"Work in Progress"Name of Nation:
The Autumn Republic
Government:
A Transitional Authoritarian Democracy
Species:
Valkyrians, Valkyria
The natives of the lands the Autumn Republic are known as Valkyria. In terms of their physiology, they are fairly similar to humans, but with very notable differences. First and foremost is their bird like features.With their large wings and feathered tails sprouting from their lower backs, giving them the natural ability to fly. For a Valkyria, flying is nearly no different from flying or running, making them incredibly mobile creatures. For the rest of their physiology, Valkyrians stand normally at a modest 5’2 to 5’3 with rare exceptions, normally possessing hair/feather colors of black, white, and brown. Valkyrians also seem to naturally perform better at high, thin air altitudes, where normally humans would have difficulty breathing, making them right at home in the sky.
Culture:
The people of the republic are faced with the hard questions that come after such a radical shift in society. What should be destroyed with the rest of the nobility and what should be left behind? This question has yet to be completely answered, but things are “working out” relatively
History:
“So it is done?”
“Yes…”
“Do you realize just what exactly you have done?! The ramifications of this?!”
“Of course, and I have already felt the consequences. The Age of Kings is dead, and I have killed it.”
This story, as with many things of this time, has its roots in the corpse of a collapsing empire. Robert Adron, a human common born, was a man who defied fate in his homeland. Joining the army of the Kingdom of Avalia in 1855 at the very bottom, he became the first common born to ever achieve the rank of officer in the later months of 1868. Lord Harold Holfgar the VII took note of the rising star in his military. The Iron King, as he was called, was a pragmatic. He always sought to secure and increase power, no matter the means, and had no tightly clutched ideals of tradition. Seeing the writing on the wall, he knew he needed capable generals and staff to lead his armies when the time came, and Adron fitted the bill.
However, Adron did not know of nor benefit from the support from the King himself until the civil war had broken out. When the central authority of the empire collapsed, the Iron King declared the Kingdom of Avalia no longer a subservient vassal to the empire, and promptly plunged his nation into the thick of it. Through cunning, bravery, and great amount of risk, Adron found himself climbing the ranks through silent benefactor. Despite this, by the time he was a Captain, he had already dueled at least a hundred nobles who sought to smash this commoner upstart. By the year 1870, he had achieved the rank of General and had a seat on the chiefs of staff of the old Field Marshal himself. It was only at this point did the Iron King pronounce his public support for Adron, and after the Field Marshal succumbed to his age in the latter months of the civil war, Adron found himself leading the Army itself. He made a number of reformations, such as the creation of the Winged Fusiliers, the abolishment of commissions, and a professional army based on merit and achievement, rather than social rank and wealth. The nobility both feared and hated Field Marshal Adron, but couldn’t deny that his actions had essentially secured their own interests in the kingdom becoming an independent state at the close of the civil war. The Iron King continued to put his new relm on the path of modernization, investing heavily in the infrastructure of the country, allowing the growth of a middle class, and even allowing the first ever “Worker’s Union” to take shape (after repeatedly having its leaders arrested in the years prior). For Adron though, this was a time of consolidation and peace. He continued to be hounded by jealous nobles, but it had merely become a minor nuisance on the prefory and he continued his work modernizing his military, taking advantage of the unique abilities and skills the Valkyrians could provide for his army. Now that they were no longer relegated to second class peoples, prominent Valkyrians had climbed the ranks of the military, becoming members of Adron’s personal staff even. With this, they demonstrated to him what they believed the future of modern warfare was to be. Not that of static lines and sieges, but of mobility and most importantly, air power.
Between the fascination and support from the Iron King and the level headed, practical thinking of the Field Marshal, the Avalian military became less of an Army with an air wing, but an Airforce with an Army. Research into lighter than air flight exploded, and soon a complete change in transportation and culture swept the nation.
However, not but 20 years after the Kingdom of Avalia had gained its independence, the Iron King, despite all his wisdom, died leaving an incompetent prince to take the throne. King Harold Holfgar the VIII was crowned on a warm spring day of 1891 at the age of twenty four years. Despite being of age to rule, his consistent lack of interest in actually running the nation instead of bedding every fair lady he came across lead to the nobility surrounding him to take charge. They sought to undo much of the changes that had come, to tear down the reformations the Iron King had set up and enforced through might and fear. The royal cabal, so wrapped up in their own internal squabbles, merely kept away, only there to ensure the new king was healthy. Adron, while angered by this, played nice with the nobility for awhile….
On a cold, January day in 1900, Adron’s wife was found guilty of treason and disrespect towards the crown and nobility. Her head was promptly delivered to Adron in a box.
The nobility, in their growing arrogance, decided to strike at Adron himself. His wife, a loud and proud Valkyrian woman, had smacked a duke in the face while on business at the palace. This duke had attempted to non so subtly remind her that Valkyrians were not allowed on palace grounds. She was immediately arrested by the loyal King’s Guard, was sentenced to death by the next day. All of this occured while Adron was overseeing winter training maneuvers of some of the army.
This provocative action had been deliberate, and he knew it. It was a message from the nobility of Avalia that they were not to be interfered with any longer.
Thus, a great man was given a great motivation.
Nine years of schemes, of bribes, of secret meetings, and of plots. Nine years lead to Adron’s own response. He wanted revenge against the nobility, the corrupt, rotten core of this nation he so loved gone. These were the people that, at every turn in his life, fought him and hated him. No matter how valours his sacrifices, how loyal he was to the crown, or how desperately he defended his homeland, they saw him as a lowly commoner and nothing more.
Thus, for the people, for the unions, the army, his country, and… his wife, he killed them all. On the night of October 4th, 1909, the 5th Brigade and the 1st Winged Fusiliers executed a coordinated strike throughout the capital and the palace itself. The King’s Guard found bayonets in their chests before they knew it and the noble families across the city were waking up to soldiers breaking down their doors to “arrest” them for treason.
By the morning, nearly four hundred nobles, their entire families, and even some of their servants, found themselves in chains and the Field Marshal looking down upon them.
It had been said that the entire population of Arkan, the capital, turned out for the executions. At the very least, it looked that way to the Field Marshal as he watched the ocean of people move into the massive “Kings Garden” in front of the palace. The King was the first to go, then his wife, the Queen. One by one, nobles were marched up onto the decks of the execution platform. One by one, their heads fell into baskets. To the people of Avalia, this day is known as “Election Day”, the day the city drowned in blood. For the next few days riots had persisted in the city until Adron had allowed his brigade bring order once again. With this, came the proclamation. This was no longer the Kingdom of Avalia.
This was The Autumn Republic.
Since then, the nation has more or less stabilized over the past few months. There was a brief rise of Royalists who had slipped through the purge’s fingers, but they and their barricades had been put down over only a few weeks. Adron claimed to be merely a temporary figure head as his council made up of co-conspirators from peoples of power began to lay the foundation for a proper republic. Until then, the people of the new republic at least breath easy, for the know who this great man at the head of their nation was. To the workers, the merchants, and the Airborne Army, he was the father of their new nation. Hope, it seems, may just be on the horizon.
Territorial Claims:
Economy:
The lack of a proper merchant marine and the domestic problems at home as created a highly centralized economy within the nation. Large unions control vast swaths of labor, unions who not a decade before were entirely illegal.
Technology:
Army:
Navy:
Air Force:
Rolls:
Territory: 5 +3
Tech: 16 +2
Army Size: 11
Economy: 11 +3
Production: 14 +1
Navy Size: 6 -1
Airforce Size: 20
Magic: 11 -4
Mobilization: 10
Traits:
Foreign Relations:
Other:
