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The Frontier

Ordensstaat Hellquill

^{Flag of the Ordensstaat Hellquill (Supremacy)}

^{Flag of the Ordensstaat Flussland}

^{Flag of the Ost-Griffonian Empire}

^{Flag of the Triune Kingdom}

^{Flag of the People's Republic of Hellquill}

Full Name: Ordensstaat Hellquill, Hellquill Republic (Harmony), Ost-Griffonian Empire (Reformisten, Riverlands conquered), Principality of Hellquill-Lushi (Lushi union), Triune Kingdom (Prywhen union), People's Republic of Hellquill (Communist)

Ruling Party: Ritterlicher Rat^note Knightly Council

Ideology: Knightly Order^note Non-Aligned

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• Egopolis: All Reformisten leaders will rename Jezeragrad after themselves (Wingfriedstadt, Edlerstadt, or Wilhelmstadt) and move their capital there after conquering all of the Riverlands.
• The Empire: Reformisten Hellquill is a belligerent military dictatorship that seeks to conquer the Riverlands, subjugate the native ponies and create living space for griffons. After taking over the entire Riverlands, the Order-State of Hellquill will be proclaimed the Ost-Griffonian Empire.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Ordensstaat Hellquill is loosely based on the State of the Teutonic Order, a crusader state ruled by a knightly order, formed on the frontier region of the Griffonian Empire (itself loosely based on the Holy Roman Empire) for the purpose of converting the native population, before becoming independent from the empire, while the native Boreas-worshipping Pozniak ponies themselves are based on the Old Prussians, though their name is based on the Bosniaks.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Reformisten, founded by Wingfried von Katerinburg, is a group of radical griffon supremacist knights in Hellquill that desire to subjugate the Riverlands and create living space for griffons.
• The Order: The Knightly Order of Hellquill, alongside the Order of the Rosewood Spear (in Longsword), were both founded by the Griffonian Empire as crusader states against the Riverponies. During the Empire's decline, both Orders went independent.
• State Sec: The Sturmgreife is a paramilitary group associated with the Reformisten, who are rabidly fanatic and regularly harass the Hellquillian ponies.
• Voluntary Vassal: If Hellquill finds itself losing the war against the River Coalition, it can call upon the Griffonian Empire for help in exchange for becoming an Empire vassal again. Note that if Hellquill is Supremacist, the Empire will not accept its plea for help.

Siegfried Trappenfeld

Role: Field Marshal, Grandmaster^note Head of State

Party: Ritterlicher Rat^note Knightly Council

Ideology: Knightly Order^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 27th of June 936 in Wingenberg

Rank: Grandmaster

Biography: Born into a prominent family of Hellquillian knights, Siegfried Trappenfeld joined the Order at an early age as a squire. During his service, Siegfried has seen many battles in his lifetime, and is respected by all for his unwavering dedication, boldness and being the model of a gallant knight. He distinguished himself by bravely leading the sack of Diamond Mountain in 973. For this, he was nominated as Grandmaster of his Order in 976.

Unfortunately, he was robbed of the opportunity of leading the knights in a golden age. Faced with the collapse of the Griffonian Empire and revolution in 978, he chose not to renew the oath binding the Order to the Imperial Power. While he vowed to forever protect the West from the threat of the Riverlands menace, he would forever be remembered as a turncoat.

He did achieve success in maintaining the Griffonian Frontier intact but was unsuccessful in building a modern nation. Despite this poor state of affairs and the growing extremist movements in Hellquill and neighbouring Longsword, Siegfried Trappenfeld remains a living proof that the knightly ways will endure and so will Hellquill as a bulwark to protect the griffon way of life.

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• Old Soldier: Trappenfeld has been fighting as a Hellquillian knight since he was young.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Trappenfeld did not renew the oath binding the Order to the Griffonian Empire during the Griffonian revolution in 978, making Hellquill independent. He did however vow to continue his duties to protect the Herzland from the Riverlands.

Urlach ap Cyrod

Role: General, Grandmaster^note Head of State (Knightly Council election)

Party: Ritterlicher Rat^note Knightly Council

Ideology: Knightly Order^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 7th of december 957 in Rumare

Biography: With the retirement of his mentor and the claim to power of the demented Wingfried von Katerinburg, Urlach saw Hellquill on the brink of moral collapse. And so, he rose to the occasion, engaging in the political terrain he hated so much.

In the end, he prevailed and is now tasked with leading the knights but unlike his mentor, he has no knowledge of what it entails to lead in the modern era. Armed with morality and resolve, he will still need to seek advice and find a path forward as the heroes of old or perhaps in a more pragmatic way, like Siegfried had to.

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• Democracy Is Bad: Urlach creates regional councils with limited voting and elections, but he doesn't go further than that because he rejects mob rule.
• Good Old Ways: Urlach is ultimately a well-meaning knight who is just a little bit too old-fashioned for the times.
• Internal Reformist: Though not as radical as a reformist as August von Ortelsberg, Urlach is willing to reform the Order so he can unite the country, make peace with the Posniaks, and institute a rule of "Pragmatic Harmonism".
• Knight in Shining Armor: During a ceremonial duel with his buddy Wilhelm Stackelberg, Urlach reveals his true beliefs in knighthood: a knight's duties is to spare life as much as possible and destroy whatever and whomever threatens it.
• Make an Example of Them: Urlach publicly trials and executes Sturmgreife leader Edler von Wingenberg by fire to show his knights what happens if they stray from Boreas' path and embraces the mad anti-Equine ramblings of the Sturmgreife.
• The Purge: After Edler von Wingenberg is executed, Sturmgreife deputy Eisen Silberkrone launches a revolt in the Goldener Flügel Beer Hall and attacks Urlach's appointed moderate Reformisten leader Wilhelm Stackelberg; the revolt gets crushed by the local garrison and police, and Silberkrone and other Sturmgreife leaders are executed for treason.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Urlach is willing to work with August and give the Posniaks autonomous rule.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Urlach delivers a scathing speech to Wingfried after the latter comes back from his "vacation" and gets demoted by Urlach to a lowly soldier and protests that this is "unfair". Urlach, in response, exposes Wingfried as a bad knight with a poor service record who only gets to play politics thanks to being in a noble house, who threw Longsword into chaos, and was a coward who ran away from a duel. He concludes his speech by saying that Wingfried failed his country, his name, his cause, and even himself.
• Reformed Criminal: Urlach sees that the rank-and-file members of the Reformisten are young knights with lots of energy and devotion, who are dissatisfied at the Order's stagnation and are led astray by Wingfried. Therefore, Urlach punishes Wingfried and appoints the more moderate and controllable Wilhelm Stackelberg as their leader to pull the young knights back on track and integrate them into his rule as upstanding knights.
• Resign in Protest: After River Breeze wins the Hellquill Republic's first election, Urlach is among those knights who rip their military insignia off, resign from the Order and leave for the Herzland, allegedly because they refuse to accept being ruled by a pony.

August von Ortelsberg

Role: Grandmaster^note Head of State (Knightly Council election)

Party: Einheitspakt^note Unity Pact

Ideology: Chivalric Knightly Order^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 6th of May 959 in Hellquill

Biography: August von Ortelsberg was born into the small land-owning nobility of Ortelsberg. As a young fledgling, he showed a certain attraction towards intellectual pursuit but was still encouraged to follow the knight's life rather an academic career.

As a member of the Order, August served dutifully but never showed any interest in command. Instead, his impeccable bookkeeping and detailed reports lead him to join the administrative side of the Order. Finally in 992, after the death of the Knight Archivist, August petitioned the Grandmaster for the position which admittedly, few knights cared for and many saw as an undignified position. The Grandmaster agreed, causing August to becoming the youngest knight to ever occupy the position and also the youngest knight to be elevated by right to the Inner Circle of the Order.

As head archivist, August von Ortelsberg had spent many hours documenting and researching the Order's history. He has repeatedly reached the conclusion that the conflict between ponies and griffons is immensely destructive and has achieved nothing positive for anygriff or pony. His continuous pleas to the Grandmaster fell on deaf ears, and when the latter stepped down, August's exasperation only grew, comprehending that his attempts to foster peace would never be realised.

In the end, August prevailed over the traditionalist Urlach and the extremist Wingfried and is now poised to reconcile the Order of Hellquill with modernity and extend a claw towards the ponies. Though in a land as filled with hatred as the Frontier is, his aim remains a tall order.

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• Cincinnatus: As he reorganizes Hellquill into a Republic, August voluntarily steps down from his position of Grandmaster and organizes the first elections. He can still immediately get elected back into power, though as a president and not as the Grandmaster.
• Internal Reformist: August von Ortelsberg aims to end the racial discrimination in Hellquill and reform the Ordensstaat into a democratic Republic.
• Reluctant Retiree: In the Supremacist Hellquill path, Wingfried forcibly retires August in a Faux Affably Evil meeting where August is shown a fabricated document saying that he wants to retire. Wingfried also tries to put August under house arrest (with a soldier "guarding" him to prevent him from suffering Urlach's "disappearance"), but Carl von Soldau manages to bail out August and send him to a secluded temple to live in isolation. However, he still gets assassinated later.

Wingfried von Katerinburg

Role: Grandmaster^note Head of State, Führer^note Head of State

Party: Reformisten - Blackcloaks^note Reformists

Ideology: Reformisten^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 13th of December 961 in Katerinburg

Rank: Despite being a member of a minor branch of the Von Katerinburg house, Wingfried was born and raised in great wealth. Fascinated by knightly tales of old, he wished from a young age to become a knight himself. However, he was unwelcome in the order of the Argentumdämmerung due to dynastic rivalries and uninterested in the more civilian minded Silberkralle. So, he journeyed to the east, to the Frontier where heroism was welcomed and boldness more favored than in the rigid Katerin. Or so the official story says. Rumours from Katerin tell a different story, that of a troubled griff, weak willed and cursed with erratic behaviour not unlike princess Diellza. An embarrassment to his family, he was sent away to the Frontier not for glory but for damage control.

In Hellquill, Wingfried was given special privileges due to his noble birth and spent more time in the knightly seats of power than in the field. However, what he didn't achieve in military honour, he made up with influence. Nogriff quite knows what lead him to develop his burning hatred of Ponies but he became an ardent member of the pro-war faction of the knights. Frustrated with the inertia and pushback regarding his increasingly extreme ideas, he began to form a new political movement, akin to a political party as they exist in the West. Thus was born the Reformisten, dedicated to nothing but absolute victory over the dreaded ponies. He found great success in neighbouring Longsword where he caught the attention of Count Pallas Dusktalon. And now that Wingfried has convinced the Inner Circle, he stands ready to rejuvenate Hellquill, bring war to the East and to achieve victory, whatever the cost.

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• Bait-and-Switch: There is actually no Wingfried pro-SG path; if he sides with the SG during the Beakstadt Conference, he will get couped by either Demetrius Kamphaus or Edler von Wingenberg. His pro-SG focuses can't actually be taken and are folded into Edler's tree if Edler coups Wingfried.
• Les Collaborateurs: If Wingfried adopts the Wehrmacht's plan ("Abwarten und Lehre Doctrine"), then he will create pony collaborator divisions, offering ponies better living conditions in exchange for their service.
• Dehumanization: Some of the focus descriptions and events show that the Reformisten consider ponies to be no more than rats.
• Dirty Coward:
  • If Urlach ap Cyrod takes over, he challenges Wingfried to a duel due to Wingfried's continued insults towards Urlach; Wingfried, despite his boasts, doesn't dare to face Urlach, and his appeals for challenging squires gets countered by Urlach who dispatches a giant of a griffon. In the end, Urlach subtly insults Wingfried by calling him an "ill griff", and tells him to go on a "vacation" and shut his beak. When Wingfried comes back from his "vacation" after his entire faction has been purged and puppeted, Wingfried thoroughly denies that he is involved in any insurrection plots and blames everything on Edler.
  • If Wilhelm Stackelberg coups Wingfried, Wingfried will cowardly hide in his closet during Wilhelm's attack.
• Fantastic Racism: Wingfried is a griffon supremacist that hates ponies with a passion, and wants to launch the Grand Crusade and fully subjugate the Riverponies.
• Final Solution: The Reformisten deal with the problem of pony minorities in Hellquill by launching a deadly pogrom and asking the survivors to either leave or face death.
• Glorious Leader: After restructuring the Ordensstaat, Wingfried's title changes from Grandmaster to Führer. In the Wehrmacht path, he can even institute the Führerprinzip.
• Humiliation Conga: In Non-Aligned Hellquill, Wingfried gets demoted to a lowly soldier and is forced to go through basic recruit training, which he fails pathetically and gets absolutely railed on by a Drill Sergeant Nasty. The drill sergeant's insults ironically says that he is not a bigot and that he disrespects every race equally, an Ironic Echo to Wingfried's own racist boasts.
• New Era Speech: After fending off Wilhelm Stackelberg's attempted coup, Wingfried makes a bombastic speech in the Hellquill castle and declares the creation of a new Hellquill which shall last a thousand years.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Wingfried, leader of the Reformisten, is based on none other than Adolf Hitler, desiring to create an Ost-Griffonian Empire that will last a thousand years.
• The Plague: Following Edler's advice, Wingfried's scientists will revive an ancient pony-specific plague known as the Purple Plague as a part of his plans to conquer the Riverlands. At the start of the Grand Crusade, Wingfried will unleash the plague on the riverponies by injecting it into live ponies and sending them eastwards, causing massive amounts of deaths and leading to an immediate war with the River Coalition.
• The Purge:
  • Wingfried purges the conservative old guard after coming to power. Urlach gets an unfortunate "disappearance" during a fishing trip.
  • If Wingfried sides with the Wehrmacht over the Sturmgreife after becoming the Führer, he purges the increasingly unhinged Edler and his Sturmgreife in the Night of the Long Claws.
• Putting on the Reich: Wingfried's Hellquill goes much deeper into Nazi German references than the Changelings, with their genocidal Lebensraum goals, the State Sec Sturmgreife, their army being called the Wehrmacht, and the supreme leader being called a Führer rather than a king or a queen.
• Secret Police: The reformisten's secret police is known as the Geheimdienst.
• Undignified Death: If Wilhelm coups Wingfried, Wilhelm has his wings broken and throws him out of a window to his death, all the while Wingfried pleads for help like the coward he is.
• Villainous Underdog: Hellquill is a little stronger than some individual countries in the River Coalition, but it stands little chance against the combined might of the River Coalition at the start. Supremacist Hellquill needs a lot of time building up strength before they can reasonably challenge the River Coalition, and many scenarios can even result in a premature war with the River Coalition (e.g. Lake City going Supremacist, giving them an early war goal on Hellquill), guaranteeing the early end of Hellquill.
• You Monster!: After Wingfried unleashes the Purple Plague, a global news event fires about Hellquill proudly proclaiming that they had brought doom on the ponies. Every sane country reacts with shock and horror at Wingfried's act.

Wilhelm Stackelberg

Role: General, Grandmaster^note Head of State (Groverist coup)

Party: Reformisten - Groverists^note Reformists

Ideology: Reformisten^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 17th of March 964 in Hellquill

Rank: Grenzemeister

Biography: Wilhelm's origins are one shared by many lower ranking knights of the Order of Hellquill. His family belonged to the lowly priests and knights who had formed the bulwark of the Order for many generations. His mother died on the field of battle in 973 during the sack of Diamond Mountain. After having followed a religious upbringing, Wilhelm served as a dutiful squire for many years until he was finally knighted in 986.

As a knight, Stackelberg served dutifully on the eastern frontier and earned his commanding title after brutally exterminating a Riverlander scout party out in the Frontier. He also befriended the Rumarean Urlach ap Cyrod and often acted in tows with him. Both him and Urlach were elevated together to the Inner Circle in 998.

During the years following the turn of the millenium, Wilhelm Stackelberg gradually grew tired of the conduct of the Ordensstaat, believing that Trappenfeld's reforms and isolation were a betrayal of their oath to the emperors of the Griffonian Empire. He wished for closer ties with the Empire and to resume their conquest eastwards. And so, he became a regular attendees of meetings of knights organized by Wingfried von Katerinburg. Eventually, he became their most ardent supporter within knightly circles and obtained the nickname of the "Black Knight of the Reformisten".

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• Conscription: In his path, Wilhelm enacts mass conscription to quickly prepare Hellquill for war against the Riverlands.
• The Coup: Wilhelm Stackelberg, believing that Wingfried is leading the Order astray, launches a coup as Wingfried begins to restructure the Ordensstaat away from its roots, which can succeed or fail. If he succeeds, Wingfried and Edler are both killed, and Wilhelm seizes control of Hellquill.
• Evil Counterpart: Wilhelm is the evil counterpart to Urlach, both being traditionalist knights with old fashioned views. Their difference lies in that Urlach emphasizes the need for knights to protect the innocent, whereas Wilhelm emphasizes the martial quality of knights.
• Evil Reactionary: Wilhelm is a "Groverist", a griffon dedicated to the original goals of the Knightly Order as founded by Grover II. He has no love for Wingfried's modernism, and instead desires the return of traditional social classes, restore the faith in the Griffon religion that Wingfried sidelined, and bring war to the ponies just as Grover II intended.
• Feudal Overlord: Wilhelm restores feudalism with pony serfs after he coups Wingfried, empowering landowners and controlling the entire country through them.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Wilhelm wants to conquer the Riverlands and subjugate the ponies like Wingfried does, but he doesn't want to exterminate them, and instead simply enserfs all the ponies. The lives of ponies under Wilhelm after his coup improve by a tiny bit as they are sent to griffon estates instead of concentration camps.
• The Purge: Wilhelm launches a thorough purge of socialists and Sturmgreife rebels after coming to power.
• Resign in Protest: After River Breeze wins the Hellquill Republic's first election, Stackelberg is among those knights who rip their military insignia off, resign from the Order and leave for the Herzland, allegedly because they refuse to accept being ruled by a pony.
• Unperson: Wilhelm, after couping Wingfried and Edler, enacts Damnatio Memoriae on Wingfried and Edler, striking their names from history, burning their corpses and dispersing their ashes, seizing all of their properties, and banishing all members of their houses. It's implied he does this on some other griffons he purged too.

