Unique Technologies
Avalia enjoys an advance specialization in aerospace research and development, boasting of a robust and sizable air force and airship fleet. For further details, see below in Economy and Military sections

Vast Hydrium Refineries cover the coast and inland of Avalia. Considering the nation's heavy reliance on airships in both military and civilian worlds, Avalia has developed a world class Hydrium industry to support its massive air fleets.

Economy/Technology:
Thanks to the progressive policies set forth by the preceding monarch, the Avalian economy has done well to modernize and industrialize to a point of being on par with most modern powers. This is also thanks to in part the large systems of navigable rivers that snake through the nation, generating a far higher ceiling for potential capital wealth. In fact, with trade and transport relatively easy, the resulting canals and railways only furthered this rise in both credit and capital. With a growing middle class and a easing of acquiring credit, this has led to a boom in entrepreneurship and innovation. Despite this industrialization, and with it, urbanization, some of the main exports come from agriculture, being namely cotton and wheat. Salt, coal, and Hydrium also remain high on the export list, thanks to the very rich low lying mountains that make up part of the eastern border. The largest imports happened to be sugar, coffee, silver, and spices.

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 have struggled to remain in the rising wave of nationalism. Various ideas of Social Liberalism and Market Liberalism are practiced within by said organizations as the government itself has yet to take any true hard stance on the matter. Regardless, the Republic most certainly practices and endorses capitalism and only seeks to modify the system, not outright replace it with an entirely different system. This has lead to an explosion of a middle class and with it, a internal consumer market, creating a healthy tax base that has been more than useful in stitching the country back together.

The nation’s military and civilian benefit from cutting edge communication technology which when combined with their complex railroad, road, and more recently canal efforts have lead to a nation where a message from one end of the nation could be spread to all the far corners in merely hours or days.

Among many of the innovations, none of have causes as much of a stir than in heavier than air flight. For the past few decades, the modernized army had utilized a wide variety of aerospace technologies, ranging from military and commercial airships to a cutting edge aircraft design and production industry. It is needless to say that technological innovation stems from the focus of returning to their natural homes in the sky. As a result, not only do Avalians enjoy an incredibly advance air force in both doctrine and equipment, but also the branching techs the allow such things to be possible such as advance long range radios and communication devices.

Hydrium is a naturally occurring substance in our world, seeping out of vents in the planet's crust or contained in pockets and chambers. This substance is naturally lighter than Hydrogen and far safer, allowing safer and more practically viable airships. Often being described as smelling of mangoes, Hydrium can be refined into higher/"sweeter" grades of gas, allowing more efficient lift capacity. The process in which to properly harvest, refine, and use Hydrium can be very intensive to set up, requiring large amounts of infrastructure and capital to make worthwhile. While one could, theoretically simply slap a nozzle on a natural vent and call it a day, it would be far more worth while to process the stuff into something far more efficient. This also means, due to its gas nature, that transporting and trading Hydrium can be a difficult endeavor, as both traders would need to have the infrastructure and facilities to receive and store the gas. (Think of it to being similar to the production and exportation of Natural Gas, but maybe a little less intense). As a result, Avalia is covered in a network of pipelines and storage facilities for Hydrium used by both military and civilians alike. Some of the major Hydrium refineries in the world exist along the coast of Avalia, for ease of transport and trade.

Primary Species:
Humans

Valkyrians, Valkyria
The natives of the lands of Avalia 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 walking or running, making them incredibly mobile creatures. For the rest of their physiology, Valkyrians stand 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.

Population:
51 Million

Culture:
For much of Avalia’s history, a strong divide between the nobility and the peasantry has existed. Between the ethnic origins of the Valkyrians and Humans to the infamous book “The Peoples of Law”, a strong sense of servitude and noble birthright had been enforced. This all changed, however, with the rise of King Holfgar the VII, otherwise known as the “Iron King”. His radical changes in both power and economic structure has lead to a growing sense of self determination and hatred for the nobility. Even as the merchants coffers grew, they were still held by tradition to be subservient to even the poorest of the noble families, as was their noble blood.

This has radically changed over the past decades since the revolution, as now Avalians are filled with a strong sense of indepence, self determination, and sense of freedom. While racial divides are still prevalent, the nation as a whole has enjoyed a slow but sure move towards further equality by the two races, gradually shifting its focus to the class divides that nation faces rather than the racial ones.

Religious and Other Beliefs:
While many in this growing age of rationalism prefer to merely believe in the natural order of the world, some still speak of the ancient prophecies and traditions that swirl around the original peoples and the mysterious “King of the Skies”. Some call him a god, others merely think he was a powerful ruler of the time, but no one has yet known for sure what to make of it. Aside from that, various major religions are practice without much fuss for now.

Location/Territories:
Dark Green

Climate:
Fair temperate, experiencing warm summers and cold winters.

Military:


The Avalian Military Forces are split between three distinct branches of operations. These are the Avalian Ground Army, The Airborne Forces, and the Coastal Defense Forces.

The Avalian Ground Army is comprised of much of the regular infantry, motorized, and armored divisions of the Avalian military. Both Humans and Valkyrians serve in this branch, often mixed together rather than separated to provide more tactically flexible infantry. Avalian armor is still relatively new and untested, relying a doctrine of light cavalry tanks and infantry support vehicles. Within the army is a traditional, ancient order of troops known as “The Mountain Watch”.





The Airborne Forces consist of most of the aerial assets of the Avalian military, including aircraft, airship fleets, and the infamous “Winged Fusiliers” elite Valkyrian infantry. They are often used in support of ground forces, and practice a specific doctrine using airships as mobile, forward bases from which aircraft and infantry alike can be deployed to support advancing or defending ground and naval forces. As a result, many airships are lightly armed as opposed to some ironclad contemporaries, as they are not expected to engage directly in ship to ship combat.






The Coastal Defense Forces is the most rapidly changing branch of the three, and handles most of Avalia’s naval needs. Due to the nature of its land bound neighbors and recent events, Avalia has never had the luxury of affording or focusing on a proper naval force. Now with the nation’s recovery in full swing and movement towards expansionism, the Coastal Defense Forces are rapidly undergoing refitting and rearming. For now though, the naval forces are merely made up of a combination of heavy cruisers, destroyers, and light patrol vessels alongside a number of strategically placed coastal fortifications.
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Magic Prevalence/Usage:
Magic was outright banned from the masses centuries ago and has remained so ever since. Only the Royal Cabal of Sorcerers are allowed to practice. Every year “Dousers” go through the cities and farms to find those who contain large magic potential, and then are whisked away to become incredibly powerful sorcerers who serve the nobility, in particular, the king. Thus, while powerful and skillful users exist, they are very few in number, and solely serve the king. When they were outright slaughtered, magic within the nation died with them. Perhaps with the vacuum and changing times, it may return.

History/ Background Info:

Where All Things Must Begin
“Welcome the people of the sky, and they shall serve well.”
-A common phrase found on artifacts of the region.

Much of the early history of the native Valkyrians to this land has been lost to time. What remains is mostly speculation, as recorded history of the region only begins after migratory human tribes began to settle the region, and consequently interact with them. Full integration was suspected to have occurred during the raider invasions of around 400 BCE. These invasions are to have supposedly created a deal among the two races, in which the more fortified human communities allowed shelter and safety so long as the peoples of the sky served them loyally . Many radicals point to these events as evidence for human superiority, but with recent trends and archeological digs, the evidence seems to suggest a far more symbiotic relationship than previously thought.

The Rise of a Kingdom
“Those of noble blood, of noble mind, and of noble heart are the true heirs of this world!”
-King Aaden Holfgar’s coronation speech.

The Kingdom of Avalia was created when a man only remembered as “The Sky’s King” had binded the small fiefdoms surrounding his land under his rule through marriage, blood, and war around 200 BCE. Centuries of monarchy lead to a growing gap and disconnect from the peasantry and the nobility, particularly the Valkyrians, as the various families competed to gain favor with the high courts of the Royal Family. The Valkyrians and human peasantry began to become further agitated, and in response to the growing unrest, King Enar the III requested aid of the scholars of the high court. In response, a cabal of powerful sorcerers arrived, swearing loyalty to the crown and nobility. After a demonstration of their powerful magic, the masses became quite once more.

This was further emphasized when in the early 1700s, a book was published titled “The Peoples of Law” detailing the necessity of the nobility. The very survival of the kingdom, the peasants, and the Valkyrians depended on the continued leadership of their King and his rulers, less the great and powerful forces and evils of the world, raiding from the sea and invading from the land, would destroy us all.

The book became widespread and soon was taught to many dukes and duchesses, as well as preached to the common folk of the land. A mentality soon set in among many, that the nobility and their blood were of a special breed, a higher quality crop, then that of other lesser peoples. From noble to peasant, it was all sincerely believed for hundreds of years that this held sway. Having good harvests and generally staying out the major wars waged seem to justify, validate this belief. However, as the century began to turn, so to did Avalia’s history, and culture.

A Man of Iron
“One man always makes a difference. Sometimes it’s a small one. Other times, he tips a war.”
-King Harold Holfgar the VII to his advisors upon promoting Field Marshal Adron

The Kingdom of Avalia had more or less stagnated under monarchic rule. Series of unimpressive kings and queens had lead Avalia to the edge of outright decline in the 18th century, but soon one of the most ambitious men of Avalia’s history would take power. King Harold Holfgar the VII was crowned on May 3rd, 1820 at the age of twenty five years. This was a man with an insatiable appetite for power, and was the first of many to begin turning the nation towards total domination. For the first time, instead of seeking favor from the courts of nobles to achieve power, he sought to distance himself from it, to make it clear he was the one in charge, not the high court. Of course he was not public with this goal or idea, but began to make subtle changes to how the throne interacted with the noble families.

First and foremost was the banning of the once treasured book “The Peoples of Law”. While it was seen significant, it was already falling out of favor with recent discoveries in the fields of science and biology, and merely served to encourage the nobility to empower themselves rather than the king himself. Secondly, in private, he ensured the total loyalty of the royal cabal of sorcerers to further secure his personal protection. Using them, he began to strong arm noble families into attending conferences, balls, and festivals hosted in the capital itself more often, all the while displaying his vast wealth to show who really ran the kingdom. Any who showed a hint of disloyalty was imprisoned while any who proved their loyalty gained favors and reward. Very soon he had much of the nobility behind himself.

Once he had his house in order, so to speak, he began to work upon the nation itself. A century of near total stagnation had originally left the Kingdom of Avalia behind in many fields, thus he sought to change that. He invited merchants and artisans onto his council and together they began to re-industrialize the kingdom. Factories went up, mines were dug, and rail laid. A complete rework of the tax system fostered a great deal of easily acquired credit that, after the “adjusting” of a few laws, made it so those of lower class could acquire far larger loans than originally allowed.

Soon private ventures were establish and a growing middle class began to form. While originally the noble families protested such moves, they soon grew quiet as their own coffers grew thanks to the booming economy and industry. King Holfgar even established an official “Royal Research Division” and injected his own funds into the University of Avalia to foster a more common form of education. These particular actions and his strong control over the nobility earned him his title “The Iron King”. While he never formally accepted this name, he certainly didn’t stop people from calling him such.

With his economy pointed firmly in the right direction and modernizing, he turned his gaze towards the military itself. Previous kings had done little in the way of modernizing, but had at least created a professional standing army years ago. In this army, only the nobility could rise high in the ranks. It was unheard of, and almost illegal for a commoner to even become an officer, let alone a captain. Thus, it was a place were many of the noble families simpled dumped their bastards, sons, and daughters who were not being groomed to take over the house. As a result, the commissioned based system of the Avalian military had also lead to further stagnation.

The Iron King sought to change this immediately, but he needed an example. An infallible man who demonstrated, no, commanded authority, regardless of his birth. That man was Robert Adron. Adron had entered the military at the very bottom, and through courageous valor in the new world, cunning, and quiet a few duels of honor, had risen through the ranks as high as captain. That seemed to have been as high as he could go, as a noble family conspired to prevent him from climbing any further as revenge for shooting their son’s ear off in a duel. After reading through the seemingly endless pile of recommendations, commendations from both peers and officers alike, the Iron King stepped in personally and resolved the matter. Acting as a sort of not-patreon-yet-totally-a-patreon, Adron was able to rise higher and higher until becoming Field Marsha himself in 1880. With this promotion, Adron went about further modernizing the military, completely banning the noble commission system, reforming conscription laws, and modernizing both the military tactics and logistical systems.

It seemed that the Iron King had found his strong man general, and was just about to finally begin plotting his endgame. . .

Where All Things Must End

On September 8th, 1888, King Holfgar the VII died due to a sudden heart failure. His one and only heir, now King Holfgar the VIII, was more interested in his women than in his country. The royal court practically seized power and began to undo much of the Iron King’s work. Many loudly protested, and none louder than Adron and his wife. They both accused, quiet openly, that the nobility would rather see Avalia outright absorbed into the noble families own holdings than care for its citizens. The nobility, at the height of their power, thought to teach Adron like a attack dog why he was to obey the hand that fed him, not bite it.

On a warm, spring day in 1891, the nobility in quick succession with both the royal cabal and King’s Guard arrested, tried, and beheaded Adron’s wife while he was away inspecting a military post. He was mailed his wife’s head in a box. From then on, it seemed the old attack dog had learned its lesson with Adron quieting down.

This was the final straw, both for Adron and the nation. Within ten years of scheming and planning, Adron overthrew the monarchy in a bloody coup that saw the entirety of the nobility slaughtered and beheaded. Shockingly, however, he did not seize direct power. Instead, co-conspirators worked together to form a proper representative government while Adron safeguarded the nation from both internal and external foes alike.

After a long and arduous career, Adron finally retired and soon died in 1905 at the very old age of 82 years, leaving a growing, newly renewed nation behind him. Since them, his martial legacy has lived on in the Avalian military and the government itself now at full strength promised to continue his dream of a strong, safe nation made by the people, for the people.

Forward into the Century of Ash

Following the cataclysmic event that was the eruption and start of the “Century of Ash”, Avalian government faltered as it struggled to keep its population fed during the years of long winters. The economy was hit hard as a result, and nearly collapsed when a socialist president’s well meaning relief plan backfired horrendously. Total collapse was avoided, however, thanks to the newly elected conservative president Arne Styke. President Styke’s quick action and rallying radio show held the nation together until it could properly recover from the disaster. Now in his second term, he looks to do more than simply rebuild the Republic, but expand it into the greater horizon and take advantage of the power vacuum left in the wake of the eruption. With strong political backing and a rapidly revitalizing economy, President Styke sets his sights on a new age. An Avalian Age.

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Nation Relations: TBA

Nation Name: Republic of Acrad

Type of Government: Stratocracy

Head(s) of Government: General Commander Ovald Regix

Population: 25,000,000 registered citizens and an unknown number of non-citizens including other races.

