Introduction: The First Empire is populated almost entirely by humans, although people of all species are governed by the Empire and recognized as citizens provided they are born inside the borders of the empire or get approved for citizenship. Imperial is the lingua franca of the empire, although many languages are spoken within its borders. The First Emperor, before becoming an undead lich, was a human man and he still sees much value in the strong wills of living people. The most obvious consequence of this is the fact that while necromancy isn't outright banned, the First Emperor only allows living, mortal beings to serve in his government and military. The Emperor, in addition to leading the government of the First Empire, leads the military, religious, and scientific forces of the Empire as well. He does all of this from his palace in the capital city of the empire, Principolis. As far as territory goes, the First Empire controls the entirety of the Sea of Treasure as well as all of the land which surrounds it. Its control does not extend past the mountains which surround most of the sea, although the emperor controls lands far into these mountains. The empire also has influence on parts of the eastern coast of the continent and even one of the major islands off the coast.
Magic and Technology: The technology level of the First Empire is difficult to characterize because magic is common enough to be reasonably available to wealthier citizens but not so common that the average worker can afford magical solutions. Studying and performing magic is expensive in the First Empire because schools charge steep tuition fees and spell components cost money if you don’t know where to get them, so mages have a strong incentive to get as much money for their services as they can, pricing out large swathes of imperial society. While magic allows the wealthy to live like current-day wealthy people, the rest of society lives with a level of technology analogous to the late medieval period in western Europe. There are, of course, levels of wealth between these two groups and these different groups can afford different amounts of magic. Some people may not be able to live in modern-day comfort, but they might have enough to afford climate control charms on their homes and healing for most injuries.
The First Empire uses a solar calendar that separates the 365 days of the year into 12 months of 30 days with the 5 leftover days placed after the winter solstice and referred to as Feast Days. On the Feast Days, every single person in the First Empire is expected to refrain from working and instead partake in massive public feasts provided by the empire in the town or city square. It is essentially a 5-day long party thrown by the government with near-mandatory attendance. A sixth Feast Day is added every 4 years as a leap day to keep the calendar lined up with the actual year, much like on Earth. Each month is numbered 1-12 with the first month coming after the fifth (or sixth on leap years) Feast Day. Each month has 30 days, numbered 1-30 in order. Days are also grouped into 5-day weeks with the fifth day of each week considered a rest day for most professions. The thirtieth and final day of each month is called a Festival Day and in addition to being a day off for most people, it is also observed as a holiday of thanks to the First Empire by having all farmers and artisans participate in a market in the town and city squares. Festival days also frequently include music, dancing, and public displays of performance art and theater, mostly sponsored by the local First Empire Temple, in addition to the markets. With this calendar, the equinoxes and solstices, important holidays for the First Imperial Cult, also fall on Festival Days, so those Festival Days tend to have specific rituals and art displays compared to the more general thanksgiving of the other Festival Days. The Spring Equinox is the 30th day of the third month, the Summer Solstice is the 30th day of the sixth month, the Fall Equinox is the 30th day of the ninth month, and the Winter Solstice is the 30th day of the twelfth month and also comes right before the Feast Days of the new year. Various cultures and religions from around the First Empire have their own holidays that they use the Imperial Calendar to keep track of as well, although none of their holidays are recognized in any official capacity by the imperial government.
Boat technology in the empire has advanced much faster than just about anything else, being comparable to the abilities of European shipwrights in the mid-18th century, making wind and paddles the most common forms of boat locomotion, but no longer the only ones. Some of the first magically powered boats are starting to become more common for the most wealthy members of First Empire society, but conventional boat technology still dominates. The First Imperial Navy, for example, still uses mostly conventional sail and paddle boats to get around the Sea of Treasure because magic-propelled boats are generally far too expensive for the navy to operate.
Society: People in the First Empire generally think of their society as a meritocracy. Political positions, professions, and social status are never inherited or passed down, they are to be earned by the individual. The only people who are allowed to be appointed to political positions or even work as bureaucrats in a First Empire Office are those who have passed the Imperial Service Exam, a notoriously difficult test of an individual’s civic knowledge and overall intelligence. Only half of the people who take the Imperial Service Exam every year are able to pass and get approved for government service. Because wealth and property are the only things that families can pass down to their children, the wealthy go to great lengths to ensure their children are able to gain status in their own right while the poor must attempt the same things with far fewer resources, leading to some level of class entrenchment even in a supposed meritocracy. While the truly exceptional can certainly rise up the social ladder, those who start at the top have a much easier time staying there.
Religion: Part of what helps tie the peoples of the First Empire together is the First Imperial Cult, the state religion of the First Empire. The First Imperial Cult worships the First Emperor as a hand-picked vessel of the collective wills of all gods on the material plane. In this way, the First Imperial Cult is pantheistic, accepting any and all deities and practices into it so long as the absorbed religions accept that the new head of their church and avatar of their god's will is the immortal First Emperor. Religions that cannot adapt to the new theology are wiped out, violently, while religions that accept the new way of things find their practices almost entirely unchanged save for the addition of a few lines paying homage to the First Emperor in their sermons and rituals. All serious worship of the First Emperor and his empire is taken care of by priests of the First Imperial Cult in temples that they build in each town and city under the First Empire.
