Nation Critique Thread

A six foot tall combat bio-android with six eyes would kinda ruin the ambience of a state dinner.

I'm imagining it and laughing. ^note It's also a tiny bit funny that MilInt Agency has the same acronym as Missing In Action. Anyway, now that you explain it, it does indeed make sense.

Hm, if I may...

---

• Full title: The Great Reborn Kingdom of the North (commonly Kingdom of the North or simply North)
• History: Back in the days before the Countersun Dawn, there was a grand Empire of the North, but after it became first in line for monster attacks, it quickly fell apart into dozens of counties and fiefdoms fending for themselves, a situation not helped by the fact that their southern neightbour and one-time colony, Paharajma, tried to conquer them - an effort made problematic by aforementioned monsters. As time went on, people, aided by the Inquisition and the Guard, begun rebuilding their lives and smaller lands slowly consolidated into duchies. Finally, the Duke Gengfu'no set his eyes on recreating the old Empire and through conquest, monster-warring and alliances, he managed to retake a larger part of it. Over the next decades, his successors reestablished contact with the northernmost duchies.
  • As a side note, the "current day" is eighty five years since the first Gengfu king crowned himself.
• Government: The king, always a man, is advised by the Grand Council, which consists of thirty-two members, including the crown prince, the Treasurer, military commanders, two representatives of Faith, the Grand Inquisitor, the dukes and masters of most influential guilds. Additionally, there exists the Small Council, but it's set is very informal and changes depending on year and king's fancy. However, as the North is a huge country (think US without Alaska), vast majority of the time the managment of it falls to the twelve dukes and, more often than not, wild assortment of aisangs and agangs, the lesser nobles, resulting in the country being more of a federation than a monarchy. However, as long as it doesn't contrast king's word, the nobility has the final authority over their subjects.
• Demographics: About sixty percent of population are humans, with elves and dwarves holding roughly twenty percent each (there's a bit more elves). Three duchies have elven dukes, two have dwarven, and by and large, those two "minorities" prefer to stay among their kin. Population is more mixed in bigger cities and on main trade routes, but away from them, it's rare to see a non-human in a human duchy.
• Culture: Among men and dwarves, there is a marked difference between the north ("monsterlands") and the south ("sealands"). The northerners are hardened, somewhat stoic people who rarely venture away from their home settlements and emphasise self-reliance above all else. They are zealously religious and the commandments of the Faith are followed closely. The lands are often patrolled. By contrast, the south is more cosmopolitan and lax, given to pursue of arts, as well as generally friendlier to new people and new concepts. While still religious, they have many more beliefs that the Faith of the Almighty, to woe of the Inquisition. Finally, elves practice their own faith and live in tree-cities (think Endor) with strict division between skin- and hair-colour-based castes. All three races practice near-full equality of genders due part to religion, part to history, part to the fact that magic is egalitarian.
• Military: Each of the duchies keeps its own army, a part of which is marked qin, meaning that the king can request it any time. The world being pre-gunpowder, the armies are largely composed of pikemen, archers and arbalesters, with cavarly making up a only small part of it. The Mage Guild provides both combat mages and magicking of the weaponry. The qin, being partly funded by the king, are usually equipped with more magical weapons than regular forces and their stuff is usually of better quality.
  • Additionally, there exist paramilitary forces. The Church keeps its Inquisition, composed of human mages who utilize magitek power armours - highest-end and extremly expensive tech - to fight monsters. Its sister force is the Guard, a secular knight order of sorts, open to anyone capable of lifting a lance. There's also a slew of city guards and the northerners have militias, city watch divisions responsible for patrolling neighbouring lands.
• Foreign affairs: The everlasting threat is the Countersun in the far north, which continues to spawn monsters, which have to cross North to get anywhere else. To the south-west, Paharajma, old offshot of the Empire, is hungry for conquest. Between the two lays another offshot, Gon Yu Soo, supported by the North as a buffer between them and Paharajma, which in present day leads to conflict as the war between GYS and Paharajma is brewing. To the south-east, coastal-mountaineous kindgom of Romeoshita is on the edge of civil war between coastal and mountaineous part, and due east, a she-Genghis Khan is whipping raiding tribes into unity, worrying the Grand Council.
• Role: The main country the story takes place in. In-universe, it's self-appointed purpose is being the shield of the Sapient Races, protecting the rest of the world from the monsters. Has its slew of skeletons in the closet, but works hard to raise from the depths of the Crapsack World and turn into The Kingdom.

edited 18th Sep '15 8:23:31 AM by Kakai

Rejoice!

@Nothing: In theory, the intense indoctrination that Liberators go through before being sent out into the world instills them with a strong enough sense of ethics that they don't screw things up too badly. Of course, the Zynobian government is aware that theories don't often work out, so there are other measures - the Liberators aren't allowed to travel together in large numbers, for example, and if one of them does something truly stupid, the state will completely disavow any knowledge of it. And yes, there is a certain degree of racism and chauvinism behind the Liberation; Zynobians generally see the rest of the world as so screwed up and backwards that they don't think Liberators can make things much worse. In practice, though, most Liberators find that their careers go in one of two directions - either they learn very quickly that the world works differently from what they've been told, and adjust their behavior accordingly, or they don't and end up getting killed after pissing off the wrong person...

By now, it should be clear to all except the most dense of us that sheep are secretly conspiring to kill us all and steal our pants.

The North Kingdom looks like an amalgamation of theocratic Christian kingdoms in Europe with a more militaristic flair. It kinda reminds me of the Imperium of Man, in that they will be evil it means survival. What was the inspiration for their creation?

edited 27th Sep '15 9:11:17 AM by Serocco

In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.

You nailed it, the Imperium of Man. I must admit I am a bit worried that it would end up too much like some 40K clone - the Kingdom is close to Imperium, the Inquisition is fairly similar to Grey Knights (mages in magitek armour vs. psykers in power armour?) and the countersun is kinda like the Eye of Terror.

Rejoice!

Actually ir remind me the empire of warhammer fantasy more than anything else.

