Sang-Lothor Imperium
Type Absolute Monarchy Leader Emperor Lothor Prime Lothlorian Capital Arx Angoth (Bastion of the Timeless Lion) Population ~100,000 Location Southern Aigora, the Spinelands Motto ”Maiorum Virtus”
The Sang-Lothor Imperium (commonly shortened to Sang-Lothor) was one of the oldest extant civilizations on Aigora, an empire that occupied most of the Spinelands of southern Aigora and various additional territories it expanded into over the centuries. Though it stood strong for hundreds of years, only in the last decade (the period following the Havenwars) did it begin expanding its influence at a truly explosive rate, with rapid cultural, technological, and territorial growth driving a surge in both population and wealth.
The Imperium was notable for its strict secular governance, its sprawling slave economy, and its leader: the reclusive and legendarily long-lived Emperor Lothor Prime Lothlorian, who had not been seen publicly in over a century. He was hunted by Nathair for his true Aigali blood, keeping him in near-total isolation within his palace.
Government & Politics
Sang-Lothor was an absolute monarchy nominally “led” by Emperor Lothor Prime Lothlorian, said to have been over 200 years old, earning him the titles “the Timeless Lion” and, more recently, “the Shadow Emperor.” The Emperor had led the Imperium through its most prosperous centuries, but his complete withdrawal from public life over the past hundred years generated no shortage of controversy and speculation. Descriptions of his true form ranged from a giant lion, to an Ouranoú, to a serpent dragon. The people of the Imperium, for the most part, remained unbothered by these questions, so long as they lived in modest comfort.
The capital, Arx Angoth, sat in the heart of the Spinelands within the Saja Valley. Day-to-day governance was handled by the Nunc-Manus (the Emperor’s direct hand) and advised by the Golden Council, which was formally headed by the first prince, Xervisian Lothlorian.
The Five Noble Houses
Five houses held controlling influence over the different regions of the Spinelands, the most powerful of the ~100 noble houses in Sang-Lothor. All answered to the Emperor and the Golden Council.
| House | Leader | Sigil | Seat | Known For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| House Lothlorian | Xervisian Lothlorian, Ouran of Aera | Golden manticore | Arx Aerfuxia (NW hills of Aera) | Environmental preservation; powerful armies |
| House Wookung | Tungst Wookung, the Ape of the West | Wooden staff wreathed in greenery | Arx Xhungoth (SW jungle) | Supplying the Imperium’s weaponry; “Wardens of the Ancient Egg” |
| House Zeo | Aphrodita Zeo (daughter of the late Violet Duchess, Athenia Zeo) | Purple silken scroll in a golden urn | Arx Zeo (floating fortress, Zeonese Desert) | Technological and magical advancement |
| House Flaxallus | Juan Flaxallus, the Golden Voice | Spear glistening in coastal sun | Arx Flutallum (northern Flutallum) | Feeding the Imperium; supplying it with blood-sport entertainment |
| House Blannis | Danimus Blannis | Silver cross | Blannishold (eastern Juth Mountains) | The Blannis Curse; freedom of religious & spiritual belief; abstaining from the slave trade |
GM Note: Khemmis and Khallis were born into slavery in Arx Flutallum under House Flaxallus. Danimus Blannis was Khemmis’s old companion from the Coliseum who had escaped the Imperium long before him.
Notable Lesser Houses
| House | Seat | Known For |
|---|---|---|
| House Kimbusa | Lao Kimbusa | Entertainment districts |
| House Grasshen | City of Grass, Triumph Rock | Producing rice; importing goods from Havenland |
| House Shen Pu | Little Bronze | A long heritage of brilliant strategists and soldiers |
| House Lóng | Lóng Spiral Tower | Having a very tall tower (formerly stewards of Blannis under Huang Lóng; now led by his son, Hun Lóng) |
| House Gall | Empfin, Wine’baggo | Artisan crafts; a house member served in the Imperial royal guard |
| House Coasta | Villa De Coasta | Stunning vistas and coastal resorts (led by Generalis Riocard Coasta) |
The Golden Council
The Golden Council resided in Arx Angoth, advising the Nunc-Manus and the first prince. It consisted of ten members (prominent bureaucrats, mages, scholars, nobles, and merchants) who convened daily for roughly two hours.
