"Red as Honour." —The crimson motto, as said by Emperor Sombra upon the Red Signing in 3E003/3/6.

The Holy Empire of Sombus, also known as The Crimson Empire, was founded by their 'immortal' leader Emperor Sombra in 3E03. Restoring order to southern Aurial after the chaotic period of the second era, they are a union of many races and cultures. The empire is said to be a religious extension of Aeteria and the Church of Jakuna, much like Terros to the north.

It is semi-democratic, as the emperor is bound by a constitution and is answerable to a parliament of elected representatives from across its territories. However, it is quite theocratic, as the Jakunist religion still plays a heavy role in government policy-making and judiciaries. Although, many of the county's corporations seem to be more in control than the churches these days.

The Empire is known to be the forefront of magic, and seeks to restore order to the lawless Blood Sea as well. The city of Sombus is the capital and the namesake of the empire, often called the greatest city of the modern world. Emperor Sombra rules the empire even now, with a strict yet even hand that has granted him the support of elves and humans alike.

With peaceful relations with Terros to the north, the nation only has to worry about the tense relations with the Lunar Collective to the west. The Lunars used to be a part of the Crimson Empire, before they rebelled and gained independence due to a difference in ideology and religion. They used to be the seventh province of the empire. The Lunar Revolution was a larger part of the The Great Aurian War.

The empire is split into six provinces all based around central cities:

• Province of Sombus, also known as the Capital Province.

• Province of Alverona, also known as the Alzarran Province.

• Province of Olymbos, also known as the Everbloom Province.

• Province of Ruskerton, also known as the Etaschi Province.

• Province of Coalfell, also known as the Zinni Province.

• Province of Jasiv, also known as the Crimson Isles.

Since the Red Signing and the first draft of the Crimson Constitution, the legislature of the Crimson Empire has been the Red Parliament. It is a unicameral body of elected representatives that decide the laws, taxes, treasury, defense, and running of the country. They serve as a check on the Emperor's power, and over the centuries have evolved to become more democratic and powerful with the Emperor taking an increasingly smaller role in government. While it initially only consisted of former nobles, feudal lords, rich merchants, bishops, and great mages; over time it has been opened up to regular citizens who can now both vote for their representatives as well as represent themselves. The Red Parliament is 'led' by a single person who is elected as the Lord Chancellor of the Empire, essentially the second most powerful position in the nation after Emperor. The Lord Chancellors serve 10 year terms but are often voted out early. While the Parliament has over 500 seats, there are a few 'lifetime-appointment' positions within the structure of the government such as the Supreme Commanders and the Archbishop of Sombus. Additionally, the Empire while not officially 'theocratic' remains inseperable from the Church of Jakuna. The bishops of Sombus remain the prime judiciary for the Empire, operating from their courthouse-cathedral known as the Grand Temple of Jakuna.

Term limits for representatives are said to be an equalizing force to keep the longer-lived races such as Elves from dominating government. The few lifetime-appointment positions held by Elves have essentially been held for centuries without replacements, leading to a lot of criticism of the system. While the Red Parliament is incredibly powerful, the monarchy still holds a considerable amount of power. All laws and decrees passed by the Parliament need to be approved by the Emperor, meanwhile all his decisions need a majority vote in the Parliament to pass. This balance of power has surprisingly led to very few stalemates perhaps owing only to the personality of Emperor Sombra who generally does not impose his will upon the Parliament often. While he was incredibly active in government for the first few centuries of the Empire, after the The Great Aurian War and the further strengthening of the Parliament, he is said to have become progressively disinterested in politics.

Recently, there have been signs of impending war against the Lunar Collective. As the Crimson Empire continues to grow their navy and cleanse the Blood Sea of piracy, they take over more and more free cities and add them to the empire. It won’t be long until the empire takes over the entire Jasivian Sea, only contested by the Lunars and the Cinoh Shogunate. Thankfully, the Empire only faces war on the seas, as a land war against the Lunars would be difficult across the mountains that separate them. The Empire has been building bigger and better ships, culminating with newly designed ship of the lines like the Columbine which are harkened to floating fortresses. The country is becoming an industrial powerhouse, influencing almost all other nations in the world no matter how far they are.

