"Heil dem Reich!" ― Imperial Salute.
The Giadian Empire (ギアーデ帝国, Giа̄de Teikoku?), also referred to as the Empire of Giad or Former Empire of Giad, was a technologically superior power to the east of the Republic of San Magnolia that unleashed the Legion, the world's first autonomous combat system, against all neighboring countries in Republic Year 358.
The inability of other countries to make any contact with the Giadian government has given rise to the theory that the Legion went rogue four years before the war started and overran the Giadian Empire before expanding outward.
Culture[]
Flag[]
Imperial Flag
The national symbol of Giad is a two-headed eagle, which can be found on the nation's black and red flag as well as the coat of arms. This symbol did not change following the transition to democracy.
Cuisine[]
The Empire preferred coffee over tea as their hot beverage of choice.[1]
Ethnicities[]
The Giadian Empire was ethnically and racially diverse. While the groups that dominated the region were the Rubela and the Aquila, other races were not prohibited from holding high positions in society, such as noble status. The Rantz Clan was an example of Alba nobility within the empire.
The highest of the nobles however belonged solely to the esper races of the Onyx and Pyrope respectively. The Onyx and Pyrope nobles were in constant friction with each other, and maintaining racial purity within these races was seen as the utmost importance. Thus, mixing Pyrope and Onyx heritage was seen as taboo, save for the royal family which was required to have mixed Onyx and Pyrope heritage. It was due to this taboo that the union between Reisha Nouzen and Yuuna Maika was not blessed, and they were exiled by their respective families.
While the Empire did not heavily discriminate based on race, they did discriminate based on class, as seen in the warrior-slaves of the Vargus.
Language[]
Giad's national language is what would be considered modern English (although it is unknown if they call the language by that name), much like the rest of the continent. Due to the diversity present in the nation, other languages and writing scripts are used along side the official language by certain minorities, such as a Japanese-like script seen in the borderlands of the old Imperial territories.[2][3] While they speak the same language as San Magnolia, Roa Gracia, and Wald, there are dialectal differences between the nations.[4][5]
History[]
For the last 200 years prior to the Empire's fall, the royal family were reduced to puppets to be controlled by the high nobility.
Inventing the Legion[]
The Giadian Empire created the Legion by combining an AI invented by the United Kingdom of Roa Gracia and mechanical technology invented by the Alliance of Wald. In SY 2139, the Empire declared war on its neighboring countries and sent the Legion to invade them.
Revolution[]
The Empire would fall 5 years after the war's beginning, toppled by the populace displeased by imperial warmongering. Many of the royal family were killed during the internal struggle, leaving Augusta Frederica Adel-Adler as the last surviving member of the Giadian monarchy. The Giadian Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by the Federal Republic of Giad, which had no way to deactivate the Legion and was forced to recapture Giadian territory on its own.
Trivia[]
- Giad is heavily inspired by Germany in various stages of its history, the Empire being inspired by Germany's many empires (the Holy Roman Empire, German Empire, and to an extent the Austro-Hungarian Empire) while the Federal Republic was inspired by the Federal Republic of Germany. The two-headed eagle may be a reference to the Reichsadler, a prominent symbol of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The symbol is still used to this day by Germany under the name of the Bundesadler.