Imperator's Children

Imperator's Children

The Imperator's Children is the common term used for the North Guard or the Northern Army of Reme, the “Republic” that rules the stomach, that region south of the gullet were the army is posted.

In reality Reme is an oligarchy ruled by the Senate. The Senators or their representatives meet in Remus to appoint the ruling council for conducting day to day business and to pass new laws. The Senators are either great landholders or the owners of large business enterprises.

Reme like ancient Rome is basically a slave society. The large landholders have forced the small farmers off the land either reducing them to surfs or forcing them into the larger cities. The land is farmed as large plantations using slaves captured from the northern barbarians. Controlling these slaves are the Knights, who manage the land for the Senators and work as slave overseers and the personal armies for the Senators. The large businesses are also slave based with Knights to control the workers and settle disputes. The national army of Reme is made up of the personal armies of the Senators. The one exception to this is the North Guard, Reme's standing army to guard the Gullet from invasion by the northern barbarians.

The North Guard was formed 120 years ago when during extend period of barbarian invasion the northern army made up of the northern small farmer infantry and some of the senators knights was nearly destroyed defeating the first wave of the Panther Tribes trying to cross the Rubicon River 200 miles south of the mouth of the Gullet. Marius, a Senator from the north who commanded the army, rode from the battlefield to Remus to get the Senate to call anther army because captured tribesmen had told him of the still greater hoard of Bison Riders that the Panther Tribes were fleeing. With the majority of the Northern Small farmers who had formed the infantry backbone of the northern army that had defended Reme from the barbarians for centuries lying dead on the battlefield something had to be done.

Marius strode into the Senate still bloody and stinking from battle and in a fiery feat of oratory and a little help from magic, he was a Full Blood Witch, convinced the Senators to call up another army. With the majority of the small landholders in the north dead in the field and the ones in the south forced off the land by the Senators, he convinced the Senate to allow him to recruit form the urban poor and each of the Senators to free some of the slaves from their plantations. Because of the constant threat of Barbarian Invasion, Marius was authorized to sign the recruits up for a ten year term with a promise of land and a discharge bonus. He offered his lands north of the Rubicon for the discharge bonus and the Senate set aside all of the lands north of the Rubicon and south of the Ty river at the base of Gullet as lands to support the army and stipulated that any lands conquered north of the Ty would also belong to the army.

Marius then went to the poorest sections of Remus and recruited entire families into the army from the poorest to the small holders being driven out of business by slaveholders. He worked especially hard to recruit the witch families and covens of Remus. The witches flocked to his banner because the persecution driven by the Priest of Balor and certain Senators had begun.

By the time he was done he marched from the city with over 100,000 men, women and children every arsenal in the city had been emptied and all of the local Senators had emptied their arsenals. Most of the poor and slaves had little or no experience with weapons, but enough were small farmers or the children of small farmers who had been forced of the land recently and still maintained the military tradition of their ancestors and had the shield, helmet, short sword and heavy javelin of the heavy infantry man. As they marched north Marius organized the troops into 20 legions. Around the core of heavy infantry he organized units of slingers, archers and by cutting bamboo groves found along the way pike men.

After a 10 days hard march he and his rag tag army arrived at the crossing of the Rubicon. There the remains of the northern army and the equipment from the dead were added to the army.

Waiting at the river ford was Aetha the Witch Chieftain of the Southern Panther Tribes. Marius met her in the center of the river and she swore the army oath for her tribes and the tribes joined the army and headed north to the river Ty.

Once the army reached the Ty River they began to dig deepening the channel on the south side of the river raising a dike on the southern bank. The covens worked day and night strengthening and hardening the bank into a black glass. Coaching the river to wash out the ford.

At last the Bison People came, driven by some great disaster on the great plains to find food and loot in the south lands.

