As'arem

As'arem, literally meaning Empire of Arem, was the nation of shalarin in Serôs beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Geography
As'arem spanned much of the northeastern Sea of Fallen Stars, reaching from the Hmur Plateau and abyssal plains east of the Pirate Isles and north of the Whamite Isles, to the Caverns of Khinas and shores of the Great Dale in the Easting Reach. It was the largest nation beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars upon its founding and through at least the mid-to-late 14 century DR.

The empire comprised four kingdoms: the breadbasket of Es'daan on the Po'ioa Plateau south of Impiltur, the military powerhouse of Es'purr between the Bymmal Trench and the Paolin Reef west of Thesk, the rich and opulent religious center of Es'rath east of the Pirate Isles,  and the art and smithing center of Es'roch in the Easting Reach.

Government
The empire was organized as a feudal system with an eadar (emperor) at the top. The eadar was sheltered and distant from the day-to-day affairs of the empire, and thus each of the four kingdoms were controlled directly by its own finar (king), who in turn were served by the golmars (dukes). It was sometimes said that As'arem was thus not one realm, but five realms (the four kingdoms and As'arem itself). While the eadar was the nominal ruler of this confederation of kingdoms, they shared power with the finars and their commands were not absolute.

The capital city was Us'rath, located within the kingdom of Es'rath, where the Great Palace of Ri'ta'panal was located. Each of the other three kingdoms' capitals also contained an imperial palace adjacent to the royal palace.

In the mid-to-late 14 century DR, As'arem had been ruled for over a century by its 22nd eadar, the then elderly and sickly Ri'ola'con. His heir was Ri'ola'kirk, a young ranger.

The empire held a seat at the Nantarn Council alongside the other notable races and nations of Serôs.

Trade
Es'daan was the center of agriculture in the empire, harvesting 80% of all of As'arem's food from their abundant fields of kelp, sponge, and sea urchin. They were also a major exporter, and provided approximately a quarter of Myth Nantar's food and similar amounts to other allies of the shalarins. Es'purr also had a sizeable amount of farmland, although that kingdom was perhaps better known for the hunting in its wildernesses.

Es'roch was the center of crafting, producing artistically carved coral and jewelry, as well as weapons, armor (including the shalarins' famous silverweave and pearl armors), and other metalwork. They used geothermal heat to smelt and work metals.

Culture
As'arem was a highly structured and traditionalist society with a strict caste system consisting of the Seekers (which included the priests of the Faith caste, mostly located in Es'rath), the Scholars, the Providers (which included both Servants and Rulers), and the Protectors (the soldiers and hunters). The Protectors were mostly located in Es'purr, and their equivalents in Es'rath were sometimes called the Warriors. While military prowess was central to the culture of much of As'arem, the empire dogmatically did not aspire to expand, considering their current borders to be dictated by destiny. As a result, they were zealously protective of their territory.

Each of the four kingdoms could be said to have its own unique subculture: Es'daan were more laid back and less interested in politics; Es'purr was the most militant as well as the historic center for arcane magical study, having produced the largest number of shalarin Dukars; Es'rath was opulent and traditional, and was the center of religion in the empire; and Es'roch was the most industrious of the kingdoms as well as the center of shalarin art and music.

As'arem used the Serôsian calendar.

Architecture
Buildings in As'arem were often square and made from hydrozoan wood reinforced with kelp and pearl. Roofs were tiled with seashells. In the cities, coral and stone were also common construction materials, with brilliant white star coral used exclusively to build the four imperial palaces. Domes and towers were common motifs on more extravagant buildings.

At great depths, As'arem settlements were often lit by lucent coral.

Religion
The city of Us'rath in Es'rath was where the highest concentration of shalarin temples was located, owing to that city being where the Wildtide Gate was located. The empire venerated Faerûnian gods, but ascribed different names and some altered aspects in accordance with their ancient religion and culture. The most important deity and their "mother goddess" was Trishina (Ri'daa'trisha), followed in importance by Eldath (Ri'daa'lada), Persana (Ri'dea'prasa), Istishia (Ri'dea'shia), Mystra (Ri'dea'mystra), and others. They honored different deities as the patrons of different castes. In the mid-to-late 14 century DR, worship of Deep Sashelas (Ri'dea'shela) was becoming increasingly popular.

Following the Fifth Shalarin Passing, some shalarin of As'arem returned to the worship of their silent ancestral gods, and in particular turned away from Umberlee (Ri'dea'brela) to do so. At the same time, a cult of Dagon known as the Cult of Corynactis began to take root in the empire.

Defenses
The As'arem military was outfitted largely by troops from Es'purr, who defended not only their own borders but those of Es'daan and Es'roch as well. Their standing army was known as the Knights of Es'purr, and was comprised of not only warriors but rangers and wizards. The kingdom maintained a Military Academy at Us'curn.

Over the course of its existence, As'arem had been both allies and enemies with nations of nearly every other race in Serôs&mdash;including the merfolk, sea elves, ixitxachitls, merrow, koalinth, sahuagin, and tritons &mdash;often existing at best in a state of tense neutrality. However, as of the, they had joined with many of these races as part of the Nantarn Alliance in an effort to create a stable peace. Owing to the closer ties to the tritons that this alliance afforded, the As'arem military gained access to the tapal in the mid-to-late 14 century DR.