But anyway, is my time for my nacion: the realm of the Twilight lord(I still dont have a name)

Story:

This Elves nation, like all other from my setting come from the destruction of their progenitors, the star-born after era of tragedy stuck, only a few of them survived and part diferent way, each taking the "flesh of the god"(that mean elves) with them and funding their own nation as figure of legend, in this case is only know as twilight lord who come around in wasteland and decide he was going to make their own destinty.

Goverment: in theory the Twilight Lord rules all with Iron fist and every elves have to obey him without question...in theory of course, after a time and for some reason he just lay there, sumbler in grey palace(imagine a block-size palace make of grey crystal and you get the idea) so their most closed servents become their speakers and eventually rulers, divide in two chamber: the grey cricle who take all the important position in the nation and very close to the Twilight lord himself, the other is chamber of equals where the great houses who control the fortress-city manage to speak freely without status.

Them there is great houses, every one control a fortress-city with the help of leser houses, playing game onf tringuide and double crossing, hearing only the grey circle since they are above all rules, them are the little families and finally non-citizen who are bound to one city(thing citizen of the polis) Slaves are intersting matter because they exist outside system, so they can be sold or change, having a parallel set of law for them.

Culture: enduring,cleaver and proud are some of the few work the dakhory use in themselves and not for nothing: they manage to create a civilization in the middle of nowwhere, unfortunaly they do thanks to their slaves they have take in their ride on their ship over and over again, aside of that they Dakhory belive in oaths with they are VERY serious about it, thanks to their flesh magic making such think really dangerous, leaving that aside the Dakhory are consider decadent by other, with strong taste in cloth,armor and...well, everything really, also they indulge in somes pratice like Incest which unerve many who speak with them.

Also the Dakhory workship twilight lord with fanatical devotion, beliven him to be mesenger of the gods, while there is diferent interpretation of faith, his role as guardian of the nation is always there

Military: each fortress-city is administred by great house who can call thousand of men(and women) to their cause, usually this is limited to fight against other houses or other fortress city, the only time they go outside is thanks the grey circle who dispach a permission that allow it in their fortress-ship, usually a way to gain fame and respect outside the cities.

Foregin Affair: Is...complicated to said the least, they use special slaves in order to speak and have cultived somewhat of mysthic air around them, always speaking in their own terms, that dosent mean the Dakhory dosent trade with them or sell their service against their nation allies, just because you have strong to take what is your dosent mean one have to have other mortal dosent it?

So, here is, this is my first try and also I have problem with english to time to time so forgive my mistakes in the post.

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"

I'm more into 40K than Fantasy, so I'll just take your word for it.

As for your country, I suppose the standing of slaves would be rather higher than usual, given how they're basically Dakhory's foreign affairs specialists. There's also a problem here: basically, the slaves are taken from their homelands in raids, then expected to act as their masters' diplomats to those homelands. I imagine the temptation to screw things up would be pretty huge.

And another of mine, from the same world as the North. Funnily enough, also a slave-keeping nation.

---

• Name: The Empire of Paharajma
• History: While Paharajma's region is the cradle of human civillization, the first country to cover its entirety and last for more than one ruler formed when the land seceeded from the Empire of the North and won a civil war, with the leader of the rebellion becoming the first Empress. After the fall of the North, Paharajma attempted to take part of it for themselves and failed due to monsters. Ever since, they've been hungrily looking north for both land and slaves.
• Government: The Empress is an absolute monarch unbound by rules and laws, and her entire cabinet, the Darjana, has purely advisory role and wields little actual power. The noblemen are plenty, most of them descendants of First Empress's allies or aristocracy of the old North, but their power is purposefully kept low so that none may be able to rebel.
• Demographics: Paharajma's unusually human - save for perhaps several hundred dwarves, elves and artemwulfen in some coastal trade cities, everyone is human, with majority being of Pahar ethnicity^note Hindu-looking, although word Pahar means also a citizen of Paharajma and some among the lower classes being more Northerner^note China-esque or Gonnian^note Korean-esque. Over fifty percent are slaves, about forty are muktas (wide word for artisans, slaveowners, serfs and townsfolk) and the remaining ten percent is Pahar nobility.
• Culture: There's a huge difference between classes. The slaves live shortly, in poor conditions and forced to work back-breaking jobs. The mukta's living standard varies, from barely-better-than-slaves to I-can't-believe-it's-not-nobility. The noblemen, on the other hand, live lavishly, decadently and richly, spending money even in recent times of poverty - one thing the Empress has no control over. Majority of population is stuffed in giant, fortress-like cities surrounded by large fields tended to by armies of slaves and serfs. The culture emphasizes unity through social order, semi-divinity of the Empress ^note First Empress is believed to be a daughter of a deity from shakunsar faith of Paharajma and huge amounts of history-inspired national hubris.
• Military: The Imperial Army is large and well-trained, albeit mostly in how to quell occasional slave uprisings. Due to Paharajma being world's only supplier of sleipnirs, the Army's generally cavalry, with infantry being mostly garrisoning forces. The entire military is sworn to the Empress and the nobility is not permitted to keep any men-at-arms apart from small household guards. Off-land, the country has what's probably the biggest or second biggest navy in the world, with it's main purpose being slave-raiding.
• Foreign Affairs: While there's a lot of bad blood between Paharajma and the North - two biggest nations on the continent, both sides try to keep it civil. By contrast, the relationship between Pahars and their only land neighbour, Gon Yu Soo, is always on the edge of breaking into full-blown confict and the two sides hate each other to absurd levels (although it's stronger in Gonnians than Pahars). With recent war-like moods and economic problems, the war is brewing closer. Given how North is GYS's staunch supporter, this may end up bringing the Kingdom into the confict as well.
• Role in the story: Sort-of North's Evil Counterpart. They're not the villain of the story, but their threat is what limits the heros' options. In-universe, they're nations' equivalent of this one uncle no-one likes but everyone tries to bear somehow.

Rejoice!

