Sure, the paragraph sounds good and the leather will be much appreciated. Also, the reason why I said to fly my flag along side my own is that Ryukyu has a history of hiring pirates and bandits all throughout the land. Under contract, they have to give help and not to attack any vessel,caravan,etc that flies my flag. Of course I this doesn't have great diplomatic effects, but it does have its uses.

Also, make sure the scholars you have proper documentation, Ryukyu has a strict policy surround letting their scholars go to other nations as advisors.

And the description is born again, even lengthier! Here is its reincarnation.

"Within the past century, the Dominion of Terus has also established contact with the distant Ryuku Empire. The Azracs were impressed by these foreigners' advanced technology and wealth, while the Ryukuans greatly desired many of Azraca's resources. Naturally, a trade route soon developed. Opportunistic merchants from both nations began sailing between the two, the Azrac ships always flying the Ryukuan silver gear and yellow coins in addition to their own orange flag so as to receive immunity from the privateers sponsored by Ryuku.

The Terusites were glad to take Ryukuan gold in exchange for Azraca's famed leathers and the iron that they would have otherwise discarded in favor of bronze. Other miscellaneous goods such as sugar, exotic foods, and pearls are shipped by the boat as well, but perhaps the most important trade good for the Terusites is knowledge. The Emperor of Ryuku allows learned men (with the proper documentation) to bring friendly nations some of Ryuku's technologies, for a fee of course. The Terus dynasty was the first to begin hiring Ryukuan scholars and artisans to share their secrets, but now the other major lords are beginning to follow the trend. Slowly, this trade route is helping to modernize Azraca and better equip the Ryukuan army."

@ClocktowerEchos

Domestic stability is declining in Arman-Arhus, as well, with the loss of trust in inbred leaders. Plus, a lot of the former nobility is still really bitter about losing a lot of their political power when Arman-Arhus declared itself a Republic.

I wish I had the time to join this. Pre-gunpowder is my preferred historical time period (particularly anywhere prior to late antiquity). I'll keep an eye on this, even though I know I probably will not have any extra free time until maybe summer time.

The Kingdom of Thaga, which is still under construction, will be located in the south. Please drop by for all your hallucinogenic, stimulant and depressant needs! Also, please don't worry about your border villages. My elephants will only trample them once a year at most.

The Kingdom of Thaga, which is still under construction, will be located in the south. Please drop by for all your hallucinogenic, stimulant and depressant needs! Also, please don't worry about your border villages. My elephants will only trample them once a year at most.

Fulmen Nati priesthood already has a corner on the Hallucinogenic market. They're not going to be pleased. :P

This calls for a Dope-Down.

"medicinal" drugs is my unique resource but I'm sure your quacks can convince some fools to buy their inferior goods ;)

EDIT: I meant priests, of course.

Hey, you have medicinals, I have Incense. There's some degree of overlap. I have no doubt your drugs have purely incidental health benefits.

So yeah, inferior in the sense that the priesthood has gunk with more tar, and everyone knows that kind of stuff is better.

IF I'm allowed to i would like to take a roll.
Ive been looking at this rp for a while, and it looks interesting I'm just not that good of advanced rp'r.
Saying so that means i will only post once in a while.

Glad you're interested, same goes for you @Dedonus.

I'll either assing you the rolls of someone who has retracted their interest, or roll anew. Choice is yours. Heading to bed now, so you'll get something tomorrow :).

"medicinal" drugs is my unique resource but I'm sure your quacks can convince some fools to buy their inferior goods ;)

EDIT: I meant priests, of course.

That and you could be an all-out narco-state.

<Snipped quote by Song Book>

Glad you're interested, same goes for you @Dedonus.

I'll either assing you the rolls of someone who has retracted their interest, or roll anew. Choice is yours. Heading to bed now, so you'll get something tomorrow :).

Ill like to roll anew, just to say. I have a nice idea of a nations leader. need those stats to build it though.

@Cyclone That is beautiful, hopefully the trade profits will be too!

@Terminal What kind of incense do you have? They are a vital part of my religion but I prefer for my priests and shrine maidens not to get high during festivals.

<Snipped quote by Cold>

That and you could be an all-out narco-state.

There should be some "NPC" city-states like they do in Civ 5 and some of them are literally run by criminals.

@Cyclone That is beautiful, hopefully the trade profits will be too!

@Terminal What kind of incense do you have? They are a vital part of my religion but I prefer for my priests and shrine maidens not to get high during festivals.

<Snipped quote by Sini>

There should be some "NPC" city-states like they do in Civ 5 and some of them are literally run by criminals.

Ah, well, that's just it you see.

You may have noticed that 100% of the Fulmen Nati population is listed as being Effulgent (worshiping the foremost god of the Nati pantheon). The reason for that is because the Priesthood uses hallucinogenic incense that induces suggestibility in order to sway the masses. Combine that with charismatic Priests spewing out Inspiring Divine Mythos, and you've got a bunch of converts. Then multiply by thousands of years of religious heritage and cultural tradition.

