Fall of an Empire News

The Western Provinces are the sparsely-populated military frontier of the empire of Rephsis. Arid and difficult to defend, these underdeveloped lands are under threat from barbarians.



The area was originally uninhabited aside from a few barbarian tribes. Its coasts, however, were rich whales. Trade outposts were established around 750 BC, but were generally unprofitable due to barbarian raids. The region became prosperous when the Seven Western Provinces military frontier was established in the fourth century BC, and the province's cities experienced a boom in their population.

When the whales disappeared from the oceans the provinces fell into a steep decline. In 20 AD an envoy sent by the emperor in Rephsis found that not only had the cities ceased to exist but that there was no trace of their existence. Villagers of the surrounding areas were ignorant, and it was determined that they had no knowledge that there had ever been cities in their area, even when they should have been only five miles away.



With no cities and no financial base, the Western Provinces were put under the command of a High Protector, appointed directly from Rephsis and reporting directly to the Emperor. After seven hundred years the current High Protector is Tertullian, a celebrated Corrinan legionary commander who served in the Revolt at Thiuginaz.

Tertullian is a stern man, loyal to a fault to the Empire - although not necessarily to the Emperor himself. Years of defence against barbarian incursions have left their toll on the frontier, and the lands he rules directly lack the dense population required for its upkeep. As such, the High Protector requires a steady stream of manpower from the rest of the Empire. Too high and Tertullian may feel like using his force on other targets, but too low and the borders of the Empire itself will be in jeopardy.

Sarmachia is the second-most powerful province of the empire, and as such is ruled by the second-most powerful man in the empire.



The August, governor of Sarmachia is a hereditary title dating back pagan times when the Empire was divided in two, one half ruled from Rephsis and one from Sarmachia. Provinces were successively brought under Rephsian control in a series of civil wars, and as a measure to keep the peace the core of Sarmachia's territory was organised as a new province and its ruler was allowed to keep the title of August.

As a hotbed of paganism and the centre of the Lion Cult and Parmidia-worship, Sarmachia dominated the continent in religious matters, even after being re-subjugated by Rephsis. However, their fortunes changed when Christian emperors outlawed pagan beliefs and wiped out the province's shrines.

Currently, the ruling class of Sarmachia resents their status in the Empire. Despite their huge population and wealth the they are only granted the same Senatorial representation as every other province, and their trade guilds are considered second-rate at best. Many in Rephsis believe that Sarmachia never truly abandoned their pagan ways.



August Julian is the current ruler of Sarmachia. Ascending the throne at the age of 15 after his father's death, Julian is a young but ambitious and opinionated ruler. While outwardly a staunch Christian, he has nonetheless criticised the destruction of the temple of Parmidia, a move that drew condemnation from the Church in Apsodenia.

His main concerns are surviving the deadly politics of his court. Strong factions developed during his five-year regency and his regent, the Count of Sirmona, antagonised what could have been some of his biggest supporters. However, if he's able to overcome these threats and unify the province he may be a dangerous threat to you.

Ruling a vast continent isn't simple, and for an empire in decline it's even more difficult. As such, an emperor can't control every aspect of it directly - instead it's split up into twelve provinces:

• Sarmachia
  
• Siparria
  
• Tesqua & Montania
  
• Corrina
  
• Apsodenia
  
• Upper Fluvia
  
• Lower Fluvia
  
• Vicisoria
  
• Thiuginaz
  
• Variana Inferior
  
• the Imperial Domain
  

Of these, only the Imperial Domain is under your direct control. All the others have their own governors - in some that's a senator, others a general, chief or king. These rulers have their own goals and ambitions, which can be a help or a hindrance when they come into conflict with your opponents or yourself respectively.

Each provincial ruler has a level of loyalty toward you. The exact value is hidden to the player, but you'll be able to make an educated guess on their opinion toward you, whether it's hostile, neutral or happy (let us know in the comments whether you'd prefer an actual indicator or whether it would be better to infer it from their dialogue).

The rulers will want you to do certain things for them. These can range from a bribe, to stationing troops at their cities to quell unrest to resolving a dispute with a neighbour in favour of them. It's a careful balancing act, and pushing a vassal too far can make them withhold taxes from you, refuse to allow you to recruit armies from their settlements or even completely turn against you.

Provinces vary in size and power, so you'll need to decide which rulers you want to placate and which ones can get thrown under the bus (or chariot) because you don't care about them. The only province which can never betray you is the Imperial Domain, which is powerful but not powerful enough to defeat two vassals if they went against you.

In future Dev Diaries we'll go more into detail about the provinces and their rulers, but next up is the game's combat system.

Fall of an Empire is the inverse of the 4X formula. You don't start off as a small tribe, nation or civilisation, and you don't explore a new world, conquer new lands or exploit new resources. Instead, Fall of an Empire makes you play as the ruler of a vast, ancient empire on the brink of collapse.

In the game you'll have to take charge of a land with over 150 settlements, ranging from small villages to full-sized cities. Most of these aren't ruled directly by you, but are part of a province which has its own ruler with their own goals, plans and desires, and you'll have to play them off against each other by sending them gifts, making them promises and doing favours for them.

Political decisions will be a major factor in the game, since you'll be balancing your limited resources on the huge number of problems you face. Should you spend a month's taxes on shoring up defences at the empire's edge? Or should you use them to bribe a trader's guild that's about to hire mercenaries to overthrow you?

Treacherous vassals, however, won't be the only threat to your rule. At the start of the game you're facing one of the largest barbarian incursions in the empire's history, and these incursions are only going to get worse as the game goes on. Additionally, your crumbling buildings and declining loyalty of your underlings will make it difficult to deal with plague, famine and other natural disasters. You'll have to be a ruthless and effective ruler to survive.

Fall of an Empire has a combat system with both strategic and tactical layers. In the overworld, which is the main portion of the game, you'll have to train and deploy your armies against your enemies. When they are in battle you can either let your commander fight it out over a period of time or take direct control of your forces in a tactical mode where you can directly control each regiment in a tactical battle map.

The narrative of the game is focused around saving your empire as long as you can. The longer that Rephsis lasts, the more you'll discover about the setting, those that came before you and the ultimate future of your world.

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