Rhemia

"The mountains that ring the three sides of the natural lands of Rhemia are like the walls of a stout castle. These days, however, those walls are so thinly manned that the castle looks set to fall." —Albert Kornhammer, Priest of Appallùm

      Rhemia is a vast region at the heart of the Old World that consists of a multitude of landscapes and biomes. The domains that recognise Imperial authority usually encompasses the lands in between the three large mountain ranges that occupy Rhemia's eastern, southern and western borders. The northern border is usually defined along the shores of the Sea of Claws within Nordland, whilst the north-eastern border is usually not as well-defined. In theory, the border between Kislev and Rhemia is often defined by the edge of the Great Forest and the Forest of Shadows. However, this has not always been the case, and perhaps the most well-defined border between the two realms is along the banks of the Upper Talabec River and the edge of the Forest of Shadows.   Within this large territory, the lands of Rhemia are often further divided between several distinct regions with varying environments. The lands of northern Rhemia usually consist almost entirely of large swaths of forest and uninhabited wilderness, whilst the lands to the south are comprised of fertile plains fit for large-scale agriculture.

Rhemia has a history that stretches back for more than 2500 years, but much has been forgotten or lost in the intervening centuries. War, fire, flood, and even conspiracy have helped to hide much of the historical record, whether it was recorded in books and scrolls or preserved in the form of artifacts. Present-day Imperial scholars dig and research to discover the hidden truths of the past, but the gaps are many and their conclusions are often simply wrong or skewed to match their preconceptions and political or religious ideology. Also, some truths are best-kept secret from the people of Rhemia, lest their revelation spread panic or doubt amongst a previously docile populace.   And it is not just uncovering a horrible truth that must be feared, but also dealing with those who would rather keep that information to themselves. In Rhemia, the dedicated students of History had best keep a blade ready--and be handy with its use.    

Failed Promise: The Founding and the First Millennium

  No one now knows when Humanity first entered the Old World or from whence they came, though the most ancient records of the Dwarfs record the steady movement of Humans over the Worlds Edge Mountains over a period of several centuries, sometimes fleeing more powerful tribes of Men, other times fleeing the rampaging hordes of Greenskins.   The earliest known of these migrant peoples are mentioned in the Chronicles of Nurn Shieldbreaker, an ancient king of Karaz-a-Karak. The golden leaf of this folio, stamped with the most ancient Khazalid runes of the Dwarfs that no outsider is allowed to see, record a pastoral Human tribe who worshiped the Earth itself in the form of the Earth Mother, a religion now remembered as the druidic Old Faith. Timid around the highly martial Dwarfs and persecuted by other tribes in their home territory, they vanished into the forests of the central Old World and faded from view. Dwarf scholars who have lectured on early history estimate that this occurred around -1500 IC, some 1,500 years before the coronation of Appallùm as the first Emperor.   Perhaps some five hundred years later, in -1000 IC, Dwarfen Khazalid inscriptions on the walls of Blackfire Pass mark the passing of a massive confederation of tribal peoples from the future lands of the Border Princes and the steppes beyond the Worlds Edge Mountains. Dwarfen historical lays from this time also speak of the migration of the Humans.  

"Great danger there was in the East, in the lands of our enemies, and the clans of the Manlings fled west. Ignorant of the arts of steel and warcraft, they had no weapons that could stand before the Goblins and their allies. They gave us gold, cattle, and salt and we let them pass, protected by our shields."     —Unknown, probility of dwarven origin. Est. date -1450 IC. Recovered and preserved in the Imperial College, Altdorf