Pretty I based the Dakhory on naggaroth of Warhammer, but more grey instead of the stupid evil out there

edited 3rd Oct '15 9:48:55 PM by unknowing

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"

That looks like a strange mix of India and Mesopotamia. I'm surprised it's run by an Empress, and I'm surprised the Empress is basically a dictator. How did that happen? Was she that powerful?

In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.

They're run by Empress partly because of tradition, as the First Empress Ashokabala was considered the daughter of a shakun, and partly because they're North's counterpart, and North's run by men only.

As for how did she end up a dictator, well, you made me think. All in all, I guess it's a combination of two things. First and foremost, Ashokabala was smart, observed how the Empire of the North was slowly being taken over by its nobility, and worked out a whole set of little footnotes and loopholes into the law to keep her descendants in power and stop any encroaching Deadly Decadent Court. The other thing is that by our standards, most people on Raharjan are insanely religious and the ruling family carries with it the imprimatur of being descended from a shakun - and not just any shakun, Temmashoka is revered as being one of the most "bro-tier" one of them all. While people may be loyal to noblemen, loyalty to a shakunbala trumps any ties to simple mortals. Besides, most shakunsarism deities are rather wrathful, so better not to piss off their delegate to the world.
And I guess there could be some sort of secret police as well? Nothing organized, just Empress' agents who keep eye on the nobility.

Rejoice!

A interesting nation, a very good watch of a Empire. Is interesed how dogmatic are.

Watch me destroying my country

Very interesting Empire. I'm curious as to what their cultural relations with the Empire of the North are like, given their history but also their similarities. Do Northerners look down upon Paharajmans? Vice versa? Also how does the Empire keep the nobility weak when they are evidently so wealthy, and would thus control the empire's resources? Or are they only wealthy in terms of luxury goods (i.e. control of armies and vital resources like food are restricted)? Also how do you come up with the names for things? They sound great!

---

Name: Empire of Daolin

History: Daolin is one of the oldest cultures in existence, in a constant cycle of unifying and breaking apart. There’s a load of history that I have planned out but I’ll skip because it’s ridiculously long (I have it written out here if you’re curious http://theshadowspact.wikia.com/wiki/Daolin), but basically most recently three major dynasties had a claim; the Yuhai, the Edun, and the Tianshi. The Tianshi came from the east, from the iron-filled hills and heavily industrialised cities on the old frontiers of the empire. The Edun came from the north, from the sparsely populated plains and their once-warring horse clans now unified under a single banner. The Yuhai came from the south, the Daolese heartland with rich lands and richer merchants, with colonies across the seas and with the blessing of both of Daolin’s main religions. The Tianshi were the strongest militarily, and thus to stop their campaigns the Yuhai and the Edun were forced to unite by marriage. The current emperor of Daolin is of Yuhai birth and married to an Edun wife, but they have no heirs. Tension between the two families constantly threatens to bring the empire into civil war. In the last fifty or so years, however, Daolin was conquered and incorporated into the Beygir Empire, the emperor becoming a mere puppet of the Morkral. Even still, competition for who should rule the empire under Beygul authority runs high.

Government: The Morkral is an absolute elective monarch, but due to the clan-based loyalty structure of the Beygul people, is in practice subject to the advice of his vassals. The Daolese Emperor is one of many tributary leaders, who within established Beygul law are given absolute rule (which is overruled by the Morkral’s when necessary, of course). Beneath the Emperor is a series of several dozen Imperial Courts fulfilling different roles and composed of nobles of different classes, all of which are chaired by the Emperor or a representative in his stead. Outside of a core walled region around the capital (which is the size of a small country), however, the leadership structure is far more feudal. The Princes of Jinsi and Daobi (two major cities) rule as viceroys of the emperor in those regions (like the Governor General of Canada to the British monarch), as do the Lords of Shidong and Yuen. In the north, the homeland of the Edun dynasty, the empress and not the emperor is the de facto ruler. In the south outside of the major cities and the walled Hai region, local rule falls to the Sovereign Company of the Dragon, which is a charted trading company granted Imperial monopoly on certain goods. The Company sends the most hardworking of its serfs to the nobles of the walled region, which guarantees (A) that other serfs will work more productively in an effort to gain access to the wealthier and safer Hai region, (B) guarantee that those that gain access to the Hai region are hardworking, and (C) guarantee that those in the Hai region will not cause trouble for the ruling class as they do not wish to lose their position there.

Demographics: Daolin is mostly ethnically Daolese, but significant minorities exist in certain pockets. In the more isolated eastern hills, the Taum people live. To the northwest, the Zhigan people (who notably follow neither of the principle religions of Daolin) were often allies of the Tianshi dynasty. Along the swampy Oroya River, jutting right between the Yuhai heartland and their longstanding allies that trade along the western coast, the Gheyabo are a dark-skinned people descended from former slaves from Yuhai colonies, and the Rhamara are lighter-skinned former traders from the same region. Nearly all of these groups have been resistant to imperial rule at some time or another. In terms of religion, most of the nobility follow the Mangkon faith (based around ancestor worship and ancient dragon gods) and most of the commoners follow the Suka faith (a philosophy of sharing and releasing oneself from material desires, with theistic elements through the belief in ‘astiram’, or enlightenment).

Culture: Differs by region and socioeconomic background. In the north, there is a legacy of the old raiding culture and old blood feuds. Along the western coast, the cities have often recognised the dominant monarch of Daolin, but republican values run oddly strong and there is strong rule of local courts. The Tsung Kingdom is a small pocket just south of the Yuhai heartland, clinging onto their history as the first kings of Daolin and desiring secession from the empire.

Military: Northern armies are mostly light cavalry-based, mostly composed of common herders and hunters rather than trained soldiers. In the south and along the western coast, they have an extremely strong navy. However much of this has been commandeered by the Morkral for use in an invasion of Gaohra (a former Daolese colony under the rule of Hamaji, a huge rival of Beygir’s). In the Hai region itself, a completely separate military body known as the Imperial Guard acts as both the military and the police force. They are eunuchs and were raised from a young age to believe in the divinity of the emperor and instilled with undying patriotism. Much of the men of the east were killed during the civil war, so the region is directly under the military protection of Beygul forces.