The actual problem here is that it's the Apricor Scholars who make the incense, the Free Family wouldn't be involved. If you wanted access to this stuff, you need to play ball with the Priesthood. They're apathetic to other religions - they accept the existence of other pantheons and gods, but they are predominantly concerned with spreading the influence of their own. A bit of a gamble, yeah?

The idea of NPC states brings up the question: what are we going to do with any empty spaces on the map? Make NPC nations that we can do whatever we want to? Expand all our existing nations' territories so that there is no empty space? Leave it for someone who decides to join later on?

And how will the passage of time work?

Ideally the map is filled completely with player controlled countries. I imagine this can be achieved by simply increasing the area size of countries and shifting things around a bit. I usually feel that NPC countries don't add much in Nation Roleplays. It's the player interaction that counts.

We could do it Europa Universalis style where the map is divided up into provinces and the unclaimed provinces can be areas that are colonizable with nations who as sufficiently advanced enough and politically stable. We could also do a "United we stand" sort of thing for new players as their nations are a groups of provinces that have accumulate enough power and influnce to be recognized by the other nations or they could be a former colony of an older nation.

This also brings up some other points I want to make.
1) Is there only one land mass on the entire planet? Since the potential of oversees empires would be interesting. It would also give newer players a chance to jump in as it can be said that new lands were isolated from the current land mass as most nation were to focused on internal conflicts and issues than looking beyond the sea. (this is kind of also a selfish thing since one of the ideas my nation has is rapid expansion xD)

2) If we get sufficiently far into the RP, will gunpowder be making an appearance? Its only a matter of time before the more advanced nations create it and it will add a whole new dynamic to the game where nations who've had warrior class or trained, professional soldiers are suddenly outdone by recruits with gunpowder weapons. Of course, all nations will get unrest as the traditionalists wants to keep the old way of fighting in the face of "weapons of smoke and fire that kill without skill and without honor" and try to resist the change.

Only a matter of time until advanced civilizations make gunpowder? People worked iron and steel for thousands of years without discovering it. I think the earliest form was a combination of coal dust, sulfur, and saltpeter. This black powder would literally spontaneously explode due to static electricity. Anyways, even after that formula was discovered by pure chancs by Chinese alchemists, it was not used for weaponized for centuries. It took a long time to develop better alternatives and figure out how to use it in cannons and muskets.

All of this is just to my understanding, though. If someone else here is more knowledgeable, feel free to correct me.

In my mind there shouldn't ever be muskets or artillery unless the time period that we cover goes on for centuries, at least. There's also the issue of it ruining the low-fantasy setting, at least in my eyes.

Speaking of low Fantasy: @Sini, have you checked out the Compendium yet?

As for everyone else: Please feel free to add to it.

<Snipped quote by Sini>

Ill like to roll anew, just to say. I have a nice idea of a nations leader. need those stats to build it though.

This looks like an economically strong nation, a few wealthy city-states that have banded together for reasons of security and trade. You've got a lot of corrupt people. Your army seemingly consists of some elite troops, militia and mercenaries.

ESSENTIALS
Regionally Dense Population (Population - 3,000,000) - Considerable amount of manpower for economic and military purposes, but it also means that the social infrastructure is under increasing strain. Educational costs and civic projects tend to be expensive.

Economy - Stagnation - The economy is performing adequately, though there is much room for improvement. There are little limitations on the economy that are bottlenecking real growth, such as a lack of funds or resources, tech limits. There is some unemployment and economic unhappiness among people, and there is a degree of criticism in what can go wrong, even if it hasn't gone wrong yet.

Urbanisation - Heavily: Your nation consists of many cities. Community sizes range from a few hundred to several thousands.

Technology - Slowly Modernizing: The industrial infrastructure is in the process of improvement, and this is a teething process. But the economy is seeing increased activity because of this investment. New technologies are becoming domestically available. However, there is a degree of dependence on imports, including in terms of the expertise to modernize the economy. Metallurgy is limited to bronze and some iron products.

Domestic Political Stability - ethnic violence in cities

GEOGRAPHY
Largely consists of plains and hills, some marshes

RESOURCES
Mineral Deposits - Moderate deposits of metals and minerals.

Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominately silver and salt.

Unique Materials - precious stones, textiles (linen, lace, some silks), perfumes

Agriculture - crop and cattle based, slight food surplus that is increasing over time

MILITARY
Military Focus - inferior army, decent navy, bad infantry and cavalry ratio (10:1)

Military Recruitment - Rotation system, strong mercenary contingent (4 regulars to 1 merc)

Reliability - Levies are of excellent quality, generals play politics

Military Size - mid-sized, relative to population: requires reasonable upkeep, harder to equip/supply quickly.

Military Technology - Slow Modernisation, your nation lags behind, you are dependent on what you can buy, pillage or otherwise take from others, but have certain fields of expertise.