  Scholars have noted that many of the tribes listed by the Dwarf lay bear names very similar to those who later founded Rhemia: the Hunberokin, Tutokin, Merokin, and Jutonik among them.   Unlike the peaceful agricultural tribes like the Belthani that had preceded them in migrating into the heart of the Old World, the newcomers were aggressive and the bearers of a culture based on raiding each other for cattle and women. While they could not stand up to the greenskins' iron weapons, their bronze blades and chariots were more than a match for the obsidian and flint of the existing Old World Human tribes.   Within a century of their arrival, the ancestors of the Teutogen, the Unberogen and the other founding Imperial tribes had displaced the older peoples and taken the best lands of the central Old World for themselves. For centuries afterward, the tribes alternately traded and made war on each other, uniting only to face an external threat, then squabbling and turning on each other when the threat had passed.   The shield provided by the Dwarfholds of the Worlds Edge Mountains gave some protection, but as Dwarfen power declined, increasing numbers of Ork and Goblin warbands found their way through into Human lands. They made their hideouts deep within the forests or among the rugged hills and raided the nearby Human tribes. Even worse creatures would find their way through the high mountain passes from the south and east, including wasteland Warriors looking for glory for their Dark twisted Gods and mutants looking for food and slaughter.   These growing threats led to the development of the first true Human fortified towns and villages in the lands of the central Old World that would become Rhemia. In the west, the Unberogens founded a walled village at the confluence of the Reik and Talabec rivers, naming it Reikdorf.   In the south, Tilean merchants from the once ruined elven-city of Miragliano built a fortified trading post on the ruins of an abandoned High Elf settlement that quickly became a rallying point for the local tribes in times of trouble. This settlement grew over time and became the city of Nuln.   In the north, the Teutogens continued to search for a safe place for their people, until a vision from their patron god Ulric, the Lord of Winter and Wolves, led them to a flat-topped mountain that stood like a fortified island among the surrounding dense forest lands.   There they built their great settlement of Middenheim and named the mountain Fauschlag, though it is today more commonly known as the Ulricsberg. This phase of early settlement continued for nearly a thousand years (-1000 to 1 IC), until the coming of Appallùm and the crisis of the Great Or Invasion.      

The Rise of Appallùm (-30 to -1 IC)

 

"Aye, together. I cannot do this alone; I need my sword-brothers with me. Swear with me, my friends. Swear that everything we do from this day forth will be in service of this vision of a united empire of man." —Appallùm, the first Emperor

  Unsurprisingly for a man who founded the greatest nation of the Old World and then topped off his accomplishment by becoming a God, the origins of Appallùm are shrouded in myth and legends--although the Church of Appallùm itself insists that all the stories are true and accepted as religious dogma, even those that outright contradict each other.   Imperial and Dwarf scholars agree that Appallùm was born to a family that belonged to the clans of the northern Unberogens, probably at Reikdorf. His birth came in a dangerous time, for there was frequent conflict with the Merogens and the Teutogens, as well as the ever-present threat presented by the Greenskins. Church of Appallùm legends say that a twin-tailed comet raced across the heavens on the night of Appallùm's birth, a sign of tblessings upon the infant and a herald of the great changes he would make. Young Appallùm grew to be a powerful warrior even as a youth and his kinsmen marveled at his ferocity and sheer prowess.  