Climate: Mostly an arid desert, with small spots of savannah and oasis sites and a dry shurbland in the North-Eastern part of the nation where most of the urban centers and settlements are situated.

Religion: Multitude of religions.

Magic: Only techmaturgical (technology running on magical source)

Nation relationships:
Soven-Ampara - Acrad struggles to maintain cordial relationships with Soven-Ampara in order to cast more and more influence over the neighbour. They represent a strategic flank and an economic source of food from their fertile lands.

Fenice - Economic trade routes and anti-piracy pact.

Hastur - Uneasy, hostile tensions between the two nations due to long history of Hastur aggression and republican propagandistic demonization on them and their culture. Regional competing political power. Threat to southern security, and oil rich land ripe for conquest.

Andria - Historical disputes over small pockets of border territory, in the present Andria and Acrad maintain a neutral-friendly relationship out of economic necessities for both nations.

Vaesen - Unrecognized territory. Not aware of existence.

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Nation Name: Bjergavjern
Type of Government: Volkist Fascism
Head(s) of Government: Staatfuhrer
Economy: Heavily industrialized due to an abundance of iron, silver, gold, copper, nickel, tungsten, chromium, aluminium and other metal ores and precious stones found in the mountains. Has a growing agricultural base due to the 5-year plan developed by the Volksfacistikefurband av Bjergavjern (VFFB), the ruling party of the nation. Has 120,000 miles of railways and nearly 60,000 miles of paved roads.
Unique Technologies:
Ball Tanks: Spherical armoured vehicles that carry two or more armaments at any given time. Can travel up to 26 mph on road or 13 mph off-road.

Armoured Bears: Big, ferocious, and cladded in armor, these warbeasts serve as a for a heavy cavalry for the military.


Heavier Artillery:




Primary Species: Dwarves
Population: 90 million
Culture: The dwarves of Bjergavjern are short and stunted in nature but possess an extreme degree of durability, endurance, strength, and stubbornness akin to a stone slab or an entire mountain in which they ive in. Most dwarves stand about 3 or 4 feet in height and have very strong and thick arms, broad shoulders, and short but powerful legs. Female dwarves share a similar body but only more curvaceous and instead of beards they fashion braids as a sign of age and status. Being short and strong makes dwarves natural inhabitants of the mountain's cramp environments. Being excellent miners and diggers makes them all the well suited for industrial work.

For a young dwarf, the rite to adulthood begins with military service or mining and ends when they are allowed to pursue their own careers. And they began growing their beards at an early age as beards signify status in dwarf society. The longer the beard, the greater the respect the dwarf receives from his peers and the rest of society. The life expectancy of dwarves are average 213 years though the select few are as old as 281 years old with magnificent beards to prove it.

Interesting note, Bjergavjern dwarves are famous for being alcoholic drinkers as beer halls and brewers are seen as respectable establishments and as a career choice. As such with their strong intake of alcohol, the Bjergavjern dwarves developed a rather resilient liver. Honor and oaths are another important aspect of dwarf society as the saying goes "Never make a pact you don't intend to keep." Such value is placed upon honor and oathkeeping that civil wars in Bjergavjern practically nonexistent.


Religion and Other Beliefs: Ancestral Worship. The Bjergs believe highly in the importance of oaths and honor in order to uphold the integrity of the family name. There's no greater shame than ruining the future generation of dwarves than disgrace of the family name.
Location/Territories: The red nation in the west.

Climate: The mountains and valleys of Bjergavjern are one the most sensitive ecosystems of the world affected by the climate change caused by the volcanic eruption. Being the main supply of freshwater and a source of hydroelectricity, the mountains experienced a greater increase in glaciers and the inhospility of the local fauna. Basically more dry and cold than before yet the ash from the volcano gave in an increase in soil fertility for future farms and ranches. The mountains themselves affect rain and wind on both sides as they block air coming from the west and from the Great Othean Ocean.
Military: Ever since the bloodless fascist coup at the capitol, the military of Bjergavjern has been in the process of centralization ever since. The obsolete bolt action rifles were phased out and replaced with semi-automatic rifles and smgs. 10 dwarf squads were given two machine guns to increase mid-range firepower. Assault troopers were finally formed armed only with smgs and satchel charges. Most importantly, a General Staff was created which was something lacking in the decades prior.

The battle doctrine the Bjergavjern chosen to follow the Shock and Awe doctrine where every battle hinged on the importance of heavy artillery and combined arms support. Where every victory is achieved as quickly as possible and as brutally as possible by blowing the enemy to pieces. This also meant that the military is more defensive leaning by fortifying the mountains with flak Towers, concrete bunkers, and heavy siege equipment and weapons.





The primary goal of the air force of Bjergavjern is to maintain air superiority over the battlefield through its use of heavily armed fighters and coordinated attacks with ground AA. Just like the Superior firepower doctrine the army uses, the air forces extensively uses bombers to carpet bomb enemy positions and cities into submission once air superiority has been achieved. Industrial complex, railway junctions, and enemy bunkers are primary targets for strategic and tactical bombers.

The Navy is currently a coastal one. Mainly filled with submarines, destroyers, and light cruisers.
Magic Prevalence/Usage: Used in runes put into charms and trinkets. Mainly used to increase the reliability and durability of items and tools.
History/ Background Info: Originally, Bjergavjern was a confederacy of kings ruled by a High King as the nation's leader. Technically speaking, the High King rules Bjergavjern without question but in reality, he rules at a council of advisors to cool his temper and to help him make decisions. The title of the High King is hereditary unless the throne is vacant of the heir in which a new royal line is elected.

The lesser dwarf kings rule their own clan and territory with complete authority yet they still have to obey the edicts and rites issued by the High King. This allowed for each clan to create their own army equal to the High King's own. This system soon found itself obsolete when Bjergavjern suffered a military defeat at the hands of Fenice. With each dwarf king his own commander in chief of his army, there was no coordinated assault or defence against Fenice. The island was lost and the dwarves retreated to the mountains.

When the volcano erupted and covered the mountains with ash, a food crisis occurred in Bjergavjern yet the government was paralyzed due to the fact that none of the kings could decide on what to do. The crisis was growing dire by the day as food was quickly running out until a fascist coup happened at the capital. It was a shock to the nation chose to flee instead of denouncing the act.

It was then did the fascist party immediately embarked on a centralization process to restore order and to unite the nation where the dwarf kings failed. The party, called the VFFB, championed the idea of "Volkism", that no matter what social rank the dwarf holds, everything depends on the advancement of dwarf-kind. Despite winning a two thirds majority to keep the fascist party in power, there were still plenty of monarchist sympathizers and supporters within and without the fascist party. Only time would tell if the Staatfuhrer would do anything to about it.
Nation Relations: The Pact of Steel with the Western Neigher to divide the individual states between each other. Also establishes a DMZ for 50 years.
Tension with the GCR over treatment of the Bjergavjern dwarves inside their territories. Currently, the VFFB is doing a campaign to get the dwarves to immigrate back into the home mountains.

(ATTENTION ALL ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE SO IF YOU DONT LIKE IF IT IS WRONG PUNCTUATION OR IF YOU DONT UNDERSTAND PM ME BUT IF YOU DONT LIKE WELL I WOULD RECOMMEND GO TO HELL)
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Nation Name: Empire of Oswaria

Type of Government: The government of Oswaria worked in the form of an elective monarchy, where the ruling dynasty would have one of their members elected into the position of the emperor. Until recently, the position of Chancellor was also one that was voted on, however, due to the reforms of the previous Empress, the Chancellor is appointed by the current ruling monarch. Both these positions are held for life.

While the nation claims to have a parliament, this branch of government is more for a show, with many of the decision being made by the Imperial Council instead. After the Ascension of Emperor Evandro and the increase of Imperial power, many expect a new constitution to be finally sent after the ashes have settled.

Head of Government: Emperor Evandro Ventura Rosário.
Government Chancellor: Emperor Evandro Ventura Rosário.
Emperor Evandro Ventura Rosário is the third emperor since the recentralization of the empire. He is an ambitious man that used his already existing power to give him unlimited power over the nation, ruling with an iron fist but with a deteriorating health

Imperial Regent: Agildo Takeda Moreira

Minister of Research and Development: Lucas dos Santos Bernardino

Secretary of Economy and Commerce: Teresa Galán

Head of the Special Investigations Agency: Darcy Peres Higashi

Minister of Defense: Pablo Gutiérrez

Minister of Foreign relations: Alessandra Reis Boaventura


Economy: The empire's main economy is heavily focused on industry, having major industrial centers around the Jade Sea, and also along the rivers that flow into the sea, allowing easy river access to the interior. Thanks to this infrastructure, the nation began to industrialize after a few decades with relative ease. Oswaria had major monopolies, after the Constitutional amendment 32 was created and enforced by the Emperor, the industries were then divided into a series of oligopolies. The biggest industries are Refining, machinery, and weaponry. The food and electronics industries have gained attention from both government and the private sector. To a certain degree, Oswaria is self-sufficient in iron allowing robust steel industry.

After the volcano eruption, the farming industry collapsed leading to nationwide starvation and crisis. This led to the adoption of a rationing system, however, the damage was done and millions starved to death. The Empire established martial law to hold the nation together until the agricultural fields finally began to recover.

In the past, mana crystals had to be meticulously created by skilled artisans. However, in recent years, lead magicians and engineers were able to create a method that allowed for the mass production of these crystals.

Main exports: Military equipment, Food, Mana Crystals, steel, Manufactured goods, Machine Parts, Heavy Machinery, and computers.
Main Imports: Oil, raw materials, luxury materials.

Unique Technologies:
Mechs and spider mechs: Oswaria has taken great interest in mobile, leading to the mech projects that now make up the armed forces.

Magical powered Airships: Using magical crystals to power airships this technology allows the ships to fly far and high. This allows the creation of flying dreadnoughts and aircraft carriers.

Majority Species: Human
Population: 68,943,431
Minority Species: Elves
Population 843,234

Culture: The Oswarian origins date to the birth of mankind in this world first coming from the south of the continent and settling in the regions of Trienga,their culture has developed into first a form of Meritocratic Nobility,were a dynasty of an individual,would be elected to a position of power,even having merchants and poor people receiving jobs of power,early on as their culture settled their people prospered with occasional fights between kings and independent warlords and even inner fights, between pantheons this division made then don't think like a single people, for a time yet having a unified ethnicity and even faith to a certain extent.
"One people One Nation Undivided"
After the unification of their empire, the Oswarian have a high sense of nationalism together even the Elfic minority that lives in the empire saw support in this movement maintaining a sense of unity in the empire.

"The Other races are not to be trusted but some seem fine"
Due to the ancient fights between humans and dwarves for the control of the straight for millennia the people of Oswaria see the dwarves as an arch-enemy of their´s creating xenophobia towards their race, the elf minority that once lived in the region after time after the migration they become more tolerable in their society as a whole.

"All Oswarians are soldiers"
In the concept of militarism is considered an honor to join the military ranks for all citizens the concept of conscription although 1 century new it is considered an honor for many with certain nobilities sending 1 of their children to serve in one of the army branches.

"All are equal"
According to many traditions, it is believed that that by the eye of Gods all men and women are equal it is unknown when this practice started either in the migration or in the time of swords but after a while woman become in equal footing as men.

"Is this the right path?"
Although the nation exist under a nationalist militaristic society it was mostly formed under centuries of constant prosperity but when the volcano erupted together with Emperor Evandro and his extreme reforms, with the age of prosperity ended and now the people of Oswaria find themselves in doubt, about the future of their nation with many protesting for better Conditions since the volcano covered the land with almost 4 foot tall ash the people and the government,now faces a new challenge people now seek an answer to how the nation should go this answer,only time can answer but now for the Oswarian the future is Uncertain.

State Religion: Due to 3 pantheons existing and with the works of Gabriel Santos that suggested a separation of state and church the government adopted Atheism as the state religion
Religion and Other Beliefs: The faith of Chaos, Order, And Equilibrium or The Faith Zyrogar
The faith Zyrogar is the nickname given to the followers of a religion with 3 existing pantheons of gods more specifically The gods of Ynthar, Amos and Phiaris this religion involving many pantheons derives from the fact that the 3 pantheons evolved together consequently they are all interpreted to be real with members of one faith disrupting the other faith activities. Over the centuries this 3 pantheons crystalized believing it to all be real with members of society choosing one of the pantheons that most suits than in their beliefs this level of decentralization allow people to think what they want most of the time the most popular being the Pantheon of Phiaris that has attributes from both pantheons.

Location/Territories: The western peninsula of the northwestern
continent west of the mountains.

Climate: The empire consist of mostly plains and fields having a temperate climate as a major climate and also having some hot zones thanks in part from the hot waters of the sea.

Military: The Imperial Army is divided into 3 branches that form the bulwark of armed forces been named The Legionary Land forces, Imperial Royal Air Force, And The Sea Lions.

The Legionary lands Forces Utilize as a major military doctrine is The Rogérop Doctrine a form of mixing of mobile warfare and Superior Firepower having infantry, motorized and armored as a backbone of the army.

Infantry/Engineer unit, using as primary infantry equipment they use Automatic SV-25 rifles and Shotguns together with Anti-personal grenades and a Gas mask.

Assault Units are equipped with Sub-machine guns AR-31 and others are equipped with combat shotguns containing Antipersonnel, gas masks and anti-tank Grenades.

Anti armored Units Are equipped with Anti Tank Grenades grenade launchers, Anti-tank sniper rifles, and pistols using and binoculars.

Sniper Units are equipped with pistols, binoculars, sniper rifles, and Antipersonnel grenades.

Radio Units are equipped with pistols, radio transmission, and generally, they are deployed at all units to increase cohesion

The battle mages serve as a form of support force an offensive force due to their ability to manipulate energies of the arcane this ability mostly present in the Elven population made then suitable for this job but also in the human magic population that allows them to use their powers.


Armored divisions of the Empire has many different types using mechs, spider mechs and tanks having different kinds of armored for different situations.

The Titan is the heavy armored infantry containing a flamethrower and 2 heavy machine guns that can penetrate armored divisions due to slow its put together with infantry divisions. These units are often made up of “penal” battalions due to their risky design.


T32 Or the spider is a form of self-changing tank capable of changing from legs to tracks for needed terrain having a 57mm gun turret and machine guns.


ST- 21 is a mech build to be an anti-armor unit having 4 57mm guns attached to it.


ST- 24 is the more close range mech projected to fight in the harsh train having machine guns and artillery turrets.


ST-8 is the more available to the army crewed with one soldier inside an armored Carapace and sometimes the pilot is protected by a front armor only.


