I'm back! Hope you guys are safe from Corona. Have a break from life and dive into the imaginary world!

Just a Crazy-man: Oh made a error at 1125 IC when saying ether 4500 to 45000 just to let you know. Nice on the North as brings up stories of the Arctic War down the road. Can't wait for more as always nicely done.

A: Thanks! As for the mistake, I'm nor sure which part you are talking about, but I meant that the Emperor marched west with 45,000 men before moving forward of his main army with 5000 men to surprise Italicia.

Persus 12: If the Qin Empire have fallen then individual warlords will take that opportunity to fill that power vacuum...? I wonder what kingdom ruled Western Desert, maybe Princess Nymeria and the Rhoynar people...?

A: Yup the next two chapters will be about the carnage that follows. And I'll put that into consideration, thx for the suggestion!

Gyre: I am enjoying this look into the history of Falmart. Keep it up, nuff said.

A: You bet I will!

IC -1122

The Romans were now faced with a new problem. What should they do to the captured prisoners? Those who had relatives at Italicia wanted to execute them all, while others advocated for a more open-handed approach. A group of senators led by Sullivius Tullius Cicero suggested for them to be installed beyond the Dumas mountains as a buffer zone against Qin. His idea was taken and the 20,000 Qin prisoners found themselves led to the area north of the ruins of Proptor. They were first set to rebuilding the area, which had been desolated for many years, before slowly being granted semi-autonomy as an allied state to New Rome.

Touch by the generous actions of the Romans, and knowing that nothing good awaited them back home, most of the prisoners settled down and intermarried with the locals. And thus, New Rome's sphere of influence finally reached beyond the mountain range that had protected them till now. But they would need it no more, for the time of New Rome has come.

Back at the Qin capital, the 300 horsemen who managed to escape back to their homeland found themselves hunted down by the crown prince, who knew that the death of his father would throw the already unstable empire in chaos. Stalling for time, he sent urgent messages to those loyal to him, summoning them to his palace to get ready for the bloodbath that would breakout once the news leaks to the public. Hopefully, by the time that happens, he would have a sizable force with him. To allay suspicions, he held numerous banquets and parades, claiming that the empire had won numerous victories in the west and had captured an untold amount of slaves and riches.

However, luck was not on his side as one of the survivors fled to a prominent general, telling him the whole truth. Once he heard what the survivor said, the man quickly summoned the other commanders, who had more or less taken control of the Empire in their sovereign's absence. Acting fast, they gathered their men and marched on the capital, all the while spreading the word that the Emperor had died and the crown prince looked to hide the truth from the populace. This was possible as at that time, the numerous generals of the Qin Empire each raised, fed and commanded their own troops, and thus always had a large number of men with them. The Qin capital was undermanned since most of the elite Tiger Army had marched west with the last Emperor.

Knowing that he can't win with the handful of supporters he had now, the crown prince snuck out through the sewers, escaping with the Imperial Seal to the south, where he would gather those loyal to him and strike back. The rebels marched into the royal palace unopposed, where they promptly looted though the imperial treasuries, only to be disappointed by the little amount of gold they found. The numerous wars, harsh winters and excessive spending of the royal family had all but drained the coffers of the empire.

As more claimants to the throne arrived, the generals started rallying around each other, with many pledging their support to a small number of main competitors. The tension slowly grew until they realized that fighting each other would be too costly with no clear victor. Instead a council was formed, where the most powerful generals would divide the empire for themselves.

IC -1121

In the great hall that Ying Zhen had once ruled, eleven of the most prominent generals of his descendent gathered to divide his legacy. The 500 years old Qin Empire finally broke apart, bringing about 300 years of unrest in its wake.

However, one man was not going to stand by and watch his father's subordinates carve up his birthright. After a harrowing journey, the crown prince reached the Southern Peninsular, where his loyal followers welcomed him with an army of his own. By promising to recognize them as an independent country, he gained the support of the Southern Islands as well. With these, he was now posed to oppose those who usurped his position as the Emperor.

IC -1119

A boy by the name of Codex Principilus was born to a family of influential senators. Against the wishes of his father, who wanted him to follow his footsteps, he devoted himself into the world of magic. Showing great talent, he quickly grasped all the knowledge available to him.

