Dyelli Beybi — Roleplayer Guild

WELCOME TO EMPIRE OF THE CLOUDS

Welcome to Empire of the Clouds, an RP set in a fictional low-fantasy world with a technology level roughly equivalent to Earth 1910.  The RP will start off in the 'Circle Sea' region, an area vaguely analogous to Europe and the Middle East though there is a big world out there...

In this RP you will play someone fleeing the city of Inbur in the face of an advancing enemy army.  You have been lucky enough to get to a recently retrofitted, but uncrewed, military zeppelin.  Perhaps you are a soldier, perhaps a civilian, perhaps someone who actually knows how to operate this rather complicated piece of machinery!  The choice is yours.

Inbur is a cosmopolitan melting pot so you can write a character from wherever in the world you choose and whatever culture you like the look of.  Some places have descriptions below.  If you are interested in somewhere that doesn't have one, ask and we'll give you more info!

The choice of what you do will also be yours.  Will you try to save Inbur?  Will you ally with her enemies?  Will you sail off into the sunset and do a bit of tourism while the world burns?  There is, after all, a big world out there for you to explore!

INTRODUCTION

The year is 1077 of the Inburian Era and there is change in the world.

The fires of industry have been lit in what were once largely agrarian societies around the Circle Sea.  New inventions have changed the face of the world.  The railway, mechanisation, photography, the internal combustion engine and machine guns have all changed the face of the world.  In recent years people have even begun taking to the sky in balloons and, more recently, heavier-than-air vehicles.

Society has changed as well.  People have begun to see themselves as part of 'National' communities linked by language and tradition and old Empires, the Inburian one amongst them, have splintered into Nation States.  People have begun to increasingly see the old Medieval hierarchies as antiquated and unjust.  

The Nation of Calaria was the first to embrace a new system of 'Communalist' Government.  At first the Calarians sought to spread their revolution through sponsored agitation in neighboring states, most notably the Inburian Empire, though in recent weeks this has escalated into a full invasion.  While the Inburians had been prepared to hold the relatively short border, they were not prepared for the use of Chlorine gas, nor were they prepared for an insurrection from Fifth Colonists within their own country, or a surprise attack from their Eastern neighbour, Xak-Shariq.

Fourteen days into the invasion, the Calarians have reached the city of Inbur, people are trapped and jusitifiably frightened, but there is still a way out for those people who happen to have looked up at the Zeppelin mast in the military base by the Imperial Palace.  It seems to have been forgotten (nobody has allocated a crew to it) and the military are making a fighting retreat from the city.  Nobody is really looking...  

MAPS

(Click the map for a larger)

(Click the map for a larger)

NATIONS & CULTURES

While everyone has a history, I haven't written about everyone as that would take forever and I don't want to bog you down in lore!

Major Peoples and Nations of the RP

Once a Merchant Republic, Calaria sees itself as the cradle of civilisation in the Circle Sea (Inbur was a Calarian Colony, many millenia ago, though the cultures have divered somewhat). Calaria is the birthplace of Industrialisation and, ten years ago, the first nation to fall to a 'Communalist Revolution' which drove many Calarian of the Calarian merchant-princes to flee to the New World Colonies (which took the opportunity to declare independence) and  nieghbouring Inbur which proved a safe place.  For a while.

The Calarian Commune is led by Chairman 'Giusto Valier', a man dedicated to spreading the revolution abroad and the destruction of the class system that continues to dominate in neighboring states.  While many people find the Communalist goals appealing, others are repelled by the violent purges of 'class traitors' that continue to mark Calarian politics.

On Earth, the Calarians would appear to be Southern Europeans.

For a Calarian character, try this name generator: name generator.

The Inburian Empire has been a major player in the Circle Sea since it was declared by 'Cyprien the Great' 1,077 years ago.  For a period of 211 years, Inbur was ruled over by the Haltians, but was 'liberated' 258 years ago by the Hasikos dynasty who have ruled over the Empire ever since.  Initially, Mitteland, Quinia, Favis and portions of modern day Xak-Shariq were technically part of the Empire, though these lands have been lost or gained full independence in the last century as the Empire has slowly begun to unravel although the former client Kingdoms have remained on good terms with the Inburians.

