The Calradian Empire is in decline. Even before the murder of the Emperor Arenicos, the once united realm was torn by political rivalries. Today, those factions are in open war. Yet Calradians endure. They are technologically more advanced than their neighbors and their mastery of engineering is not just evident in their aqueducts, beautiful architecture and massive city walls. It also makes them experts in siege warfare.

<!-- Vetranis, older patriarch was a child of a traitor, was rehabilitated by Arenicos-->

The southern third of the Empire is ruled by Rhagaea, widow of the murdered emperor. For her, politics is personal: all men want their families to inherit what they have, and if you loved Arenicos then you will support the rights of his heirs. Arenicos was indeed loved, and also there are some Calradians who believe that the endless squabbling and civil wars can only be overcome by a king, or, if necessary, by a queen.

Ira is the daughter of Rhagaea, one of the three claimants to the imperial throne, and the slain emperor Arenicos. At one point, her father appeared to be grooming her as his heir. But though she took well to military campaigns, she also displayed a wild side unbecoming of imperial dignity, carousing in taverns with other young aristocrats and even appearing in the arenas as a gladiator. She is Rhagaea's heir-apparent, but her mother makes no secret of wishing to find her a responsible consort to ensure the continuity of the dynasty.

Penton Neretzes was the son of the old emperor, Drosios Neretzes, killed at the Battle of Pendraic. Emperors' sons usually inherited the diadem, but that was custom, not law, and the Senate chose the general Arenicos instead. Most emperors would then have discretely eliminated such a potential challenger, but Arenicos took a calculated risk in the interest of imperial unity, and kept Penton alive. The Neretzes family traditionally were part of the oligarchic faction of the Empire and Penton now backs Lucon in the civil war.

"Ah, a pity. If you were a native of Calradia, I would be most interested to know about your ancestry and some particulars of your place of birth. I am collecting notes on the lineages of this land, both of the great imperial families and of our barbarian brethren. I confess I find the barbarians particularly interesting, for they have many virtues that we in the Empire have lost - a certain honesty of spirit, I should say, not our thick stew of civilized intrigues. The emperor Arenicos was very open to my ideas, and gave me leave to accompany his armies. But since this civil war began, commanders have become very wary - fearing that I may be a spy for one side or the other. I have had to spend my time in the library and not in the field, which is very discouraging to me."

After Arenicos's so-called reforms, they try to maintain an army on the cheap, letting the rich run the show out of their own pocket. No wonder the whole thing's collapsed into a bunch of squabbling factions and we're mocked by the barbarians we used to rule.

I blame Arenicos and his so-called reforms. It saved him silver, but now our armies are just blown-up lords' retinues - toadies, farmers who have no business on the battlefield, a few good men but not enough. There's no pride and no discipline. No wonder that we're squabbling among ourselves these days, being mocked by the barbarians we used to rule.

I'll tell you - what most people believe is a pack of lies. I was in the Vaegir guard in the time of Arenicos. We took our discipline seriously; we were proud of it. Then the riots happened. What I saw in {IMPERIALCAPITAL}.. Even now it makes me feel ashamed.

I was part of the old Emperor Arenicos's Vaegir Guard. But the people turned on us after his death, and attacked us. Maybe you've heard the story before. There's a whole lot of us, spat out into the world by the ungrateful Calradians.

The Last Legion was created after the Emperor Arenicos abolished the last of the Empire's standing armies in the wake of the battle of Pendraic, relying instead on the archons' private retinues which were significantly cheaper and better at controlling territory. The Legion is made up of men who detested this change: they loved the old army, its standards and its unit histories and its camp life, and they blame the new system for destroying the empire. But an army does not hold together unless it is paid regularly, and they take contracts from imperial and foreign lords alike.

I am fighting because the Emperor Arenicos named me, the mother of his children, as his heir, so that his daughter can become Empress in turn. The principle of inheritance - the people understand this, not the arcane rules of the Senate.

Garios: We will never have peace until there is an Emperor whom the soldiers love. What do they want? A leader who trains them hard, fights them hard, and rewards them generously. I intend to do that.
The Heavens know I loved Arenicos. I shed his blood for them. But his dream of peace with our neighbors was moonshine. You can have war on the frontiers or war at home. I prefer war on the frontiers. Let the men earn glory, gold and slaves.