The Mercury class is the most powerful military class due to its size weaponry having the having 5 turrets, 55 machine guns, and 4 Heavy AA guns, due to its extreme agility is considered a threat to many and its ability to navigate in harsh terrain makes it very useful for all situations, the skirmisher on other hands smaller but more faster and agile makes it a good candidate for attacks containing only 1 turret and 4 machine guns


The sea lions Are the naval force of the Empire of Oswaria having a Medium navy at their disposal, the fleet consists of carriers, battleships, Battlecruiser, Heavy cruisers, dreadnoughts, destroyers and submarines the Sea lions favor a stance of a bigger fleet together with carrier primacy


The Imperial Royal Air Force consists of airships powered by magical crystals these airships form the principal force of the air military force having battleships and even Aircraft carriers having a more battleship emphasis on air the royal air force likes to use them to gain air superiority thanks to their high levels of firepower.


The more used force of the Imperial Air Force is the fighters and bombers of the Empire used to create havoc in ground forces and have close air support and also air supremacy but also serving to a strategic bombardment of enemy positions and infrastructure the Royal air force put more Emphasis in a mix of close support and air superiority.


Magic Prevalence/Usage: Magic although not common but not rare is defined for being hereditary with certain families even practicing incest to protect the magical lineage inside the family their powers range from abilities of healing and even conjuring elemental powers another kind of magic force that has been discovered over the years is Mana crystals that are synthetically made used mostly to certain extent some spells and even flying.
The source of magic has yet to be discovered but thanks to scientific endeavors were able to create a small quantity of magic without someone of magical descent indicating that magic is not restricted to blood.
The schools of magic taught are the schools of order, chaos and balance these schools are taught because the way they tap the arcane power and most of the time to discover what kind of magic you can tap.

The abilities Chaos allows the usage of more extreme kinds of magic such as Elemental and destruction spells the abilities of chaos are more aligned with warfare such as casting of fire, earth bending, lightning, and others, these abilities are generally the more used in the army and in civilian levels it can create problems, after all, a fight between two drunk mages can create a number of problems these abilities generally are considered dangerous and the practitioners must always keep their powers on check their powers generally are limited to how much the body can handle before getting too these traits trait is similar to all three powers when handling their abilities.

The abilities of Order are more considered abilities of illusion, enchantment, and agility, the spells of Order allow the users to create illusions such as fogs monsters and even the more skilled nightmares others can enchant certain items to give some powers but due to the user's energy usage some of these enchantments don't have much power and some are even temporary, some spells can even upgrade the body itself such as increased stamina and strength.

The abilities of Balance are rather rare on to be inherited or simply be born with once you discover you have the ability to use magic this power is rather mysterious but like the gods it appears to be able to use both sides of the magical specter but what makes it more intriguing is the fact that the user of this kind of magic has the ability of restoration or simply healing this kind of spell is barely understood except the fact that the user can heal itself and others.

The fourth ability is considered illegal due to its way to achieving they are some events were a individual can tap into the power but not use not even the 3 spectres but rather use the extremes of order and chaos the last good example was the vampire uprising of almost 600 years ago where magicians that could control the human body by literally absorbing life force although this kind of magic is more extreme of rare it is undocumented of what it can do and the vampire uprising and what such magic can do was lost to history mostly because of document burning of the region what such power can do is mostly considered unknown.

History/ Background Info:
The Oswarian people first arrived in the regions of Trienga about 8000 years ago with its people living between many kingdoms and warlords settling the lands and making the Isarian Ethnicity spread across the western mountains having to coexist with the elves and dwarves.
The Empire of Oswaria first was born almost 3000 years ago when Emperor Varsius, formed his nation after a few centuries he empire decentralized after losing conflicts against Elves and Dwarves, although in more than 400 pieces the empire maintained a sense of union working together to achieve goals such as defense against invasions and even collaboration of economic aid.
The Age of swords was the time when the empire was under a newly religious fervor and also expansionist growing to the greatest size it has been from the western sides to many zones in the mountains this time, unfortunately, didn't lasted forever as in question of a few centuries the recently conquered territories had gained independence or were conquered by other powers in that time the empire begun to decentralize.
The Second renaissance was the time when a cultural and nationalist boom in the Empire in this moment the first reforms that initiated the centralization of power to the throne once again this moment that lasted almost 120 years allowed the end of the Imperial confederation and the reformation of the Empire the reformation was established with the House of Rosário to assume command of the nation and establishing a tanistry succession system in a example of the ancient ways.
After the death of empress Sandra Ventura Rosário the throne was succeeded by emperor Evandro Ventura Rosário at first he was charismatic and maintaining the chancellor of her aunt but after his death he appointed himself as chancellor and passed laws increasing his power and giving him absolute command over the nation leading the nation over 4 decades of totalitarianism.
When the volcano exploded and food runed short the Emperor started to impose martial law as revolts spring up and many died as part of his plans to continue in power after many deaths the revolts finally begun to slow down over the years before the ashes settled many died of starvation or by Evandro actions after one decade after the volcanic explosion the decade long winter finally begun to end now with a world full of possibilities only the gods know what will come next.

Nation Relations: Oswaria likes to keep diplomatic relations with main power in an attempt to preserve peace On its main continent at the same time negotiating trade deals for resources.

S'laaeth: The Empire of Oswaria and S'laaeth have a certain cordial relationship with the Empire supporting their claim on the straight.

Bjergavjern: Bjergavjern as already existing monarchy state for years has been kept under the constant watch of the empire mostly because of the existing tensions between their races, religion and extreme government Oswaria in an attempt to ease tension made the pact of steel seeking to lower tension and increase commerce between states and also a formation of a possible DMZ in case their borders touch one day

Chirian People's Republic: The Chirian Republic although not like by the government due to its communist nature the need for their natural resources has let the Empire accept trade deals to receive needed ores and oil the Republic in Exchange decided to import machinery from the Empire for the Inner circle the republic is the only nation that seems to need the Empire and the Empire needing her.

Divine Empire of Hastur: The divine empire although backward has potential consequently the government send out a military/industrial mission to Hastur.

The Republic of Acrad: The Republic and the empire has a certain level of relations considered barely cordial although there is a envoy going to Acrad to negotiate a possible trade agreement.

Volssini Empire: The Volssini Empire together with The Oswarian Empire contain cordial relationships having more notably from the perpective of the Empire a import of coal and a export of food and Hevy machinery.

Flag:
Nation Name: The Volsinii empire
Type of Government: Absolute Monarchy
Head(s) of Government:
Emperor Messor Aetius
Empress Lusia Aetius
Emperor-elect Syra Aetius
Imperatoris Marcus Tybal
Procurator Euclio Bruccius
High Justiciar Virgo Siculus

Economy (Main imports, exports, industries, etc.):


Unique Technologies (the more exotic or interesting stuff your nation uses or has come up with):
Telsa weapons:
The Volsiniins created weapons to harness electric forces harnessing them as weapons. Mounted and use by various Volsinii units. From small squad weapons to larger ones mounted on there skyships. Used mostly against lightly armored and infantry.
Coal liquefaction:
The demands for resource during the imperial civil wars require more creative methods to create what they needed. Due to this the Volsinii created the process of Coal liquefication to maintain their supply of oil with importing large amounts of it from abroad. After the wars the production was scaled down for peace time demands.

Primary Species: Human
67% humans
13% orc
10% forest elf
5% dwarf
6% other races

Population:
39 million

Culture:
The culture of the empire had gone through major shifts in the recent decades become far more focused on the national identity. The explosions of nationalistic art, music, and monuments inspired by the imperial victory. The values that are held in high regards in the empire are hard work and self-sacrifice to the state. Sacrificing one’s self towards the betterment of the state is consider the highest value of a citizen.
Attitudes towards the many races depends on the side they chose during the civil war. As the groups who fought on the side of the imperial throne are greatly respected. While those who did not are discriminated and treated with suspicion or outright hate.

Religion and Other Beliefs:
The Main state religion is the worship of Virmar the legendary hero who founded the empire centuries ago. Often time referred to as Virmar Dragonslayer. The stories of the first Emperor ascension are widely told and intergraded into the official records. Shortly after uniting the Vosta under his banner a force of dragons invaded the northern lands. The emperor united his forces and fought back the dragons. As he slew them he could take their power and use it against the dragons. Eventually he was able to drive them from the north. Not before the fighting the elder dragon leading the invasion. In the titanic clash between the two Virmar was mortally wounded. Calling upon the power taken from the other slaying dragons to launch a final attack. The attack slew the dragon its power was drained by the dying emperor. The result was upon him death he ascends to godhood.
While the other faiths of the other members are tolerated the pantheon of the elves have been banned due their decision to side against the empire during the civil war.

Location/Territories:


Climate:
Cold with mild summers and long winters.

Military:




Magic Prevalence/Usage:
The use of magic is restricted to priesthood. Other forms are hunted or repressed.

History/ Background Info:


Nation Relations:
The Republic of Avalia: Long standing rivals for most of there histories.
Fenice: There is a mutual dislike between the nations. Due to past conflict and territorial loss to the empire.
Empire of Oswaria: trade partners.

Kingdom of Elyr

Name: Fenizia Dominiqua dell'Dio (Phoenix Dominion of the Sun, often abbreviated as Fenizia/Fenice)
Government: Constitutional Monarchy (transforming into a theocratic-military junta)
Head of the State: Maestralto Vettorio da Vigo (regent)
Dominant Species: Calavenyr (Sun Elves)
Population: 55 million

Previously a great power Fenice had significant ambitions with influence in several portions of the Othea. Their momentum came to an abrupt halt when the supervolcano Vesvius erupted, covering most of the main islands in a thick layer of ash. Losing their capital and nearly the entire royal family Fenice is at the brink of collapse yet still intent on retaining their former status.

TBA


Fenice is an empire with its domain stretching across the globe. Their mainland Fenizia consists of three islands: Albator, Falcola and Yelinor. Used to be an abundant land with nearly 90% of the Dominion's population the supervolcano reduced most of these into borderline unlivable wastelands. Even the neighboring island of Giazol bathed in dense ash, although its inhabitants of hardy trolls managed to survive. Even after the catastrophe Fenice retained considerable control over the Verronto Sea with a couple of territories held near the shores. As far as the Western continent goes Fenice has two major holdings in Firoir (North) and Kazatrea (South), the latter currently being the largest agricultural region of the entire Dominion.

Fenice is an empire ruled by the Sun Elves. Their magical prowess and overall positive attitude defines the nation. Only a decade ago they made up the majority of the Dominion but after the catastrophe they are forced into a minority rule of only 47% of the population. The second most common race are the humans, of course. Forest elves also compose a respectable portion of around 5%. Trolls suffered great loses during the disaster but thanks to their fertility and massive government aid their numbers are steadily growing back, their strength and resilience finds great use within the Ashlands. With colonies nearly everywhere it could be said that Fenice has minorities of nearly every species from Othea.
Fenice has a state religion and it's called Dionism, named after the Sun. It celebrates the Sun and views it as an abstract meaning for all that is good in life. Dionists are taught to revel in the daylight and despise darkness. This of course goes beyond just celebrating the day, to a Dionist the Sun symbolizes enlightenment, revelation, cleanse and purity. They also view fire as an extension of the Sun and respect it accordingly. Although they similarly accept other sources of light. While in theory religious freedom is allowed (since the 18th century) in practice Fenice offers considerable benefits to Dionists and has various restrictions on the temples of other faiths. That being said Dionism is flexible and accepting of other dieties. In order to quickly assimilate other beliefs they allow these religions to be part of Dionism. They retain their traditions while also adopting Dionist system, gradually becoming similar to the main Dionist faith. As such there are dozens of sub-variants to Dionism, even a type that outright denies the existence of god. This so-called Atheist-Dionism is gaining traction among various Fenician thinkers. Altogether it can be said that over 95% of the empire is practicing some form of Dionism. The leader of this faith has the title of Genitrix and always assumed by a woman. As the symbolical Mother of all Dionist she commands considerable influence and growing sway over the politics.

Fenice is technically a Republican Dominion, a form of democratic republic turned constitutional monarchy ruled by the Imperator. While the duty of the Imperator is somewhat ceremonial in effect he or she has almost complete control, only delegating his authority to various ministers and the Senate. The Senate itself is democratically elected although validated by the Imperator. In turn the Senate has the right to accept a new Imperator among the heirs. Unfortunatelly the current Imperator is only 10 years old, born not long before the catastrophe. Until Imperator Bonaccorso Dietto de Alberinis is of age (20 years) he's under the tutelage of Vettorio da Vigo, Maestralto (Grandmaster) of the Phoenix Order of Holy Knights (Ordine Sacro Fenicio). Thanks to that and the dire times the military is gaining steadily in influence, threatening to turn Fenice into a military dictatorship. Since Vettorio is a regent and not the Imperator the Senate is powerless against him.

Sun elves are gifted with magic from birth and thus magecraft is part of their everyday lives. Neglecting that the errant magic energies are bound to result in health complications and random accidents. Sun elves regularly channel their powers to some purpose and this lead to a fruitous industry of enchanted household items. Fenice used artificial lights run on Solarite centuries before the invention of lightbulbs and if you show them a lighter they might laugh at its flimsy design compared to their magical firestarters. This does not lead to technological leaps but does result in the average Fenician having more conveniences than others.

True to their religion Fenice is almost enamored by the element of fire. Also dubbed as the plasma element they excel in magically producing or controlling heat energy which can be channeled to various utilities, usually with Solarite as the medium. Fenician Blaze Masters are known for their dreadful destructive potential in battle although at home they are more often viewed as weirdos. In truth sun elves view magic as a tool, an utility. They view it as a gift and rejoice in its use yet don't feel particularly empowered by it. Thus Fenice had rather limited emerge of mighty magic users with agendas and delusions of grandeur. It is just not something in their culture.

Fenice used to be powerful merchant nation and its wealth lead to early industrialization. Yet unlike elsewhere Fenice approached industry in moderation, unwilling to sacrifice their beautiful landscape for more output. This didn't stop them to create massively successful industries and they certainly had less reservations from exploiting territories outside their mainlands. After light industry flourished Fenice focused their efforts on steel, became known not for the volume but the sheer quality of their production. Fenician metallurgy is still sought after in many parts of Othea. Given their overall obsession with fire and other energetic events they quickly adopted steam and gradually other types of engines. Turbines in particular are Fenician inventions, although the original required the cooperation of fire elementals to function. Of course magical enchantments in both the production and the function of the goods is standard in Fenice. Electricity itself was understood in Fenice but treated like a curiosity rather than something practical. It took decades of rapid development in the field for Fenice finally deciding to adopt electric devices and they only really began using lightbulbs in the last 10 years.