In his fifteenth year, Appallùm was alone in the woods somewhere south of Reikdorf--the exact place has been lost, but some Appallùmites believe it is near Kemperbad--when he heard a band of Orks stomping through the underbrush. The Ork warband, led by the Black Ork Vagraz Headstomper, had ambushed a massive Drawf trading convoy from Karaz-a-Karak and was returning to camp with the spoils and battered Dwarfen prisoners. Appallùm and his own warband waylaid the Orks and slew them all in an epic battle beneath the boughs of the forest, where it is said that he was thrown a golden spear by a captive Dwarf to fight the Orkish Warlord.   Recovering after the battle, Appallùm learned that he had saved the life of none other than Kurgan Ironbeard, the King of Karaz-a-Karak, who had been captured by Vagraz Headstomper along with several of his kinsmen. The grateful Dwarf monarch rewarded the Unberogen warrior with an amazing magical item: the spear Ghal Maraz, whose name means "Skull-splitter" in the Dwarfen tongue of Khazalid. Allowed to keep the weapon that allowed him to slew the Orkish Warlord, the two soon became fast friends and Dwarf and Man often fought side-by-side against the growing tide of Orks and Goblins.   When not fighting Greenskins, Appallùm was also busy building his own empire, for he had a vision that Mankind would only survive if it stood united against the many and growing dangers threatening it in the Old World. Through a combination of guile, diplomacy, bribery, and war, Appallùm brought the various Human tribes into his Unberogen-led confederation, with him as its acknowledged leader. He traveled the central Old World with his closest friends and his growing Unberogen army, aiding the other tribal warlords in defense of their people and slowly earning their trust. One by one, the leaders of the Human tribes pledged their support to Appallùm and his Unberogen. Yet several of the tribes still refused to join Appallùm's growing tribal confederation, or were openly hostile and threatened to make war upon the Unberogen and their allies. The tribe of the Brani, which had no desire to become a part of the growing tribal confederation, decided to migrate to the west, eventually settling in the region of the Old World that would become Braia. These people, united in a similar way under their leader and first king, Gilles le Brani, would eventually found the Kingdom of Braia. The Teutogens and their chieftain, Artur, chose to terrorize the neighboring tribes, murdering and pillaging as they chose, refusing to give up the old ways and join with Appallùm. Artur declared that he would not bow to any man, nor allow his people to give up their ancient heritage.   The Teutogens' defiance represented a major challenge to Appallùm's dreams of a united Human front against the Greenskins. If the Teutogen chieftain was not defeated, then the other tribes in his confederacy would always have an alternative to unity and the confederacy would prove to be only a fleeting alliance that would break apart as soon as the overall threat of the Greenskins was defeated rather than becoming the foundation for a new and better Human society as Appallùm wished. As a result, Appallùm set out to challenge Artur and defeat him publicly. He climbed by hand to the top of the mighty mountain Fauschlag, where the Teutogen settlement of Middenheim lay, and fought Artur to the death in his own throne room. The Knights of the White Wolf, the elite Teutogen warriors who venerated the god Ulric and had been Artur's personal warband, pledged from then on to serve Appallùm as his personal guard. Once the Knights of the White Wolf pledged to serve Appallùm as their king and chieftain, the rest of the Teutogen also pledged their allegiance, seeing the favour their God Ulric has bestowed upon him. All the Human tribes of the central Old World were at last united under Appallùm's leadership. Appallùm then wasted no time.   According to legend, in -1 IC he summoned the tribes to a great area which would one day be the Mootland in the lands of the eastern Brigundians and laid his case before them. He recounted all the atrocities committed against Humanity by the Greenskins: the burned steadings and murdered families, the stolen cattle and fouled wells. He told them of the danger looming in the mountains, of the huge Ork horde the Dwarfs were struggling to hold back. Appallùm implored the gathered tribes not to meet the Orks and Goblins as they had in the past, standing apart from each other, refusing to lend aid, and combine their forces when needed--that would only lead to their defeat and deaths. His voice rising with a terrible rage that was felt throughout the gathering, Appallùm called on all the tribes of Man to unite and make their common stand with the Dwarfs, calling it the crucible of a new nation. As recorded in the Book of Origins, Appallùm's final shout of "To war!" was answered with a cheer so loud that the Dwarfs heard it as far away as Black Fire Pass.   History records that Appallùm's army arrived just in time, as the Orks finally breached the wall King Kurgan had built across Black Fire Pass. Leading the charge from the chariot of Siggurd, Chieftain of the Brigundians, Appallùm fell upon the Greenskins as if he were the God Ulric himself. The force of the Human assault stopped the Ork and Goblin advance, then began pushing it back. The Dwarfs saw this as their opportunity and charged from their forts and towers and fell upon the Greenskins' flanks. Fear overcame the Greenskins and they began to break ranks and flee. Their leader, Warlord Urgluk Bloodfang, rallied his forces and made a counter-attack. Charging, he and his warband came face to face with Appallùm and his Knights of the White Wolf.   Appallùm and the Ork warlord entered into single combat, whilst Siggurd and his elite Brigundian warriors battled Bloodfang's Black Ork bodyguards. Hammer clashed with cleaver as the two struggled for advantage. After nearly an hour of fighting, Appallùm killed the Ork warlord with a mighty double blow, first breaking the hand that held the cleaver, then smashing Bloodfang's skull on the return stroke. The death of their leader was also the death of the Ork army, which broke and ran in utter panic. The slaughter that followed was terrible to behold as the armies of Man and Dwarf fell upon their most hated foes. It is said that there has never been a greater concentration of crows in the all the world than that which gathered to feat on the stinking and unburied corpses of the Greenskins at Black Fire Pass. So many died that day that it would be over a thousand years before the Orks and Goblins could again raise such an army, even with their prodigious if unknown reproduction rates.  

