An Historical Analysis of the Fall of the Atenlan Empire as Conducted by Jesphat Falkar, Royal Librarian to King Maebric Falkar I of Falkaria; 792 AE (Apres Empirium)

  The extant information regarding the fall of the original Atenlan Empire, which once dominated the continent of Atenla and governed the totality of the lands now known as Falkaria, Klaav and Summor as well as the wildlands of the mountains and the great wastes, leaves much in doubt and open to interpretation. In this treatise I have attempted to provide as accurate a depiction of the ultimate downfall of the Empire, including the circumstances which brought the Fall about, as can be known to us in our time.

  Pre-Fall Imperial Atenla

  Of the many legends, tales and myths from that time a few undisputed facts can be distilled to understand the situation as it stood. First, it is generally accepted that the Fall occurred during the reign of Emperor Oberelwi, First of His Name. Second, the capital of the Empire was Atenla City, which is believed to have been located somewhere in the vicinity of the Tower of Ash, in the depths of what we now know as the Great Waste. In the time of the Empire, this now barren land was the most fertile on the entire continent and home to the vast majority of the Empire’s population.

  It is also generally accepted that the Emperor had two children: Gaerdryn and Summ. Gaerdryn had been granted the Duchy of Falkaria and was named Warden of the East upon coming of age. Summ had been granted the Duchy of Halgarth and was named Warden of the South upon coming of age. The Emperor’s Uncle, Klaaverius III, was Warden of the North at the time of the Fall. It can be assumed the Empire had a Warden of the West, as there are references to this position in writings from long before the Fall, but the name of the holder of this title at the time of the Fall has been lost to the corruption of time.

  Of course many, especially those of the noble houses of the kingdoms of Atenla, will also recognize Klaaverius as the Empire’s Battlemaster and author of the Fiorian Martial Arts manual that is still used today to train the scions of nobility in the semi-mystical martial art of the Empire.

  Before the Fall, the Empire was prosperous. The extant literature of the time confirms the pre-Fall Empire was a place of great learning and art, far beyond what we know even today nearly a millennium later. Much knowledge was lost to mankind when the Empire fell, knowledge that we have yet to regain.

  Causes of the Fall of the Atenlan Empire

  Historians have for centuries debated what brought about the Fall, and while there are many points of dispute this historian posits that there were two key factors.

  First, as explored at length in Gildebrandt’s Customs of the Atenlan Empire, the Empire was overly reliant on magic. Use of magic was pervasive throughout the land and in the everyday lives of most citizens of the empire. Magic was not a rare practice as it is today – even the meanest peasant used magic to conduct basic household chores like laundry and cooking.

  Upon learning this fact, many have asked, “but what of the corruption?” It is a fair question, as the corruption present in magic today would make frequent use of the sort employed by imperial citizens untenable and dangerous. This is a point where there is still some minor debate, but it was accepted as canon by the Third Synod of Atenlan Scholars that the reason magic use was so prominent in the Empire without detrimental side effects of corruption is that magic was not yet corrupted in the time before the Fall. When magic became corrupted, however, it shook the Empire to its foundation – disrupting everything from governance to the day to day lives of all imperial citizens.

  The second key factor contributing to the fall of the Atenlan Empire was of course the invasion of the Tvetch-kin. Details regarding the Tvetch have been lost to the winds of time, and much of the extant legends and (no doubt) myths surrounding these invaders strain the credulity of any learned scholar.

  Today, the Tvetch-kin are described in popular lore of the three kingdoms as monstrous beasts, with great spiked horns and snouts dripping poisonous bile. Children are led to believe these monsters are taller than the tallest man, some even overtopping small farmhouses, and that they will come in the night to snatch those who have misbehaved and take them away to their foul dens in the depths of some foul abyss.

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  Most modern scholars presume these stories to be exaggerations, the result of time and the overactive minds of unoccupied peasants. What is more likely, and the prevailing viewpoint among the more learned citizens of the three kingdoms, is that the Tvetch-kin were simply barbarians from another land across the sea. The barbarian invaders most probably wore helms with horns and were larger than the average Atenlan, but they were not demons from the abyss.