Of course in their recent history the event with the single greatest impact to their economy is the supervolcano catastrophe. Half their entire population dead, 80% of the mainland covered in ash. Even after massive restructuring Fenice only has 40% the industrial capacity compared to 1927. Fenice's once prosperous light industry is in ruins and since the government focuses on rebuilding their heavy industry first it continues to erode. Agriculture is restructuring but still insufficient to sustain as many as 55 million men. The treasury is bleeding away money at record rate and it's unknown if it could be stopped before the Dominion goes bankrupt. Yet outwardly Fenice maintains a strong front, presenting its best side.
As an island nation populated by the eccentric sun elves Fenice took unique approaches to developing their science. For starters magic is part of the common domain and its use is an everyday practice. It comes at no surprise that Fenician inventions very often include magic in their operation. This doesn't make them inherently superior, though. Fenice juat views magical solution the same as you try to choose between different engine types or other mechanism. Speaking of engines Fenice developed blaze turbines that since then spread everywhere in more limited quantities. The obvious advantage for a blaze turbine is their compactness as they are powered by a huge solarite core heating up a steam or occasionally gas turbine. While compact they are also having limited range and outside Fenice they are considered expensive. Various hybrid blaze systems are developed for more economical uses, including the blaze engines where an internal combustion engine's performance is supported by a solarite energy for compact performance. Aside from engines solarite has widespread use in many applications, most notably heaters and light sources. While electric lights are nowadays more affordable solarite lamps are still in use. Aside from solarite Fenice is also known for using elemental devices, an offshoot of golem tech. While golems require the creation of artificial souls Fenice sidesteps this by calling spirits to inhabit their objects. While technically cheaper this method relies on delicate spiritual contracts and personal compatibility, for example inheriting an elemental device could be tricky. Based on this Fenice developed semi-elemental controls but due to its reliability issues everyone else rather uses the more stable pseudo golem system.

As a major power with presence all around Othea Fenice often invokes polarizing opinions. Their ideologies are also strong enough to provoke this. Fenice views magic as an absolute good and evaluates others by their capacity to it. Their theocratic stance in the enlightened world is also somewhat controversial. They also used to be opponents to overindustrialization and corporate overreach, although their stance weakened considerably. In addition several countries have territorial claims to the Dominion which of course provides tension if not outright hostilities. On the other hand making enemies also resulted in them making unlikely allies to which Fenice makes full use of.

- Volsinii Empire: Fenice abused the Volsinii civil war for territorial gains while also providing support to the elven side. The occupied territories were put under elven leadership and treated humans like secondary citizen. Both garnered resentment from the now human-dominated Volsinii. Although elvish elements still provide partisan support and many of their important people fled to Fenice.

- Hastur: The great empire shares many ideologies with Fenice yet the two nations focus more on their differences. This is partially thanks to Fenice's approach towards Hastur as a bounty, a land to exploit. After their near-collapse 10 years ago Hastur struck back and now provide non-stop trouble.

[to be continued...]

Fenician military is sworn to protect three things: the emperor, the senate and the Dionist faith. While there's a state army in effect they are often split up between Fenician militant nobles who treat them like retainers. Thus even above these three the soldiers tend to be loyal to their Lord and his/her family. All lords own "castles" that are mobile fortresses while also acting as their living quarters while in action. These "fortresses of war" (rocca di guerra or roguerra in short) can take the shape of armored trains, air cruisers or most commonly giant naval vessels. This keeps Fenician army constantly on the move with a complex yet flexible line of logistics to maintain it. This is the natural evolution of their fighting style adopted for securing territories as the first priority while requiring relatively small active forces. Indeed the Fenician military focuses on quality of soldiers over the numbers, although recent events lead to a rapid expansion of their forces.

Infantry
Fenician infantry unites the style of old and new. Their soldiers wear high-quality steel armor to protect the vital areas while altogether adopting modern equipment. This is partially due to their traditions and appearances but also because of the value in each soldier. They consider armoring up troops cheaper than training new ones.

Armor
Due to Fenice's history of golem usage they became enamored with walker vehicles rather early. Thus their AFV development quickly shifted for creating legged vehicles, relying on their semi elemental technology and dubbed Camminarmato (abbreviated as CA, roughly translates as "armed walker"). Initial models were slow which was frequently criticized by the cavalry branch. To answer this they created the "rolling legs" concept where the legs housed either wheels or track propulsion along with the capability to shift their posture and lean on said surfaces to behave like conventional vehicles. While added complexity the system ultimately allowed faster and more economical travel while giving it rough terrain capability uncontested by wheeled vehicles. An offshoot of this development are the non-bipedal Passarmati (PA) that are quad-, hexa- or octopod designs made for stability. Passarmati can be also a collective term for all walker machines used for combat, including those used by other nations.



Artillery
TBA

Air Force
TBA

Navy
TBA

Primary Species:
Humans

Population:
39 million Registered Citizens

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Type of Government
Civil Authority

Head of Government
Assembly

Economy
Flotilla has a completely different economic system from the rest of the world because of their limitations. For example, there isn't an official form of currency. Due to small spaces, the people of Flotilla value have to barter items to others within the Flotilla and outsiders. Even without a currency system, the government saved various types of currencies as payments to other countries for refueling and stocking up on valuable supplies. However, they were known to also barter with other countries whenever possible. They were sought after because of their crafts along with exotic goods, machinery, and electricity.

Unique Technologies
Civilian Airships are airships that are completely different compared to military airships. It was thanks to advancements in airborne machinery that it was possible to construct airships designed for farming, housing, or industrial.

Primary Species
Humans

Population
1.5 million

Culture
In the eyes of the government, foods, medicines, and things people took for granted were deemed luxuries. If the government has proof that a person was being wasteful, then they were exiled and placed in jail until they were release. Prisoners were often traded into the slave market if nations had one. If nations abolished slavery, then they usually were released them into the public. Laws are some of the strictest in the world compared to other nations due to their situation. Criminals found guilty of felonies were usually sent to death by firing squad or pushing them off of the airship. Exile depends on the crime and context of said crime.

Religion and Other Beliefs
Most of the citizens didn't believe in God or any religion while the government officially accepted all kinds of religions.

Military
Airships made up almost the entirely military for the country given that they lacked any land or water for a proper military and navy. Their organization was divided into three different groups: Scouting Fleet, Civilian Fleet, and Heavy Fleet. The Scouting Fleet made sure that the entire Flotilla was safe by scouting ahead while they also request docking permission and permission for their Flotilla to float above their city. And they also secured passage and diplomatic ties before entering another nations airspace. Then, there were the Civilian Fleet. Their purpose was to house the civilians while providing them with food, jobs, and places to trade. Often enough, you saw all of them in one civilian airship; however, large scale farming and industry have their own civilian ship. And finally, there were the Heavy Fleet. They were the navy and only main source of protection for the entire Flotilla. People saw the strongest ones surrounding the capital ship, which housed the Assembly.

However, there were the Flotilla Marines tasked with naval-infantry and police operations. The citizens saw them as the police force that were trained to handle invasions if the enemy boarded their ships.

Magic Prevalence/Usage
Magic users were forbidden because of their uncertainty and the risk of accidentally blowing up an airship. Usually, they were exiled from birth; however, it was the case that they were traded off to Elyr.

History/ Background Info
The formation of the Flotilla began shortly after the volcano erupted and covered much of the world in ash. Fearful that a government collapse was on the way, the high-ranking military officials and the influential wealthy class gathered to discuss plans of leaving before chaos took over. With their airships ready, the respected military and the remaining wealthy class abandoned their nation and decided to live in the skies until things on the ground calmed down. But it took a while before that could happen.

The wealthy tried to overthrow the military and failed. As a result, they were either executed or traded off into the country with slaves. Thus, they were granted access to their docks for refueling and stocking up on supplies. Eventually, they went on to build several more ships with the supplies given designed to be farms and houses for citizens. And the stories of flying cities began spreading across the world and people wanted to join the Flotilla. It was when the Assembly announced that people can join the Flotilla only if they give them gifts like resources, technologies, and even airships.

Nation Relations
Since Flotilla don't have any borders and land, they kept logs of trading with several nations throughout the world. The Divine Empire of Hastur was their first official trading partner and the only nation that had an active slave market. With an agreement agreed upon, the Flotilla sends their prisoners to become slaves from Hastur in return for.... While they traded their magical people away to Elyr. (also need to talk)

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Marcher Empire of Usoma

Martial Authoritarian Dictatorship

Head of Government
=-=Kedican Whilstov=-=


Economy


Unique Technologies


Primary Species
Kevian (Human)
-Kevians are a pale skinned people which dwell as a native human culture which is dominant in the north. Kevians, due to having lived in the harsh lands which is Usoma for so long, have adopted a very basic and tribalistic lifestyle dedicated to survival in the cold wastes. However, intergration policies have essentially made them a second class people despite being a very heavy majority, but are above the role of slave. Kevians hold no love or affinity for the Neusians, whom they view as cruel, weak, and decadent with their coal engine cities and walled settlements. Kevian is a divided culture, with hundreds if not thousands of sub cultures based around smaller tribal groupings.
Neusian (Human)
-Neusians are the face of Usoma despite having the smallest percentage of the population, which dwell primarily in cities. Being white, but not as pale as Kevians, they are a people dedicated to living and profiting from their northern burrows. Neusians are deeply connected to Usoma but do not consider themselves a happy or superior people. Most Neusians are very authoritarian minded due to their nation’s history of dedication through organization, and due to their mistreatment of most non-Neusians who dwell in their society. Neusians themselves value both survival and organization, and most are culturally are very experienced engineers.

Population
-35 Million
-Kevian (63%)
-Okan (9%)
-Wildar (9%)
-Tusab (8%)
-Wrad (6%)
-Neusian (5%)



Culture


The Shadowed Faith


Territories
Color: Dark Green
imgur.com/Oy9nBM7
Capital City: Ugolanbrav
Cities: Tenmarnan, Sigrad, Ghustbov, Okadius
Tusab Major Tribes: Bloodtusk, Bloodaxe, Wrecktusk
Major Wildar Tribes (Nomadic): Greycloak, Whitecloak, Blackcloak, Whitemane
Major Wrad Settlements: Cirul’olfa, Taga’suga

Climate
Usoma is a arctic wasteland made up primarily of snow laden hills, several tall mountain ranges, and a vast expanse of snow, ice, and protective forest groves scattered throughout. Wind chill can easily go down to -40 degrees, making much of the land hardly hospitable, but certain mountain ranges and coastal areas block out this hellish weather, making life much more bearable. Much of Inner Usoma is utterly impossible to thrive in, even for hardened races immune to the brutal cold, some temperatures around the Wrad ruins can go far below negatives, and blizzards are a regular occurence.

Military


Magic
Magic is heavily used and is well accepted in Usoma society, and the darker forms of magic such as necromancery and blood magic has been tolerated, even though many are sickened by it or simply do not know how prevalent it exists within their country. The Shadowed Faith and its practitioners, despite being bound to necromancery and it’s dark arts, and their friendly relationship with the Wrad, Usomans do not interact with these elements often, and if they do, they don’t always really mind it. On some level, every race and peoples in what is now Usoma has interacted with the dark magic of the Shadowed Faith, and most do not flinch at the sight of their morbid arts. Magic is yet still deeply distrusted by high society, and is regulated on some level by local overseers.

Wrad live in specialized towers and centers which they perform their dark arts to produce WP-33 and craft magical foci, materials, and create defensive rituals for the Usomans. Usoman Wrads keep their undead servants and themselves locked within cryogenic haunted towers which allows them produce their heavy industries and aid in town management. These Wrad are separate and considered traitor by their fellow Wrad who live within the great ruins, and have a strong loyalty to the Usomans. However, the Usomans deeply distrust the Wrad, but dare not act out hostility towards the wraiths.

Limitations of Magic
While the power of dark magic and necromancery sounds on paper to be grandoise in it's design, there are large limitations to it. Magic to Usomans is exhausting, the more power one puts into spells and rituals exhausts them quickly and if unprepared, can ultimately kill the mage. The dead in Usoma are many, but finding the bodies and using them is a different issue all together. While for the Wrad this task is simple, not every shadow shaman summons undead minions, simply due to the fact that even in a culture where necromancery is accepted, it remains taboo and rarely used. Only the hostile Wrad kingdoms will use necromancery on a grand level to bolster their economies and armies. There is also yet another danger, which is the miscast of spells. Spells always have a chance, especially the blood magic of Zuuldrick, to backfire horribly upon the caster and their allies. Powerful summons can quickly turn on their masters, conjurations of sudden madness can instead inspire bloodlust and courage, and so on. Due to these limitations, magic is used only in hard or desperate circumstances and with a great deal of care. Younger apprentices are simply forbidden from being put into armies out of fear their wild conjurations can quickly turn a victory into a defeat.

Schools of Magic


Undead and Summons


History


Nation Relations
Universally, the Lands of Usoma is deeply uninterested with the affairs of other nations, normally being dedicated to their own survival, but the warmer world has been a fascination in spite of propaganda presented by the government. Usoma is not at all hostile, and instead, are very often interested in trade and technology of others. Usoman leadership is always looking for a way to increase comforts of home so their people do not leave for warmer lands and outright bar immigration to other countries.

Flag:
Nation Name:Hsir Confederacy
Type of Government:Republic
Head(s) of Government:Speaker Angor
Economy (Main imports, exports, industries, etc.):
Imports:Wood, Meat, Leather, Cotton, Sugar, and Fish
Exports:Heat Crystals, Precious Metals, Ice, and Stone
Industries:Mining, Metal refinement, and Underground Farming
Unique Technologies:Heat Crystals and Cores
Heat Crystals:Quartz crystals charged with fire magic that when stimulated by electrical current produce light. The crystals can be recharged with fire magic when it runs out but every subsequent recharging increases likely hood of the crystal shattering.
Cores:Intricate metal cylinders that act as heat source for heating, and cooking primarily. They are charged by fire magic and sort of like a magic battery. Due to durability of being metal they can be recharged much more then Heat Crystals.
Primary Species:Ragors
Population:67 Million
Culture:The Ragors have always had a mistrust of outsiders and that has lent the Hsir Confederacy to rely on isolation. If a idea or technology from outside mountains is discovered the Hsir are ready to determine if it is useful then incorporate it if beneficial. The alphabet used in Hsir Confederacy is that of the native dwarven population of mountain that are long extinct and the spoken language has many dwarven words. Hardwork, family, tradition, religion, and fearlessness are trademarks of the Hsir Confederacy people. Every home has a shrine dedicated to prayer and multiple generations will live in same home together.
Religion and Other Beliefs:The religion in Hsir Confederacy is ancient having first developed in ancient jungle home when the Ragors were tribes. It is rooted in darkness and death worship with pit caves greater then 300 meters in depth seen as great holy sites. The ancient creation myth of the Ragors is that they simply rose from the darkness.
Darkness is seen as something that is protective and safe. The shrine in each home dedicated to religion is a room that is without any lighting. The death worship is more so death isn't seen as a large negative. Souls of the dead will simply join ancestors in the darkness where light does not touch. The great holy sites that are deep pit caves are seen as where one can commune with spirits of ancestors.
Location/Territories:Karakus Continent largest mountain range
Climate:Mountain
Military: Due to the topography of mountains Hsir Confedercy call home the military is primarily ground forces. The ground forces divided into three groups within the Hsir. First are the armored divisions which operate artillery and tanks of the Hsir. Secondly is the infantry which rely on the third group motorized for transportation. The motorized section of ground army also have many civilian roles which them being in charge of maintain the network of train based transportation that run above and in the mountains.
Second most numerous portion of military are the wyvern riders. The geography of Hsir Confederacy has made development of any airports difficult so instead wyvern are still ridden for air combat. A wyvern will usually have a rider and then another on the back with a high caliber rifle. In the past mages would also ride wyvern and through them casting magic the wyvern could breath fire but its a dying skill not actively trained anymore.
Lastly the Hsir have a very tiny handful of ships meant mostly for protecting what little trade does come to port. The ships are poorly maintained and mostly meant for show as the real defenses on coast are artillery and other static defenses.
Magic Prevalence/Usage:Magic is part of life, every individual of the Ragors species can use magic. Without magic the Ragors would of likely never been able to live in the mountain range. The magic that average member of Ragros can wield is simple fire magic where they can channel its energy but not preform a spell like creating actual fire. True mages are distinguished by having wings and are capable of great magical feats like summoning fire out of thin air.
History/ Background Info:The Hsir Confederacy was founded 8 years ago after the great cataclysm rocked the world. Old trade routes to various nations and city states in mountains dried up causing mass famines. To avoid total collapse of civilization created by Ragors the mountains were forced to unite into a confederation. The name Hsir was chosen as the ancient holy city of Hsir was chosen as the capital. Some estimates put the deaths from famine in the millions.
Nation Relations (Can be as simple as a brief two line summary for your neighbors): Isolation has served the Hsir Confederacy well in solidifying its power. Trade relations have been kept minimal, especially with Hastur where the border is almost closed completely. Immigration into the Hsir Confedercy has been outlawed since its formation. However is a desire for more trade to import resources not within mountains so the Hsir are open to talks with neighbors except for the Hastur.