Soon the battle was joined 500,000 barbarians against a patched together army of 150,000 poor, slaves and tribesmen. Magic flashed between the armies as the northerners tried to force the crossing, using their Bison to pull large rafts to the narrow river and jamming them into the southern bank. Tribesmen charged across the impromptu bridge with rock, dirt and logs. Marius and Aetha stood on the dike with their new coven, Marius striking down the enemy leaders with his great bow Hearts Bane. The gods battled over head, the wolf of Remus, Panther and Rac battling Bull and Lion in the clouds. The northern shamans broke the the dike with the help of Bull. In a desperate stand the heavy infantry and pikes held the breach as the Bison warriors charged. Then came the great flood when the far scouts released a landslide into a lake in the mountains to the west causing a wall of water to surge down the river and destroy the bridge and wash away the Bison Peoples' main camp. This was followed by the pursuit north through the muddy waters driving the tribesmen north to the Tars River.

Marius and the Army remained north of the Rubacon and never came south again. The troops took up the land north of the Rubicon up to Tars River. Working hard, they developed farms and villages and small towns. Marius married Aetha and together they instituted a program of training and schooling for the troops and the witches. Recruiters went north and south and many men, women and children took the vows and joined the army.

Marius led the army for 20 more years, fighting off the nearly yearly attacks by the tribes. Some suggested that he lead the army south to Remus and take control. He'd just laugh and say he wanted nothing to do with that mess.

In the 20th year he died in battle along with Aetha when the largest hoard since the great invasion attacked them at the Vig. He and Aetha died in the center of the line battling a conclave of shamans and Bull the Bison Peoples God. The God and the Shamans overwhelmed them and the front line broke and he and his wife died fighting trying to rally the troops. The second line held then surged forward to recover the bodies. Finding them dead on the field, a great cry when up, then a surge of love, despair and grief went up from the entire army 100,000 thousand souls connected to one catastrophic event. With belief and love comes power, 100,000 thousand souls cried that they could not be dead, so they weren't . They died that day as mortals and rose again as gods, Marius with his bow hearts bane shooting lighting drove the Bull from the field and destroyed the shamans. With the destruction of the shamans the tribesmen broke and fled to the north.

With the death of the Imperator, the army elected his sub-commander as Imperator and the Northern boarder was moved to Vig. The Senate accepted the new leadership and sent the protection tax north again that year..

Now 100 years later 120 AF (after founding) the North Guard is almost a nation onto itself, with its own laws, traditions and gods. The Northern tribes still raid almost yearly, but usual these raids a small meant more to blood the warriors. Occasionally they have to fight off a great raid usual at the time of the great burning. News of these events are carried south to Remus by traders or visiting Senators and this puts enough fear into the senators that the protection tax is sent north each year.

The North Guard effectively controls the area north of South Fort on the Rubicon to North Fort on the North River at the entry to the Gullet. The area north of the Vig River is still normally controlled by the Northern Panther Tribes but the area is protected by the fortifications along the North River and actively patrolled by the Long Rangers. The area just south of the Rubicon have been encroached on over the years as the local Senators have found it unprofitable to farm land were the slaves or serfs can flee to the north and any Knights sent after then came back full of arrows and burned to a crisp. After a few years the Senators found it expedient to except the large payment of gold and witch silver offered them to sell the land and move to lands south of the river. There is some resentment over this especially amongst the Senators of Balor the City of the Slaver God.

Unlike that south, slavery is illegal in the District, as the North Guard lands are known. In fact once a slave or serf crosses the boarder he or she is free. This is also true at any recruiting station in the south where once a slave enters the station and takes the oath the Guard considers them to be free and will defend them. At the Rubicon they are given the option of passing north through the District or taking the Oath, most often they take the Oath and often their first duty is to help drive off the slave catchers chasing them. Most Knights will not pursue slaves to close to the bridge at South Fort because even the best armor will not stop a supersonic ballista bolt.

The capitol of the District is the city of Imperator on the Lars River. It is the home of the Imperator's administration center, the army's general staff, the Tribunes Assembly and the High Truth Tell Court.

The Imperator is the commander of the North Guard and chief administrator of the District. As commander he has absolute authority over the army but as administrator he enforces the laws of the Assembly as overseen by the High Court. The Tribunes assembly consist of 40 Tribunes 2 per each of the 20 Legions that make up the North Guard. They are elected by the current members and veterans of each legion.

The army is made up of 20 legions each of about 5040 Legionnaires. Each Legion has an associated reserve legion made up of veterans serving out their 10 year active reserve duty. Therefore the Guard has a standing army and navy of 100,000 legionnaires which it quickly bring up 200,000 by calling up the reserves.