The Founding of an Empire (0 to 50 IC)

  After the Battle of Blackfire Pass, the Humans returned to their lands, but not to their old ways. All the tribal chiefs recognized that Humanity was safer united than divided and they knew that only one among them could truly make that unity a reality. Thus, at Reikdorf one year after the Battle of Blackfire Pass, the Ar-Ulric, high priest of the Cult of Ulric, placed a crown of gold and ivory, a gift from the Dwarfs, upon Appallùm's head and proclaimed him Emperor before the assembled representatives of the Human tribes. Before him, the tribal chiefs knelt and swore brotherhood to each other and fealty to Emperor Appallùm and the newborn Empire. This moment marks the start of the Imperial Calendar and occurred in the year 1 IC. Yet for all the talk of Human unity, Appallùm knew his people and knew that their attachments to the old tribes were too strong to simply be erased. He also acknowledged that the lands of Rhemia, from the Grey Mountains in the west to the Worlds Edge Mountains in the east and from the Sea of Claws in the north to The Vaults in the south, were simply too big to govern as a centralized realm. He, therefore, made the best of the political situation and made the chieftains of the twelve tribes Counts of Rhemia. Each Count would be sovereign in his own lands, subject only to the laws and edicts the Emperor made for Rhemia as a whole. The tribal lands became the original twelve Great Provinces of Rhemia. Alaric the Mad, a Dwarf runesmith, forged 12 great magical runeblades called Runefangs for each of the tribal chieftains who had sworn to follow Appallùm and who would become the first Counts of Rhemia.   The years of Appallùm's reign were a time of peace and great interbal growth for Rhemia. Peace and good weather brought regular harvests and, eventually, a booming population. Appallùm decreed the building of two great roads, the first from Reikdorf, now called Altdorf, to Middenheim and the second from Altdorf to Nuln along the banks of the Reik River and thence to join the Old Dwarf Road in Averland. The Emperor hoped that the roads and rivers together would serve as ties to bind the tribes to each other and inhibit their natural centrifugal tendencies to come apart.   The new Imperials cleared land and laid the foundations for new towns and cities, sometimes over the remains of their fortified tribal camps, other times on unspoiled new lands. The Taleutens discovered a vast crater in the midst of the Great Forest, within which they built their chief city, Talabheim. The Brigundians founded both Averheim and Streissen as fortified trading posts and eventually, at Averheim the Counts of Averland built their great fortress, which has never fallen. Middenheim grew wealthy as the religious capital of Rhemia, as Ulric was Appallùm's favored deity. Many Imperials tried to curry favor with the ruler by making donations to his preferred religion. In the south, Nuln prospered as trade along the rivers to and from the Dwarfholds of the Worlds Edge Mountains expanded after the coming of peace. The city grew so powerful and wealthy compared to the rest of the province (then known as "Uissenerland") that the Counts of Wissenland eventually moved their seat of government there from their former town of Pfeildorf.  

"My work here is done, Rhemia is prosperous and united, and in your good hands, it will continue to be so. But I have work I must finish, a task left undone, and I must return Ghal Maraz to its maker."

