The Ancient Empire

<Early Spell Culture>

[ Added 09/07/21 ]

400 BS Kingdom of Hahn established in what is now Lordless Land The City-State of Hahn, located near the Anath River basin in the Central Plains of the Eastern Continent, suddenly asserts its power through the use of Quells. It becomes a Kingdom after subjugating the surrounding City-States.
341 BS Kingdom of Hahn controls the Central Plains The Kingdom of Hahn possesses many Quells and implements military tactics that utilize Spells. The Central Plains are unified under the overwhelming might of Hahn military forces. Afterwards, Hahn invades Finney Island and in 320 BS, advances toward the Merchmin Region.
320 BS Invasion of Merchmin begins
272 BS Kingdom of Hahn seizes control of Merchmin The Merchmin Region, which was slow to learn about Spells when this knowledge spread through the Central Plains, easily falls to the forces wielding Quells.
121 BS Kingdom of Hahn invades the Grand Teille After conquering Merchmin, the Kingdom of Hahn focused on maintaining its domestic infrastructure. With its military forces in good order, the Kingdom of Hahn continued south in 121 BS, beginning their invasion of the Grand Teille.
1 BS The last royal family of the Grand Teille is defeated at Grand Valley The Kingdom of Hahn continues their campaign to conquer many countries and clashes with the final Kingdom of the Grand Teille at Grand Valley. It is an easy victory for Hahn.
First Year of the Empire Founding of the Hahn Empire In the year following the victory at Grand Valley, the Kingdom of Hahn declared itself an Empire ruling over the Eastern Continent. The Hahn Empire was established at the Imperial Capital and the modern calendar created.
64 Construction of the first stone bridge at Grand Valley begins
100 First stone bridge complete at Grand Valley Completion of the stone bridge makes advancing into the southern frontier of Weissland possible. An expeditionary force is organized in the year 101.
101 First Weissland Expedition
107 Long drought on the Southern Continent (107〜124)
122 Reclamation of the Grand Teille desert begins
c. 200 Original Anima Faith established
211 Era of the Five Great Emperors ends The death of the Emperor marks the end of nearly 100 years of rule under five generations of great Emperors.
266 Coliseum in the Imperial Capital complete
301 Weissland Expedition resumes Political support was low, with complacent nobles reclaiming funds to fuel their own selfish desires. The Expedition resumes after nearly 200 years.
374 The Juvenalis Rebellion – Gladiators revolt in the Imperial Capital
The Grand Valley Rebellion – Laborers at Grand Valley revolt		 Slaves and people thrown into forced labor at Grand Valley and gladiators imprisoned in Thermes revolt at the same time. This marks the beginning of the decline of the Empire.
392 Sixth Weissland Expedition
400 The rightful heir moves to the Southern Continent The descendant of the Five Great Emperors loses the succession war and moves to the Southern Continent. This incident sparks a mass migration away from the political turmoil of the Eastern Continent.
445 The entire Grand Teille rebels
453 First Battle of Hahn – The Grand Teille Alliance goes to the Imperial Capital
464 Second Battle of Hahn – Merchmin Region secedes from the Empire
465 Third Battle of Hahn
465 Fall of the Hahn Empire After three battles in the Imperial Capital, the Hahn Empire falls in the year 465.


♦ Founding of the Empire (400 BS 〜 Beginning of the Common Era) ♦

The Hahn Empire originated from a City-State in the central part of the Eastern Continent, located roughly 15 kilometers from the estuary of the Anath River. Though overlooking the river, the town was in a hilly area and not by any means prosperous.


Development of Hahn

400 BS

The City-State of Hahn suddenly rose to power around the year 400 BS thanks to the power of Quells. Before then, Quells were scarce in the Central Plains (around what is now Lordless Land) and it was impossible for the various countries to obtain them in large quantities. The situation changed around 370 BS, however, when the Independent City Alliance sent an expeditionary force to Merchmin and Finney Island. That was when feudal lords of Hahn found Quells buried underneath ruins discovered on Finney Island. Hahn seized control of the Central Plains and annexed Finney Island in 341 BS. Then the many Quells excavated from Finney Island were used to expand the power of Hahn.


Quells utilized in combat

300’s BS 〜

Quells certainly contributed to the sudden growth of Hahn. However, the most interesting point of note is how they were exclusively used to strengthen Hahn military forces. The first Quells discovered in Weissland were treated as mysterious ritual objects. This meant in theory that only the leaders of villages and tribes were able to utilize them for combat purposes. In Hahn, however, Quells were given to all commanding officers and military leaders.

This made it possible to carry out more complex strategies. The sheer number of Quells on hand and their high levels of power gave Hahn an overwhelming advantage in combat.

The results have been recorded in history. Certainly there were many strong Kingdoms in the Grand Teille which used Quells imported from Weissland. However, the Kingdom of Hahn continued to make rapid progress. The final battle with Laubholz in particular demonstrated how Quells were used to achieve a resounding victory for Hahn.

And a year after Laubholz fell, the Kingdom of Hahn declared itself an Empire.