Demetrius Kamphaus

Role: General, Head of State (Anti-SG coup)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: "Late October" 958 in the Strawberry Duchy

Biography: Demetrius Kamphaus's parentage is considered shrouded in mystery, as is his actual birthdate. This is not due to some grand conspiracy, but rather due to the fact he was born to a maid working in the estate of a high-ranking noble, a noble that shared a lot of features with the newly born Demetrius. Naturally, such an upstanding gentlegriff wouldn't possibly paw the servants, and Demetrius grew up with only his mother. It was deemed for the best that the boy be sent away after his mother's death, and the Order of Hellquill received a sizeable donation for taking him on and asking no questions. Demetrius could tell that he was not wanted back home and has ever since treated the order as the only family he has.

While not the order's most brilliant strategist or inspiring commander, he has built a rock solid reputation for himself rational, driven and stable (with many a comedic savant remarking on his corpulence whenever the last term comes up). Even during his youth, when he was part of the raid on Diamond Mountain, he held his ground even as the dogs attempted to use fire to drive back the knights. This gave him both his distinctive scars and his knighthood. Ever since, his grim determination along with his disinterest in factionalism or scheming is what has made him rise as high as he has. Kamphaus prides himself on getting things done, reasoning that others can have the glory because he will settle for success and a good meal at his favorite restaurant.

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• Cincinnatus: Kamphaus's plans after he destroys the SG is to invite the prince of Lushi (either Elias or Gerar) to Hellquill and crown them as the prince of Hellquill-Lushi, in order to regain some legitimacy and prevent Hellquill from collapsing.
• Defiant to the End: If Kamphaus fails to hold on and the Communists rise up, he will be trialled as a Reformisten leader. During the trial, he stands firm with his beliefs that his actions were an attempt to save the country and guide it onto glory, that he does not view the court as legitimate and thinks that the court only wants to hear what they want to hear, and that he does not fear their inevitable death sentence.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Kamphaus normally supports Hellquill's leaders without second questions (including Wingfried's plans to subjugate the Riverlands), but Wingfried caving into the Sturmgreife's insanity is just too much for him, and he will decide to craft a plot that will purge the Sturmgreife (and the SG-favoring Wingfried) from Hellquill.
• False Flag Operation: Kamphaus's plan to destroy the SG involves assassinating Wingfried with an SG-marked knife, allowing him to blame the SG with treason and purge them.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: In Wingfried's route, Kamphaus argues that the goal of their Grand Crusade isn't the extermination of ponies, and instead is the creation of a stable and organized society in Eastern Griffonia for griffon settlers. This is in contrast to Edler, who actively argues for extermination. If Kamphaus manages to successfully depose the SG and invite the Lushi prince to Hellquill, then the new Dual Principality will declare a Toleranzedikt, officially declaring the ponies as equals to griffons and protected by the crown.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Kamphaus is based on Henning von Tresckow, an ultra-conservative, monarchist military officer who initially supports the Reformisten, but can later craft a plot to overthrow them and return some sense to the country.
• Pragmatic Villainy: In Wingfried's route, Kamphaus argues for more rational and pragmatic plans to conquer the Riverlands, arguing that they must bide their time and build up strength, and that racial extermination is antithetical to Hellquill's plans for glory.

Edler von Wingenberg

Role: Führer^note Head of State (Coup)

Party: Reformisten - Sturmgreife^note Reformists

Ideology: Esotericism^note Supremacy

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• Child Soldiers: Edler creates the Jugenhilfsbrigaden to train young griffons how to fight and kill.
• Eviler than Thou: If Wingfried sides with the SG, and Kamphaus's coup fails, Edler will kill Wingfried, declaring him a failure who can't keep his generals in line. He then takes over Hellquill to lead the country towards the genocidal Grand Crusade that he desired.
• Fake Wizardry: After coming to power, Edler tasks a doctor named Wilhelm Grafschaft to develop technology that can connect him to Ogledd and expunge the pony's vile magical taint. What Grafschaft developed is basically a sensory deprivation tank where Edler can dream up whatever he wants, and a literal wooden box that "cleanses" Pony Magic and infuses Edler with "Eyronic energy" that will give him magical powers.
• Fascist, but Inefficient: Edler creates a very dysfunctional government due to his erratic behaviors, turning much of the government into Yes Men who work extremely inefficiently out of a need to appease Edler.
• Final Solution: While Wingfried isn't immediately genocidal, Edler is, and he wants to exterminate the Pony race from Griffonia as soon as possible.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Edler von Wingenberg has two red gashes across the right side of his face.
• Historical In-Joke: Edler creates the Ahnenerbe after coming to power to search for evidence of Ogledd and debunk Pony achievements.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: In the Harmonist route, Edler gets killed when the army raids his final hideout in a bastion in Hellquill. In his final moments, as he's in the middle of broadcasting a mad rambling of his esoteric beliefs, an artillery barrage ends his life.
• Master Race: Edler explicitly champions the belief that Griffons are the master race, and has an entire esoteric belief system to back it up: Griffons used to live in an Utopic plane of existence known as the Ogledd, where they lived alongside gods and had magical abilities. However, ponies, unicorns, and alicorns infiltrated Ogledd and expelled the Griffons from Ogledd, robbing them of their powers.
• Might Makes Right: Edler thinks that Wingfried deserves death due to his weakness.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed:
  • Edler von Wingenberg is the Heinrich Himmler to Wingfried von Katerinburg's Adolf Hitler; the hardline leader of the party's paramilitary and an esoteric believer.
  • His Ogledd Society is an expy of the Thule Society.
  • His magic 'doctor' Wilhelm Grafschaft may be a reference to Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian psychoanalyst who was notorious for his preoccupation with sexuality and belief in 'orgone', an esoteric energy/lifeforce that could be accumulated in boxes similarly to the ones descibed on Edler's route.
• Poke the Poodle: Aside from genocide and ethnic cleansing, Edler also makes plans to create a monopoly for his SG-affiliated cigarette and mineral water companies.
• The Purge: Edler will launch a massive purge of the Heer after he coups Wingfried.
• Secret Police: Under Edler, the Geheimdienst secret police gets upgraded to the Abwehr.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Edler will force ponies and traitors into slave labor after he kills Wingfried and takes over.
• Tested on Humans: Edler supports the use of ponies living test subjects. In Wingfried's Bait-and-Switch pro-SG focus tree branch, the pony experiments were for medicine. In Edler's path, the pony experiments are outright intended to harvest the ponies' magic.
• War Is Glorious: Edler believes that the destiny of Griffons is to wage Totaler Krieg, where the entire society is calibrated to fight and conquer. Edler believes that in war, Griffons will find true enlightenment.

Ernst Fischer

Role: Head of State (Hellquill-Lushi union fails)

Party: Kommunistische Partei Hellquill^note Communist Party of Hellquill

Ideology: Communism

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• Chummy Commies: Ernst Fischer is the leader of the Hellquillian Communist Party (KPH), who agitates against Urlach's ultra-conservative regime and can launch a revolution to overthrow the genocidal Reformisten.
• Defector from Decadence: Fischer previously served within the Wehrmacht where he proved himself to be an audacious, charismatic leader. However, he became dissatisfied with the Order's policies and goals, considering them outdated and futile, and subsequently deserted and left Hellquill.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Ernst Fischer seems to be partially based on Ernst Niekisch, a German socialist who infused signifiant nationalist elements to his socialism, and an early user of the name "National Bolshevism".
• Patriotic Fervor: Fischer believes that the soldiers can form a revolutionary vanguard that can protect the socialist revolution, and his actual rule combines one-party vanguardism with elements of Socialist Nationalism and socialist militarism.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: The Communist revolution led by Ernst Fischer and Starry Night is one that deposes the genocidal and totalitarian rule of the Reformisten.
• Revolving Door Revolution: Ernst Fischer and the communists come to power in a specific way: after Kamphaus deposes Wingfried and the SG, if his plans to crown the Lushi prince and regain legitimacy fails (either because the prince rejected their offer, or because Lushi is communist), then his junta will collapse and the communists will launch a successful revolution.

County of Longsword

^{Flag of the Longsword Liberation Army/Socialist Republic of Longsword/SFR Vartai}

^{Flag of the Free Communities of Longsword/Vartai Republic}

^{Flag of the Longsword National Republic/Vartai National Republic}

^{Flag of the Griffking Empire}

Full Name:

Reformisten: County of Longsword, Heidenreich's Bandits (Heidenreich)

Order: Rosewood Order

Longsword Liberation Army: Socialist Republic of Longsword (Communist), Socialist Federative Republic of Vartai (Communist, Hellquill conquered), Free Communities of Longsword (Harmony), Vartai Republic (Harmony, Hellquill conquered), Longsword National Republic (Supremacy), Vartai National Republic (Supremacy, Hellquill conquered), Griffking Empire (Golden Morning, Griffonia conquered)

Ruling Party: Reformisten^note Reformists

Ideology: Reformisten^note Supremacy

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• Balkanize Me: If Abba Povner conquers the Herzland, the subsequent Morgenclaw Plan will partition it into five regions: the Griffenheim, Bronzehill, and Romau Occupation Authority, and the Northern and Southern Herzland Reconstruction Authority. The Occupation Authorities aim to punish the core of the Empire eternally, while the Reconstruction Authorities are planned to eventually become independent countries free of Herzlander influence.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: During the Longswordian Civil War, all three sides are short on weapons, and will thus break out old weapons to arm their soldiers. The Supremacist side in particular is so desperate, they will start pulling out the old swords and spears used by their ancestors to arm their soldiers.
• Chummy Commies: The Communists in Longsword are portrayed very positively, as they aim to overthrow a genocidal Supremacist government and create a country where griffons and ponies are equals.
• Civil War: Longsword is utterly wrecked by Count Pallas' launch of the "Longswordian Bloodbath". Communist partisans under Starry Night and a conspiracy led by Grand Master Konrada Wavewing and General Conrad Silvertalon both intend to depose Pallas and create a better Longsword. Five months after game start, Longsword explodes into a three-way civil war between the Reformisten, the Rosewood Order, and the Longsword Liberation Army.
• David Versus Goliath: When compared to its neighbour Hellquill, Longsword is pretty much inferior in every aspect. This is a big problem as they are usually the former's first target, resulting in an early game over not long after the civil war. You need to be very good at micro while hoping that the River Coalition's volunteers are good enough (that is if they send them in the first place) to be able to beat them.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The native Longswordian ponies are based on Lithuanians, speaking the Lithuanian language and being ruled by griffon colonists who themselves developed an Ost-Griffonian culture distinct from their cousins in the Herzland, in the same fashion as the Baltic Germans did.
• Fascist, but Inefficient: The rabid Count Pallas and his Reformisten's attempts to genocide the ponies lead to a huge amount of resistance, and eventually shatter the country into a civil war. Every pre-civil war national focus where they purge the country of traitors results in an event where their actions backfire horribly and weaken themselves in the end.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: Influenced by the Reformisten from Hellquill, Count Pallas Dusktalon had decided to implement their griffon supremacist ideology in Longsword, resulting in anti-pony violence.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Hans Morgenclaw, the architect of the Morgenclaw Plan in Povner's Longsword, is a stand-in for US Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr., the architect of the Morgenthau Plan, which involved the thorough deindustrialisation of post-World War II Germany, reducing it into an agrarian society. Not different from its real life counterpart, the Morgenclaw Plan involves a permanent reconstruction authority which will constantly rebuild and destroy industry in the Herzland, so the Herzland will be stuck as an agrarian society and never be able to wage war again.
• Please Select New City Name: If the Longsword Liberation Army wins the civil war (Communist or Harmonist Longsword), when they take over Hellquill and create the Socialist Federative Republic of Vartai (Communist) or the Vartai Republic (Harmonist), they will rename either Hellquill or Swordsson to Vienybė (meaning Unity) if they choose the relocate their capital to that city.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Hans Morgenclaw (a minor character in Povner's route) was once a minor noble who experienced a chain of unlucky events that saw his family torn apart during the Republican Revolution, being exiled from Herzland, and getting targeted by Count Pallas and having his new family killed during the Civil War. Losing faith on everything, he decided to join Povner in his quest for revenge against everyone who wronged him in the past.
• Stupid Evil: The Reformisten are so obsessed with massacring ponies that each of their decisions actively makes their situation worse, yet the actual people in charge are completely clueless about it and are completely shocked that they're abandoned by their "allies" and every other nation around them hates them, to say nothing of the country ripping itself apart in a three-way civil war and all of the economic and social issues that come with their single-mindedness.
• Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": The Reformisten's attempt to ethnically cleanse their country of Ponies is sometimes called "The Longswordian Bloodbath", but outsiders call it by a more appropriate name - "The Longswordian Genocide".

Count Pallas Dusktalon

Role: Field Marshal, Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Reformisten^note Reformists

Ideology: Reformisten^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 24 April, 958 in Swordsson

Rank: Count of Longsword

Biography: The current head of the noble Dusktalon family, Pallas assumed leadership not long after the County of Longsword declared independence from the Griffonian Empire. At first, he was content to continue the proud Longswordian tradition, but everything changed when he came in contact with the growing group of knights who called themselves the Reformisten. Their ideology and way of thought completely changed Pallas, and he set forth to implement their policies in Longsword, which culminated in the current bloodshed against the ponies. His single minded zeal towards achieving purity in Longsword compensates for his lack of proper leadership qualities, resulting in a dangerous obsession for attaining his dream, at any cost.

---

• Aristocrats Are Evil: Count Pallas is a Griffon supremacist that is enacting ethnic cleansing in his county.
• Asshole Victim: Dusktalon does not get any good endings. He either loses the civil war and most likely gets killed, wins the civil war and gets killed by Rosa Heidenreich, or wins the civil war and gets demoted to a grunt by Wingfried.
• Bald of Evil: Played with - as a griffon, he's not truly hairless or featherless, but his rather lacking cranial plumage strongly resembles mid-frontal baldness, which helps make him look like an evil middle-aged man, and as the leader of the Longswordian Reformisten, he definitely has the evil part down.
• The Caligula: Count Pallas is quite unhinged and is dedicated to wiping out the ponies, and doesn't at all care about the state of his country.
• Fantastic Racism: Count Pallas Dusktalon fully buys into the Reformisten griffon supremacist ideology, and decided to put them into action inside Longsword.
• General Failure: Count Pallas is available as a Field Marshal early on. He's among the worst generals in the entire game, surpassed only by a select few with particularly awful traits like "blind" and "imbecile".
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Rosa's goons kills Dusktalon mid-sentence during Rosa's coup.
  "Heidenreich, how dare you interfere in our sacred du-" (Dusktalon is shot and killed)
• Passed-Over Promotion: Dusktalon desires a promotion from Wingfried for his hard work on winning the civil war and purging Longsword of ponies. If his letter reaches Wingfried, Wingfried demotes him instead, and annexes Longsword.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: If Dusktalon wins the civil war, and Rosa delivers the letter of Dusktalon's success to Wingfried's Hellquill without second thoughts, Pallas will get demoted and reassigned to a remote outpost (granting 1 ponypower to Hellquill) while Wingfried annexes Longsword, depriving Dusktalon of even a little bit of victory in the end.
• Villainous Underdog: Dusktalon leads both the most villainous as well as the weakest side in the Longswordian Civil War. The Reformisten start with 3 divisions, not even enough to cover one of their two fronts, while the Rosewood Order and the Partisans both start with almost double the amount of divisions. Trying to win the civil war is a task of extreme micromanagement.

Rosa Heidenreich

Role: General, Monarch^note Head of State (Bandit coup)

Party: Heidenreich's Bandits

Ideology: Kleptocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 15 August, 982 in Zeltstadt

Biography: Former second-in-command to Count Dusktalon, Rosa Heidenreich was one of his earliest supporters when he began spreading the Reformisten values through Longsword. It was her hard work and dedication that got her to this position, and although some would say Rosa had the Count's personal interest, she vehemently denies any of that and insists it was through merit alone. Regardless, having spent many nights ruminating on the failures of the Reformisten ideology, it wasn't a light decision for her to overthrow the Count after their victory in the civil war. She now leads the former Black Cloaks as a ruthless bandit leader, free of any previous trappings, and interested only in extracting riches from others.

---

• The Coup: She kills Dusktalon and takes over Longsword in her route.
• King of Thieves: Upon usurping Count Pallas Dusktalon, Rosa turns Longsword into a bandit country existing solely to gather riches for herself.
• Organ Theft: Rosa's bandits begin an organ theft operation on the poor griffon folks of Longsword to make huge profits on the black market.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Rosa will enslave a significant portion of the Longswordian population to further expand her riches.
• The Starscream: By game start, Rosa is the second-in-command to Count Pallas Dusktalon and a loyal Reformisten. After the civil war is won and ponies are cleansed however, Longsword is still a backwards mess, and Rosa will begin to have doubts in the Reformisten's ideas. This can eventually lead to her deciding to usurp the Reformisten and take over the country.
• Unholy Matrimony: Rosa Heidenreich can fall in love with the bandit king of the Sunstriker Clan, Eriviar Sunstriker, after first meeting him during a raid on the Firtree Villages. Their relationship will improve and can eventually culminate in a wedding between the two.