Military Training and Morale - Badly Trained; High Morale, levies have medium morale but are bad at following orders

Military Leadership - somewhat competent; Corrupt; Decadent

Military Reputation - Popular domestically; considered decently sized but inexperienced

Siege Equipment - Outdated but effective, seasoned corps of sappers

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES (also, come up with one of each your own)
Pro: A little money here and there: The Merchants leave aside a little ‘bribe’ money with which to get through those pesky little legal roadblocks and expedite trade, oh nothing illegal of course, just some sharp-edged coin to cut through the red tape, like getting into cities and getting the choicest stalls. You have a lot of money. Grease a couple of palms, for a little coin to grease a few palms can get you preferred status as the chosen customers of more than a few merchants. After all, they’ve all got such incredibly large families to feed.

Con: Mercenary Muscle: Your nation relies heavily on mercenaries and hired hands. And they are only as loyal as their pay check. The problem with a nation full of mercenaries is what happens when an enemy nation simply decides that they’re going to offer your men more than you do. There is nothing quite so terrible as half of your army packing up and joining the bad guys.

The idea of NPC states brings up the question: what are we going to do with any empty spaces on the map? Make NPC nations that we can do whatever we want to? Expand all our existing nations' territories so that there is no empty space? Leave it for someone who decides to join later on?

Ideally, as @Cold stated, the entire continent (which is NOT the only landmass on this world, see the OP IC-info) would be filled out with a patchwork of player ran states. Up to recently it seemed there would have been no problem, due to the massive interest this RP received. Unfortunately a few people have backed out, or have simply not followed through with their stated interest. That's a pity, particularly since it took me time to roll for them. Such is life, I guess.

And how will the passage of time work?

Passage of time will go how we want it to go. Like I said, I do not want this to be a competitive brawl of people pummeling their chests and screaming they're the best (that only happens at night, in my bed). This means that time is not as tight as otherwise. The story progresses at the pace we set it. Everything is relative.

For instance, someone goes to war yeah (I assume this is the biggest concern)? You talk to one another about the campaign. Do you know he/she is coming? How many there are? Where they will show up? Time isn't as relevant here in its absolute sense. Collaborate, 'set a date'. When you read a novel, events do not always transpire chronologically either. What happens before or after is what's important.

Speaking of low Fantasy: @Sini, have you checked out the Compendium yet?

It's already up in the OP at the bottom. Please do not add to it before having it sanctioned. I don't want giant hydras suddenly tossing around mountains or something. :)

1) Is there only one land mass on the entire planet?

2) If we get sufficiently far into the RP, will gunpowder be making an appearance?

1. See above and the IC information segment. No, there are other continents, but nobody knows if they still exist or where they are.

2. No. I simply feel it would not fit with the setting. Steampunk NRPs are there for this. The equivalent superweapon is something like Greek fire (wildfire) but that is something I would like to avoid as well.

Did I get any and all questions? :)

<Snipped quote by Pikachu>

There you go. Since EthanJ is dropping, I'd say you can have his rolls unless you want an entirely new sheet. In which case: let me know.

ESSENTIALS
Population Density (Population - 6,000,000) -Adequately Populated; Some manpower for economic, public and military purposes, and social infrastructure (housing, roads, public buildings, sanitation) is only under some pressure. Civic projects are affordable.

Economy -Rapid Growth - The economy is performing well according either to design or accident, or a happy coincidence of both, and this situation puts money in the coffers of the nation and confidence in its citizens.

Urbanisation -Semi-urbanised: There are several towns and a few cities present, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand inhabitants.

Technology -Modernizing: The industrial infrastructure is in the process of improvement, and this is a teething process. But the economy is seeing increased activity because of this investment. New technologies are becoming domestically available. However, there is a degree of dependence on imports, including in terms of the expertise to modernize the economy. Metallurgy is limited to iron products.

Domestic Political Stability - Widespread Protests Common, particularly in large communities.

GEOGRAPHY
Largely consists of plains and hills, with some desert

RESOURCES
Mineral Deposits - Moderate deposits of metals and minerals, iron, tin, copper, salt and the like.

Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominately silver and gold.

Unique Materials - Magnificent furs

Agriculture - cattle based, slight food surplus that is decreasing over time

MILITARY
Military Focus - land oriented, good infantry and cavalry ratio (4:1)

Military Recruitment - Volunteer Force Military, large component of mercenaries (3:1 ratio)

Reliability - Racially Homogenous troops are reliable, mercenary components subject to some doubt

Military Size - Large, relative to population: requires considerable upkeep, harder to equip/supply quickly.

Military Technology - Rapid Modernization, your nation does not lag behind the rest of the world, and even sets the standard on some levels.

Military Training and Morale - Decently Trained; High Morale

Military Leadership - Semi-Competent; Rose to their positions through experience and battlefield exploits

Military Reputation - Unpopular domestically; considered uncouth but capable by foreigners

Siege Equipment - Undeveloped; Loyal

Okay, I'll take it ^^!