Foreign Affairs: As part of the Beygir Empire, there are major tensions with Aquila, Sahkora, Hamaji and Maiyon, but only Maiyon is close enough to have a direct impact on Daolin itself. Maiyon is a small island kingdom that resisted Beygul invasion, and there is a history of Daolin and Maiyon repeatedly invading each other to no avail. Tokohi, an island kingdom that is smaller still, pays homage to both the Emperor of Daolin and the Emperor of Maiyon, and thus much of the trade between the two nations passes through Tokohi rather than directly between them. There is also lingering claims to former Daolese colonies, which causes tension with Sebandar (a former colony of Daolin, now a republic and a city-state).

Role in the story: Main setting

Influences: Basically an Imperial China ripoff, especially Yuan and Song dynasties.

edited 29th Oct '15 12:18:21 PM by VincentQuill

'All shall love me and despar!'

Thank you! As for the Empire, it's not exactly total control as it is a... balancing act of sorts, but indeed, the Empress controls the army and several key regions are kept placated to have very little reason to turn against the Queen. Both Northerners and Pahars look down on each other - "we're the Shield of the Sentient Races" vs "we've been building palaces while you were living in earth huts", basically.

As for your kingdom, the Yuan and Song China influences are quite visible, and not just because of naming - not that it's a bad thing. All in all, Daolin seems quite well-rounded and realistic to me, and I like the thing the Company does with slaves. The entire series of dozens of courts sounds like Daolese bureaucracy is hell on earth to navigate through - wouldn't a Deadly Decadent Court or several develop? The only other things that have me curious is how the Company managed to obtain land and monopoly within a feudal country.

Oh, and having skimmed through the wikia page on it, I'd like to add that I really like the flag

Rejoice!

Thanks! Especially on the flag ! And yeah the Daolese courts are a complete bureaucratic mess and definitely a Deadly Decadent Court, but fortunately enough Beygul rule has effectively stripped many of them of any importance so only the main three or so have any significant role. As for the Sovereign Company, basically there was an anti-monarchist military coup in the east which swept across the nation and where it conquered it removed local nobles from power. It failed to conquer the walled Hai region, however, and after a few generations it lost momentum and fell apart. Imperial forces reoccupied their old territories, but were now lacking in lords to rule it, so instead installed the Sovereign Company as administrators (as they had done previously in the colonies. Think Dutch East India Company.).

Oh and I noticed in your post on the Great Empire of the North that you have a female Genghis Khan counterpart too! Mine is Yerga Morkral, the Morkral of the Beygir Empire (although she probably has more in common with Khublai than Genghis himself). How much do you have worked out with regard to her raiding tribes?

'All shall love me and despar!'

The story about the Company does make sense. As for the she-Genghis Khan, I'm not quite sure if my moniker still stands and I didn't develop the region as much as I did Paharajma and North (the two are basically local superpowers), but I can post what I have (and create some things I don't, it's a good excersise).

• Name: Phojin Hun ("land of Phojins", although recently name Kamsien Phojit ,"Phojin Horde", seems to be making rounds)
• History: A land of rolling plains and endless steppes, Phojin Hun had always been Imperial province in name only and the fall of the old Empire didn't change much. After monster came, the few cities serving as hubs for local nomadic tribes crumbled and survivors joined into wandering clans. After years of raiding each other and sparse few coastal villages in far west, the times are getting dire and winters cold. A new leader, clan head Tam Lan, is uniting all the clans under promise of bountiful hunt south-east, in the much more successful North.
  • On Tam Lan, she's a Talented (it's a magic user gifted with only one specific and sometimes odd thing), her Talent being ability to see "bird's eye" view of herself and her surroundings, which helped make her a brilliant tactician. She's a visionary, mostly motivated by providing better hunting grounds and land for Phojins, and has more far-flung plans of civillizing her clans more, but doesn't mention this last thing so far, because it may cause a small rebellion.
• Government: ...not really, more like buddying one. Generally, the clans are ruled by matriarchies, wheather as some sort of "council of elders" or singular leaders. Under Tam Lan, this is getting more streamlined, with leaders having their councils and those who aren't loyal to them replaced by those members of their clans who are and are competent in their jobs.
• Demographics: The lands are populated almost entirely by Phojins, Asian-European looking humans, with some other phenotypes creeping in from population kidnapped by raids. Vast majority of people in Phojin Hun live in clans, with only a handful of sea-side villages of Ammuraku (who don't think of themselves as Phojins) hidden in fjords on the east coast.
• Military: Phojins are majorly horse riders and pretty much everyone over the age of seven knows how to use a bow. Knives and sabres are also popular. Under Tam Lan, the clans begin organizing into more regular army of turma-like (though mounted) cohorts, and officers can be recognized by their polearms.
• Culture: Phojins are wandering tribes used to self-susteinance, poor life conditions and making the most of what they have. They consider cities to be ugly, stuffy and way too crowded places^note Some of them actually suffer from something akin to claustrophobia when in walled towns and believe the wandering way of life to be superior, despire problems in can cause. They often raid their neighbours and take everything that isn't bolted down (and some things that are), whether it's objects, livestock or people. Captured people among Phojins can actually reach quite far if they adopt their captors' way of life and don't rebel. Phojins consider themselves equal among each other, and clan leaders often let pass insults that would have someone in North or Paharajma executed on spot. As for religion, they believe in countless nature spirits, with mages acting as shamans.
• Foreign Affairs: Phojins have only three neighbours: North, Romeoshita and monsters. Monsters they avoid and Romeoshita they can't really touch because it's behind (and partly under) a Himalaya-esque mountain range. As for the North, they employ mostly hit and run tactics, targeting places with smaller military presence and sometimes engaging in minor skirmishes. Under Tam Lan, this has grown more organized and the North is putting more and more military units, both regular and qin to address it.
• Role in the story: Kind of a boogey-man explaining, along with Paharajma, why North's military resources are stretched. At some point heroes will probably get to meet Tam Lan, likely during some sort of negotiations.
• Inspiration: I think I mostly took it from Tatar invasion of Russia and Poland back in the Middle Ages, and Tam Lan's name comes from Tamerlane, with her way of ruling plucked in some placed from what I've learned about Genghis Khan in history lessons.

