-Nation name
[High Rock]
-History (focus on the years 4E 201 to 205, anything before that is pre-established canon)
-Leadership (type of government, leader, political agenda)
4/5 Kingdoms are a monarchy, with the last being a Republic, although not officially recognized by High Rock’s leaders. The leaders of High Rock all vie to be the loudest voice in the Emperor’s ear to garner favor in his eyes and to hopefully elevate their State’s status in High Rock. This makes High Rock the second most Court Intrigue filled nation, rivaled only by Morrowind and its Great Houses.
-Allegiance (you can change this throughout the RP)
A very tenuous thread connects them to the Cyrodiilic Empire, although it will be hard to secede, seeing as the Council of Kings will have to make a unified move to do so. High Rock is not the most unified of Provinces, to be sure.
-Military
Kingdom of Jehanna –
The Kingdom of Jehanna is home to some of High Rock’s best heavy infantry. Striving off of both levies and volunteers, the Kingdom of Jehanna fields one of the most impressive infantries known in High Rock. With the close proximity to Skyrim and also the fact that Royal family married their daughter to a Nordic Chieftain from Haafingar, many things have been borrowed from the Nords, from architecture to armament. As such, you will find the soldiers of Jehanna bedecked in furs, maille, meager plate and horned helm’d officers and carrying large round shields, swords, handaxes and long axes, as well as longbows(owing to the Breton natives, more than the Nordic influence). The Bretons and Nords of Jehanna fight with ferocity unmatched in High Rock, honed by the War of the Bend’r-Mahk, the annex of Farrun and also the constant warring with the Reachman Tribes.
With the annexation of the port city of Farrun, Jehanna has gained itself a place with which to keep a meager force of warships. Although they are capable of defending their coast and port they are not capable of force projection in any way when it comes to their navy. The navy of Jehanna consists of six Men o’ War, ten Frigates, seven Brigs, ten Cogs, and twenty longships. The ships are crewed by Farrun natives both recruited and pressgang’d, and the longships are crewed by Nordic mercenaries from Dawnstar and Windhelm.
Grand Duchy of Northpoint –
This State is the most peaceful of the five that make up the nation of High Rock, allowing their army to grow as large as it is unused. Their military, unlike their neighbor Jehanna, keeps itself largely Breton. With the large amounts of steel and leather coming in from their trade with the other provinces, as well as their vast income coming from trade, the Grand Duchy of Northpoint is able to issue their soldiers some of the best quality in weapons and armor. Their marksmen are equipped with the best longbows made from springsteel and the finest wood that money can buy, equipped with either boiled leather plates or padded cloth, reducing their weight and increasing their maneuverability on the battlefield.
The Grand Duchy of Northpoint also fields some of the best-equipped, but poorly trained Knight cavalry. These Knights are knights in name only, being the youngest sons and unwanted nephews of rich merchants with suits of full-plate and meager horsemanship training paid for by their family. As such, the infantry is supplied by both levies and volunteers from the lower-classes to fulfill the role of infantry. Footsoldiers are equipped with spears, axes and falchions, while shields range from bucklers to large hide round shields, and are armored in padded-cloth or boiled leather.
The Grand Duchy of Northpoint is also home to the second largest port in Northern Tamriel, giving them a fleet of 500 battle-ready vessels at their disposal, some of which is used to keep the rabble from Wayrest in check. Owning the largest port in the North has allowed Northpoint’s sailors to garner a reputation of being the best to ever sail in the rough Sea of Ghosts, and by extension, any calmer sea. Northpoint’s navy is by far the best in High Rock, second only to Daggerfall, and can rival any in Northern Tamriel.
Kingdom of Daggerfall –
The Kingdom of Daggerfall has always been a very important and contested city in the Iliac Bay region. Their army is the second largest behind Northpoint’s, though makes up for this in their training and equipment. The Kingdom of Daggerfall relies on the renowned pikemen mercenaries from Camlorn to sow discord in cavalry charges, as well as their well-equipped and well-trained Great Sword infantry and skirmishers to smash into formations to break them so their cavalry can mop them up. Daggerfall’s Great Sword infantry is the most well-renowned niche unit in the Northern Provinces, a terrifying force, armored in flamboyant frills and half-plate, as well as steel morion helms, sallets or feathered flat caps, they make a very recognizable and intimidating presence on the battlefield, using the huge great swords they are trained from an early age with to smash through polearms and shields of any kind before moving among the disjointed formation with shorter blades and bucklers to help the cavalry in mopping up the remaining resistance.
The skirmishers and archers are usually volunteers from the general populace who are of an able-bodied age. Equipped with anything from padded-cloth to maille, as well as simple steel helms with noseguards. The skirmishers work in tandem with the Great Sword infantry to move in more quickly and harass the flanks while the Great Sword infantry takes the front. They are also able to quickly flank any archer formations while their archer counterparts keep them pinned. Skirmishers are usually armed with falchions and bucklers or handaxes and large round shields, with archers being similarly armed in the event their longbows prove to be at an ineffectively short range. Always lightly armored and quick on their feet, they are able to outmarch many enemies and outrun many on the battlefield.