Still unsatisfied, he set out for the yet uncolonized lands of the Elvish Peninsular to sought out new spells. Despite the hardships on the way, he had the very great fortune to stumble upon a camp of elves (or rather the elves, who noted his insatiable desire for knowledge, allow themselves to be found). He spent the next decade living with them, gaining the epithet Elendil, or elf friend.

When he finally learned all the spells the elves had to teach him, he departed for his own land, where he soon became a mage, before progressing into an Arch-mage.

IC -1118

After 3 years of preparations, the crown prince marches north at the head of a combined Qin-Mesogian army. Facing him was the Warlord Meng De based in the western arm of the Southern Peninsular. After a number of minor skirmishes, the decisive battle took place at a wide plain at the tip of lake Li Hai. Both sides had roughly the same numbers, with the warlord fielding large number of local levies with a core of heavy cavalry. Mesogian marines and battle-hardened mercenaries made up their adversaries.

The crown prince drew his men in a long line, deploying the marines of his left bordering the lake and his mercenaries on his right. A small group of horsemen made up his reserves. It was a shrew formation, utilizing the strengths of his troops in the hopes of outlasting the Warlord.

Meng De, on the other hand, was a bold and enterprising leader. Knowing the deep grudges between the Qins and the Mesogians, he arranged his levies to face the mercenaries while forming his armor-covered elite riders into an iron fist aimed at the Marines.

When the battle was joined, the veteran mercenaries smashed into the levies, driving the poorly armed peasants back dozens of paces but failing to penetrate their deeper lines. On the southern front, thousands of heavy cavalry met the Mesogian sailors, easily overrunning the lightly armored marines. Seeing his left flank collapsing, the Crown Prince sent his reserves to plug the gap, but Meng De's horsemen avoided their counterparts, instead focusing on the marines. Some even bantered with their mounted foes, treating them like friends much to their confusion.

When the Mesogians noticed it, it seemed to them that they were being singled out. The right flanks was not making much progress, they themselves were bearing the brunt of the attack, and the reinforcements sent by the Crown Prince were ignored. Their deep-rooted hatred for Qin was kindled by suspicions that they had been betrayed. And then the warlord himself rode up to the front, braving the hail of missiles, and announced loudly that anyone who threw down their arms would be spared. This broke the fighting spirit of the Mesogians, and turning tail they scattered, killing anyone who stood in their way, be them foe or allies.

Seeing the tide of fortune shift, the mercenaries surrendered. The Crown Prince tried to flee, but was caught by Meng De's cavalries and dragged before the warlord. The battle was over. Cutting the prince into ten bloody pats, he sent one to each of his fellow Warlords with the news that the last claimant to the Qin throne was dead.

The news was met with much joy, but unbeknown to all, before the crown prince rode north, he had had an affair with a daughter of a wealthy Mesogian merchant and sowed his seed, ensuring that the Qin dynasty continues.

IC -1100s

In the years after the war, New Rome enjoyed a short period of peace, which was spent rebuilding their economy and vigorously training a new, stronger army. From what they saw, this new world was a harsh land where the weak had no place. Never one to bow and suck up to life, they strived all the harder to dominate the realm to ensure the safety of their people.

By the time the Qin Empire finally fractured and fell from power, the Roman had amassed a wealth of war supplies and a dozen legions. And they were ready.

IC -1097

War breaks out once more as the Warlord Liu Chan attempts to bring the Qin ex-prisoners near Proptor under his hold. It was the casus belli that New Rome needed. Gathering 9 legions, they marched east to reinforce their allies, easily destroying Liu Chan's forces with the help of their mages. The warlord's territories was gobbled up by the Romans, who installed their own governors and implemented Roman laws.

IC -1096

Three other Warlords bordered Liu Chan's territory. Xao Ran to the north, on the east of the Frozen sea. Cao Rei De on the wide grassy plains to the west and Aparlacar II, who hold the coastal area by the Southern Seas. Seeing how easily Liu Chan was defeated, the Romans split into 3 battle groups, each with 3 Legions, and moved to take on the warlords simultaneously. What happened in the next 2 years would be hailed as one of New Rome's greatest victories, and remembered for centuries to come.