Type of Government: Constitutional Dual Monarchy- A monarch of two mostly separate states, limited by a constitution.

Head(s) of Government:

Economy (Main imports, exports, industries, etc.):

Imports:
Food
Sea Food
Working/Military/Farm Animals (to a small extent, mainly to experiment with using other animals)
Precious Metals
Vehicles

Exports:
Anglonian Horses (strong all-round working horse with exceptional strength. Working horse to pull and carry equipment)
Fleet Horses (fast horses with less strength, but better stamina, used as transports and racing)
Eireinian Pegasi (swift, agile, and daunting flyers; 1 or 2 sterile pegasi traded to nice foreign leaders, otherwise UKAE holds a 'monopoly' of them)
War Machines (quite recently, and mainly to Southern Verdasou)
Small Arms
Exotic/Luxury Goods
Wood

Having industrialized only in the later half of the last century, many would think that the UKAE would be a bit behind, or have just caught up. But it is not as simple as that. Instead the nation has advanced certain areas at the purposeful expense of others. Their knowledge and abilities are up to date, they have vast factories and docks for civilian, army, and naval use. But the nation is resistant to vehicular modernization: horses and pegasi are used almost exclusively outside of the military due to both their versatility and people having bonds with them. In the military, there is still an overwhelming amount of horses, though a transition from traditional cavalry to mounted infantry and powered armor cavalry has taken place. The government sees no reason to change how things are. Horses mean a more mobile army, literally down to earth populace, more fuel to the military, rougher roads that would hamper invading forces (except for the few roads that the UKAE uses for its own tanks), the list goes on. The main problem with this concept is that the horses are best suited for the UKAE and surrounding territories, prompting development into quality naval vessels, and trucks that would take over transportation duties overseas. Also large tracts of land have to be dedicated to providing for horses, which prompted, especially in the aftermath of the explosion, foreign human food importation.

Unique Technologies (the more exotic or interesting stuff your nation uses or has come up with):

Talisman-men: Soldiers equipped and trained to pass messages between magical/spiritual slips of paper. More reliable than radio, depending on only a man instead of a man using a radio, and no risk of hearing messages wrong, while still being instantaneous. Though not the most powerful weapon on the field, it is not only common in the UKAE, but can only be found in it. Its possible to strike deals where talisman-men are traded to serve in other nations, but even if this does happen they will never reveal how they do it, only serve. There are rumors that something magical/spiritual physically prevents them from revealing their techniques to foreigners.

Principal Armor Cavalry: In this day and age, mounted infantry is as far as you can get with horses on the battlefield, and in some cases not even that. And for a nation with such a long history of horse culture, that wasn't going to cut it. Enter Principal Armor Cavalry, or PAC, named during the transition period where this armor was replacing lesser outdated cavalry. PAC units armor the horse and the rider, with armor that is not only protective enough to shrug off small rounds, but enhanced with spiritual energy. A talisman is attached to both the rider's and horse's armor that not only relieves the weight of the armor, but actually improve the speed and performance of the wearer. Overall cheaper than armored vehicles, more maneuverable, and reliant on food and talisman instead of oil, PACs are the dominant unit in the army. With the trade off of not being an actual tank, PACs, when equipped with the right weapons, make very good modern day cavalry, especially for taking care of infantry and tanks. Due to their weight, they are harder to transport overseas than normal mounted infantry, which in turn are harder to transport overseas than normal infantry.

Primary Species: Human
Population:
20,422,845 Human
17,654,321 Horses
6,543,210 Pegasi

Culture: Horse culture is extremely prevalent in the nation. Not only does each family have a horse, but many families have multiple horses, or even personal steeds. Every part of the horse is enjoyed by the people: the personality, the convenience, being in nature, and horse milk, blood, and meat. Horses are in fact one of, if not the definitive reason why Anglonia and Eirein could successfully unify. It is often said that a Anglonian/Eireinian is only half a man without his horse, but equal to two men with it. Horses come up in conversation as often as mentioning friends or hobbies do. When a Anglonian/Eireinian is far from his horse, one of the few things that can make him feel comfortable is to be out at sea, where the openness of the oceans parallels the openness of the steppes. The sky as well is open, even more so, but it is romanticized less often than the steppes or seas, and has led to a relative lack of aircraft use.

It is considered unprofessional, and to some people rude, insulting, or mocking, if you refer to the current nation-state as Anglonia-Eirein or AE. This has led to the common names for the country being the 'Second Union' or the 'United Kingdoms'. Even more awkward is the demonym for the whole nation being 'Anglonian/Eirienian', and the official shorthand being 'UKAE'.

The most mildly disrespectful and casual way to refer to the nation is Anglonia/Anglonian. Few raise a verbal issue with this, but it is standard for Eireinians to grit their teeth in annoyance for a few moments afterwards. This Eireinian annoyance is felt most strongly when someone more familiar with the region's history, mainly Pandyssians, say it, as it is thought that they are underhandedly referencing the dreaded Anglonia-Eirein and pretending to be talking casually.

Religion and Other Beliefs: The main religion centers around one god, Uldan, he who birthed the universe into creation, and his son Glonchaun (pronounced 'Glon-chon' or 'Glon-Con' depending on regional dialect), a telepathic centaur being that reminded people the true, deep value of humans and horses, and even a look into nature itself.

Location/Territories: Dark Green in the southwest.

Climate: A mix of tropical and sub-tropical, flat/grasslands and forests, along with the greater part of a mountain range. Despite many being directly descended from nomads, a group that is not associated with tropical climates at all, the people and horses are well adapted to the region.

Military:
Royal Union Army- Mounted Infantry and PACs form the backbone, with foot soldiers, medium tanks, light artillery and Anti-Tank, and AA making up most of the rest. Token amounts of heavy artillery and anti-tank guns can be fielded to attempt to stall until the production of more heavy guns or allied assistance. Horses and pegasi, coupled with some trucks, fulfill the transportation necessities.
Royal Union Aerial Army- Aware of the UKAE's lack of focus on aerial warfare, the Aerial Army puts its efforts towards air superiority, and as such there are a decent amount of fighters and fighter-bombers, and multiple different types mainly depending on speed, maneuverability, altitude, and durability, but few if any of other types of aircraft. Seeing an airship in the UKAE is as common as meeting someone with the same birth month as you. The Aerial Army is part of the Army.
Royal Union Navy- RUN is what you should do upon confronting this Navy. Although perhaps not the most innovative, there is both quantity and quality to be found, enough to rival other naval powers. There is a preference to subs, destroyers, and light cruisers due to their versatility and speed, but the Navy is not opposed to having a few battleships and aircraft carriers.
Royal Union Aerial Navy- Taking off from both the coasts and carriers, the Aerial Navy is made up fighters and torpedo bombers. The torpedo bombers are mediocre at best, but serve well to distract and sometimes score a hit on enemy fleets.
Royal Union National Defense- A large branch, divided into the Royal Union Coastal Guard, and Royal Union Home Defense/Militia. Notably divided between these divisions are large, powerful coastal artillery guns. The Home Defense mainly deals with preparing for an invasion of the UKAE penetrating inland, while the Coast Guard is mainly there to help anyone having ship troubles near the coast, or is overboard or about to be and needs water rescue.

Magic Prevalence/Usage: The people do not believe they use magic, and believe the word sounds fake, but instead believe in spirituality, power of the soul, and connectedness to the earth and nature. They call it Inner Ability, or Spiritual Energy. This spirituality is not mingled with technology like how many others use magic, but instead often used completely on its own. For the common man, they might channel it to increase their physical abilities, or use it on their horse if its starting to tire out, if the person is strong enough to even use it in the first place. There are some other uses, but few are notable. In the military the uses increase: superior communication system, shotgun-like blasts of energy, prolonged survival underwater, etc. Whatever the ranking of UKAE's magic is in the world, it is probably one of more straightforward and intimidating. Depending on what direction the government takes, magic use has a chance of declining, but quite unlikely due to the populace not believing their Inner Ability is magic.

History/ Background Info:

Ancient History: About one and a half thousand years ago, four khanates formed from the loose collection of nomads, sedentary tribes, and city states in the region.
-The Santeyla Khanate flew a flag of red and focused on being a united collective. One by one, both violently and peacefully, all of the constituent groups surrendered their former identities and became one with Santeyla. Some believe the beginnings of socialism come from here, while others dismiss the claim.
-The Kantar Khanate is the most mysterious of the four. It is thought that they were the most nomadic and least materialistic, and the main proof that they existed at all comes from other khanates' documentation, which can often contridict each other.
-The Gloucast Khanate formed the basis of later concepts of religion and kingship. They are revered by priests, who claim they feel an ancestral link to them.
-The Lakhher Khanate was the fiercest of them all, forming a nomadic empire the stretched across the plains and the mountains. They struck fear into their enemies, and in 947, completely absorbed the other khanates into their own. Repeatedly successful at expansion and repelling invaders, their reign lasted for two more centuries. After the loss of a crucial fleet carrying thousands of warriors, tactics of neighbors adapting to counter cavalry charges and mounted bowmen, and a succession crisis, the Khanate fell apart. From the collapse came reforms, the archaic tribes were swept aside, and the new kingdoms of Anglonia and Eirein emerged.

Modern History: Hundreds and hundreds of years back, Anglonia and Eirein were enemies that would fight tooth and claw to gain an advantage over the other. They formed their separate alliances and conquered separate nations, but still fluctuated between unfriendly rivalry and war.

There was even a period, many, many hundreds of years ago in medieval times, where a kingdom called
Anglonia-Eirein emerged. It was a complete mess, where Anglonia tried to rule Eirien as part of its own, without accounting for Eireinians and even some Anglonians not wanting to be considered one people at the time. To add on to it, the Union was proclaimed too early, before the last strongholds of Eirein had even fell. Full of rebellions from professional soldiers, and complaints and uprisings from peasants and nobility, Anglonia-Eirein limped along until it finally collapsed about twenty years after its formation. This past state is usually referred to as the First Union, though it also appears as Anglonia-Eirein and AE in the history books.

Despite this interruption, Anglonia and Eirein still traded frequent blows with each other, trying to instead make the other nation subservient instead of outright annexation. One of the main alliances was that between the fierce but outnumbered Eireinians and Southern Verdasou to counter Anglonian aggression against its neighbors. It was only in the past century that relations began to slowly cool, and an easy peace fell upon the land only in the last few decades. With the hardship of the decade of ash blanketing every inch of the flat grasslands, Anglonia and Eirein made the huge leap of unification. Now, however, the nation is at a crossroads. The two nations are still quite separate, and though people are citizens of the union, there are vastly different laws in each nation. They are different kingdoms, even in name. Some argue that an even stronger monarchy is needed to solidify a powerful leader, while others advocate for a parliament to represent both nations fairly, while still more suggest a shift towards the far right to boost united nationalist, and a somewhat notable but very small few suggest a shift to the far left.

Nation Relations (Can be as simple as a brief two line summary for your neighbors):

Southern Verdasou- Formally an old alliance between Eirein and Verdasou to counter Anglonian aggression, in more recent years relations have smoothed out between all three nations, and with the formation of the UKAE, there exists a friendly rivalry and healthy trading partnership between the two nations.

Elyr and Acrad- The UKAE is one of the nations that facilitates and guards trade between the two nations in exchange for payment. Intimidation of would-be attackers and individual cases of defending merchant ships are on the table, but the UKAE is not required to get involved in wars.

Flotilla- First physical contact involved a police officer (mounted, of course) finding a Flotilla citizen who was digging through a UKAE dump. Relations only deteriorated from here. The more that was learned about the Flotilla, how incredibly restrictive and brutal they were, how unconnected to nature they were (living couped up in airships), and how they sold people into slavery, the more the government felt torn between shunning these sky nomads and helping them get past their old ways and settle down on land. The latter was chosen, and lasted a very short time, before the UKAE realized the Flotilla could not be converted nor persuaded to change anything major. In response, Ula-Williamson I drew in a deep breath, calmly exhaled, and peacefully demanded that the unnatural sky scum were to never be within UKAE airspace again. There is some talk going around about what kind of force the UKAE would use if there was a airspace violation by them, but considering most of the UKAE's planes are fighters, it would be much easier to shoot them out of the sky than figure out a way to safely send people up into the Flotilla.

Dyvonia- Some kind of deal to be determined.

Saraya- Mutual friendship and understanding. Not the deepest bond, but some think it has potential. Modernization is something both have held in common and assisted each other with.

Economy:
- Imports
* Heavy Weapons
* Manufactured Goods
* Metals

- Exports
* Food
* Shaped Coral and Water Glass
* Financial Services
* Naval Hulls
* Luxury Goods (Tobacco, Coffee, Sugar)

The Verdasoun Economy was once driven by the Privateer Fleet. Its ships once moved luxury goods like spices, shaped coral, and pearls in enormous fleets for great profit. Pre-calamity, they had reached a point where they were moving private cargo between ports for corporations both foreign and domestic for a modest markup, protected by the guns of the Golden Fleet. The Privateers no longer rule the seas unchallenged, but their influence is still felt in the Coral Market. When the convoys of Merchants began returning from long voyages unchallenged during the Age of Piracy, their wealth was jealously guarded by Verdasouns and re-invested. Banks and vaults in Verdasou hold accounts for corporations, rulers, politicians and oligarchs from across the world. The Verdasoun Guilder is one of the primary trade currencies against which other forms of cash are measured against. Indeed, it's a joke among political circles that most Government Ministers of the Economy have direct lines to a one of the Glass Bank's branches rather than an official embassy.

