Handout - The Mighty Empire of the Tris

Overview

The Mighty Empire of the Tris is at the height of its power. Ruled by the magnificent Archmage known as the Prime, supported with his council of Archmagi, and protected by legions of mythical beasts and manufactured automatons, no nation in the sphere may trade without the permission of this mighty Empire. Magic as common as butter knives, but until you can cast level 3 spells, you’re not considered a wizard at all. However, power is leading to arrogance, corruption and decadence - the Tris claimed to have slain or driven off all their gods, and blood sports are common among them. Wizards are treated in great honour, but few deserve it, and the rest of the citizens are not much better than serfs. Charisma based casters are hunted to death, wisdom based casters are tolerated but receive little public support.

Government

Prime is a level 30 archmage, and has held the position for a record almost 20 years.

The Emperor is always the most powerful mage aspiring to that position. Conflicts can simmer in their midst for years, until a new mage feels ready to make the challenge (about every 5 to seven years). This is settled by magical combat between the two alone, and is usually fatal. It can, however, be ended by the unconditional surrender of one of the mages (who stands to loose everything they own but life itself). It is rare, but not impossible, that a particularly powerful and charismatic mage can continue as Emperor till their deaths by natural causes. The Emperors power over his people is absolute. Theoretically, the emperor could order every citizen to burn their house to the ground and relocate to the elemental plane of fire. In practice this would probably involve a massive revolution and repeated assassination attempts, as well as numerous challenges to the emperors power – often at inconvenient times.

Actual day to day rulership in the empire is by the senate, which is full of aristocrats with smatterings of wizard levels. This is fortunate, since the archmagi are rarely concerned with the lives of their citizens, and the skill required for managing the vast empire and all its interests, as well as a diverse citizenry, not to mention the capricions of the archmagi, takes formidably skill. The chair of the senate is elected by the senate for 3 year terms. The senate at all times answers to and enacts the will of the Emperor (if they are unfortunate enough to have one who is interested in making edicts that will affect the citizens.) Having the full resources of the most powerful empire in the Sphere is a good way to get things done – such as gathering rare spell components or casting epic level spells. Senate officials are nominated by their lords and lieges – citizens have no voting rights.

Underneath the senate the system is stalwartly feudal. The people are ruled by lesser kings and queens, princes and princesses, or the landed knights, generically referred to as the Lord or Lady, who own and protect a portion of land and all those who live on it. Visitors enter, and receive treatment, at the local Lords whim. However, these local Lords and Ladies answer to successively higher kings and queens until the Emperor himself, who owns all the land, all its people, and theoretically, makes all the rules as well.

The Emperor does not tax the people directly; he taxes the provinces and realms, who tax their kings, who tax their Lords and Ladies, who tax the people. While citizens can own their own property, they cannot own land (only the emperor, technically, can). Citizens can usually buy their freedom from one Lord and purchase a new bond with a different Lord. It’s unfair, but at least they are not quite slaves. Most citizens earn enough to live and to prosper (the senate tries to make sure of that), and pay the around 10% tax the local Liege levies. Each successive level of management levies around 10% on the lords and ladies in their realm. The Emperor’s income is huge.

Sadly, while the empire is at its peek, it has risen so on the backs of exploitation – primarily the Beastmen who they claim to have saved from death many years ago. Beastmen and other servants can be traded like any other property, and children of slaves are treated as property of their masters. On the topic of decadence, the Tris also enjoy blood sports in their areas where people are punished with death, often on frivolous charges, for the entertainment of others. Clerical calls for a higher moral stance go as yet unheeded.

Needless to say, mages hold a special position in this culture as holders of a special and unique power. There are three kinds of mages.

1/ Those caster level 4 or below are granted no special treatment – just about everyone knows at least one prestidigitation or orison (schooling is compulsory till age 10).

2/ Those above level 4 usually serve as landed mages (or ‘house mages’) and answer exclusively to their liege (who is usually also a mage). They are also known as ‘marked mages’ according to the mark of the house they serve. Occasionally power battles for precedence among marked mages occur similar to battles for the empire.

3/ The final kind of mage is the unmarked mage who answers to no-one but the emperor (or a higher mage if he can kick their butt). Most bear their own mark, and are legally allowed to travel where they will (unless a more powerful mage says they cannot) and to gather even legions of followers (till someone strong enough says ‘enough’!). They usually do so until they can establish their own land and kingdom. In rare cases, this is actually a well planned event with a family sponsoring a chosen member as its mage (schooling is expensive) until they can settle a new area. Even the kings are expected to give honour to the unmarked (unless their house mages are more powerful, in which case they can run you off their land.) For example, unmarked magi can usually expect a day or two’s decent accommodation (for themselves, their companions are usually given bare minimum accommodation) from just about any Lord or Lady in the Empire in return for favours if need be.

Adventuring parties are expected to be led by their mage, and the companions are either mercenaries or property.

Geography

Lush, verdant, rolling hills almost everywhere. Magically altered to be so everywhere else.

Military

Mostly slaves – beastmen, automatons, summoned creatures. The living souls of the Tris are the last line of defence, and their wizards expected to flee to seek revenge if a people are bested.

Daily life

There is one law – never meddle in the affairs of wizards. People fear wizards, never look them in the eyes without permission, and are expected to answer any question a wizard puts to them. The only one legally and morally expected to punish a wayward and wanton wizard is another wizard, who may take the other wizards tower and lands for themselves. The citizens expect this, and somewhere in the empire, see it happen every day, roll their eyes, and get back to work knowing there is now a new wizard in charge who, hopefully, will ignore them just as long as they pay their taxes, just like the old wizard.

