History of the Praetori

The History of the Praetori is an extensive story following an extensive period of time from the Great Collapse to the modern day.

Establishment
The Sacred Federation was established twenty years after the Great Collapse by a congress between the last fully legitimate members of the Meritocracy (a demographic of about fifty individuals who had been named to their posts by imperial decree from the Emperor). These individuals elected among themselves an Imperator Pro Tempore, an “Emperor for the Time”, or a temporarily invested Emperor. This individual, Ro’ane Fehl, would use his power as Imperator Pro Tempore to call a summit between the “KMF” and its protectorates and dominions. Representatives from the dozens of sub-nations gathered, though many of the KMF’s charges chose not to recognize the Imperator and his “government” as legitimate, and so considered themselves free from KMF jurisdiction. Of the states to attend, however, all of them would agree to open negotiations to form a federation. The Karnasaur Elder at the time, Torr Osin, recommended the establishment of a theocratic government, blaming the collapse of the Karnasaur Empire on rampant secularization and atheism towards the many Angels. Since many sub-nations under the KMF came to recognize Nocturnalism as their own state religion after swathes of mass conversions, the call was given more attention than those for other forms of government. However, in what would become the first of many clashes between Imperator Ro’ane and Elder Torr, the Imperator demanded that tradition be respected, and that he, as Imperator Pro Tempore, be recognized as the head of state and chief executive of the new federation. After several days of heated debate, it was ultimately decided that the federation would be split into two layers: The Sacred Federation itself, which was to be presided over by the newly-named Hierophant Torr, and the Imperii Praetor, or Praetor Empire, which would encompass the SFP and all states assimilated into it. Both sides felt this was a worthy enough compromise, though it would only lead to more strife, as the Imperator and Hierophant would come to clash over who held authority over what and where. With that, the representatives returned to their nations, and the Charter of Federation was ratified by each member state over the course of two years. Ro’ane Fehl destroyed the title of Imperator Pro Tempore and was crowned by the Hierophant himself as Praetor Imperator, the Guardian Emperor.

Early Days
After the ordeal of the formation of the Sacred Federation was completed, the Imperator found himself in a stressful situation. As Imperator of the new nation, he and the Hierophant would have to erect a government from the ruins of the Meritocracy. Although some advisors would tell him to leave domestic issues to the Hierophant while he dealt with reclaiming the Empire, Ro’ane knew that he would have to insure that the new government would be loyal to the Empire and not the Hierophancy. The Hierophant, on the other hand, was actually disinterested in building a crony government, and focused on establishing a church hierarchy in the government, rather than filling the civil offices with loyal lackeys. As a result of these differing goals, the Federation would build up on two stilts of government: The Imperial Government, which governed over the political aspects of government such as legislation and budgeting, and the Episcopal Government, which would come to govern over the Federation’s spiritual and social concerns. As one can imagine, the “Twin Trees” would fight with one another often. One famous example would be the Panem Omnis Edict, when the Hierophant decreed that the Episcopal Government would feed every hungry family who gave worship to the Angels every single day. Naturally, such an endeavor required money, and the Episcopal Government began spending out of the national treasury (what little there was of it at the time). As a result, the Imperial Government was suddenly finding its coffers full of IOUs from the Episcopals. After intense debate, the Imperial Government, thanks to an Imperial Order from the Imperator, passed legislation requiring the Episcopal Government to request permission to use funds from the Imperial Treasury. However, the legislation also required the reverse: The Imperial Government could not use Episcopal funds at leisure. The “Food and Funding” compromise gave hope to the first politicians that a divided government such as the Praetorian government could still function, given enough time, effort, and compromise.

The First Reclamation and the Senatus Imperii Praetori
Decades passed, and the Federation became a function state again, with a budget surplus repaying debts and investments made by the Imperial Government finally meeting their R.O.I.. In the year 54 AE (After Establishment - of the Federation), Imperator Ro’ane commissioned the establishment of an Imperial Armada, headed by Chief Grand Admiral Rayn Fo’risk. He allocated approximately 15% of the imperial budget for the Chief Grand Admiral to spend raising a navy and men to staff it. As Chief Grand Admiral Rayn began work on the Imperial Armada, Imperator Ro’ane also commissioned the formation of the Imperial Legion, and allotted 10% of the imperial budget to the newly-named Supreme High General Kres Rine to begin the recruitment and training of soldiers to defend and conquer in the name of the Praetori. Diplomatic contact had been, for all this time, maintained with the sub-nations who refused to acknowledge the KMF’s legitimacy, and both the Imperator and the Hierophant felt that the “Traitor States” who turned their back on the Meritocracy would be the first to be reclaimed by the Sacred Federation.

For twenty years, the Federation built up a military, all the while deciding which of the Traitors to reconquer and in what order. It was decided that the Federation was in dire need of commodities to trade with; while the core worlds of the Federation could support the Empire economically, the SFP was at a disadvantage when it came to more luxurious items like consumer goods, rare metals, and drugs. As such, the Imperial War Council, a congress of the High Generals and Grand Admirals co-headed by the Chief Grand Admiral and the Supreme High General, determined that the highest priority targets would be selected on a criterion focused on possession of trade goods and proximity (military might was not considered due to the overall inferior nature of the Traitor States). The Imperator issued Imperial Order 8, which granted the War Council “ante bellum” powers, or the authority to declare a state of war just prior to the initiation of an invasion, under certain circumstances. This meant that the War Council could prepare for an invasion of a nation that the Imperator had marked for conquest and launch the invasion mere moments after a declaration of war, saving weeks of mobilization time that could be used for warmaking. In 79 AE, the War Council technically utilized the ante bellum power for the first time, in that the criterion for ante bellum was met, but rather differed to the Imperator to formally declare the Reclamation War of 79, famously branded as the First Reclamation or the Primum Vindicationem.

The Reclamation of 79 was fought against the Grand Principality of Gakirland, a merchant republic renowned for its stocked coffers and rich stores of gold, platinum, and various unique alcohols and narcotics. It was a protectorate under the Meritocracy, and it was one of the Old Empire’s favorite checkbooks. The Gakir lacked an especially powerful state military, but rather the various corporations who essentially comprised the state maintained their own private paramilitary firms to protect their interest. The Imperial Armada crashed through Gakir space, utilizing the doctrine of fulmina belli, or “thunderbolt of war”.