The Empire of Astor was originally founded roughly twelve hundred years ago when the titular Astor the Glorious declared himself emperor of the territory he had amassed over several decades of warfare with the native 'monstrous races'. However, when he eventually succumbed in battle, he had not arranged a successor - and rather than allow the Empire to collapse because one musclebound ruler was deceased, the various merchant houses essentially stepped in and formed a sort of bureaucratic plutocracy, whereby those with wealth and power were put in charge of managing their own territories, and the most powerful were naturally promoted towards the top or elected there by their peers.

While this system is of questionable merit, it has managed to survive since then with few major quibbles - most people don't really care whether the ruler is chosen by the gods or elected by the wealthy as long as he doesn't burn their homes down for no good reason. The Empire has had emperors chosen from multiple races - mostly human and dwarven, one elven, and a handful of halflings and gnomes - but as yet has never chosen a half-breed, a goblinoid, or other 'monstrous races' to rule.

The current emperor is a dwarf who took power roughly ten years earlier, which has caused some racial tensions to bubble up. For one, the phrase 'the little emperor' is used in jest a lot. Some dwarves are smug about their perceived place in the racial hierarchy, some humans are bitter about not being at the top, some elves are outright horrified that the current ruler might have little interest in the land undespoiled, some gnomes worry that dwarves start wars even more often than humans, and some halflings wish everyone would shut up so they can enjoy some tranquility.

The fact that the emperor role is traditionally chosen by a committee of the major power players, including the retiring ruler, hasn't helped people who don't know Emperor Kardek of Ironhand be more trusting of his ascent to power. Yet Kardek has remained in his position for ten years without a major challenge to his power.

While mixed marriages are not illegal, most cultures tend to disapprove of mixed-race relationships. However, there are a number of half-breeds in existence ('half-elves', or human-elven interminglings, are the most commonly known), as most of the major races can interbreed. Humans tend to be the most xenophilic, which when combined with their relative fecundity has made for some jokes in very poor taste.

The empire's largest problem at the moment is that the goblinoids (the politically acceptable term for goblins, orcs, and their half-breeds, the hobgoblins) utterly hate them. Ostensibly, goblinoids are citizens of the Empire whether they like it or not. In practice, many of them haven't really forgotten that at one time the empire tried to wipe them off the map in an act of outright attempted genocide, they still get treated like crap, and many of them turn to banditry, smuggling, and other illicit acts due to the lack of good opportunities otherwise. While they aren't necessarily attacked on sight, they are highly distrusted because they tend towards criminal or lawless behavior, and they tend towards criminal or lawless behavior because nobody trusts them.

Even lower on the totem pole are the ogres, because they are large, mostly disinterested in civilization, and much more inclined to smash and grab than stop and chat. While there are some erudite and highly intelligent ogres, survival imperatives tend to push violent responses on both sides, limiting the amount of ogre inclusion in the Empire (outside of a few military groups.)

Overall, what most people fear within the Empire is that you can't trust 'those people'… But who those people are depends on who you ask. (There are actual monsters in the world, mind you, but most commoners hear far more about how they can't trust the bartender because he's a dark elf/gnome halfbreed.) And 'those people' are going to steal your children, poison your drinks, seduce your daughters, exploit honest workers, skulk in the night, and so forth - which may be entirely false, but the empire was formed by many cultures, and the long lived ones in particular can hold grudges for centuries.

And yet, not everyone holds a bias. (Humans, particularly, are often more forgiving than most other racial backgrounds.) However, stories of orcish rapine of various species tend to stick around even if they haven't been true for centuries at best. Elves, for the record, being the longest lived, have the least progressive social attitudes. One cranky elf matron can hold a culture back for a very long time. Older generations are the last ones to get the memo that the other race is not evil just because their skin is different and their ears are or are not pointy.

Three imperial coronations ago was the reign of Shalindras Feythlynn, known in historical texts as the Purification. Rising to power under a promise to raise the fortunes of the Empire by cleaning it of its undesirable elements, Shalindras had the longest reign in the empire's history at 212 years, and her time as emperor was focused highly on attempting to exterminate the goblinoid races and dark elves from the empire. She was removed from office acrimoniously, and her status as an elven paragon is a significant point of contention within elven culture, and within the Empire at large. Nobody has openly discussed the concept of term limits yet, but it seems likely to be a topic should another elven hopeful be considered for the role of Emperor.

