This map is tentative and is very obviously me lazily shoving two maps together with MS paint. If anybody wants to make an actually good map I will love you forever.
Intro and basics
The World of Adara has in the last few decades gone through its second industrial revolution. Smoke belching factories produce goods at breathtaking speeds, Rail lines crisscross the continent like a great steel spider web, and mighty iron ships rule the waves. It is a time of relative peace but high tension among the Nations of Northern Adara as they look for any means to one-up their competition and ensure their nation's place in the sun.
Enter the untouched continent of South Adara. Formerly left alone by their northern neighbors due to the difficulty of navigation or simple lack of interest and largely untouched by the Industrial Revolutions of the North; the Kings, Emperors, and Presidents of North Adara now look towards the south with hunger in their eyes. For some it is in search of new markets for their ever expanding production of goods, for others it is the need for new natural resources with which to further expand their industry, and some others even wish to expand to liberate the noble savages from their heathen ways and bring them in line with proper Northern society. Whatever the case may be the scramble for Southern Adara has begun in full force.
Technology
Technology is meant to be largely evocative of the Later half of the 19th century as befitting a game largely going for a Scramble for Africa feeling. Railroads and steamships are the chief means of transit in the North, firearms are generally breach-loading with jacketed rounds though smokeless powder isn't necessarily a big deal yet, automatic weapons are by no means man portable, and communication by telegraph is commonplace. That being said this is a Steampunk RP and has its own set of fantastical elements to it. Ships tend to be larger and more powerful than they would be on Earth in a similar time period, steam engines are far more efficient than they have any right to be allowing for things such as steam cars (though these are rare and tend to be the playthings of the wealthy more than anything else).
the single largest deviation from reality comes in the form of the substance known as Elan. Elan is a solid but malleable material(a bit like clay) that is found underground. It was eventually discovered that the combustion of Elan gives off a form of anti-gravity lift. At first its applications were largely for novelty or industrial purposes, Levitation making a great party trick and the lightening of heavy loads being a great asset in industrial work. It was not long until the first Elan powered airships came to be born and travel the skies. It was not long after them that the first Elan Warships were created as well. A new arms race was born overnight as nations scrambled to construct Elan Air-Battleships to dominate the skies and all below them. Thankfully these mighty steel behemoths are largely rare sights thanks to the massive costs to construct them and the inefficiency of Elan. It takes massive amounts of the substance constantly burning to keep airships aloft, and the larger the airship the more Elan it burns each second. This makes the range for airships relatively low compared to their coal burning and sea dwelling counterparts. This has made the construction of Elan fueling platforms a major concern for those nations that have embraced the developments in the air.
Rules and Guidelines
I'll try to keep things brief because I trust you aren't a total goober, but I also feel like I need to explain the Rules well so that there is little confusion.
-Don't god mod. This should seem like such a no brainer but somehow it isn't. For real, making a nation where "Is the best" is a major feature is not kosher dude, don't do it.
-This is not a Real Time Strategy game. Don't think about it like one. Is the military section of your nation significantly more fleshed out than the rest? Do you have every small arm used by your army listed but not the names of your leaders? If yes then your mindset ain't gonna jive too well with mine. I'm fine with having an in depth description of your military especially considering that it will play a rather big role in this game, but not at the expense of everything else.
-If you have a dispute with somebody then don't clog the OOC with it. PM them first and try to discuss the issue in private. If you cannot come to an agreement then I can arbitrate these disputes but they should still be kept to PMs if at all possible.
-Be excellent to each other
-Party on dude
-Also, not a strict rule but Hiders are your friend and help to reduce clutter. Please use them if your App is ginormous.
Nations
This wouldn't be a nation RP without your nation now would it? generally speaking the intent of this RP is to play as an Imperialist power racing to exploit the underdeveloped south, though that is not to say that you cannot play a Southern nation if you so chose. Having PCs in the south could offer some really neat Roleplay opportunities and I am all for that. In the end the specifics of your nation are up to you. The setting isn't really set in stone and we can work on things to fit in a whole host of ideas.
Government: Appropriations are controlled in the name of the Grand Duke by a unicameral, directly elected popular vote Parliament, as are taxes and generally every facet of government but the military, where HGDH The Grand Duke exercises control in organization and deployment. He also may submit declarations of war to the parliament which may only be rejected with a two thirds vote.
Economy: As a liberal economy, Resia focuses on the financial and investment sectors, but most of all on maritime shipping. The country is heavily industrialized, but limited population and limited land area prevents it from being THE industrial powerhouse.
As for natural resources, the government is experimenting with offshore oil drilling on account of coal supplies being not that numerous.
For food, fishing in the gigantic Resian territorial waters is a tremendous part of the economy and helps mitigate low agricultural yields.
Leader(s):
~Grand Duke Vilhem I
~Prime Minister Lord Lloyd Smith.
~Admiral of The Fleet and Chief of the Admirality, Count Charles of Tayer.
~The Chief of the General Staff and Field Marshal, Margrave George of the Eastern Isles.
Desired Map location: http://imgur.com/8iIbWIF
Important Locations:
~Streymoy: the metropolitan home island and also the largest.
~Lohna, the beautiful and gigantic capital city, and site of most financial activity.
~Westmark and Eastmark: The furthest west island and furthest east islands. Their precarious positions are not unaware to the government. While Eastmark is close enough to fit niceky under the iron umbrella of the mighty Resian Navy, Westmark is too far to station a significant portion of the navy. Accordingly, it is effectively a garrison state. Press freedoms are limited, every citizen is required to own a gun, and much of the developed land by the coast is used for impressive coastal fortifications, and the beach is covered in obstacles for an amphibious assault. The army maintains a very large Westmark garrison.
Cultural Overview: The Resians have always been a free people, not withstanding they have not always had a means of legitimately participating in government. The widely distributed nature of the island kingdom meant rebels could revolt and rapidly secure the islands, forcing the government to have to make opposed amphibious landings against a well-armed people who have likely commandeered coastal cannon in the easy places to land. Thus, the Grand Dukes generally avoided incurring the wrath of his people when possible and reasonable demands were agreed to.
They are a hardworking, industrious, traditional and conformist people. A lack of government force has meant that those who defy social norms are only censured by an appropriate degree of ostracism.
Technology Overview: With limited government interference, the society of Resia has always been on the forefront of technology, whether the Resians have liked it or not. Better means of production, discovered in Resia or learned on voyages to other lands, are rapidly adopted by the market's invisible hand.
Military Overview:
By far, the predominant military arm is the navy.
Crucial to the navy's strength is the means by which the armor is made. It is a revolutionary process, and an intensely guarded state secret. The armor, a unique steel mixture with Carbon (cemented by gas cementation on only the outward facing side of the armor) Nickel, Manganese, Silicon, Magnesium, and Sulphur is heated on only one side while the other side is buried in clay. Once 40% of the plate is at the needed temperature for face hardening, the plate is dragged out of the furnace and into an enormous vat of water to ensure uniform cooling. The resultant armor is very hard on the exposed face, but not very prone to spalling or cracking. Given that GCMK2 (Gas Cementation Mark 2) armor is a very new, bleeding edge technology, it is only on the newest ships. Armor on the older ships, the GCMK1 armor is more prone to cracking and spalling, but will resist ship weapons just as well. Reserve ships have the 15% less effective CC (Coal Cementation) armor.
Resian Navy Battleship Classes:
Number Name (RL analogue)(Armor)(Reserve Status)
18 
