From Skulls on Spikes to Sanctified Dominion
Before Romae wore white stone and golden domes, it was a land of impaled heads and black banners.
The territory once belonged to the Pendragon Empire—fertile plains, trade arteries, disciplined legions. But during the height of the Demon Age, a Demon Lord rose from within its borders.
His name was Rumorude.
He was not subtle.
He was not theatrical like Alom.
He was brutality embodied.
Rumorude conquered through velocity.
His strategy was horrifyingly effective: endless waves of goblins.
He enslaved and bred goblin hordes in staggering numbers. They were driven forward without armor, without strategy—just numbers. He did not value them as soldiers. He valued them as battering rams made of flesh.
Pendragon’s disciplined knights would cut them down by the thousands.
But exhaustion is a weapon.
After days of relentless @Pure Goblin waves, when the enemy lines were weakened and supply lines strained, Rumorude’s true forces struck—elite centaur cavalry and heavily armored trolls. Fast. Crushing. Ruthless.
City after city fell.
Rumorude lined roads with severed heads mounted on spikes. Entire populations were executed as warning. His rule was terror by example.
The region was renamed under his dominion, but history remembers it simply as the Kingdom of Rumorude.
During the late Demon Age, one of the Twelve @Saint rose in this broken land.
Kiba Romae—a human cleric.
If Parisse Napoleon was strategy and Feur was overwhelming power, Kiba was compassion forged into steel.
He did not command armies through fear.
He united them through trust.
Kiba traveled from tribe to tribe—human remnants, beastfolk enclaves, dwarven holdouts, elven survivors. He healed without discrimination. He preached unity against demonic tyranny. He convinced fractured peoples to fight as one.
But he did not do this alone.
Among the Twelve Saints was a goblin.
Her name was Kosco Grimm.
She was small, sharp-minded, and divine-touched. A Saint born among the very race most exploited by Rumorude. She understood goblin formations, their weaknesses, their fear, their forced obedience.
Kosco did what no other could.
She spoke to goblin slaves.
She convinced entire waves to defect.
She disrupted Rumorude’s logistical foundation.
Without goblin shock waves to exhaust enemy armies, Rumorude’s centaur and troll forces lost their advantage.
Kiba and Kosco together orchestrated the fall of the Demon Lord.
Rumorude was slain by the united might of the Twelve Saints.
The spikes were torn down.
The skulls were buried.
After victory, the region was renamed in honor of its liberator.
@The Holy Exodia Empire.
Kiba Romae established the foundation of what would become the Exodia Inquisition. He believed corruption must never be allowed to grow unchecked again. Structure, doctrine, discipline—these would safeguard the world from another Demon Age.
Romae became the spiritual center of the Sanctified Cycle.
Cathedrals rose where skull fields once stood. Holy scripts were written. Divine law codified.
But in writing history, Kiba made a decision that would echo for a century.
In his sacred chronicle of the Twelve Saints, he listed twelve names.
Kosco Grimm was not among them.
Official doctrine states there were Twelve Saints.
No more.
Kosco’s name was erased.
The reason was political.
Though she fought against Rumorude and was undeniably a Saint, goblins as a people were still despised. They had served Demon Lords for millennia. To elevate a goblin as divine hero risked destabilizing fragile unity.
Kiba chose stability over recognition.
Kosco was devastated.
Her people were never fully accepted. Goblins were still viewed as expendable. Suspicion lingered. Violence persisted.
Eventually, Kosco and many of her kin fled.
They sailed to @Dragoon Island, seeking distance from @Romae’s hypocrisy.
To this day, goblins remain classified as low-tier auxiliaries—fodder in many armies, even under Exodia oversight. Official recognition of Kosco as a Saint is considered heretical.
Mentioning the “Thirteenth Saint” can result in arrest by the Exodia Inquisition.
Whispers persist.
Among goblin communities, Kosco Grimm is remembered not as forgotten—but betrayed.
Today, the Holy Kingdom of Romae is ruled not by a king, but by the Pontiff of @Divini—currently @Holy Pontiff Aurelius IV
The Papal Throne governs through divine decree, supported by Cardinals and the High Synod of Exodia.
Exodia’s identity is absolute:
• Doctrine above monarchy
• Faith above nationalism
• Purity above tolerance
The Exodia Inquisition’s origins are here, and its authority is strongest within Romae’s borders.
Crusades are declared from its grand basilica.
And now, a new one has begun.
Portals have begun opening across the world.
From them emerge not only interdimensional soldiers—but also something worse.
A coalition of demon remnants and interdimensional monsters has formed.
They call themselves the @Red Union.
Unlike past Demon Lords, they are organized. Cooperative. Strategic. A union of surviving demon fragments, corrupted beasts, and extraplanar horrors.
Romae views them as the greatest threat since the Demon Age.
Pope Aurelius IV has declared Holy Crusade.
Knights march. Clerics mobilize. Divine puppet enforcers deploy.
But the portals also bring modern humans—Americans, Chinese units, Russian brigades, NATO coalitions—with weapons that defy medieval understanding.
Romae does not know how to classify them.
Are they heretics?
Are they divine test?
Are they weapons to sanctify?
For now, Romae watches.
Carefully.
Romae stands as beacon of faith.
But beneath its marble and gold lies contradiction:
• It was born from unity.
• It erased one of its own heroes.
• It champions justice.
• It institutionalized selective memory.
If Kosco Grimm’s truth resurfaces publicly, it could fracture Romae’s moral authority.
If the Red Union grows stronger, faith alone may not suffice.
If modern nations intervene, crusade doctrine may clash with technology.
@The Holy Exodia Empire believes itself the guardian of Sanctified order.
But history has shown:
Order built on omission can crack.
And forgotten Saints have long memories.