Konrada Wavewing

Role: General, Hochmeister^note Head of State (Civil War victory)

Party: Wavewing-Silvertalon Kamarilla^note Wavewing-Silvertalon Camarilla

Ideology: Knightly Order^note Non-Aligned, Chivalric Knightly Order^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: Date unknown, around 950-960 in Possibly Haarsingen, County of Longsword

Biography: The newest in a long line of Grand Masters of the Order of the Rosewood Spear, Konrada Wavewing has a lot of expectations to live up to. Alongside their peers to the north, the Knightly Order of Hellquill, the Rosewood Order had followed Grover II in the Crusades east and were granted lands in modern day Haarsingen as a result. Unlike Hellquill, however, they did not have a nation to call their own, instead working alongside the Dusktalon dynasty in the defense of the Frontier. When the latest Count of Longsword went mad, Wavewing chose to form the Kamarilla and conspired with General Conrad Silvertalon to overthrow him. It was the only breach of the knightly virtue of loyalty she allowed herself to make.

The creatures of Longsword are allowed to know very little about the Grand Mistress and her past - not that she knows much about it herself - but what they do know is that she is a presence to be feared. Not because she may be a bloodthirsty monster or a ruthless tyrant, but because her stoic demeanor and permanent scowl demand respect and freeze the heart of even the most hot-headed knight. In a world which turns increasingly chaotic and unjust, Wavewing sees herself as an anchor which can lead Longsword back to normalcy, if only she lives and breathes knightly virtue.

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• Broken Pedestal: Konrada Wavewing was brought up believing that the Rosewood Order is an exemplar of virtue. However, the revelation that the Order kidnapped children like her and turned them into knights made her question her beliefs.
• Defector from Decadence: The Rosewood Order had historically been allies of the Dusktalon dynasty, but Wavewing decided to form a conspiracy with General Conrad Silvertalon against the Dusktalons when Count Pallas went mad.
• Good Old Ways: Wavewing will restore traditional knightly rule over the country and return Longsword to its simpler and more virtuous days.
• Identity Amnesia: Konrada Wavewing was born Cynthia Crowbeak, to a family of musicians in Katerin. When she was young, she got separated from her family during a bandit raid, and her family assumed her to be dead. In truth, the bandits were Rosewood knights, who abducted young Cynthia and raised her into the knight Konrada Wavewing, who forgot her entire past identity after years of intense training under the Order.
• Internal Reformist: After realizing that the Rosewood Order hadn't always been the perfect order of paragons that she believed in, Konrada decides to reform the Order and her nation to truly uphold virtue. Her ideology in the process goes from Non-Aligned to Harmony.
• Not So Stoic:
  • During a visit from a troupe of Katerin musicians, a young musician's song suddenly triggers something deep within Wavewing, and a shocked Wavewing breaks her stoicism and leaves the scene. It turns out, the musician was Konrada Wavewing's biological sister Glinda Crowbeak, and the song she played was the song their father played to a young Konrada - then known as Cynthia - to calm her down during her tantrums.
  • Her new bio after she decides to fully reform the Rosewood Order notes that her subjects are now seeing her smiling occasionally.
• The Stoic: The Rosewood knights and Wavewing adopted stoicism through their decades of training, and Wavewing's permanent scowl strikes fear into every being in Longsword.

Conrad Silvertalon

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: Nationale Heilungspartei^note National Healing Party

Ideology: Military Government^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: Ever since the era of the Crusades, the Silvertalon lineage gave their lives in the service of Longsword, and thus, as they believed, all of Griffonkind. Originally from Katerin, the ancestors of the family served in the retinue of Grover II, fighting in his numerous wars against the Riverponies - and when the great Emperor died, they retreated with the rest. Instead of returning to Katerin, however, they settled in what is today Longsword, and have served the County since then. Conrad Silvertalon is merely the last in a long tradition, a soldier from birth who followed the path of his father, fought in the eternal border conflict with the Riverponies, and achieved the rank of General he deserved.

The new Count, Pallas, was different. When he came to power, Conrad Silvertalon had only recently been promoted to General, and watched the young monarch assume his position with promise. And then, he was forced to stand back and watch the traditions he held dear be dismantled, and the fanatics from Hellquill storm across the Griffking to establish their new order of affairs. The general never held that much sympathy towards the ponies, but seeing them brutalized, radicalized, and Longsword run down by Pallas's leadership eventually broke his loyalties. Understanding that Count Pallas will only lead Longsword to ruin, he chose to resist, forming an anti-Reformisten kamarilla with Hochmeisterin Konrada Wavewing to set Longsword back towards the track it deserves to take.

---

• Bait-and-Switch: The focus "The First Engelberg Government" has the stated effects of turning the country Harmonist and making Solarpluff Engelberg the leader of the country. What actually happens is that Engelberg is assassinated, and Silvertalon is forced to continue leading the country, unlocking another section of his focus tree where he adopts more authoritarian measures.
• Cincinnatus: Silvertalon intends to gradually transform Longsword into a democratic republic, and if he takes power, he will form a provisional government and eventually hand over the leadership to reformist advisor Solarpluff Engelberg.
• Defector from Decadence: Originally a devoted member of the Longsword military, the Reformisten's rule and ethnic cleansing against ponies disgusted Conrad Silvertalon. He allied himself with the Rosewood Order under Konrada Wavewing and plots to depose the Count.
• Emergency Authority: During the transition of power from Silvertalon to Engelberg, Engelberg is assassinated either by a Black Cloak assassin or an assassin hired by corrupt industrialists, throwing the nascent republic into chaos. Silvertalon is forced to declare martial law and continue leading the country and use more assertive measures to pacify the country.
• Knight in Sour Armor: After Engelberg's assassination, Silvertalon becomes far more cynical and is forced to use more authoritarian measures to pacify the country. Despite this, he still hopes that eventually Longsword will be fully healed and can transition into a proper democracy.

Starry Night

^{Hellquill Starry Night portrait}

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State (Civil War victory)

Party: Ilgakardžių Išsilaisvinimo Armija - Raudonieji^note Longsword Liberation Army - Red Faction

Ideology: Agrarian Socialism^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: December 11, 971 in Varėna Countryside, County of Longsword

Biography: Starry Night never thought she'd be any more than a footnote in history.

Born a foal of a locksmith and a farmer in the forested Longswordian south, she had a rather simple and idyllic childhood, composed of monotonous farming, hunting, and studying her father's craft. Her village did note that she was rather bright, she taught herself how to read by studying the religious texts of the village's Arcturian priest, for example, but neither she nor her family ever imagined that she'd end up leading a country. Not long after Count Dusktalon's regime turned towards senseless bloodshed, however, swarms of Reformisten descended upon her village, intent to round up and murder everypony. Armed with her father's hunting rifle, the 20-year old Starry was the first to rise in resistance, helped the few survivors escape, and swore as she watched her burning home to vanquish the Count's murderous regime by her own hoof.

She became a member of the Longswordian Liberation Army and soon rose to command the Visaginas Partisan District, striking against the Count and his lackeys from the foliage of the forests like their ancestors had done for centuries. Fearless, rumored to be invincible by her enemies, and speaking of a bright future free of fear, free of death and free of want, Starry Night has inspired many over the years. Any member of the Partisan movement, no matter where their allegiances lie, holds deep respect for her. As fearless and intimidating Longsword's greatest heroine makes herself out to be, however, even years of lead have not eroded the plain mare she is underneath. She is compassionate towards her comrades, always willing to hear them out and staunchly idealistic, to the point where she seems impressionable at times. To her, the Partisan struggle is not just one of freedom - it is one of building a better, ideal future upon those foundations. The future which the Reformisten ripped out of her hooves.

---

• Chummy Commies: Starry Night leads the Communist Partisans in Longsword and desires to create a fair and equal Socialist Republic in Longsword.
• Cigar Chomper: Starry Night is frequently depicted smoking a cigarette in her portrait and various events.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Her origins as a partisan leader and her market socialist reforms make her a clear counterpart to Josip Broz Tito.
• Rebel Leader: Starry Night is the leader of the Communist partisans in Longsword, who oppose the Count and want to depose him.
• Spirit Advisor: If Starry Night is killed by Golden Morning, she will come back in a few events as a ghost and communicate with him. In these communications, she expresses her disappointment at Golden Morning, while Golden Morning's own conscience causes him to freak out in guilt upon seeing her.
• The Bus Came Back: She can be elected to lead socialist Hellquill if Hellquill goes down the Wingfried-Kamphaus-Revolution path.
• Token Good Teammate: Starry Night is the Longsword partisans' most moral leader, avoiding both Flawless Justice's aristocratic elitism and the sheer insanity of Golden Morning and Abba Povner.

Flawless Justice

Role: Head of State

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

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• The Alliance: Harmonist Longsword will seek to join the River Coalition as its main diplomatic focus.
• Blue Blood: Flawless Justice is a member of the pony nobility in Longsword, tracing their lineage to the pre-Dusktalon Grand Duchy of Longsword led by the pony Grand Duke Žemaitukas.
• Good Old Ways: Flawless Justice seeks to return Longsword back to its traditional and harmonious past as he knew from romantic tales.
• Our Founder: Flawless Justices builds a monument dedicated to his ancestor Grand Duke Žemaitukas to commemorate his greatness and remind Longswordians that they are a nation of proud warriors and heroes.
• Rightful King Returns: After taking over Griffenheim, Flawless Justice restores the Grand Duchy of Longsword, a title once held by his ancestor Grand Duke Žemaitukas, though Vartai itself remains a republic and the grand duke holds no official powers.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Flawless Justice really didn't like working with commoners and peasants, but was forced to join the peasant-based Longsword Liberation Army because Count Pallas and the Reformisten were hunting down pony nobles like him.

Golden Morning

^{Golden Morning after uniting Griffonia (SPOILERS)}

Role: General, Monarch^note Head of State (Coup)

Party: Naujoji Grifonija^note New Griffonia

Ideology: Esotericism^note Supremacy

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• All for Nothing: The developers have suggested that, on top of all the other tragedies of his route, Golden Morning's empire won't long survive him, and that its collapse into violent civil war will be just as horrific and traumatic as building it in the first place.
• Bittersweet Ending: If Golden Morning manages to realize his ideals and unite all of Griffonia under the Griffking Empire, he will create long-lasting peace on Griffonia, get crowned as the Emperor-Liberator, and roll back all of his totalitarian policies to create a reasonably fair country. However, he had killed millions in the process of creating this peace, caused a population crisis from the forced culture merging, and he admits that he had became just as bad as the Reformisten and regrets his actions.
• The Coup: If Starry Night doesn't purge Golden Morning's Naujoji Grifonija during the Constitutional Convention, Golden Morning will coup Starry and take over the country.
• Cult of Personality: Golden Morning creates a Cult of Vadeiva around himself so the Longswordians can attach to his ideals through him.
• The Emperor: If Golden Morning successfully conquers both the Herzland and the Riverlands, he declares the creation of the Griffking Empire, named after the Griffking River that crosses through both lands. If he manages to weather through the pan-Griffonian invasions on his country in the aftermath, he will be crowned as the Emperor of the Griffking Empire, a Liberator who united all of Griffonia.
• Heel Realization: Golden Morning's conscience (and Starry's ghost) regularly haunt him in his path to unite Griffonia, but his fanatical dedication to his ideals usually wins out in the end and he continues his plans believing that he is in the right. When he finally achieves his ideals and creates the Griffking Empire however, he looks upon his corpse-strewn utopia, his empty heart, and his lingering respect for Starry Night, and finally admits that he is a villain who utterly twisted Starry's legacy.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Golden Morning, in his efforts to destroy everything that the Reformisten stood for and unite the Griffons and the Ponies, became just as tyrannical and ruthless as the Reformisten.
• Interfaith Smoothie: Golden Morning merges the Archonite faith with the Riverlands ponies' pantheon and the Equestrian Alicorn faith, creating a new religion centered on a Goddess named Varėnė-Arcturia. Golden Morning's new faith proclaims that all of these previous religions were actually worshipping the same Gods, and that their original Gods aren't actually divine, and are instead demigods or magical beings either born from Varėnė-Arcturia or blessed by her.
• Interspecies Romance: Enforced, sort of. Part of Golden Morning's attempts to produce a melded pony-griffon culture involves state-mandated arranged marriages between ponies and griffons. Although these marriages are said to be merely symbolic (and the game is a bit coy about what exactly happens when two creatures of different species fall in love), they do have a long-term negative effect on the population of his empire.
• Kill the Ones You Love: Golden Morning kills Starry Night during his coup, despite his genuine friendship with and admiration of her.
• Knight Templar: Golden Morning's sheer dedication to his ideology turns him into a massive tyrant willing to commit any kind of ruthless or immoral act in the name of his ideals, with him justifying all of the deaths he's caused as necessary sacrifices for the utopian ideal.
• Motive Rant: During his coup, a dying survivor questions Golden Morning's motives for the coup and his murder of Starry.
  Survivor: "Then why did you kill her, you monster?!"
  Golden Morning: "Heroes matter only as far as what they represent - and the hero which she became certainly represented an ideal. What she represented was sweet, but it would leave Ilgakardija merely a shell of the self it could become. A future never realized, a story never told, a path never taken, one which would have led to a righteous utopia. But this utopia needs a prophet, and as long as I live, I will fight to claim it."
  (Golden Morning aims his gun at the dying pony.)
  Golden Morning: "Starry once told me that she believes in destiny. That part of her will always stay with me."
  Golden Morning: "Arcturius will protect me."
• Please Select New City Name: Golden Morning renames Swordsson to Širdis, or "the Heart", symbolizing the heart of his Griffon-Pony super-empire.
• Politically Correct Villain: Golden Morning is this trope taken to its nightmarish totalitarian extremes. He wants to create eternal peace and racial equality in Griffonia by forcibly merging the Griffon and Pony societies together.
• The Purge: Golden Morning mass purges LLA members who resist him after his coup, and during his rule he purges any sociopolitical factions that opposes his radical reforms.
• Religious Bruiser: Golden Morning is a devout Posniak in addition to being a Partisan fighter. When the equally-religious Povner comes back to counter-coup him, he becomes extremely reckless and fancies their duel as a duel between his God Arcturius and Povner's Goddess Varėnė.
• Totalitarian Utilitarian: Golden Morning uses totalitarian policies to forcibly unite the Pony and Griffon cultures on Griffonia so he can ensure that no more wars will break out between them. Aside from his political totalitarianism, his social engineering policies include creating a new language without the words "pony" and "griffon" (replacing them with the equal "creatures"), banning old traditions and enforcing new mandatory hybrid religious practises, creating mandatory inter-species study groups for children, and developing propaganda "purple books" containing his quotes and guidelines on how to properly act in his new super-culture, with young radical "Violet Guards" enforcing these guidelines through intimidation.
• Tragic Keepsake: After killing Starry, Golden Morning keeps Starry's cigarette pack and often smokes from it, in what's apparently his way of paying respects to Starry.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Golden Morning was inspired by the syncretic pony-griffon culture in Longsword, and desires to spread this culture across all of Griffonia and create eternal peace on the continent. To this end, he will attempt to coup Starry Night, force his ideals onto the entire populace through totalitarianism, and launch enormous wars to conquer both the Griffonian Empire and the River Coalition before forcing population exchanges to Ponify the Herzland and Griffonize the Riverlands, so he can unite everyone on Griffonia.
• Villainous Underdog: Golden Morning's path involves the conquest of both the River Coalition and the Griffonian Empire, both of which could crush the tiny nation of Širdis several times over.
• Villain with Good Publicity: At the end of his storyline, he has so utterly reshaped the society on Griffonia that the new society embraces him as a liberator.
• Visionary Villain: Golden Morning is an extreme ideologue who will stop at nothing to unite the Herzland and the Riverlands under his vision of a Griffon-Pony super-culture.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Golden Morning desires to end Griffonia's divisions forever, and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Abba Povner

Role: General, Head of State (Counter-coup)

Party: Kraujo Kerštas^note Vendetta

Ideology: Religious Socialism^note Communism

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• The Coup: Povner comes to power by counter-couping Golden Morning.
• Crushing the Populace: After conquering the Herzland, Povner burns down Griffenheim, destroying all factories on the core states of the Griffonian Empire and killing almost a million Griffons as revenge for Griffon killings of ponies.
• Dirty Communists: Despite being nominally socialist, Povner is more concerned with exacting his bloody revenge on griffons more than anything else, regardless if these griffons were indeed guilty or were also part of the oppressed working class. Posada, a socialist revolutionary from Hippogriffia, denounces Povner's Vartai as a genocidal regime that runs contrary to every value communists hold dear.
• Disappears into Light: After Povner conquers the Herzland and delivers his revenge, he and his fanatical followers all disappear into nothingness, confirming that they were not mortal beings.
• The Dreaded: Povner is surrounded by many myths, claiming that he is invincible, protected by mystical powers that are nothing like pony magic, and nobody really knows about his past.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Povner thinks that justice and vengeance come before honor, and is willing to use methods as ruthless as the ones used by the Reformisten if it means that the faithful can achieve their revenge. During his war of vengeance, Povner can poison the Griffking River with arsenic, killing many Griffon civilians and temporarily crippling the Griffonian Empire.
• Mysterious Past: Starry Night and Povner's official statement on Povner's past is that he was just another rural pony who joined the IIA and rose through the ranks through his skills. However, some of the older guerrillas claim that he appeared out of nowhere one day and was already a military leader with a zealous following.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Abba Povner is clearly based on Abba Kovner, a Jewish partisan in World War II who later founded Nakam, a group that sought to kill six million Germans as retribution for the Holocaust. Like his real life counterpart, Povner also wants the Griffons to pay for each and every Longswordian faithful that they killed.
• Our Spirits Are Different: It is implied that Abba Povner is a vengeful spirit dispatched by goddess Varėnė to deliver her vengeance on the Griffons, explaining his deep religious devotion, the many supernatural protections he's receiveing, and his army of fanatical followers that seemingly appear out of nowhere.
• Religious Bruiser: Abba Povner is deeply devout to Vartai's native goddess Varėnė, to a borderline fundamentalist level.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Povner desires to utterly destroy the Griffonian Empire so that they will never again rise up and threaten the ponies, and punish the Griffons by extracting a Griffon life for every pony life they took.
• Villainous Underdog: Though not to the same degree as Golden Morning, Povner still has to conquer the Herzland, a foe many times the size of his country, before he could enact his genocide upon Herzlanders.
• Warrior Poet: Povner is a poet in addition to being one of the most distinguished generals in the Longsword Liberation Army.