Inbur itself is a heavily industrialised state though rife with internal class struggles that are not improved by the absolutist tendencies of Empoeror Pavlos V.

On Earth, the Inburians would be described as 'Mediterranean' in appearance.

If you want to create an Iburian character, here is a name generator.

The people of the isolated on the isle of Favis have always been somewhat different from the ‘Mainlanders’ though for large portions of their history they have been a client Kingdom of the Inburians.

Once an infamous pirate haven, the Kingdom of Favis is now a prosperous Constitutional Monarchy, headed by King Osmund, with a reputation for ship building and a powerful fleet that keeps the island safe from invasion.  Favis maintains good relations with both Inbur and Bayn Alain.

On Earth, the Monchians would appear to be 'Western Europeans'.

If you want to create a Monchian character, here is a name generator.

469 years ago, the 'Eminent Kingdom of the Shariq' was the main rivals of the Inburian Empire but due to a magical mishap the Kingdom was destroyed and her lands rendered uninhabitable for two centuries.  The surviving Shariq fled to Inbur, Calaria, Favis and other friendly countries.  Eventually these three States would sponsor the recolonisation of Shariq lands.  Xaq-Shariq was largely settled from by Calarian Shariq, Bayn Alain by Favis Shariq and the Western coast by Inburian Shariq.  

With the exception of the coastline still controlled by the Inburians, Shariq lands are only modestly industrialised.  There is a strong drive from the Shariq, particularly in Xaq-Shariq, towards rebuilding the old 'Eminent Kingdom' though recent attempts to integrate Bayn Alain met with failure, largely due to military support for the Amir of Bayn Alain from the Monchians.

The Shariq of Inbur are well integrated and the majority of the population are not in favour of unification with Xak-Shariq mostly for economic reasons (the Inburian Empire is wealthy).

On Earth, Shariq would appear as ‘Mediterranean’ in appearance. 

If you want to create a Shariq character, try either this name generator. or this name generator.  

For a surname, take one from their temporary homeland, i.e. Calaria, Inbur or Favis.

Minor Peoples and Nations of the RP

Addonian culture has flourished for centuries on the arid South Coast of the circle sea, initially as a number of independent city States though in the last century there has been a strong drive towards Addonian unification led by the city of Finiquia.

Mina-Sakh, the largest and most populous of the Addonian cities has remained outside of the unification process.  Both the Amir of Mina-Sakh and Malik of Great Finiquia (and the elites of both Nations) worry the other would gain undue influence in their city.

The region of Sakh, controlled by Mina-Sakh, contains the vast majority of arable land in the Addonian coast, which has left Great Finiquia with a worrying food deficit and a need to import food from neighboring states.  This has, in turn, led to clashes with Bayn Alain over some of the arable land along the Northern border.

Both Addonian States are characterised by large, progressive, industrial metropolises surrounded by large swathes of undeveloped and sparsely populated hinterland.

Addonians culture is something of a melting pot born of early Calarian and Shariq cultures merged with those of the nomadic desert dwellers from further inland.  Addonians tended to favour long robes and brightly-coloured tunics, often adorned, for both men and women with ostentatious gold jewelry, although in recent years the city dwellers have tended to adopt the fashion of the Northern states.

Like Favis, the Addonians have a strong naval heritage and operate significant fleets in the Circle Sea, though neither Sakh nor Great Finiquia is a match for the might of the Kingdom's Navy.

On Earth, Addonians could appear as anything from ‘Mediterranean’ to ‘West African’ in appearance. 

If you want to create an Addonian character, here is a name generator.

The Elgafolk were never great city builders, preferring to live nomadic lives in the great plains North of the Circle Sea supplied, trading with and receiving tribute from the scattering of human cities along the inland trade routes.  For a period of about two centuries, the Elgafolk rules the current Kingdoms of Krain and Mitteland and the Western portion of the current Inburian Empire, enslaving the local inhabitants, though they were outsted in the Inburian Liberation Wars, 258 years ago and driven back to the West of the Continent though many of the Elgafolk remained in the new Inburian Empire, often taking on senior positins in the notably pragmatic Hasikos administration and there remain significant Elga minority populations in the Inburian Empire to this day.

