The Empire of Ortygal

For almost 4500 years, the Saldanas have ruled Ortygal. They are not just the imperial family. They are living, breathing gods of Ortygal and worshipped and regarded as such. That means they can get away with just about anything without fearing losing the support of their subjects. Which makes them very dangerous. Extremely dangerous.

-King Anturak of Pyrrak 

When King Geoff Saldana I was crowned King of Ortygal in Keyport in 1368, little did anyone suspect how much the Saldanas would accomplish and how far they would take Ortygal.

In just 300 years, Ortygal had expanded south and east, becoming a large and powerful kingdom. After annexing several other small kingdoms and dominating the continent of Anglar from north to south, King Michael Saldana II was crowned Emperor Saldana of the Empire of Ortygal. But the expansion did not stop there.

Within another 400 years the Empire of Ortygal was encompassing what is today the Federation of the Inner Sea and most of the Empire of Pyrrak and it's merchant fleet dominated harbors all over Gemnos.

From around the year 2000-2500, Ortygal was the de facto power on Gemnos. No one could come close rivaling their economic or military power.

Then in 2745, explorer Jack Moulineux found his way to Torabor and Ortygal immediately launched a project of exploration, subjugation and colonization that stretched even it's considerable resources. Money was pouring into Ortygal, but not all were happy. And in the south, trouble was brewing.

In 2999, with a large part of Ortygal's armies waging war 3500 miles away, southern separatists lead the charge for the south-western part of Ortygal to leave the Empire and form a new nation, one which wasn't ruled by one man, one family. James Saldana III, arguably one of the weakest Saldanas to ever take the golden throne in Keyport, allowed them to leave without a fight, and the Federation of the Inner Sea was formed.

By 3115, most of Torabor was colonized under Ortygalian control, although Varnor had taken a good chunk down south. Just 16 years later, in 3131 came the second revolution. This time in the south-eastern part of the Empire of Ortygal. Tired of all the money staying in the north, the southerns rebelled. This time however, the Saldanas refused to stand by and watch their empire shrink again. 27 years of bloody civil war followed before  Ortygal lost the war and the Kingdom of Pyrrak was founded.

In 3686 the Kyzian Empire started to spread out from the desert and soon became neighbor with Ortygal on Torabor.

Meanwhile, in 3987, the Empire of Ortygal is once again embroiled in a war with the Kingdom of  Pyrrak. This time it about the north tip of Anglar, just south of Evercold. The race and war ends in a stall-mate, with the two nations dividing the area between them. But this was not by far the last time the two giants would fight over territory. At least 6 wars (4369, 4682, 4823, 4992, 5289 and 5545) have since been fought between the two, each war resulting in land changing hands and people changing nationality. Especially the baronies of Terram, Kortt and Zungal have been affected by these changes due to their location.

After some centuries of status quo, the decline of Ortygal continued again in 4292 when the Kyzian Empire began to be aggressive and take huge swats of land from Ortygal in northern Torabor. Seizing the opportunity with a weakened Ortygal, Varnor started attacking it's lands in southern Torabor. By 4486, the Kyzian Empire held more than 2/3's of the northern part of the continent, while Varnor held most of the south. Ortygal's holdings on Torabor had been diminished to less than 1/20 of their original size.

In 5123, the last of the great losses happened. The Ebon Empire was formed and The Empire of Ortygal lost a huge chunk of land in the north.