Working on my pseudo-PLC nation, going to have my claim up here shortly. Basically expect a fairly large and populous nation with extensive natural resources, but with an elective monarchy controlled by the nobility and a military so backwards and under-funded that the rest of the world has already lapped them twice.
I'm going for a naval and industrial power thats used to cold weather and conditions, but starts with a rubbish army and no colonies (Do Iceland and Greenland count as in Edoniras or in the New World here?). I should get in a CS today.
@duck55223Can we have a Discord channel to discuss things more freely? I mean the OOC just started but there are key details like nation relations, lore and such that could be more easily talked about in a chatroom environment.
Revolutionary Republic looking to spread the revolution to her neighbors. Not super powerful but scrappy as all hell and with a hypernationalist population. (Claim in lavender/purple)
A colonial empire making their first forays into the world and managing unrest at home.
The scramble for southern living space should be interesting.
Claim is in orange.
Name: Fourth Empire of Cerdanya
Territory:
*** Needs blown up map
Homeland - The home territories of Cerdanya.
Cross Chanel Expanse - This land was conquered 100 years ago. Cultural differences across the channel are a source of unrest, but the lands are too productive and important to the spice trade to let them go.
Island One - The major source of sugarcane to the Empire. This is one of the last places indentured servitude is practiced in the Empire.
Island Two - It's got birds and rocks. An early colonial claim.
Southern Port Colony - A strongly held colony and trading port.
Uneasy Colonial Holding - In the Far East, a vassal state run a colonial governor and a class of local mandarins.
Military:(This should be a short section describing the organization and state of your military, do not go into detail about numbers or specific units)
Military: Spread thin navy, good horse people.
The martial tradition of Cerdanya is built on their history as horse warriors. This is changing as they expand. Their navy, while well trained, is spread thin across their colonial ventures and spends most of it's time supporting their trade routes and colonies.
Economy: Mostly agriculture, but embracing industrial manufacturing. Environment will take a big ole dive.
As of right now, the economy of Cerdanya is focused on agriculture and trade. Their wealth is built from trading with and generally running over their neighbors to the south. They have built spice trading routes from their colonies, and this one of the their major exports to the north.
There are several railroads? in Cerdanya, built using some imported technology. Cerdanya is at the cusp of an industrial revolution.
Culture: Vaguely Spanish-French. Very leisurely, but this is changing with the coming of the industrial revolution, and also racist.
History: Cerdanya is an old Empire, ruled by a hereditary monarch. The ruling families have been disposed multiple times throughout history, with each new bloodline marking a new age.
I did the thing, hope I got everyone's colors and areas correct, was a little hard to see some things. If not, this version doesn't have the text overtop of things, so should be easy enough to correct.
Legend: 1.) Westewald (core territory, white star with black trim is the location of the capital) 2.) Collés Archipelago 3.) Medina Isles 4.) Haardam Commonwealth 5.) Beumanns Island
Core Overview:
Corax is a relatively small Edonirasi country located to the northwest. Also called Westewald the region is located within the temperate climate zone and can be split up to three sub-regions: coasts of Merensol, lowlands of Gladisylva and the mountains of Drachauer. Drachauer is a collection of mountain chains at Corax's continental borders, Gladisylva has green pastures fit for agriculture and Merensol has a mixture of rocky, sand-filled and at times even swampy terrain. These three sub-regions were historically always competing with each other and their hierarchy depended on the period's economy. Beyond that Corax is also divided to 11 Cantons in total which has historical roots in the time before being taken over by the Ordo Draconis.
Colonies Overview:
TBA
SOCIAL OVERVIEW
Historical Overview:
I am using bulletpoints of history for now until I know more about the others nations near me.
- Westewald was a pagan region ruled by various small states - Ordo Draconis by the Holy Patriach's command invaded Westewald to convert them to Dominian - Multiple crusades gradually took the region and the Order invited foreigners from the neighboring countries - By the 15th century the entire region came under the Draconic Order's control - Reformation of the Dominian faith washed over Edoniras like wildfire - Draconic Order split from the Patriarchy and took Westewald as their personal possession - Grandmaster of the Draconic Order founded a new dynasty of Corvinus (later renamed to Corax) - Economic upturn, naval shipping, manufacturing reputation - Colonial aims, industrial revolution, etc
Demographic Overview:
Inhabitants of the core region are referred as Westewaldians are a mixture of the original once pagan locals and immigrants from various neighboring Dominian countries. As a consequence Corax has a fairly mixed population with most people knowing two or more languages. In spite of that inhabitants eventually developed a sense of identity as Westewaldians and they are proud to this fact. In terms of religion the state only recognizes Dominian with all other faiths requiring exemption papers to practice. Of course above all they promote their variation of Dominians but at least on the surface they tolerate all the other derivatives. Socially Corax has three main layers: commoners (Landsmann), citizen (Burgher) and knights (Ritter). Commoners are exempt from taxes but have constraints to free movement and social advancement. Those who can buy themselves a permit and can keep paying taxes are freemen and wealthy citizen known as Burghers. Such people tend to own major businesses, usually born to famous craftsmen and merchant families. Lastly the knights (Ritter) who form Corax's de facto nobility. Unlike nobles though knights are elected to their title and are expected to contribute for the military. Knight titles are far more likely to be awarded to families with prior lineage of knights but the ultimate decision is made based on the candidate's personal performance. A knight has the right to own land, govern territory granted to him by the Grandmaster and of course wield arms in public. While civil governance exists the ultimate supervision is through knights and as such they remain a prominent class in Westewaldian society. Although by the start of the 19th century the distinction between Ritter and Burghers is becoming far less defined.
Political Overview:
Corax is technically a theocratic/stratocratic dominion where members of the Ordo Draconis fulfill every leading position. Headed by the Hochmeister/Grandmaster the base organization of Corax' governance is similar to a professional military, a monolithic system branching down to actual soldiers on the field. Directly beneath the Hochmeister are the Landmeisters who administrate and govern a large regions. Currently there are 9 regions in the Dominion, 5 divided for the mainland, 1 for the Collés Archipelago, one for Beumanns and two for Haardam. Landmeisters are not active duty soldiers nor picked for their skills in battle but their governing abilities. Beneath them are the Komtur who manage a sub-region called commandry. While smaller governing titles are used their application is more sporadic and at such stage the local civilian leadership takes over. These knight-governors of course also had their own deputies, advisors and officials. At the first glance this government may appear obstructive but in effect due to various facts the system was efficient and even somewhat liberal, inspired by the ideals from the Age of Enlightenment. The Hochmeister in particular has seemingly unlimited power but laws and the watchful eyes of his subordinate governors keep them in check. The Hochmeister is elected through the Generalkapitel attended by every knight with the title of Komtur or above. They also gather for political discussions or send out representatives for an almost parliamentary style system.
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Resources Overview:
In spite of its small size Westewalde is relatively rich in resources. Drachauer region's mountains are abundant in minerals and new deposits are found each day. In particular Westewald became famous for the quality of their iron ore and resulting ease to produce decent steel. Precious metals like gold and silver are scarce though due to over mining during the middle ages and most coins are minted from import minerals. The lowlands are decently fertile and be considered the country's food reserve. Forests and good lumber is also available in fair quantity. Overall the Corax mainland is gifted in natural resources and if not for their ambitions and steadily growing population they could be even self-sufficient on their own.
Industrial Overview:
Since the 15th century Westewald enjoyed reputation for their craftsmanship, especially clocks and weaponmaking. With strong governmental control the guilds were quickly replaced by manufactories and soon adopted machinery. Some of the first steam engines, used for operating pumps in mines, were utilized in Westewald. Corax has a fairly developed industry overall but if you have to pick one field they excel in the heavy industry. Combined with the great iron ore the steelworks of Corax are exceptional and good quality steel is considerably easier to acquire. They also acquired great expertise in gunmaking, proud to have many famous inventors working in the field. Due to an old law from the late 17th century Westewaldian commoners are prohibited owning firearms barring special cases. Consequently gunmakers began experimenting with airguns and currently Corax is the leader in the field of making air guns and at an affordable cost. This is of course in part thanks to their recently built factories and steel roller machines. Light industries in comparison are somewhat disadvantaged albeit doing relatively fine. Mills of the water and wind propelled variety are spread everywhere within the country. The influx of food from their colonial holdings might eventually help revitalizing this.
Trade Overview:
TBA
MILITARY OVERVIEW
Army Overview
Corax military is relatively small but competent and highly organized. The most elemental unit in combat is the Lance/Lanze, rooted in the old tradition of knights fighting along with their retinue. Unlike those days Lances tend to be larger with usually 10 people including the sergeant commanding them. These optimally organize into Groups/Gruppen of 3-4 lances and similarly 3-4 Groups form a Company. This can go up till the size of Legions with more than a thousand people and usually with their own artillery, support, sustainment and intelligence gathering groups. Corax soldiers are easy to identify for the fact they still wear helmets and breastplates, occasionally with other pieces of armor. Naturally such armor does not stop musketballs but can defend against bayonets and pistols. With the potential to encounter arrows and spears from rebellious natives the armors became even more useful, albeit somewhat uncomfortable. It might not be obvious at first but Corax soldiers more commonly carry airguns instead of firearms. Named the Pattern 1788 Windgun these rifles can fire lead balls at respectable velocities using precharged air reservoirs. While weaker than muskets and similarly ranged the Windgun has a 10-bullet magazine and somewhat faster rate of fire. Companies also have pump wagons to refill used air reservoirs. Infantry regiments can equip muskets when necessary and they also have companies of Jaeger (skirmisher or light infantry) usually eqiupped with rifles for long range marksmanship. The duty of these to scout ahead and disrupt enemy lines from ambush. Compared to this Corax has relatively weak cavalry with most of them performing patrol and scouting duties. Dragoons exist who act as mounted line infantry with the occasional flavor of charges and some knights are still interested to become heavy cavalry.