The Crimson Empire's flag has a lot of symbolism. The red and black are the colors of Sombus. It is said that the black represents the Sombre Dynasty, and the red represents the blood shed before the 'Red Signing'. Featured four times on the flag is the symbol of the nation and House Sombra, the Tricristol. The Tricristol represents the 3 tenets of the nation: Honour, Faith, and Valour. The colors of the Crimson Empire do directly reference the old colors of the Temporal Empire, trying to prove themselves as their legitimate successor state of the Omniborn much like how Sombus is said to be the successor of Ikariyus.

Despite his grandiose titles and height of power, Sombra's crown is actually fairly simple. It's a solid iron band with 19 quartz crystals and one large blood crystal in the front. Most crowns across the world tend to be rather extravagant with valuable gemstones and pearls, but the crystals refer back to the crystal spiders of his house sigil. There are rumors that the blood crystal on his crown is an incredibly powerful spellcasting focus.

While the role of the nobility is far smaller within the government of Crimsonia due to the parliamentary system, the old noble houses of the land still hold considerable power and wealth. Some of the notable noble houses of Crimsonia are:

• The House of Sombra, who are the ruling house of the empire.

• The House of Mistgleam, founded by Grand General Zoan Mistgleam.

• The House of Brennach, who were the rulers of the Queendom of Ruskerton.

• The House of Olcaster, who were the rulers of the Kingdom of Olymbos.

• The House of Medhyr, who were the rulers of the Kingdom of Hyrdem.

• The House of Hightower, who rebuilt the old lighthouse of Sombus.

• The House of Volo, who were the richest family of the Holy Republic of Alverona.

• The House of Blackwood, who founded the Blackwood Institute of Science.

• The House of Jasivez, who were the richest family of the Jasivian Republic.

Goals

The Crimson Empire aims to have a country that has equal opportunity for all races, bringing peace and prosperity to the land once more. They see themselves as the true successor to the Temporal Empire and aim to bring a golden age to Aurial once more. While they have freedom of religion enshrined within their constitution, Jakunism is the state religion of the country.

The Crimson Empire also believes in freedom of the market, and this proto-capitalist philosophy has led to an intense period of growth and industrialization of the capital city of Sombus.

While the Crimson Army is formidable and known for their famous Faithkeepers, the Crimson Navy is quite possibly the largest naval power on Abmarah. Their ship of the lines like the The Columbine are the largest seafaring vessels to have ever existed on the planet.

Relationships

The Crimsons have historically aligned their alliance with the other Jakunist nations of the Great Kingdom of Terros and the Imperium Aeternum. These Jakunists were allied during the The Great Aurian War of 3E215, and are still close allies.

The Empire has had a historically tense and adversarial relationship with the neighboring Lunar Collective after the Great War and their independence from the Crimsons. The two nations have similar strengths as well as a deep-rooted hatred of each other. Their differing ideologies also cause a lot of friction, and it seems that war could break out between them very easily if even one thing goes wrong.

They have a neutral yet somewhat tense relationship with the Cinoh Shogunate. While they tried to ally with them in the past, the Cinohans' intervention in the Siege of Tikius in 3E452 and dedication to building up their navy has made them a competitor within the Blood Sea.

Military

The Crimson Navy is famous for its warships, and has many Crimson Frigates stationed all across the Blood Sea. Their ship of the line, the The Columbine, is the largest sailing ship ever constructed on Abmarah, and is commanded by Grand Admiral Isabeau.