The two primary entities of the Verdasoun Finance industry are the Glass Bank and the Coral Exchange. The Coral Exchange is a stock and bond market that is managed by private corporations, though interest rates and trade taxes are managed by Verdasou’s Minister of Finance.

The Glass Bank is a government run institution. It provides loans to nations and corporations alike (the latter are overseen by the Minister of Finance, the former by bureaucrats), and holds enormous wealth in underground vaults. Bouillon from nations, kings, emperors and private individuals are stored on the remote island under intense scrutiny. While it is not readily available, nations and leaders sleep soundly knowing part of their nation's gold supply is secure deep within the Sunrise Sea.

Finally, the Sunset Shores provide a route for luxury goods that back up the Verdasoun Guilder. Spices, tobacco, and sugar are shipped out from their colony regularly to supply the world’s appetites.

Unique Technologies: Verdasoun technology relies heavily on their magical innovations. Rather than producing explosive gunpowders, their Water Shapers engineer shaped cannons that fire pressurized blasts of water, striking with the force of wrecking balls against concrete and steel when they hit home. When they must rely on modern technology, they import it from trade partners.

Similarly, hulls of ships- both trade vessels and warships- are grown from a fusion of coral and water glass. Such large undertakings require multiple master shapers working for months at a time, so the growth of the navy is directly limited by how many shapers are available at any given time. Warships of the Verdasoun Navy are built with the express purpose of being crewed by Merfolk so that they may double as submersibles.



The shapers are also able to manufacture an artificial crystal substance called "Water Glass" to market for sale, a clear crystal with the strength of some basic steels. While a potent luxury good of aristocrats during the old era, now this skill has fallen to the wayside in favor of more industrious uses of their shaping skills. Shapers are put to work building hulls for the navy and private shipping conglomorates

Primary Species: Merfolk, Human

Population: 17,000,000

Culture: Verdasoun culture is that of two peoples that have joined as one. Having abandoned the madness of their North Verdasoui ancient homeland in North Verdasou before its collapse, the Merfolk were adopted by the human tribes of the Sunrise Shores. This is both literally and metaphorically- the Rahuri tribal law allow any fit adult to adopt an individual into their family. As part of the price for their settlement, the Merfolk had to consent to being joined as family with their new hosts. This Great Joining of peoples gave the Merfolk hope and purpose by adopting the ways of their new hosts.

Rahuri art and culture reflects struggle against the sea- its storms, its monsters, and its deprivations. The worship two deities. Mama Tortue, the Great Turtle, She who Shepherds and Protects. And Tiburon, The Protector, The Shark Whose Maw Consumes. They also practice a form of ancestor worship, seeking guidance from those who came before.

Rahuri hold hospitality sacred. Denying shelter to one who means no harm is a grave taboo, but it is acceptable to shut one's door in the face of danger. They also place special emphasis on curiosity and exploration. The normally insular, isolationist and proud North Verdasoui were content to shut themselves off from the world until their realm was consumed by great Doom. The Merfolk have gone a full one-hundred-eighty degrees in the opposite direction.

Households are made up of a mixture of humans and the adopted Merfolk. The heads of the household can be either male or female, and same-sex couples do exist within these households as a legal holdover from the Rahuri.

Rahuri surnames are tied to location and profession. Rather than Joe Smith, a Rahuri would be titled "Joe, Car Mechanic from Brooklyn."

While the Verdasouns have maintained the culture of hospitality among themselves, their Golden Fleet has brought wealth and splendor unheard of in the past hundreds of years. The Merfolk arrived as beggars, desperate for a homeland. Within a century they began to build the South Coast into a nation-state. The Rahuri and the Merfolk chafed at these rapid changes, but so far the Rahuri have not repudiated their Hospitality. The Caciques have formed a full Parliament in response to the crisis of the Great Eruption to the north, utilizing their power as farmworkers and fieldhands to demand additional political power. This Parliament was granted to prevent a full civil war from breaking out, and the Merfolk Autocrat, the direct descendant of Galina Verdasou who holds the sacred pact of adoption via her bloodline, now gives her Royal Consent to its laws and mandates.

Religion and Other Beliefs: Among the human tribes, ancestor worship is still common and regional folk gods and goddesses are revered in local shrines and temples.

Among merfolk, the people revere two great deities- Tiburon (also called the Great Shark) and Zacama (the mother turtle). Worship of these deities tends to drift with the times. Tiburon is a protector and war deity, a great shark who appears to lead the merfolk in times of unrest and conflict. Zacama is a nurturer and provider, a turtle who helps shepherd the merfolk through times of plenty and calm.

Location/Territories: Across the great ocean from the Empire of Hastur, Southern Verdasou lines the coast of the great jungles of the southern continent. While they claim dominion over the entire southland, the reality is that their control is limited by the travel of the navy.



Climate: Tropical/Sub-tropical. Southern Verdasou regularly suffers from autumn flooding and summer tropical storms.

Military:

The Royal Verdasou Army is a standing army of roughly 132,789 infantry. Trained in jungle and hill warfare, equipped with semi-automatic rifles and grenades, the Army has not been deployed overseas in living memory. Still, it stands ready to defend the nation's jungle borders and ports. The Verdasou Air Corps, such as it is, is a component of the army and is comprised of 322 aircraft deployed in three squadrons- North Division, East Division, and Inland Division.

The Royal Verdasou Navy keeps a standing force of merfolk crewed vessels rating as follows:
- 17 Battleships
- 61 Cruisers
- 182 Destroyers
- 43 Patrol Boats and Costal Cutters

The hulls of naval vessels are shaped over a period of years by Merfolk Water-shapers, combining Water Glass, Coral, metals, and other materials to form ships capable of standing in combat against others. Their merfolk crews, construction process, and the Royal Combat Doctrine means that these ships are capable of submerging beneath the waves before surfacing to engage the enemy.

The Golden Fleet (Privateers) is a division of merchant cartels that voluntarily build their ships to Destroyer specifications. During times of war, they may voluntarily take up arms to harass enemy shipping and defend the homeland. While the ships are undoubtedly out of date by modern standards, they do allow the Royal Navy to deploy their dedicated combat units further afield without fear of the home seas being completely undefended.

Magic Prevalence/Usage: Magic is used in the construction of coastal cities and the grand Coral City. Cities rise and fall beneath the waves, but Water Glass tunnels allow both Merfolk and Terrestrial individuals to travel the streets in safety when floods and storms strike. Likewise, the ships of the Royal Navy use cannons that fire pressurized blasts of water, heavier and more dangerous than the pressures found in the deepest oceans and striking hulls with the force of a wrecking ball.

History / Background Info: TBD

Nation Relations:

Unitary State of Coreshaw - The closest ally of Verdasou, the people of Coreshaw and the Merfolk of Verdasou both seek a return to normalcy on the international stage. Where Coreshaw's diplomats go, they can always count on unspoken support from Verdasou.

Fenice - The one-time colonizers of the Pandyssia have had a complicated relationship with Verdasou. The human tribes and merfolk both were unable to prevent the establishment of their colony by force of arms or diplomatic intervention, and so they began to intertwine their economies and diplomatic systems in order to promote trans-oceanic trade. After the devastation of Fenice by the great volcano, the colony is becoming host to more and more refugees from Fenice's mainland. For now, Verdasou supports them in their exile- but they are definitely looking to leverage this generosity for political favor in the future.

GCR - The so-called Greater Republic represents a threat and an opportunity in the eyes of Verdasou. Their economic and social system is a barricade to a restoration to the world prior to the great eruption, and the Royal Family's gold reserves remain secure in the vaults of Verdasou's Bank of Glass. Verdasou's diplomats hold a winning hand so long as they hold these gold reserves, and they still don't know what they will demand in exchange for their release- but it will be substantial.

The Divine Empire of Hastur - The Divine Empire is a burgeoning market for the newly opened Coral Exchange, and the modernization of has been fueled by Verdasoun currency. The market has gotten so lucrative that some shipping cartels are buying and selling stolen goods, seized by Hasturian warlords from Arcad, with nary a thought to the consequences. Should Hastur and Acrad go to war, the Verdasoun stand to lose much from their aristocrats.

The Republic of Acrad - After the parliament of Southern Verdasou spent so much time and capital trying to reopen the Coral Exchange, the first international buyers of stocks and bonds were the oligarchs of the Republic. Her Majesty's Government looks favorably upon the Republic, even as regional tensions are on the rise. With so much money in the Coral Exchange, there could be an argument made that any attack upon Acrad's ports would, in the best case scenario, lead to severe disapproval from Her Majesty's Government. Worst case? Blockade and war would ensue.

Royal State of Unified Saraya - Her Majesty's Government had long-standing agreements and relationships with the prior monarchy of Saraya. High King Padvia IV fled to his estate within Verdasou, claiming refuge by using prior familial marriages with Rahuri tribes as justification for citizenship. The newly empowered Parliament went to bat for the exiled King and he remains a private citizen, constantly lodging complaints and courting favor to return to his throne.

High King Padvia will be waiting a long time. Due to rising tensions with the Sovereign Istian State, along with "bandit" raids on Rahuri border settlements, the Ministry of Defense has engaged in limited joint defense operations to deter Istian aggression. Her Majesty's government already shares a border with one militaristic tyranny. They have elected to reserve judgment upon High King Angara Kassaji I until they have taken his measure as a ruler. Verdasoun intelligence operations have stepped up their monitoring and fact-finding missions within Saraya at an alarming rate. Should he swing toward outright fascism, Her Majesty may elect to use King Padvia to stage a coup and remove a dangerous element from Her border. If Angara demonstrates a respect for liberal values and the international order, King Padvia will remain in his private abode, politely ignored and rebuffed by the official diplomatic channels. For the moment, Her Majesty has seen Kassaji can be trusted to keep his word, and may be a future partner in much more important endeavors.

Note: Verdasou is being written as a hotbed of political intrigue and espionage. This is where the sausage gets made, so to speak. I intend to not write martial conflict as it's not my preferred cup of tea.

Nation Name: Divine Empire of Hastur
Type of Government: Absolute Theocratic Monarchy
Head(s) of Government: The Radiant Emperor

Economy (Main imports, exports, industries, etc.):
Hastur is a relatively traditional nation of artisans rather than industrial workers, still, due to its sheer size it can be independent from the outside and doesn't suffer from foreign competition against the domestic goods. This tendency to fix prices and at times simply nationalize certain sectors of the economy has been good for the people in general, but dysmal for industrialization. There are a couple state of the art factories but they are almost exclusively ran by the state and are generally 'non-profit' as they for example aim to deliver weapons for the armies, not to sell them to it.

Exports:
-Foodstuff
-Precious Metals
-Luxury Goods

Imports:
-Weapons
-Industrial Goods
-Slaves

Unique Technologies:
-The Ontology: The rules of magic in the world have been established for quite some time as it being a power from within. But The Ontology of Hastur is different, for it is a power from without. This has been hailed as a proof by the philosopher and clerics of Hastur that Hastur alone is a true God and that these are not the works of magic, but true divine miracles! One may notice that the 'powers of a god' seem in many ways more limited than that of a mage in how it must be casted using precise incantations, movements and wearing specific items in certain holy places, but its effect is undeniable for in this global crisis Hastur has for the most part, thanks to The Ontology, always received bountiful harvests.

Primary Species: Humans

Population: 150,000,000

Government:
For all of its known history, Hastur has always been founded around a powerful bureaucratic administration that was generally meritocratic. Through the centuries however, instabilities within the Golden Palace led to the Janisi caste getting increasing influence within the administration until it took it over. Janisis are educated castrated slaves that have either been captured very young or are of second generation. It is a well kept secret, but the blood of the bearers of the Golden Mask has been foreign to Hastur for many generations now.

The Palace is a microcosm of its own where its all politics as a lowly eunuch cleaning the marble floors can rise to become one of the most powerful person of the world if he is cunning enough. This makes Mask Bearers ruthlessly good at internal politics, but maybe makes them focus too much on that. Very little bearers have taken interest in the outside world lately, too busy dodging plots and poison to care.

It doesn't mean this attention is unwarranted though, for outside the Golden Palace are the local governors and the Warlords. The governors have mostly been neutered as the semi-democratic selection process where landed men may voice their opinion to select whom they think should serve as governor is generally decided by the Palace as it'd be very hard to get the landowners to vote for a conclusive choice that isn't the Palace's. In addition to this, the post of governor comes with great priviledges such as a Janisi administrative cadre, bodyguards and a harem that should in theory be loyal to the governor alone but who of course spy for the Palace (To be sent to work away from the Palace in the Provinces is seen as a punishment by most and as a way to keep enemies far for some, though one shouldn't underestimate how much power a Janisi away from the Palace and with the ear of a powerful Governor can get. Many 'usurpers' were ousted from the Golden Palace by outsiders.)

And then of course, there are the Warlords. The meritocratic system of Hastur extends to its army as well where trained military academy students get junior posts along with promoted soldiers showing potential. Promotions get approved from the top down but this gets complicated when the title of 'Warlord' needs to be given. The process is that the upper officers of the army in question join to select one of themselves to take the title and then ask for approval of the Palace. The Radiant Emperor can of course refuse and appoint whomever he chose but military men tend to be independent minded and choosing an outsider generally leads to an assassination marathon and 'accidents' to happen.

The Golden Palace thus does whatever it can so the Warlords position remains precarious, its main balancing tool being the relentless competition between the Military Academy officers and the Promoted Grass-to-brass ex-grunts who tend to hate each others.

Culture:
Hasturian culture has been shaped massively by its religion and the quest for perfection and betterment, both personal and through the generations and that purity of thoughts and actions lead to health and a long life. The culture thus has a somewhat superficial aspect to it in the fact that good and healthy looking individuals are prone to be seen as better at making choices while a successful person that is say, ugly or afflicted by cancer will be suspected to have achieved his success in dishonorable a fashion by exploiting the people under him and so forth.

While this is a stereotype, it doesn't mean any good looking person just waltzing in is certain to get a prestigious job for at the same time, betterment of the mind and education are also held in high regard, making the Hasturian society quite educated.

Why then, would they keep believing in such baloney as an immortal emperor that got unmasked and killed publicly dozens of times through history?

This baffles outsiders but what a lot of them fail to understand, prefering to think themselves superior to Hasturians most of the time, is that the 'Divine Mandate' of the Radiant Emperor is a white lie that everyone silently acknowledge because its better for stability. Indeed, why has the Empire grown to such heights and population in a world ravaged by warfare? Because of the silent agreement that when two rulers with equal right to rule should rise, then you just side with the one that treats the peasants better and say 'Hail the Radiant Emperor' to just like that be on the right side of history and get on with life without having to go through a devastating civil war. Hasturians simply don't care a whole lot for Palace Intrigue and the Great Game of politics, just going along with whatever's happening currently as not to ruin something good.

