The Last Argument of Kings
Ultima Ratio Regum
This is mainly going to be a place for me to store information on the fictitious universe in my mind, though reviews are always welcome <3
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This is a rough synopsis of the world so far, though there's possibly hundreds of other pages worth of ideas in my head that I need to write down eventually before I forget them all:
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The Last Argument of Kings is a steam-punk/dark-fantasy cross-over story set in a fictitious universe, on a planet called [place holder]. The protagonist nation is Pangaea, a vast nation on the southern peninsula coast of the continent of [place holder]. Pangaea has been under constant siege by a vast horde dubbed commonly as 'wildmen', or 'aegrum' in written Pangaeaic. The wildmen have kept Pangaea surrounded and besieged for several centuries, leaving the once lush, green grasslands outside the capital city now little more than bloodied, scarred, dry, hard dirt fields littered with deep craters and kept ablaze on the horizon by a hundred pyres of constant burning pyres, which lead to the name adhéafod ád being given to the battlefield, which translates to 'field of pyres/field of flames' in written Pangaeaic.
Each night Pangaea is assaulted by hordes of wildmen of varying numbers - on average somewhere between 300-500 - along the entire length of the peninsula which spans roughly two hundred and fifty miles (or four hundred kilometres). The entire population of Pangaea resides within a single, massive city reaching from the west coast of the southern area of the peninsula across to the east coast and every point of land between, kept safe by towering walls of steel and a vast army of dedicated men and women. The land outside the capital city, dubbed adhéafod ád is lined with a dozen solid, intricate trenches sprawling from one coast to another, each with several bases along the length and hundreds of bunkers, dubbed 'trench houses' by the soldiers. Each man is required to serve a single tour of duty in the nation of Pangaea, which lasts an entire year, starting at the trench nearest to Pangaea where their training starts in the field so that they are fully used to living among other soldiers used to military life within trench networks by the time they reach the front trench where their last month is served; such a short time on the front line is required by each soldier due to the nightly sieges and constant death around the trenches, so that the system is fully manned and stocked round-the-clock without a single break in the order.
The main story follows the lives of Pangaea's highest order: the Collegium Scholaris, a sub-faction combined of military operations and historical documentation; the men and women who write the story of the world as it unfolds through their own eyes and those of others around them. The Collegiae as the members are called are gathered from the highest echelons of the military branches; commandos, black operators, the special forces of the Royal Air Army aboard airships, and various others. They represent the absolute greatest that Pangaea has; elite men and women from among the elite of the elite. Tacticians and teachers, historians and warriors alike, they both lead the army and air army from the front, assist in formulating long-term strategies and tactics with the general staff and work alongside the civilian service; medical personnel and scientists, explorers and historians. The Collegiae are the vanguard of the nation, though with a relatively small number in comparison to the total population of Pangaea, due to the extremely difficult process of membership; of which requirements include several previous career tours on the front with the army, discounting the compulsory first tour, being of officer rank within the regular army or at least NCO rank within the various branches of special forces, recommendations from various officers and other personnel throughout the nation's military and civilian services, a recommendation from the monarch or at least one member of the Pangaean royal family, as well as extremely tough physical and mental tests and trainings, which have been described by special forces and generals as making the toughest commando training regimen appear as civilian's casual jog, though many stress that it is far more than that alone. Collegium training also involves leadership tests, requiring potential Collegiae to serve on the front trench leading both a regular army company and a special forces platoon for an entire tour each - a single tour spanning an entire year, though for special forces most of the year is spent on the border of the Dead Lands, the spoken Pangaeic word given to the vast region of the continent home to the wildmen, which contains (reported estimate) several billions worth of barbarian men; though there are no civilizations or cities in the Dead Lands, simply vast hordes of wild men living among their own filth in fields of blood. The hordes that attack Pangaea each night, numbering hundreds, are reported only to be surplus inhabitants that have forced out by their fellows to make room for others.
Many other requirements for selection span several years of rigorous lifestyle for applicants, including written accounts of their lives up to that point, starting from the day where life is considered to start among Pangaeans, which is the twentieth birthweek, where individuals are visited by military careermen and given various enlistment options, as not every individual is forced to fight in the trenches, though everyone is required to help the war effort, where by fighting, working in field surgery, engineering, logistics or as crewmen in the Royal Air Army. As Collegiae are not only warriors, but scholars and historians, they are required to obtain a recommendation from the current foremost scholars in Pangaea, in written form, to prove that they are deemed dedicated and responsible enough to document all aspects of the world alongside their military roles. Many other requirements are also included in the long, arduous selection process. When and very much if an applicant is successful in their training a ceremony is held along with any other successful applicants on the royal grounds where often millions attend to congratulate the applicant and express their admirations, before the monarch, the chiefs of staff from all military branches, the applicants future Collegiae mentor and the First Lord Major, the chief of staff among Colliegiae all present a medal from each military branch's order, a royal cross and an official admission into the ranks of the Collegium Scholaris to the applicant. They are also granted royalty by the monarch personally and are from that moment forth are considered a member of the Royal Order of Pangaea, an order specifically for and restricted to Collegiae in honour of their recognition. They are then considered to be an Adjuvant the lowest rank among Collegiae, though one of the highest standings within Pangaea, a higher standing than each chief of staff of the military.
The novelization follows an Orcus-Atrae named Woad, an Archivist within the Collegium Scholaris, the rank immediately superior to Adjuvant, and immediately subordinate to Scriar. Woad's journey takes himself and his company through a multitude of situations; from the front trenches, to the Dead Lands and places far beyond in service of Pangaea. He documents the great war with the wildmen as it progresses as seen through his eyes from the very forefront. Woad, being Collegiae, is oft sent on some of the most dangerous operations and quests that any in the nation might undertake throughout the story; he and his company document the war and the world around Pangaea and both seek to educate the people of the world they may never get the chance to see and also to fight to give the men and women the chance to live without an enemy horde of hundreds battering their gates each night: a goal that has been in the eyes of every soldier, commander and leader of Pangaea for over ten centuries without much fruition.
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The above was written between 03:30-05:00, so please forgive potential spelling and sentence structure errors.
Here also is the link to the wiki I'm using to store the various pages.
http://the-last-argument-of-kings.wi...org/Front_Page
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Originally Posted by Grifspark
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