Rejoice!

I really like Tam Lan's bird's eye view Talent, it sounds like an interesting skill, and also the idea of some Phojins finding walled cities somewhat claustrophobic. I can definitely see the Mongol/Central Asian/Eurasian Steppe nomad influence throughout the rest of it! I haven't actually looked that much into Tatar invasions of Russia ad Poland, but now I'm sort of interested. Is Tam Lan as brutal as Tamerlane was, or was he just an inspiration for the name?

'All shall love me and despar!'

Thank you. Just an name inspiration, really, although I'm still thinking about it. She wants to preserve the infrastructure for her civillizing plans, so she's not much for slaughtering entire cities and razing them to the ground in some brutal manner, but I guess there could be some traditions remaining among the clans.

For an example, a thing we've had in our history class, about Genghis Khan: IIRC, when he promised that he wouldn't shed somebody's - like diplomat's etc. - blood and yet wanted to kill them, he wouldn't cut them down. He would tie them up, lay them on the ground, put wooden "floor" on them and have a dinner on it, with him and his dining companions crushing the people underneath the floor to death.

That's something I can imagine Tam Lan doing, and I'll probably throw it in.

Rejoice!

What kind of infrastructure is she interested in preserving? And I haven't heard of that story but it seems strangely in-character for Genghis, so even if it didn't happen it fits pretty perfectly. I do know that the Mongols had a weird thing about blood for some reason, so high-ranking enemy leaders were sometimes trampled by horses as a form of execution.

I was going to do one on the Beygir Empire for comparison, but I realise I don't have all the details I'd like for Beygir yet (or maybe I did but I can't find them now), so instead I did one on Sentar which I always find fun to write about.

---

Name: Republic of Sentar (also the Sentarion Commonwealth)

History: Sentar is a city-state in the east, and a major centre of power in the continent of Ortus. There’s a similar amount of history written out for Sentar, which is here if you’re curious http://theshadowspact.wikia.com/wiki/Sentar , but basically it began as the first mission of Solister (basically fantasy Jesus) where he converted a lighthouse keeper and his family on a tiny island in the Rosorro Sea. Converts on the mainland began flocking to this island, which became a safe haven for worship, until the island could not hold them and their settlements began to spill out into the shallow sea around the island. After winning the allegiance of a king on the mainland, he was named the heir to their throne, and at that king’s death he came to rule a small territory. From this, he and his descendants carved out an empire covering most of the continent of Ortus, known as the Merem Empire. The legacy of this empire still lives on in the memories of the peoples of Ortus, but after a few hundred years the Emperor (Solister’s descendant and the supposed embodiment of the faith’s values) took up a heretical faith, and was executed, fracturing the empire. Only after a hundred years did Robar Sentarion, after whom the city is named, establish the democratic institutions that would bring stability to the ever-infighting city, and create the office of Dume (the ‘’spiritual’’ rather than genealogical descendant of Solister) to rule over the faith. Later the city formed a confederation with several former Merem territories, forming the Creste States, and though lacking in their old territorial expanse they became an unrivalled mercantile power. Eventually, however, the city was taken by the Empire of Weigeld-Lovas while much of Creste’s navy was abroad aiding allies. After only a brief time, Weigeld-Lovas crumbled in response to the growing Archkingdom of Aquila, and Sentar reasserted its independence. However it lost its old mainland holdings to Aquila, and thus could only reunite with its ever-loyal island possessions (Ashor and Meer), excepting Insios. As a reward for their loyalty to the old regime and resistance to invasion during the Weigeld-Lovas occupation, Sentar granted them independence and with them formed the Sentarion Commonwealth (of which Sentar was head).

Government: The Duce is a semi-parliamentary elective monarch with primacy over temporal matters in the Republic and the Commonwealth. The Dume, the head of the Faith of Solar Illumination, is the paramount authority in spiritual and religious matters. There is constant competition and disagreement between the two. The next highest source of authority is the Senate, which is chaired by the Duce, and writes the laws of the Republic (but not Commonwealth territories). It also elects the Duce upon the death of the previous. The Holiest Assembly is a mirror of the senate, composed of Faith of Solar Illumination clergy, which writes and enforces moral and religious law of the Republic and of the Faith. The seven most important officials of the Assembly form the Radiant Council, which elects the next Dume upon the death of the previous. The Merchant’s Council, a council of patricians of families recorded in official Merem registries from the old empire, controls taxation but can be overruled by the Senate. The lowest authority is the Jury of Commoners, formed of a hundred commoners chosen at random and changed every year, which can cast ballots that can remove members of any of the other bodies from power (given a majority vote), excepting the Dume and the Duce. The court system is managed by either the Holiest Assembly or the Senate, depending on the crime in question.

Demographics: Largely Crestean peoples (White Mediterranean-looking), but significant minorities attracted by the city’s lucrative trade. Although the city is the holy city of the Faith of Solar Illumination, the indigenous Faith of the Twelve exists as a significant minority faith, and the Faiths of Lunar and Stellar Illumination also have sizeable communities.

Culture: Mercantile trading-based culture, largely espouses beliefs in the equality of all people and the blindness of justice, but in reality the mercantile and religious elite are nobility in all but name. Believe their quasi-democracy makes them superior to other nations.

Military: Small overall, because of the small size of the republic, but large in proportion to their population and with an unusually high level of influence. The Sentarion navy is second only to Aquila’s in the Rosorro Sea, with heavy competition from Insios, Kameria, Bahar and Merast. However they have next to no land military, with only the city watch of the Sea Wall around the city. However as an island they have little need for a land military, as the lone Pilgrim’s Bridge between the city and the mainland is easily blockaded. Aquila has granted the Republic swathes of land along their coastline as a sign of friendship, but ultimately their defence falls to Aquila and not Sentar.