The serfs work extremely hard, while the nobility have an abundance of time on their hands. Most nobles need to know a little magic, as all their leaders are wizards and an unmarked mage can legally challenge a housed mage for his property and kingdom.

Religion

Long ago, the Tris claim to have slain, driven off or simply bored their gods from existence (depending on who you ask). While there are a scattering of the more traditional faiths, no one religion is a particularly influential driving force in society. The prevailing consensus among the masses is that divine and arcane magic are both, well, magic – and magic is something the mages (that run the place) can manage well enough. Gods are just powerful individuals much like mortals or stories to frighten children. Publicly, the Mighty Empire of the Tris is a very secular society, and the vast majority of those that are devoutly religious are rarely terribly public about it. The few that are are usually ignored, sometimes branded insane and occasionally even persecuted to death. The basic feeling of the Tris is that they know enough about magic and the Universe not to really need the Gods. They are more of an interest than passion, but this does not go for everyone.

Crime and punishment

For the Tris, might makes right. If you are upset with someone, they are in the wrong. You go to battle, and the winner is right. There is a law, buried deep down there somewhere, but it is generally felt that it can be twisted to mean anything so only the strong eventually survive. Upsetting the wrong person usually means getting thrown into the gladiatorial pits. For all their arcane powers, the Tris lack creativity when it comes to solving problems.

For lesser crimes, pain is the price. Particularly way ward individuals are scarred all over due to their many ‘lessons’. Occasionally property may be seized, or children sold into slavery.

With a Godless culture, Tris actually permit any behaviour as long as it’s ‘not hurting anybody’, including substance abuse, infidelity, and taring down old growth forests for profit.

Cultural oddities

* Schooling is compulsory for all children from 6 till they turn 11. During this time they are expected to learn to read and write, and to learn at least one 0 level spell from the wizard spell list which they can cast once per day. Most individuals pass this schooling. Prestidigitation is the most common choice. Due to this training, it is said a watched pot swiftly boils among the Tris! (Children start a lot of fires at around about this age as well.)

* the Tris hate any other caster that does not use intelligence as their prime attribute, especially sorcerers. They are legally shot on sight. Bards are barely tolerated as long as they stick to pretty lights and healing spells.

The watcher in Blue

Lukat – deep in meditation, receives the following vision;




The Sapphire lady was deep in prayer, but could not shake the tremor of fear, fear and annoyance at her daughter and her friends. The high council had been in an uproar all morning. Few things in the city were going well nowadays, but then she’d received the urgent missive from her daughter that morning – they were being chased by the heir apparent of the most powerful empire in the plane, and both were heading this way. It might have been a more subdued reaction at the council, as she had carefully planned, with a silent strengthening of defences and moving of the populace. But no sooner does the council session begin than the head of the rogues guild runs in broadcasting their imminent danger. Such a foolish daughter to have given the news to such an indiscrete source! Before another word is spoken, it is apparent that the news is spreading like wildfire though the streets. Naturally, the citizens panic and it was many hours before calm was restored once more.

The sapphire lady tried to put the annoyance and anxiety out of her soul. What a busy morning! A near riot, quelled only just in time! But it is a calm only made possible by the acquisition of a new, and within the hour fully charged, Orizon crystal. Once the sky shield was activated the citizens began to feel safe again. At least the adventurers did not fail them in this way.

But it was too late to warn the trading parties outside the wall - they would have to fair the best they could. It was the most hurtful blow – only just now had resources and food begun to flow into the city once more. They could not afford to loose this opportunity or order might break down completely.

The Sapphire lady called to her the guards and messengers. There would be much to prepare. Lukat and the others were head off to some unknown location, and they would need all the supplies they could carry – apparently they were leaving their boat, the Lightening here. But she still could not hide her anxiety. With all their combined wisdom, the high council of the wise had decided that this place – this world – was the safest from their Enemy. If the children had plans to plane shift into another dimension … they had not been warned properly of the dangers of that. He had eyes to see between the worlds… if they weren’t careful… they could loose more than everything.

It made her wonder what had happened to have caused such a political disaster with this Prince? Was it the wanton fetishes of the Halfling thief, so much like his predecessor the Shadowmaster? No, the stars told another story, and she had been given eyes to read them a long time ago. There was more to this... a terrifying figure, with a crown of flame…

Perhaps it was the child concealed at the shrine of time? No, surely it was not. They were an interesting lot of monks, the Sapphire lady mused. It had been herself, the Sapphire Lady chuckled, that had warned the monks of the Princes approach. He had some means of concealing his ships, and it was more than luck that had lead her look at just the most fortuitous moment, and saved the young ones lives.

She was always watching, the Sapphire lady confessed in a self congratulatory manner. Watching as the young ones reclaimed the fallen paladins lost blade. Watching as they wasted precious hours on guild maze, as if they could not tell the lustful pirate lord would never keep her promise! Watching as they rested at the time shrine for over two weeks, completely unaware of the approach of the Prince.

Her child did not know, and perhaps never would. But she herself was always watching. They would never know just how much she had gone through to save them, to protect them all from the very life they were now disastrously bringing upon themselves…

Visions were a great way to learn, but sometimes, when all you can do is watch while loved ones stumble heedlessly again and again into ever increasing danger … it is a terrible burden, even just to watch...