34
edits
Changes
→Ogroth Occupation Era in Cygnar
After 200 years of facing the Ogroth war machine, Caspia was the only human kingdom that arose during the Thousand Cities era to retain its own diminished sovereignty. By 433 BR Caspia only existed within the labyrinthine curtain walls of its capital. These walls that had been fortified and refortified for over 2,000 years before the Ogroth invasion by both Menite and Morrowan hands kept the Caspians safe from Ogroth intrusion. Behind the vast tracks of stone and mortar, Caspians faced starvation, population decline and bottlenecking, and complete cultural isolation for 300 years to retain their freedom. Until the Rebellion, Caspia’s last contact with the outside world would be with the Ogroth warlord Kolegzein IV after he deceived Primarch Gallumus and Heirarch Sadron IV into leaving the city walls under a flag of peace. The warlord cut their throats and drank the warm blood of these two pontifices to prove to the Caspians that the gods of humanity could not save them.
'''Occupation'''
The first two centuries of the Ogroth occupation were exceptionally brutal as they focused on grinding down resistance and building the infrastructure for empire. More extreme than even the Nightmare Empire of the Cryx, the Ogroth’s labor force consisted entirely of slaves and the reanimated dead. Through blood, exhaustion, and a holocaust of humanity the Ogroth forced the construction their massive black fortress cities and vast paved network of roads.
While the black fortresses lie buried deep in wilderness areas the cities and roads built during the Ogroth occupation are still in common use today.
Even though the Ogroth appeared human in appearance they treated the humans of Western Immoren as insects or tools to be stored and disposed of when broken. In these death camps it was not uncommon for the undead to reside next to the living. Many families were also broken as people were sorted and shipped across the Meredius to never be seen again. The impact of this holocaust left a deep genetic and cultural memory upon all the humans of Western Immoren. The practice of slavery is still seen as taboo by all its people even in modern times.
While the Ogroth’s subjugation was brutal they enforced a strict practice of segregation. Sexual intermingling between the human Ogroth and Immoren population was very rare and if the Western Immoren’s complied the Ogroth did not interfere with local customs or religions. Many of the settlements decimated during the invasion were rebuilt during the occupation.
The Ogroth’s devotion to conquest to gather resources for their infernal masters was so focal to the Ogroth’s strange and alien culture that they designated governance to appointed local collaborators. Much of the technology developed during Clockwork Renaissance was dismantled and forbidden however, trade and commerce between former city states was allowed. Communication and travel during this time was heavily restricted with city states being grouped into districts. These bureaucratic divisions would consolidate the cultural distinctions that would later grow into the nations of Iron Kingdoms as they are known today.
The Ogroth’s non-involvement policy that was driven by the fear of contamination by the natives of Western Immoren allowed for the Menite, Morrowan, and Thamarite faiths to persist. Ascendants and scions appeared during this area and each subverted the Ogroth in their way. The their and grave-robber Aiden gained notoriety by escaping captivity twice and only through his trusted lieutenant’s betrayal were the Ogroth able to kill him in 344 BR. Aiden’s soul would escape them when he ascended as a Scion of Thamar at the time of this demise. Some ascendants would come from unlikely origins. Rowan was born from a wealthy family of Ogroth collaborators and matured into adulthood unaware of the suffering experienced by everyday people under the shadow of the occupiers. Once she left the gardens walls of her home and witnessed the days of people whose lives were barely worth living, she renounced all wealth and dedicated her life to the physical and spiritual treatment of the general population. The Menite faith declined during this period as the priest-kings complied with the Ogroth occupation and Menoth did not visit any miracles upon Immoren. No one knows why Menoth did not interfere with the Ogroth invasion. Maybe in a twisted fashion the Ogroth provided order by threatening the agents of the Wurm, or the faith itself was able to exist under compliance, or Menoth as a god who only demanded obedience and expected his faithful to rely upon their own strength (as they did against the Molgur and he did against the Wurm) to overcome adversity perceived the struggle itself as a form of worship.
The permanent occupation of the Ogroth appeared inevitable however for reasons unknown the slave ships ceased sending Immorens back across the Meredius to the Ogroth homeland and the black ships stopped migrating additional Ogroth populations onto Immoren’s shores after 190 BR. Once it became clear to the Ogroth who had spent generations on the continent that Immoren was going to be their permanent home they began taking a personal involvement in the daily life of their chattel. This would trigger policies to repress and potentially extinguish worship of the human gods from the Iron Kingdoms. It was at this time that the Gift emerged, and humanity could perform magic for the first time. The pride and fear of the Ogroth would be the catalyst to ally all three of the human gods against them.
'''The Gift'''
=== Founding of Cygnar ===
