The False Saint's war
The five provinces that make up the current Empire today were; Vorian, Uthgar, Izzram, Melowar and Norfgar.
Even though today the Empire occupied a third of the continent— a far cry from it's heyday, it was still the dominant power in the world despite rising rivals like the Republic and the Dominion.
However to truly examine the Empire's current political and social state today, one must point to the False Saint's war, the most devastating event since the end of the age of Dread.
Unfortunately due to the False Saint's war that started nineteen years ago and ended sixteen years ago, the Empire lost a great deal of prestige and geopolitical influence.
A three year war, was a short war. If compared to the many other campaigns in the past it could be called trivial even. Barely a war.
But it was the most significant war in the past eight hundred years since the end of the age of Dread. Even the discovery of the Eastern continent was not as significant to the imperial people.