Seleucarian Empire

The Seleucarian Empire was the culmination of Divine vision and the efforts of Nikolas, a young Theran idealist, to found a utopian civilization where people of all nations could put aside their differences and live in peace. A charismatic leader, Nikolas led his followers on a long, arduous journey through the mountains in search of his dream, a place he called Seleucar.

The struggling settlement of Seleucar was given purpose one dark night as Nikolas wandered into the jungle and found himself in the presence of Sarapis. The Logos granted him a vision of an unimaginable darkness which would descend upon the world, and charged him with saving Sapience from this impending Black Wave. Thus was Nikolas renamed Nicator, Emperor of Seleucar, and given the golden staff of Sarapis, before returning to his people and sharing with them their new direction.

The Army of Seleucar grew quickly. The Mhun of Moghedu, to whom Nicator had bequeathed the secret of amar moss, pledged their entire race's loyalty to the Empire for two generations; the trolls of the Mannaseh Swamp soon joined as well. From there the army marched to Shallam, whose Emperor surrendered the city after only two hours, and then to Ashtan, where after a mighty battle Seleucar once again triumphed. This time of conquering and expansion is occasionally referred to as the White Wave.

So soon after its founding, the Empire of Seleucar seemed to be in peril. Nicator grew old while his armies grew great, and when he died there was much mourning. In his lifetime many called him a madman, even as the Seleucarian Empire expanded and brought prosperity to the land. His leadership overcame the fears of those who doubted the Empire's calling, but after his passing the voices of dissent began to rise. Heir to the throne was Piraeus, who pledged to continue his father's mission of preparations against the Black Wave, but so intangible was this threat that many could not see reason in preparing against a non-existent enemy.

Finally the day came when the years of preparation were justified. From the depths of the earth came the twisted armies of the Tsol'teth, bent solely on the destruction of Seleucar and the entirety of the surface world. In the War of the Deeps the mighty forces of Seleucar pushed back the Black Wave, fulfilling Nicator's charge of long ago.

Following the Black Wave, the whole of Sapience was united under the success of the Seleucarian Empire. Though the individual provinces within the empire maintained their differences, in particular Ashtan and Shallam, the strength of the Empire itself was enough to sustain peace for over 400 years.

Trouble crept up, as is the eventuality, with the untimely death of King Valerias, four centuries after the Black Wave. The dilemma of who would next rule the Selucarian Empire lay between his two children, Catarin and Mycale deSangre, a question which led to the Wars of Succession, the discovery of the Staff of Nicator, and the re-emergence of the dark powers of the Tsol'teth that had been thought destroyed in the War of the Deeps.

Following the Wars of Succession, the rule of Catarin the Just was yet again one of prosperity, but the same cannot be said for scholarship and history in those times. Much of the history of the late Seleucarian Empire is unknown until its fall many years later, and the beginning of the Modern Age.