Latinium, a continent that spans from the distant shores of the Friscian coast to the east to the unforgiving Kaspian deserts to the west. It is a land of many people of many different beliefs. Of course when there are such vast differences among so many men, the seeds of strife would be laid by the misfortunes of people. Either by religious beliefs, hunger for land, greed for gold, or by simple revenge to name a few, Latinium from it's earliest days have been filed with war. Those who live in this lands are all but accustomed to war. Although now, the flames of war rage brighter and fiercer than ever before. To know why Latinium is in such dire times, one must study its history.
Not so long ago, all of Latinium was under one rule and under one guidance. This power that controlled the massive continent was the Marian empire. To think of it, if one would look back at its earliest history, you would laugh when told that the small city-state of Marr would control the entire land. During its earliest days, the small city-state was ruled by kings governed by his advisers. The kings or in their language of Vulgares, rexes, would oversee any all of the matters of his kingdom like any king should. A council of the village elders, known as the senatus, would advise and guide him on his actions.
One such king however, Grabanos Rex, would always dismiss the wise words of his council. When Marr was challenged by a rival city-state to the north, Grabanos lead his army to a costly war with a bloody victory. The lives of many men could have been saved if he took the advise of his council, but his pride would always win his mind. Soon he became a tyrant to his people and as with the fate of all tyrants, he's people chased him and his family out of Marr. With no rulers, Marr was vulnerable to other powers who looked for new lands. The much stronger Sistric city-states to the east and the merchant Carthus kingdom to the west viewed Marr as small and weak and ripe for the taking. The village elders quickly formed a council that would lead Marian against her enemies. No one man would rule the glorious city. This senate would be formed by two head Magisratis and the counsul. The counsul would be the head of the body of the senate while the two Magisratis would lead the senate. Through this, Marr became invisible under the senate's rule. They defeated their enemies on the main island, expanded into the main lands and defeated both the Sistric city-states and Carthus. For 500 hundred years, the senate governed Marr until however, Cladius Julius Maximus decided to rebel against it.
Caldius Julius Maximus was himself a bright consul and a brilliant Legatus, a general in Vulgares. The two Magistrates of the time, Sirius Sulla and Amerius Saxus, knew all too well of his talents and sent him north so that he may be as far away from the senate as possible. Sulla and Saxus knew that they might be replaced by this young, charismatic counsul if they allowed him in Marr. After defeating the barbarians he was tasked to deal with, Maximus headed back to Marr with his legion. Sulla and Saxus saw this as a threat and branded Maximus as an enemy of the state. Maximus however gained the thrust of the people and ousted Sulla and Saxus as Magistrates. Maximus then named himself sole Magistrates, much to the senate's disliking. After just months of taking power, Maximus was assasinated by the counsuls outside of the senate's forum. This led to a civil war which resulted in a battle that was won by Maximus' adopted son, Marcelus, and Maximus' most trusted general, Legate Markus Antonius. With the support of the people, Marcelus crowned himself emperor and took his father's name, Maximus, as title of his new found power. The senate was stripped of all power but was kept as a puppet of the emperor. The Marian empire was forged. Whatever lands the senate had not conquered, the Marcelus Maximus would quickly grab. It wasn't until his grandson, Latinus Maximus, was all of Latinuim held by Marr. This heralded peace across the land and where ever trouble arose, the empire's legions would squash them without mercy. For 2,000 years, the empire ruled bringing prosperity to every corner of its rule.
However in recent years, the enemies of the empire grew in strength and numbers. The four northern tribes that the empire was never fully able to subdue, the Albranni, the Roth, the Ollexia and the Fisti rebelled against the empire. At this point, the empire was separated in two but acted and was always seen as one. The western empire would provide the legions to enforce order while the east was the center of trade and flowed with much wealth. Both empires however, suffered severely from internal struggles with the west suffering more than the east. Years of internal war has left the west open for an attack. The tribes decided to work together to bring down the west while it was still weak. Soon they gathered victory after victory for themselves. More and more tribes joined their fray as the west began to fall more and more. The final blow was dealt when the four tribes along with their other allies, lay siege and sacked the holy city of Marianium, the city of Marr. The last western and true Maric emperor, Titus Diminitus III, was killed in his throne room and the city was raised to the ground. Anything that has no worth to the rampaging barbarians hordes were burned and countless Marians were slaughtered. This marked the fall of the Marian empire as the sole dominant power in the land and opened new opportunities to those who would grab it.
With the west lost to ravenous, barbaric tribes, the eastern empire was left alone to fight its rival, the Seluccii empire. Their war was that of religious matters. The Seluccii empire emerged five hundred years ago when it felt that the eastern empire had gone soft from its false sense of security. Soon, city after city revolted against the empire in the harsh Kaspian desert. The west sent its best legions to fight this new enemy. This legions however were defeated by the cavalry tactics of the Seluccii. Their heavy armor weighed them down and the unmerciful heat of the Kaspian sun baked them inside their steel coffins. The empire was then forced to adopt a new strategy. The old heavy armor replaced with lighter chain mail and their heavy shields were also discarded in favor of lighten, circular wooden shields. The iconic Legionare's short sword was kept but their spears were now more favored in battle. The empires fought a long and vicious war that would drain most of their coffers. Then, the barbarian revolts in the west begun. One after another, the cities of the western empire were looted and destroyed and countless legions were slaughtered. When Maranium itself fell, the east was left to defend itself. Those victorious tribes left the east alone, licking their wounds and resting. The east was quick to react. It finally removed its senate, mustered more armies and posted defenses along it's western border. The Eastern empire may stand alone now, but it is still a mighty empire to reckon with.