The Crimson Military structure is as follows:

Order of the Faithkeepers

Among the Crimson ranks are the iconic Faithkeepers—a trained order of spellblades known to wield both sword and flame together. Their dark armors and helmets make them distinct from other soldiers. The Order started as a Jakunic Holy Order of Knights in the early third era separate from the government, but slowly over time was absorbed into the military structure as a separate and more specialized infantry path from the traditional 'redcoats'. A captain of the same rank could either be a typical redcoat or a faithkeeper depending on their skills.

Despite being Crimson troops, the Faithkeeper Order is interlinked with the Jakunic Church through its history and actions, hence the name. Even as knighthood turned into an exclusive honor instead of a rank within the Empire, the Faithkeepers continued to be regarded with the respect equivalent to the knights of Terros. Though, despite their theocratic link to the Church, the Order is said to be more loyal to Sombra than Alsorion. While any warrior or mage can sign up to be a Faithkeeper, most of them are recruited from the Carminus Universum's spellblade graduates.

Flameguards

One of the specialized divisions of Faithkeepers are known as Flameguards, who instead of specializing in both melee combat and magic focus instead on mastery of pyromancy. They are more 'armored mages' than true spellblades.

Faithforged

In addition to humanoids, the Order also has a division called the Faithforged that consists of Warforged and Automatons. These Faithforged and Siegeforged units were designed and produced by Dr. Volnax Blackwood I of the Blackwood Institute in Jasiv. After considerable controversy and debate regarding automaton rights, they stopped producing Faithforged themselves and now only have existing automatons sign up for the division of their own accord. The Faithforged have many modifications that improve their combat strength, as well as some innate spells. This division is said to be as old as the oldest Warforged, going back all the way to the The Great Aurian War and the creation of the race.

History

After the Cometfall, the region that is now known as the Crimson Empire recovered slowly as compared to other places on Abmarah. Its northern expanse was untamed grasslands, and its southern half covered in a wet equatorial forest broadly divided into the Olymbian Woodlands (also known as the Everbloom Forest) and the Everswamp. Over time, old and new city-states alike rose up here in southeastern Aurial: The Kingdom of Olymbos, the Kingdom of Hyrdem, the Holy Republic of Alverona, the Kingdom of Dawress, and the Jasivian Republic. These small kingdoms and maritime republics were not particularly powerful and had a hard time taming the wilderness of the region. They also had vastly different cultures, with italian-inspired cultures of Alverona, the celtic-inspired cultures of the woodlands, the germanic-inspired cultures of the grasslands, and the spanish-inspired culture of the isles.

In 2E464, the Kingdom of Hyrdem was conquered by the Kingdom of Olzaria from the north, but regained its independence within the year due to the in-fighting among the Olzarians. It restructured itself as the Queendom of Ruskerton. In 2E589 after a peasant revolt, the Kingdom of Olymbos reformed into the Olymbian Federation. All of these minor kingdoms and republics that rose and fell in these centuries were not going to last long however, as the Sombre Dynasty rose to the surface.

The Sombre Dynasty was a small empire of Drow in the Sombre Lands below modern-day Sombus in the Underdark. Led only by the merit of its royal heirs, it came under the control of a young drow named Sakaii Sombra. A male prince in the matriarchal drow society, he made a pact with the archdevil Krros to become his warlock. A dark mage, he destroyed his sisters and rose to become a conqueror. However, unlike his complacent predecessors, he set his sights on the surface. Leading his armies up, he quickly conquered the fishing village known as Sunfort, taking over its dilapidated fortress and naming it his new capital. Ruling with fear, his armies cut down the swamps and forests of this shore and conquered the Olymbian Federation by force. Instead of using the city of Olymbos as his palace, he chose to build the city of Sombus where Sunfort once stood, directly above his old capital.

