Sitting next to the Steppes, the Jorvin Empire begins at the edge of the vast grasslands and sweeps west and south. To the north it is bounded by the Ice Claw sea, which draws in to the Ice Princedoms bordering the Tundra, and at the south by the Maiden river, which rises in the Greycap Mountains and proceeds west and south to the Silver Sea. In the west the Empire peters out as it meets other kingdoms. Military resistance rather than anything else prevents further expansion. Overall the Empire runs about 700 miles from east to west and 600 from north to south.
This does not stop the Empire from claiming sovereignty over other lands, and the Emperor's voice is one of the strongest in the western kingdoms, rivalled only by the Church's leaders in its authority. A number of other states owe fealty to the Wolf Throne, or are claimed specifically as lands belonging to the Emperor. Hence the Ice Princedoms and the previous situation with Allreyd, where the king was a keen supporter of the Empire. Hence too the throne's insistence that the Jorn Isles to the north west are part of the Empire, even after the awakening of Ember the Thrice Cursed and the driving out humans from all but the most peripheral of the islands.
The Empire has the clout to make most of its claims stick, too. It raises levies of soldiers from its peasantry and nobles, imposing taxes on anyone who fails to provide troops in times of war (the revenue from this usually goes to hire mercenaries). In addition the Wolf Throne has created five orders of knights, which are invested in the capital, Gruchstadt; and are specifically committed to the Emperor's security. The Wolf Order, the oldest of them, is specifically dedicated to keeping the Emperor alive, and was founded after an assassination attempt early in the Empire's history. Other orders focus on specific threats; though the largest, the Order of the Rose, is simply a regiment of strong warriors. Privately some members will admit that the various orders are more social clubs than anything serious, but the members are also required to be elite soldiers, and to have enough money to pay for equipment of a certain quality, which elevate them beyond the reach of the common fighting man.
A fleet of ships patrols the Ice Claw Sea, ostensibly looking for pirates and is homed in the port city of Landungstadt, where the first of the Jorn refugees made landfall in the area, before there was an Empire. Now it is dominated by thick city walls and a castle to defend the ship yards whilst artificial reefs have created a hazardous channel into the port that forces ships to depend upon the city's pilots to gain access. Whether or not these measures are justified is a matter of debate, but the Jorvin Emperors have always invested heavily in defence, perhaps with a weather eye towards the land they abandoned, lest the wyrm should seek out new prey.
The Empire also draws on the services of the Wizard Families, though this is not a matter of fealty. The Families contract their services to the Wolf Throne for specific purposes, whether that's warfare, security, or simply undertaking work that requires their specialist knowledge. All nobles, mayors and burghers may hire magical assistance, and this forms one of the cornerstones of the Families power, both economically and in terms of how wizards are perceived by the public. Because they are associated with the Throne, and various Manors, even the most anti magic people tend to leave them alone, out of fear for the possible reprisals.
In terms of terrain the Empire is mixed, thick forests lie to the south, and are said to be the home of elves or dryads, though nobody can confirm that; if there are non humans dwelling in the forest, they don't advertise themselves. Their presence is more a belief, based on the condition of certain, ancient trees which are sometimes found garlanded with flowers and carved wooden tools. The east is a mixture of hills and plains, and is rich in ores, as are the Greycap mountains which provide much of the Empire's iron deposits. The west provides rich farmland, earning it the title of the Empire's bread basket, growing wheat, barley and other grains, in addition to the bulk of vegetables. Meat production is more common in the east, where the hills allow for sheep grazing, but the west is known for its pigs and oxen. The west is also rife with marshes, which are the home of mosquitoes, and of the Marsh Men, a species of near feral water dwellers who raid the nearby homes. A series of lakes sits almost in the very centre of the Empire, providing the Imperial Court with their winter palace when they withdraw from the capital.
The Empire's climate provides heavy winters, where rivers and lakes freeze thickly enough for markets to be held on the ice, and hot summers blighted with mosquitoes and storms. Spring and autumn tend towards wet but sunny, and its this mix that makes the Empire's farms so productive.
The people in the Empire draw from a number of different races and tribes. The Jorn (pronounced Yorn) are the most well known, having risen from refugees to rulers in the space of one hundred years. In doing so they conquered the other tribes, who at the time of their arrival dwelt peacable, trading with one another and only warring on occasion. They were held to their peace by the local version of the Church, which promulgated the virtues of peace and prosperity. The Jorn are a tall race, black haired and dark eyed, which contrasts with their milk white skin.
The next most prosperous people are the Gullson (pronounced Goollson), the people of the west. Strongly built with blonde hair and blue eyes being dominant in their ranks, they are an agrarian people for the most part. They have spread throughout the Empire, naturally, and can be found in most major cities, often in roles connected with the food grown in the west. The Gullson also went on to found a kingdom in the west, which has thus far resisted the Empire's attempts at expansion.
The south is populated by the Marlson, who are shorter and less powerfully built than the Gullson, but share their blonde hair and blue eyes, whilst the east is divided between the Javin (Yavin), named for the river that runs through their ancestral lands, and the Ralzad, a horse tribe that has settled in Empire, and provides them with their horses. The people here are smaller and darker than their western cousins and speak both the Jorn of the official imperial business and their own dialects, something that has largely died out in the west.
In addition to this the Empire is home to refugees, adventurers and nomads, people looking for a new home, or a quick buck. People from Sharoban, the Steppes, even the Tundra, fetch up inside the Empire's borders, admittedly something that's easier to do now that the Empire is expanding out onto the Steppe itself, in search of land for its sons and daughters. Other travellers have also made their way though, some of them quite surprising. In addition to people from Allreyd, or the Jorn Isles, and other kingdoms there are rumours of non humans who are not tied to the places where their people made the pact. These has included stories of a woman who seemed to have slightly wooden appearance, and according to reports melded with the forests with alarming ease. There are reports of cat people along the Maiden River, often working as merchants and dock workers, and the Marsh Men have been known to undertake their own mysterious journeys. These last have seldom been well received, and its rare for their journeys to be a success; there is a standing bounty on their heads in the western part of the Empire, and they are often shot on sight.
Despite this parts of the Empire prove to be as much melting pots as Sharoban, and there are ghettos in almost every Jorvin city. Integration comes harder here, the Empire's perspective on the world makes them haughty and creates barriers to outsiders. As a result ghettos are the most popular solution, one supported by the nobility and the forces of law and order. Where there aren't enough of one race to create a ghetto, they tend to end up shoehorned into an pre-existing ghetto and left to get on with it. As a result areas in cities that are nominally dedicated to one community, end up having more diversity than the areas outside them. It creates tensions however and it is not uncommon for the ghettos to see their own violence as long standing communities object to newcomers. Crimes of this nature are often overlooked, allowing the perpetrators to get away with it scot free.
Next time we'll examine the politics of the Empire, and how the Wolf Throne retains command.
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