Sancturi Imperium¶
"Honor is the real currency in the empire." — Sancturi campaign notes (S132)
The Sancturi Imperium is the theocratic state of the Sancturi Empire, the human empire of the southern Broken Sea in the Fifth Age, from the rising of 522 SM in the ruins of Sanctorum to that city's fall in 904 SM (S326, S112). Its organs are a god-ruler on the throne; an elected Great Council and four elected Warlords; nine great houses ranked by the tax they pay, grouped in five political parties; five legions; and a religious caste of five branches that judges, polices, records and taxes the empire under the holy text Elysium's Gate. The land and its provinces are described under the Sancturi Empire, the faith under the Sancturi Pantheon, and the castes and laws under Social Order and Law.
Organs of the Imperium¶
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Imperial Government | The throne, the High Warlord and Warlords, the Great Council and its ten councils, the High Prefects, the Great Election, prefects, magistrates, ministers and the Watch. |
| Great Houses of the Sancturi | The nine great houses, from the original Arvumas, Ocassus and Barahd to the new Sidcarnon, and their lesser vassals. |
| Sancturi Political Parties | The Imperialists, Crimson Beacon, Righteous Might, Prosperity and Crusade, and their seats. |
| Sancturi Military | The rank structure and the five legions: Golden, Darkwater, Obsidian, Griffon and Nightshade. |
| Sancturi Clergy | The religious caste: the Divine Grace and the Faithful, the Qeokrati and conclaves, the Covenant, the Projura Magisters and the Sages of the Codex. |
| Arbitori Bannerguard | The clergy's police, military orders and missionaries, with the Dae'Venari witch hunters and the Onyx and Splithorn Orders. |
| Penitus Monks | The combat-trained monks who keep the Vigils and make the church's holy objects. |
How power runs¶
The throne holds all land and grants it to the great houses; the great houses, ranked by "the tax revenue collected by the empire from the house", lease it on to the lesser houses and spend their election tokens every two years to choose the twenty-five High Councillors, three Warlords and High Warlord (S323). The Great Council legislates; the High Prefects of the houses ratify domestic laws and the eleven provincial Qeokrati ratify moral, social and judicial ones (S323). The Warlords command the legions, "the majority of the Sancturi military is made up of slaves, freemen and mercenaries" under a command of house officers (S314). The clergy stands outside the houses: its highest members "must disavow all familial ties, which includes spouses, children, political parties and house affiliations" (S321), and it keeps the courts, the secret police, the tax rolls and the treasury.
End¶
The Imperium fragmented after Sanctorum fell to the Araxians in 904 SM (S112). In its last days, "when the empress had been slain", two High Precepts of the Houses of Sidcarnon and Barahd and the Principate of the Sages carried the Sanctoric Cartus north in the Unholy Flight and founded the Divine Alliance (S078).