And likewise, the Palace prefers not to intervene too much in mundane affairs, except of course to extract wealth out of it. The taxes tend to be flat across the board, a successful merchant not paying a whole lot more than a landless peasant and said taxes would be considered quite high if it wasn't for the value of human lives. Indeed, a household (as determined as everyone of the same blood living under the same roof) may pay its taxes with a life. This means lower income households often pay their entire taxes every year with their offsprings, providing a massive supply of new slaves that will go to the Janisi Academy to either succeed and move to greater things or fail to then grow the ranks of the Central Army or to serve in the state owned industries, mainly the exploitation of deep and dangerous mines.

This system where a massive part of the males are castrated and used as cheap muscle also permits the Empire to allow polygamy as it has a healthy surplus of women. It is judged as a good factor as less successful families will tend to go extinct by selling their young males into slavery and females for dowries, insuring society betters itself. Beware to the households who have neither gold nor young children to pay for the taxes else the tax office may declare them bankrupt and defunct, all assets being seized and people enslaved. Any non child has considerably less value as a slave as they can't take the Janisi exams and are automatically sent to hard labor.

Religion and Other Beliefs:
'In the beginning there was only the chaos of everything that was and could be, changing at every moment. For aeons, the darkness that creates and destroy pointlessly created and destroyed, that is until Hastur was made and he could not be destroyed. Hastur then separated things from the everything and from things made the world as we know it. To keep things orderly while he busied himself creating the universe, Hastur created life, a thing chaotic by nature but the only thing capable of repairing the damages caused by entropy, the Crawling Chaos that hides everywhere, and so it was good.'

'It is the ideal of any sentient being to change itself for the better to try and reach artificially what Hastur is naturally: Perfection. The Radiant Emperor, steward of Hastur on this world, is by far the most touched being on this planet. Immortal and above the power of any and all on this earth, his flesh is of solid gold and to witness it would be sure to leave a man blind. His cunning and intelligence is also beyond that of any mortal and as such, to question his actions is futile and one must know that in the end, it is all part of the Grand Plan to instill perfection on this earth and build paradise.'

'There is only one way to perfection and a single wrong action leads to failure and chaos, for a perfect being would never have made a mistake. The way to perfection is uncertain for the only being who never made a mistake ever is the Radiant Emperor but to be placed in the care of his chosen educators is certainly a safe choice to give your offspring a better chance at perfection.'

'Failure to achieve perfection is most likely and so most are destined to return to the Crawling Chaos. But do not worry, for Hastur works tirelessly to separate things from everything so in time, you shall have another chance as you are reborn pure and without the dark mark of mistakes.'

'Outsiders will say that through history, the Radiant Emperor has been ousted from power and unmasked many times, but it is important to look at history in hindsight. The Radiant Emperor always returned triumphant and that is because every event in history was part of the Grand Plan, for the Radiant Emperor never once did a mistake in his existence. At times the Grand Plan demanded body doubles to be put in place and traitors to be allowed to fake being the Emperor at times. If you ever ask yourself 'If the Radiant Emperor is perfect, how could he have known failure?', you have already failed on the road to perfection but should know that your feeble mind simply cannot understand the Grand Plan. For example, if a people is becoming weak and effeminate, then the harshness of war and devastation will whip them back into shape and closer to Perfection. There is always a point to what the Radiant Emperor does.'

Climate:




This country that should in all certainty be dry and hot at all times benefits from a bountiful wet season where suddenly rivers and green sprout in the harsh wasteland, allowing for bountiful harvests and beautiful flora to exist for a bit less than 6 months before the heat returns and everything dies again. This is the cycle of life and most inhabitants of the empire live with it, busying themselves with farmwork during the monsoon and with craftsmanship during the dry season.

Military:

-LAND:

Military affairs of the empire have historically been a large and complex affair without the existence of radio or telegraphs and as such, the distant provinces of the Empire were assigned commander given practically unlimited power as to the recruitment, training and deployment of his forces, many wars were fought in the pass without a single word of the Emperor as the Warlords have also diplomatic privileges and the duty to protect Hasturian interests whenever they can. Today things are slowly reforming with the creation of a central military academy but still the regional commanders have extreme powers compared to any military officer of any rank in most nations.

-The Border Armies are poorly equipped with overstock last generation bolt action rifles and the likes from more advanced nations and their training ranges from decent to lackluster depending on which of the four armies they are from.

The Septentrional army led by Warlord Selim Al-Facil is reputed to be a hardened fighting force with much experience behind it fighting Acradian forces in constant border skirmishes involving them punching way above their supposed strength against a superior enemy. The north however holds some of the poorest provinces of the Empire and is where the monsoon ends, leaving only desert, as such it isn't the most numerous army, which isn't helped by the fact that Al-Facil is reputed to be confrontational and critical of the Golden Palace, which in turns try to limit his power as much as possible.

The Oriental army led by Warlord Alaydin Al-Mansul guards the eastern coast and a large part of the front behind the Septentional army. These two bodies should ideally work together if they'd hope to have success in the northern operations but Al-Mansul is a known stooge of the Golden Palace prefering much more to spend his days with concubines and enjoying the benefits of his position than really lead his men. As such his army, while sizable and in theory well equipped and supplied, has grown complacent and lazy, anyone competent being held back to lower ranks as not to menace the position of the Warlord.

The Occidental army led by Warlord Sheik Mustafa Al-Bagreb has always been considered 'Old and reliable' like the general leading it. Al-Bagreb himself is far from a tactical genius but is yet considered an excellent Warlord due to his ability to remain calm, identify good ideas and manage inter-officer relationship within his Staff as well as temper the expectations of the Golden Palace. He doesn't hesitate to say he owes his long and succesful carreer to his ability to avoid praise and that his greatest trait is humility. His forces are thus kept at robust efficiency though innovation maybe isn't his strong suit.

And finally, the Meridional army led by Warlord Simbel Beiyang, alone in the south. With the relations warming with Alvaria and Hsir while in the north things go to hell, the Meridional army is considered the least important of the 4, but if anything this just leaves more room for Beiyang to further his expertise. The man went to the military Academy and was trained by foreigners, having already travelled the world to get lectures from the best modern generals and taking his job very seriously, he constantly studies both the latest in military news and all military history he can gets his hands on. Knowing not to let bodies grow idle, he spends his and the time of his men training and preparing for fantasy invasion scenarios by the neighbors, knowing preparation, while it doesn't survive contact with the enemy very often, is still key to success.

Then, there is the Central Army. All of the wealth the empire receives amasses itself in the Golden Palace and the Central army has historically been the most likely to march on the palace to 'remove usurpers' and as such it is always kept under tight control and a short leash. This army is also the one to intervene should a Warlord or provincial governor get upity and defy the Radiant Emperor and as such, it gets the benefits of all the advanced weaponry and training offered by the rest of the world to Hastur. Its troops are capable of great things, remains to see if he who will lead them will get his post due to competence or nepotism for lions led by a sheep are a menace to no one.

And finally at the core are the personal troops of the Emperor. In the palace, the Key Masters and their Underlings guard specific doors of the Palace, some obvious some secrets, but their role is mostly ceremonial, the body guards are Elite Janisi indoctrinated from birth to fear only the eternal hell that awaits them should they break their oath not of protecting the emperor's life (for he is immortal and his intellect so great he'd never get caught in a disfavorable position in the first place), but to protect his divine sight from things so displeasing as someone foolish enough to even try the impossible!

-NAVY:
Curiously, the navy (or rather navies as East and West are almost completely dystinct), despite being the subject of the least attention from the capital in term of reforms, is easily the most effective force of Hastur and indeed is considered frighteningly powerful by many, Fenice especially who in the lat ten years saw the Western Navy being considered a bunch of pirate rabble to a near-peer menace that manages to cause considerable military loses and crippling civilian ones. This is mostly due to a lack of oversight from the Golden Palace (You can't sail a ship to the Palace to make a coup) that allows true meritocracy to be achieved along with with a prize system giving out generous rewards for capture and destruction of enemy ships making the post of Sealord one the most lucrative enterprise in Hastur at the moment without counting the monstrous profits to be made in capturing freight and slaves.

The Western Navy under Sealord Mistral Grel, a demi dark elf exodite from Acrad, has grown legendary for its boldness and balls-to-the-walls raids on Fenice, the best known of them being how a slave raid on the island of Djin that had been held by Fenice for centuries turned in a liberation thought impossible just because Grel saw an opportunity and took it. He is now the wealthiest man in Hastur and attracts countless wannabe mariners with his generous gifts of prize money to the best crews as he now focuses on vanquishing rather than just fighting back the Fenician navy using a doctrine of combined surface, submarine and air ships to try and crack open their battlefleets, sink their sea castles and retake all of the land lost to foreigners and their navy for the Emperor declared he'd reward the person responsible for such a feet with a wish of anything one might desire. What Grel desire is for the Emperor to command his armies to march on Acrad and liberate his homeland from the boot of the humans there, make this land a province and make he, of course, governor.

Where the western navy and its Sealord are reputed for boldness and aggression, Sealord Nizar Al-Reef is liked by his men for being a no-nonsense and eerily silent type. A friend of the merfolks and other undersea humanoids that make a significant part of his crew, he prefers to leave slve taking to others as he just sinks his targets and pillage them from the sea floor. Reputed to be a frustrating enemy, he always seeks to not lose before trying to win and isn't one to take baits or being forced in a corner.

-AIR:
Sealords and Warlords all have their small auxiliary flying units but there was never a true Air Force, united in its command until recently. The newly appointed Skylord Seung Lafla was top of his class along with the now Walord Beifang in his class of the Military Academy. It was unofficially built thanks to the effort and material of Avalia but isn't stuck within the framework of its doctrine either as Avalia never did bother to make this training official. Still, the fleet is relatively modern and its officers and crew well trained and eager, the next step is to create a native design produced within Hastur.

Magic Prevalence/Usage:
The use of magic (as opposed to miracles done using the Ontology) was always borderline heretical if only for the fact that mages tended to try and call out priests as just doing magic the same way they did, which is heretical, but there never were purges. There is even a small but prosperous mage's guild in Hastur promoting responsible and above all, discreet, use of magic. Recently however things changed. On one hand it seems like mages are more in demand than ever with the Coreshaw delegation building prototype magic powered factories but on the other, it is rumored slaves with magic and the poorer mages are disappearing to... somewhere.

History/ Background Info:
Hastur has been there since recorded history (which conveniently starts about 3000 years ago, anything older being impossible to find) and it is said that before there were only tribes of men obeying the will of powerful witches and wizards calling themselves dieties until Hastur revealed itself to the Radiant Emperor. With the power of the almighty Hastur, the 'golden man' defeated all who opposed him, enslaving and neutering the men and marrying their women to insure ethnic unity (and indeed, the generic 'Hasturian' people are the largest single ethnicity of the world) and would go on to conquer, having a massive magical edge over its enemies.

At times Hastur was closed on itself, at others it became resurgent but always its enemies feared its armies, unending and with the backing of a numerous population to equip and pay for it. Even as firearms revolutionized warfare, it only seemed to make Hastur stronger for its craftsmen were eager to show their expertise to the world! When the industrial revolution came around however, Hastur did not partake in it with the same enthusiasm. It was anathema to the culture of self perfection Hastur had always preached, one of the things that made it strong in the olden times as the men strove for perfection while others wallowed in contempt of their own situation. It is impossible to become a master of anything if you work in a factory hitting the same nail on different shoes, over and over again.

Then, trouble began. Foreigners saw the weakness of Hastur, but still it had the gold of its past glories. Foreigners demanded concessions, unequal treaties and gold, meanwhile the Radiant Emperor dodged conspiracy after conspiracy, many armies unmasking false emperors and placing others on the golden throne. It was 50 years ago that the downward spiral seemed to slow down and stop, the Emperor having changed his strategy from uh... letting the fakes fight one another, to then return on his throne and stay there. It was 10 years ago however that Hastur rather than recover, once again began to expand! The volcano was a curse sent by the Emperor on Fenice for their hubris and with the north falling apart, the dark elves of Acrad who had so long resisted the emperor came to beg him for safety that he provided, in the south more tribes were annihilated and overall, Hastur stands greater than ever and not at all overextended. In fact, it hungers for more.

Nation Relations:
-Republic of Acrad: Acrad in its multitude of states had been for the last couple centuries the bulwark of the north, the enemy with which Hastur traded blows for generations. Hastur cheered as the nations of the desert collapsed and indeed secured territories out of the whole ordeal but they didn't foresee that it would actually come back from this chaos, much less that it would do it so fast. Maybe energy spent fighting Fenice would have been better used putting Acrad out of Hastur's misery once and for all but what is done is done. Everyone knows Acrad and Hastur will fight again, but its a question of when.

-Hsir Confederacy: Back in the days, Hsir seemed the weak link of the chain around Hastur, an easy target. The reptiles proved the Empire otherwise. Hostilities between the nations really kind of... stopped. One day it was war, the other Hastur was too busy elsewhere. Warlord Beifang and the local governors didn't push the issue, it seemed these folks were contempt staying in their mountains and so they'd leave them. Whatever they had of worth was easier to trade for that to take by force.



Name: ??? (The Radiant Emperor)

Age: ??? (It is theorized the first Radiant Emperor destroyed all recorded history of Hastur over 2500 years ago to create the religious narrative Hastur is known for today.)

Psychology: His Radiance seem to have decided lately that the Grand Plan demands modernization and an end to the centuries of isolationism the Empire's been in. Hastur will unite all, but pragmatic deals with other temporal leaders who think somehow they'll conserve their authority on the long run shouldn't be discarded either.

Physical Description: ???

History: ??? (Looking for a princess to have been captured and enslaved by Hasturian forces and have sired an offspring that would be the current person behind the mask.)

Nation Name: Royal State of Unified Saraya

Type of Government: Constitutional Monarchy

Head of Government: High King Angara Kassaji I

Economy: Economic developments are regionally aligned. Mining and heavy industrial outputs are concentrated around the western border and the mineral-rich mountains and hills. The southern coast is referred to as the industrial heartland, with shipbuilding and heavy industrial factories prevalent there. Service-based, modern economic functions like banking and finance exist in the central coast near the capital and other affluent cities. Education and other service sectors are most prevalent in the central and northern cities, which form an urban corridor along the coast. Farming and agricultural production is centered along the river valleys and in the central grasslands of the country, while lumber and forestry is focused on the jungles to the northeast.

Unique Technologies: I guess I’ll figure this out.