"NEVERAGAIN. Neveragain shall my drow be forced to live under Abnor. Do not mourn Sombus. Do not try to return to Sombus. Do not demean your worth by venturing back. Leave your pride and false homeland behind, for we do not belong down there, for your house and your belonging is a noble eladrin lie. We now RISE to the surface, we now abandon Sombus of old, and we now shall BUILD a new Sombus. My sisters lay dead. Our queens are no more. Having sold my soul to Tartarus, your former prince now leads your souls to the light. By decree of I, your KING SOMBRA, we abandon the crystal-home forevermore. 1597."
—An inscription of Sombra's speech on an obsidian obelisk at the sealed elevator that brought the drow up to the surface, north of Noxham.

Some time after his conquest of Olymbos, something changed. This early origin is lost to time and rumors, with many different stories of what happened next. Some say that he had a premonition of a dark future and acted to prevent it, while some claim that he saw the plight of humanity in his new subjects and softened up. One rumor even claims that he had lost someone close to him, causing him to view the world with new eyes. Regardless of the truth, Sombra did have a change of heart. He turned against his patron, Krros, and lived to see it.

Formally apologizing to his new subjects in an event that has now come to be known as the 'Red Signing', he wrote the system of government that the Crimson Empire follows to this day. He disbanded the nobility and gave up much of his supreme power, forming a group of advisors representing all the different groups of races in his new empire. Beyond just conquest for the sake of conquest, he had a new goal for his lifetime- to bring order to these chaotic lands. Pontiff Aeron IV of the Imperium Aeternum blessed Sombra, absolving him of his sins and crowning him as a new Emperor under Jakuna's light. This day, in the third year of the third era, marked the beginning of the Holy Crimson Empire of Sombus. With his ten founding knights as generals, he continued his conquest.

Whatever his noble goals may have been, the violent conquest of southern Aurial continued. The Empire conquered and subjugated the Queendom of Ruskerton over the next decade, as well as taking over much of the Jasivian Sea. Over the next hundred years, the Everswamp and the foothills of the Kosmosi Mountains were incorporated into the Empire as well including the destruction of Derglin and the vassalization of Alverona and Dawress.

Through 3E138 to 3E140, the western push into Aurial involved the Crimson Empire entering the Cinder Steppe and conquering the Kingdom of Vanadia and the Kingdom of Kalki-Rtutia. However, they were not able to push further into the steppe and their hold over it was tenuous. In 3E215 less than a century later, these conquered Cinderan kingdoms rebelled in what has come to be known as the Lunar Revolution, a part of what ultimately became the Great Aurian War. The war was more successful for the allied Great Kingdom of Terros in the north than the Crimson Empire in the south, as they lost their Cinderan territories after Sombra was defeated by St. Arbal in the Battle of Titanigrad in 3E223. Since then, the borders of the Crimson Empire have generally been static being marked by Dobuka in the west and the Etasch River in the north. So far, the islands of the Blood Sea have been the only thing the two great powers have fought over in the centuries to come.

Ruling with respect, Emperor Sombra is almost deified as god-like in his kingdom. The masses only hear of him as this tragic and heroic figure who was a tyrant that changed his views and now serves the people and the gods. Some hear rumors of Emperor Sombra as a paranoid man, hoarding legendary and magical artifacts of power in the Red Tower 'to keep them out of ill hands'. While Sombra remains a shadowy figure looming above the empire, more popular in the public eye are his two children: Prince Tenemu 'Mu' Sombra, a young and handsome drow; and Princess Sabrae 'Sloe' Sombra, a half-dragon drow who is next in line for the throne. Despite his two children, the Emperor has never married and there has never been an empress or queen of the nation.

At the same time, the city of Sombus has grown into second biggest city on Abmarah and possibly the most 'modern' one. The cosmopolitan city has become the unofficial 'center of Abmarah' in a very aurio-centric view of the world. With its hundreds of skyscrapers and grand bridges, the city shines as a beacon of mortalkind as a true sucessor to Ikariyus. It is said to sit on the heart of a magical leyline, which might've been one of the reasons for its location back in the day.