Central Griffonia

House Erie/House Eyrie

House Erie

House Eyrie

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Small Town Rivalry: Erie and Eyrie are hostile rivals of each other, and constantly engage in skirmishes or small-scale wars that end in white peace.
• Solar and Lunar: House Erie is the Griffon House of Night, while House Eyrie is the Griffon House of Day.
• Staredown Faceoff: The portraits of the leaders of both houses look like they are doing this, both looking in the direction of their opponent.

Vincent Erie

Role: Field Marshal, Monarch^note Head of State (Erie)

Party: Herzogs Hof^note Duke's Court

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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Iovinus Eyrie

Role: Field Marshal, Monarch^note Head of State (Eyrie)

Party: Herzogs Hof^note Duke's Court

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

Kingdom of Griffonstone

Full Name: Kingdom of Griffonstone

Ruling Party: The Old Court

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Our Founder: A statue of Grover I can be seen standing defiantly in the plaza of Griffonstone surrounded by mud and poverty, as if screaming in rage at the state of his old home.
• Wretched Hive: Despite being the true homeland of Griffonkind, Griffonstone is one of the poorest places on all of Griffonia. After the loss of the Idol of Boreas and the death of their last king, Griffonstone broke down completely. The regency council is completely powerless, and no new king is in sight.

Grandpa Gruff

Role: Head of State

Party: The Old Court

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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Barony of Rumare

^{Flag of the Barony of Rumare (Supremacist)}

Full Name: Barony of Rumare

Ruling Party: Rumare Rydd - Cymedrolwyr^note Free Rumare - Moderate

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Despite its small size, Rumare can actually beat massive empires fielding millions of soldiers if you play your cards right. Observe.
• Vestigial Empire: Rumare once ruled a sizeable Kingdom from Erie to the Blackstone Mountains, but now they're a tiny barony on a tiny island.

Alaric Dawnbreaker

Role: Field Marshal, Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Rumare Rydd - Cymedrolwyr^note Free Rumare - Moderate, Rumare Rydd - Radicalaidd^note Free Rumare - Radical

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned, Autocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Private Military Contractors: Before assuming the throne, Alaric had a long career working for various mercenary companies. He still has many contacts among mercenaries and arms dealers, and can call upon them to train the Rumarean army and provide them with weapons.

Western Griffonia

Kingdom of Aquileia

^{Flag of the Aquileian Republic}

^{Flag of the Aquileian Republic (Supremacy)}

^{Flag of the Griffonian Republic (Vérany)}

^{Flag of the Aquileian Republic (Communism)}

Full Name: Kingdom of Aquileia, Aquileian Republic (Successful Revolution), Griffonian Republic (Vérany, Empire defeated)

Ruling Party: Dynastie des Discrets^note Discret Dynasty

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Civil War: Aquileia starts the game in a decentralized state, with Pridea, Rila, Vinovia, and Westkeep represented as independent "autonomous vassal" puppet states of Aquileia proper. When the Second Revolution happens, the five states declare war on each other, representing a civil war inside the borders of Aquileia. The allegiances of the vassals depend on the relative popularities of the revolutionaries and monarchists in the country when the revolution begins, which Aquileia can manage through a decision minigame. It has been noted that if all the vassals obtain majority support on the same side at any given time, it becomes an automatic win for that side which saves you time and troops. After the revolution, Aquileia proper will order the vassals that remained on its side to be annexed; refusing to do so will cause Aquileia to invade said vassal(s) before the civil war ends for good.
• Crutch Character: Albert Berthelot, who led the counter-revolution that deposed the first Republic and restored the monarchy, is a very powerful field marshal, but will never see battle again, since he'll die of natural causes before the second revolution erupts.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Aquileia's language, symbolism and revolutions are clearly based on Revolutionary France.
• The Purge: If the revolution is successful and the radical branch of the communist PAT wins the election, they will assassinate the members of the moderate branch of the PAT and crack down on their former FJA allies.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: The Kingdom of Aquileia is a corrupt and dysfunctional country rife with poverty and famine. This triggered the first Revolution, which was brutally crushed in a counter-revolution and resulted in a reverse Reign of Terror where revolutionaries and republicans are executed en masse by the kingdom. This did not extinguish the people's desires for revolution, and the people are eager to launch a second revolution.
• You Cannot Kill an Idea: Even though the First Aquileian Revolution was brutally crushed, the revolutionary ideals stuck with the people hard, and directly lead into the Second Aquileian Revolution. This state of affairs is referenced in the Monarchist path focus "To Kill an Idea".

Moriset Discret

Role: Field Marshal^note Military Commander, Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Dynastie des Discrets^note Discret Dynasty

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: December 2nd, 950

Biography: If there is one thing that can unite all Aquilea in harmony, it is wine. It is very much not Moriset Discret.

A tyrant to all republicans, and a poor leader even to many monarchists, only the most zealous supporters of the monarchy praise him in both public and private. Moriset may not be the griffon at fault for causing the first revolution, but most believe he will be the one to cause the second. With his oppressive policies and harsh punishments, Moriset indulges the destruction of his enemies and the exaltation of himself, leading a court of luxury surrounded by an angry population.

No one can quite tell when history will come for its revenge on Moriset, or how, but it will occur, someday and inevitably.

---

• 0% Approval Rating: His lackluster leadership has effectively validated the cause of the republicans while alienating much of the monarchists' support base. Even monarchists, who nominally support him over the republicans, hope that he gets replaced by his daughter Vivienne.
• Deadly Bath: If the royalists win the Aquileian civil war, Moriset will be assassinated by a servant when taking a bath a few days later.
• Defiant to the End: When sentenced to death by the Republicans, King Moriset does not stop spewing insults at Théodore Vérany and the Republic until his head is cut off from his neck.
• General Failure: As a Field Marshal, he has 1 in all of his stats, reflecting his ineptitude in ruling the nation.
• Off with His Head!: Fitting with the French basis of the country, if the Second Aquileian Revolution is successful, Théodore Vérany will execute King Moriset Discret with a guillotine, the king's preferred method of execution.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Moriset Discret gets assassinated shortly after the Second Aquileian Revolution fails, which would be less than two years after the start of the game.

Vivienne Discret

Role: Monarch^note Head of State (Failed Revolution, Moriset succession)

Party: Dynastie des Discrets^note Discret Dynasty

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: May 9th, 983

Biography: Born far from the kingdom her family ruled, Vivienne Discret's first memories were not of the royal halls of the palace in Aquileia, but of the warm white walls of the Saddle Arabian emir's court. Aquileia was in chaos, with the death throes of the Revolution turning the rivers red with blood. The Discret family tree had been sheared of its branches by the guillotine, leaving only five surviving dynasts to escape, with Vivienne as the future of the royal lineage. As forces loyal to the monarchy secured their kingdom for them, the royal family waited out the bloodshed from afar, safe from the chaos.

When she finally returned to Aquileia, she was immediately surrounded with a veritable army of tutors and scholars. Given the disposition of her father, however, many doubted that the young princess would be keen to learn what they had to say. Fortunately, Vivienne took to her studies and learned well. Better still, they became her passion. The young griffoness read any books she could get her talons on, and touring the countryside became as important to her as her studies. All who met her found her charming and instantly disarming, her wit leaving them impressed for a griffon barely an adult. The nobility of Aquileia and those loyal to the crown knew that the kingdom would be in good claws when it was her turn to take the throne, and many hoped behind closed doors that some unfortunate accident would befall Moriset so his talented and ambitious daughter could take the throne.

They would be granted their wish. With the Second Aquileian Revolution leaving King Moriset dead, the future of the kingdom lies in the claws of Princess Vivienne – now Queen Vivienne Discret.

---

• Arranged Marriage: After conquering the Herzland, Vivienne chooses a consort for purely pragmatic purposes in a later focus, with no romantic interest involved. It is noted that her choices are not limited by race or gender; the developers have described her as a "bisexual, monarchist, female Napoleon Birb".
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Much like her inspiration, her coronation in Griffenheim has her crowning herself as Empress Vivienne I.
• The Conqueror: Her endgame is absolute control over the whole of Griffonia. Give or take a few nations.
• Developer's Foresight: She doesn't need to annex the nations of New Mareland, Arcturian Order and Dread League to unlock her final focus of being Empress of Griffonia. The first example is historically part of a powerful alliance beyond the seas and would drag them into her conquest. The other two are Detached Nations meaning she cannot justify war goals on them unless she has conquered the rest of the world.
• The Exile: She spent her childhood in the court of the Saddle Arabian emir after escaping the First Revolution and the guillotine, waiting for the time to return to Aquileia.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Despite the differences in gender and family, she is actually designed to be the game's version of Napoléon Bonaparte. She even writes her own version of the Napoleonic Code, called the Discret Code.
• Superior Successor: While not exactly a high bar to clear, she is clearly better than her father in many ways as shown in her focuses.
• Warrior Prince: Vivienne is both the Princess of Aquileia and a Field Marshal, and starts at level 5.
• Young and in Charge: Vivienne will only be 25 when she becomes the new monarch of Aquileia in 1008.

Théodore Vérany

Role: President^note Head of State (Successful Revolution)

Party: Front des Jeunes d'Aquilée^note Aquileia Youths Front, Parti National d'Aquilée^note Aquileia National Party (after successful revolution), National Republican Party (Griffonian Republic formed)

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony, Republicanism^note Non-Aligned (after successful revolution)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: June 20th, 950

Biography: Loved and hated, viewed with awe, fear, disgust, and plain hatred throughout Aquileia and beyond, Théodore Vérany would have it no other way. Known across the land as the de facto leader of the first Aquileian revolution, Vérany is likely the most famous individual in Aquileia besides the King himself. An absolutely magnetic personality, Vérany has gone his whole life attracting others to his words and message.

A child to a newspaper distributor in the Capital, Vérany quickly learned his way around words from his father, and furthered this study by learning about rhetoric and philosophy in school. From the first time he spoke to a crowd, in his youth to petition for a longer recess, he had a sparkle in his eye, an inspirational spark that caused others to follow him, and he would put it to world-sundering use.

No one is quite sure what got Vérany into republican thought. The griff himself admits he isn't quite sure either, but once he did, he immersed himself fully in the world of underground republicanism, joining all the groups he could to prepare for the day when the Imperials would be thrown out. But then, in 978, a griffon named Kemerskai beat him to the punch, throwing the Emperor out of his own capital. Triggering his planned uprising, Vérany assumed command of the republican cells throughout Aquila and got to work. Though this work didn't last very long. Exiled from his own land, Vérany lost the spark in his eye for the first, and last, time. Since then, he has loved and lost, and loved again, but has never forgotten about his homeland. And now, he has returned triumphant, ready to lead Aquileia into a new pan-griffonian dawn.

---

• Determinator: Vérany had always been the kind of griff who, if you told him he could not do something, would turn over heaven and earth to do it. He had done it as a child when he climbed onto the roof, and he did and will do it during the revolution when fighting for democracy.
• Rebel Leader: Théodore is the leader of both the first and the second Aquileian Revolutions.

Cécile Gaudreau

Role: President^note Head of State (Elections)

Party: Front des Jeunes d'Aquilée^note Aquileia Youths Front

Ideology: Harmonic Socialism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: August 28th, 953

Biography: The Rose of Vinovia, a name invoking respect even amongst rivals and opponents, and a life journey of rejecting the past and embracing the future. Born to a Baron within Vinovia's hilly regions, the formerly destitute Gaudreau Barons struck metaphorical gold when veins of iron and coal were discovered on their properties. With industrialization in full swing, by the time Lady Cécile was born into the house, it was a very different place than when her father was born. An only child, her parents cared for her very much, but being that Cécile was quite a bookworm, even in her youth, they didn't worry much about her and let her live her own life. Meeting and playing with the local children, Cécile became perplexed and angry how whenever she mentioned her last name to the towns' people, they would suddenly treat her; differently, she became not a friend but an enemy. Whenever she'd try to help the workers at her family's mines or local villages, they would shy away in fear. The Gaudreaus were not tyrants, Cécile knew this, but because they were part of the nobility, the commonfolk detested them. And so, Cécile turned her focus to freeing her family name of this curse, and began to plan.

When the uprising came, heralded by the Aquila rising led by the up-and-coming Vérany, Cécile persuaded her parents to "flee." Simultaneously, she took command of the local cells, guiding them in public under a pseudonym, while contacting monarchist army units in the region under her real name, and persuading them to give up without a fight or defect. But all was for naught, as the revolution failed and Cécile needed to flee. It would be a while before her parents heard from her again, but when they did, her message was clear, "Je reviendrai." Since then, her name has become famous amongst republicans, both for her evolving ideas, as well as her relationship with, then split from the famous Vérany. Their clash of egos and ideals has set the scene for modern politics in Aquileia, a battle that Cécile has come out on top. The time of the people is now, and the Gaudreau name is finally cleansed.

---

• Association Fallacy: Much to her dismay, people's opinion of her would switch negatively whenever she brings up her family name. The Gaudreaus, being nobility themselves, are associated with the decadent Aquileian nobility despite her family not doing anything wrong themselves.
• Blue Blood: She is born into the Gaudreau Barony.
• Cincinnatus: After defeating the Griffonian Empire and possibly the Griffonian Republic if things go sour between the two, she decides to end her term as President to see the world rather than simply being cooped up in Aquileia for the rest of her life, handing it down to her successor Sugar Crepe. It is noted that you lose all your PNdA and MPA seats when she leaves, so prepare as much seats as you can in the other two ideologies to prevent a sudden drop in stability. Her age is also a possible factor, as she is already 54 years old at the start of the game.
• A House Divided: Due to ideological conflicts, Cécile and Théodore part ways to form their own parties after winning the Second Revolution.
• Red Baron: Cécile Gaudreau, the Rose of Vinovia, is a name invoking respect even amongst rivals and opponents.
• Spirited Young Lady: She joined the first Aquileian Revolution to help the oppressed people and remove the negativity associated with her family name. She would assist local cells under an alias while using her authority as a baroness to make the monarchist supporters stand down.

Grand Cru

Role: President^note Head of State (Elections)

Party: Partie des Aquileian Travailleurs - Modéré^note Aquileian Workers' Party - Moderates

Ideology: Democratic Socialism^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: March 18th, 962

Biography: Born in 962 in the Pridean dockyard district to a pair of pony parents, Cru was only 16 when the fire of revolution engulfed his city, but he was already at the center. A story involving him even says he was the pony to raise the commune's banner to the city's prison fortress, signaling the revolt's start. Unfortunately for the revolutionaries, Pridea became a slaughter ground as the guns of Dennis Discret destroyed their fledgling revolt. Cru only escaped the city with the help from an unlikely source, a fellow pony and an early MPA member who held republican sympathies.

After being spirited away to the Capital, Cru became connected to a network of Republican stay-behinds who operated after the revolution. To support himself, he opened a barbershop, which became a hotbed of revolutionary action, as well as a place any Royal agents got trims, acting as excellent intelligence gathering. Over the years, Cru developed his ideas, wishing to apply the Pridean dream to all Aquileia. He envisioned a network of democratic socialist states across Griffonia and published books and pamphlets with his ideas, at first failing to realize the effect he was having on a revolution as a whole. He only realized his near fame when a young griffon asked him for an autograph one day in his barbershop, and after his horror abated, he decided he should embrace this, and try to take a more leading role in the revolution overall. Quickly becoming a leading force in the PAT's moderate wing, and getting his iconic nickname "The Big Fellow" for his friendly demeanor.

Now Cru stands on top of his world, ready to guide the revolution to a place the old guard can not, and then make a way for a new generation of revolution for all his comrades.

---

• Affectionate Nickname: Cru is nicknamed the Big Fellow for his friendly demeanour.

Thibault Devereux

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• Cincinnatus: President Devereux's decentralisation reforms conclude in the endowment of the People's Assembly with plenipotentiary power and the dissolution of the executive branch of the government, which would necessitate his own resignation as President.

Victor Allard

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• Would Hurt a Child: When Aquileia conquers the Herzland and captures the child Emperor Grover VI, Allard suggests to Cru that the foundation of the Herzlanders' imperialist ambitions should be permanently dealt with. His casual attitude regarding a child's death horrifies Thibault Devereux, causing Grand Cru to decide on exile.

Léonard Rodier

Role: Field Marshal^note Military Commander, Chief of Army, President^note Head of State (Elections)

Party: Mouvement Patriote d'Aquileia^note Patriotic Movement of Aquileia

Ideology: Ultranationalism^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: May 28th, 962

Biography: The Maréchal, Hero, Traitor, the Linchpin of the revolution, the new republic's missing link. One griffon can indeed be all of these and yet also none. But to explore that would be a waste of time, as Léonard Rodier isn't one for pleasantries and long-winded stories anyway.

