Archives of Eldia

by Haryn19

The Eldian Empire of old ruled the continent for two thousand years before the Great Titan War. During this era, nine noble families ruled Eldia under the leadership of Fritz, the royal family. The tales derived from feats and rivalries of these families are ancient epics studied by scholars with awe and reverence. And here they are, stored in the Archives.

1. Prelude

Prelude

'Eldia is order, Eldia is justice, and by grace of Mother Ymir, Eldia is eternal."

~ Matheld Kernz, 7th Century polymath, High Imperial Age

The history of the Eldian Empire, and Eldians as a people, is one of ceaseless strife. Before the coming of titans, they were tribal primitives with a barbaric culture, no different from those they later conquered under similar pretense. When the chieftain called Fritz, who would serve as the progenitor of the royal line, encountered Ymir, there was a brief period of stability and, as some might say, even prosperity. Together they subjugated the military state of Marley, and strengthened Eldia.

However, after Ymir's assassination and subsequent ascension, the old chieftain grew senile and delusional. He died an unceremonious death, strangled by a slave wench with his own bed sheets. Though a wretched soul as he had become, Fritz was the fulcrum that held the warlike Eldians together. With his death, tribalism returned and the nation descended into civil war. Ymir's daughters were taken to safety by their mother's housecarls, who were oathbound to protect and serve the three.

After about a decade of war, Maria and her sister used their gifts to unify Eldia once more. Maria, who now possessed the Founding Titan, was crowned the first true monarch of the Fritz bloodline. Following her father's example, she took a slave as her concubine to keep political power all to herself. She, like her sisters, bore three children before beginning the campaign to subjugate the remaining barbarian tribes that inhabited the forest hills which the Eldians were native of. The curse of Titans claimed their lives and their campaign was overseen by their offspring.

Within two generations, the upper half of the eastern coastline of the continent was under Eldian control along with an island north east of the coast. But such rapid expansion also resulted in myriad issues, a few of them being civil unrest, highly decentralized government, and mismanagement of resources. The next decades were marked by severe famines and other crises, but it was during this period that the Founding Titan's ability to alter the physiology of Eldians was discovered. The king had made Eldians sturdier and furnished them with better metabolism, though there were limits to what the Founder could do.

Once the famines had been endured, the royal family turned their attention from conquest to the loose confederation of tribes called the Eldia. The half a century that followed was a brutal time period where the foundation of the Empire that would reign for the next millennium and a half was laid in iron and blood. Cruel prosecution of unconventional groups and mass killing of noncompliant communities was not uncommon. The social hierarchy, which was tribal and thus based on strength, was replaced by a steeper system defined by lineage. Individuals with blood of Ymir were considered to be inherently superior, and the rest were all treated as second class citizens.

Nearly two centuries after Ymir's ascension, the nation of Eldia was stable for a while but this stability did not last for long. In the year 192 a struggle for succession began between two cousins who were equally qualified to wear the crown. This soon escalated into the political discourse that the historians remember as 'War of Winter Suns', the name suggesting some mass arsons committed by both sides during the season of winter. Since at this point of time in history, all nine titans belonged to the Fritz family, not much is known about this conflict outside their circles. However, one thing that was made public knowledge was that the king believed even this isolated pseudo-war was potentially devastating. The conflict ended with him choosing a third candidate and decreeing that one family alone must never hold such destructive power.

Thus the Titan Houses were created, with the successor Queen Arna using her predecessors' memories and wisdom to choose worthy holders. The nine titans were given to families that had proven themselves loyal in times of treachery or to individuals who had distinguished themselves in martial prowess. Arna's reign was the first 'peaceful' era that Eldia had experienced. The nation was blessed by thirteen years of cultural and economic growth. The queen, traversing the memories of her predecessors, found the true location of Ymir's birthplace and began the construction of a city at that spot, which would conclude twenty years after her demise. Her grandson, King Wilhelm, would name the city Arnhiem in honor of the noble queen.

While Arnhiem was in the process of being built, the Titan Houses were ordered to lead expeditions westwards. Some found allies for the empire while others found wars. By the end of Wilhelm's reign, the entirety of the upper half of the continent and a few city states to the south were either ruled by, or were protectorates of Eldia. The decades that followed saw relatively sluggish expansion, but that was soon to change as the fourth century came by and marked the beginning of a new age of expansion in the year 327.