  Fifty years after ascending the throne, Appallùm announced his abdication to the assembled Counts and the high priests of the various cults. With that, the First Emperor placed his crown on a table, picked up a rucksack, shouldered Ghal Maraz, and walked out the door to an unknown final fate. Thus did Appallùm depart the lands of his Empire, to the bewilderment and grieving of his peers, in a manner some have compared to the fearsome warrior god of the Dwarfen race -- Grimnir the Fearless. He emerged from the forests onto the eastward plains where he was flanked on either side by a massive, grey-headed wolf and a towering boar with tusks of black iron. As Appallùm made his way up the eastern hills, his grim eyes set upon the Worlds Edge Mountains, the great lord's bestial allies came faithfully at his heels, the wolf with its strength and courage, and the boar with its wit and tenacity.   Appallùm disappeared into the East, pausing once to look upon his great works and take pride in all that he had accomplished. And even more so in the knowledge that the glory of his people would only grow, no longer did they require his earthly guidance, nor heirs of his blood too. For the land and unity, he had created was greater than anyone man, anyone dynasty. It belonged to the people it had been made for, and it would be guarded by their strength, existing eternally in their minds and souls. They were all his heirs, who would take up his mantle and rule the land in his absence.   Raising his mighty Spear in honor of the indomitable spirit of Humanity and in praise of Ulric, who had in his benevolence granted him victory, Appallùm offered one final goodbye to the people he so loved. And thus turned towards his destiny without another backward glance. He had now reached the climax of Ulric's Wolf-Path. His reward now stood before him -- earned through strength, bloodshed, and unsurpassed heroism. To take his rightful place in the everlasting company of the Gods.  

An Era of Conquest and Prosperity (73 to 1000 IC)