Born in Vanguardigo in 962, Rodier was destined for military life one way or another. His family was poor, but they had earned their keep as soldiers for generations. His father had wished to end that, wanting to establish his family as small landowners in their rural region, but as the revolution and monarchist terror swept through their homes, there was no other place to go. So in 982, it was off to a military academy in Westkeep for Léonard, where he met a unique group. The MPA soon approached him on the academy's campus, noting his academic skills and strong personality, they welcomed him to their club. If only they could see him now, they would regret it. For his inviters were ardent monarchists, but as Rodier sunk deeper into the MPA, and began to rise through its ranks, he found hidden within it, new republican circles, which he was far more fond up than stuck up noble sons and daughters.

After working with a certain Colonel Colette to cement a republican hold on the MPA, Rodier began to bide his time. He made connections with other republican groups, prepared for the exiles' return, and awaited the second revolution. So when his moment came, he was more than ready. Rallying the military from their barracks in the Capital, it was Rodier who seized the city and welcomed back the ever-popular Vérany, succeeding where the first revolution had failed.

Now Rodier stands ready to build a new, strong Aquileia, based on his ideas of national strength and honor.

---

• Commie Nazis: Rodier can follow the advice of the national syndicalists within the MPA, implementing a program of state-sponsored unions in order to improve working conditions while still retaining control over the economic process to serve the state.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Rodier, after defeating the Griffonian Empire, grimly decides that Grover VI must die for the sake of peace, since war is cruelty and hesitation can lead to may deaths; he must do what a soldier is meant to and carry the guilt to his grave.
• Patriotic Fervor: Rodier promotes Aquileian nationalism and the preservation of the Aquileian cultural identity, and adds the fourth principle of Nationalité to the Aquileian Republic's national motto (Liberté, égalité, fraternité).
• Token Good Teammate: Downplayed, in that Rodier is still a right-wing bourgeois ultranationalist, he actually represents his party's most benign and democratic branch, compared to the deranged fascists and lunatics in Westkeep, and while the MPA is classified as Supremacist as a whole, Rodier by himself could easily fit into Non-Aligned.
• Would Hurt a Child: Upon conquering the Griffonian Empire, Rodier has Emperor Grover VI assassinated, and remarks that propping the boy Emperor up as a symbol to fight for was a clever move, not least because defending children was something primal to everycreature.

Marquisate of Westkeep

Full Name: Marquisate of Westkeep

Ruling Party: Mouvement Patriote d'Aquileia

Ideology: Ultranationalism^note Supremacy

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Colette Solide

Role: Head of State

Party: Mouvement Patriote d'Aquileia

Ideology: Ultranationalism^note Supremacy

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• Eyepatch of Power: Colette wears an eyepatch over her right eye, which was damaged by a piece of shrapnel in the Revolution.
• Klingon Promotion: Colette consolidated her power in Westkeep by eliminating her former superior, General Thomas Reiany, and blaming the murder on the Marquess.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Colette is roughly modelled after Philippe Pétain, minus the collaboration with Germany/the Herzland.
• Patriotic Fervor: Colette is an ultranationalist dedicated to making Aquileia stronger and cleanse it of all weaknesses.

Fervante Tempête

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• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Fervante Tempête, a charismatic right-wing populist who preaches fiery anti-elite and anti-urban rhetoric, is based on Pierre Poujade, architect of the Poujadist movement in the French Fourth Republic.

Skyfall Trade Federation

^{Flag of the Skyfall Republic (Communism)}

Full Name: Skyfall Trade Federation

Ruling Party: De Handelsraad van Skyfall^note The Trade Council of Skyfall

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

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• Merchant City: Skyfall is the bustling heart of trade on Griffonia. Vessels from all corners of the planet find their way to the harbour, where merchants buy the bulk of the goods to be distributed throughout the Herzland. Gameplay-wise, other countries that do not have Closed Economy can trade with it. At the cost of 100 Political Power, they obtain better trading rates and economic buffs while Skyfall earns 250,000 idols per country every four months. This money would be used for Skyfall's various policies. However, the country can choose not to accept despite the trade proposal being completely beneficial to Skyfall. The received text when rejected even lampshades why they don't want free money.
• Multiple Endings: Depending on Guichard's decision whether to consult his niece Genevieve after the annual council meeting, Skyfall can fall into multiple paths.
  • If he listened to Genevieve, he goes on a path to redemption as an budding Uncle Pennybags. Upon his death, he names her his successor. Due to his recent reforms, his will is passed without issue.
  • If he listens to the merchants, he would name Genevieve his successor on his deathbed but the merchants refuse to follow his will and grab power for themselves. You can choose four different candidates for the next leader.
  • If he refuses to heed Genevieve's advice and trusts no one, his attempts to seize total control backfires horribly. The city is split between communists and the local church of Boreas. You decide which faction is able to seize power.
• Wretched Hive: Skyfall is undergoing massive wealth inequality among the populace that is causing more radical factions to seize power in response. This is reflected in the national spirit, Social Inequality.

Ghislain Guichard

Role: Head of State

Party: De Handelsraad van Skyfall^note The Trade Council of Skyfall

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Ghislain Guichard was born sixth child to a Feathesian noblechick and a prominent industrialist. Young Ghislain did well in school, particularly in regards to mathematics he particularly loved. Being sixth in line, nogriff believed that he would gain much of an inheritance and so some pushed him to join the imperial army as many in his situation do. But this was not to be Ghislain’s fate. When he was twenty-four, and just out of studying at Romau university, he asked his father's permission to take over the running of an unprofitable cloth mill that the family-owned in the countryside, and had planned to shut down. His father instead loaned his son the money to buy the factory from him and made him pay off the debt. Ghislain threw himself into his work and, within a year, he had paid back his father's loan. Soon enough, he was buying up smaller factories in the countryside and consolidating his financial power. One by one he even bought out his brothers, showing a complete disregard for such weak concepts as "family", preferring to indulge in the pursuit of money instead.

While the whole of Skyfall knew Guichard the businessgriff, they were about to meet a side to him that might have been even scarier. For in 977, Guichard was elected as mayor of the Free City of Skyfall. Austere, he immediately began to roll back privileges for many Imperial nobles and the military, causing Griffenheim more than once to threaten to revoke Skyfall's imperial charter. But everything changed in 978. When Kemerskai launched his coup in Griffenheim, none of the Skyfallian elite was truly on his side but faced with popular uprisings in the city, Guichard decided on a daring plan. Contacting the local republicans in Skyfall he expressed sympathies for their cause and told them how he could assist in taking control of the Imperial fleet. After the republicans had fought for it, Guichard sent in a group of mercenaries and slaughtered them all. He went on to declare Skyfall’s full independence.

Few believed that the city could survive on its own but with guile and Guichard’s iron claw, the city thrived while their neighbours struggled.

At 93 years old, Guichard still rules but he can't be immortal... Can he?

---

• Big First Choice: How he deals with his niece Genevieve decides the path Skyfall will take for the rest of the game.
• The Chessmaster:
  • Played the Republicans like a fiddle during the 978 revolution into wiping out Imperial influence in Skyfall before backstabbing them all, earning himself his own country for around 30 years.
  • He is also the one who masterminded the death of King Gumberto. He convinced the old Regency Council that Wingbardy was responsible for the loss of the Idol of Boreas and sent a large sum of money as a "gift", which got them to order one of their own generals Erich Ebonwing to assassinate the king right on the palace grounds and deny any investigation afterwards. This created a fall guy for the case while also angering his son into breaking away the southern kingdoms from the Empire as predicted. This sparked the many conflicts afterwards, in which Guichard made his fortune.
• Karma Houdini: Guichard will always die of old age before he can be punished for his numerous crimes (including orchestrating King Gumberto of Wingbardy's death).
• Kick the Dog: Annually sends a single idol (the Griffonian Empire's main currency) to the Imperial Palace in Griffenheim ever since the Idol of Boreas was lost, mocking them for losing it.
• Multiple Endings: His death plays out differently depending on the earlier actions taken.
  • If he listened to Genevieve, he would pass away with her by his deathbed. After finally reclaiming the concept of family, he names her his successor before passing away on good terms.
  • If he listened to the merchants, he would pass away on neutral terms to his niece Genevieve, with his will that Skyfall be handed to her being ignored.
  • If he listened to no one, Genevieve leaves for Equestria ashamed at his actions in a letter. The hospital he is in burns down due to the resultant conflict and robs the victorious revolutionaries of their chance to pass judgment on him.
• Money Fetish: His philosophy in life and the reasoning behind his actions. His personal wealth which acts as Skyfall's coffers at the start is worth 34 million idols. He isn't above destabilising entire continents to get more money.
• No Fair Cheating: If you use console commands to instantly complete the final focuses in Ghislaine's tree (which will always be interrupted by his sudden death), you'll receive messages calling you a cheat which hands you a 1000 Political Power penalty along with a 100 percent reduction to base stability and war support, effectively ending your run.
• Red Baron:
  • After securing Skyfall's independence, Guichard ruthlessly crushed any opposition to his rule, both from Republican hopefuls and Imperial loyalists, earning him the nickname of Iron Chancellor.
  • His in-game nickname is "The Most Hated Griffon in Griffonia" due to his actions in the 978 revolution.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: After Grover V dies, he can choose to continue his yearly tradition of sending a coin to Griffenheim. This time, it is with the Grover coins mocking the death of Grover V as the butt of the old joke is dead. He is essentially mocking a child for losing his father. The event even has him wondering if this action is a step too far. The choice is up to you.
• What Is This Feeling?: When he decides to use his coffers to aid the poor, he gets hit with an unfamiliar sensation of goodness.

Genevieve Guildedwing

Role: Head of State

Party: De Hervormingspartij^note The Reform Party, Social Democratic Party (Griffonian Republic)

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born the niece of Ghislain Guichard, Genevieve Guildedwing lived a wealthy but simple childhood. However, when 978 struck and that her uncle became the most hated griffon in Griffonia, her life fundamentally changed. While in no way his heiress, she was ostracised by many of her friends from loyalist families and isolated herself.

In 985, she stopped her studies out of a desire to become a priestess of Eyr. A year later, her parents relented and she began her initiation into the clergy. There, she was heavily involved in charitable activities and got to experience firstclaw the depth of misery of the lower classes in Skyfall. These experiences shook her to her core and in 989, she renounced her vows and returned to her family. She was introduced as a debutante and married, not into the nobility but into the Skyfall intelligentsia. She went on to study law and economics.

After her studies, she lived an active political life, penned several textbooks and mingled with various groups, even radical republicans and syndicalists without compromising herself. Over time, she had shed her image as Lady Little Guichard and had become a charismatic griff respected in her own right. Yet, it was through her family that she was co opted into the Trade Federation Council in 1006. Many thought that she would be molded into another one of the stuffy councilors but in less than two years, she had convinced one of the most stubborn griff in history to change course and eventually assumed the position of chancellor.

Genevieve made history but she has no desire to rest on her accomplishments.

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• Redeeming Replacement: To her uncle Ghislain Guichard. Her reforms set about cleaning the city of their trash, be it low-profile or high-profile to consolidate her power. This is due to the other leading merchants thinking that she can be made a puppet.
• Spanner in the Works: Is one to the Republicans like her uncle, albeit unknowingly. She has a focus on Haukland in response to their piracy. Nine times out of ten Skyfall's forces succeed in taking the islands, denying the Republicans their escape if the Griffonian Republic falls to the Griffonian Empire.
• Unscrupulous Hero: Isn't above arranging "accidents" to undermine the oligarchs that would attempt to use her.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Skyfall under her is this to a recently reunified Herzland if the game is set to Historical AI. Thanks to her policies, if Skyfall is attacked, it could call both the Griffonian and Aquileian Republics to its side, resulting in a crushing vice due to fighting multiple fronts. This war would decide the fate of western Griffonia.

Gertjan Desramaux

Role: Head of State

Party: Parti Boreasistem^note Boreasist Party

Ideology: Reactionarism^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born in 976 ALB to a poor family in Skyfall, faith has been a constant in Gertjan Desramaux's life. His father, a former member of the Imperial navy, retired from his position after Skyfall seized the fleet. Supporting his wife and child as a dock worker, the Desramauxs were rarely in a comfortable position, leaving a sour impression of the detached capitalists of Skyfall- in particular bankers- apon the young Gertjan. Taking to a temple at a young age- often visiting the local temple of Boreas with his mother- he never wavered in his belief. As he matured, he found himself taking a growing interest in theology and law- as well as in media and oration. Finding inspiration in firebrand preaching, he quickly took an interest in politics as he grew into young adulthood.

At the age of twenty, Desramaux set off to Bruma, having been admitted to the city's university for a degree in law. During his studies of law, the young griffon worked as an editor for the university's newspaper. Never truly taking to the study of law, he failed his final exams three times over, finally resigning to return to his home city. With his newfound experience, he quickly realised that his birthplace had even more issues than he had before believed- not only were the people toiling under unfair oligarchs, but as a reaction, syndicalism was on the rise, and many of the city's poor had taken to debauched crime and prostitution out of desperation. Appalled by the state of his city, he began his career as a fiery orator, promoting faith in Boreas and traditional values- all while denouncing the capitalists who had let the city fall into such a state of moral decay. Desramaux found mass success after a series of banking scandals, which he used to propel himself- and the Boreaiste- into the public eye. Establishing themselves as the most prominent populist religious movement in the city. Despite push back from many, with time more within the temples, commoner and official, began to turn to the Boreaiste.

Following the Chancellor's attempt on his life, Desramaux fled into the countryside of Skyfall, taking refuge with a small contingency of loyalists. As large scale rioting began to erupt following the Chancellor's condition, Desramaux quickly set off to the city, knowing that whether the Chancellor was alive or not he needed to make a move- following the tumultous revolution, Desramaux took power, promising a bright future for the faithful of Skyfall...

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• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite his appearance and ideology, he sincerely believes in helping the downtrodden folk of Skyfall due to being one of them.
• Good Old Ways: Desramaux is a religious fundamentalist disgusted with the crime and debauchery in Skyfall, and he blames the capitalist ruling class for the nation's moral decay. Some of his first acts as leader include banning alcohol and prostitution.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: With his religious fundementalist beliefs, rejection of capitalism, failure while studying law, background in journalism, rise in popularity following banking scandals, and voluntary vassal path, he closely resembles Belgian fascist Léon Degrelle, who collaborated with the Nazis. The name of his party (Boreasist Party, named after Desramaux's worship of Boreas) is also a reference to Degrelle's Rexist Party, which is named after Christus Rex, Latin for "Christ the King".
  • Him leading a theocratic revolution, openly calling for one against an autocracy built on foreign trade, and being considered a serious enemy at game start all bring to mind Ruhollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution.
• Shout-Out: His outfit and open mouth make him resemble Degrelle's memetic portrait from Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg.
• Voluntary Vassal: If Archon Eros VII is chosen as the Griffonian Empire's regent, he will make Skyfall an Imperial vassal once more when the time comes. If Archon Eros VII isn't chosen as the Griffonian Empire's regent or Dawnclaw's military coup succeeds, the country instead becomes a refuge for him and his supporters, a base of power to reclaim the Herzland.

Township of Fezera

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• Land of One City: Fezera is a minor mercantile city-state that used to be one of the Griffonian Empire's Imperial Free Cities.
• Wretched Hive: With its glory days as an Imperial Free City long past, Fezera has greatly diminished in importance, with less and less trade flowing through its ports, while unscrupulous elements of society grow stronger and stronger, turning the city into a den of scum and villainy.

Gwanaël Godard

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• Corrupt Politician: Mayor Godard couldn't care less about his struggling, impoverished city, engaging in shady business behind the curtains. His neglect has allowed criminal gangs and mobs to grow in strength, while the Politie desperately try to maintain law and order.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: If the Politie manage to repel the criminal raid in Fezera's first event, Godard and the City Council attempt to flee to Haukland with their ill-gotten gains, but the ship's captain notifies the Politie, leading to their arrest.

Wilfried Pasvogel

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• By-the-Book Cop: Wilfried Pasvogel has served in the Fezeraanse Politie for over three decades with distinction and merit, despite the constant lack of griffonpower, funding and equipment. Having a firm sense of justice, he has always been moral and steadfast in upholding the law, regardless of the rampant corruption in Fezera.
• The Purge: Pasvogel conducts a mass purge of the corruption that has long pervaded Fezzerian society, including the industry, the militia command, the Fezzerian University and even the city council itself.

Willem Holveder

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• Parental Abandonment: When Willem was a small chick roaming the streets of Griffton, his parents barely looked after him, and soon enough he was left on his own, begging for food and Idols.

County of Greifwald

^{Flag of the Griffonian Free Territory}

^{Flag of the Imperium of Maar}

Full Name: County of Greifwald, Griffonian Free Territory (Bernier), Imperium of Maar (Ebonwing)

Ruling Party: D'Graf vum Kabinett

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Greifwald is a Luxembourgish-speaking country that serves as a buffer state between the Griffonian Empire and Aquileia, which are themselves analogues to Germany and France.

Count Cloudet

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: D'Graf vum Kabinett

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Kill and Replace: If the Changelings are defeated, and Greifwald goes non-aligned (keeping Cloudet in charge) and opens up their immigration, a secret decision called "A Change of Pace" will appear. If it is chosen, the Changeling general Trimmel will secretly replace Count Cloudet, and opens up a new focus tree where Trimmel opens up a pipeline to let the defeated Changelings flee into Greifwald.

Nestor Bernier

Role: Head of State

Party: Greifwald Anarchistescher Unioun^note Greifwald Anarchist Union

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Communism

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• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Nestor Bernier is a griffon version of Ukrainian anarchist Nestor Makhno. Everything from the name of his army (Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army) to the name of the anarchist territory he creates (Free Territory) is all directly lifted from the Free Territory of Ukraine carved out by Makhno.
• Rebel Leader: Nestor is the leader of the anarchist revolutionaries in Greifwald, and a head of state in name only. Keeping with his anarchist beliefs, Nestor remains a military leader (a figurehead military leader even) after proclaiming the Free Territory of Greifwald, instead of taking on any political powers.
• Shout-Out: The motto of the Free Territory of Greifwald is "No Gods, no Kings, only Griffons!"

