Kronshi
Noctis
Vampiretwilight
Little Bill
Name of Nation: Celestial Empire of Nango-Tuenggu
Government: Absolute Monarchy
Emperor: Nang Goloo Zui
Heirs Apparent: Nang Zhang, Nang Biu, Nang Sudr-Tlin, Nang Zhen
Palace Herald (Prime Minister): Cao Ying Sun
General of the Armies: Fuo Gon-Ik-Huru
Governor of the Minors: Lung Ka Puo
Governor of the Tribute: Yi Lin
The Celestial Empire, though regal now, is one of the younger civilizations that dominate the modern map. Indeed, the Empire's history can be traced back to the Great Chiefdom of the North, which itself stems from the tribe of Nang. The Nang tribe, as far as scholars know, was but one of the many warring nomadic peoples that make up the greater Hum Desert, and indeed, not one of particular note. Occasional scripts from centuries before, written by foreign explorers would mention them, but only in the context of larger and more powerful tribes. They tended not to wage war and control land of their own, and were often chased out of their grazing oases by greater forces, as was typical for tribes of their caliber.
All this changed roughly 500 years before the modern year, with the death of the old and venerable Tuenggu tribe's chieftain. Having had no children, he left the rulership of his people to his nephew, who happened to be one Nang Gulu. Overnight, the new Nango-Tuenggu dynasty became one of the forefront powers of the Hum Desert. Nang Gulu was a canny ruler, ambitious and ruthless. He waged brutal wars of vengeance against the other tribes, subjugating many and slaughtering a few to the last adult man. It was thought that he would have united the entire Hum Desert under himself had he not been killed by an arrow while leading a charge near the Lunmount.
This did little to dissuade his fifth son and heir, who rumors say had been the one to shoot his own father. To this day, historians and archaeologists cannot say for sure. But that heir, Nango-Tuenggu Quondo, unlike his father before him, was prided not in his ferocity, but his virtuous administration. Today, "Quondo" is a phrase synonymous with "wise" in common Hum parlance. Nango-Tuenggu Quondo transformed the administration of the many tribes who swore him loyalty, cementing the privileges of the vassal chieftains and reworking entire sectors of government to imitate that of the northern Sigan Tao states, of which he was very much an admirer. Near the end of his own life, he declared the creation of the "Great Chiefdom of the North", the rightful rulers of the entire Hum Desert and all its inhabitants and livestock.
It wasn't until a century after Quondo's death that his dream was realized, and the desert was thoroughly secured by the Nango-Tuenggu dynasty. Rival tribes attempted once to form a coalition against this rising star, but they were soundly defeated at the battles of Thirty Mounds and Gudun and forced to flee into lands belonging to the Republic of Volstran. The descendants of those rivals, according to the official government stance of Nango-Tuenggu, would eventually become the Two Swords confederations, now staunchly opposed to all forms of monarchical excess. However, for the then-ruler Nango-Tuenggu Lipko, they were of no concern. Rather, it was time to expand southwards, into those verdant forests and plains wherein reside the Sigan Tao peoples.
Great Chieftain Lipko was a tactical genius, and she had the zealous support of her warriors. In a moment of weakness for the Sigan Tao governate of Lei, Lipko marched south with nearly fifty thousand riders and laid waste to the farmland. The governor of Lei, faced with the threat of starvation for him and his people, surrendered quickly, and was allowed to keep his rulership. The following governates of Gui and Ping were not so fortunate, having staunchly refused any peace. The governor of Ping was killed at the Battle of Me Cao, along with nearly half his army, leaving the capital of Ping Chen unguarded. Lipko and her army stormed its undermanned walls, slaughtering hundreds of civilians and flaying the son of Governor Ping alive. It was there, in the chaos, that Chieftain Lipko died, possibly by the hand of a local commoner. So ended the first invasion of the Sigan Tao, as the armies retreated back across the Me Cao plain to reorganize.
By the end of the century, a majority of the Sigan Tao governates had fallen to Nango-Tuenggu swords and muskets. The horseback shooter, armed with pistol and saber, was a symbol of fear known throughout the entire Sigan Tao crescent. The Hum peoples, or the "Nang Hum" peoples as they had begun to identify as, knew their dominion over this land was imminent, and at a grand confluence between Hum shamans, Sigan Tao scholar-monks, and Kao Ge high priests, it was declared that the Great Chiefdom of the North would henceforth surrender their title, in exchange for one greater; that of the Celestial Empire. It was said, once, that the many Sigan Tao governates were united in aeons past in a single political entity (hence why the Sigan Tao rulers would style themselves "governor" rather than "king"), but any evidence of such a civilization is dubious, given the limited access to artifacts from the supposed period. However, at this grand conference, that myth was brought into reality, and so it was that Nango-Tuenggu Qul-Nul was crowned in the holy city of Luo. Quickly after, the remaining Sigan Tao states would be capitulated.
