Cambrecia
Long the center of the worship of Zelos, God of the State, in the Imperial Pantheon, The Holy See of Cambrecia was long the last nation loyal to the Great Empire in Duria, despite being an essentially independent state. Cambrecia suffered greatly during the Third Interannum, with chaos and rebellion ravaging the land after the fall of the Mage-King Lucasa and the Crimson Plague decimating the population thereafter. At the dawn of the Fourth Age of Man, the Potentate of Zelos has begun to slowly re-establish control, though there are no small number of rebels seeking to replace the theocracy with a monarchy.
Society & Culture
Important Persons
Various Episocopi of great influence and power, the Praetor of Cambrecia and some handful of powerful Quaesitors.
Government
Theocracy (Potentate, Episcopus, Sacerdos, Flamen, Urbis Praefectus)
Religion & Belief
The worship of Zelos is absolutely predominant in Cambrecia, to the point where only the worship of the other Ptarian deities, Tempus, Paelemona, Majestas, Galea, Terpsichore, Aridnus and, of course, the Triad of Lord Ptharos, Betshaba and Baelthor are permitted by edict. Betshaba has gained a strong following along the coastal cities of Cambrecia, and along the outlying territories, particularly those bordering Enesia, the secret worship of Podalirius has strong roots. Those individuals found worshipping Triadic deities not recognized by the state are fined, while those found worshipping the Dagonian deities are executed by the many Inquisitors of Zelos as enemies to the state.
Economy
Cambrecia is a fairly fertile land, enjoying a long, temperate planting season and a short winter. Grapes and olives are the crops of choice in its southern regions, while corns and bean crops are prevalent in the north. While its agricultural class has no real political power, its merchant class has begun to gain more and more economic power over the last few decades, particularly since trade restrictions with the Freecity of Neptaris were lifted in 1198.
History
After completion of the Zetian conquest of Simmeria in 97 BI by Antonius Argentis of House Zetar, the Zetian Senate again elected three consuls to expand Zetian territory on Duria in an attempt to establish a near-contiguous trade route around the Betshaban Ocean. Septimius Varros, a legate loyal to Consul Rufus Voltina of House Livius, was sent with the Zetian armada to Duria with the intent to conquer the Freecity of Neptaris. He arrived on the eastern shores of the Maroshan Sea in 89 BI, where he chose to establish a beachhead at the mouth of a river then known as the Kambros River some 250 miles north of Neptaris. He sent envoys to the local tribe that called the river their home, the Kambros, and began developing a relationship with them. The Kambros quickly took to working with the Zetian Legion, even providing some physical labor for the construction of Legate Septimius' fort on the banks of the river. By the following spring, Septimius was ready to expand his influence and secure the region for his ultimate march on Neptaris itself.
While serving in the Zetian military in its northern frontier on Aurea, Septimius Varros certainly read at least the first four books of Meditationes de Bello Simmerio, those initial writings of Marcus Argentis of House Zetar detailing the methods and tactics he used in the first few years of the conquest of the Divian Peninsula eight years prior (Antonius Argentis, his successor, had yet to publish the final two books of the Meditationes). Legate Septimius put his understanding of Argentis' writings to good use in this new land. By Spring, the leader of the Kambros, a man named Dravos, had formally requested aid from the Legate against their rival tribes in the river basin (presumably, an act encouraged by the Legate or his officers). The Legate agreed, under the condition that the Kambros would consider themselves under the patronage of Consul Rufus Voltina of House Livius, the Legate's sponsor. Perhaps not truly understanding the depth of their agreement, the Kambros enthusiastically accepted the terms. The disorganized men of the local tribes, accustomed to personal combat settling most disputes, proved no match for the highly-trained, professional soldiers of the Zetian Legion. The Duvarna, along the middle of the Kambros River were first to fall, followed by the Sarnoi in the uplands. Hearing of the quick defeat of their nearby cousins, the Amesi, a neighboring tribe friendly to the Kambros, secured an alliance with Kambros by offering up one of their own princesses as a wife to Dravos. By the end of summer, the Legions had also brought the Arishei, Gweri and Moragi under their dominion.