Prelate Ludwig Ebonwing

Role: Prelate^note Head of State

Party: D'Keeser Kierch

Ideology: Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy (façade), Maar Worship^note Supremacy (actual)

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• Foreshadowing: The description for the "The Prelate's Takeover" focus includes a quote of a radio transmission, which says that the decision to work with the prelate was a horrible mistake, and that the Prelate is an enemy to all life, before the transmission is cut short mid-sentence. This foreshadows the fact that Prelate Ebonwing is a Maarite cultist.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: After Greifwald conquers Adelart under the leadership of Prelate Ebonwing, the Griffon god of death Maar reveals himself before Ebonwing, driving him insane and turning him into a servant of Maar.
• Human Sacrifice: Prelate Ludwig Ebonwing can come under Maar's influence and become a servant of Maar. He will begin offering griffon sacrifices to Maar in exchange for great powers to expand Maar's Empire.

Free Territory of Adelart

^{Flag of the Republic of Greifwald}

^{Flag of the Shrievalty of Adelart}

^{Flag of the Shrievalty of Greifwald}

^{Flag of the High Prelature of Aquileia}

^{Flag of the Free Territory of Griffonia}

^{Flag of the Third Republic of Aquileia}

^{Flag of the Holy Assembly of Griffonia}

^{Flag of the Griffonian Confederation of Cantons (Communist)}

^{Flag of the Griffonian Confederation of Cantons (Harmonic)}

^{Flag of the Second Griffonian Republic}

^{Flag of the Cloudetian Dynasty}

Full Name: Free Territory of Adelart

Anarchist: Free Territory of Aquileia (Aquila conquered), Free Territory of Griffonia (Griffenheim conquered)

Communist: People's Republic of Griffonia (Griffenheim conquered)

Confederation: Confederation of Adelart, Aquileian Confederation of Cantons (Aquila conquered), Griffonian Confederation of Cantons (Griffenheim conquered)

Theocracy: Eyrite Archonate, High Prelature of Aquileia (Aquila conquered), Holy Assembly of Griffonia (Archon Venia III declared)

Ruling Party: de Bëschbridder^note The Forest Brothers

Ideology: Social Banditry^note Harmony

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• Amazon Brigade: The Sisters of Eyr are an all-female official militia of the Old Believers.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: Though they're dusty and outdated, some relics of the independence war still exist, and can be returned to active duty for the forthcoming wars.
• Church Militant: The sisters of Eyr are a militant group that parade around Adelart on armoured vehicles and enforce the will of the gods on the land.
• Expy: Of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, at least at the start of the game. Besides Merlock himself being an obvious counterpart to Robin, multiple generals and advisors are obvious references to characters from the folklore, including Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, and Alan-a-Dale.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Adelart, especially in the path where Wood and Luca put aside their differences, bears more than a passing resemblance to Switzerland, a decentralised confederation of cantons ruled by a Federal Council and dedicated to communal ethics, personal freedom and direct democracy.
• I Can Rule Alone: For 20 years, the Free Territory of Adelart has been ruled by a partisan coalition led by Merlock Wood and Luca vun Lissay. However, tensions have been rising between the two; if one of them assumes complete primacy over Adelart, the other will be sidelined from politics.
• Impoverished Patrician: Leonald, the last surviving scion of the Sweetsinger dynasty that once ruled Adelart, now works as a farmer and public servant. He does not have any sons to continue the family line; soon after his death, his home is sold off to the local peasant assembly to become cooperative housing.

Merlock Wood

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: de Bëschbridder^note The Forest Brothers

Ideology: Social Banditry^note Harmony (initially), Democratic Socialism^note Communism (Confederation path), Anarcho-Communism^note Communism (Anarchist path)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Merlock Wood is called many things. Traitor, bandit, murderer, hero, protector - but none can deny that he is a revolutionary above all. Wood started his revolutionary career as a little-known partisan of the First Adelartian Revolution of 983, when Jan Roycen, a famed outlaw, first inspired the people of Adelart to break the shackles of both Greifwalder and Aquileian rule, and establish a free independent territory. After Roycen found his rebellion crushed and himself beheaded, Wood took up the torch of the Adelartian revolutionaries, restructuring them among collectivist and fiercely anti-monarchist lines, with the promise of redistribution of wealth for the people and justice upon the corrupt nobles in each and every town they conquered.

Greifwald, controlled by a weak and inefficient count, was beset by an Adelartian revolution that gained most of their strongholds peacefully through the people's will, with Wood's revolutionary ideals at its helm. The Sheriff, Willam Wendenal, failed to quell the revolt, with his own trusted griffons betraying him for the promise of wealth and freedom. He was beheaded soon after, and replaced by Jean de Nottemagne, who reluctantly fled Adelart for good.

Merlock began to re-organize the government upon libertarian, collectivist, and populist lines, with particular fury directed toward the Archonates and the Prelature of Greifwald, who suffered massive reprisals and murders at the claws of Wood's guerrilla armies. Fiercely anti-authoritarian attitudes among the revolutionaries, along with a hatred of what they believed was Maarite corruption in the temples, led to Wood embracing the Old Believers, a fringe religious sect, and shaking hands with the new "Elected Prelate", Luca vun Lissay.

While Wood has ruled for 20 years with relative stability, the people are growing restless. Hardliners clamour for Wood's removal and trial for banditry and mass murder and the establishment of true socialism, while moderates call for the end of the revolutionary period and the establishment of real democracy. If Wood is to stay, only time will tell.

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• Defiant to the End: When the Vanguardists take over Adelart and sentence him to death, Merlock Wood continues to defy the jury and denounces them as red sheriffs before the execution is carried out.
• Et Tu, Brute?: When meeting up with Alexandra Descieux after she assumes control, Wood initially expects to continue serving under the new government, and is completely surprised when she has him cuffed and incarcerated:
  The ponies say, 'calm before the storm', so Madame, I shall enjoy my calm with you before we get to the real work of centralising and collecting farms so the little griff can be free! Say, five-year plans are another communist thing. Five years of your rule, and we can meet again to discuss things. Wait, this isn't—no... Madame Descieux?
• Just Like Robin Hood: Wood's principle of wealth redistribution involves robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. Theft is only permitted against the wealthy and abusive, and the self-determination of individuals must be respected. It may hurt some creatures, but the victims deserve to have their possessions repossessed—at the end of the day, these operations are intended to be a net moral and economic positive.
• Patriotic Fervor: In the Confederation path, Wood promotes left-wing nationalism—Adelartian workers and peasants should still identify as Adelartians first and foremost, and not part of some international group.
• The Purge: One of Wood's first events after securing power in the Confederation path is to remove all vanguard socialists from any and all leadership positions and in some cases outright exile them from Adelart, so they wouldn't criticise his government.
• Reluctant Retiree: If Adelart becomes a republic and Wood fails to hold on to power, he's removed from real power by being given a hero's retirement against his wishes.

Luca vun Lissay

Role: Prelate^note Head of State

Party: Prélatur d'Adelart^note Prelacy of Adelart

Ideology: Theocracy^note Non-Aligned (Theocracy path), Irenic Theocracy^note Harmony (Confederation path)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}The origins of Luca vun Lissay, leader of the Old Believers in Adelart and devout theologian, are a mystery to even the most loyal of his supporters. Some, the most devout loyalists to the Old Believer cause, say he was placed upon the forests of Adelart by the Gods themselves, given to a local temple to become a prophet of Eyr herself and bring down the lie of the Archonate. Even the skeptics can say little of his background - with no known parents or familial connections, Luca vun Lissay was raised by the faith, bestowing upon him a fanatic devotion to the Gods and faith - and a skepticism of the Archonate's methods that would linger for the rest of his life.

So far has the cult of personality of Luca vun Lissay risen that he has now been proclaimed the "True Prelate of Greifwald" by his supporters, despite the hierarchical hyprocrisy that the name entails. The ragged, aging priest has become a becaon of hope for the people of Adelart, and after the post-revolutionary purges of Ebonwing's loyalists, now remains the only legitimate temporal authority in the wayward province.

Merlock Wood spared his sect and gave them their power, and now, Luca vun Lissay himself has taken his place. As long as he is in charge, the nobles shall once more flee in terror, and the faithless shall do nothing more but bow their heads to the Gods above.

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• Dry Crusader: Luca preaches against vices of modern society like Skyfall liquor and Fezeran criminals.
• Good Old Ways: The Prelate's platform revolves around distributism, rural democracy rooted in a communitarianism framework, and the promotion of beloved traditions.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: After taking over Adelart, Luca declares the excommunication of Ludwig Ebonwing, the sitting Prelate of Boreas in Greifwald, for the crime of being Maarite. While Ebonwing is indeed a worshipper of Maar, Luca has no evidence for this (since Ebonwing only reveals his true colours after taking over Adelart), and is just being accidentally right by virtue of thinking that everyone associated with the Archonate is a Maarite.
• Turbulent Priest: Luca, leader of the Old Believers sect, is fiercely independent and quite militaristic despite a pacifistic, communitarian and cooperative ethos. His supporters have essentially declared war on the corrupt Archonate and the false kings and dukes of Griffonia who claim divine right.
• Uncertain Doom: Luca seems to vanish into thin air after the Sheriff takes over Adelart. While the Sheriff's underlings have searched every single forest, flushed out every hiding spot and shrine, they can find no sign of the Prelate.

Alexandra Descieux

Role: Head of State

Party: PCUdA - Stallionists

Ideology: Revolutionary Dictatorship^note Communism (initially), Equestrian Socialism^note Communism (Vanguard dissolved)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}The First Aquileian Revolution imbued young Alexandra Descieux with an implacable passion to preserve her fellow Aquileians' liberty. When her crippled father was able, he'd take her to watch the various worker strikes that King Moriset, by his irrational whims, would then either ignore or crush with extreme prejudice, showing her the crude, concrete acts of class-crushing capitalism and imperialism.

With her father's connections to the underground republican movement, an older Descieux was then introduced to a gallery of communist faces that would rise to political fame in their latter days such as Cru, Gaudreau, and Devereux. However, it was Victor Allard that enraptured her, whether it be for his sensible ideas for a workers' vanguard, his pragmatic anti-pie-in-the-sky means to advance the workers' cause, or the naive intrigue surrounding his mysterious origins. Victor had taken a liking to Descieux's zeal and so had given her unfettered access to the writings of socialists from around the world as one of his secretaries.

Descieux's opportunity to mix Allard's theory with free-spirited action arrived in 1003 when Allard sent her to Adelart to prepare its workers for a possible Aquileian red wave of revolution, all the while garnering the trust of Merlock Wood and his gang of robbers by assisting them in the fight against the sheriff and Greifwald's forces of reaction. A coup later would see Merlock ousted from power, and in the void of power, Descieux swooped in, all of Adelart under her vanguard's jurisdiction.

Overseer of vast swathes of peaceful forests and farms, Descieux now holds a spot of communist scarlet in Western Griffonia, primed to amend the injustices done to the working class. It remains to be seen how well Allard's premier student leads from the front.

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• Clueless Boss: While Descieux genuinely believes in the liberation of the working class through a counter-organised force of the workers' most class-conscious to prevent them from falling to reactionism, she lacks praxis and is panicked by how her efforts to aid them are not well-received by Adelartian peasants. She eventually realises that Victor Allard's theory, which she has been trying to apply, is not suitable to Adelart's material conditions.
• Hero-Worshipper: Descieux is a zealous follower of Victor Allard, captivated by his mysterious origins and pragmatic ideas, but eventually grows out of this when she finds that his theories are inapplicable to Adelart.
• Off with His Head!: Descieux regards the guillotine as an immensely effective tool against reaction, demonstrating the fate of those that oppose the unstoppable tide of socialism.

Jaume de Conard

Role: Head of State

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• Banana Republic: Adelart becomes an Oil Republic under his rule, with the backing of Flowena.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: De Conard is a Flowenan-backed industrialist who turns Adelart into an Oil Republic, an oligarchy with the primary purpose of extracting wealth and only a pretence of democracy.
• The Coup: If Merlock Wood relies on the aid of Flowenan mercenaries against the Sheriff, they'll let the militias and the Sheriff's forces weaken each other before turning on both and seizing control over the state.

Jean de Nottemagne

Role: Head of State

Party: Loyalistes du Shérif^note Sheriff's Loyalists

Ideology: Surveillance State^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}No one is quite sure how the Sheriff of Adelart is still alive, with all the vitriol and hatred levied against him, nor how he has continued to be a sizable thorn in the side of the Adelartian government. 20 years ago, Jean de Nottemagne pursued the bandit Merlock Wood and his allies in the Old Believer faith, raiding towns, demanding taxes and levies from peasants who might have hoarded him and his rebel allies. Now, however, the tables have turned. Merlock Wood is the leader of a free territory for griffons of all stripes, while Nottemagne has been forced from town to town with a small army of loyal griffs and armed tax collectors.

Nottemagne, however, has emulated Wood's elusive spirit, and is never found at the same town twice. While mercenaries and Forest Brothers alike pursue him, the Sheriff of Adelart always stays one step ahead, raiding villages for taxes to fill his war chest and griffons to join his roving army. When Forest Brothers catch him, the Sheriff's forces fight like rabid beasts, the Sheriff front and center at the vanguard. He may have lost an eye and all of his dignity in the guerilla war against his former domain, but his perseverance has not wavered.

Adelart will be cleansed from banditry, and the Sheriff will regain his rightful seat!

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• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Jean de Nottemagne is often called by his enemies, whom he has pursued for 20 years, by the name of his job—the Sheriff.
• Evil Reactionary: The Sheriff believes that Griffonia has moved far away from its core tenets and seeks to restore the natural order (that is to say, feudalism) by crushing socialism and republicanism, bringing back serfdom and restoring the nobility to their 'rightful' place while condemning commoners to nasty, brutish and short lives.
• Expy: Sheriff Jean de Nottemagne, the Free Territory's archnemesis and a tyrant who subjects the commoners to unjust taxes, is clearly based on Robin Hood's archnemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: After the Sheriff is arrested and sentenced to death by the Adelartian militia, Wood orders the executioners to get it over with while the Sheriff is still busy shouting his last words.
• Police State: The Sheriff turns Adelart into a very literal police state, where nothing escapes his eyes.
• Regent for Life: After restoring Count Cloudet (either the old Count, or his nephew Charel if he's dead) to the Greifwaldian throne, the Sheriff also has the Count name him Regent of Greifwald, turning the Count into a figurehead and vesting all power into the Sheriff.
• The Remnant: Twenty years after Adelart secured independence from Greifwald, the old Sheriff Nottemagne is still at large, having evaded all capture attempts in his quest to return the land back to the old Count of Greifwald.
• Starter Villain: The Sheriff, who has plagued the Free Territory for 20 years, is the first nemesis that the partisan coalition has to deal with before turning their eyes toward foreign threats.
• You Have Failed Me: When Wood's bandits move against him, the Sheriff has any soldiers caught crawling back to his camp without their targets taken executed as cowards, leading them to desert and abandon him.

City of Flowena

Full Name: City of Flowena, Free City of Flowena (Harmony), Commune of Flowena (Communism), Principality of Flowena (Supremacy)

Ruling Party: Maison de Rosebrune^note House of Rosebrune

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

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• Citadel City: Before Grover I's conquest, Flowena was one of the most fortified places in all of Griffonia, famed for its impregnable walls. While the fortifications have since degraded, the underground vaults that belong to the city's banks remain secure.
• Feuding Families: For generations, the de Rosebrune and de Indigo families have been bitter rivals. The former were traditionally allies of the patricians while the latter's powerbase rests on the commoners, so in a way the rivalry between the two families mirrors the class struggle within Flowena.
• Land of One City: Flowena won its independence from Aquileia while they were distracted with their own political struggles, establishing themselves as a neutral city.
• Private Military Contractors: Flowena has no standing army and relies on mercenaries and militiagriffs for defence.

Chocolat de Rosebrune

Role: Mayor^note Head of State

Party: Maison de Rosebrune^note House of Rosebrune

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Chocolat de Rosebrune is the son of the famous and respected Bronzino the Magnificent who ruled Flowena as mayor for decades before his death in 1003. Chocolat has been the mayor ever since, but in that time he has done very little besides host opulent parties at his family manor. The governance of the city has largely been left to the patricians of the Seigneurie and the bureaucrats, both of whom have no desire to change anything as in their eyes everything is fine. Recently however Chocolat has shown desire in taking a more active role and abandoning some of his hedonistic ways.

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• Clueless Boss: Despite being mayor he has literally no idea about anything other than throwing great parties. This unfortunately doesn't stop him from trying his hand at everything from economics to social engineering.
• Mayor Pain: Chocolat is a very incompotent mayor.
• My God, What Have I Done?: To his credit, Chocolat's reaction to his failures is embarrassment at first, then utter horror, and he can be convinced to resign very easily once he's done his damage.
• Unfit for Greatness: He's the pampered and decadent son of a great man, who gained his position as mayor through Nepotism and has never been seen actually doing any work. It's when he finally realises that he's an embarrassment to his father and honestly tries to live up to his example that it all really goes wrong however, as he has precisely none of the qualities he had.
• Upper-Class Twit: Very much so. He's possessed of a dangerous combination of utter ignorance and an expectation that his lineage means that he should innately be great at leadership.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Chocolat's decision to take a more active role in governing the city (as opposed to spending his time holding parties and letting the Seigneurie run things) is motivated by a desire to make his late father proud.

