Nation Name: The Empire of Namare
Races of the Nation:
Men: The normal crop of humanity, they are without exception an average species as a whole and are mostly used by educated men as a baseline by which other humanoid races are measured.
Gnomes: Gnomes are extremely short humanoids with a strong affinity for tinkering and light smith-work. Hardworking, industrious masters of the moustache the Gnomes are often disliked and ridiculed by taller races even going so far as to create porcelain or clay copies in silly poses which they put out in their gardens.
Halflings: Halflings are a somewhat taller than Gnomes, but shorter than dwarves (if comparably round) they have an extreme affinity for gardening, farming and cooking. A generally kind and generous species, with far more hair on their feet than could possibly healthy for a humanoid, they have something of a reputation as sneak-thieves.
Anoredhel: The Anoredhel are two types of elven race generally. The first are elves raised under human rule, forgetting most of their culture, language and inherent talents. Long-lived, often beautiful, they possess a few of their species more innate talents, but as a whole are, mentally, more human than elven. As such however comes the second ‘type’, half-elves born of humans. Accepted without issue in Anoredhel communities they are often scorned by less accepting elf races.
Elves: The elves are one of the long-lived species. Tall and with a talent for magic somewhat increased over humans in general. They tend to be healthy as a rule almost never will one encounter an overweight member of the species.
Surface Dwarves: The Surface dwarves fill a balance between all the others, but at the same time lose a little of their cultural identity. Like the Anoredhel the Surface Dwarves were mostly raised around humans and human mannerisms and behaviour. So while they still have their racial proclivities for certain careers, their potential at those careers is lower, and the rest of their industries are closer to average.
Dwarves: The dwarf-kind is the second of the main long-lived species. Short, stout, strong and with great skill at smithing and mechanics, most average dwarves prefer to live in partly subterranean halls close to the surface. They also tend to admire their beards and alcohol more than is healthy for a human. And don’t tell short jokes around them. Your groin is about axe swing height...
Nation History:
Namare started out small, extremely small even. A huddle of farmsteads and huts grew into a village, which in time transformed into a town. Said town, Caermelor, came to dominate the surrounding countryside until conquest and growth had turned it into a bona fide city with a strong army and sense of organisation. It was in these early stages that the Kings of Caermelor drew an increasing amount of power to them, bridling the influence of the elder council. Namarese kingship was based around the personality of the monarch, which dictated further conquests in order to appease the nobility and general populace. Even in the early years of its existence, triumphal arcs and victory parades command pride of place in Namarese society.
Of course, the founding history has been embellished in order to lend legitimacy to the ruling dynasty. As Namare grew more powerful, so too did the titles of the monarchs. Kings became High-Kings who in turn became King-Emperors.
Inevitably, as Caermelor and Namare expanded, they encountered non-humans. The halflings and gnomes were quickly brought into the fold for they were simple farmers, artisans and craftsmen. The elves and dwarves living under Namarese rule had to be persuaded, both having been enemies in wars prior to the signing of concordats and treaties which extended to them privileges almost identical to Namarese citizens. Over the years the stigmata these races initially suffered disappeared.
Namarese tradition and belief is based on a founding legend of a band of brave heroes, led by the ancestors of the imperial dynasty. These ancestors in turn were descendent of Solarion, God of the Sun.
Though possessed of a clear sense of superiority, the Namarese consider non-humans valuable assets to the greater good. They are all subjects of the divine dynasty and strive for the advancement of the nation and its people. However, that is not to say any race is considered thus. Namarese acceptance and clemency usually simply extends to the traditional races of humanoids: elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes. The more savage non-human races are condemned and considered to be little more than upstart barbarians, vermin and overt threats to the order.
Important Characters:
Cahir ap Valerian (ap Dunaver) var Finvarna Solarid, the White Flame, Son of the Divine, King-Emperor of Namare, King Radiant, Shield of Caermelor, Sovereign of Silvernesse, Lord Protector of Einarheim.
Born as the grandson of the previous King-Emperor of Namare, it has been a strange turn of events that have put Cahir on the throne.
