the river and a fort on Lake Ixodes which Leto felt was unnecessary given the relatively low volume of travel and the paucity of his military assets.</P> <P>Secondly, orcs were becoming a greater threat. The growing human settlements in the east were pushing the orc tribes west into the lands claimed by Testudopolis. While some orcs settled peacefully in human lands, and occasionally even intermarried, most quarreled with and raided any human or orc settlement with in walking distance, forcing Leto to deploy many of his regiments in isolated border outposts, where they offered little security at great cost. Both of these problems had to be solved to cement Leto's claim to the territory.</P> <P>The end of the Purple Wars offered a solution to both of Leto's problems. The treaty of Noh in 748 led to the demobilization of many Verslan regiments. The released soldiers often had neither homes nor lands nor trades, nor even living families. Regimental pensions were quickly exhausted, and there was little honest work available for people skilled only in warfare, so impoverished veterans turned to political agitation or brigandry. When Leto offered these veterans work, food, and land in Polyps in return for five years military service, thousands flocked to his banner. Eventually almost twenty thousand veterans would join Leto at Testudopolis.</P> <P>Financing this recruitment was one of the great coups of Leto's reign, and one of the great tragedies. It cost almost half a million gold crowns to gather, equip, and feed them. The money came from four sources. First Leto looted the garnered money of over one hundred years and raised taxes throughout his duchy. This allowed him to outfit the transport fleet and begin ordering new regimental equipment. Leto pawned the jewels of Aeolus to equip two regiments, claiming that what he won with blood and held with iron could be beautified later with baubles. More money was raised in the Verslans where Leto was eventually paid two gold crowns per veteran shipped. Some veterans paid their own way. However, these were just drops in the bucket. Larger sums came from a gold mine discovered on his personal estates, but these too were soon exhausted. Leto sold most of the Testudopolis grain reserve to the dwarves, but even this did not provide enough money to transport and outfit all the veterans. Finally, he took out one quarter of a million crowns in loans, using future revenues, his ducal lands and his personal estates as collateral.</P> <P>By winter of 751, the army had been gathered, equipped, and honed to razor's keenness. The plains west of the Flumen Serpentis were rapidly sheared clean of hostile orcs. Then, leaving large garrisons loyal only to him in Ziln, Enli, and Tachyopolis, Leto turned east. The numerous orcs were defeated and driven further east in the campaigns of 753 and 754. Finally, the combined orc tribes made a desperate last stand and were smashed at the Flumen Sangr in 755, where Grand Duke Leto personally led his army to victory. The victorious soldiers were pensioned off with large land grants, and settled in the old orcish lands. To bolster his territorial claims, Leto founded the towns of Isole, Trikkala, Pistoia, and Ferrum Saxum in the east. Many of the veterans took orc brides from the decimated tribes, a practice frowned upon before this, but now tolerated. Three hundred years later, most of the population of the eastern plains would claim some orcish blood.</P> <P>Tensions were building in the west, where Ziln, Enli, and Tachyopolis now felt captive to the Grand Duke's garrisons. Though pleased by the destruction of the marauding orcs, they were dismayed by taxes levied to support the continuing war and meet the loan payments. Even the large number of veterans settled along the Flumen Ixodes and the construction of Fort Arturus did little to appease the merchants of Enli, who felt that they had been bled white to support an unnecessary war in the east. The founding of Nova Aeolus on the Flumen Aeolus was the final straw. Tariff dispensations to the veterans settled in the new city ensured, the Enlites thought, that the merchants of Nova Aeolus would soon dominate the quickening Wassen trade.</P> <P>Grand Duke Leto Aemelius I died in 782 after reigning 35 years, believing he had realized all his ambitions. The orc tribes were tamed, his cities were prosperous, and his citizens seemed happy. Little did he realize that the ascension of his son would touch off the financial crisis of 785, a crisis of his making that would almost destroy his fledgling kingdom.</P> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD><A><IMG SRC="../../images/left_h.jpg" ALT="Left End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="32" HEIGHT="116"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../info/info_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/info_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Logistics]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="45" HEIGHT="116" NAME="info"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../game_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/game_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Game Info]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="60" HEIGHT="116" NAME="game"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../misc/misc_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/misc_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Miscellaneous Information]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="62" HEIGHT="116" NAME="misc"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../faq.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/faq_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Frequently Asked Questions]" BORDER="0" WIDTH="58" HEIGHT="116" NAME="faq"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../new.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/new_h_n.jpg" ALT="[What's New]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="52" HEIGHT="116" NAME="whatsNew"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../../index.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../../images/home_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Magic Horizons Home Page]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="59" HEIGHT="116" NAME="home"></A></TD> <TD><IMG SRC="../../images/right_h.jpg" ALT="Right End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="22" HEIGHT="116"></TD></TR></TABLE> <P>Problems with the page? 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