Alitheian Empire

The Alitheian Empire, or Glorious Empire as it was known during its time, is the name of the ruling political and religious power on the continent of Panyra during the Age of Deception. As its capital was the city of Alitheia (now Alitheia-Eirias), the Glorious Empire is now referred to more commonly as the Alitheian Empire to avoid associating it with anything glorious.

As with all information during the Age of Deception, what is compiled below should be taken with a grain of salt: many records and other reliable sources from the time have been destroyed, and what is left is likely tainted by those who recorded it, one way or the other.

History
After Immaru the Deceiver took on the mantle of The Creator, beginning the Age of Deception, Immaru neutered Tiamat's dragons and set them as guardians of mankind. Together, the dragons were the ultimate authority at the top of the Glorious Empire's hierarchy in the material plane.

Over the course of more than four centuries, the dragons gradually lost their way and parts of the Glorious Empire began to drift away, sparking civil wars that left only a few breeds of dragon loyal to Immaru and the Empire.

About 600 years after the formation of the Glorious Empire, the dragons suddenly disappeared all at once, sparking the instability and worldwide war that eventually ended the Age of Deception and plunged the world into the Orichalcum Wars.

With the help of St. Andrew and St. Roderick, The end came when a now-famous group of knights (and saints) -- St. Thoril, St. Alelion, St. Kolyani, and St. Aelena -- cut down Immaru's Great Tree, forever ridding the world of Immaru's deception.

Religion & Structure
The Glorious Empire, much like the current Denied Imperium that eventually succeeded it, was intertwined so intimately with its church that the two were virtually indistinguishable. The worshipers of The Creator ran the political and religious branches of the government, and were overseen by the dragons tasked by Immaru.

Because of the extensive use of magic, communication and travel were such that a centralized government was much more realistic than it is today. A network of teleporters (through church-approved teleportation centers) crisscrossed the Empire, allowing instantaneous travel and communication just about anywhere.

Record-keeping was similarly meticulous: each teleport would require the use of an arcane mark -- a virtually un-fakeable magic mark unique to each person.

However, unlike the Denied Imperium, the Glorious Empire allowed for regional worship of different gods, as long as they were worked into the appropriate pantheon below The Creator. There was also no dedicated branch of government to weeding out heretics, like the contemporary Hands of Axiom.

But some heretical beliefs were not acceptable -- chief among them, the truth that Immaru was a false god purporting to be The Creator. For a time, the four knights were persecuted by the church even while folk heroes to the commoners who yearned for the truth to be set free.