The late emperor Dunaver sired a bastard son with an Anordhel servant maid. The boy grew up on the Palace Grounds and was, when he had come of age, legitimised by his father. However, he was not eligible to inherit the throne. As such, Valerian ap Dunaver was no threat to the other heirs and power-mongers of the Solarid court. This also led to him enjoying a more frivolous education and life, making him popular among the people and sons of lower nobility. Nonetheless he married a distant cousin for political reasons that Dunaver dictated.
However, due to deaths in the royal family because of internal strife, assassinations and natural causes Valerian slowly but surely approached the direct line of inheritance. Of Dunaver’s six trueborn sons only two reached adulthood, the eldest falling in battle against beastmen invaders. A conflict erupted between Valerian and his last surviving half-brother Marwedon. In spite of assuring Marwedon that Valerian did not seek the throne, the latter was branded an enemy of the state with the consent of Dunaver’s Privy Council. Emperor Dunaver had grown old and senile, incapable of interfering in this kin-strife about to consume the Solarid dynasty.
Valerian fled to Silvernesse, seeking refuge with the elves, keen to ingratiate themselves with the possible future King-Emperor. Alas, Valerian was not a particularly gifted individual, nor sufficiently ambitious. Dunaver died, and a truce was called by Marwedon as to allow all to mourn the loss of their monarch. Valerian travelled back to the capital to attend to his father’s funeral; instead he walked into his own.
With Valerian dead, Marwedon crowned himself King-Emperor of Namare within a week, thereby disregarding the traditional mourning period. His overt disrespect of the customs and laws of Namare and Caermelor coupled with the treacherous murder of one of the realms most popular personas, facilitated Valerian’s son cause. It was not difficult to start a resistance movement against King-Emperor Marwedon, which soon grew into a full-blown war. Cahir proved to possess a ruthless intelligence and strategic mind. He defeated his uncle in the field on two occasions, leading to mass desertions among Marwedon’s ranks. The King-Emperor retreated into Caermelor proper, hoping to endure the siege.
However, by that time he and his rule had become so unpopular, that a riot started in the streets. The people overcame the garrison and opened the massive gates to the approaching Cahir. History ran its course and Marwedon was removed from the Radiant Throne. The new King-Emperor surprised both friend and foe, seemingly becoming one of the most brilliant rulers of Caermelor.
Cahir’s retribution was swift and pitiless, moving towards his goals with determination. The treachery and injustice his family suffered, steeled his resolve. He picked his officials and dignitaries with care and purged out the untrustworthy, crushing all plots against him in his early years.
Erathain Swiftstring is the commander of the elven commandos. Skilled with bow and short blades, he has spent several lifetimes mastering the art of guerrilla warfare. Cunning and ambushes are his strong suit. As a person Erathain is demanding and terse, preferring to be out and about, spending the nights under the starlit sky.
Albus Proudshaft is the chief engineer of the steam technology programme of Namare. Before being named such, Proudshaft served in the pioneering and engineering corps of the Imperial Army usually working with siege engines. He is known to have an excellent mind for mechanics, metal and contraptions but at a cost of a sensible regard of nature, which oft-times puts him at odds with the elves of the realm. As a scientist, he believes in the subjugation of nature and worldly things in order to experience growth and advancement. Finally, he is an expert runesmith and actively striving to combine runes into the steam engines.
Daifridi Thundergut speaks for the dwarven population of the Namarese Empire on the Privy Council. This dwarf is a gruff diplomat, trying to maintain the bonds with the more traditional dwarves living in the mountain holds, and those that have adapted and taken to the cities. Thundergut is someone of considerable size with a penchant of fine dining and mead consumption. However, one would be wrong to underestimate him, for Daifridi possesses a keen and witty mind and the pragmatic sense of realism one expects from his kind. Staying true to the family name, he has won a flatulence contest against his fellow dwarves. It says a lot about a dwarf and his skills serving in such a high position, in spite of having won a farting contest.
Biber Saddlewell is a political jack of all trades, being a spokesperson for the Halflings and gnome communities of Namare, as well as sitting on the council as one of the older mages of the kingdom. Saddlewell, like most halflings, enjoys the little things in life, and his modesty and dignity is famous throughout the lands. His specialty in the fields of magic are spells concerning luck and fortune, and earth magic.