In the current era the Haltian Empire is something of a backwater - sparsely populated and with many of the Elgafolk and humans of the area living similarly to how they did 200 years ago though the former Capital of Alveby is a notable exception to this rule.

Neither Nationalism nor Communalism have taken root in the Haltian Empire to any major degree and with the exception of the Western Pobryn people who were granted independence five years ago (forming the nation of 'Tir Pobryn' after six years of vicious guerilla warfare), the Haltian Empire's peoples have continued to coexist in relative harmony.

The Elgafolk are biologically immortal and highly resistant to poison and disease.  While they do not conceive as often as humans, Elgafolk women remain fertile for centuries and infant mortality rates are low.  It is not uncommon for one of the Elgafolk to have up to twenty siblings, though these may have been born a century or more apart from one another.

Elgafolk are usually slightly larger than humans, with the males averaging 6'2'' and females 5'8'' in height. 

If you want to create an Elgafolk character, here is a name generator

The Iktani are the original inhabitants of the Calarian Main and make up just over half the population of Equaterra and over 90% of the populations of the Iktani Confederacy and Hunyunak.  Every other State in the Main has a sizeable Iktani population.  Until recently the Iktani, while sharing strong cultural ties with one another, did not see themselves as a single people and prior to the arrival of the Calarians and other colonial powers, the Main was a patchwork of different states, many of whom had a deep seated animosity for one another.

While the Colonial nations initially enjoyed significant technological advantages over the Iktani tribes, the Iktani have had centuries to adapt and have long-since mastered Circle Sea weapons and tactics and while most Iktani states were destroyed and assimilated into Colonial Nations, the isolated Kingdom of Hunyunak was able to survive though it remains something of a rural backwater.

To the North, many tribal groups banded together into a Confederation of Tribes which has grown into a moderately industrialised power.  The Confederacy remained neutral in the Equaterran war of Independence, despite public support for the Equaterran cause, mainly due to their Confederacy's strong animosity towards the Ardellians who had already intervened on behalf of the Equaterrans.  Following the war, relations between Equaterra and the Confederacy have warmed significantly and historic boundary disputes have been settled.

The Commonwealth of Ardell, meanwhile, still maintains a claim on all Iktani territory East of the Rotsach range, which includes the majority of the Confederacy's arable land and population centres.

On Earth, the Iktani would appear to be 'Amerindian' people.

If you want to create an Iktani character, here is a name generator.  Use any second name for a surname, if you want.

The 'Mainers' are a 'melting pot' culture formed, for the most part, from the mixture of Brendahland, Doel and Monchian cultures in the Calarian Main.  Mainer culture is dominant in the Commonwealth of Ardell.

Ardell, as a nation is only 136 years old and enjoys good relations with Favis, the Doel Union and most of the other New World Nations, with the notable exceptions of the Iktani Confederacy, the larger of the two Iktani dominated nations on the continent (the other being the isolated Kingdom of Hunyunak) and has fought a number of wars of conquest against the Confederacy.  In the last fifty years, these have inevitably resulted in failure, with increasing Iktani military organisation and the strong defensive barrier of the Chichima river forming an easily defensible border.

Ardell has traditionally stayed out of Old World politics, though there are strong business ties, particularly with the Kingdom of Favis and the Doel Union and Mainers are common visitors.

While Ardell is a democracy, Iktani people are currently ineligible for citizenship and, thus, the right to vote though some have made a home for themselves in the Commonwealth nonetheless.  Policies of forcible land seizures and deportation to the Confederacy have, while freeing up land for Mainer settlement, also had the long-tern detrimental effect of both bolstering Iktani manpower reserves and driving migration into major Iktani population centres, spurring industrialisation in the nearby state.

For a Mainer character, try this name generator: name generator.

The Quinians are the majority culture on the coast, South of the Haltian Empire, centred around the Kingdoms of Estornen and Carnelfenney and have existed in this region since time immemorial slowly moving inland, absorbing and displacing the Folandet tribes in the pre-imperial era.  During the time of the Inburian Empire the area was unified as a single client kingdom though during the Haltian Empire it devolved into two major Kingdoms and a number of semi-autonomous vassals, only to be unified again during the Inburian Liberation Wars. 

