THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE EMPIRE

The Empire was a marvellous edifice. It was a thing of wonder and awe, built on the wealth and power that comes from ruling distant leagues of land. The Imperial Coronet ruled with wisdom and justice over the many diverse peoples of the Empire.

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However, it could not last. Constrained by inadequate communications, the stability and the coherence of the Empire depended upon the maintenance of a central hub from which order and instruction could disseminate as quickly and as widely as possible. The imperial city of Karath-Din was the central node in a network of way-stations for imperial messengers. It was only by maintaining a flexible system of governance, with extensive provincial autonomy, that the Empire and its people could exist in harmony. Provincial governors and nobles possessed immense autonomy, while still looking to the Emperor at Karath-Din for overall direction.

The system’s great strength was also its great weakness. Karath-Din was what kept the Empire from falling into anarchy. Order flowed out though the network of roads that radiated out from the city. But this meant that in the absence of karath-Din, the system could not work. Records from the Fall are rare; chronicles fail the historian, and only fragments of evidence remains. From what has been found, it seems that the period before the fall was one of unsettling change. The Emperors from the House of Va were attempting toe centralise their power, consolidating it in Karath-Din. This necessitated a massive growth in the bureaucracy, what was drawn almost exclusively from the local province. This exacerbated regional tensions, already inflamed by the repressive, centralising policies of the Emperors.

The crisis came when Va-Taraq came ot the throne. A devious, cunning man, he possessed nonetheless foresight where others had none. He knew that the Empire required mone above all, more so even than the acclaim of the crowds. Money bought troops; money bought horses, money bought the means to administer and control this new form of Empire. Gold and coin flowed from the coffers of the people of the Empire. Discontent mounted among both the people and nobility.

At this critical juncture the Empire might yet have been saved. However, disaster then struck. The city of Karath-Din was consumed by flames.