Of all the ancient empires of the Wilderlands the Empyrean Empire has been hardest
to research. Yet this was an Empire that seems to have been deliberately created as a
bulwark against the Demon Empire to the south by the gods themselves and engaged in wars
against both that Empire and also the later mighty
Dragon Empire.
It seems to have existed in the area now called the Southern Reaches although much of its
original lands are said now to lie beneath the shallow Silver Sea. Its original capital
still stands above the ocean, however, at Whitehaven on the Isle of Gods. Whitehaven is
also called the Hidden City as outsiders are not permitted to land there and its
inhabitants can call up sea mists to shroud the island from view. The religion of the
island seems to be based on the Olympian gods which is not surprising since many of
its inhabitants claim direct ancestry from those gods. In ancient times it has sought
influence with other civilizations through support of Olympian temples in other cities.
In this the Empire was at least initially successful with the
Empire of Kelnore but the policy
ultimately failed to curb the excesses of the Dragon Empire.
The war with the Dragon Empire seems to have exhausted the
Empyreans and led to their gradual decline as a power
in the south. Their lands at one time stretched north to the site of Tulla which was once
one of their provincial capitals but which was abandoned after the Dragon War. Strangely
raids from the Demon Empire seem to have stopped around this time probably because the
Demons no longer saw the Empyreans as a threat. The Empyreans still have a fitful interest
in the Southern Reaches and Eldritch Knights from Whitehaven occasionally quest through the
region. The towns and villages of the area, however, only dimly remember the Empire as
ancient history and see themselves as entirely independent.