Tales of the Dispute

The Dispute

A vast demilitarized frontier between two antique and dying empires.

All of known history is the war between the Empire Immemorial and the Supremacy of Sleep. The origins of the conflict are lost in deep time, but the war itself raged for thousands of years. Vast armies, strange technologies, and colossal sorceries were unleashed. Untold numbers of people, cities, and entire countries were annihilated in the endless carnage.

The land between the empires, where almost all the battles took place is commonly known as the Dispute.

Entering the dispute has been forbidden, punishable by torture and death. The Dispute is lawless, unpatrolled by any empire. It is rumored to be strewn with forgotten battlefields, tombs, and ancient technologies.

The Empire Immemorial

Over the years, the Empire has slowly declined. The vast knowledge of science and sorcery have been gradually forgotten. All of its institutions are hollowed-out shells of what they once were. Glittering ornate facades over a empty, rotten foundation.

The Emperor

The Empire Immemorial is ruled by the Emperor, who is sealed with his staff in the Tranquil Throne, the ancient domed city-palace of the Empire. No one has entered or exited the city in centuries. The emperor's increasingly infrequent orders and communiques are sent by messenger ravens to the generals and government officials that run what is left of the vast Imperial bureaucracy.

The current Emperor is Ezelon CCCLXXXV, who ascended to the Tranquil Throne over 100 years ago. Other than his (or her?) name, nothing else is known of the Emperor.

The Legion Unending

Once the mightiest fighting force in the Known World, the imperial army, like all institutions in the Empire Immemorial, has slowly diminished over time. Its endless, arcane rituals and heraldry are inscrutable to outsiders. Many of the legions are more social institutions than military, concerning themselves more with internal politicking and ritual display, than any actual defense of the Empire.

The battalions (orta) nearer to the Dispute have manged to maintain some of their martial spirit.

The Janissaries of the Legion Unending

Janissaries, the Empire's main military force, are recruited as children. They undergo years of martial training and indoctrination.

Each recruit is assigned to a particular orta (battalion). Each orta has its own unique insignia, which will be tattooed onto every recruit. An orta is more than a military unit, it is a cultural and economic entity, with it’s own rich and ancient history. Ortas have their own poets, artists, and historians that mythologize their ancient stories.

Ortas tend to be rivals of one another, competing for status and attention. The rivalry usually takes the form of duels or sporting events, though actual small skirmishes have been known to happen.

A Janissaries' loyalty to their orta is above all else, except (theoretically) loyalty to the Emperor.

Some Janissaries leave the service to go adventuring, but never really lose their loyalty to their orta.

Janissary Muskets

An ornate flintlock musket, usually made of wood, metal, and bone. The muskets are given to Janissaries as children. The musket is their lifelong companion. They spend much of their lives practicing maintaining, cleaning, and firing them. A Janissary and their musket are considered as one.

Losing a musket is considered the greatest of dishonors for a Janissary. They will do anything to retrieve a lost weapon.

Over their lives, Janissaries carve the major events of their lives into the stock and barrel of their muskets. You can see the entire history of a Janissaries' life, simply by examining their musket.

When a Janissary of the Legion Unending dies, their musket is often used as a grave marker. Janissary graveyards are vast fields of muskets, each planted with the barrels pointing down. The muskets of notable or heroic Janissaries become valuable relics, kept in places of honor in the fortresses of the orta (battalions).

The Supremacy of Sleep

The great and terrible enemy of the Empire Immemorial.

To the subjects of the Empire, the Supremacy remains a mystery. There has been no contact with the Supremacy of Sleep for centuries. What is known of them is more myth than history.

It is said they are ruled by a council of mysterious masked nobles called the Lords of Somulence. They supposedly were sorcerers of incredible power, who could command vast armies of abominations, demons, and atrocities made flesh.

There are those who hold that the Supremacy no longer exists. There are those that believe that somewhere beyond the Dispute, they continue to plot and scheme, ever-ready to destroy the beloved Empire. There are other, more radical scholars that deny that the Supremacy ever existed – that the wars of old were fictions.