As these provinces grew in power, foreign kingdoms soon challenged them, coveting their lands. The people turned to the gods for aid. The Four Divines, Aurelia, Galt, Maligant, Ulmyr, agreed that the burgeoning Empire needed a central figure around which they could rally. Appearing to each of their priests, the Four advised the Bürach to form an empire.
The priests, known as the Hearthkeepers of Aurelia, searched far and wide for signs of one who would be the emperor. Though they met many a knight, noble, and mage, none was deemed fit for the title. Then their visions led them to the western marches. Here they found a 12-year-old boy named Thancred, who had single-handedly slain a giant that guarded a fjord so that he could build a bridge between two towns. When the Hearthkeepers came before him, they watched as he returned a dead lamb back to life with just his hands. As one, the priests fell to their knees and named him Emperor Indorius, first of his line.
When Emperor Indorious I was crowned, the Hearthkeepers welcomed him with open arms. Indorius was cosidered the Embodyment of holynes. The Hearthkeeper Church threw all their power and resources into supporting his rule, and taught the Abendfolk from youth to revere the Emperor. Thus, the Imperial family and the Hearthkeeper religion became tied together forever as a political body. For centuries, the clerics have legitimised the rule of each Emperor, and used their influence to keep his bloodline pure.
As a gift to the new emperor, the four gods poured their divinity into four sacred artifacts:
- a crown that radiated authority (Galt)
- a sword that increased his might (Maligant)
- an orb that gave him far sight (Ulmyr)
- a breastplate that protected him from harm (Aurelia).
With these treasures and the support of his people, the emperor launched a campaign against his nation’s rivals. With sword and banner, he led the combined army of the four provinces into war. Victory after victory followed him until the surrounding nations were conquered and folded into The Bürach Empire. This created an empire that stretched from one end of the continent to the other, the largest nation in all of Grim Hollow.
With his empire secured, Emperor Indorius implemented ambitious changes throughout the land. He standardised trade and created guilds for building infrastructure. By establishing coastal settlements, he freed the Bürach from centuries as a land-locked people. A patron of the arts, he encouraged bards and musicians to flourish in his court. When Emperor Indorius finally entered the afterlife, the Empire had become a nation of wealth and enlightenment.
So great was the impact of Indorius’s rule that the Bürach instituted what would be known as the Edict of Eternal Blood. According to this law, only one of the emperor’s direct descendants could be raised to the throne.