My new ACKS campaign setting: the Elysian Empire

Lysandrus of Elysia conquered the many city-states of old and defeated the Sorcerer Kings in the name of the Conquering Sun. He founded the Elysian Empire and crowned himself, by the Grace of Sol, the first Emperor. 517 years later, his empire lies in ruins.
 
At its height, the Elysian Empire stretched from coast to coast, unifying the continent under the Emperor's might. It was a civilization of Law. Some say it was the greatest civilization since the dawn of man. Its wealth, beyond any dream, streamed from the many provinces to the shining city of Elysia. Its magnificence is now a matter of fables. Fought over by pretenders, claimants, and would-be Emperors, it is now a dead, burnt-out shell of its former glory. In the place where one Emperor ruled, now several compete. In a land once shepherded by a single Bright Pontifex, five Pontiffs claim the title, each endorsing his own usurper to the throne.
 
The land was always cold. Some scholars speak of an earlier, warmer age. Others claim that our forebears came from another continent to the west, refugees from the encroaching ice. Now and then, doomsayers and preachers lecture about the ice and winter being sent to purge the world of the sins of man. The Elysian Empire once ruled the southern part of the continent, where climate allows bountiful agriculture, from the forests of Valukarask to the wheat and barley fields of Camalynn. Ice chokes the North. Great animals, from mammoths and cave-bears to woolly rhinoceros ("unicorns") and sabertooth cats, roam the land, especially the northern taiga and tundra. Men domesticated the mammoth as a beast of burden; the nomads who prowl the icy tundra claim that they herded mammoth eons before the men of now reside in Elysia came to their shores.
 
The Empire's state religion is the Bright Church. Worshipping the Conquering Sun, called Sol Victa in Elysia and Amon-Ra in the warm south, it preaches Law and follows the Pontifex. Or, to speak of current events, the five Pontiff-claimants. Having overthrown the Chaotic cults of the old Sorcerer Kings, Lysandrus of Elysia brought Law and Church to the neighboring lands by sword and fire. Competing with it is the Grey Church, also known as the Penitents, fanatically Lawful. These followers of the Flayed Lady see pain as the pathway to penitence and spiritual purity. They view martyrdom as the pinnacle of faith a believer can achieve, and wounding of the mortal flesh as a road to clearing one's soul of dark Chaos. While both Churches have won the hearts of the common man, many peasants also worship the Neutral pagan Old Gods, just like they did when the Chaos-worshiping Sorcerer Kings lorded over them. And in the darkness, Chaos promises, as it eternally does, infinite power - and the price of untold destruction and corruption. Head among the cults of Chaos is the so-called Dark Church of the dread god Apep, lord of undeath and dark sorcery.
 
The Empire is dying. It can barely rule the Imperial domain of Elysia, let alone the provinces. Many aspiring tyrants fight over its throne. In the outer provinces, the locals have not seen an Imperial Legion - or tax collector for that matter - for decades. Local Tribunes and other officials now became de-facto sovereign lords. Their armies are depleted by years of war. Beastmen and bandits besiege their impoverished domains. Some would say that the land calls for heroes - but politics calls for another thing.
 
Conquerors.

This is awesome! A setting after my own heart. If you were running a play by post I'd sign up right away.

Thanks!

Yes, this is amazing!  I hope you'll keep posting.  Are you currently running a campaign?

Thanks!

Yes, I am running a campaign set in this setting, though this campaign's focus is Barrowmaze right now rather than the wider setting (for the time being).

I've decided to use the Heroic Fantasy Rulebook for the Elysian Empire. It's lower-magic, darker feel seems to fit my "dark Medieval/post-Roman apocalypse/quasi-Arthurian" themes very well.

The continent of Mu was the seat of a mighty sorcerous empire millennia ago, when the rest of the world was still young and primitive. It had colonies on all major continents. In its waning years, Mu became a seat of sin and Chaos. In present years, the priests tell the cautionary tale of Mu. Destroyed, they say, by a mighty Deluge brought by the vengeful wrath of the Conquering Sun for Mu's sins and rotten pride.