Despite the long coastline, the Quinians have never been a major naval powers, though they do derive significant income from their port cities, many of which are major hubs of industrialisation. Rather than a major Navy, Quinia has a reputation for some of the finest infantry on the continent.

Quinians tend to dress distinctly from other peoples, often wearing kilts and bold plaid patterns on their clothing.  

On Earth, the Quinians would appear to be 'Northern Europeans'.

If you want to create a Quinian character, here is a name generator.

TECHNOLOGY

The technology level for this RP is, broadly, 1910 with one key exception: airship tech is 20 or so years more advanced than it was in the real world at this time... and most importantly you have helium in your bags rather than hydrogen so you aren't going to go down in a giant fireball of doom if someone lights a cigarette within a kilometer of you.

The reason I have made this decision, simply, so that your airship does not suck!  It would rather shorten the RP if you were in an explosive death trap.

Other than that, expect bolt action rifles, very basic biplanes, electricity, poison gas, fancy hats and, potentially, trenches.  Not that you need to worry about most of these things as you cruise blissfully over the battles raging below.

ZEPPELINS/RIGID AIRSHIPS

First, yes, I know that Zeppelin is a company that made/makes rigid airships, which is the correct name for the thing we are describing.  Most people know them as Zeppelins though, so I'm sticking with that.

If you aren't too familiar with Zeppelins, they are absolutely colossal constructions that dwarf anything in the sky today.

In this RP, the zeppelin you are on will travel at about 80 miles per hour and can reach heights of about 21,000 feet, though typically you'd cruse quite a bit lower.  Your zeppelins can stay aloft for a week or so, which is mostly dictated by how much engine fuel you have onboard.  If you run out of that you won't crash immediately, but you will lose all ability to control where you are going.

Planes of the era are only marginally faster than you, cannot get as high and have nowhere near the range... though obviously they are much cheaper to build.  They also haven't developed the interrupter gear that would allow single man fighters to become a thing.

Most of the living space is inside the outer shell which is good because the gondolas that are used for navigation and gun platforms get very cold (the interior is heated by air from the engine).  There are also two gun platforms on the top of the airship which you can access by a long and frightening ladder, three MGs at the front and one near the tail.  Combined with the four MGs in the front gondola and four in the rear, the ship is armed with 12 that can cover most approach directions and even strafe the ground... if you're low enough.  Which might not be advisable since things on the ground can shoot back.

You can actually walk along the top as well... though it might be a good idea to make sure you are fastened securely.  It is, after all, a long way down!

UNNECESSARY LORE

This section is for a bit of extra lore that you don't really need to read in order to engage with in order to make a character but which helps flesh out the world.
Calaria has the distinction of being the first culture to have used Caravels to sail out of the circle sea and successfully crossed the Evig Ocean to an area rich in valuable spices and valuable natural minerals that the Calarians initially named the ‘Gold Coast’ (now usually called the ‘Calarian Main’), 409 years ago.  The area was inhabited by a number of tribal peoples whom became collectively referred to as the Iktani.

Initial colonisation by the Calarians and, later the Brendahlanders, Doel and, eventually, Monchians, relied on alliances with Iktani tribal groups, though as the settler populations increased, friction with the Iktani also grew.

Over the years, Calaria came to dominate the South shores of the 'New Circle Sea', with the other powers forming a patchwork of colonies further North.  With considerable interchange between many of the colonies from the minor powers, a distinct 'Mainer' identity began to develop - the Mainers developed their own culture, language and customs which were something of a blend of the Monchian, Doel and Brendahland cultures.  In the far North, Brendahland culture remained independent, while in the Nordisles, Monchian culture remained.

136 years ago, amid spiraling unrest, the Doel Union and Kingdom of Favis granted independence to their colonies which, with the exception of the Nordisles, unified into the 'Commonwealth of Ardell', which promptly declared war on Brendahland in an attempt to bring their colonies into the Commonwealth.

After two years of bitter fighting, Brendahland and Ardell reached a peace agreement whereby Brendahland ceded it's Southern colonies, establishing a treaty whereby Ardell would be granted all land to the South, East of the Rotsach range.  Ardell, in turn would recognise Brendahland claims to the North of the continent.  Nobody invited the Iktani Cnfederacy to the table and the fledgling Confederation was none too pleased to discover that their main population centres had been ceded to Ardell.