| Councilmember | Age | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athenia Zeo † | 63 | The Violet Duchess, Head of House Zeo | Deceased |
| Generalis Shen Pu (arrested) | 32 | Former General of the Imperial North Army & Scholar | Arrested |
| Verde of the Coast | 42 | Mage of the Horned Citadel | |
| Mars Julian Manibus | 75 | General Engineer of the Imperium Heavenly Fleet | |
| Glaphrodite Justinia | 128 | Scroll Mistress of the Golden Tapestries | |
| Entei the Contained † | Unknown | The Trapped Flame, Former Loyal Servant of the Lion | Deceased |
| Kalkstein Grimsbane † | 26 | Demon Raven, Former Spymaster | Savina Blannis’s bastard brother; deceased |
| Juan Flaxallus | 45 | Golden Voice, Policymaker | Head of House Flaxallus |
| Xervisian Lothlorian | 18 | Ouran of Aera, First Prince | Advised by Khallis |
| Blushidia Lothlorian | 24 | Master of Coin, First Princess |
GM Note (Entei the Contained): Entei was also listed among Nathair’s siblings as “Entei (Brother).” His presence on the Golden Council of an officially secular empire, marked simply as ”†, Former Loyal Servant of the Lion,” was worth examining. The exact circumstances of his death, and whether Emperor Lothor knew what Entei was, remained unaddressed.
GM Note (Khallis): Served as personal advisor to Xervisian Lothlorian. His warlock patron was unknowingly Nathair for many years. He also carried the alias “Emperor Lothor Prime” (the same title as the very Emperor under whom he and Khemmis were enslaved).
Economics & Culture
Religion
Sang-Lothlorians had been officially secular for the last hundred years of the Imperium. Worship of deities and foreign entities was strictly forbidden, enforced by a dogmatic organization called The Faithless, which swiftly hunted down any evidence of religious practice. Two prevailing theories attempted to explain the Imperium’s secularism:
- Those in power feared divine intervention and outlawed worship to prevent it.
- The Emperor wished to be regarded as a monotheistic deity himself, outlawing other gods to consolidate devotion.
The exception was Shunglox, a city to the south of the Eastern Juth Mountains where worship was openly condoned, an acknowledged anomaly within the Imperium’s otherwise rigid secularity.
GM Note: Given that Nathair hunted Emperor Lothor for his Aigali blood, and given that Nathair’s sibling Entei once sat on the Golden Council, the Imperium’s aggressive anti-religious stance read as less ideological than precautionary.
Education & Economics
Citizens were educated from a young age in reasoning, logic, and economics. Sang-Lothlorians were among the most educated people on Aigora, and most lived relatively comfortable lives, though wealth inequality was severe. The official currency was the Sangor, a golden star-shaped coin (gold itself was also accepted as reserve currency). The average citizen earned the equivalent of ~200 GP per year.
Most of the population lived in the major cities: Arx Angoth, Arx Flutallum, Arx Aerfuxia, Arx Zeo, and Arx Xhungoth. Those outside the cities were typically farmers, slavers, or those shunned from the complex political and social ecosystems of city life.
“Golden Spirits” (licensed merchants bearing special Imperial insignias) freely roamed the Imperium and were considered the vital lifeblood of the economy.
Slavery
The Imperium maintained a sizeable slave population primarily in Arx Flutallum, Arx Angoth, and the outskirts of other cities. Slaves were owned by noble house members, who branded their insignia onto slaves’ bodies for identification. The enslaved population consisted disproportionately of Tieflings, Dragonkin, Goblins, and other peoples the Imperium classified as “monstrous races.”
Most commoners interacted with slaves daily and remained silent about the practice.
Note: Khemmis and Khallis were enslaved within this system from birth. House Blannis was the only noble house to formally abstain from the slave trade.