  The gathered Counts were faced with a major crisis: Appallùm had never married and, as far as anyone knows, had never produced an heir. Nor had he left a will designating who should succeed him on the Imperial throne. Never in the fifty years of his reign had anyone even considered the question of succession. Several among the Counts claimed the throne, some on the basis of being the most skilled in war or politics, while others claimed the favor of the Gods or even a secret promise from Appallùm that they were his heir.   The arguments in the Reikhaus grew acrimonious and the threat of civil war loomed large, when a priestess of Rhya who was in the retinue of the Count of Stirland suggested an election. Let all the Counts renew their vows of brotherhood and then let each explain why he or she should take the Imperial Crown. The first to get a majority of the votes of his or her peers would become the new Emperor or Empress. Determined to avoid civil war, the Counts agreed and retired to the Great Hall of the Reikhaus to deliberate. After three days passed amidst promises, threats, and a great many exchanges of gold, the Ar-Ulric came forth to announce their new leader: The 2nd Emperor Fulk of Wissenland.   As part of the agreement, the Counts determined that each new Emperor should be chosen from among them and that the person so chosen could move the Imperial capital to his state's chief city. They also elevated a powerful noble of the Reikland to become the first Count of that province. In recognition of their role in choosing the Emperor, the Counts changed their titles to "Elector Counts" of Rhemia.   Less than twenty-five years after Appallùm's disappearance, during the reign of The 3rd Emperor Henest in Nuln, a mendicant friar named Johann Helsturm appeared in Altdorf telling of a new God--the Emperor Appallùm himself. With a wild gleam of enthusiasm in his eyes and the strength of utter conviction in his voice, he preached the world of Appallùm Divine to all who would listen, even gaining acolytes from among the priests of the already extant cults. Not all welcomed his words.   Much of the clergy of the other Gods dismissed Helstrum as a madman, his visions a sign that he had been eating moldy bread. What he claimed verged on blasphemy, for he claimed to have seen a vision that Ulric himself placed a crown upon Appallùm's head, anointing him as a God and making him the chief of the divine pantheon of the Old World. Some wanted Helstrum killed, but others proved more tolerant. Helstrum's new cult preached the unity of Rhemia and obedience to the Emperor and the Elector Counts and so this small cult gained permission to build a temple in Appallùm's home city of Altdorf, with Johan Helstrum as the first Grand Theogonist of the Church of Appallùm.   As the centuries passed, the Church of Appallùm would grow wealthy and politically powerful. Appallùm's worship became so popular in Reikland and Stirland that it practically supplanted the Cult of Ulric in those states, much to the latter Church's irritation. Money from gifts and rents from donated lands flowed into the Church of Appallùm's coffers, until the Grand Theogonists rivaled the wealth and power of the Elector Counts and the Church began to clamor for their own electoral vote in Imperial elections.   The 2nd Emperor Fulk had moved his Imperial capital to his home city of Nuln, where it stayed for several centuries as his heirs succeeded in having themselves elected. This was an era of growth and great vigor for Rhemia, as its growing population looked for outlets for their energy. Not satisfied with merely filling in and developing the lands they already possessed, the Elector Counts looked to expand their provinces' territory--and their power relative to one another.   From the years of the 5th and 10th century IC, a period Imperial historians call "the Drive to the Frontiers," the Counts and Emperors moved to extend Rhemia to what they felt were its natural borders. The Counts of Ostland and Talabecland aggressively colonized and expanded into the northern lands of what is now Kislev, claiming all the land to the mountains and the River Lynsk, but their settlements were rarely successful. Most fortunate were Talabecland's efforts to expand into the land to its southeast. Originally ruled by the heirs of Adelhard of the Ostagoths, the towns of Ostermark became Talabecland's "East March", later regaining their independence when they became the League of Ostermark.   Stirland and Averland, meanwhile, aggressively expanded into the less fertile eastern regions of their home provinces, pressing into the foothills of the Worlds Edge Mountains the Dwarfs claimed as their own, which lead to occasional violent clashes. In the process, they incorporated the lesser tribes and small kingdoms of related Human peoples that had never joined Appallùm's confederation, particularly the Fennones, whose lands became the new Imperial province of Sylvania under the domination of Stirland.   The Emperor most associated with this period is the 6th century IC Emperor, Sigismund the Conqueror the 5th Emperor, who not only defeated the King of the Jutones and added the Jutonsryk's land to the province of Westerland (now the Wasteland), but also crossed the Grey Mountains to create the "West Mark" on the Braian side of the mountains and invaded the southern lands of the Dessert Princes (then a wild, tribal region) to found the province of Lichtenberg and built a series of castles to protect Rhemia's southeastern flank.   One area eluded all attempts at conquest: the forested Wood Elf realm of Laurelorn to the northwest of Rhemia. Claimed by the Elector Counts of Drakwald, Middenland, and Westerland, the Wood Elves acknowledged no Human overlord and defeated all attempts to conquer them by force. They won their most spectacular victory in 897 IC, when they overwhelmed the army of the Drakwalder Count, whom history remembers only as "the Unlucky". The defeat was so crushing that it set the stage for Drakwald's own later degeneracy and eventual disappearance as an Imperial Great Province.   By the tenth century IC, Rhemia had reached the pinnacle of its size and achievements. No power in the Old World could match it and there was talk amongst its rulers of one day governing the whole of the Old World. Blind with hubris, the people of Rhemia could not see the growing cracks that would one day bring the whole Imperial structure crashing down around their heads.    

Imperial Goverment

 

"A government? You call that a government? Looks like the invention of a deranged Snotling!" —Count Claude Villecroix of Parravon, Braian ambassador to the court of the Emperor Sigismund

