Andreon Empire

The birth of the Andreon Empire has its roots in Merfolk succession. At some point in the mid 400s, one of the Merfolk Kingdoms of Ifyrial had a particularly violent succession crisis. On one side of the war was Andreon, but despite his best efforts Andreon was defeated by his opponents. In Piscimar culture, most members of the opposite side of a civil war are executed, alongside, of course, Andreon. Gathering the remnants of his army and his loyal followers, Andreon fled rather than face this fate. After wandering the southern seas for several years and existing on the fringes of the Merfolk world, Andreon and his followers risked everything to travel to the burned seas of Yyradayn. These oceans had been totally devastated by the Great Calamity just four centuries earlier, and the Merfolk of the region had fled to and integrated themselves into the societies of Ifyrial. The destabilization brought by the waves of refugees as well as some of the fallout reaching Ifyrial had actually begun the cycle of violence that ended in the civil war. Now, finding the oceans no longer clogged with filth and harmful to life, Andreon proclaimed that this would be a great place to establish a new kingdom and settled his followers. After 30 years in this new location Andreon proclaimed the kingdom would henceforth be known as an empire. Though the population of this new empire was incredibly low, the Merfolk had started trading with human tribes along the coast and had become rather wealthy. Insulated by being the only underwater nation for many miles, their population would slowly begin to grow.
In 336 B.C., around a hundred and twenty five years after the Andreonids had arrived in Yyradayn, they would encounter the Rayisudi. Valen I Andreonid, the ruler of the Andreons at this time and Andreon's son, spearheaded efforts to obtain goods from land in exchange for (mostly) foodstuffs, which were naturally in great demand in the scorched lands of Yyradayn. The Andreonids would enjoy a thousand years of peace, exporting to the Rayisudi and occasionally further afield. Despite this peace, the Andreonids kept their military reasonably modernized, as they always feared an invasion by the Ifyrialn Merfolk, but in terms of absolute power they were exceedingly weak. The Andreonids would later become more isolated as trade with the Rayisudi became less profitable, and sourced goblin slaves from Gnomish traders to produce goods instead. Many members of the court came to believe that the Rayisudi were transmitting diseases to them and therefore scorned contact with them, thus discouraging other from doing so and necessitating the change in exports. They also fended off several invasions by Ifyrialn Merfolk during this period, and their military became more powerful, but they suffered instability as a result of the death from these wars.

In 1033 S.C., the royal court of the Andreon Empire was struck by a particularly harsh strain of [tbd], killing important members of the Andreon court, including the reigning monarch. This left Zumazil III Andreonid in charge. A heretic and nephew of the previous king, he was unpopular among the Andreons. The much-maligned Zumazil III would be assassinated in 1045 S.C. at the age of 52, leaving behind a very unclear succession. Opponents to his reign had been pestering him for some time to abdicate in favor of his younger brother Durnio, but Zumazil had a very young daughter as well. Though Merfolk law bans female monarchs, Zumazil had ignored this fact and named the daughter his heir, something that angered his detractors even further and may have prompted his assassination. Claiming to represent both his own claim and the claim of his niece, Zumazil's brother would take the throne as "Lord Protector". Shortly after this, a Merfolk lowborn would show up at the court claiming he was the bastard son of Zumazil and that it was in fact his right to be king. The highest ranking Andreon nobles and legal experts would convene in the capital in order to deliberate over the matter of succession, presided over by Lord Durnio. This would receive criticism from the backers of the other claimants and the council would force Durnio to stand down as chairman. Durnio took this extremely poorly and claiming that the council were "stooges of a lowborn fraud" he stormed the capital with loyal forces and arrested the council himself. This action would prompt a strong response from the backers of both his opponents (Princess Illiola Andreon and Freeman Arlun Andreon) who would jointly proclaim themselves loyal to the rule of law and opposed to Durnio. Despite their advantage in terms of troops, both would consistently infight which would eventually lead to Arlun charging Durnio's lines without the support of Illiola's factoion. This charge was a disaster; Arlun was killed and his army routed, forcing Illiola's faction to fall back as well. Confident in his victory and having crushed his adult rival, Durnio would return to the capital to replenish his army before confronting Illiola's backers. Unfortunately for Durnio, while he was gone someone had planted a magical bomb that was triggered upon his triumphant return to the capital. This bomb killed him, his entire family, and scores of important nobles, leaving Illiola as the only legal heir. At this point, however, the war was about far more than who was the rightful Emperor. Nobility backing the losing faction could expect to be executed, or else they would have to flee as Andreon had. Durnio's allies preferred to fight to the death instead of submit. When Illiola died of illness in 1050 S.C., shortly before her 7th birthday, there would be no more legitimate candidates for succession and the Empire would fall to pieces.