On the other hand, the ten surviving Warlords came together to discuss the threat from the east. However, before a definitive answer could be found, Xao Ran, Rei De, and Aparlarcar II had to leave to defend their realms and the meeting ended without a conclusion.

IC -1095

The southern Roman force came into contact with the enemy first. Aparlarcar the Second was one of the richest men on the continent due to holding numerous trading ports and commanded one of the best-equipped armies among his peers. Confident that he can overcome the less numerous Romans, he marched out to meet them without bothering to seek aid. He had half again as many men as his foe, and his own heavy infantry was well-armed and trained, to the point of being on par with the Romans.

It would be a test of whether the Roman Legions or Qin phalanx would prevail. Or so Aparlarcar thought. What he hadn't counted on is that the Roman brought allied cavalry with them. The centaurs and other mounted troops had been roaming behind the Roman column looking for loot, so weren't spotted by the Warlord's scouts.

When the battle was joined, neither side had any advantage over each other, but once the Roman auxiliaries heard of the situation, they immediately rode towards the battlefield, outflanking the Qin heavy infantry and hitting their exposed rear. The rest was a massacre. According to Roman reports, they suffered less than 200 casualties but killed 15 thousand foes.

A feast was held to celebrate, but halfway through a messager came, bearing dire news. The middle Roman column had encountered the fearsome mounted marauders of Cao Rei De. As the middle column's calvary had been wiped out in an ambush, they lacked the mobility to counter Rei De and was now stuck, with enemies on all sides.

Riding north with his cavalry, the Roman Legate Flavius Rhodenus Sollemnis left his Legions behind and rushed to lift the siege. Upon arriving, he found the situation much worst than he expected. The Legate for the middle column had been killed in a sortie and their supply lines had been cut off by roaming hostile calvary. Flavius had to do something, and fast.

He started by deploying his centaurs to clear the field of enemies. It was soon proved that in a fair one on one, the centaurs were unstoppable. However, the situation was rarely one versus one, and the centaurs often had to fight against horrible odds. His allied cavalry had brought him some time, but the window to act was swiftly closing. In his desperation, Flavius ordered his mages to work with the ordinary grunts, something never heard before as mages were considered too costly to be used on the frontline. This action, however, gave a much-needed versatility to the Legions, allowing them to adapt to various threats, ranging from horse archers to light skirmishers to heavy cavalry to infantries to castle walls. It was also the birth of the battle-mages, sorcerors who excel in both martial arts and wizardry.

Paired with the Qin people's deep superstitions, the Romans managed to slowly push towards Rei De's stronghold. Their going were brutal. Hundreds of miles of farmland were burnt to deny the horsemen replenishments, whole villages put to the sword in case of Qin conspirators. The Romans left a literal path of destruction behind them, but no one could say that it was ineffective. By the end of the season, the Romans had taken the western part of the central plains and drove Rei De further east.

The Roman casualties were heavy, however, and New Rome dispatched her last 2 legions to aid the conquest. The Legions meanwhile hunkered down and prepared to wait out the winter.

IC -1094

When the new blood joined up with his veterans, the battle continued as the Flavius ventured east to capture Rei De. While on the march, news came from his original Legions saying that they had came into contact with Qin forces. Beliving it to be Rei De's remnants, the 5 Legions turned south in pursuit.

What the Southern Column had found was actually not the Warlord, but Warlords. The quick expansions of New Rome threatened the Warlords, of whom five of them joined hand to form the largest army since the Qin Emperor's invasion of New Rome years ago. Numbering over a hundred thousand men, they descended upon the Romans in the south, destroying the column before it had a chance to call for help.

When their brethren from the central plains arrived, there was only a field of corpse stretching as far as the eye could see. And in the distance, a huge wall of dust stirred into the air by an immense number of enemies, marching upon them like the tide of doom.

Cliffhanger hahaha! Something to keep you guys hooked, I hope. And sorry to say this, but school has restarted for me so I wouldn't be able to update as often.

Reader: (But you're already slacking!)

Yes, I know. But it feels so good to do nothing. Lying in my bed staring at the ceiling is the best comfort in life. And I'll be doing that now. Bye.