“Generally considered the mightiest and longest-lasting of the human-pioneered nations, the Clangeddin Empire, which rose to power roughly a thousand five hundred years ago, started out as a small kingdom of mostly humans in the central region of Alcidea.

Their rise began in a war-torn era, where many small kingdoms and small nations vied with each other for land and people, and peace was a nearly forgotten phrase for most. It was the birth of then-prince Gaius du Shaddai, later known to history as Gaius the Great, the Founding Emperor of the Clangeddin Empire, that things took a turn.

When Gaius came to power at the tender age of fourteen due to the premature death of his father and elder brother on the field of battle, he immediately enacted reforms that curtailed all excesses including the royal family’s own in order to funnel all the wealth into military preparations.

The fruits of such preparations came to light five years later, when the young King Gaius embarked on the beginning of his conquest, as his armies struck and conquered four neighboring small nations which were soon assimilated into the then-Kingdom.

Six years after his first conquest, Gaius had himself crowned Emperor, and renamed his Kingdom into an Empire. This bold declaration happened at the same time as a second wave of conquest, in which his armies subjugated seven other nations in the vicinity and quickly assimilated them.

By the time of his peaceful death at the age of ninety-one, Emperor Gaius had turned his once small kingdom into a grand Empire, the de facto Hegemon of central Alcidea, and left behind a legacy that persisted through many generations to this day.” - Laeviniel Al’rediad, elven researcher of history and history Professor at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 672 FP.

“You know, comparing this place and where you lived, sometimes it’s a bit hard to stomach that they’re both parts of the same country, and even used to be part of the same province not a few decades ago,” commented Aideen as she looked around her surroundings while they traveled. They had just crossed the border from Lavinja to the next province over, the Marquisate of Caroepa, the day before.

“Honestly, I feel the same despite being born in this country,” replied Celia with an agreeing nod. They were walking through a rather small village, not unlike the one she had grown up in, and immediately noticed the difference between this place and the place she came from. The local villagers had not seemed much wealthier than those in her home village, but they were noticeably much healthier, their children chubby and active rather than malnourished and morose, while the adults mostly had strong, healthy physiques that came from hard work coupled with enough food, unlike the sickly looks she was used to.

“I guess it’s just the luck of the draw,” said Aideen as she purchased a couple freshly picked peaches from a portly woman who was carrying a basket full of them on her back, likely back from the orchards after a harvest. She bit into the fruit after she wiped its surface clean on her tunic, and enjoyed the fresh, sweet, and juicy sensation of its flesh as she chewed happily. “In many countries, sometimes the difference between heaven and hell is merely decided by where in the country you happened to be born in.”

“Take this place for example,” said Aideen as she gestured with her free hand which held her staff to encompass the village. Despite its clearly metallic construction, nobody blinked an eye at a traveler holding a staff in hand, as it was a common enough sight. “This place used to be part of your County, not a few decades ago, before it got sold off to the Marquisate in exchange for some debts being written off. Notice how they don’t exactly have that much more in terms of wealth compared to your place, but lived far better lives regardless.”

“I noticed, yeah,” replied Celia as she bit into the other peach which Aideen handed to her after carefully wiping its surface clean. “They’re also living far more happily than the people where I was born and raised, that’s for sure.”

“That’s partly because they got a more competent lord in charge of the place. Someone who understood that healthy, strong, and contented people would be able to work better compared to those who could barely even look forward to the next day,” said Aideen as she munched on the fruit as she walked. “I’m willing to bet you ten gold that if you were to ask any of the old locals, they’d tell you that the taxes likely got lowered after this place was sold, since I recall the taxes where you’re from barely left you enough to live on.”

They asked one such old local, an old grandmother who was crocheting while she sat on the stump of a tree, all while watching a bunch of children - some of which likely her own descendants - play around in an open field, and the answer they received pretty much confirmed Aideen’s guess.

“Pretty much, kind traveler. When I was your age or so we used to barely have enough to live on, as everything else gets claimed at taxes. People used to starve to death when we had bad harvests,” said the old grandmother, who was buttered up quite quickly when Aideen offered her some honey-preserved fruits to snack on. “Then we had a change of lords, and suddenly our taxes were less than half what we needed to pay to the previous lord. I’ve just been glad to see my children and grandchildren being able to grow up strong and healthy, unlike my generation.”

Both Aideen and Celia thanked the old woman for her story, and Aideen had left the whole jar of preserved fruits for the woman to share with her family, which she accepted with a wide, if mostly toothless grin. They then continued their walk through the village before Aideen pointed out the remaining half of what she talked about earlier.

“By contrast, your region had the issue of incompetence amongst the rulers. It might be a recent thing, but either way, they relied far too much on a finite resource, and made no plans whatsoever to deal with the eventuality of that resource running out,” said Aideen with a clearly disgusted tone. “On top of that, they still attempt to retain their lifestyles, and their approach to that was to extort their own people so much that they barely had enough to live on. That’s just stupidity, and I wouldn’t be surprised if things ended in an ugly way after enough resentment piled up.”

“But the lord has his soldiers and knights behind him,” argued Celia somewhat halfheartedly. “What could poor villagers like us have done against him?”

“Ah, you see, Celia, the thing is, there is quite a lot that even the poor and downtrodden could achieve,” said Aideen with a sad smile. “As long as they were pushed enough that they no longer cared whether they would live or die by the end of it, that is.”