Many wars followed, with Ardell successfully driving the Iktani back to the Chichima river, which has, for the past fifty years, proved an impenetrable barrier to further Commonwealth expansion though the Commonwealth maintains their claim on the majority of Confederacy land.

To the South, 100 years ago, the Republic of Equaterra declared it's independence from Calaria, which it achieved after a seven year war, directly supported by Ardell with military aid supplied by the Doel Union, Inburian Empire and Favis.  Calaria maintained control of most of it's island possessions, though these declared Independence at the time of the Calarian revolution forming the republics of Oscuraria, Coschi and Isola Centrale.

For the past century, the Circle Sea and  Main witnessed the rise of National identities.  Previously divided states began to unify along ethnic grounds while some of the old multi-ethnic Empires, notably the Inburian and Haltian Empires began to slowly unravel as ethnic groups began to seek autonomy from the capital.

States also began to industrialise.  Factories were build and peasant farmers moved in from the countryside to the big cities, looking for work.  This 'Industrial Revolution' began in Inbur and Calaria and the two states are the most industrialised on the planet at this point, though it also spread to neighboring States, particularly the old Inburrian Vassals and the Commonwealth of Ardell and Iktani Confederacy in the Main.

50 years ago, motivated in part by exploitative working conditions in many of the factories, a new ideology began to emerge - Communalism, which called for a centralisation of ownership and 'Dictatorship of the Proleteriat'.  The Communalists shunned the 'imaginary' Nations, instead defining themselves along internationalist, class lines and wherever industrialisation had spread, Communalism has followed in it's wake, to greater or lesser degrees depending upon the Nation.

Unlike Inbur, across the border, who began to reform labour laws while simultaneously cracking down on Communalists, Calaria did neither and in 1067, ten years ago, a general strike was called and, after a week the army was ordered to suppress the strikers.  Some units did as they were told, but others mutinied in solidarity.  Within weeks, the mutiny had turned into a full scale civil war.

Cibaia fell to the revolutionaries within the first week.  The Doge was captured and, after a show trial, executed by firing squad along with several other senior Government ministers.  Calarian Colonies in Coschi, Isola Centrale and Oscuraria declared their loyalty to the Republic, declaring the hastily put together 'Council of the Commune' to be illegal, but by early 1068, the disorganised and increasingly factionalised Republican forces had been driven back, almost right off the Calarian peninsular.

Calaria had always been a State regarded with some suspicion by it's neghbours and the chaos in the State was seen as an advantageous weakening of an old enemy by most of Calaria's rivals.  Only the United Kingdom of Quinia chose to intervene, sending troops to bolster the Republican efforts in the North, driving the Commune's forces back nearly 200 miles by 1069.

While there had been military successes, the Quinians found the infighting amongst the Republicans increasingly problematic and on more than a few occasions, Quinian troops ended up needing to fight one Republican faction to help cement the control of the other.  The occupation was also deeply unpopular amongst the Calarian population and partisan attacks became more and more frequent.

In Carnelfenney, Parliament debated whether the United Kingdom should be sacrificing its men to prop up a chaotic regime that had been historically seen as a threat.  While the Inburians, the United Kingdom's main ally were supplying money and weapons to the Republic, they had deployed no troops and in late 1069, the order was given for Quinian troops to pull out, though Quinia and the Inburian Empire pledged to continue supplying the Republican forces with arms and munitions.

Despite that, in mid 1070, the last Republican forces crossed the border into Inbur and surrendered to the Empire rather than face the Communalists.

The next four years were utter chaos in Calaria with frequent Communalist purges of 'counter-revolutionary elements' along with political rivals, though in the end, Chairman 'Giusto Valier', the leader of the Internationalist faction (dedicated to spreading the Revolution abroad) emerged victorious.

Since then, Calaria and the Inburian Empire (Calaria's classic rival) have waged propaganda wars against each other in attempts to forment unrest and destabilise the enemy regime with the Calarian Commune having much more success at this than the Inburians.

CHARACTER APPLICATION

You will notice some things about this character application form aren’t normal.