♦ Rise and Fall of the Empire
(Beginning of the Common Era 〜 465) ♦

The founding of the Hahn Empire brought an era of prosperity. Maintaining the social infrastructure of the newly acquired lands increased domestic demands. Outfitting cities with the latest technology and servicing the roads linking them enriched the lives of the people and increased the wealth of the regions.


Weissland Expedition

101

While the infrastructure was being reworked, the Empire continued the construction of a stone bridge at Grand Valley, its completion coinciding with the 100th year of the Empire. This was in preparation for the planned southern expedition. The Empire already held control of the Grand Teille, but their true desire was to send military forces south to Weissland, where Quells were originally discovered. Another reason for the expedition was to obtain Quells which they believed could be unearthed in Weissland. And in the year 100, the first stone bridge was complete and the first expedition launched toward Weissland.

Imperial forces were able to march peacefully though Weissland, which had no countries of its own to oppose them. Many Quells were unearthed, making the expedition a success, and brought the most prosperous era of the Empire in terms of wealth and politics.

Discontent among the people and two rebellions

374

In the 300’s, the gap widened between those with Quells and those without and the aristocratic lifestyle became even more corrupt. Nobles stole from the people and found various ways to oppress them. Naturally the people rebelled and began forming anti-Imperial factions, but the nobles still held the upper hand thanks to the Quells in their possession.

While discontent grew among the people, two separate rebellions broke out. One was a rebellion of those imprisoned and forced to fight each other in the coliseum while the other was an uprising of those forced to work on construction of the stone bridge at Grand Valley.

The rebellion at the Imperial Capital was quelled in a matter of days. However, the rebellion at Grand Valley spread to nearby provinces and Imperial forces had to be dispatched to handle it. This was a major display of weakness for the Empire and signaled the end of its downfall.


Fall of the Empire

465

Many sensible people left for the Southern Continent as the Empire continued to weaken. Riots broke out everywhere that could not be suppressed and even the feudal lords began to distance themselves. Finally, in 445, the entire Grand Teille rose up in rebellion. The Empire was powerless to resist the sudden large-scale uprising and forced to evacuate and retreat. In 453, the Grand Teille forces finally reached the Imperial Capital. The countries of Merchmin at one point offered aid and refuge. But after the Merchmin region seceded from the Empire in 464, the Imperial Capital was yet again besieged. And in 465, after 3 days of chaos in the streets, the Empire fell.



Rapid advances in Spell research

Amidst the fighting from 400 BS onward, Hahn made rapid advancements in Quell research. Basing their knowledge on incidents happening across the world and how the recently completed great monuments had utilized Quells, Hahn researchers sought Spells that could be weaponized, such as those which could intentionally cause rampaging Anima. By the time the Empire was established, this research had progressed to the point where Hahn could build enormous stone structures and use Quells for automated technology that improved quality of life to degrees never before imagined.

Naturally, there was also research into combat applications, which was used to improve the power of the Imperial forces. Tactics were devised for both direct and indirect usage of Spells.



Flight of the successor and the people

After the Nika Rebellion in 374, the discontent of the people poured out in a flood. This revealed the true corruption of the Empire. Even under such circumstances, however, there were many nobles who were only interested in securing social status and amassing their own wealth. Nobles in the Imperial Capital also ignored the people, instead wasting away the hours debating politics.

The Emperor died amid this chaos in the year 400. He had no children and succession wars immediately broke out. The one who was most concerned about the state of affairs was a descendant of the Five Great Emperors. He was popular among the citizens and a brilliant politician. However, he hated the succession wars and moved to the Southern Continent with his retinue.

When news spread that the descendant of the Five Great Emperors had crossed to the Southern Continent, many people and nobles forsook the Empire and followed him across the sea.



■ Summary of the History of Quells

The Ruling Classes

The use of Quells in Hahn military campaigns began around the era 400 BS with the conflict between “those with Quells” and “those without Quells”. Hahn kept hold of its superior power, resulting in an overwhelming victory and domination of the surrounding countries. Afterwards, Hahn became an Empire.

This led to the trend of Quells being viewed as tools of war. The special power contained within Quells was once again worshipped by soldiers, bureaucrats, and religious folk. After the formation of the Empire, possession of Quells had a great influence on social status.

For nobles of the Empire, possessing Quells was essential as proof of their status. These Quells were passed down through generations of heirs. Those who could not inherit Quells had to find new ones to attain high status. For this reason, many people went to great lengths to obtain the mysterious power of Quells and became aristocrats or gained wealth almost overnight. It was also around this time that the occupation of Digger, those whose job was to search for Quells, was created.

There was not an infinite number of Quells, however. Inferior copies and fakes began to flood the market alongside genuine Quells. But strangely enough, even the copies and fakes held some amount of power.

The appearance of these fakes greatly advanced Quell research. Hahn had actively started researching Quells around the year 200 BS. By the time it became an Empire, Hahn was already capable of using Quells to construct massive buildings. The introduction of fake Quells laid the groundwork for new techniques not using Quells.