  Contrary to popular beliefs, Rhemia is not a unified nation ruled by a powerful central government but is in actuality a massive confederation of fiercely independent states and provinces whose inhabitants are tied together only by a common language, a shared faith in Appallùm and a mutual Imperial culture. Nowadays there are two types of states: the provinces and the city-state. Appallùm was a wise and calculating leader, and he had the foresight to recognize that Rhemia was far too big to be ruled by a single man. And so he gave the title of Counts to all the tribal leaders, each responsible for managing his own territory but subject to the Emperor in matters relating to its rulership. Their independence was supposed to counterbalance the power of the Emperor should he proved too tyrannical as a leader, as well as to ensure mutual but non-violent competition amongst each of the Imperial Counts. When it became known that Appallùm did not have an heir to inherit the Imperial Throne, the invention of the electoral system was successful in avoiding a civil war amongst the various Counts, but it however complicated matters even further in creating and maintaining a successive ruler. Those ambitious Elector Counts that wish to become Emperor have been known to give away privileges, titles, and power to any man that will cast his vote for him. The interests of each voters were such that they seldom rallied around a strong candidate, for they may find another of his rivals far more "generous" in their "gifts", which has resulted in the weakening of the Imperial system. Even when the Imperial Throne is transferred to his heir by majority vote thanks to the previous Emperor's influence, voters were quick to remind the newly elected Emperor to renew the promises made by his predecessor.   While Rhemia had a fair share of strong and highly competent Emperors ruling Rhemia, many times have the Imperial Throne been occupied by an uncaring Lord who allows his subjects to steal and exploit the Imperial system and her people, often going as far as to ignore the Imperial Edicts once placed by wise and caring rulers of ages past. However, the Imperial System as a whole still continues to work for Rhemia as was its purpose, allowing any wise and ambitious Emperor to take the throne and used its powers to better the people under his reign.  

Imperial Law

  In theory, the Emperor is free to make whatever laws and regulations he or she wishes and have it apply to the whole of Rhemia. The truth is more nuanced, for laws must pass the review of the Prime Estates, who report to the Electors. A bad report is often all the excuse an Elector needs to quietly not enforce the law or deny it altogether, in times of a weak emperor. In such cases, the Emperor, if he is determined to see the law obeyed, will exercise diplomatic and even public pressure on the recalcitrant Elector to come to heel. Often this is enough to gain grudging acceptance. But, if the Elector is determined, an Emperor may claim peremptory jurisdiction and have the case heard in his own courts. In rare cases, continued defiance by an Elector may merit military action, as Karl Franz’s ancestor Wilhelm threatened against Elector Gunnwald of Averland in the case of the Pudding Tax Revolt of 2433.   Imperial Law concerns itself mostly with revenues, security from foreign and internal threats, the regulation of sorcery, and the rooting out of Chaotic cults. Many Emperors have claimed jurisdiction over the succession to Electoral thrones when the succession is in dispute, and even the right in extreme cases to depose Electors, elevate new families to the Electoral rank, and even give whole provinces to another Elector, as was the case with Drakwald under Emperor Mandred. Though rooted in ancient law and the precedent set by Sigmar himself, no Elector formally acknowledges this right and all resist it in any but the direst cases, lest a lasting precedent is set.   Imperial courts exist in all the major cities of Rhemia, including the capitals of the Grand Provinces, with judges appointed by the Emperor through the office of the Imperial authority over the case, leading to extended wrangling while the defendant or parties to a civil case swing in the wind.  

The Council of State

  Due to its size, the Imperial Government is considered far to large and complex for a small court of men or women to function properly. It is common that each day, the Elector counts must devote attention to dozens of questions, from newly introduced tax policies, the final appeal of a prisoner convicted of treason, or even the official opening of a ceremonial fairground. To succeed in establishing a priority order in this complex system and ensure that only individuals whose cases are really crucial get an audience with the Electorial council, the court has often surrounded itselve with advisers chosen from members among the most prominent noble families so that they may assist on legal, financial, diplomatic and military matters in court's stead. Over time, this gathering of councilors turned into a formal meeting, which officially became the Council of State.

Members of the Council of State as of 2520 IC

• Volkmar the Grim - Spiritual Leader.

• Siegfried von Walfen - Chancellor of the Reikland.

• Balthasar Gelt - Counselor of Matters Magical.

• Amadeus Mencken - Chamberlain of the Seal.

• Kurt Helborg - Military Advisor to the Emperor.

• Lotte Hosvoll - Chancellor of the Imperial Treasury.

• Agatha von Böhrn - Supreme Law Lord.

• Arne Damstadt - Chamberlain of the Imperial House.

Each member of the Council controls a large bureaucracy that helps administer the affairs of the state. Such is the importance of their position within the Government that the common people will probably never see these members in person except maybe indirectly in official or ceremonial events.