Thyssal Empire¶
Contested
Named in the open question Founding of the Thyssal Empire and the Thyssal Occupation of Thrace; the merge step wires the link.
The Thyssal Empire is the Age of Magic's great power of the East. "The eastern half of the continent is almost completely dominated by rule of the Empire. However, the east does include a handful of small kingdoms or principalities which are friendly to the Empire, and often pay tribute, but whom are not directly governed by the Empire" (S387). It is the empire of the Huur, "a very efficient and scholarly people, with strong government" (S387), who rose from the kingdoms around the Fornol Sea. By the Fifth Age its eastern provinces have become the Dragonruin, and the Huur survive mainly as subjects of another empire.
Also called: the Empire of Thyssia, the Kingdom of Thyssia (before the empire), Thyssal, the East, simply the Empire. The sea at its heart is the Fornol Sea (S387) or the Fornastal Sea (S498, S372).
Origins¶
"The Huur are originally from the island of Huurgath, although they spread to the mainland before the time of the Shattering. During this time, they dominated the entire Fornol Sea area. However, after the Shattering, the Thyssal Empire rose out of their early kingdoms, and now it dominates the eastern half of South Astia" (S387; the Huur are among the human peoples, and Huurgath is noted with the Storm Coast).
The 2020 history gives the empire a date and a cause. After the War of the Moradrim, in which the dark elves and their allies conquered "approximately half of the East" before being crushed between the armies of west and east, "the Kingdom of Thyssia took advantage of their strong position to conquer the helpless kingdoms of eastern Numenia, forging the Thyssal Empire. However, the empire's westward expansion was halted at the fortress of Gor'Turra which they sieged for 20 years without success" (S386). Earlier still, in the First Rift War of 1689 to 1804 MA, the demons of Thu'karam "spilled south into what currently is the Empire of Thyssia, conquering a majority of those lands" (S386).
The Empire and its neighbours¶
The regional history of the Storm Coast records "the Thyssal invasion of 1911" MA "and its subsequent invasion and annexation of Thrace, Aeslar, Kydann and Zurat," with the occupying legions quartered in central Thrace. "The Thyssal Occupation was ended in 2192, when the Thyssal envoys were removed in a coup by King Thovim of Thrace. The three occupying Thyssal legions are unaccounted for. Legends of magic used in their disappearance is widespread and varied. Thyssal made three attempts to reclaim Thrace and one attempt to reclaim Aeslar. Each time their legions and navy suffered catastrophic defeat and losses. The empire entered a period of cold, but stable relations with Thrace and Aeslar" (S429). Kajattan, the rocky north-eastern peninsula, "has recently fallen under claim of the Empire" (S387).
The Empire keeps slaves and keeps dwarves down. The Nolboc, the Bloodstone hill dwarves, "were in control of much of the central east, their original home having been in the Bloodstone Canyons. After their conquest, which was very costly to the Empire, their governments were disbanded and their entire population was sold into slavery. Currently, it is illegal for dwarves to own property or possessions within the Empire" (S387). Aeseans are "prized slave laborers and gladiators within the empire" (S372). The Empire has "its own organization for magic-users" and does not welcome the Wizards of Lhan (S548). The Uizur, a scattered people, keep "a few cities and towns in the Thyssal Empire" (S372).
Thyssia¶
"Thyssia borders the south-eastern sea, and is home to the Empire" (S387): the imperial homeland and the old kingdom from which the empire was forged.
The Middle Empire¶
"The Middle Empire makes up the central part of the continent, and is populated heavily by Danari (Human), Tholim & Firebeard (Mtn. Dwarf), High Elf, and Wood Elf peoples" (S387). See the Danari and the Tholim mountain dwarves.
The Nations of Fornol¶
"The Nations of Fornol surround the Fornol Sea, which is otherwise known as the Southeast Sea. These nations are part of the Empire" (S387). They are the Huur heartland.
The Bloodstone Canyons¶
The Bloodstone Canyons were the original home of the Nolboc dwarves and the centre of their rule over "much of the central east" until the Empire's costly conquest (S387). Nothing is said of the canyons themselves.
The Cloudwall Mountains and the Dragonruin¶
The Cloudwall Mountains are the Fifth Age's wall between west and east. "East of the Cloudwall Mountains in what was once the eastern provinces of the Thyssal Empire is now known as the Dragonruin. Ebony Dragons control this area and there are no significant humanoid settlements. Rovers from Western Astia enter this area briefly on occasion for the purposes of scavenging" (S324). "The Dragons keep to the east of the Cloudwall mountains. There are reportedly quite a number of them in the east and why they generally don't come west is a mystery" (S327). In the 200s SM "much of Dalmar and Faragond is consumed in dragonblight. Ebony dragons from the Cloudwall mountains raid frequently in these lands" (S326), and in 524 SM "the last dragon seen west of the Cloudwall mountains is defeated by Sancturi forces" (S326).
The Empire in the Fifth Age¶
The Sancturi sources know the Thyssal Empire only as a past. Its eastern provinces are the Dragonruin (S324), and its people are a remnant: of some 12.7 million souls around the Broken Sea in 704 SM, the Huur number 160,000, of whom 125,000 live in the Sancturi Imperium and 35,000 in the Riven Kingdoms (S326).
Gap
No source names an emperor, a capital, a legion or a province of the Empire, describes its government beyond "strong," or says what became of its western and central lands between the Age of Magic and the Age of the Dark Sun.
Earlier accounts¶
The regional gazetteers of 2015 (S387, S498) and the compendium (S372, S384) describe the Empire in its prime; the 2020 history (S386) explains its forging after the War of the Moradrim; the Storm Coast history (S429) has "the empire" at war with Thrace from 1911 MA. The three layers date the War of the Moradrim differently, and the Thrace history's dates sit centuries before either, a question filed for ruling.