In what has come to be known as the Gilded Age of the Nango-Tuenggu rulership, the son of Qul-Nul, one Nango-Tuenggu Thal-Ik, ascended to the throne, following the mysterious death of his mother. Nobody can say for sure as to the cause, for her body was never found. Thal-Ik, now emperor, began his expansion plans mere days after his coronation, pushing the boundaries of the Celestial Empire ever further, into the great trekking grounds of the Lun people, the scraggly forests where the Lu Cang reside, and even across the sea, into the heartland of the Kao Ge. His rule was known to be heartless and flowing with blood, most notably that of the Lun. The Lun, near the end of Emperor Thal-Ik's life, had risen up in rebellion, declaring at their holy Lunmount the "Lun Nation", free of foreign rule. Battle waged in the surrounding area for years on end, as the guerilla tactics of the Lun continued to ever delay a conclusion. At last, Thal-Ik's armies, lead by the famed general Nol-Ik, chased the Lun out of their bush and into the foot of the Lunmount, where both soldier and civilian alike were slaughtered. Historians now recognize this act on the part of Thal-Ik to be one of genocide, and the cultural unity of the Lun were forever shattered.
All this changed roughly 500 years before the modern year, with the death of the old and venerable Tuenggu tribe's chieftain. Having had no children, he left the rulership of his people to his nephew, who happened to be one Nang Gulu. Overnight, the new Nango-Tuenggu dynasty became one of the forefront powers of the Hum Desert. Nang Gulu was a canny ruler, ambitious and ruthless. He waged brutal wars of vengeance against the other tribes, subjugating many and slaughtering a few to the last adult man. It was thought that he would have united the entire Hum Desert under himself had he not been killed by an arrow while leading a charge near the Lunmount.
This did little to dissuade his fifth son and heir, who rumors say had been the one to shoot his own father. To this day, historians and archaeologists cannot say for sure. But that heir, Nango-Tuenggu Quondo, unlike his father before him, was prided not in his ferocity, but his virtuous administration. Today, "Quondo" is a phrase synonymous with "wise" in common Hum parlance. Nango-Tuenggu Quondo transformed the administration of the many tribes who swore him loyalty, cementing the privileges of the vassal chieftains and reworking entire sectors of government to imitate that of the northern Sigan Tao states, of which he was very much an admirer. Near the end of his own life, he declared the creation of the "Great Chiefdom of the North", the rightful rulers of the entire Hum Desert and all its inhabitants and livestock.
It wasn't until a century after Quondo's death that his dream was realized, and the desert was thoroughly secured by the Nango-Tuenggu dynasty. Rival tribes attempted once to form a coalition against this rising star, but they were soundly defeated at the battles of Thirty Mounds and Gudun and forced to flee into lands belonging to the Republic of Volstran. The descendants of those rivals, according to the official government stance of Nango-Tuenggu, would eventually become the Two Swords confederations, now staunchly opposed to all forms of monarchical excess. However, for the then-ruler Nango-Tuenggu Lipko, they were of no concern. Rather, it was time to expand southwards, into those verdant forests and plains wherein reside the Sigan Tao peoples.
Great Chieftain Lipko was a tactical genius, and she had the zealous support of her warriors. In a moment of weakness for the Sigan Tao governate of Lei, Lipko marched south with nearly fifty thousand riders and laid waste to the farmland. The governor of Lei, faced with the threat of starvation for him and his people, surrendered quickly, and was allowed to keep his rulership. The following governates of Gui and Ping were not so fortunate, having staunchly refused any peace. The governor of Ping was killed at the Battle of Me Cao, along with nearly half his army, leaving the capital of Ping Chen unguarded. Lipko and her army stormed its undermanned walls, slaughtering hundreds of civilians and flaying the son of Governor Ping alive. It was there, in the chaos, that Chieftain Lipko died, possibly by the hand of a local commoner. So ended the first invasion of the Sigan Tao, as the armies retreated back across the Me Cao plain to reorganize.
By the end of the century, a majority of the Sigan Tao governates had fallen to Nango-Tuenggu swords and muskets. The horseback shooter, armed with pistol and saber, was a symbol of fear known throughout the entire Sigan Tao crescent. The Hum peoples, or the "Nang Hum" peoples as they had begun to identify as, knew their dominion over this land was imminent, and at a grand confluence between Hum shamans, Sigan Tao scholar-monks, and Kao Ge high priests, it was declared that the Great Chiefdom of the North would henceforth surrender their title, in exchange for one greater; that of the Celestial Empire. It was said, once, that the many Sigan Tao governates were united in aeons past in a single political entity (hence why the Sigan Tao rulers would style themselves "governor" rather than "king"), but any evidence of such a civilization is dubious, given the limited access to artifacts from the supposed period. However, at this grand conference, that myth was brought into reality, and so it was that Nango-Tuenggu Qul-Nul was crowned in the holy city of Luo. Quickly after, the remaining Sigan Tao states would be capitulated.