Salvato Decarno is a figure of controversy, many people doubting his sanity. He is considered ancient and skilled in the more nefarious aspects of the arcane, having researched curses and hexes in order to find answers as to how to defend oneself against the black arts. Perhaps his age and this gloomy field of study have led to his peculiar behaviours and mild paranoia. His most recognisable attribute is his motley
hat which has been patched up more often than anyone remembers.
Might add more as the RP progresses.
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Traits:
National Traits: 7 = (Points Spent)
Size Matters: Your nation has a penchant for building big. Ranging from massive citadels, intimidating city walls to statues or even big ships! Everything your nation builds is impressively large when they get the chance.
Spies, Spies Everywhere: You have spies... everywhere... your people are skilled at spying, or buying information from those who have it. This can, and does, however make you unpopular at parties. And be careful listening at doors, glass shatters.
Agents Everywhere: The only way to stop a spy is to... well, have someone find him and cut his bloody head off! And the agents are damned good at it. They’ll protect your nation from most of those filthy foreigners... and cut down on the doorknocker population.
Victory Arches: Victory is not something to merely happen. No, to your people true victories are immortalised in monuments and arches commemorating the victory of your people. These monuments can keep your people from collapsing entirely into despair in the lean times. The memories of the past are strong.
For the People: All of your government’s efforts are at least superficially ‘for the people’ this ranges from your leaders handing out gold to the poor to your overlord butchering their neighbours ‘for security’.
Watch towers: No matter what your military is like it is usually best to know BEFORE the enemy is knocking on your gates so you use a system of watch towers to warn you before the enemy gets to close.
Monolithic: Your nation is a monolith. It stands astride the world like a colossus. Or at the least that is the impression it conveys to others and works to cultivate. An intimidating nation might just avoid conflicts it would rather avoid.
Population Traits: 8 = (Points Spent)
Loyal: Your people are unquestionably loyal to the death –whether it is because of love for their ruler or a deep terror that their ruler is worse than any other fate.
Brave: Your people are strong of heart and spirit and will face down monsters, odds and mages with courageous resolve.
Brutal: Your people are not naive when it comes to war. In fact they have no pretentions when it comes to war at all. This leaves them far more brutal in their wars than others.
Executions: Your nation isn’t as fair as the trait above. Instead it deals with criminals in a much more adaptive level. It simply kills all its criminals in grisly and public fashions –and through such controls crime through fear.
Know your place!: The peasantry have been living under the Order for generations and understand their position as though it where a fact of life. The peasantry are hard to incite in to rebellion and devoutly loyal to their lords.
Lament of the Dead: Your nation’s people are a people rich in culture, and the dead are often revered and this is a song of regret and vengeance. The morale all who sing such a song is nearly unbreakable and they will fight beyond the limits of exhaustion under its thrall.
Winged messengers: Through the use of birds, communication within your nation is quick and secure, though the birds do leave a bit of a mess.
Unquestionable Violence: Where others may be squeamish and hesitant about war, blood and brutality, even having the commoners who don’t want it and so on and such your nation has none of that. At the sniff of a war, the hint of a raid, the nation is behind it.
Academic Traits: 5 = (Points Spent)
Medicine: Your people are familiar with herbs and unguents and poultices, this leads to a rather skilled people when it comes to healing. Every now and again sawing a man’s leg off isn’t even the first option!
Schools: Your people value education and require the youth be trained in basic skills they will need in life. This leaves your people mostly literate.
Academy of Power: A mages school that teaches only the most elementary levels of ability to those with the talent. This also helps reduce the level of ostracising that mages receive.
University of War: This is where your officers and generals, as well as possibly admirals, go to learn the craft of war from experienced men who have survived the worse rigours of war. Most instructors are scarred from their time on the battlefield.
Tradesmen Academy: Here your people go to learn advanced building techniques from their creators, or even to develop new methods. This academy is both valued by civilian tradesmen and the siege engineers of the military.
Military Basic Traits: 7 = (Points Spent)
Fearless: Ten men standing against one Dragon with a thorn in its foot? Let’s do it. Your men have no fear. Of course this can lead to them having no life, but that’s a small price to pay for an army unlikely to run like little bitches right?
