As none of our characters are joined at the hip, I'm opening the IC now. The RP remains open to new comers, and to those who have yet to finish their sheets. 

EDIT: Oh yeah, and if anyone is curious, I.R stands for the Age of Imperial Reckoning, used by historians to mark the slow decline of the Empire.

I haven't really gone into great detail about the Empire, because I didn't see the point of wasting hours on lore that wouldn't really affect the RP's location so much. But basically, it is starting to crumble, with internal strife and external threats pushing it to breaking point. 

Emperor Axis III's doomed campaign led to the "beginning of the end" as mentioned in the time line, because the loss of so many men caused the collapse of several fronts. Fifty years later, and the Empire is on the verge of total destruction. This is why it hasn't taken direct action against the growing threat in Iron Coast, because it has other more pressing dangers to concern itself with. 

Like I say, it doesn't really affect things so much in Iron Coast beyond what has already been described, but it's a bit of meat on the bone if you'd like to make use of it.