The Edan Empire

From snowy mountains, to deserts and lush jungles, the landscape of Edan is as varied as its people, but all are united under the Moon King.

The Edan Empire once set its sights on conquering the entire known world, conquering most of Edanka and even mounting a failed invasion of Novaria three centuries ago which was thwarted by the Novan Empire. However, with the eruption of Mount Eatratorat two hundred years ago, the Empire was left with a fraction of its territory, and at constant war with both its neighbour to the south, the Sumerkan Empire, and dealing with civil wars in its own territory.

History
When exactly the Edan Empire was founded depends on the perspective of the person in question, as it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the course of history.

The original Edan Empire was founded shortly after the Magical Collapse. The elves fractures into the multiple sub-groups known today, when an elven warrior with mysterious powers named himself the Moon King and began uniting the continent in an attempt to regain the glory the elves had lost during the Magical Collapse.

He succeeded in conquering all of Edanka, but given the low population of elves on the continent, most of his subjects were human. A scandal to the rest of the world, as during the early Second Age, humans were considered little different to orcs or trolls, and as such were often mistreated by the elven aristocracy. Add to this the splintering of the elves into wood elves, high elves and drow, it was inevitable that first Edan Empire lasted a mere hundred years before being torn apart by rebellions from within.

But the dream of the mighty empire continued to inspire some of the more ambitious warlords of Edanka for millenia to come, with many claiming themselves as the new Moon King and trying to rebuild the Edan Empire. Few had success beyond becoming a footnote in history books, however.

This changed in the early Third Age, when a half-elf adventurer known as Harxes traveled to the ruins of Ziyeh, the old capital of the Edan Empire, and found the Moonspear, the legendary weapon of the first Moon King. Harxes claimed to be a descendant of the first Moon King, and rallied the tribes of human barbarians and wood elves under his banner.

Harxes went on to rebuild Ziyeh and conquer much of the old territory of the Edan Empire. However, as half-elves are unable to have children, as Harxes grew old, the question of succession became an issue in the Edan Empire, and many feared that this new Edan would die with its king.

A miracle happened however, when Harxes' human consort gave birth to a healthy son, the only recorded instance of a half-elf siring a child. This child became Harxes II, and married a human queen in turn, leading to all subsequent Moon King being human.

The light of the Edan Empire began to dim, however. First with the failed invasion of the Novan Empire in 532 of the Third Era, and second, with the eruption of Mount Eatratorat a century later. The catastrophic eruption devastated the southern half of the Empire, but what's worse, dragonborn, led by the prophet Gilganesh moved in and founded the Sumerkan Empire in this devastated region, becoming the Edan Empire's greatest rivals.

Real World inspiration
The Edan Empire is largely based on the Persian Empire, but also Mongolia and Kingdom of France.