After one more time he repeated the urging for them to find their “gods” Node realized that there was nothing more of interest she could hear from the clown. She watched the knight leave, all the while thinking about what the clown said. This is Japan, but not the one we know… If what he said was true, and this was a different world from her own – and the absolute lack of connection to any other Node or even the Collective spoke strongly in favour of that claim – then that knight, and possibly her as well, would look considerably out of place.
Node decomposed and stored her battle suit back into her memory, leaving her only wearing normal clothes which felt a little light in this snowy weather, and proceeded to chase after the knight. He didn’t go too far and she caught up to him quickly.
“We seem to be in the same situation,” she spoke in her standard monotone voice. “I think it would be in our best interest if we cooperated for now.”
Node was surprised with how cold she felt without her battle suit. Without its life support systems, she was just a regular girl and the chill crept into her body, making her wrap her arms around herself. I should find some warm clothes. Warm room would also be nice.
Demonym: Paxtian, Paxtians Description: A thousand years ago, if you asked an average person in Albion about goblins, they would’ve told you that it is a breed of savage vermin, skulking in the caves, attacking travellers on the roads and stealing livestock from the farmers. Killing them where you found them was doing good work. If you asked a person in Albion about goblins today, they would tell you that it is a breed of savage vermin, scourging the seas with their many ships, organizing various forms of illegal activities in the nations of the continent and tearing the skin from honest folk’s back with their usury. You can’t kill them because then a legion of those monsters will come down upon you and yours and probably kill you all and burn your house down.
The stories about the Chaos Nation and its diminutive inhabitants are told in every port city of Albion, sometimes with fear, sometimes with hate, but never with mockery. No, despite their small stature, Paxtians have acquired the infamy which makes sure that no goblin is ever looked down upon by the Big Folk. Their pirate ships sail all around the world attacking with reckless abandon and without fear, for only the bravest and the boldest can earn wealth and status in the Chaos Nation. They don’t shy away from launching raids on the coastal towns, taking everything that is not nailed down, inhabitants included.
In their city-state they are no better, with small wars being fought every day. Things are ever changing in Paxt, and where there was a powerful crime syndicate today there may be a bunch of small gangs tomorrow fighting each other for what is left. Young Paxtians are taught from a very young age about the ideal of Chaos, which pretty much amounts to “you are free to do anything you want as long as you can defend yourself from those who you piss off in the process.” This results in highly volatile environment, where every day a new Paxtian rises to prominence, only to fall tomorrow.
Many have tried to put an end to this den of cutthroats and thieves, but they have all failed. In the end, despite the anarchy which dominates the city, all Paxtians can agree that the continued independence of the Chaos Nation is paramount and every goblin will fight tooth and nail to defend it.
Chaos Nation has no central government. The whole island, but especially the city, is divided into numerous gang controlled territories which are pretty much independent states. They make their own rules and are in charge of enforcing them. Majority of Paxtians are either members of a gang or enjoy the protection of one. The gang leaders can be those who were exceptionally cunning or strong or they may be elected by the members to be first among equal – it varies from gang to gang.
Similar logic applies to the ships and their crews. In practice, each ship is a separate gang territory – gang being the ship’s crew – and each has its own set of rules. The captains can either be rich Paxtians who could afford to buy their own ship and hire the crew, or someone elected among the crew members.
Keep in mind that “gang” refers to any group of people who band together to survive in the Chaos Nation. Sometimes they may have no interest in criminal activities and just wish to do regular professions, but have to group-up with others for defence.
There are only two laws, called the Custom, which apply universally to all Paxtians, both on land or on sea, and those are:
1) Bring no harm to the Chaos Nation and allow no harm to befall it. 2) All are welcome to the Chaos Nation as long as they obey the first rule.
Good chunk of Paxt’s economy comes from piracy. Stolen goods are brought by the ships to the city where they are sold at the markets in the Big Folk Quarter. The pirate ships are forbidden from targeting any merchant vessels coming to or going from the Chaos Nation, making it safer for merchants doing business in the west Albion to dock there instead of some other port city and this also brings in money.
Ship-building and naval supplies are also a big industry in Paxt. The vessels built here may not be the fastest or the most durable, but they are built cheaply and quickly while maintaining reliability. Of course, for those who wish to pay extra, ships can be custom built to specifications.