Land Pattern 1788 Windgun - Rifled repeating airgun manufactured in large quantities and in several variants. It fires a relatively weak 12mm lead ball up to the range of 100-150 meters and has a 10-shot tubular magazine. While a repeater it still requires multiple steps before the next shot can be fired thus it is only somewhat faster than a musket and considerably weaker. The butt stock doubles as air reservoir and can be sufficient for 20-30 shots and troops carry spares along with hand pumps for emergency charge.
Gebhard 1792 Air Pistol - Pistol with a relatively long barrel that fires 11mm balls made of iron. The reason behind this is to reduce projectile weight and propel the bullet at acceptable velocities. It has a 6-round internal magazine and unlike the rifle variant the Gebhard pistol was designed to be ready to fire as soon as the user pulled back the hammer.
Land Pattern 1795 Musket - Caplock smoothbore musket firing a large 18mm lead ball at respectable velocity. It can also fire special "buck & ball" shots for more spread and lethality at short ranges. While adopted by the mainland military the marines and expeditionary forces still prefer the airguns.
Walther Pattern 1775 Rifle - Breechloading rifle used by jaegers and other skirmishing troops. It started out as a flintlock but since then it's upgraded to a caplock with better quality breech to remain in service. It fires 18mm musketballs like the Pattern 1795 and is accurate up to the ranges of 300m.
Pattern 1772 Schwert - A single edged cut&thrust sword used by knights, sergeants and at times the infantry. Unlike sabers of the time Schwerts are thicker with more dramatic bevel shape and a longer blade that tapers tremendously at the last fifth. The Schwert is meant to fight both armored and unarmored opponents and inspired by weapons like the broadsword and rapier, achieving a good compromise between the two.Admittedly this hybrid style also makes a Schwert more difficult to use.
- Pattern 1783 Kürass: Mass produced armor worn by most Coracian soldiers. Prior to its development officers procured whatever armor they could acquire. To simplify this and achieve united quality they developed a standard breastplate, effecively a cuirass. It has a front and back plate made of rolled steel. The front part is fastened by a wire reinforced cross and waist belt on the back while the back plate is socketed into the front and fastened by metal screws.These plates are relatively thin and only protect against melee weapons. With this the armor is still incomplete until you fasten the Schutzplatte, a special plate. Schutzplatte has hardened steel front with a relatively thick layer of sawdust embedded in hardened wax in the middle and this is encased and sandwitched by a thin steel sheet to its back. The original design had wooden insert but shaping wooden sheets proved to be too expensive. Overall the armor gives adequate protection against pistols and spent long range musketballs while being relatively easy to repair compared to previous designs. Nowadays they also issue a thin fabric jacket over the plate to prevent it from catching too much heat. Aside from the breastplate there are helmets and special isue sabatons, wristguards and other plate additions that can be put on if necessary. Limb protection is especially popular for marines and expeditionary forces who frequently fight natives or at close ranges.
- Ritterharnisch Pattern Götz 1799: Full plate harness worn by Coracian knights on the battlefield. Götz is a famous armorer craftsman family in the business since the middle ages. During the late 17th century the demand for high quality armors began to fade, meaning the end for many famous armouries worldwide. Corax had a different experience as knights stubbornly kept wearing their elaborate plate suits and thus Westewaldian armor industry remained strong. Pattern 1799 is the newest specification by the Draconic Order that empathized comfort, lightness and easier maintenance. While option for full armor coverage remained the new pattern focuses more on partial suit and its comfort even in tropical climates. One of its biggest yet also weirdest invention is the so-called Krieghelm, a large and heavy helmet no longer resting on the head but the shoulders. It features articulations qnd full protection of the head aside from the front. Krieghelms are heavy and capable of resisting rifle shots from skirmishers if hit from extreme ranges. On the other hand they heavily limit situational awareness and head traverse which makes them uncomfortable. Krieghelme are only supposed to be attached prior to battle and knights use more conventional headgear on patrols or other less dangerous activities.
TBA
Naval Overview:
TBA
My incomplete NS. I'll keep editing it and will notify you when I am mostly done. Until then enjoy reading this for whatever it's worth.