Bruno de Rosebrune

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• Arms Dealer: Mayor Bruno ramps up weapons production and has Flowena enter the arms market, allowing the city to profit from tumultous times.
• You Killed My Father: After his brother Chocolat drinks himself to death and Nicolas de Charbon wins the mayoral election despite Bruno's efforts to ensure his election, he discovers the presence of poison in Chocolat's last bottle, deduces that the culprit must be no one other than Nicolas himself, and rushes into the mayor's office to avenge his brother. In doing so, Bruno is forced to flee the city, leaving either Anna de Indigo or Michael Landreau as the new mayor.

Anna de Indigo

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• Arranged Marriage: Despite Anna's age, she remains unwed as she waits for the perfect political marriage to take advantage of. Said husband can be either Bruno de Rosebrune (if he becomes mayor of Flowena) to end their families' feud and secure an alliance, or Nicolas de Charbon (if Anna is mayor) to remove him as a threat. In both cases, there are no feelings between Anna and her new husband.
• Due to the Dead: Anna builds a memorial to those who died in the Wet Plague under Chocolat de Rosebrune's disastrous rule.
• Internal Reformist: While she keeps the bourgeois state apparatus around (unlike Michael Landreau), Anna still seeks to uplift the common griffon by expanding welfare, education and worker's rights, and allowing them to participate in the liberal democratic system, which was formerly limited to patricians.

Michael Landreau

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• Chummy Commies: Michael destroys the privilege of the patricians and the undemocratic institution of the Seigneurie, puts an end to the gross oppression and inequality in Flowena, and ensures that workers can rightfully enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Nicolas de Charbon

Role: Mayor^note Head of State, Monarch^note Head of State (Aquileia conquered)

Party: Maison de Charbon^note House of Charbon

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Nicolas de Charbon is the last living member of the small de Charbon dynasty. His father was an attorney, but was too indebted to afford joining the Judges' Guild. His family had once been Princes of Pomovarra before the title had been abolished by the King of Aquileia. Ever since the family had lived in exile in Flowena, wealthy enough to be considered patricians but never gaining full citizenship. As a child, Nicolas was taught rhetoric and history, and became fluent in multiple languages. As an adult he has worked as a secretary, a diplomat and finally as a commander of the militia. With his extensive knowledge of politics and history, he wishes for Aquileia to centralize, secure its independence and regain its long-lost strength. Being disappointed with both the republicans and the Discrets, he now believes only he alone can save his homeland from chaos and barbarians.

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• The Coup: One of Nicolas' options to take over Flowena is a coup. Though he considers this the riskier option (compared to subterfuge), it is actually the only way through which he can stay in power.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Nicolas deeply loves his father, and is devastated by his death from the Wet Plague in Flowena's starting tree. When he finally usurps the Aquileian throne, he thinks of his father and tells him that he has succeeded against all odds and brought their family into a new glorious era.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Of Niccolò Machiavelli. His route quotes The Prince wholescale.
• The Purge: After assassins kill his ally (and rival), he blames it on the nobility and proceeds to rouse the people to purge them from the city. He proceeds to replace them with loyal supporters.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: If Nicolas decides to seize power through subterfuge, he kills Mayor Chocolat by slipping poison into his whiskey and making it look like Chocolat had drunk himself to death.
• The Usurper: Nicolas' main goal in his path is to conquer the Kingdom of Aquileia, claim their throne, and bring the dying de Charbon family to a new era of glory.

Haukland

^{Flag of the Griffonian Republic in exile}

Full Name: Haukland, Griffonian Republic in exile (Griffonian Republic was conquered)

Ruling Party: Meyer's Gruppe^note Meyer's Group

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Once taken over by fleeing Republicans, Haukland becomes one to Taiwan if they manage to get a guarantee from Equestria.
• Outlaw Town: Haukland is populated with criminals, outcasts, and mercenaries. Meyer's rule encouraged even more to settle on the islands, as many of them are quite talented people.
• Pirate: Haukland has a history of raids and piracy, which Meyer continued to uphold. He can launch pirate raids at other coastal countries on Griffonia.

Hermann Meyer

Role: Head of State, Monarch^note Head of State (Vedina conquered)

Party: Meyer's Gruppe^note Meyer's Group

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Ace Pilot: Meyer is a talented pilot, and the former head of the Republican air force. Under his rule, the Haukland air force is impressively strong despite the small size of the islands.
• Beast of Battle: Once he conquers the United Dragon Isles, he can have dragons as part of his divisions. However, he has to decide between using elders and whelps.
• The Conqueror: Despite his lowly beginnings, he has big plans to expand his fiefdom, aiming to conquer the United Dragon Isles, the Kingdom of Vedina, and the Socialist Republic of Skynavia. Should he successfully conquer these lands, he will be crowned as Meyer the Conqueror, He Who Commands Dragons.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Though he's a criminal and an eccentric despot, he deeply loves his wife Stella. Stella's unfortunate death due to pneumonia was one of the motivations behind his desire to conquer the Kingdom of Vedina, as he wants to give the country (her homeland) to her. In Meyer's final event, he leaves the crown of Vedina on Stella's grave, seeing her as the true monarch of Vedina instead of him.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Downplayed, but his name, background as an ace, and somewhat chubby appearance make him a reference to Hermann Göring, who was an ace pilot in WWI, became quite hefty in his later years, and once boasted during WWII that "If planes drop bombs on Germany, you can call me Meyer", which is referenced in their capitulation quote as "If the enemy lands on Haukland, you may call me Göring!".
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When the Republican Revolution collapsed, Meyer and co. hopped on a plane and flew to Haukland, wanting a chance to write their own stories.
• The Usurper: After conquering the United Dragon Isles, Meyer's endgame involves conquering the Kingdom of Vedina and the Socialist Republic of Skynavia and crown himself the king of Vedina.

Evi Valley

Blackrock's Bandits

^{Flag of the County of Blackhollow}

^{Flag of Our Blackhollow}

Full Name: Blackrock's Bandits, County of Blackhollow (Cyrille), Our Blackhollow (Reeve)

Ruling Party: Blackrock's Bandits

Ideology: Kleptocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Black Market: In Blackrock's route, the focus tree unlocks black market decisions, which allow the player to hire Mercenary Units or buy equipment and "definitely not slaves" on the black market with gathered loot. The former decisions spawn some strong but temporary divisions inside the country (of which there are four types), while the latter decisions grant useful bonuses to the country.
• Civil War: Either Countess Cyrille Bluecrest's supporters or Reeve Blyeddin's communists can launch a civil war against Blackrock in the "Plot Against Blackrock" route.
• Wretched Hive: Blackrock and her bandits are running what is formerly the County of Blackhollow, turning it into a lawless wasteland where the peasants are constantly harassed by the bandits.

Blackrock

Role: Head of State

Party: Blackrock's Bandits

Ideology: Kleptocracy^note Supremacy

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• Card-Carrying Villain: She relishes being theatrical in her displays of villainy, such as igniting a village with a tossed cigarette and commenting how it's "good to be bad".
• The Cartel: Although (obviously) not Hispanic, if she's successful her bandits eventually evolve into a combination of this and Golden Triangle opium growers, become druglords who essentially function as a government while threatening other countries into ponying up. One of the events has her going straight-up Tony Montana in interior decor.
• King of Thieves: Blackrock is the leader of all the bandits in Blackhollow. If Blackrock managed to triumph, she will eventually turn her land into a monarchy and herself into an actual Queen.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Blackrock is not her real name; her real name is only known by few.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: If Blackrock conquers Prywhen, she will completely plunder her new conquered lands, granting her extra piles of loot while demolishing the provinces, cutting down their ponypower and destroying their infrastructure and factories.

Cyrille Bluecrest

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Countess's Supporters

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Rightful King Returns: The County of Blackhollow was taken over by Blackrock's gang of bandits during a war with Griffonstone. Cyrille is the last living member of the ruling Bluecrest family, and wants to take down Blackrock and restore the County.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Countess Cyrille personally commands the rebels against Blackrock to remove Blackrock from power.
• The Usurper: After restoring the County of Blackhollow, Countess Cyrille can later declare war on the Kingdom of Griffonstone to depose their regency council and make herself the new Queen of Griffonstone.

Reeve Blyeddin

Role: Head of State

Party: Equalist Party of Blackhollow

Ideology: Equalism^note Communism

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• Conscription: One of the few gameplay positives that the player gets from choosing Reeve's route is that his "Equal Conscription" focus sets the conscription law to "All Adults Serve" even in peacetime, and his military tree adds another 6% recruitable population, giving Blackhollow some much-needed ponypower.
• Dirty Communists: Reeve is one of the most horrifically monstrous Communist leaders in the game, doing things such as destroying factories (to make every region equal) and sending smart creatures to death camps (leading to massive ponypower deductions and the outright loss of a research slot) in the name of equality. Posada, an actual communist from Hippogriffia, has absolutely nothing positive to say about Our Blackhollow:
  The core of communism is uplifting the working class from its prison of starvation. The core of equalism is making sure everyone is equal, but the madgriff Reeve has gone beyond equality of cutie marks into equality of everything. He makes the intelligent dumb, and if that won't work, he kills them. Starlight Glimmer herself would never have imagined such horrors as he practices daily. Our Blackhollow is neither communist nor even equal; it is an insane abomination upon creature dignity.
• Persecuted Intellectuals: Reeve thinks that knowing too much will incite reactionary thinking, and thus equalizes education through Anti-Intellectualism. The end results are not that pretty: his "Education Equality" and "No Scholars" both reduce research speed by 10%, and his "State Education" focus straight up removes one research slot.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Reeve wants to create an equal society modeled on Our Town. To this end, Reeve embarks on a massive social engineering project, which includes some questionable things like redistributing population so that every province has the same population, banning private ownership and higher education, and introducing forced labor and conscription. It is implied that many deaths occur throughout his implementation of equalist policies, as some of his focuses for mandatory work and population redistribution involve unexplained deductions of ponypower.
• We Have Reserves: In terms of military, Reeve supports griffon wave tactics—one large assault, an equal wave of griffons.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: A revolutionary inspired the Our Town model of Equalism, Reeve has the good intention of trying to overthrow a bandit warlord and create a society where all Griffons are equal. Unfortunately, Reeve's ideal society is very, very extreme, and his social engineering focuses have disturbing implications.

Kingdom of Brodfeld

^{Flag of the Kingdom of Prywhen}

Full Name: Kingdom of Brodfeld, Legionary Brodfeld (Golden Guard), Kingdom of Prywhen (Masons)

Ruling Party: Brodfeld Loyalists

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Civil War: The Kingdom of Brodfeld begins in a civil war with the Prywhenian Liberation Army, a communist rebel group. Though the PLA starts with more territory, the royalists hold all key cities.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Prywhen is a Romanian-speaking country whose history as a group of smaller principalities mirrors Romania as well.
• In Medias Res: The Kingdom of Brodfeld starts in the midst of a civil war with the Griffon Liberation Army, which is said to have been going on for years before the start of the game.
• Meaningful Rename: After ascending to the throne of Prywhen, the current royal family renamed the country to Kingdom of Brodfeld, after their original birthplace. The communist Prywhenian Liberation Army, who is fighting a civil war with the royals by game start, uses name Prywhen instead of Brodfeld for the country; if the royals are sidelined by the Masons, Prywhen also officially gets its old name back.
• State Sec: The Kingdom of Brodfeld maintains a military legion called the Legion of Eviliana, or more commonly Golden Guard, a patriotic and religious group fanatically dedicated to King Kloseu and anti-communism.

Kloseu de Kissau

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Brodfeld Loyalists, Golden Guard (Supremacist)

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned, Reactionism^note Supremacy (Supremacist)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}King Kloseu de Kissau is the first ruler of the Kingdom of Brodfeld. He became the Prince of Brodfeld in 963 ALB and was elected Domnitor (ruling prince) of Kivessin and Sydia in 965 ALB. In 973 ALB, when the Griffonian Empire was falling apart, Kloseu declared independence and claimed the title of King of Brodfeld. He was crowned in the Grand Temple of Eviliana in Kivessin by Prelate Denali.\n\nDuring his rule Brodfeld grew wealthier and became known as the ricebasket of Griffonia, yet blight caused the Great Famine in 995 ALB. After the economic crisis of the new millenium, Kloseu declared a state of emergency in 1001 ALB which granted him autocratic powers and cracked down on any disorder and dissent, restoring stability in Brodfeld.\n\nThe peace was brief, however, as in 1003 ALB an assassination attempt was made on him while he was spectating a military parade in Kivessin with his wife. He was merely wounded on his cheek, but his wife died in his arms. Afterwards he blamed communists and banned all communist organizations, yet members of PCP resisted arrest, formed the PLA and rebelled. The civil war began.

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• Archnemesis Dad: Prince Tomado is antagonized by his father due to their completely opposite beliefs. King Kloseu wants to hold onto power at all costs, while Tomado is more open to reforms.
• Betrayal by Offspring: If Kloseu makes no attempt to reform, his conflict with his son Tomado will eventually culminate in Tomado leading a protest against Kloseu, which Kloseu considers to be an act of betrayal.
• Character Development: King Kloseu starts off as a desperate monarch with a personal grudge against communism. Depending on the political path chosen, King Kloseu's personality can mellow down into an open-minded constitutional monarch, or his grudges can overtake him and turn him into a sociopathic tyrant wanting to eradicate the world of communists.
• Every Scar Has a Story: King Kloseu has a scar on his cheek, inflicted during an assassination attempt on him following his assumption of dictatorial powers in the aftermath of the famine. The assassin only managed to scar Kloseu, but killed Kloseu's wife. This sets up Kloseu's true Start of Darkness as he becomes increasingly brutal and fanatical.
• Freudian Excuse: King Kloseu's extreme hatred of communism and subsequent descent into tyranny is caused by the death of his wife during an assassination attempt on his life, which he blamed on communists.
• Heel–Face Turn: If his son's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to King Kloseu managed to make Kloseu see his errors and decide to turn things around, he will implement reforms and turn the country into a liberal democracy with a constitutional monarch.
• Hidden Depths: Several events mention that King Kloseu is an avid fishergriffon.
• I Have No Son!: If King Kloseu accepts his gambit to take revenge on all of his enemies, he orders his assassins to kill his son Tomado, the leader of a large protest against him. In the aftermath, King Kloseu goes to his wife's grave and apologizes that he had been a bad father that brought their son so low, and makes General Ion Soimescu his successor.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Kloseu was initially a reformist monarch who considered the aristocracy to be leeches and abolished serfdom after coming to power. This backfired when the nobles took advantage of his lax trade laws to push the peasants out of the market. A blight in one year led to a deadly famine and political turmoil, leading to a series of bad events (during which Kloseu becomes increasingly dictatorial and brutal) that culminates in the civil war. Things only escalate during and after the civil war, and King Kloseu can become a fanatical tyrant willing to kill anyone in order to end communism.
• Knight Templar: In the Supremacist path, King Kloseu will become so fanatically anti-communist that he eventually declares a crusade against the red menace, granting war goals on every single communist country on the planet. His reasoning? He wants to save the world from communism.
• Never My Fault: In the Supremacist path, Kloseu blames all of his problems on his enemies, seeing no problem with any of his own past decisions.
• Offing the Offspring: In the path where King Kloseu accepts the gambit and doubles down on his tyranny, Kloseu orders his assassins to kill his rebellious son Tomado.
• Puppet King: Becomes this willingly in the Mason route, being inducted into their order, initiating Masons to high positions (which results turning the kingdom harmonist), and renaming Brodfeld to Prywhen.
• The Purge: If King Kloseu accepts the gambit, he puts all of his enemies to death: the protestors protesting against his rule, the aristocracy who leeched on his policies and fueled the protests against him, the communists who are waiting for a fair trial after the civil war, and his own son, who is leading the protest.
• Unperson: Happens to him if he refuses the Masons after passing their riddles, with them abducting and presumably killing him.

Prince Tomado de Kissau

Role: Political Advisor, Prince, Monarch (Kloseu succession)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Tomado de Kissau is King Kloseu's only son and legitimate heir. He is an idealistic griffon in his early twenties who lost his mother when an assassination attempt was made on his father. He has been influenced by liberal ideals, mostly thanks to his close friend Enrico Chivaldori, and wishes for Brodfeld to become a constitutional monarchy. His father's recent cruelty and despotism made him worried and afraid.

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• Antagonistic Offspring: Prince Tomado is ideologically the opposite of his father. Tomado is influenced by liberal ideals and wishes to reform the monarchy, while Kloseu (at least initially) only wants to hold onto power at all costs.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Despite his reformist leanings, the communist PLA will hunt him down and can execute him if they win the civil war.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tomado delivers one to King Kloseu after they win the civil war, during which Tomado criticizes Kloseu's past policies and how they backfired on the nation, pointing how how Kloseu's decisions brought the country where it is today. Kloseu can react by either admitting his failures or rejecting them, branching his storyline either into the constitutional monarchy path or the absolute monarchy path.

Enrico Chivaldori

Role: Prime Minister^note Head of State (Constitutional monarchy route)

Party: Partidul National Privenean^note Prywhen National Party

Ideology: Centrism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Enrico Chivaldori is a son of a Wingbardian migrant and has lived in Sydia his whole life. He has had a passion for music his entire life and is a talented violin player. Over his life he has worked as a music teacher and a conductor before finally entering politics and joining PNL. He is a supporter of democracy and harmony and a close friend of Prince Tomado who shares his liberal ideals. He was among the thousands of griffons who Kloseu banished from the country for being supporters of dangerous ideas but the Prince convinced his father to pardon him. A calm, reasonable speaker, he managed to get elected Prime Minister (possibly with some help from his royal friend) and now leads the government of Brodfeld.

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• Heroic Bastard: One event during the constitutional monarchy path reveals that Enrico is the bastard son of King Kloseu from Wingbardy, and is Tomado's half-brother.
• Renaissance Man: Enrico is both an excellent politician and a talented violin player.