  Based on original primary sourcework, including multiple research expeditions to the ruins of Atenla City, this historian posits that there is in fact a direct causal connection between these two factors and the fall of the empire. Evidence has been found to suggest that, in the face of overwhelming odds in the war against the Tvetch-kin, the Imperium engaged in a magical ritual of some sort which – while succeeding in driving the Tvetch-kin from Atenla – also resulted in the corruption of magic that we are familiar with today.

  In addition to defeating the Tvetch-kin and corrupting the source of magic, this unknown ritual also resulted in the creation of what we know as the Pillar of Ash, and the total destruction of Atenla City, potentially also contributing to the Great Wastes becoming exactly that – in the time of the Empire, these plains were known as fertile land.

  Post-Imperial Atenla: the Three Kingdoms

  Historical evidence shows that Gaerdryn, Summ and Klaaverius survived the fall of Atenla, and we presume this is because they were managing the war with the Tvetch-kin in their own fiefs when the ritual was conducted. Following the collapse of the empire, all three of these members of the imperial household sought to consolidate their own power in the lands that have become known over time as Falkaria, Summor and Klaav. As any historian will tell you, the dynasties established by these great leaders continue to rule these kingdoms today and have engaged in much conflict over the intervening centuries.

  In the immediate aftermath of the collapse, Battlemaster Klaaverius III was the first to consolidate his power, declaring the Stolic Fortress, seat of the Empire’s North Warden for centuries, the capital of the newly founded Kingdom of Klaav. As befits the former Battlemaster of the Empire who is also known to history for writing the sole extant tome by which the lore of Imperial martial techniques is handed down, Klaav was from its inception a warlike nation.

  Perceiving his niece Summ to be the weaker of the two siblings, Klaaverius marshaled his forces and sought to invade Summ’s fiefdom within months of the Empire’s collapse. Klaav’s army was comprised of veterans hardened in the conflict with the Tvetch-kin forces: the invaders had struck the Empire much harder in the north and west, present day Klaav and the great wastes, largely forgoing frontal assaults on the east and south, in what would become Falkaria and Summor.

  This is not to say the Tvetch-kin ignored those lands completely, for many are the tales of woe and strife sown by their invasion in all corners of the land, but they did not attack those territories at the scale with which they pursued the Emperor and his brother’s own lands. With the loss of the Emperor’s house guard and armies in the destruction of the Fall, Klaav’s armies were unmatched in the remnant lands of Atenla.

  Many of Summ’s forces fell to Klaav in that initial onslaught. Within weeks, Klaaverius had captured Summ’s palace and capital at Gerania. Summ’s forces did not relent easily, however, and pursued a guerilla war against the occupying forces of Klaav.

  Summ was declared Queen-in-hiding of the newly founded kingdom of Summor – a rallying point and morale builder for the rebel forces, but of course a title in name only while the duchy was occupied by Klaaverius’ armies as a fief of Klaav.

  As befits a scion of the Imperial line, Summ herself did not relent in her scheming. She contrived to make the journey to Falkaria and visit her brother at his seat in Falkaria City in secret, unbeknownst to Klaaverius or even the majority of her own bannermen.

  Seeing an opportunity for his own advancement – and protection from the inevitable progression of Klaav’s campaign into his own territories – Gaerdryn was persuaded to commit the forces of Falkaria in aid to Summ’s newfound kingdom. Perhaps out of jealousy, but assuredly to ensure an equal footing between siblings in future negotiations, Gaerdryn also contrived to convince his bannermen to elevate him to King Gaerdryn Falkar I of the Kingdom of Falkaria.

  As we are not now citizens of the Klaaveran Empire, one should be able to infer that the combined forces of Gaerdryn and Summ’s armies were enough to drive Klaaverius back into the north to nurse his wounds. It would be years before the line of Klaaverius could gather enough strength to pursue the dream of conquest and a united Empire in the lands of Atenla.