Foreign Affairs: Sentar’s voice is held especially loudly in all matters of foreign affairs. It is the seat of the Council of Kings, where nations throughout Ortus and the Rosorro Sea send delegates to negotiate international affairs. This stems from the belief in kings as mere ministers in the court of Elroh (the god of the Faith of Solar Illumination), with the Dume as a first among equals. 29 separate nations respect Sentar’s rulings as final in these matters. However tensions run high between Sentar and Insios, as former colonies of each other at different times, especially after Sentar seized several ports along Insios’s coast in reparation for crimes during the ongoing Insian-Kamerian war. Sentar is especially friendly with Aquila, and the Archking of Aquila is always crowned by the Dume of Sentar.

Role in the story: Setting for one chapter. MC comes from Ashor (part of Sentarion Commonwealth)

Influences: Venetian Republic, plus the Roman Republic, plus the Papal States, plus the UN, basically

edited 30th Oct '15 12:49:35 PM by VincentQuill

'All shall love me and despar!'

Sentar looks very regal. Like a city of Blue Bloods for Blue Bloods. They're probably the most realistic nation in this thread, because there have been merchant city-states with influence on regional or global affairs (although not nearly as much as Sentar). What is the difference between the Commonwealth and the Republic? Sentar is the head of its Commonwealth and part of a larger Republic? Are there any inherent tensions between the Duce and the Dume?

---

• Full Title: The Dominion of Osprey (an Eclipse concept)
• History: Osprey was once a disparate assortment of families and communities, operating as a quasi-socialist Close-Knit Community; the workers maintained and controlled the basic infrastructure of their society (water, transportation, internet, electricity, etcetera), but there are publicly funded private businesses providing "commodities" like sports, athletics, entertainment, fitness, and so forth. This changed when a single family discovered Magitek (called Augury), monopolized its production and distribution, and formed their own MegaCorp. Within a decade, Augury became the core infrastructure of Osprey, and if you didn't have Augury, you would be severely stunted from progressing in society. Instead of being a workers' state, Osprey developed into a society based around The Clan; your worth in Ontario was based on your family and what avenue, what hat, what specialty your family has. The Dominion was declared shortly thereafter, once the Maga Corp-owning Parlemour was named the head of state.
• Government: The head of state is the Parlemour, who is the head of the family in charge of the Augury MegaCorp. The Parlemour runs the Dominion like a business, focused mainly on accumulation of wealth through distribution and production of Augury, so the main concern of the Parlemour is to manage the national economy and business practices of their family business in Augury.
  • Below the Parlemour is the Senate, which is comprised of the heads of the Noble Houses, the most powerful families in the country. As the unicameral legislature, the Senate practically dictates policy, with the Parlemour rubber-stamping most bills that are passed, as long as they do not interfere with the Parlemour's business. To be registered as a Senator, you must be the head of a family that has a lot of influence in at least one major city.
• Demographics: Ospreys are mostly ethnically Ontarian (i.e. the mainland), who are Ambiguously Brown with varying skin tones (comparable to Yoruichi and Harribel from Bleach, Briar from Fairy Tail, Villetta Nu from Code Geass, Emerald Sustrai from RWBY, Kirche from Zero No Tsukaima, and the Su sisters in Love Hina). The second group is ethnically Ottawan (i.e. the coast and islands), whose skin tones are comparable to Haineko from Bleach, Asahina and Owari from Dangan Ronpa, or Ryofu Housen and Kan'u Unchou from Ikki Tousen. In turn, a plurality of Ospreyans are humans, with a significant Aura User minority (most of whom are under the control of the Dynasties). The population numbers at 48 million on the mainland and at least 25 million on each of the four largest surrounding islands, bringing the total to at least 292 million people.
• Culture: Ontarians and Ottawans are not very spiritual, so any sectarian conflicts between Aura Users is bordering on non-existent. Ontarians and Ottawans are matrilineal (based on mother's lineage) and matrilocal (live in their mother's house), but it is the Ontarians who are matrifocal (fathers are less important in the house and kids). Ontarian fathers are primarily breeders, meant to provide a steady line of heirs for the mother, but may assist the mothers in public life (business, politics, administration, etcetera). By contrast, Ottawan fathers raise their kids and maintain their homes with their wives. In Ontarian culture, husbands are the men whom women pick to be fathers, while Ottawans forgo marriage, maintain open relationships, and generally practice Polyamory. Ontarians and Ottawans prefer daughters to sons, but have different attitudes to their sons. Ontarian sons are often raised to be simply breeders (although they are allowed to have multiple sex partners and have complete autonomy in who they choose), whereas Ottawan sons are as important to the family as daughters.
• Society: Osprey is very clan-based, with every family having their own hat - some can be merchants (and sell specific items), others are soldiers, some are fitness folks, some are sports owners, and so forth. Some clans, who utilize Aura, have special abilities exclusive to them genetically. Some clans are based on family tradition or mythology. Many clans go far beyond the parent-child dynamic, and include half-siblings, cousins, half-cousins, and so forth; you can identify a clan member by the family symbol they wear as a badge. The Dynasties are the four most powerful families in Ontario: the Houses of Zaphren (political dynasty comparable to the Bushes or Clintons; wealthy party donors; power brokers in the Senate), Varrot (military family; famous commanders and veterans), Runyun (business family; technological prowess; big on manufacturing and innovation), and Chretien (political-military family). In addition, you have four other families rising in influence and notoriety, with power rivaling that of the Dynasties: the Houses of Dreyvor (owner of largest Aura User academy; owner of largest island in Ontario; leaders of several "client" clans), Caroun (The Rival to Dreyvor, Zaphren, and Varrot), Rampul (hold a monopoly on sports arenas, franchises, fitness gyms, and general athletics), and Mueran (Black Market; Private Military Contractors; no seat in Senate due to criminal ties).
• Military: The Defense Corps consists of Augury-armed soldiers, or Augurs, often led by Aura Users, who are then known as Aurors. The supreme commander is not the Parlemour, but the head of the Varrot family; many citizens to complain about perceived nepotism.
• Foreign Affairs: Osprey is a neutral country, mostly unconcerned with global affairs, although they maintain friendly relations with both human and Aura Users. The loss of one of its islands to Skuurnur soured its neutral stance, leading to tension between the Dynasties as the loss of one of their competitors' clout in the country leads to a power vacuum. The only way to stop things from getting out of hand is to help Dreyvor (the aforementioned competitors and island owners) force a Cold War conflict with Skuurnur in order to both halt Dreyvor's growing power in another country and drum up nationalist sentiment to keep anyone from challenging the Dynasties.
• Role in the Story: Osprey was originally Cessair, the island-country city-state belonging to Dreyvor. I felt like I needed to flesh it out more, which changed it into something else entirely. Now, they're a middle power in the world that takes action when the global powers cannot or will not, such as pushing through a Cold War with Skuurnur alongside the People's Republic of Averrium.