Ancient Grand Orient of Prywhen

Mason of Twelt, head of state for the Ancient Grand Orient of Prywhen

Role: Head of State (Masons' Coup)

Ideology: Irenic Theocracy^note Harmony

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• Ambiguously Evil: It is uncertain if the Masons are ultimately a Benevolent Conspiracy or an evil one. On the one hand, they promote democracy and Harmonic values, but on the other hand, they desire total world domination through subterfuge, and convert the commoners to their pseudo-religious ideals. They are also absolutely willing to commit evil acts to further their goals (such as launching a false flag suicide bombing to blame one of their neighbors for a war goal).
• Ancient Conspiracy: The Masons of Prywhen are actually an extremely secretive and ancient pseudo-religious group with desires to bring in a new world order under their lead. They will create numerous international organizations of an apparently benevolent nature (International Health Organization, League of Nations, etc.) to further their influences.
• Arc Number: 3, variations of 3 (33333, 33933, etc.) and powers of three (9, 27) appear frequently as stat numbers in their focus tree.
• Covert Group: The Masonic Lodges are a front to the Ancient Grand Orient of Prywhen, a totally secret religious order completely hidden to all outsiders.
• Dystopian Edict: After taking power, the Masons strip the citizenship of all non-Masons, forcing everyone to either join a Masonic Lodge or live as a vagrant.
• False Flag Operation: One of the focuses in their tree triggers an event where a suicide bomber detonates a bomb in the capital. The fact that the Masons can blame the bombing on any of their neighbors (granting a war goal) shows that the Masons orchestrated the whole bombing themselves.
• Fun with Acronyms: The Masons use the National Action to Secure Our Modernization (N.A.S.O.M) project to construct a dam in Brodfeld as a front of their operations. Once the Masons take over, they rename the N.A.S.O.M. project to New Arcane Sanctuary Of Masons.
• Guide Dang It!: To trigger the events where the Masons send letters with riddles to King Kloseu and begin the path to Masonic Brodfeld, the player must complete the two NASOM dam focuses in the industrial tree without taking any focus in the political tree. Considering that the political tree has far more lucrative rewards and advances the main storyline, it is very easy to miss the trigger for the Mason path.
• The Illuminati: The Masons of Brodfeld are a parody amalgamation of the conspiracy-theorist version of the Illuminati and the Freemasons.
• Light Is Not Good: The Masons' pseudo-religion is based around seeking enlightenment, and they even have Harmony as their ideology. Despite this, the Masons commit many oppressive acts and seek total world domination by manipulating other countries.
• Only Smart People May Pass: Triggering their path (by doing the NASOM dam focuses before any political focuses) will trigger an event in which King Kloseu receives a cryptic encrypted letter from the Masons, and King Kloseu can either ignore it or make a reply, choosing from one of three options. If Kloseu makes the correct response, more cryptic messages involving decryption and mind puzzles will be sent to Kloseu. If the player (and Kloseu) manages to successfully complete all of them, the Masons will take Kloseu to their secret hideout and give him one last challenge. If he makes it, he's inducted into the Mason Order, and the Masons take over the government. If he fails, the Masons "disappear" him and Prince Tomado takes over.
• Only the Knowledgable May Pass: Unlike the message puzzles sent to Kloseu, Kloseu's final challenge in the Masons' hideout involves two questions that tests the King's understanding and dedication to the Masonic ideology, and are not logic or cryptography puzzles. These two are extremely difficult to answer correctly on the first try.
• Puppet King: In the Masonic Brodfeld route, King Kloseu becomes an initiate and puppet of the Masonic Order, giving the masons full control over the government.
• Pyramid Power: Their focus tree is shaped like a pyramid, with the top focus having the focus icon of a glowing eye, referencing the eye of providence symbol commonly associated with The Illuminati.
• Secret Circle of Secrets: The Masonic Lodges of the Kingdom of Brodfeld are actually a secret pseudo-religious organization that is planning to spread their rule across the continent. They communicate entirely through obfuscated codes and only admit those who can decrypt their codes and accept their ideology.
• Take Over the World: The Masons seek to bring their light across the whole continent. To this end, they create many seemingly benevolent international organizations and offer their aid to other nations, using the chance to infiltrate their governments with Masons. Once the Masons are in place, they will convert the country to Masonic rule, and eventually let Prywhen annex them.
• Un-person: The Masons forcefully disappear anyone who challenges them or might be a threat to them, and silences the aftermath so the disappeared people are forgotten.
• Walking Spoiler: Merely mentioning the existence of the organization spoils the fact that there is a hidden route for the Kingdom of Brodfeld.

Prywhenian Liberation Army

Full Name: Griffon Liberation Army, Griffonian Revolutionary State (Kingdom of Brodfeld defeated)

Ruling Party: Partidul Communist Privanean^note Prywhen Communist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

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• Magikarp Power: The PLA starts as one of the weakest nations in the game, having a ludicrously weak army, extremely low populations, extremely poor industry and science, huge penalties on just about everything, and potentials for even more political crises that further drag its powers down. However, the PLA can snowball rapidly through strategic conquest, able to gain cores on a significant portion of the Griffonian continent, including the Griffonian Empire itself.

Filip Redglad

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: Partidul Communist Privanean^note Prywhen Communist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

Principality of Lushi

^{Flag of the Lushian Peasants/Lushian Republic}

^{Flag of the Principality of Lushi (Gerar)}

Full Name: Principality of Lushi, Lushian Peasants (Toridan, Civil War), Lushian Republic (Toridan, Civil War victory)

Ruling Party: Whitecrest Dynasty

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Civil War: If serfdom is not abolished and the country is sufficiently unstable, Lushi falls into a civil war between peasants and aristocrats.
• Medieval Stasis: While the rest of Griffonia has moved forwards in terms of technology and culture, Lushi is still a backwards feudal monarchy.
• Offered the Crown: If Demetrius Kamphaus takes power in Hellquill, he'll invite the Prince of Lushi to Hellquill, unifying the two nations into the Principality of Hellquill-Lushi.

Elias Whitecrest

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Whitecrest Dynasty, Prosperists

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned, Democratic Monarchism^note Harmony

---

• Internal Reformist: Prince Elias is a progressive reformer who seeks to free the serfs and turn Lushi into a constitutional monarchy.

Gerar Whitecrest

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Searchers of Harmony

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

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• The Usurper: Gerar, younger brother of Prince Elias, wishes to take the throne of the Principality of Lushi for himself by having his brother assassinated.

Toridan

Role: Head of State

Party: Green Rods' Commune

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

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Gryphian Host

^{Flag of the Kingdom of Zaphzia (Grifnitsky)}

^{Flag of the Republic of Zaphzia}

^{Flag of the Kaiv Commune}

^{Flag of the New Hetmanate of Zaphzia}

Full Name: Gryphian Host, New Hetmanate of Zaphzia (Krawvelets), Republic of Zaphzia (Grifnitsky), Kaiv Commune (Khurshevich), Kingdom of Zaphzia (monarchy restored), Zaphzian National Republic (Hetmanate preserved), Reichskommissariat Kosakenland (Dawnclaw puppet state), Ordensprotektorat Kosakenland (Opinicus Gryphus puppet state)

Ruling Party: The Hetmanate

Ideology: Tribal Chiefdom^note Non-Aligned

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• Civil War: If the communists take power and decide to seize the nobles' property but fail to complete the land reforms in time, counter-revolutionary elements will rebel against the communists and attempt to restore the Hetmanate.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The griffons of the Gryphian Host are based on Cossacks, while the Gryphia region as a whole is analogous to Ukraine.
• Feudal Overlord: Most of the farmland in Gryphia is held by powerful nobles and tribal leaders, who employ serfs to work the land.

Calas Bulba

Role: Hetman^note Head of State

Party: The Hetmanate

Ideology: Tribal Chiefdom^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Calas Bulba is a wise and wisened old griffon, and has ruled the Gryphians for over forty years. He is held in high regard by almost everyone, both for his sage advice and for his surprising youthfulness and energy, considering his age. Despite his doctors telling him that he should stop leading Raids in person like he did in his youth, he refuses to listen, for as he says "I would rather die than live the rest of my years in my bed".

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• We Hardly Knew Ye: Hetman Bulba dies in one of Gryphia's first events.

Borad Grifnitsky

Role: Head of State

Party: Viysko Griffonskoe^note Griffon Army

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Borad Grifnitsky is an atypical cossack - though valiant in battle, he is not fond of violence and prefers to find peaceful, long-term solutions to serious problems where possible. In the warlike Cossack society this should have isolated and ostracised him, but a combination of battlefield valor, an amicable personality, and exceptional oratory has drawn a following to him nonetheless. Seeing the poor state of the Zapzhans, he desires to reform the Host into a democratic republic and diplomatically secure their people against reprisals from the Communists and the Riverponies.

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• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: While Borad dislikes Cornilo Khurshevich and doesn't understand communism, he's willing to sit together with him to discuss the future of Zaphzia and the extent of which socialist policies would the new government implement. They don't have to like each other, but they can work together.

Yeven Krawvelets

Role: Hetman^note Head of State, Monarch^note Head of State (Restores the kingdom)

Party: The Black Council

Ideology: Reactionarism^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Despite being the grandson of old Hetman Bulba's sister, Yeven Krawvelets is something of a dark mirror of the old bird. Where Bulba was straightforward and honest, Yeven is loud-mouthed and fond of verbal abuse. Where Bulba was valiant, Yeven is violent. One thing he has got, however, is ambition - and lots of it. He dreams of restoring the Zaphzan people to ancient greatness, and is willing to use force to achieve his dream of a "Greater Zaphzia".

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• Modest Royalty: If he decides to restore the Kingdom of Zaphzia, Yeven conducts a humble coronation ceremony in Kaiv. It is not extravagant by any means—Yeven has no intention to show off wealth while the people live with little. He even considers the ancient crown of the Gryphian Kings a bit too decadent for his tastes, but regardless accepts it as tradition demands.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Yeven Krawvelets is loosely based on Ukrainian fascist politician Yevhen Konovalets, founder of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.

Cornilo Khurschevich

Role: Head of State

Party: Grifіjs'ka Socіal-Demokraticna Robіtnica Partіja^note Gryphian Social-Democratic Labour Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Cornilo Khurshevich was a confidante of Redglad's, and was one of his old drinking buddies before the Revolution in Prywhen broke out. Shortly before this, Cornilo left Prywhen to lead the resistance in his own home country. Now that he is in power, he will certainly seek out his old friend and align with him. He favors a policy of solidarity with Prywhen and caring for the vulnerable farming class as the way forward for Zaphzia.

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Pavel Vereskopadsky

Role: Hetman^note Head of State (Civil War victory)

Party: The Hetmanate

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Hetman Bulba's closest associate, Vereskopadsky is determined to save his country from the brutal Communist thugs that killed his master and father-figure.

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• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Pavel Vereskopadsky, leader of the Gryphian Cossacks rebelling against the communists, is based on Ukrainian hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky, who briefly ruled the anti-communist Ukrainian State in the aftermath of the October Revolution.
• Red Scare: If the Gryphian and Prywhen civil wars are won by Vereskopadsky and the PLA respectively, the former will spread propaganda of the PLA's cruelty and malice to incite the Cossacks to fight against the communists.
• Trading Bars for Stripes: Vereskopadsky recruits criminals into his army to 'liberate' the Gryphian people from communist rule.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After winning the civil war, Vereskopadsky purges the Black Cloaks. Despite their usefulness against the communists, he believes that their radical ideas will only bring ruin to the country.

Free Towns of Gryphus

^{Flag of the Union of Gryphus}

^{Flag of the Gryphus Southern Continent Company}

^{Flag of the State of the Military Order of Opinicus}

Full Name: Free Towns of Gryphus, Union of Gryphus, Gryphus Southern Continent Company (Felchen), State of the Military Order of Opinicus (Weißfisch)

Ruling Party: Trade Unions

Ideology: Centrism^note Non-Aligned

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• The Coup:
  • The player's choices in the initial Riaportu Congress debates and other early game events can antagonize or appease the Order of Opinicus or the Gryps-Süd GmbH. If one side is antagonized enough, they will launch a coup, the Order using their Knights and Gryps-Süd using mercenaries. If the player had appeased the other side, their forces can be called upon to put down the coup, keeping the elected council in power.
  • If both sides are appeased, a bunch of anti-status quo local extremists will attempt their own coup, only to be stopped by the combined forces of the Order, the Company, and the governing Council.
• Civil War:
  • Piss off both the Order and the Company, and they will simultaneously launch a coup on the Council, which quickly breaks down into a civil war between the Order and the Company within Riaportu to decide who will control Gryphus.
  • In the event that the fighting in Riaportu ends with a Dark Horse Victory from the communists, a real civil war will start in Gryphus, between the communists and the remnants of the congress.
• Dark Horse Victory: The civil war between the Order and the Company can end up so that neither side wins, and both the Order and the Company are weakened. The oppressed Gryphussian workers will then decide to band together, launch an uprising, and defeat both the Order and the Company, turning Gryphus into a communist nation.
• MegaCorp: The Gryphusische Südkontinent-Gesellschaft (Gryphus Southern Continent Company) is a large trade company founded in Sicameon, which received an Imperial charter that granted them full rights to all commerce in the Gryphus sea. An extremely powerful and influential force in Gryphus, They are seen as greedy and ruthless merchants that put profit above all else.
• One Nation Under Copyright: If antagonized enough, the Gryps-Süd GmbH can launch a coup with mercenaries and replace the government with themselves, creating a fully privately-owned nation. The government is sidelined and puppeted by the company, and the society is increasingly privatized until the entire country becomes one massive economic zone.

Yeve de Viartorré

Role: Chairgriffon^note Head of State

Party: Trade Unions, Aliança Progressiva Unida^note United Progressive Alliance

Ideology: Centrism^note Non-Aligned, Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

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Matthias Felchen

Role: Admiral, Governor-Executive^note Head of State (The Company Takes Control)

Party: Verwaltungsrat des Gryphus Südkontinent-Gesellschaft^note Board of Directors of the Gryphus South Continent Society

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

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Gerhardt Weißfisch

Role: General, Head of State

Party: Geheimrat der Militärorden Opinicus^note Privy Council of the Military Order of Opinicus

Ideology: Zealous Knightly Order^note Supremacy

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• Defiant to the End: If his coup against the Council fails, Weißfisch makes no attempt to hide his guilt and doubles down on his refusal to consider the Gryphussian state as legitimate. When his death sentence is pronounced, he stands defiant, chanting his oath to the Order.
• The Fundamentalist: The Order of Opinicus is fanatically religious. If they come to power, they will create a fundamentalist order-state with state enforced worship of Griffon gods, an Inquisitorial Office that hunts down heretics, a chapterhouse in every town, religious militants, and active cleansing against the natives in the north and the sinners in the cities.
• Military Coup: If the Order of Opinicus is not appeased during the 1007 Riaportu Congress, it will attempt to overthrow the Free Towns' Council and turn the country into a stratocracy led by Grand Master Weißfisch.
• The Order: The Order of Opinicus is a knightly order founded by the Griffonian Empire to defend their Empire's southern border. They are a bunch of fanatics demanding a crusade on the ponies heathens, and are mad that the Gryphussian government is holding them back.

Edward Piórowski

Role: Head of State

Party: Solidarność^note Solidarity

Ideology: Market Socialism^note Communism

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• Chummy Commies: Unlike Aniela, who is a morally grey character with good intentions but awful execution, Piórowski is unambiguously a good communist leader with good intentions and good execution.

Aniela Gryfoń

Role: Head of State

Party: Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza^note United Workers' Party

Ideology: Revolutionary Dictatorship^note Communism

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• Allohistorical Allusion: Aniela's Gryphus directly parallels the real life Stalinist Polish People's Republic. Aniela creates the Ministry of Public Security and the Milicja Obywatelska to keep her people loyal. They would only worsen the political repression in Gryphus, and escalate anti-government protests. Edward Piórowski, leader of banned trade union Solidarność, would reappear to lead the protests, and force the government to make talks with Solidarity in a round table talk. The government abdicates under pressure, and Solidarity wins the new elections.
• Heel Realization: After the situation in Gryphus becomes completely unsustainable under her rule, and protests are overpowering the government, Aniela realizes that she had been doing an awful job at running the country, and resigns.
• Illegal Religion: Aniela attempts to rapidly transition Gryphus into state atheism. As with everything else she does, it ends up terribly; the heavy-handed efforts to atheize Gryphus turns into straight-up repression against the church and its members, leading to destroyed churches and even some murdered clergygriffs. This causes everyone from the church to collectively resist against Aniela's government.
• The Peter Principle: Aniela is a capable general and a popular revolutionary, but she has a rather weak grasp of socialist ideals. The Peter Principle thus kicks in full force should she be voted into power; Aniela is not very good at leading a country, and her government is rife with incompetence and overly-ambitious goals, leading to resistance from the people against their policies. She reacts to the resistance with increasing levels of authoritarianism, making the country's management even worse.
• Reign of Terror: In an attempt to instill revolutionary resolve in the masses, members of her party organize an operation named Operation Rozwiązać, where members of the citizens militia (Milicja Obywatelska) would go around and conduct community activities to harden peoples' spirits. However, the undisciplined militia proceeds to encourage people to riot, and attacks random citizens, burns "reactionary" buildings, and starts Kangaroo Courts that hang thousands to death. Things got so bad, that some Ministry of Public Security members actually tried to save people by commuting death sentences to hard labor.
• Secret Police: Aniela creates the Ministry of Public Security to suppress anti-government forces. They would launch Operation Sortowanie, an operation during which the country is put into temporary martial law, and MPS agents mass arrest dissenters and protesters and send them off to labor camps.

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