First, I haven’t asked for equipment.  You could conceivably have a rifle, revolver or pistol on you at the start of this RP, but even if you don't, there is an armory onboard. 

I also haven’t asked what your skills are.  I’m assuming all characters are generally competent, however, what you’ve written in your background will determine whether I make things easier for you, or not, if you attempt something.  For instance, a librarian might know how to use a rifle, but probably won’t be as good at hitting a moving or distant target as a trained soldier.

Also note, your character is not magical.  Magic exists in this setting but not really in the more industrial parts of the world and it exists mostly for me, as the GM, to create problems for you!

Finally, there is no personality section.  Your backstory should give a good idea of how your character is going to behave, but more importantly, I don’t want you to feel like your character is fixed.  In a good RP, characters grow and develop over the course of the story and might end up being totally different from how they started.

When making your app, delete the bits in parentheses - they are there to give you guidance.

Character Description

Name:
Gender:
Age:
Nationality:
Appearance:
(Feel free to describe with text or put pictures in here.  If you are using a picture, I may ask you to change it if it is blatantly anachronistic.)

Personal Effects: (Any personal belongings you have with you.  No magical artefacts... this is a low fantasy setting.

Background:

What is your job(Are you a soldier?  A poacher?  A singer?)
Backstory:(How did you come to be here?  If you have a good reason to be running from the Revolutionaries, this will improve your backstory)

RULES

In short, just have common sense and be courteous to your other RPers and we will have no problems!  But if you want specifics...

Decisions
My word and the word of any Co-GM is binding. If you don’t like a decision, you can, of course, ask for us to reconsider it. Once. If we made a decision you don’t like, complaining for pages and pages is not going to endear you to anyone. Not me, not the Co-GM and not your fellow writers.
On that note, I intend to run this thread as an anarcho-communist cooperative. This is an unnecessarily complicated way of saying that my word DOES NOT overrule theirs. If there is an appeal and a dispute amongst the Co-GMs we will take a vote on the matter.

Post Quality
I don’t have a problem with short posts but please use proper spelling (I don’t care what regional variant), grammar etc.
Ideally also try to include a 'hook' when you write a post, which is to say something that gives other people something to respond to. If your post is something along the lines of 'Bilbo Baggins stayed in his room and read a book while the world was ending', don't be surprised if nobody responds to you.

Posting Commitment
Nothing is worse than making an RP only for it to die. Please try to make at least one post every 48 hours or so. If you find yourself unable to post, please let me know in the OOC thread or Discord. If it looks like you've abandoned a character in the middle of a fight scene I might decide to kill them off.  Which is great for the plot, makes the monster all the scarier... though potentially not great for you.

Posting Speed
On the flip side, blitz posting can also be infuriating. So, especially during the important scenes, I recommend giving your fellow players a reasonable time to make a reply. We all have real lives. That being said, if someone leaves everyone waiting for over 48 hours, and the rest of the writers are rearing to go, feel free to carry on the scene without them.

OOC thread Manners
Nothing annoys me more than bad manners on an OOC thread/the Discord. Swearing, passive-aggressive sniping or any other rude behaviour are not welcome. You will be warned once. If you can’t control yourself, slow-downs, temporary bans etc. may be applied on the Discord. If you continue to cause problems these may be made permanent. I don't want to do that, so play nice!

IC thread Manners
Remember, we are writing a story together, not playing to win.

Character Death
Player death is possible in this RP, though it will be avoidable if you play to your character's strengths, work with your team and don't do anything too stupid. Likewise, if someone goes inactive in the middle of a fight scene without explanation and cannot be raised, I may decide to kill your character off.

Godmodding
In general the enemies in this thread should be treated as an actual threat.  Write opening fire on the enemies, not that you gunned them all down and everyone went home for tea and medals. I will, however, write damage for your character if you get into a bad situation...

18+
18+ allows us to write a darker story that explores grown-up themes.  I didn't pick it for erotica and/or gorn, so try to write tastefully.  If I have to repeatedly ask someone to tone it down I will be displeased.

Banning Players
I really don’t want to be doing that but reserve the right to do so if you cannot follow the (hopefully, rather simple) rules above.
Dyelli Beybi Member

A prince among men

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