Daggerfall’s cavalry is made up of the higher-class merchant sons and minor nobles making up a striving Knight-class in society. Armed with full-plate and riding the best horses imported straight from Colovia, Daggerfall’s cavalry makes a very devastating presence on the battlefield, able to quickly outflank enemy formations with the skirmishers and mop up any remaining resistance. Armed with arming swords, one-handed hammers, maces or flails, they make a very large impact on the enemy.
Daggerfall’s navy boasts some of the best sailors in High Rock and is able to field the highest number of battle-ready vessels, dwarfing Northpoint’s navy by 600. Many of these ships are put toward helping Northpoint’s navy in pirate hunting and keeping the pirate ships around Wayrest from straying too far from the port there. With a military like this, the other States of High Rock are glad that the King of Daggerfall is more concerned with expanding his power through deals made in court rather than bloody conquest.
Principality of Camlorn –
The Principality of Camlorn fields a small selection of archers from among the general populace, with every man and woman required to practice with the longbow for at least two hours each day. In this way, the Principality of Camlorn always has an armed and trained populace, ready to defend their borders and homes within. In the event that Camlorn is invaded, the general populace of Camlorn can be counted upon to make a reasonable resistance against the enemy. Although, it is to be noted that Camlorn, despite its small size, is anything but weak. The reason for this is because of their renowned tenacity for remaining independent from any other State in High Rock.
This independence is maintained by the renowned pikemen trained in Camlorn, whose veterans and retirees go on to become well-paid mercenaries after their service. As it stands, Camlorn’s armies fields the highest number of active role battlemages, as opposed to most other States in High Rock, who keep their mages behind the defensive lines to act as support for the wounded and to boost morale within the ranks. Because of this, Camlorn has remained independent and one of the safest States in High Rock. The people of Camlorn refuse to bow down to anyone but the person on their throne.
Camlorn’s battlemages are renowned to be some of the best, second only to the Imperial Legion’s corps of battlemages in skill and mettle. Camlorn’s battlemages can be seen at the front of every conflict, usually acting as support for their brethren, but are also trained to use a blade. Armed with shortswords and clad in boiled leather, they rely on a mixture of alteration, destruction and illusion to keep them alive on the battlefield, something that lends the most strength to the otherwise poor unit types of Camlorn’s army.
As far as infantry goes, Camlorn fields the best pike formations in High Rock, armed with a multitude of polearms and anything from brigandines to padded cloth. Their pikemen are known to turn away enemies with their simple intimidating, obstinate advance. One would be hard-pressed to find a better army capable of countering both strong formations, cavalry and infantry charges, as well as work to break enemy formations on the advance while minimalizing casualties. Camlorn’s infantry doesn’t just train with pikes, as their infantry also deals with many other types of polearms, from poleaxes, polehammers, voulges and many more at their disposal. The only other army that rivals Camlorn’s infantry in their ability to break formations is Jehanna, with their better armed and amored infantry. What Camlorn’s army makes up for in armor, is maneuverability and morale(through battlemages), which is key in a defensive army suited to being able to put up resistance to an encroaching army while utilizing the best at what their meager State income can afford.
Corsair Republic of Wayrest –
The Corsair Republic of Wayrest is a very recent player as far as inter-State politics go. Being a port-city and controlled by Corsairs and pirates, it is no surprise that Wayrest holds a place as the third strongest naval force, behind Northpoint. An amalgamation of different vessels, anything from longships to Men o’ War, the Wayrest navy is a rag-tag but skilled one, making up for in strategy with what they can individually do. The captains of Wayrest are some of the best of any Navy in Tamriel, besides perhaps Alinor, although a few Altmer captains do trace their history as sailors back to the Isles from whence they came.
With the recent change in rulership of Wayrest, it has become a haven for refugees and ruffians alike. Almost every man one can see in Wayrest is capable of killing another, as such is life since the takeover. Individual merit is based on how well one can fight, making the general populace of Wayrest a very tough one, being made up of seaworthy sailors that fear no man, for they have broken over waves taller than any living creature, to bandit clans, either pledging their allegiance to the Pirate King or just passing through. Wayrest’s infantry can be said to be made up of the general citizenry, from the paid cutthroats that skulk in alleyways looking for a life to take in exchange for meager coin, to the bandit clans that seem to be uniting under one banner- Pirate Lord Ambrose Mackin’s. These men can be clad in any type of armor, from repurposed Legion garb to slightly damaged maille, scavenged from someone dead. Their weapons and skill with them will vary, as such with a ragtag group of bandits, mercenaries, pirates and refugees.
-Culture/society
WIP