Editing Akhentour (section)

==== The Fourth Age: The Dorian Empire ====
Alectrius Dorian began his reign by sending fifteen crusades, known as the [[Alectrian Crusades]], across Dorian to "clean it up," as the retreat of the tabaxi prior left the country with a power vacuum that was quickly filled by nefarious types. The crusades lasted nearly 300 years and created many enemies against the new Emperor.

Most of the crusades focused on Teveren, but four of them occurred in Akhentour: The 5th Crusade cleared out the fey incursion within the elven ruin [[Sildewell]] in the foothills east of Lilingbroke, the 8th Crusade decimated the gnoll populations in the [[Painted Hills]] north of Diomedes, the 9th Crusade (which occurred simultaneously as the 8th) aided the Diomedean elves in crushing various goblin camps throughout Diomedes, and the 12th Crusade was an ill-fated attempt to subjugate the [[Otharga]] orc tribes in [[Stonnet Fields]]. Each of these Crusades had their own repercussions, but in general the Alectrian Crusades are known as the beginning of the "adventuring" lifestyle popular with many in modern day, as when each Crusade ended, many crusaders, beaten and battered by the Alectrian "iron fist" style of military rule, became mercenaries and sellswords instead, which in turn eventually developed into the more strict "guild-style" adventurers we know today. In fact, the [[Kavonne League of Adventurers]] was founded during this time, in 2931 VR, making it one of the oldest certified adventuring guilds in Avo.

The 600-year reign of the Dorian family was one of political upheaval and intrigue, marked by a swift advancement of nobility and land grabs throughout the continent. The Crusades made a lot of enemies of the Dorians, which ultimately ended Alectrius' life when he was assassinated by unknown forces in 2925 VR. Alectrius' son [[Kazwic Dorian|Kazwic]] took over as Emperor. Known as the Vile King, Kazwic ruled terribly, creating a permanent [[Crusader Corps]] which ruled as military stewards in nearly every city in Dorian. The Corpse, as they soon were called, were not as powerful as the ones Alectrius founded, but were much larger in size and availability.

Alectrius also began a system of despotic rule, beginning with having his children rule each country on their own as Grand Princes or Princesses, a tradition that ended with the end of the Empire.

Ultimately, little changed in Akhentour over the Dorian Empire. The seat of power was established in Berderem (now Garrod), though that would often change to Kavonne or Stonnet depending on who was ruling at the time. Due to the near-constant attempts on Dorian family members' lives (successful or not), the title of Emperor eventually became largely ceremonial, as it was clear that it would be impossible to rule anything if you were assassinated. Thus, over the centuries the imperial rule was delegated at first to a pseudo-city-state structure, before an official tricameral Parliament was founded in Kavonne in 3049 VR. The Parliament was not very friendly toward the general populace of Dorian, however, being run by the upper crust of society as well as clergy, which only strengthened hatred toward the Empire.

In 3275 VR, [[Urmenator Dorian]] was killed in a coup by his own son [[Erlighein Dorian|Erlighein]], in a broad attempt by the Usurperites to dethrone the Dorian family, a coup that was ultimately successful, causing the Dorian Empire, which was already fragile at this point, to collapse quickly. Thankfully, unlike last time with the tabaxi, the Parliament was already set to split into its component parts, creating the Three Kingdoms. Akhentour's first king was [[Gyrellyn Sercori]], wood elf and High Lord of the former Parliament.