There is also a great abundance of natural wild pearls in the seas around the island, and the city-state has gained quite a large fame for it. Jewellers who can make various decorations with pearls are a very prestigious profession in Paxt and they are usually protected by gangs. In Albion, owing pearls from Paxt is a sign of great wealth.
Another thing that the Chaos Nation is famous for are firearms. Goblins may not have been the ones to discover gunpowder but they adopted for their own. Paxtians are capable of crafting firearms of amazing quality with better performance than what can be found in the rest of Albion. The best stuff is kept in the city, while the rest is sold abroad. Most of firearm supplies in the armies of west Albion come from Paxt.
As an island nation a lot of raw material needs to be imported into Paxt, but the most important import is food. Although the fish in the surrounding seas is abundant, it is still not enough to feed the whole population of the city. Pretty much any food found in the city that isn’t from the sea was imported. Also, alcohol is not produced domestically, so it comes from abroad as well.
Old goblin belief in the Darkness – the mythical creator of the goblin race – is still the biggest faith in the city, although the vast majority of the population is not religious. There are very few temples and even those see very little people. The Darkness is the god of thieves, assassins, and all those who do things in secret, so Paxtians half-jokingly argue that they already worship him plenty simply by stealing, killing and lying.
Another religion which is quite popular in the city is the worship of He Who Sleeps in the Depths. It is, supposedly, a divine entity slumbering at the bottom of the ocean. By offering him blood sacrifices, one will acquire good fortune on the seas. Most pirate ships of Paxt worship He Who Sleeps and every successful plunder is followed by the ritual drowning of a captive, in gratitude for the slumbering god’s favour.
Besides these two religions there are numerous other which don’t have a big following in the Chaos Nation. As pirates, Paxtians go to many corners of the world and see many different cultures, so it is no wonder that quite a few of them convert on some of their adventures. In many cases they worship two or more gods if their domains are different. Regardless of who or what is worshiped, though, it will be tolerated in Paxt.
Paxt, which is the name of both the island and the city, is located on the western fringes of Albion. Its north and north-east coast are flatlands on which the city is sprawled. The rest of the island is made of densely forested hills, with only notably big elevation being the Perzhar Mountain. In the east part there is small surface on which crops are grown, but the amount produced is barely able to feed even 5% of the city’s total population. The fauna of the island is standard for continental climate, with the largest animal found being deer.
Population: 12,600,000
Majority of the Chaos Nation are goblins, but there is also no small number of other races. The main language is Paxtian, a language constructed in the early days of Paxt so that various goblin tribes can understand each other, but only around 70% of the population speaks it sufficiently for normal conversation. Also, the literacy is at about 40%. Paxtian language uses the script called Jigsaw, which is a combination of many Albion scripts.
84% Goblins: Further subdivided into multitude of tribes of which none makes even full 10% of total population. Each tribe has its own language and most of the languages bear little to no resemblance to each other.
16% Others: It is utterly impossible to mention every race present among the non-goblin residents of Paxt. Their reason for living in a goblin city are many – some like the anarchy, some have fled persecution in their homeland, some are scientists and wizards who wish to do dangerous and amoral research, some simply joined Paxtian pirate crews in search for booty and some are foreign diplomats and merchants.
Notable Locations: TBA
Personalities of Note: TBA
Institutions: TBA
Organization: Just like it doesn’t have one unified central government, Paxt doesn’t have a standing army either. Instead, its army are the gangsters and the pirates, who participate in any military activity purely on voluntary basis. By the Custom, all residents are obliged to help in the defence of the Chaos Nation should it be attacked, but nobody can force them to fight in an offensive action. It usually requires a good reason for full force of Paxt to be used for attack and the army disbands almost immediately after the goal was fulfilled, leaving long term occupation of the conquered territory (if there’s any) in the hands of the gang who originally organized the invasion. Leaders of the armies are either voted upon by the bosses – usually the guy with best piracy or gang record – or they are the bosses of the gangs which originally called for the military action. All Paxtians have possession of a firearm and are able of using it to great efficacy, so in war you can be sure that you will be greeted with barrage of salvoes from guns of all kinds. They are also proficient with fighting with knives in close quarters, but due to the size differences they can’t stand toe-to-toe with in melee with the Big Folk. Troop Total: 20,000 – 100,000 gangsters and pirates close to the island at any given time. 0 – 500,000 for offensive, depends how much the bandwagon gets going. 1,000,000 – 1,200,000 for defence, depends how many pirate ships are nearby to answer the call. Army: 10,000-1,000,000 (see above) – Paxtian land forces are organized along the gang lines, which can number anywhere from 100 to 1000 people. Any larger combat unit is temporary and usually dissolves after the goals it was made for are fulfilled. Weapons used are firearms, knives and short swords, while only couple of thousands of them have any protective gear. Paxtians who aren’t members of gangs either join their old gangs or the one controlling their part of the city. There are about 2000 mages but they are split between the gangs. Navy: All these ships can be used both for transport and war. 24 carracks 68 caravels 150 galleys 65 flutes 20,000-60,000 total personnel Other: Due to popularity of firearms among goblins there is exact tally on how many artillery pieces there are on the island. It is estimated that there are 200 to 400 heavy pieces and over 1000 light pieces. They are as likely to be used within the city as they are to be used against the incoming enemy.