With the northern reaches and much of the coastline secure, Legate Septimius turned his attention to the Kingdom of Kamaros and their allies, the Melvartans and Branduri tribes. For most of the following year, Septimius continued to wear down the Kamaran defenses. The Kamaran, to their credit, realized that they had mobility that the Zetian Legion did not and often would withdraw from a region, allowing it to be taken by the Legion, only to return once the Legion had departed to disrupt the Legion's supply lines. Septimius, however, was relentless in his march on the Kamaros royal seat at Cerunis. After a protracted siege, Cerunis finally fell. As a condition of surrender, the Kamaran King Aaronar VI challenged the Legate to a personal duel. To everyone's surprise, Septimius agreed. The two squared off in the central courtyard of the Kamaran royal castle and, after a lengthy battle, Septimius finally killed the King. This was a striking departure from what had become Zetian tradition: a victorious general was expected to return to Zeth to display his former nemesis in chains in a Triumphal march through the city, where they would then by executed by order of the Senate. Instead, by following local traditions, not only did he become a hero to the Cambrecians themselves, but led to the Napoci and Ossamei to voluntarily join under his Dracones. To ensure a lasting peace, the daughter and heir of Kamaros became a wife of Dravos, who Legate Septimius then saw crowed as King of Kambresia (it would take less than two decades for the spelling to change to Cambrecia). Thus, scholars count the founding of Cambrecia to this event in 87 BI.
The Legate wasted no time moving to pursue a large contingent of Melvartans and Branduri who had fled from the Battle of Cerunis. Both tribes, already semi-nomadic, migrated eastward en-masse to escape the Zetian Legions. They crossed the Krios River just north of Neptaris and, as the Legate Septimius arrived in pursuit, the spring rains came and made the Krios too swollen to safely cross. Septimius quickly realized that he was in a precarious situation... his Legion was now much closer to Neptaris than to the source of his supply lines back on the Kambros River and Neptaris was certainly aware of his presence and had been preparing its own defenses. He could withdraw and lose the gains he had made to encircle Neptaris (at least to the north), nor could he wait for the Neptaran army to come meet him in the field, so he instead chose to march on Neptaris itself. Upon arriving, however, he was surprised to find that Neptaris was not prepared for war. There were few solders manning her legendary walls and the great gates were flung open to greet the Legate and his army. Among those to greet him was a Zetian ambassador sent by a rival of Consul Rufus Voltina named Lucius Crassus of House Manilius. Crassus informed the Legate that Neptaris was undergoing a bloodless revolution from monarchy to democracy and had formed a direct alliance with Zeth for legal advice and assistance during the transition (not to mention a lucrative trade deal that hinged on Septimius keeping the coast secure). Septimius was ordered to stand down and return to Zeth. He obeyed without question, sending his best officers back to see to his colony and support King Dravos in stabilizing his new Kingdom... which was, nevertheless, a client state of the Zetian Republic.
Septimius returned to a hero's welcome in Zeth. Stories had already been circulating about how he purposefully claimed territory in the name of his sponsor instead of aggrandizing himself, had personally fought the Kamaran King to the death and had stood down at the gates of Neptaris in accordance with Zetian law, despite the sizeable, blood-thirsty and victory-stained army at his back. Where returning generals had once faced automatic trial for despotism upon their return to Zeth, Septimius was hailed an exemplar of Zetian adherence to law and order. After a week of deliberation (and celebration), the Senate announced that, for the first time since the foundation of the city by the Septira, they were elevating a family to the status of Great House. House Varro was thus founded in 85 BI. Septimius himself remained in Zeth for over a decade, serving both as Senator and as paterfamilia of his new House, but finally returned to the Cambrecian shore in 68 BI. Again, he was lauded as a returning hero. The settlement he had founded at the mouth of that great river had become the royal seat of the King of Cambrecia (now the young son of Dravos, King Tarnos I). By royal decree, the city was named Septarium and the river that ran through it is called the Septimia River, after Septimus' mother. The former Legate, Senator and Paterfamilia of the first new Great House lived out another three decades in peaceful retirement in the growing city that carried his name, passing peacefully at a Latrunculorum table in his favorite tavern in 34 BI at the age of 87. During this time, Cambrecia and her welcoming people became home to many retired Zetian Legionaires, who often constructed vast agricultural estates near Septarium and employed native labor to work, often becoming indistinguishable from the local people within a couple of generations.
When the Empire was founded by Octavius of House Zetar in 1 IC, Cambrecia, as it had become known, was one of the last of the outer territories of the Old Republic to swear allegiance to the Empire.
