Tor Ardwen

Tor Ardwen, also called the Tor Ardwen Regime, is the name given to the Archadian Empire 784 AIC and 840 AIC whilst it was under the control of Omnican priest and reformer Iosephos Sotiras and his followers.

Etymology

The name Tor Ardwen has often baffled historians, as the name is clearly not of Archadian origin. The name comes from a scripture by an unknown monk or traveller written probably in the 5th century AIC which was discovered by Sotiras and which is believed to have been the basis of his reforms. In this book, Tor Ardwen, which the author translates as Great White Spire, is a mythical place where people have found serenity and unity in worshipping all aspects of the Sun at once. Some scholars believe this Spire to be the tower of Whitegold in the distant Azurien, though there has never been any other reference of Azurien being known to Archadians at that time.

History

In 784 AIC, after years of preaching about the corruption and tyranny within the Omnican church and Heliarchy, Iosephos Sotiras led a popular uprising against the curia in Archadia, creating a new regime. The following years were marked by brutal hunts and executions of members of the church and nobility, including the Heliarch. The regime attempted to gain control over the entire empire, but constant uprisings, exasperated by the death of Sotiras in 801 AIC, constantly threatened the countryside and parts of the city.

In 838 AIC, the new Heliarch, Antonius Pius, then resident of Verduro, allies with the Order of St. Kastor and king István Nagy of Nicoloviana in order to finally destroy the Tor Ardwen regime and restore Archadia to Omnicanism. The coalition, after 2 years of brutal war, finally succeeded in overthrowing the regime. Istvan Nagy was subsequently crowned the first Emperor of the Holy Archadian Empire. Despite this, Sotiranity had entrenched itself across the empire and much of Hasperia.

Politics

The regime was ruled by the Council of the Faithful and the new republic set about implementing the reformist agenda of Sotiras on a population still somewhat split between the reformists of the nascent Sotiran branch of the faith and traditionalist followers of the Omnican Church. The regime had very friendly relations with Leopoli and the Vozdina, with those two nations financing and supporting Tor Ardwen when occasional exalted marches on the republic by outside nations, for the cause of restoring the 'holy mother church', were launched.