The Talurmen Empire spans and engulfs the largest continent on Maikros. It took them quite a long time to get to this point, however. About 2600 years ago, the Talurmen Kingdom was conquered by nomads. The Talurmen themselves were no strangers to violence, but these nomads were expert horseback archers who could instill the greatest fear in their enemies. There was a very ambitious man leading this invasion, known as Tᶅŋg'is Ɋaŋ ([t͡ɬŋ̩gʰis χaŋ]). He had a vision of world conquest, and this was his first step. When he reached the Talurmen capital, he became the Emperor in the traditional way - sacrificing his predecessor on the Altar of Heaven and eating his heart. Having secured his legitimacy as the vessel of the Imperial Soul, he looked westward. Crossing the mountains was an arduous task, but he had it done. Beyond was Dakheland. Ɋaŋ would not live to see it, but three centuries later, Dakheland was completely conquered and subject to the Talurmen Empire. His terrifying and brutal cavalry tactics combined with Talurmen military formations and siege was nearly invincible. And as the centuries went on, these things only improved. The Talurmen Empire continued conquering to the west, taking over Yanadh and much of Skolltheim. Then south, through Kau Chang, until they approached their only real competitor as an empire - the Konurese Empire. However, that too eventually fell. It was the fierce Jamic peoples, to the east of the former Konurese Empire, who provided the greatest resistance to Talurmen conquest, actually stopping them for a time. In this time the Talurmen mopped up the north, completing its conquest of Skolltheim, conquering Nortilond, and the Outer Talurmen province, all of which were marginal places they had previously ignored. About six and a half centuries ago the Talurmen were finally able to conquer the Jami, and the Empire as it stands was nearly complete. After a few failed attempts, the Talurmen finally got a foothold in the Shattered Archipelago to the south of the Jami Province, but no more than that. Afterwards, they took to the sea and easily spread across the Dotted Ocean, until they found themselves having maritime borders with the Zarcos Empire and the Trade Union of Toletska and Valimaa. The Talurmen of course attacked these new foes, but Zarcosian airships and Black Cloak magic proved too much to handle, and so the Talurmen conquests were finally halted.