Primary Species: Human

Population: 27.7 million

Culture: Sarayan culture is generally described as mellow. Laid back and relaxed, it is usual to find coffee and conversation in cafes and households across the country. There is an intricate respect-based system of nicety and politeness, derived from beliefs of equality and humility and supported by the religious pantheon. There is little racial or gender-based difference in society, as the country was formed from a quorum of tribal entities that brought diverse viewpoints and experiences into a melting pot. Gender roles do exist in the world but are typically flexible and it is not unusual to see working women or stay-at-home men. Most outright discrimination occurs with non-human outsiders, but centuries of dealing with the Verdasou have nullified problems with “humanoid” races such as the mer-creatures. The official language is Sarayan, also known by its dialectical name of Jazadi (after the capital city of Jazad.)

Religion and Beliefs: The official Sarayan religion is referred to as the Navari Pantheon. The Pantheon consists of the worship and written lore of a dozen deities and their stories. The Pantheon is heavily-based on the ancient writings of the Old Sarayan tribes, who focused their worship towards fire. As a result, most temples are fire temples and many of the gods have a direct connection with fire despite representing facets of the world. Magic use is directly related to the Navari Pantheon, as it is related to the ceremonies and miracles of the gods. Clergy often occupy important roles in the tribal and rural areas of the country, and function as local mages and miracle-workers for villages and towns.

Location and Territories: Southwest Pandyssia, south-southwest of Verdasou and directly east of Anglonia-Eirein. Stretches inland for about a sixth of the continent. (Plot #9.)

Climate: Coastal temperate leading inland, with lush river valleys along the two main river inlets leading towards dry, semi-arid grasslands on and beside the mountains in the south and western edges of the country with the border to Anglonia. While not type-classified as mountains, sizeable hills break up the topography before jungle begins at the western border. To the north, forests turn to tropical jungle environments along the Verdasou border. The interior is mostly calm and temperate with lush forests and wider grasslands. Many of the tropical storms arriving in Verdasou make their way towards the northern regions of Saraya but are usually weaker after spending some time over land.

Military: The Royal Sarayan military is based around modern principles focusing on the Land Forces, Sea Forces, Air Forces, and National Gendarmerie. The Land Forces maintain their area of responsibility for defense of the national borders and land-based foreign expeditions. The Sea Forces patrol the coastline and international waters, while the Air Forces provide air-based support to all of these services. The National Gendarmerie focuses on internal law enforcement and domestic security at the national level. Specialized units like the Border Corps, Amphibious Corps, or Royal Guard Corps are typically sub-unified branches roughly attached to parent services yet with their own independent structures.

The regular military is commanded by a quorum of Joint Service Chiefs with a head picked by the government while royal units (particularly the Royal Guard Corps, as authorized by the Constitution) are commanded by the High King. Various lower-level structures exist, including a national conscription reserve and militia element used to raise tribal levies on demand for conflict. These function as inactive parts of the regular military. Imperial tradition has resulted in the presence of several “elite” units generally independent of central authority, despite constitutional attempts to nullify the High King’s power over them. They have been mostly merged into the Royal Guard Corps, but subdivisions remain as independent regiment-sized elements across the country.

Magic Prevalence and Usage: Magic is heavily present in religious ceremony and cultural events. Many of the Navari clergy are adequate magical users, using them from summoning spirits at sermons to healing and providing alms. Gods of the Pantheon have imbued or dispersed magical powers, blessings, and abilities, albeit somewhat mysteriously. Average people are exposed to magic in their daily life as professionals such as doctors use it alongside traditional forms of medicine. It is taught in universities or special mage collages. The military has an organized training program for battlemages in combat and support roles. Usually most effective in the hands of the appropriately studied and skilled, magical power and imbuement finds a way into every facet of society from construction to entertainment.

History and Background: Saraya has a long and complicated internal history. Shielded by jungles to the west and mountains to the south, tribal culture and governments have existed since antiquity. In the early years of the 1st millennium, however, High King Yahani the Unifier established an alliance of tribes under the banner of his council. This alliance established a kingdom, dubbed Saraya after visions of the deity fire queen of Sara (referring to the head) encouraged acceptance and unification. The kingdom thrived on the southern coast of the Pandyssian continent for hundreds of years, establishing a national identity and embarking on campaigns to penetrate deeper into the heart of the continent in search of territory and imperial glory. Dynasties thrived, rose, and fell as the ages passed.

Ancient Saraya most famously clashed with the jungle-people in the center of the continent in a massive war. After decades of war, their victory was decisively won when an ancient Sarayi army descended upon their capital and razed it to the ground, going so far as to carry the very bricks of their buildings back to Jazad to form a new wing of the High King’s palace. The jungle eventually reclaimed whatever was left of their civilization, and the rest of their identity was lost to history. The only records that remain name them as the Rustosi, but much of their way of living is now so obscure and shrouded in lore and mystery that scientific and archeological evidence is difficult to prove.

Eventually, a national Sarayan identity was formed and used to rally nation-state ideals around. Tribal powers were quickly subsumed into an ever-more powerful High King, who ruled as an absolute autocrat for hundreds of years. Through good and bad, development of the country stalled and stuttered or progressed with the influx of new technology and ideas. Yet in the mid-1500s, the first of the Sarayan Revolutions was ignited by a belief that the monarch had consolidated too much power and the rest of the country was corrupt and undeveloped. Tribal forces rose against the High King and deposed him by 1564 after a decade of brutal fighting. Left scarred and ruined, the Sarayan people began the road to recovery with a new dynasty of tribesmen promising to pick up where the former king had ignored them.

A distrust of foreign power had developed as foreign influence crept into the country. These tensions simmered for centuries, sometimes breaking out into small conflicts that left Saraya utterly humiliated yet never totally conquered. These decimated the military and prestige of the new dynasty, forcing the country into its century of shame. Trade and openness eventually petered out, before the country closed itself off for the first fifty years of the 18th century. Eventually, internal strife forced the monarch to reopen the country in order to secure food and resources for a growing population, but a strong distrust of foreign powers remains to this day.

This dynasty survived for another two hundred years, before falling into the same traps as before. Just as the previous cycle fell, the second Sarayan Revolution established the Constitution of 1800 and installed the Padvian dynasty as rulers bound by oath to a new government. This was seen as a highly progressive move at the time, generated as new ideas surrounding democracy and government power were increasingly in vogue. These Padvians would rule an increasingly modernized empire as technology and money flowed from newly-opened trade between Anglonia and Verdasou. Jazad became a modern capital and the north coast of Saraya turned into an urban corridor. Industrialization took hold as the Padvians declared a strong military and industrial base the future security of their regime against foreign power, departing from tribal relations and magical-based might.

1927 marked a change in world power as the volcano explosion utterly decimated the northern hemisphere. In the south, the damage was not as severe, but climate change and a collapse of the international system led to hunger and internal unrest. The Padvian dynasty abdicated in early 1929 after two years of famine and rioting led to an attempt on life of the king that left him scarred and deformed. Almost a year of struggle led to the installment of High King Angara Kassaji. Kassaji, formerly a general officer in the Padvian military forces, utilized his connections to regiment and distribute food and resources to the people in the rural areas before marching on Jazad with an army of defectors and peasants. Kassaji declared the empire “Unified” again in December of 1929.

The climate began to normalize and the situation improve, while Kassaji managed a reconstruction effort. Bound by the Constitution, revived in 1930 after falling by the wayside with Padvian corruption, Saraya is poised to compete with the Pandyssians as the north proves prime territory for foreign intervention. Relegated to a second or third-rate status for most of their history, High King Kassiji and the Sarayan people welcome the destruction of the north as an open door for their country. Millenia of lore and identity have coalesced into a resurgent state, their people hoping and trying for greatness in a new era.

National Relations: Saraya retains diplomatic relations with several countries.

Southern Verdasou: Southern Verdasou is an important trade partner to the north, providing significant loans and economic support to the Sarayan industry. However, diplomatic disputes around the presence of the former High King Padvia IV in the Coral City have been a friction point in the relationship. While technically not seen as a threat or issue by the Kassiji throne, Padvia maintains a residence there that is often the subject of protests and disruption. The new Kassiji dynasty is also met with some skepticism by Verdasou's government, who are still assessing the new regime. However, positive progression in recent years with racial acceptance have smoothed previous issues regarding immigration and discrimination that was marred by allegations of human favoritism.

Anglonia-Eirein: Sarayan and Anglonian relations have typically been distant, yet amicable. While there is significant overlap in ethnic population, especially near the border, internal disputes in both countries have resulted in more of an internal focus. Despite this, they maintain a mutual understanding as they both have undergone significant modernization in order to reduce their vulnerability to outside partners. They have participated in trade, technology, and doctrine exchange to further "northernize" their economies and strengthen the political power of their nation-states.

The Flotilla: The Flotilla maintains a docking and trading agreement with the Sarayan government in the southern city of Kuzom, which has constructed docking infrastructure and logistical support networks significant enough to take on the massive fleet of airships. Flotilla citizens are allowed in this exclusive economic zone but are typically met with hurdles if they try to travel throughout the rest of the country.

((Updated flag & flag on claim))



Nation Name: Commonwealth of Ocreau

Type of Government: Union of Republics

Head of Government:
Lady Marie Ira II representative of the division of Rina, Governor General of the National Legislative Council
Aran Cerang, Prime Minister of the People's House

Economy:
The Commonwealth’s chief exports include iron and silver ore mined in the nation’s mountains, although the amount exported has been steadily decreasing in favour of more sustainable ventures. Other important industries include the agricultural sector, which mostly produces spices and paper. There have been some attempts to create a larger tourism sector but the results have been mixed. The Commonwealth often imports food, glass and other raw materials.

Unique Technologies:
The pride and joy of the Ocrese Commonwealth is the Grand Railway. The Grand Railway is a large railway network connecting every town throughout the country. It travels at high velocity, powered by magically augmented engines. The network has been equipped with large underground tunnels that go through the mountains.

The railway tunnels are also connected to the war bunkers. This extensive system of bunkers that could shelter the majority of the population should the country come under threat. In addition, some of the trains have been outfitted with artillery that could be sent as a defence in times of war.

Primary Species: Humans, Goliaths, Half-Goliaths, and a notable Orc minority

Population: Approximately 13.5 million people

Culture:
The people of Ocreau had to learn to survive in the arid rain shadow of the mountains that make up most of the country. This lead to the formation of many festivals and rites designed to bring about good harvests. The climate also encouraged the use of many different spices in Ocrese cuisine, several of which were considered to be so valuable that the tribes fought over their sources long ago. The people value resilience and an even temperament. There is a strong focus on family and on the local surroundings.

The most common spoken language is Ocrese, which is a creole of the old languages of the human settlers and the languages of the Goliath. Orcish is often spoken by the Orc minority in the south.

Religion and Other Beliefs:
Many of the religious Ocrese combine the beliefs of various world religions with traditional local customs, forming a hybrid belief system with a basis in the world religion but festivals and customs from indigenous sources. Several still adhere solely to these customs which encourage the worship of spirits at shrines, many of which are centuries old.

Location/Territories:

The country is split into 17 divisions, with the capital of Ereaux being located in the division of Rina which is in the mountains.

Climate:
The climate of the Commonwealth is generally dry and arid, with the eastern coast having a warm climate with lower than average rainfall. The land near the base of the mountains is fairly fertile and is fed by snowmelt. The mountains get quite cold, with the highest mountains having permanent snow caps.

Military:
The Commonwealth has a decent defensive force with several static and mobile defenses. Remnants of fortresses built during the warring states period have been retrofitted to serve as more modern bases. These are mostly found near the coast as the largest inland border is protected by mountainous terrain.

The army consists mostly of infantry with support from armoured vehicles built using the iron found in the mountains. Although the army is hardly the most advanced on the continent, it makes up for it with training and discipline.

The navy has been built up over the centuries as sea trade was vital to the fledgling Commonwealth. The nation has been investing in warships and its coast guard. It also has a large merchant navy. The navy has been researching aerial combat, but not much has come of it so far.

Magic Prevalence/Usage:
Magic in the Commonwealth was once viewed with awe, many magi would act as village elders and would be vital advisers to the ancient leaders. The local magics are druidic in origin, focussing on nature and spiritual magic. Now, magic is regulated by a government ministry in an effort to keep the peace in the country. It is taught by schools, many of which are publicly-owned. Despite this, magical abilities are still fairly rare and those with them are greatly respected.

Magic also plays a role in festivals and rites, and is used to bring about several different effects. For example, a rite might be used to encourage a good harvest or to drive away evil spirits. Traditional talismans are also used as sources of easily accessible magic.

History/ Background Info:
The lands that are now called Ocreau were once inhabited by 10 different Goliath tribes. These tribes were mostly confined to the mountains and were largely isolated to the outside world. Not much is known about this period as much of the Goliath’s oral history was lost to the ages. It is widely believed that these tribes lived largely separate from each other. Archaeological evidence suggests that there when the tribes did meet, it often ended in bloodshed.

Centuries later, the first human settlers arrived in Ocreau. The humans mostly settled the coastal wetlands as these provided convenient sources of food. It wasn’t long before the two peoples met each other. Old writings made by the humans suggest that while many of the Goliath tribes were open to trade, there were a few that fought the humans over land.

This period of history continued until the founding of Qae, the first Ocrese city-state. The first warlord of Qae rose up and conquered the surrounding tribes. Qae was soon followed by other states, ushering in the Warring States period of Ocrese history. During this period, the first Orcish settlers appeared and formed their own city state in the south of the country. Approximately 21 states were formed during this time.

This period ended with the formation of the 17 modern states. The end of the warring states period forged three uneasy alliances that would shape modern Ocreau. The first alliance was under the division of Qae which controlled the northern mountains. The second was under Rina, which controlled the southern mountains. The third was under Mar, which controlled the central coast.

These three alliances were constantly trying to undermine each other, but there was very few outright wars between them. Each knew that a war with its neighbours could spell the end of their de facto state. The three was finally unified into the Commonwealth of Ocreau with the leadership of Ira of Rina. Ira saw the power of the neighbouring countries and saw that only a unified Ocreau could hope to survive. As the warlords of the constituent divisions and the leaders of the alliances saw the expansion of Fenice and worried that it threatened to take the lands upon, they met in the city of Ereaux and forged the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth was officially formed 150 years ago with the founding of the National Legislative Council, which took a representative of each of the states (now called divisions). All of the divisions elected their representative democratically, while some still retained ancient dynasties.

Although the eruption initially had little effect on the Commonwealth, other than some trade disruption, the following years of ash-induced darkness had a devastating effect on the agricultural industry. The government set out drastically subsidising farms and reforming agricultural laws so that they would not starve. The famine did cause a drop in population and some of the more agricultural-focussed divisions required grants to prevent bankruptcy.

Once the ash cleared, the agricultural industry began to recover and Ocreau saw a boom in the spice industry. Lady Maria Ira II, who is distantly related to Ira of Rina, became the 71st Governor General of the Commonwealth 2 years ago.

Nation Relations:

NOTE: More to be added.