Led by the First Emperor, the imperial cult is generally overseen by an archbishop who is the head liaison between the cult and the emperor. The First Emperor has declared that a temple of his cult is to be erected in every town and city in his empire, and the archbishop's primary duty is to oversee the team of bishops who acquire supplies and handle the logistics of organizing such a large organization. Each temple is led by a priest who has a team of deacons to assist them, with priesthoods being bestowed upon deacons by bishops. The cult is mostly concerned with spreading the worship of the First Emperor as the avatar of all collective divine wills in the material world, which they do through regular sermons based on the teachings of the emperor and by throwing a festival at the end of each month with special meanings assigned to the Festival Days on solstices and equinoxes. The winter solstice is for celebrating the military might and tactical genius of the emperor, the spring equinox celebrates how the emperor's authority brings new life to previously desolate and wild places, the summer solstice is used to celebrate the abundance that the emperor brings to the lands under his rule, and the fall equinox is when the fairness and justness of the emperor is celebrated.
Towns: Each town is administered by a governor appointed by the Emperor. Governors lead from a First Empire Office that also functions as a town hall and courthouse where residents can seek audience with the governor or go about any other business they have with the Imperial government. By tradition, the First Empire Office has its front door open to the town square of whatever town it is in. Town squares are where important announcements are made to the population, as well as where markets are held, along with most large public events. These towns are mostly left to their own devices so long as they keep producing goods to send back to the First Empire's capital city. As such, each governor is assigned a force of several dozen First Imperial Marines or Soldiers, led by a sergeant, to command and enforce imperial law with. The strength of the garrison can vary a lot based on what the governor requests and what the military deems necessary. Civilians in these towns usually all work in the same industry except for those who provide necessary goods and services. Living on the frontier without much support from home, governors tend to order their garrison to strictly uphold the law and make examples of any rule-breakers. Despite relatively infrequent communication between settlements, there appears to be a sense of rivalry between the towns based on the amount of value generated for the First Empire by each town.
Cities: Cities are like towns in that they are fortified civilian settlements, but they are much bigger and are usually trade and processing centers for whatever region they are in. First Empire cities are led by emperor-appointed governors, like towns, but instead of a garrison of enlisted people, cities have a force of city guards hired from among the population of the city. City guard forces are led by a captain of the guard, appointed by the governor, who usually oversees several lieutenants, themselves overseeing several guard squads. The governor and captain of the guard operate out of a First Empire Office much like the leadership of imperial towns, but these offices are often much larger than they would be in towns. Offices must still open their front doors to the city square of the city they are in, but these squares are often just the main ones out of several in a given city. In cities, squares hold similar functions for hosting public events to town squares, but city squares are often more specialized due to there being more than one. City squares where First Empire Offices are located may be called things like first square, main square, or empire square and be centers of government business in the cities. Squares in other districts may be focused on other things like a market for a specific trade, or the cultural practices of a specific ethnic group, while helping to create an identity for the districts they are in.
Cities tend to naturally break up into districts based on geography, culture, and industry. Not all districts in cities are centered around squares, but they all have features that make individual districts distinct from other parts of the city. Smaller cities will usually have only 3 districts, while larger cities can have upwards of a dozen before the First Emperor will force the city to split up into several smaller cities with new, less powerful governments.
Port cities often have an Inspector General who is in charge of the port, docks, and associated warehouses. Port inspectors, as well as keeping order on the docks, are in charge of checking ship manifests and inspecting cargo to ensure it matches the manifest. Cities tend to lack a direct military presence and have relatively large populations, making them hubs of crime where people can easily disappear into the masses of citizens.
Forts: Forts are operated by marines or soldiers enlisted in the First Imperial Navy or Army. Each fort is in a location that has been deemed to be of strategic importance to maintaining control of the area. The forts usually house one commander, half a dozen sergeants, and several units of regular infantry. The forts usually have cannons on the fortifications and a fleet of smaller vehicles at their disposal as well as enough supplies to last at least 6 months in the event of a siege. Left to their own devices with little to do except be prepared to defend the territories, these garrisons tend to be less disciplined than those in the towns with civilians to keep in line. The forts seem relatively apathetic towards the towns despite being there, ostensibly, for their protection. They also send out regular patrols to see what’s going on in the territory around the fort.
The First Emperor: In order to attain immortality and lead his empire for all time, the First Emperor had to become an undead being known as a lich. To do this, the First Emperor is said to have sacrificed the previous leaders of the lands that unified into the original borders of the empire, using their life forces to fuel the spell of undeath. While details are hazy, it is said that the terms of the ritual were that the emperor's life would continue for as long as his empire lives and that he would be unable to ever go beyond its borders. When he must make public appearances, the First Emperor puts on a magical disguise to appear like a strong, healthy man in the prime of his life, apparently much more handsome than he looked in life. No citizen of the First Empire is aware of this, but when not wearing his disguise, the First Emperor appears to be a desiccated corpse, shambling around in a mockery of life. While quite capable of performing highly advanced magic and fulfilling all of his duties in this wretched form, the First Emperor has always cared greatly for his appearance and wouldn't dare to be seen like that.