History
While the term "As'arem" may have been used to refer to the shalarin lands in Serôs much earlier, the realm itself was formed in the, shortly after the Third Shalarin Passing, during which the kingdoms of Es'daan and Es'purr were founded. These fledgling shalarin kingdoms united with the more established shalarin kingdom of Es'rath to form the As'arem empire under the first eadar, Ri'ara'tup.

As'arem fought alongside Hmurrath in the Eighth Serôs War (–) against the ixitxachitls of Paolan Reef.

Following the end of the Ninth Serôs War (–), As'arem worked with the merfolk and Dukars of Serôs in hopes of creating a treaty to prevent future genocidal conflicts. In the, they were party to the drafting of The Laws of Battle.

During the Tenth Serôs War (–), As'arem found themselves at war simultaneously with the merfolk and sea elves.

In the, following the Fourth Shalarin Passing, Es'roch was founded by the newcomers as the fourth kingdom of As'arem, and the empire achieved the geographic size that it would maintain for the next several centuries, save for a brief period of expansion of Es'purr under the rule of its 60th finar, Ri'ala'tarl, between the , and the.

During the Eleventh Serôs War (–), As'arem allied with the merrow, koalinth, and merfolk peoples against the sea elves of Keryvyr, Naramyr, and Selu'Maraar. This was during the reign of the 17th eadar, Ri'ara'kos.

In the, Ri'ola'con became the 22nd eadar at age 116.

In the, an assassin cut short the 78 year rule of Es'purr's 61st finar, Ri'ala'porath, and the royal seat was usurped by Ri'yra'krin IX. The usurper's rule lasted one month before he was executed by the Es'purr military, and the rightful heir, Ri'ala'sord, became the 62nd finar of Es'purr. However, this began an 80 year feud between the ruling Ala clan and the usurper Yra clan, who had been the kingdom's historic rulers. Both Ri'ala'sord and her heir, Ri'ala'tarl II, would be assassinated. Finally, Ri'ala'vor, the 64th finar of Es'purr, ended the feud by decimating the Yra clan and exiling the survivors.

During the Time of Troubles in the, aggressive magical currents appeared in As'arem, and strangled Finar Ri'ala'vor.

The shalarin did not at first participate in the Twelfth Serôs War in the, however they did join an alliance with the merfolk of Voalidru and the tritons of Pumana amid concern about the evil hosts of Iakhovas. However, on Eleint 2, they entered the war in response to an attack by Iakhovas's sahuagin on three hatcheries in Es'rath which resulted in the deaths of over one thousand unhatched shalarins. Also lost in this attack was Ri'ola'sur, the heir of Eadar Ri'ola'con. Still grieving, Ri'ola'con named Ri'ola'kirk as his new heir on Highharvestide, and joined the Nantarn Alliance alongside Myth Nantar and Xadea. The finar of Es'roch, Ri'ena'plir, would also be slain while banishing Iakhovas from Serôs.

After the end of the war on Uktar 12 of 1369 DR, Eadar Ri'ola'con made a surprise move by taking residence in the Palace of Ienaron in Myth Nantar without consulting the finars. All four finars became increasingly concerned that Ri'ola'con intended to tie the shalarian empire closer to the other peoples of Serôs, which the four were unprepared to do on account of the long history of struggle the shalarin had faced. There were whispers that some plotted to leave the As'arem confederation or even to remove the eadar. Indeed, Ri'ola'con would be assassinated by poison on Greengrass of the, leading to political fracturing in As'arem between the Warrior caste of Es'rath and their rivals in Es'roch.

Following the Fifth Shalarin Passing in the, the Wildtide Gate did not close as it normally did, leaving As'arem linked to the Dagon-worshiping shalarin civilization in the Sea of Corynactis. Keeping the open portal a secret while also combating the rise of the Cult of Corynactis within their own realm became the new priority.

In the, As'arem suffered from dragon attacks owing to the Rage of Dragons that year, and joined their allies to face a flight of dragons at Myth Nantar. In exchange for securing powerful weapons for this battle from a shalarin priestess of Umberlee, Tu'ala'keth, the eadar was forced to swear that all of As'arem would pay homage at Umberlee's temples once each tenday through the.

Notable Locations

 * Us'daan, capital of the kingdom of Es'daan.
 * Us'purr, capital of the kingdom of Es'purr.
 * Us'rath, capital of the kingdom of Es'rath and of the whole empire.
 * Us'roch, capital of the kingdom of Es'roch.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Ri'ola'con, the 22nd eadar of As'arem, and ruled the empire from the late–11 century DR through the mid-to-late 14 century DR. He was assassinated in 1370 DR.
 * Ri'ola'kirk, a young ranger who was named Ri'ola'con's heir in 1369 DR.
 * Ri'ioa'culn II, the 36th finar of Es'daan, and ruled from 1358 DR through at least 1370 DR.
 * Ri'ala'tad, the 65th finar of Es'purr, and ruled from 1358 DR through at least 1370 DR.
 * Ri'yea'var, the 32nd finar of Es'rath, and ruled from through at least 1370 DR.
 * Ri'ena'wyn, the 9th finar of Es'roch, and ruled from 1369 DR through at least 1370 DR.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Queen of the Depths
 * Queen of the Depths