After the administration of Cajus Tigius, the senate named a new consul in late 5883. The economy was sluggish and Cajus’ military reforms caused some grumbling, but considering the cataclysm almost forty-six years before, Hesberia was considered stable.

This stability gave them adavantage when the military pushed to reclaim eastern lands. Many of the former provinces fell into chaos. Some areas formed city-states while other areas were without both law and order. This chaos prevented some eastern warlords from taking advantage of magical aspects of warfare. Against a more trained and organized army, these warlords fell quickly. Military reforms begun by Awrelius and continued by Cajus transformed the Hesberian military from a plodding infantry heavy force, to a quick, mobile force capable of attacking airborne and ground troops.

Despite these reforms, certain foes proved too powerful for the retooled Hesberian army. The forces of the former province of Murogum include four trejkun (tray-kuhn) mounted calvary troops. These four calvarymen are airborne, extremely fast, manuervable, and able to attack with fire in addition to arrows and swords. In open field battles, the four fly high above archery range over their foes and swoop down at terrible speeds attacking the rear guard. The rest of the Murogum infrantry engages the front lines. The first battle fought against the Murogum lasted 25 minutes with two centuries of Hesberians lost.

Murogumian ambition may be on the rise, but they have yet to devise a way to expand past the Awrelian Demarcation. The trejkun will not fly near the area and the infantry are not as skilled in archery as the Hesberians. Both sides are aware that with the airborne calvary, the Muruogum army is little more than an ancient style, heavy infantry force. Another limit to the Murogum expansion is a lack of manpower. They will never lose the former borders of their small province, but they cannot occupy much land beyond it. With the instability of the cataclysm, Kiyolenor (a non-Hesberian merchant) was able to seize power and influence many to back his rule.

Shortly after the cataclysm, Kiyolenor had one young trejkun trained and quickly went in search of more. The fear of the trejkun bought him enough time to establish his rule of order and keep away military threats. After five years, he began to impose his own reforms, especially in stablizing the currency. He introduced a new set of measures that included a simple magical device that could determine the authenticity of a coin. In essence, it was a magic detector. If a coin had been magically produced, the device would glow bright blue. If the coin was minted, it would not illuminate at all. He had also briefly abolished the Ganarii, but wisely changed course when he realized that the Ganarii had contacts deep in the Hesberian Empire.

The military of Kiyolenor is made up of former Hesberian troops and various mercenaries that his master-of-arms hires. As a merchant and not a military man, Kiyolenor is not aware of how to maintain a force and he leaves that in the hands of others. His involvement extends to capturing young trejkun and training the riders. Otherwise, he is seeking to expand through business or might, whichever is less costly.

The Hesberian Senate determined that any campaigns near Murogum would be pure folly. Certain generals seemed to ignore the advice and press anyway. Cajus himself pushed eastward dying during his second campaign. Thus, when Cajus died, the Senate believed that a general should not be the next consul. Ignoring the wishes of Cajus, a silver-tongued senator named Simiga was named consul in late 5883.

Without a general as consul, the military destablized from sinking morale and disorder. Simiga had no skill in leading his generals, despite his eloquence. His policy of using more military for internal building projects infuriated the head of the military assembly. He would not stand for the continuation of what started as a policy under Cajus. Confronting Simiga in the consul’s palace, he decried the weakening of the great Hesberian Empire and insisted that certain eastern lands could and should be reestablished. Only his eloquence saved his life, but realizing his weakened hold on the consulship, he asked the senate to declare a state of emergency and name the head of the military assembly, Kmejus Ehimoparbus as temporary dictator. The senate would not give emergency powers to a military general, but they did name him as consul less than one year after naming Simiga.

Unable to determine the fate of Simiga, the former consul and gifter senator asked to simply retire to the countryside in the western empire. There he stayed for fourty years until his death, never again visiting the capital city.

Upon his coronation, the new consul took the name of Kmejus Awrelius and ruled uneventfully for another five years. When he passed in 5888, he named Trasus Kelpa as his succesor, but Trasus implored the senate to name another. Trasus nominated a foreign born centurion, Elek-Ikan. The senate looked to western generals seen to be more stable than the aggresive, expansionist eastern generals and sought to elect Awlus Fodilus and named him consul in 5889. Trasus looked to serve as head of the military under the new consulship, but Awlus dismissed him shortly after coronation.

Upon being names consul, as was the tradition established, Awlus took a different name, Awlus Cagius Timurus. Being accustomed to administration more than military advancement, Cagius did more work to streamline the Hesberian bureaucracy than anything else. His rule was relatively uneventful for fifteen years. In 5903, two generals, dissatisfied with the state of the empire and the military, fought for control of the empire. Elek-Ikan from the west, and Titus Seponus from the east…