The Great Empire of the Dawn was a legendary realm which preceded the Golden Empire of Yi Ti.[1] The YiTish believe the Great Empire was where true civilization first developed, in contrast to claims regarding Asshai, Ghis, Qarth, and Sarnor.[2][1]
Geography
According to priestly scribes from Yin, the Great Empire included all the land between the Bone Mountains and the Grey Waste, and from the Shivering Sea to the Jade Sea, including the isle of Leng.[1]
History
God-on-Earth
The Golden Empire's first ruler was the God-on-Earth, the only son of the Lion of Night and the Maiden-Made-of-Light. The God-on-Earth is said to have traveled in a palanquin carved from a single pearl and carried by a hundred queens, his wives. The God-on-Earth allegedly ruled for ten thousand years until he ascended to the stars to join his forebears.[1]
Successors
Dominion passed to the God-on-Earth's eldest son, the Pearl Emperor, who ruled for a thousand years. Some believe the Five Forts were raised by the Pearl Emperor to protect against the Lion of Night and his demons.[1]
Power then passed to the Jade Emperor, the Tourmaline Emperor, the Onyx Emperor, the Topaz Emperor, and the Opal Emperor. Each reigned for a shorter and more troubled time than the previous emperor, for wild men and beasts pressed the borders of the Empire, lesser kings grew proud and rebellious, and the common people gave themselves to sin.[1]
Downfall
When the daughter of the Opal Emperor ascended to power as the Amethyst Empress, her envious brother cast her down and proclaimed himself the Bloodstone Emperor. The new ruler began a reign of terror and slavery, in which he practiced dark arts and necromancy, took a tiger-woman for his bride, feasted on human flesh and cast down the gods of Yi Ti to worship a black stone fallen from the sky. This Blood Betrayal, as it is known in the annals of the Further East, ushered in the Long Night, with the Maiden-Made-of-Light turning her back on the world, while the Lion of Night came forth to punish the wickedness of man.[1]
The darkness ended when a great warrior rose to lead the virtuous into battle with the sword Lightbringer in his hand. Light was restored, but the Great Empire was not reborn; the restored world was a broken place where every tribe of men went its own way, fearful of all the others, and war, lust, and murder had endured.[1]
Legacy
Maesters are skeptical of the Great Empire and consider tales of the realm to be legends.[1]
Quotes
At the Citadel of Oldtown and other centers of learning in the west, maesters regard these tales of the Great Empire and its fall as legend, not history, yet none doubt that the YiTish civilization is ancient, mayhap even contemporary with the realms of the Fisher Queens beside the Silver Sea. In Yi Ti itself, the priests insist that mankind's first towns and cities arose along the shores of the Jade Sea and dismiss the rival claims of Sarnor and Ghis as the boasts of savages and children.[1]
—writings of Yandel