Strategists: Your Generals and Admirals are skilled planners and strategists able to predict and control the movements of the enemy to some degree with cunning strategies.
Bring down the Walls!: Your Siege Engineers are renowned for their masterful control of siege engines. (Siege Engineers and Engines are better than average.)
Heavy Armour: Your army is well armoured. In fact, almost totally armoured, despite how ridiculous codpieces look. (Cannot take with Ambush Predators)
Superior Training: You armies training is excellent and few armies could match it directly. Indeed, 300 could even hold a narrow pass against ridiculous odds.
Death before Dishonour: The honourable way is a way of strength. Cowardice isn’t tolerated in any capacity and those found to have cowardly tendencies soon find they have lost-their-head tendencies. As such your people are not going to flee a battlefield unless honour is satisfied.
Right of Conquest: To your nation the right of conquest is not just military. Indeed, part of a soldiers pay in your nation with this trait is the literal right to take any enemy they want and conquer them whether they wish it or not. For many nations the occasional rape is a tragic consequence of war. For this nation it is a right all soldiers expect.
Archery Traits: 3 = (Points Spent)
Apple Shots: Your people have a preference for skirmishers, more specifically archers. Their bowmen, while less organized that normal, are far better shots and survival men.
Bushes Are Your Friend: Your people use the terrain to their advantage –their ability to "go to ground" after a successful raid is legendary.
Crossbows: Your nation has learned how to manufacture the Crossbow, a powerful weapon, but slower to reload and fire than a bow.
Infantry Traits: 4 = (Points Spent)
Hold the Line: Your army is built on infantry. Infantry are known to hold the line at all costs and against all enemies. (Foot Infantry are better than average.)
Weapon Academy: This academy trains your men in the use of most other weapons of war, Maces, pikes, spears and so on and so forth. Thus your troops are more skilled with nonstandard weapons than normal.
Monster-Hunters: Monster Hunters are a specialist unit of troops equipped and trained specifically to hunt and slay monsters, while their talents are wasted on more common monsters they can become truly invaluable should your enemies deploy Dragons or other Legendary monsters to the field.
Witch-Hunters: Sometimes the enemy just has too many, or too powerful, damned mages. Well these men are a specialised unit whose sole purpose in life is putting magic users to the sword, torch or whatever blunt or sharp object happens to do the trick. They are well versed when it comes to mages and how to slay them.
Cavalry Traits: 5 = (Points Spent)
Thunder of Hooves: The thunder of charging cavalry is one of the most traumatic events that an infantryman, let alone archer, can experience normally. This is worse with the thundering charges of people who are one with their horses.
Self-Sufficient: A cavalryman takes care of his own horse, often better than he cares for his woman, unless he is actually a woman at which she takes care of her horse often better than she cares for her man. As such the need for farriers and other Equine specialists is next to none.
Masterful Cavalry: Your cavalry holds pride of place at the head of your army: their thunderous charge renowned world over. (Cavalry are better than average.)
Cavalry Concourse: This is where your cavalry learn to master their art. Your riders are more skilled than might otherwise be the case and more unified in their strategy and warfare.
Lords of the Joust: Your knights have practiced and drilled for many years and have turned the wild rush into a devastating military tactic. Your first charges can end most battle before they begin.
Navy Traits: 3 = (Points Spent)
Heavy Ships: Your ships are big, bigger than usual, heavy and well protected. Able to stay stable in almost any sea or ocean they also carry more heavy weapons like ballistae and catapults.
Eye of Protection: All hulls of your ships have an eye of protection, but this magical talisman is more than a superstitious protective. Indeed, it is a talisman of sorcerous power that protects the ship from attack as well as an inch of steel might.
By Neptune’s Cock!: Bad weather? What the fuck do you mean this is bad weather? The rain’s pelting down, the waves roar high as a dragon’s ass and our men are in good spirits, and I mean the drinking kind. Our sails are full and we’re making good time! This isn’t bad weather, its GREAT weather. Now stop your complaints and row!