In what has come to be known as the Gilded Age of the Nango-Tuenggu rulership, the son of Qul-Nul, one Nango-Tuenggu Thal-Ik, ascended to the throne, following the mysterious death of his mother. Nobody can say for sure as to the cause, for her body was never found. Thal-Ik, now emperor, began his expansion plans mere days after his coronation, pushing the boundaries of the Celestial Empire ever further, into the great trekking grounds of the Lun people, the scraggly forests where the Lu Cang reside, and even across the sea, into the heartland of the Kao Ge. His rule was known to be heartless and flowing with blood, most notably that of the Lun. The Lun, near the end of Emperor Thal-Ik's life, had risen up in rebellion, declaring at their holy Lunmount the "Lun Nation", free of foreign rule. Battle waged in the surrounding area for years on end, as the guerilla tactics of the Lun continued to ever delay a conclusion. At last, Thal-Ik's armies, lead by the famed general Nol-Ik, chased the Lun out of their bush and into the foot of the Lunmount, where both soldier and civilian alike were slaughtered. Historians now recognize this act on the part of Thal-Ik to be one of genocide, and the cultural unity of the Lun were forever shattered.
The Celestial Empire, in its capacity as head of the greater Celestial Sphere, is thus integrated into a grand system of trade that brings it much wealth. Trade flows in from Morrland in the west and Bettona in the south, and flows out into Dastria, on the tacit assumption that it will flow back into the sources. This network keeps the far nations dependent upon both each other and the Sphere itself, but also makes all involved very wealthy indeed. The Empire, though lacking in both arable ground and rich veins of mineral, has the sort of manpower that is paralleled by few, and none within the Sphere. The Sphere draws raw material from all the corners of the world, through Dastrian colonies and the plains of Fenise, and manufactures them in its tens of thousands of factories, moulding them into the stuff of modern civility. Iron ore becomes steel, steel becomes pots and knives, or something as ambitious as spires and skyscrapers. Sand becomes glass, and even lowly clay becomes ceramics, and exported by the shipful, a source of pride among the great Empire's peoples.
It must be said that the Celestial Empire, admittedly, is a bare land. In the days of the Grand Chiefdom, the entire breadth of the Empire, spare a few oases and some steppe, was inclined desert. The northern stretches are barren sand, completely infertile soil, good for nothing except being stamped upon by the roving of tribes and horses. However, the land there is relatively rich in iron and carbon, the two minerals that the war machine of the Nang Hum tribes so crave. The conquest southwards made all the difference for the young Empire; access to wet ground, fed by regular mudslides from the mountains and by near-constant rain in the summer. It was here that the great Sigan Tao cities grew, as many as fifty, each numbering well over a million souls. Their colonial ventures, stretching into the neighboring sea, was similarly fruitful, gaining more of a foothold into the lush tropics that feed an empire's worth of people.
It must be said that the Celestial Empire, admittedly, is a bare land. In the days of the Grand Chiefdom, the entire breadth of the Empire, spare a few oases and some steppe, was inclined desert. The northern stretches are barren sand, completely infertile soil, good for nothing except being stamped upon by the roving of tribes and horses. However, the land there is relatively rich in iron and carbon, the two minerals that the war machine of the Nang Hum tribes so crave. The conquest southwards made all the difference for the young Empire; access to wet ground, fed by regular mudslides from the mountains and by near-constant rain in the summer. It was here that the great Sigan Tao cities grew, as many as fifty, each numbering well over a million souls. Their colonial ventures, stretching into the neighboring sea, was similarly fruitful, gaining more of a foothold into the lush tropics that feed an empire's worth of people.
Army: A very typical army form, divided unfortunately into many many different administrations and bureaus, thus having a habit of breaking down in miscommunication.
Navy: Plagued by pirates of the fearsome Lam Lam bay, most of the navy belongs to a mercenary fleet of those same pirates, good for nothing except supporting their more competent allies.
Air Force: The skies is where Imperial military truly shines. The idea of traversing the skies was deeply ingrained in the national psyche of the Nang Hum peoples, even since before the establishment of the Celestial Empire. The Empire were far and away the first to develop personal aircraft, and today the idea of riding the skies as one might a horse on land is an honor. The Celestial army has become much acquainted with raining death down on enemies below, with massed balloon bombings and machine gun fire from planes.
Navy: Plagued by pirates of the fearsome Lam Lam bay, most of the navy belongs to a mercenary fleet of those same pirates, good for nothing except supporting their more competent allies.
Air Force: The skies is where Imperial military truly shines. The idea of traversing the skies was deeply ingrained in the national psyche of the Nang Hum peoples, even since before the establishment of the Celestial Empire. The Empire were far and away the first to develop personal aircraft, and today the idea of riding the skies as one might a horse on land is an honor. The Celestial army has become much acquainted with raining death down on enemies below, with massed balloon bombings and machine gun fire from planes.
Rolls:
Land Area: 20
Land Fertility: 12
Mineral Abundance: 12
Bureaucracy: 5
Technology: 10
Production: 16
Finance: 9
Land Power: 11
Naval Power: 2
Air Power: 16
Traits:
