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Nansur Empire

The Nansur Empire in 4109.

The Nansur Empire was a nation of the Three Seas and self-proclaimed inheritor to the Ceneian Empire. At the height of its power the Nansur Empire extended from Galeoth to Nilnamesh, but it was much reduced by centuries of warfare against the Fanim Kianene.

Though the Nansur Empire had witnessed its fair share of usurpers, palace revolts, and short-lived military dictatorships, it had enjoyed a remarkable degree of dynastic stability. It was under the Trimus Emperors (3411-3508) that the "Nansur" (the traditional name for the district surrounding Momemn) emerged from the chaos following Cenei's destruction to unify that Kyranae Plains. But true Imperial expansion did not occur until the Zerxei Dynasty (3511-3619), which, under the rule of successive and short-lived Emperors, managed to conquer Shigek (3539), Enathpaneah (3569), and the Sacred Lands of Xerash and Amoteu (3574).

Under the Surmante Emperors (3619-3941), the Nansurium enjoyed its greatest period of growth and military ascendancy, culminating in the rule of Surmante Xatantius I (3644-3693), who subdued the Cepaloran tribes as far north as the River Vindauga, and who even managed to capture the ancient Nilnameshi capital of Invishi, thus very nearly restoring all the so-called Western Empire that had once belonged to Cenei. But his practice of debasing the talent in order to finance his endless wars fairly wrecked the empire's economy. By the time Fan'oukarji I embarked on his White Jihad in 3743, the empire still had not recovered from Xatantius's excesses. His Surmante descendents found themselves embroiled in never-ending wars they could ill afford, let alone win. Scarce resources and an intransigent commitment to the Ceneian model of warfare, which seemed incapable of coping with Kianene tactics, conspired to render the empire's decline an inevitability.

The dynasty of the most recent claimants to the Imperial Mantle, the Ikurei, arose as the result of a coup brought about by the turmoil following the loss of Shigek to the Kianene in 3933 (in the so-called Dagger Jihad of Fan'oukarji III). A former Exalt-General, Ikurei Sorius I reorganized both the Imperial Army and the empire, changes that allowed him and his descendants to defeat no fewer than three full-scale Fanim invasions. The Nansur Empire had enjoyed a precarious stability ever since, though it remained continually fearful of the prospect tht the Scylvendi tribes might unite once again[1]. It was conquered by Anasûrimbor Kellhus during the unification wars of the New Empire shortly after 4112 and the fall of Shimeh.[2]

Emperors[]

Cities and Provinces[]

Parallels[]

The Nansur Empire appears to have been inspired by the real-world Byzantine Empire. Like the Byzantine Empire, the Nansur Empire shared its religion, Inrithism (the parallel to Christianity), with the Holy War (the parallel to the Crusades) but, like the Byzantine emperors, the Nansur emperors have a complex relationship with the undertaking of their co-religionist. Just like Nansur emperors assume the title of God of Men, Byzantine emperors frequently laid claim to the title of ἰσαπόστολος (the Equal of the Apostles).

References[]

  1. Encyclopedic Glossary, p. 469, 'Nansur Empire'
  2. The White Luck Warrior, maps
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