They're called cave elves by some people, or dark elves, or ashpiles, or cursed elves… They're not quite as bitter as the goblins, because they're used to their sunshine brethren being tools to them, and they aren't inherently evil and worshipful of spider goddesses (although that is a common rumor.)

Funny story about the drinking fountains…

There was a gnomish attempt to foster indoor plumbing in some of the largest cities of the Empire at one point. Aside from the pipes being cheap scrap iron that rusted or broke down easily, there were a lot of arguments about who was important enough to get this life improvement first, and who didn't get it at all.

Although it did result in large sewer systems and some basic water-flush systems instead of just outhouses in many rich to middle-class areas, they inevitably broke down, and the developers refused to continue work on them after having discovered that they weren't allowed to make use of their own invention. The entire system fell into disrepair, with those sections eventually becoming the crappy parts of town, and the poor ended up with them to nobody's pleasure.

“The good news, it makes butter. The bad news, it also makes jam… And I'm really sorry about your cat. The gnomish committee on churn safety enhancements is now being formed.”

Gnomes in this world are always trying to advance technology, no matter how common magical replacements might be. Most cultures put up with them until they start playing with explosives, because they occasionally do make things right. On the other hand, gnomish alchemists are best kept several miles from town…

“Well, our new clothing dye works! Except that when we make it it makes an airborne cloud that dyes everything in the area, and it might be mildly toxic. So don't run around licking each other if you suddenly notice you're green. Even if you do taste like strawberries.”

Gnomes are just a bit too foolhardy for most peoples' liking. Even when they're skilled, because that just mean they make bigger things. And that just means when they do fail, they fail that much harder. However, when it comes to the Imperial Army and Navy, and especially when it comes to weapon development, there will always be a place within the Empire for the gnomes.

One of the brightest individuals in the empire is a gnome that is the bearded, pointy-hatted equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci. Avaretti is centuries ahead of his time but with a slight credibility problem amongst his peers, in part because Avaretti is more cautious, sensible, and not above improving existing designs, and in part because Avaretti is willing to use magic and technology together to make amazing things - anything may be considered for the sake of the invention.

Yes, though as it was the creation of the elven Emperor, there's been talk that it was all a waste of money and good land. Still, nobody since has destroyed it, and its still fairly well maintained and enjoyed, and has staff members devoted to preserving its beauty and the animals therein.

The Glories (short for the Glory of the Empire) are effectively the state sanctioned heroes of the realm. They're who you call when the locals can't handle a problem and it isn't bad enough (and simple enough) to call in the Imperial Army. Mostly they sponsor new members into their ranks, though well-off families may sponsor their kids into finding their calling. In game terms, they aren't the only people with class levels, but many people in power or in the Imperial army were once Glories and kept their lessons, and they're what most people think of when you say 'hero' or 'adventurer'.

Most places have a local militia formed of volunteers and paid guards, but the largest cities have Glory Outposts where these heroes rest, train, and seek work.

The Empire believes in the numerological significance of the numbers 7 and 42, and many of their teachings on magic consider these to be auspicious numbers. (Three is technically also a number of power, but comes up too frequently to respect.)

Various merchant houses and families of wealth tend to manage smaller territories, collecting tribute and passing a share of it up the ranks, all the way to the emperor. There are seven major houses that, frankly, are much like medievalistic corporations, managing many lesser houses and territories. They are responsible for deciding on an emperor. There are also forty-two minor houses that basically act as representatives of a region (in exchange for profiting off of it, and being responsible for keeping basic order within it.) Though the Seven Ministers aren't beholden to listen, they advise and make recommendations on the empire, as well as voting on matters not requiring a major executive decision (how to spend tribute to better the empire, for instance.) Each Minister acts much as a feudal lord, despite the plutocratic origins.

The Empire spans a broad territory encompassing a large segment of the continent; as mentioned, many of the minor houses govern a city or a few hamlets (say, the size of an American political district), with the Big Seven essentially being their managers (territories the size of a state.) Oftentimes minor and major houses have representatives in many cities they don't control.