Geography & Political Regions
The Imperium occupied the western peninsula of Havenland throughout the Spinelands (a region of surprising geographic diversity despite its name, featuring snow-capped mountains, deep river valleys, broad basins, high plateaus, rolling plains, terraced hills, and sandy dunes).
Spinelands Regions
Flutallum (North) The fertile region of rolling hills, farmland, and rice paddies served as the breadbasket of Sang-Lothor. The regional capital was Arx Flutallum, birthplace of Khemmis and Khallis.
Saja Valley (Center) Rugged, dramatic terrain nestled between the Iliuth Mountains to the west and the central Juth Mountains to the east, with almost sheer drops in places. The Imperial capital, Arx Angoth, sat here.
Xhungoth (Northwest) The Great Jungles were wild, dangerous, and sparsely populated, making Xhungoth the least inhabited region of Sang-Lothor. The regional capital was Arx Xhungoth.
Zeonese Desert (South) Vast arid expanses extended to the south coast, with pockets of nomadic merchant civilization along trading routes. The coastline was subtropical. The regional capital was Arx Zeo, a floating fortress owned by House Zeo that roamed above the desert.
Eastern Juth Mountains (East) The largest and longest mountain chain on the continent. The regional capital was Blannishold, House Blannis’s mountain keep. To the south lay Shunglox (the one city in the Imperium where religious worship was openly condoned).
History
Early Sang-Lothor
Written history of Sang-Lothor began around Year 10 TO (Talamh Old), when magically scribed stone tablets began recording the reign of the First Emperor, Eetion Prime (described by historians as a being who was at one point simultaneously man and woman). Eetion’s early empire comprised the settlements of Angoth, Flutallum, Losa’Rune, and civilizations on the “moons” Iliuth and Juth.
The tablets described Eetion as a pure-blood Aigali (one of the first of Goo’Gaal’s people to walk Aigora) who founded the early empire using what the scriptures called “Cosmic Arcana.”
Before Year 1 TO, historical accounts became cryptic and largely void. The true origins of Sang-Lothor (and whether they were connected to the primordial Aigali that Nathair sought for the Aigali Hourglass) remained matters of serious scholarly and theological interest.
Remnants in the Skysea
What became of Sang-Lothor after the events that scattered the Weastern Pirates was not recorded in any single place, and those who tried to assemble a coherent account generally found more questions than answers. What was certain was that the Imperium did not simply end. Empires of that age did not end; they dispersed.
The Sangor (the golden star-coin of the Imperium) turned up in ports and market stalls across the Skysea with a frequency that could not be explained by simple trade alone. Merchants accepted it without question. Some did not know what it was. Others recognized the star and said nothing. Wherever it circulated, it moved like something that knew where it was going.
The golden manticore of House Lothlorian appeared carved into stonework in places it had no business being: a lintel in an abandoned waystation above the Theus Skyfjords, the underside of a bridge pier on the Deep Roads of Jupiter, a tile in the floor of a tavern whose owner could not say when it was laid. Whether these were the work of deliberate hands or simply the long drift of a civilization that once reached further than its maps admitted, no one settled the question.
There were those in the Skysea (merchants, wanderers, and scholars who traded in old things) who collected what they called Lothorian pieces: fragments of the Imperium that had traveled further than they should have. A brass seal stamped with the words Maiorum Virtus. A slave brand iron bearing an insignia that matched no currently recognized noble house. A half-burned ledger written in formal Lothorian script that recorded transactions in ports that did not appear on any chart.
The Faithless (the Imperium’s enforcement arm against religious practice) was spoken of in whispers beyond Aigora’s borders. Whether they extended their reach into the Skysea, or whether those who enforced certain silences in certain places simply inherited their methods without the name, was impossible to say from the outside. What travelers noted was that in ports where Lothorian coins were common, conversations about gods tended to end quickly.
Khallis had crossed the boundary between Aigora and the Skysea more than once. What he carried with him from one world to the other (knowledge, debts, old loyalties, old insignia) had never been fully inventoried by anyone in a position to check.