Austine Empire

The Austine Empire is the only human empire on West Sia with a legacy tracing back to the Second Epoch's Ancient Austine Empire. It has always been under the rule of the the Ackermann Imperial Family, and its current ruler is Lukas Ackermann, the father of Lilian Ackermann.

It's one of the Three Great Powers of the Sia Continent.

There's currently a fight for the crown among Lilian Ackermann and her two older brothers. While the monarch of the Austine Empire is traditionally a man, the two princes fail to meet the minimum criteria of being an Origin Level 3 transcendent. On top of that, Lilian Ackermann is an offspring of the empress, which grants her an advantage in terms of birthright and the political resources she has at her disposal, thus putting her in race for the throne.

History
The Austine Empire originates from the Second Epoch's Ancient Austine Empire, which used to be the ruling powerhouse of East Sia. Under their rule, humankind ushered in a golden age of prosperity and military might.

The Twilight Sages Assembly was also first founded in the Ancient Austine Empire by the Ardes, who were known as the shadow of the Austine Empire. Its aim was to protect humankind from calamities that threatened extinction.

Nearing the end of the Second Epoch, the Cataclysm of the Capital suddenly struck, which drove many into madness. The calamity expanded in scale, forcing a mass migration to a new land so as to avoid the calamity. The migration took many years with countless dying along the way to untold dangers.

Eventually, the migration army managed to reach West Sia, which was filled with many monsters but devoid of the calamities that threatened their extinction. The migration army began splitting into various factions, each seeking to establish their own dominance in this new land. Of them, many of the Ancient Austine Empire's high nobles chose to stay with the Ackermanns in order to establish the current Austine Empire.

The Austine Empire managed to rise to prominence and began annexing nearby countries in order to expand its territories, but its ambitions were curbed by the rise of other powerful nations such as the Saint Mesit Theocracy, Knight Kingdom Pendor, and Brolne.

Flag
Its flag consists of two eagle heads overlapping one another. Back in the Second Epoch, one of the eagle heads had a darker color to contrast with the other, a painting technique to denote that there are two eagles in the flag. However, during the migration to West Sia Continent at the end of the Second Epoch after the Cataclysm of the Capital, the colors of the eagles were changed to be equal to one another.

The brighter eagle on the flag is believed to refer to the Ackermanns, the imperial family of the Austine Empire, and the darker eagle the Ardes, who were known as the shadow of the Austine Empire.

Historians believe that the equalizing of the colors of both eagles is an act by the Ackermanns to conceal the existence of the Arde House.

Saint Mesit Theocracy
The Austine Empire has a hostile relationship with the Saint Mesit Theocracy as it views the Theocracy to be a threat to its expansionist policies.

The Saint Mesit Theocracy has interfered in the civil war between Rosa and the Austine Empire under the pretext of social justice, which eventually led to the formation of the independent Rosa Merchant Confederacy.

Once, during the renegotiation of the Eastern Sia Border Defense Agreement, Holy Eminence Lukas was invited into the Millennia Glory Repository for a cultural visit. There, he was brought to look at the historical records containing the dark secrets surrounding the Theocracy during its founding years. At the same time, he was mocked for the paling legacy of the Theocracy compared to the Austine Empire as the former was only founded in the earlier years of the Third Epoch.

Rosa Merchant Confederacy
The Austine Empire has a hostile relationship with the Rosa Merchant Confederacy due to their history, though they are economic ties between the two countries.

Rosa used to be a vassal state of the Austine Empire due to its prime location as a trading hub. However, the populace of Rosa eventually staged a coup d'état against the Austine Empire due to the exorbitant taxes imposed on them, which resulted in many being unable to make a living.

This resulted in a long civil war lasting over a century between the two countries with the occurrence of many tragedies, such as the massacre of innocent civilians. Due to this, Rosa's military harbors great animosity for the Austine Empire, and this can be shown by how the enemies used in their training drills are modeled after Austine soldiers, as well as their anti-Austine slogans.

In an attempt to promote economic ties, the patriarch of the Sorofya House had a political marriage with Adelicia Milton from the Austine Empire's Milton Ducal House, a relationship that later gave birth to Charlotte.

Trivia

 * The Ackermanns have been monopolizing the Kingdom Origin Attribute even though it's not an exclusive Origin Attribute.
 * The high elves of the Sofya Kingdom and the Golden Fleet, which rose to prominence in the earlier years of the Third Epoch, used to be from the Ancient Austine Empire's navy.