Rhagaea:
I am fighting because the Emperor Arenicos named me, the mother of his children, as his heir. That is how it has been done the past 100 years. The Senate are a bunch of greedy squabbling rich old men, and there is good reason why the people no longer accept them as their masters.
I do not proclaim any lofty cause. Whoever wins this war, landlords will cheat tenants, city guards will demand bribes from merchants, warriors will rape farmers' daughters, husbands will beat wives. The plague and the flux will take more lives than all the evils of man put together.
I will strive to be a good queen. I will pursue policies that I believe to be sensible, such as persuading the Aserai and the Khuzait to accept imperial citizenship and join us rather than harass our frontiers. But I can offer no guarantee that my heir, or my heir's heir, will not be a monster.
I could marry Lucon or Gario, and save thousands of lives. But men are willing to fight for me, though it gains them nothing, for no other reason that the throne is my right. I will not betray these men.
If I win, in centuries to come, people will think back on my victory and think, "Heavens smile on those who fight for truth."

Mentor:
"Arenicos is a man of genius with one great flaw: he believes everyone understands him when he speaks. He thinks that when he talks for three hours before the Senate, the Senators have followed every word and grasp the urgency of what he says, not that they applaud because he is Emperor."

I am the daughter of the Emperor Arenicos. If I were his son, all the Senate would be tripping over their beards and walking sticks to swear allegiance to me. One day I will stand before them as empress, and they will give me their oaths." />
<!-- Men should be ruled by something greater than themselves. We cannot have a god come down and rule us, so let us have a man or woman that we treat like a god. Call him a king or an emperor, I don't care. Let her be an empress or a queen. Just stop this filthy squabbling between faction and faction and let one person rule. -->

<!-- Olypos - genuine republican -->
<!--
From the birth of our empire until only 100 years ago, the Senate chose the emperor. The Senate could remove him. Any emperor who went against the Senate was a tyrant.
We were remiss in our duty. We thought of wealth and trade, and we did not assemble as often as we should. The emperors began choosing their children and comrades to follow them, and we acquiesced.
You have seen what happened in the past 100 years: we have had some good emperors, some bad ones, and some lunatics. A strong Senate is the only reliable barrier both against tyranny.
Arenicos was a good emperor, all told. But if he indeed named Rhagaea his heir, and that is not just a lie, it shows that even the best of men may be seized by madness. The daughter of the former Padishah? How do we know she won't just serve us to her people on a plate.
People like Garios hate the Senate, calling it corrupt and that it blocks any change. He would have the army proclaim the emperor. I respect our men; I would even call them heroes. But they are easily enough swayed by a ration of free wine and a good speech. Letting them choose the emperor is the rule of the mob.

The Heavens know I loved Arenicos. I shed my blood for him. But his dream of peace with our neighbors was moonshine. You can have war on the frontiers or war at home. I prefer war on the frontiers. Let the men earn glory, gold, and tales to tell their grandchildren.

Stories about Old Emperor Neretzes during the Battle of Pendraic which mentions Arenicos:

"Yes. I was a junior officer on Neretzes' staff. People say much about the battle that betrays a lack of understanding, of Neretzes and of the circumstances he faced. Neretzes has an obligation to avenge the Battanian attacks on our land. He marched out with all the forces he could gather. The Vlandians betrayed us, but that's what you can expect from honorless barbarians. Fortune favored the enemy. What matters is that we did what honor required. Perhaps Neretzes was rash sending our infantry up into the hills to storm the Battanian fort. But he thought he thought he could grab the pass quickly, before the enemy had time to reinforce it. If he had made the other wager and that turned out to be wrong, people would say he was hesitant. I stayed with Neretzes until we were forced back to our camp by Sturgian infantry, and then fought on the battlements. Eventually we could hold them no longer. I did not see what happened to Neretzes or our banner. Arenicos got us out of there, and got us home. I did not respect Arenicos before, but that day I saw he was worthy to be Emperor."

"Of course. I did not wittness the battle, but my husband Arenicos spoke frequently about it. He was one of the emperor's trusted commanders. He could not stop Neretzes from marching his army to defeat, but he managed to salvage something from the disaster. When the Sturgians came over our barricades, he managed to lead a group of Neretzes' guardsmen out the back. My husband's small force held together, and were joined by stragglers and fugitives. He described the march back - no food, little water, marching day and night to keep ahead of the enemy's outriders. But they survived - the only imperial force to do so. The city was in a state of panic after hearing the rumors of what happened. Arenicos kept things from descending into chaos. When it came time for the Senate to choose the next Emperor, there was no question it should be him. I loved him before as a man, but that day I learned to love him as something more: what a gift he was to the people of Calradia!"