====Asterian Empire====
{{ :wiki:asterian_empire.jpg?600 |}}

===Overview===
The Asterian Empire is one of the great powers in Lunistria, occupying a vast, fertile territory bounded on the west by the ocean, the south by the [[Altan-Shan Mountains]], the east by the [[Kring Plains]], and to the north by the hill regions of the [[Elven Principalities]].  The Empire enjoys a climate similar to the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and is largely defined by the Aster River, which runs east to west for nearly two thousand miles.  The [[dan river|Dan]] and [[Aldenrod river]] basins, north and south of the Aster's, are no less prosperous.

===History===
The story of the Empire begins with the Kingdom of Asteria, right before the end of the Degenerate Era.  Blessed with prime real estate, an intelligent ruler, and a competently organized military, the kingdom quickly expanded past the city-state stage, and forged fairly lucrative alliances with it's neighboring fiefdoms.

Then, in the early years of the Imperial Era, the Warlord Draacht began to expand his territory in Asteria's direction.  The alliance turned to [[King Douje I]] to lead them, and after a decade of warfare, Draacht was no more, and Douje was crowned Emperor.

With speed equal to that of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan, Douje claimed nearly the entire Aster river valley before his death.  His son, Douje II, spent a dozen years contending with the Capitaine of Aldenrod before that region fell to imperial rule.  It wouldn't be until IE 190 when [[Gondor the Magnificent]] slew the [[d|Greater Dragon]] [[Aragan Wyrmking]] that the priest-kings of Dan would sign on.  Technically, they offered the crown and the hand of the princess to Gondor: he kept the girl, and turned the crown over to Empress [[Isla I]].  (Possibly to keep Isla from trying to marry him herself!)

(Insert nine hundred years of internal and international political complexity here.)

Around IE 1100, Emperor [[Eso]] I, fed up with his nobility, and frankly a lazy man himself, began the process of giving more and more power to the bureaucracy.  This is considered the beginning of the Empire's current slide into degeneracy and collapse.  The Grand Ducal houses appear to be pushing back against the bureaucracy, but it is entirely possible that they are only making things worse.

===Economy===
The Empire is huge, and has immense resources in agricultural, mineral, and cultural products.  While a notable fraction of this wealth is drained off by the expected corruption, the bulk of the populace still lives prosperous lives, largely due to the Farmer Bobb effect.

Commercially, the great rivers (Aster, Dan, Aldenrod) are the core of Ateria's mercantile success.  Most trade roads lead perpendicularly to (or from) these watercourses.

===Regions===
  *[[Aldenrod River]]
  *[[Central Asteria]]
  *[[Dan River]]
  *[[Far-Eastern Asteria]]
  *[[North-Eastern Asteria]]
  *[[Southern Highland Region]]

===Locations of Note===
  *[[Last Holy Site: War]]
  *[[Lost Brothers Mountains]]
  *[[Pillar of Luminar]]

===Titular Rankings===
The ranks of nobles and those of the bureaucracy follow similar paths, and are of course, the source of much contention.  At present, the ministerial ranks have not yet been fleshed out.  Ecclesiastical rankings are even more complicated, as far too frequently the individual temples have their own internal ranking systems.
  *Emperor/Empress: Supreme authority, when they choose to use it.  Not entirely immune to the repercussion of __using__ said authority, which is where dynastic change comes in
  *Grand Duke: Four of them, representing the Great Houses: Rival, Sorland, Phelan, Doujin.  They have the empire divided up evenly, though by no means contiguously.
  *High Ministers: Generally equal to Grand Dukes, though some ministers are more equal than others.  Taxation outranks Public Works, for example.
  *Duke/Dutchess: Highest ranking noble in a given provincial region.  Usually.
  *Minister: Highest bureaucratic rank found in a major city and the surrounding region.
  *High Priest: 90% of the time, the top ranking priest in a temple in a major city.
  *Earl: Reserved title for the ruler of a major city.
  *Count/Countess: In charge of an area equal to a county in an eastern state in the US (~900-2500 square miles)
  *Baron: You have a town, and maybe a few outlying villages.  Or several urban blocks.  City-based nobility is complicated.
  *Baronet: Bottom tier nobility, but has a title.  Usually handed to commoners who please an Earl or higher in a civic sense.  Outright purchase is no longer an option, due to Ministerial oversight.
  *Viscount: Bottom tier nobility, but has a title.  Generally offered to a commoner who fought heroically for the Empire, where someone with Rank was watching.
  *Knight:  It's a title, but not inheritable.  Barons on up provide this title to someone who needs to exercise authority in their name.  There are also religious orders of knighthood, which just complicates things.
  *Gentry: Non-titled upper-class types with a pedigree.  Usually cranky about Baronets, Viscounts, and adventurers. 

===NPCs of Note===
  *Aragan Wyrmking: The only Greater Dragon known to have been killed in the Imperial Era.  His final decades had him functioming as the God-King of the Dan River region, until Gondor had at him with That Sword.
  *Douje: First Emperor, conqueror of the Aster river basin.  Put Warlord Draacht into his grave.
  *Draact: Historical warlord.  Published a well written book on running a totalitarian state.  Failed to conquer the Kinddom of Asteria.
  *Eso I: Twelfth century emperor.  Lazy, and fed up with his nobles: he is responsible for the empowerment of the bureaucracy.
  *Gondor the Magnificent: the greatest hero of the Imperial Era.  Saved the empire several times, killed a greater dragon, married a princess, sired gods-only-know how many children.
  *Isla I: Empress in the second century, beneficiary of the exploits of Gondor the Magnificent.  Probably one of his lovers.
  *Tarma: First Empress, Douge's first wife.  Oddly better respected in folklore than her husband.  She has a temple in the south-central empire.