After years of neglect for its colony, the Empire informed Cambrecia that it would have to see to its own affairs of defense in 724 IC. The Cambrecian nobility, so reliant on the Emperor's support and guidance, immediately began to fall to internal bickering and strife, as civil war broke out across the land. For the next thirty years, war was the mainstay as monarch after monarch fell. Eventually, no heirs became apparent to the throne excepting a three year old child and the nobility, not trusting one another with the regency, elected to place the Pontifex of Zelos as regent to the crown. The Pontifex moved quickly and relentlessly in destroying the economic power of the local nobility, particularly the economies of those who opposed the Empire, Zelos, or him personally. By the time that the King came of age, it was apparent that the monarchy had power only so long as it was supported by the clergy of Zelos. That King's son, Jeremiah Tovex, abdicated his power of rulership to the Pontifex, making Geraldus the first Potentate of Cambrecia in 762 IC. Civil war again erupted over the rulership of the Potentate, but, unfortunately, the power of those rebellious nobles had already been waning over the last few decades, and they proved no match for Geraldus. However, instead of replacing the defeated nobles with more nobility, they were replaced by priests of Zelos. By 800 IC, the rebellions had ended, with nearly sixty percent of the nobility having been replaced by the church hierarchy. In 834 IC, the Potentate declared the laws of inheritance by primogeniture anathema, and by 887 IC, the entire noble hierarchy of Cambrecia had been replaced by the priesthood of Zelos. In 900 IC, the Emperor Metaurus of House Drusus recognized Cambrecia officially as the Holy See of Cambrecia, and the noble class was irrevocably and completely removed from its position of rulership in the nation. It was at this time that the name of the Cambrecian capital was changed from Septarium to Zelosia City. Only the lowest position of secular rulership, that of Urbis Praefectus, remained, and even they were chosen by the religious hierarchy and not permitted position by heredity.
After the conclusion of the Cambrecian Civil Wars, the Holy See remained a stalwart supporter of Imperial interests on Duria, assisting in the defense of Imperial naval interests in the Maroshan Sea and in the petty kingdoms of Koramia. When, in 1202 IC, the self-styled King of Koramia placed his own Prelate of Vortumnus in the holy seat of Paeldain, the Pontifex of Zelos handed that king and Prelate an even stronger denunciation than the Pontifex Maximus himself: the See broke off all trade relations with the Kingdom of Koramia, refusing to recognize its sovereignty. This harsh treatment sparked off a minor war between the two nations in 1208 IC and, though the initial fighting lasted only a decade or so, no official treaty was established between the two nations. By 1250 IC, despite a minor movement among some of the priests of Cambrecia, the Potentate was still strong in his opposition to the concept of an independent Koramian Kingdom.
When the Great Empire began its reconquest of Koramia in 1250 IC, Horatius IV, the Potentate of Zelos eagerly joined in the fray. The Potentate not only reiterated that all of Koramia was anathema to Zelos, but declared anyone willing to assist them and/or trade with the Koramians on an individual basis anathema. Despite the Potentate's personal eagerness, he could not commit all of the Cambrecian forces against Koramia: Cambrecia had long, sporadic conflict with the dwarves of the Cambrecian Mountains and soon after the Cambrecians began to withdraw from the mountains to attend to the Koramia campaign, the dwarves suddenly rose up en masse to attack Cambrecia from their ancient strongholds. Unbeknownst to the Potentate, the dwarves of Duria had allied with Koramia and were coordinating against Imperial forces.
While Imperial forces established a beachhead in Koramia, the Cambrecian front began to falter. Unexpectedly, the Mages of Lun Dorak, having quelled resistance among the clans of the nearby Calmerian Marches, began moving troops into the Cambrecian Mountains from the east. The Potentate quickly allied with the Mage-King Lucasa and the Dorakian forces under his command and the dwarves of the Cambrecian Mountains were driven underground. With the dwarves quelled, the combined forces of Cambrecia and Lun Dorak prepared their assault on the Cambrecian front of the war against Koramia.
Early in 1252 IC, word reached Cambrecia that the Emperor Publius Antonius had died and his successor, Lucius was actually the Mage-King himself. The heirarchy of Zelos in Cambrecia initially went into a frenzied debate as to whether the succession was legal according to the laws of Zelos, but the Potentate had already cast his lot. He voiced his support for Lucasa as Mage-King and Emperor, declaring any who disobeyed not only traitors to the Empire, but Anathema. It was at this point that some of the priests of Zelos realized that Potentate Horatius IV had gone quite mad.
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