(Source: artslam)
Master Post: The Velesian Empire
I’m going to try to make this as easy to read as possible but knowing me, I’m prone to blabbering. Everything is still in tentative terms so I’ll likely add, remove and change things around. I’ll always keep a “Last Updated” stamp on all my master posts. Oh, and my way of describing things is somewhat… crude.
I’m still trying to decide if I want to call it an empire or a hegemony. Technically speaking though, it is a hegemony.
The current ruler of the Empire is Idris’ father and it is located on the Southern continent.
The Velesian Empire is essentially one powerful city-state governing many city-states. However, each city governed by the Empire is unique, with its own government, traditions (although certain customs may bleed through to other city-states) and ethnicities. How this whole shebang is done is that every conquered city-state must pay tribute to the city-state in power, be it wealth, goods or even people (this becomes important during times of warfare).
The Empire started out as the city-state of Veles. Situated within rich and fertile lands, the city-state has always been a prime target for other city-states to conquer. Veles experienced repeated cycles of prosperity and bloodshed due to its resources.
When a city-state is conquered, it is expected to conform to the conqueror. Essentially, any identity of the city-state is actively shut down. Of course, the people are not very happy and peace doesn’t last very long. Usually, revolutions occur which leads to the re-splitting of the larger city-state.
Fast forward to the ‘present’, the ruler of Veles (Idris’ father; name TBA) sought to find a way to prevent them from being conquered again. He made an alliance with two other city-states and started strategically taking other city-states.
What he (the other two agreed but it was his idea) did differently however, was that he did not expect the people to conform to the Velesian way. They were welcome to but it was not forced upon them. Instead, he merely demanded a tribute from each city (sort of like taxes). In exchange, these city-states would be protected from other invasions.
So how did Idris’ father become the leader of the trio? Simple. He had resources and the brains. Basically it was his plan. Individually, each of the three did not stand a chance. Veles had wealth but their military was poor. The other two had mediocre military and next to no resources. Basically, the other two sort of just deferred to him.
They did however, try to take power for themselves but they acted too late. Or rather, it was impossible, really. If they tried to seize power in the beginning, the Empire would not be formed and things would erupt into a really nasty war with everybody trying take other people’s stuff.
Instead, they waited until the Empire was large enough and acted then. By that time, Veles had amassed a mighty military of their own so they got booted out for treason (basically). Their people were still welcome but the two were essentially exiled.
Last Updated: June 2, 2012
More work on the same thing. It seems I’m only able to draw at night so progress is super, super slow. The feathered earrings were part of the original idea that I trashed but then I decided that I actually like it! Another thing I can’t decide on is the colour of the face paint. I think I prefer the blue.
An update on the progress of the sketch I posted two days ago. I’m such a slow worker and it doesn’t help that I spend ages on the face! I really need to learn how to work faster.
Close-up of the sketch I posted up on DA of Idris (eye-dris). Click through for the full image.
The world of Carrion takes place within an Earth analogue. Notable continents within this world are the Northern and the Southern continents which are connected by a land bridge that is only accessible during the winter months. It is flooded during the warmer months.
Idris is from the Southern continent. Society is organized into tribes1 which are led by their own kings/royal families. Often, more powerful tribes engulf smaller ones although this is not always done through war. It could be through economy or political alliances through marriage. When these tribes become too large to sustain (or when civil war breaks out), they often break off again into smaller tribes.
Idris’ father can be seen as the king of kings. He was a pioneer of some sorts, uniting the tribes under one rule. The tribe grew very powerful (in terms of military and economy) and began absorbing the others, eventually also absorbing their greatest competitions.
However, instead of demanding complete compliance with the conquered, her father opted to allow them to keep their traditions, their cultures, their leaders and their gods. So far, this has been sufficient enough to not cause any uprisings.
1The term ‘tribes’ is used very loosely here.
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