In reality, the "Deluge" was a meteoric impact, hitting Mu's shoreline. This was a result of the Antediluvians foolishly experimenting with High Sorcery unmeant for men, even for the near-immortal sorcerers of Mu. The shockwaves and tsunamis sunk Mu and destroyed its colonies on the other continets' shorelines. The meteor's core, a Cthulhu-type alien entity, now haunts the sunken remnants of Mu's palaces.

Most of Mu's people - the Antediluvians - died in the cataclysm. A few survived; a few - and their descendants - survive to this very day, plotting, scheming...

An Antediluvian is more than Man; near-immortal and imbued with sorcerous blood (in game terms, using Zaharan stats).

I love this! Can't wait to read more.... 

 

Thanks!

Redone "high concept" and early history

Lysandrus of Elysia conquered the many city-states of old and defeated the Sorcerer Kings in the name of the Conquering Sun. He founded the Elysian Empire and crowned himself, by the Grace of Sol, the first Emperor. 517 years later, his empire lies in ruins.

At its height, the Elysian Empire stretched from coast to coast, unifying the continent under the Emperor's might. It was a civilization of Law. Some say it was the greatest civilization since the dawn of Man. Its wealth, beyond any dream, streamed from the many provinces to the shining city of Elysia. Its magnificence is now a matter of fables. Fought over by pretenders, claimants, and would-be Emperors, it is now a dead, burnt-out shell of its former glory. In the place where one Emperor ruled, now several compete. In a land once shepherded by a single Bright Pontifex, five Pontiffs claim the title, each endorsing his own usurper to the throne.

The Empire is dying. It can barely rule the Imperial domain of Elysia, let alone the provinces. Many aspiring tyrants fight over its throne. In the outer provinces, the locals have not seen an Imperial Legion - or tax collector for that matter - for decades. Local Tribunes and other officials now became de-facto sovereign lords. Their armies are depleted by years of war. Beastmen and bandits besiege their impoverished domains. Some would say that the land calls for heroes - but politics calls for another thing.

Conquerors.

 

History - Part 1

Countless millions of years ago, the aboleths - fish-things of great intellect - ruled the world. They created servitors by crossing the primitive lizardmen of their day with giant toads, producing skum. The aboleths, and other primordial entities with tentacles aplenty, built mighty cities on the shallow sea floor and among the reefs. They studied great sorceries and learned vast cosmic mysteries. But their time is now long past. As the ages turned, the great reptiles of that eon gave way to mammalian creatures; the aboleths and other primordial beings retreated deep beneath the waves or underground. Only the lizardmen remained, primitive as always, fishing and laying eggs in the swamps.

History - Part 2

Many aeons passed. Mammals ruled the land; finally, Man rose from the ranks of apes to build tools and cities - and dabble in sorcery.

The now-lost continent of Mu was the seat of a mighty sorcerous empire approximately 2500 years before Elysia, when the rest of the world was still young and primitive. It had colonies on all other continents. In its waning years, Mu became a seat of sin and Chaos. Some of their rulers cross-bred themselves with serpents to gain extra potency and the favor of Yig. Others sought undeath to transcend mortality even beyond their great life-spans.

In present Elysian years, the priests tell the cautionary tale of Mu. Destroyed, they say, by a mighty Deluge brought by the vengeful wrath of the Conquering Sun for Mu's sins and rotten pride.

In reality, the "Deluge" was a meteoric impact, striking Mu's shoreline. This was a result of the Antediluvians foolishly experimenting with High Sorcery unmeant for men, even for the near-immortal sorcerers of Mu. The shockwaves and tsunamis sunk Mu and destroyed its colonies on the other continets' shorelines. The meteor's core, an alien entity, now haunts the sunken remnants of Mu's palaces.

Most of Mu's people - the Antediluvians - died in the cataclysm. A few survived; a few - and their descendants - survive to this very day, plotting, scheming...

Their progeny, however, are the Anunaki - created by cross-breeding lizardmen with men to combine lizardman fortitude and aquatic abilities with human intellect and zeal. They were Mu's shock-troops; its brutal warriors keeping all other Men in thrall. When Mu fell, the Anunaki legions dispersed. Many turned to banditry and savagery; a few ended up as rulers. The most recent kingdom ruled by Anunaki was Erida; the last Anunaki king was cast down by Lysandrus in the Elysian Empire's foundation war.