Weakness – Small Stature: Goblins are smaller than most of the other races in Albion. They are physically weaker, more fragile and their reach is shorter. This puts them at a disadvantage when forced to fight in melee, which is bad because 99.99% of Paxtian combatants are usually goblins. Also, goblins live shorter than humans, with average lifespan being around 50 years old.
Strength – Vermin’s Resilience: Goblins are immune to most diseases and they can eat just about anything, including other goblins if necessary. They also grow up fast, reaching adulthood at 5 years. On average, a goblin family produces 4-5 offspring.
Strength – Firearms Industry: Paxtians are masters of gunpowder. They didn’t invent it but they have significantly improved on it and are able to produce it in large quantities. Paxtian guns have 50% longer range than their counterparts from other nations and are overall more reliable and accurate. They also produce wide array of different explosives, some of which can be quite destructive.
@DezuelReally? Editing in this thread and then posting it to the Characters tab before informing GM and waiting for his or hers reaction to the changes is the same as if you made them in the Characters tab.
She stood at the top of a skyscraper overlooking the ruined skyline of Hong Kong. The street, normally so crowded with people, were now deserted. Most of the citizens fled the city before the battle came, but some have remained, either making peace with dying or simply unable to escape in time. Regardless which, they were now probably holed up in their homes waiting for Nodes to come. They probably thought that they were all going to be killed, but Node knew that the Collective had no such intention.
Suddenly, a figure dressed up as a clown appeared before her and then the entire world twisted. Reality began to break like and Node’s vision became grainy, as if she was watching a TV emission with a bad signal. She felt herself getting pulled somewhere. There was a flash and the scene of post-battle Hong Kong disappeared. Instead, she was standing in a field of snow.
Node immediately took notice of the two who were on that field with her. She made no excessive movements and just prepared her cannon, ready to blow the head off of first person to appear threatening. It didn’t seem to her that any of them could actually pose a danger to her. One looked like a clown that appeared before her earlier and the other was wearing medieval armour and weapons. Node wasn’t sure, but it seemed to her she found herself amidst some really strange people.
The clown began talking. What he said seemed ridiculous to Node. A different Japan? A world of gods? Gods don’t exist – she knew this to be a fact. The Collective has been to thousand of worlds and it had yet to see any evidence of the existence which could be classified as a “god”. Usually it was just empty myths, and only in some cases it was an extremely advanced civilization manipulating a primitive one. Yet this ridiculous person claims that her world was created by a god and asks her to go and find it? Don’t talk nonsense.
Then it struck her. A sudden realization made her momentarily break her emotionless appearance as her eyes widened in surprise. It is so silent. There were no whispers coming from other Nodes, no presence of the Collective weighing in the back of her mind. Node was alone, for the first time in months, and she felt lonely and exposed. She fought back the urge to run away from this place and find a safe place to hide. It makes no sense! As long as I am on Earth I should be able to sense other Nodes. Where are they?
She was return to reality by the voice of the third person present. The knight seemed equally unimpressed by the clown’s speech as she was, but unlike her he appeared eager to fight as long as the reason was convincing enough. Node herself wanted to ask the clown some questions, but it seemed to her that it wouldn’t be easy to get him to answer. His whole body language gave off the feeling that he now just wanted them to go away. Such attitude irked Node and she felt the urge to send a short barrage from her cannon into the clown’s head.
Instead of doing that, however, Node turned to the knight.
“I think I already know the answer but I have to confirm: you are not with him?”