edited 13th Nov '15 9:01:36 PM by Serocco

In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.

Thanks! I took a lot of influence from Italian trading city-states. And the Republic is just the leading nation of the Commonwealth, so the Sentarion senate etc. can't directly rule on the laws of other commonwealth nations (Meer, Ashor, and Aisor), but the Duce is still head of state of all of them and they all share a military. And yes there's a lot of tension between the Duce and the Dume, with constant disagreement over who gets the final ruling in areas where their authority overlaps.

Really interesting history for Osprey, but I was curious about the tech level and how they could sustain a quasi-socialist system with premodern tech levels (which is what I presumed they have because of the Magitek). Also how did the Augury Mega Corp legally take charge, like was there a war toppling the existing government? Did they run as a political party and get elected to government? Btw I really like the mixture between the noble dynasties in government and the very capitalist businesslike governance of the Parlemour, as well as the clan-based system.

'All shall love me and despar!'

The Parlemour was a role concocted by his family, and they hijacked one of the major parties that entrenched their policies. Before, the Senate was only a deliberative council, not a federal legislature.

Their technology is actually modern. Augury is the next level. It's like sticking to a flip phone when you have smartphones.

edited 2nd Nov '15 7:26:17 AM by Serocco

In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.

I suppose given the amount of pull they have, that one could put the Mages Association as a nation...

• Name: The Magisters Officium Novum Association

• History: The Mages Association was created around 933, AD, officially, though some records indicate an earlier instance of the group founded by none other than Merlin himself and priding itself much more on secrecy and research rather than security operations.

The Association was created due to a number of Alchemists and Sorcerers (as mages were called then) feeling that the Vampire Courts were infringing upon their autonomy and enforcing tyrannical measures dislikes by many people involved in the Magic Side. There was a demand for some form of security.

As a result the first Waycastle Meet was held, selecting eight Grand Generals of the Association. They made it official that the Mages and other organized individuals on the Magic Side - even including werewolves and other groups the vampires disliked and repressed - were now under their protection and would no longer adhere to "doctrines of the blood".

The vampires took this poorly - they saw it as their commission to provide order over the magical world, given to them directly by the Vonnic Royal Family. Despite modern interpretation, war did not immediately result - instead, there were several months of awkward peace before radicals from both sides, led by Silmarill, enticed a war to take place.

Thus began the Vampire Wars, or as some call them, the Concordat Wars. Numerous established figures and artifacts cropped up during this war. The wars were largely fought using "Warlock Soldiers", but over time a horrible cost was accrued through use of worse and worse magic by both sides.

What was more, the battles attracted the attention of the Magic Gods, who had previously kept themselves out of squabbles and wars so as to avoid causing damage to the fabric of the world.

Eventually, however, with four of Merlin's artifacts, the Association managed to create its first Espers. This, together with the first batch of Magic God Potentials, managed to turn the tide, and the Treaty of Venus Arising was signed. This peace was rocky, and there were some holes both sides accuse one another of exploiting, but for the most part, it has resulted in a lasting peace.

• Government: The Association is run by and large by Nine Grand Generals, eight plus one who deals with the more eldritch ways magic can end up. Of the eight, only one of the "originals" remain, his name being Balkus Klein. There are a number, though, of lesser "districts" which are largely run by a House of the Elected and a House of Nobles. While they organize themselves as a Military Group, they have many governmental functions. They regulate magical experiments and the various Cores which - as they remember from the Vampire Wars - need to be at least kept recorded and with some amount of regulation. There is however no regulation of the Spell Cores effects themselves, meaning if a Mage wanted to create a Spell Core with the effect of "melts people down to the bone" he'd have to register he's making it, list its name...and he'd be free to have it. The Government is very flawed, but as opposed to the austere, rustic and rather authoritarian Vampire Courts it is seen as the better choice.

• Demographics: Theoretically, everyone is represented in the Association. In Practise, across the years, despite framing themselves as being "apart from the prejudices of the mundane world", they often fell in line with the times. The Vonnic-descended families have a tendency of getting screwed over, hence why they're the Vonnic Tribesmen nowadays. While representation is equal, a couple of the noble families make ugly noises about it, though even they don't want to bring back "ugly, unsightly mundane policies that shall not be dignified with a name".

• Culture: militaristic and largely directed toward making sure magic advances and that things like the Vampire Wars never happen again. There is a culture of permissiveness in the Association especially at the start (though it decreases over time due to this view being increasingly unpopular), with some younger mages saying that there is an abundant sociopathic disregard for the costs of the means as long as the ends go along nicely. Thus, there is also a certain "look the other way" attitude given to magical Mad Scientist types, though if it starts to crack the Masquerade, that goes away.