But now, a greater threat lies to the south. Where once the Seluccii empire ruled, a new foe has emerged. The sons of the prophet Dellia have been spreading their faith across the Kaspian sands. The rulers of the Seluccii empire witnessed a revolt as large as the one they have caused all those years before. Like the governors of Marr that they have ousted long ago, they themselves are being removed from power. The religion of Dellianism is spread rapidly through Kaspia, making for a new threat to the Sistrine empire.
Khristianity, a religion founded by the holy twin brothers of Hesus and Semion Khrist. The twin brothers were born at the time of the empire's height, Pax Marianium. It was only a few years after Latinus united the entire continent under Maric rule. Peace was prevalent across the land and trade between people were strong and plentiful. In a small town south of Barcellem, two young, twin boys were born to a virgin mother. They were believed to divine by their people, the Dyews. The Dyewish people have always looked for their chosen leader who would lead them back to their promised lands. As the twins would do miraculous acts, helping those in need. A large Dyuwish following made them popular in the Kaspian deserts and was seen as a threat by the empire. As they matured, they spread forth the word of their God. They taught of peace and love for one another and that their father, The Dyuwish God would accept all who would repent. Governor Littius Pillates ordered the arrest of the two brothers and had them crucified under the charge that they were inciting a revolt among the Dyuwish people. The twin brother's most trusted 12 disciples and their most loyal followers spread the word of their divinity. Soon it gained popularity with the slaves of the empire. Then famous scholars, historians and scribes converted to this new faith.This small obscure religion from the fringes of the empire became the religion of the populous and under increasing pressure from the masses, became the official religion of the empire.
During the Eastern empire's war with the Selucciis, each tried to convert the other into their religion. Kristianity was not just a faith but a tool of conquest. For 500 years, the Kristian Eastern empire and the Soroster Seluccii empire were on a stalemate with each other until the rise of the Dellanian faith.
As the Kristian Eastern Marian empire and the Soroster Seluccii empire were pitted in war, a new religion was beginning to spread in the Kaspian deserts. The prophet Dellia began spreading his new teachings to the weary people of Barcellem, who were tired of war. Some of his teachings state that the Khrist twins were merly the prophets of the all powerful, that the drinking of alcohol is a sin and the conversion of the unwilling was also a sin. His words became popular with the Kaspian people. The Soroster emperors, too busy with their war to the north, failed to notice the spread of this new religion. The cities in the Kaspian deserts revolted against their Seluccii masters and drove them off into the sands.
A caliphate was born, ruled by the sons of the prophet Dellia. Their leader, Arrib Bhakkar, the eldest son of Dellia fights the Sistrine empire who wishes to recover their lost lands. The Sistrine empire has its eyes set on the holy city of Barcellem, where the Khrist twins were crucified outside its walls. The caliphate would not stand down to the empire, waging a 'jihad', a holy war against the foreign invaders.
From time before the western empire's collapse, it would rely on the good will of the tribes it held under its control for the manpower of its legions. It always had the trust of most of the tribal people and was feared by all of them, all but four. Those four were the tribes of the Roths, the Fisti, the Ollexia and the Albranni. This four tribes would always hide in the thick northern forest were they empire's legions would dare not enter. In this forest, they would ambush passing patrols and fight off each other and other tribes. As their people were always hunted by the empire, they became nomadic and had no permanent settlement. They would always keep their distance from the main legion camps and watch from afar. The western empire was not as secure as it had been before. Nobles would fight for the imperial throne. Legions commanded by loyalist of one family or another would fight each other on the fields. The struggles for the title of emperor left the west open for an attack and the four tribes that had eluded them for so long would finally strike back. The warchiefs of the four tribes decided to work together and under the Ollexian warchief, Braddin, they assaulted the empire. They scored victory after victory, starting from small bands of patrols on the imperial roadways, to winning decisive victories against the legion to sieges of imperial cities. Soon other tribes and members of the imperial auxiliary and the legion itself began to rebel against the empire. It only took 50 years until they were large enough the empire was weak enough for the tribes to siege the imperial capital of Marianium, known in the old days as Marr.
The siege lasted for a month, where the tribesmen starved the defenders inside the city before finally climbing the cities walls and breaking her gates. The last 3 legions loyal to the emperor fought a long a bloody war in the streets of the city. 15,000 legionares fought to their deaths against 50,000 tribesmen. The legionares fought valiantly but by nightfall, none of them were left alive. The emperor was slaughtered in his chambers. The Marians begged for their lives but their pleas feel upon deaf ears. Braddin ordered the victorious warriors to loot anything of value and burn the rest. He ordered any person that could not be made a slave be killed. He did however, made a strict rule that no one was to touch the church or any of the Marian clergy. Braddin and the Ollexians were devoted Khristians, converted just a few years before the siege. Marianium was then raised to the ground, except for the church and killed and enslaved and killed everyone, except for the priest.
Now the tribes have separated along with their allies. The Roths are splintered in two over disputes about religion. The Fisti has sailed far west to start a new future for themselves far from the mainland. The Ollexians stayed in Marianum, building a new holy city for themselves with the blessing of the new branch of Khristianity, Katholicism. The Albrannis ventured to their ancient tribal lands in the northwest were they seeked to create a mighty kingdom for themselves. As for the other tribes, without an iron thumb bringing them down, they are free to act on their own. A new chapter has opened for the western tribes, now begins the dark age of Latinium.
