Empire of Nerath

Nerath was a human empire. Following its collapse, civilization has entered a dark age that it has not yet escaped.

History
The Empire of Nerath formed in 407 GD. The Nerathi Empire grew to encompass all civilized human lands. The empire did not colonize further West into the heart of former Arkhosian territory out of superstition that the land was cursed by Turathi devils. The territory to the North of the empire was still an inhospitable wasteland due to dragons scorching the land during the war, and territory south of the empire was too cold to cultivate.

The Fall of Nerath
743 GD marked the beginning of the Fall of Nerath. By this time, the Nerathi Empire had grown complacent, and its government had grown largely ineffectual and corrupt. Barbarian raids were taxing on Nerath's southern border, leading to revolts breaking out in Nerath's southern settlements. This forced the Empire to spend even more coin on its military budget to defend itself from local rebellions. Economic troubles led to oppressive taxation, resulting in enormous discontent from the Eastern side of the empire, which was isolated and remote from the empire's heart.

The next few years saw a rising number of eastern settlements declare independence from the Empire, as their leaders and people felt that being part of an empire that largely ignored them while paying taxes to solve faraway problems was nonsensical. Busy dealing with issues closer to its capital, the empire offered no response to the deserting settlements.

The proud people of the southern settlements grew increasingly frustrated at the empire's apparent priority of suppressing their revolts rather than killing barbarians. Hearing tales of eastern settlements declaring independence, some southern settlements began to declare independence. Now fearing that the dissent it allowed to fester in the east could lead to mass desertion, the empire further increased its military presence in the south and reclaimed settlements by force. This, however, had the opposite of the intended effect, as the warlike southerners took to arms and fought back, and even more southern settlements were spurred into rebellion.

After years of rebellion, heavy taxation, and mass conscription into the army, more and more settlements far from the capital seceded, and political unrest at the heart of the empire was at an all-time high. By 752 GD, other than a few sycophants, no one supported the Emperor any longer, and high-ranking officials began to desert. In the span of three months, three Nerathi emperors - following the line of succession - were assassinated, and by the end of the year, there was no major city left that had not declared independence from the Empire.