Airborne Traits: 0 = (Points Spent)
Tradesman Traits: 5 = (Points Spent)
Farmhands: Your people produce a great deal of excess Grain, corn, or whatever other foodstuffs you think would grow in your area.
Ranchers: Your people are experts at wrangling cattle and breaking wild stallions. Their breeding-systems make their herds the best out there, no one’s horses can compare with yours.
Siege Walls: The walls are not just built to support men, but in fact expanded platforms have been built that support smaller siege engines upon the walls themselves, sometimes even with hoists to bring up ammunition from the base of the wall.
Industrious: Your workers and tradesmen work hard, long hours day in day out. In fact few can question their dedication without earning a swift punch in the face.
Master Smiths: (Requires Tradesman Academy) Your smiths are true masters of their trade and most metal products to come out of your nation are of a higher quality. Your metalwork is valued the world over, and yet your military has received the benefits of this arrangement too.
Merchant Traits: 3 = (Points Spent)
Exotic Trade Goods: Your Merchants are purveyors and traders of the rare and esoteric items of the far off lands. This lends them a little more mystique which is always helpful.
Underground Markets: These ‘black markets’ have a good supply of goods that other nations frequently consider highly illegal. This leads to thriving trade of the hard-to-get items.
Guildhouses: Your nation will set up a series of safe-houses, warehouses, and the like in other nation's cities for the express purpose of stealing things. This keeps the thieves out of your own pockets and lets them do something useful for a change.
Magecraft Traits: 8 = (Points Spent)
Elemental Fires: Your mages have access to the discipline of elemental flames. This base fire magic is a cornerstone of many offensive magics.
Elemental Waters: Your mages have access to the discipline of elemental waters. This base water magic is a cornerstone of many magics.
Elemental Earths: Your mages have access to the discipline of elemental earth. This base earth magic is a powerful defence, and combined with elemental waters is a powerful healing agent.
Elemental Air: Your mages have access to the discipline of elemental air. This base air magic is strong and used most often as a component in other elemental magics.
Rune Magic: The mages have figured out how to imbue certain symbols with power that lasts beyond the casting allowing for highly complex spell arrangements. Weapons and the like are often enchanted with rune magic.
Holy Magic: Holy Magic is typically belonging to the realm of the priesthood. Curing ailments, dismissing hexes, but it isn’t always. When angered the priests are more than capable of using it to smite the enemy, or attempt to banish the undead.
Scholars of Power: Your sorcerers, witches, mages etc all study the arcane magics, but not just magic, but other elements as well, history, science, religion. They study all sorts of things without hesitation.
Advisors of Old: Your Mages have long held position as advisors to the rulers of your nation, and held that place with pride. This gives the rulers the honour of a powerful Guardian.
Monster Traits: 0 = (Points Spent)
Mechanist Traits: 2 = (Points Spent)
Steam Engines: (Required for ALL Mechanist Traits) You have implemented your technology in the creation of a heavy, slow, but powerful tracked vehicle that can perform a number of useful work tasks such as mining and freight hauling.
Steam Powered Siege Equipment: Your ballistae and catapults now cock themselves reducing the crew and increasing the rate of fire, the trade-off is the weight. You try lugging a hue contraption of iron bronze and filled with water around.
Flaws: Code of Honour: Knights do not lie, cheat, steal, and always show honour. They can never refuse a challenge form an equal and can never turn their backs to an enemy.
Bound by Tradition: Your people are loathe to change to the ideals and traits of some other less accepting or those who simply change too much too fast. As such diplomacy with any nation that doesn’t have at least half of their national and population traits becomes much more difficult.
Custom Traits:Caesaropapism: caesaropapism is a political theory in which the head of state, notably the Emperor ('Caesar', by extension an 'equal' King), is also the supreme head of the church ('papa', pope or analogous religious leader). There is no separation of Church and State and the two form parts of a single power structure. Additionally, the monarch is considered a godly extension, the ‘lieutenant’ of the divine.
