American Gate

Chapter 2: The Aftermath

Published 8/31/23, revised 10/21/23

World Building

The Rontak Empire is a large land based empire on the Kraffnia continent, controlling a total land area larger than all of Asia. Most of this land is temperate forests and grasslands, but other ecosystems do exist. There are many great cities throughout the Rontak Empire, but most of the population lives in small rural villages or towns. However, the core of their territory, the Rontak Valley, is densely populated with major cities. There is limited fertile land in the Rontak Valley, so food is produced in conquered territory, or imported from vassal states.

A complex network of lords and nobles governs their vast territory, but they are all subservient to the Emperor, who holds absolute power. The Rontak Empire is governed by a mixture of absolute monarchy and feudalism. Most of their population is human, but a small number of dwarves also live there. There is a considerable slave population of minotaurs, centaurs and elves, each of whom provide a valuable service.

The Rontak Empire's plentiful natural resources form the heart of its economy. Ore deposits, either in the Rontak core territories or within conquered lands, provide great wealth to fund its military. They engage in limited trade with nearby kingdoms it has yet to conquer. Nearby kingdoms and villages are frequently raided for resources and slaves. Mintauria, on the northwestern fringes of the empire, is especially targeted.

Because the Rontak Empire is rather weak in magical ability, they also frequently raid the northern elven kingdoms. Elves are much more adept at magic than most humans. They are usually sent to work as artisans in workshops to build magical devices such as mana comms. These valuable devices allow instant communication over large distances and are the main reason why the Rontak Empire is able to effectively govern such a vast area.

The Rontak Empire expands its borders primarily through military conquest. Their military is very strong and diverse. Rontak soldiers form the bulk of the military and are well trained and very disciplined, although untrained local villagers are sometimes conscripted to bolster manpower. They use enslaved minotaurs from Mintauria as heavy shock troops and import enslaved centaurs to use as devastating cavalry. They have also dedicated considerable resources to developing a robust wyvern air force and land dragon division. Although generally weak in magic abilities, the Rontak Empire conscripts what mages it does have into the military. Despite their limited technology, even by their world's standards, the Rontak Empire's diverse military allows it to employ effective combined arms tactics on the battlefield.

The Rontak Empire uses a rather barbaric method of forcing compliance among conscripted slaves. For every minotaur or centaur that returns from a defeat in battle, another random slave will be killed. As a result, minotaurs and centaurs enslaved by the Rontak Empire are some of the most ferocious and fanatic fighters in the world. If they ever return from battle less than victorious, they will be forced to watch another of their own kind get killed. This has also had the unintended consequence of instilling a sense of solidarity among conscripted slaves.

Chapter 2: The Aftermath

Standard Year 3148, Month of Air, 2nd Day of Light (A/2Lt/3148)

Rontak Empire, Duremar Plains, Fort Duremar (18 kilometers from the portal)

Lord Kushmon was the noble who oversaw all the Rontak Empire's conquests on other worlds. Typical policy was to keep a portal open for a few years while the resources on the other side were harvested and any nearby inhabitants enslaved. Then, the portal would be closed by the same team of enslaved elven mages who created it. If a portal was left open for too long, it would lose stability and decay, with terrible consequences. The Rontak Empire had found that out the hard way when it first discovered the archaic art of portal creation fifty years ago.