• Military: Theoretically, they are a simple police force, and have a role likewise theoretically like the United Nations. In practise, however, the military is divided between districts, and some handle it different ways. Some districts have large standing armies, and others simply let the Espers handle things covertly. The Magic God Potentials represent a last ditch measure, though certain generals can deploy them otherwise. There is a moral conflict about the use of Magic God Potentials, given they are mostly 13-21 year old people...granted, people who don't age and who have ridiculous power levels.

• Foreign Affairs: The foreign affairs are largely represented by two Grand Generals, and the various powers that be involve themselves through contact with these generals. The Association and the Vampire Courts are still in that rocky peace, though younger vamps are rather antsy about it, thinking its unjust to allow the Association to continue as it is. The Association has a history of involving itself covertly in mundane countries and dealing with supernatural problems before they become too dangerous to the Masquerade Spell. As such, there is not much regard for the autonomy and borders of mundane nations, though the House of Nobles sometimes cite "Mundane Autonomy" for their own ends.

• Role in the story: Matthew's employer, mostly. Some times there is a story involving cleaning up one of the Association's messes, and other times busting corruption going on.

• Influences: A darker version of the UN, together with other federations and such. They represent a skeevy overseeing government that - while it improves - it gives Matthew a "can't live with em can't live without em" set of superiors.

This reminds me of the NOL from Blaz Blue, but with more of a Vampire The Masquerade feel given the vampires being involved. The idea of them being a "can't live with, can't live without" kind of organization is interesting, so what happens when they collapse?

In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.

Caine and company happen.

Some of the districts are more villainous than others. The German District was utterly and criminally culpable during both World Wars. It shuffled some artifacts over to the Kaiser, and almost gave let Heinrich Fricking Himmler get magic.

There's also the skeevy shit the Argentinian District got up to during the Junta days.

edited 27th Jan '16 12:18:36 AM by NickTheSwing

I find this organization to be really interesting. Are there rivalries between districts based on nationality (say, between India and Pakistan)? Also, how do they keep up The Masquerade (the larger and more powerful a group gets, the harder it becomes to hide, and this group seems to have similar influence to NATO)?

• Full Title: The Lethian Republic
• History: During the height of ancient Greece, humans developed full psychic ability very suddenly. No one knows why. Greek philosophers theorized that humanity was the only real thing in the universe, and everything else was an illusion. This idea caught traction with the ruling class, including Alexander the Great, who, with psychic powers at his disposal, was much more successful and conquered basically everything in the Old World that wasn't impenetrable jungle or solid ice. After his time, the empire spread to the Americas via Russia. As the idea that only humans were real was hammered into the population over decades and centuries, it soon came to be seen as an obvious law of nature even outside Greece.

Under most circumstances, such a world would collapse into anarchy right off the bat, as concepts of morality and purpose fell into meaninglessness. And indeed, this was starting to happen around 190 BC. It had really only lasted so long because hedonism provided purpose to life, and most people had been too apathetic to rebel previously. But the society managed to survive thanks to an intellectual and politician named Lethe (after the mythological spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion). Lethe proposed that human suffering was, in fact, caused by the illusion of reality, and if one were to end the illusion, they would end suffering. Sensory deprivation or mass suicide would not be enough—only the total destruction of the universe would suffice for this end. He designed a new society to unite humanity and bring this about, and of course, he named it after himself.

The world committed itself to this self-destructive goal, and a value system entirely devoted to destroying the universe developed. Survival was emphasized, though it was meant to be simply 'in the meantime.' Oddly, hedonism did not follow—happiness was seen as something that came to you, rather than something to waste time seeking through whatever means. Family, friendship and romance ceased to be social constructs, as the low buzz of telepathy provided all the social contact people needed. Technology advanced rapidly, but only to further the cause of self-destruction. By 2016, the world of the Lethians was very, very different from our own...they actually did manage to make an attempt at destroying reality that would have been successful, but due to the laws of metaphysics, ended up making the universe merge with another, starting a chain reaction that begins the actual story. This is actually their best attempt so far.

• Government: The Greek democracy is no more. Instead, a harsh meritocracy has been instituted, with 'merit' being defined on three panes: basic intelligence, psychic ability and loyalty. The head of government is known simply as "Lethe", and takes on the name when they takes office. They're on Lethe XXII at this point. Underneath Lethe are the Advisors, who, well, advise Lethe. There is technically a judicial system separate from Lethe, but it doesn't do much besides the occasional reeducation when someone gets the bright idea that maybe some things besides humans are real.
• Demographics: Due to the incredible proliferation of Greek genes early on, the Lethians are almost monogenetic—they all look the same as Greeks do in our world. There are small enclaves of other races scattered around, but no one seeks them out, not because of racism but because most of the areas where they live look like this.◊ There are about a billion humans left on Earth—this is a dying world.
• Culture: As mentioned, Lethians have a Blue-and-Orange Morality based around surviving until they are able to destroy the universe. It is a very harsh, cold and lonely culture, filled with sociopaths. They can read emotions...they just don't give a shit. Emotion is seen as something utterly out of human control, and no time is spent studying it or trying to control it.
• Society: The quality of life dips sharply underneath the Advisors. You don't devote your existence to destroying your entire world and have good healthcare or utilities. About the only reason it hasn't completely imploded is a mix of fanaticism to the cause (which is helped along a bit, despite what the rulers tell you) and sheer dumb luck. There is a caste system, with intellectuals at the top of the pyramid.
• Military: Surprisingly enough, weapons technology didn't advance beyond the atom bomb—they realized that a bunch of nukes wouldn't be enough to destroy all of reality. The military exists, but is small—it's mostly designed to keep the solipism going and to put down rebellions from people who either disagree with the doctrine or simply don't care.
• Foreign Affairs: Nonexistent—there aren't any other nations in their world, and because they can't 'read' humans from other worlds due to their unique brain structure, they're not going to be talking to us anytime soon...
• Role in the Story: These are the bad guys. I do realize that the idea of a suicidally solipist society is kind of ridiculous—that's the point, taking solipism to its Logical Extreme.

please call me "XionKuriyama" or some variation, thanks! | What is the good deed that you can do right now?