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Territory:Modified provinces:
1 Capital City (Free) 30 regiment points
1 Large Cities (10) 30 regiment points
1 Citadel (10) 40 regiment points
2 medium city (2x6) 2 x 20 regiment points
2 Fortresses (2x6) 2 x 30 regiment points
Used 40 points, total of 200 reg. points
Unmodified provinces:
12 needed for the large city and single citadel
16 needed for the smaller settlements
28 NEEDED 60 points left, total of 134 reg. points
10 plains (20) 60 reg. points
1 coastal (4) 6 reg. points
5 river (10) 30 reg. points
6 forest (12) 24 reg. points
5 tundra (5) 10 reg. points
1 mountain (5) 4 reg. points
Total of 334 reg. points
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Army:
334 reg. points – 9,400 troops
Men (136 points, 4,100 troops):
2 regiments of royal cavalry 16 points
3 regiments of
royal guardsmen 18 points
2 regiments of
elite heavy cavalry 12 points
4 regiments of experienced heavy cavalry 20 points
6 regiments of
light cavalry 18 points
4 regiments of
experienced footmen 12 points
20 regiments of
footmen 40 points
Elves (87 points, 2,400 troops):
2 regiments of elite light cavalry 10 points
5 regiments of
elite ranged troops 20 points
5 regiments of
experienced ranged troops 15 points
10 regiments of
experienced footmen 30 points
2 regiments of
elite witch slayers 12 points
Dwarves (98 points, 2,300 troops):
5 regiments of
elite foot 20 points
6 regiments of
experienced foot 18 points
6 regiments of
elite ranged troops 24 points
6 regiments of
elite monster slayers 36 points
Other (11 points, 600 troops):
2 regiment of elite Halfling foot 6 points
• The “Half-men”, fully plated and armed with shields and axes
• The “Porcupines”, fully plated and armed with pikes, renowned for their prickly formation
2 regiments of elite gnome ranged troops 5 points
Command:83 command points
5 mages (32 points, 1 dwarf and 1 gnome)
4 Heroes of the Realm (23 points, 1 elf, 1 human, 1 dwarf, 1 halfling)
4 Great Nobles/Great generals (20 points)
2 High Lords/Generals (8 points)
Navy:41 vessels
6 galleys and 6 galleasses, 12 vessels (1,200 gold)
Galley: The Galley is a three oar banked vessel with eight ballista on each side of the vessel facing the port and starboard respectively; it also has eight Catapults, two fore, two aft, two starboard, two port.
Galleass: This is effectively a three-masted Galley, able to match all but the Windjammer for speed it is the hunting dog of the Rowing fleet, especially as it has its third oar deck is replaced with a ballista deck doubling the number of ballista available.
9 large vessels, 8 medium vessels and 12 small vessels, 29 vessels (3,800 gold)
2 galleons (500)
2 windjammers (400)
4 schooners (200)
9 sloops (180)
3 barques (420)
5 caravels (500)
5 frigates (600)
Sloop: The sloop is the smallest, and yet one of the more capable ships, crewed by less than fifty men it wields five Ballista and can bring three to bear at any one time except to the rear.
Schooner: The Schooner is an exceptionally fast little vessel and has almost identical armaments to the Dhow, though it benefits from an extra two ballista on each side and a prow catapult.
Caravel: The Caravel is a faster more merchantile warship, it has room for cargo, and has twenty ballista, ten port, ten starboard underneath the top deck, upon the top deck six catapults hold pride of place. It has more room for troops than most other sailing vessels.
Barque: The Barque is a larger more powerful vessel than the caravel, it carries twice the weapons though it doesn’t have even a tenth of the cargo space, additionally the Barque is a fast vessel and carries room for even one or two Mangonels.
Windjammer: The Windjammer is the fastest ship in the oceans naturally, it’s powerful sails can let it sail through almost any weather, though only armed as well as a Barque it is larger due to its sails. It is best used to harass an enemy than as a front line warship.
Frigate: The Frigate is your most common warship, with sixty ballista beneath decks and twenty mangonels on deck, it is second most powerful vessel next to the Galleon, but it is also the second slowest vessel out of the sailing ships.
Galleon: The Galleon has the largest crew and eighty ballista and thirty mangonels protecting it, this vessel is the slowest sailing vessel and in poor winds will suffer beneath a rowed vessels assault, though its armaments will give any lone attacker pause. Even a dragon might hesitate for a moment or two… but probably not.
