Isolated amidst a chaotic sea lies a small archipelago.
Pioneers that have ventured outwards from this place to seek out new lands and opportunities
bring back only tales of oceans too vast to cross, or distant untamed continents that
drive men mad.
Civilization, it is said, exists only on Gristol, Morley, Serkonos and Tyvia.
Long ago these four islands waged war on one another until they were at last united under
a single ruler.
Today, they are bound together within the Empire of the Isles.
While each island has been allowed a great deal of autonomy, their rulers even retaining
historical titles such as the “King of Morley” or “High Judges of Tyvia”, all swear fealty
to the Emperor or Empress of Gristol.
This Emperor serves as the head of state and government and wields significant political
power, kept in check only by the Empire’s Parliament.
Headed by a Prime Minister, it is a largely hereditary and aristocratic institution, with
membership limited to influential members of society and other important figures based
on their holdings, inheritance, or special dispensation.
Parliament is frequently divided between powerful families, whose voting blocs grant them greater
influence over lesser aristocrats and individual members.
In times of succession, if a ruler is judged too young to assume the throne or the proper
successor cannot be determined, a Lord Regent may be appointed by Parliament to serve as
a temporary head of state.
Typically however, this assembly limits itself to the day to day governance of the Empire,
working with the Emperor to help enforce his or her policies.
Serving alongside the Emperor and Parliament are the members of the Royal Court.
First among these is the Royal Protector, whose critical responsibility endows them
with enormous latitude to investigate potential threats to the monarch.
The Royal Protector is expected to remain in almost constant company with the Emperor
or Empress, and as such is occasionally called upon to advise on matters of state.
Other court officials include the Royal Physician, Royal Interrogator and the Royal Tailor.
The position of Royal Spymaster was, until recently, a closely guarded secret, with those
appointed to the role often acting without the approval or knowledge of the head of state
or the legislature.
Despite the power of the Emperor and Parliament, the four major islands of the Empire compete
with one another for trade and influence.
At times this internal division can lead to diplomatic incidents with only the might of
the Imperial Military preventing the complete dissolution of the state.
The Imperial Navy is the Empire’s most prestigious force, with many families continuing the tradition
of enlisting at least one boy from each generation.
The Navy is responsible for the continued protection of trade between the Isles and
the elimination of piracy.
It is perhaps best known for its victory over Morley during the island's brief insurrection.
Each island also maintains its own ground forces which typically operate alongside various
paramilitary groups.
These include the city watch of major urban centers and the Overseers of the Abbey of
the Everyman, a religious order granted the authority to persecute civilians for religious
crimes and sentence guilty parties at their discretion.
The Abbey of the Everyman is the Empire’s state religion which preaches the belief that
the universe is unknowably vast and swarming with dangerous spirits and forces that are
hostile to man’s existence.
The Abbey places special importance on astrological and cosmological movements, regulating their
calendar based on the observation of celestial signs.
The faith demands that citizens adhere to a strict set of doctrines and permits no other
religions or acts of magic or witchcraft.
Those suspected of breaking these tenets are typically burned and any supernatural objects
destroyed.
The Abbey of the Everyman rose to prominence in the earliest years of the Empire, and its
brutal purge of heretics in what would become known as the Rectification War was only the
first in a string of conflicts, insurrections, and regencies that marked the Empire’s turbulent
history.
It was not a single Emperor or Empress which provoked the biggest change across the Isles,
but a nearly destitute natural philosopher named Esmond Roseburrow.
While taking shelter within the whaling grounds of Gristol’s Capital City, Dunwall, Roseburrow
observed the remarkable properties of whale oil, largely ignored by the whaling industry
in favor of meat and blubber.
By refining whale oil into a potent fuel source, he ushered in an industrial revolution, and
whaling was transformed from a relatively minor sector to the most critical aspect of
the nation’s economy.
Technological advancements introduced in this era included electric lighting, motorized
rail cars, and great whaling ships.
Roseburrow’s partnership with another entrepreneur, Anton Sokolov, led to enormous leaps in weaponry
and military technology which would soon be used by the Empire to exert an unprecedented
level of control over the nation’s citizenry.
The Empire’s cities became drenched in smog and it was the country’s most impoverished
people who bore the brunt of the suffering.
In Dunwall, a plague swept through the city spread by rats brought to the Isles from the
distant continent of Pandyssia.
Blockaded by the rest of the islands, conditions deteriorated.
Gangs took control of entire neighborhoods leading to street fighting between Dunwall’s
various cartels and the city watch.
For two years the capital city remained beset by pestilence and famine.
Empress Jessamine Kaldwin herself would be assassinated during the plague crisis, ostensibly
at the hands of her own Royal Protector, but later discovered to have been the work of
Hiram Burrows, the former Royal Spymaster and newly appointed Lord Regent.
After Burrow’s coup failed and the full extent of his machinations were revealed,
Jessamine’s daughter Emily assumed the throne during which time a cure for the rat plague
was finally found and stability was restored across Gristol and the rest of the Isles.
The underlying tensions of the Empire have never fully subsided, and while Emily’s
reign has been marked by renewed trade and prosperity, her critics across the Isles have
been violently silenced.
Some now wonder if her Lord Protector, or perhaps Emily herself, might be behind these
grisly murders.
It is only through the will of the Empress that Gristol, Morley, Serkonos, and Tyvia
remain united.
Should she fail in her duty or be removed from power, then the only bastion of civilization
across the entirety of the known world might once more fall into chaos and civil war.
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