Skepic — Roleplayer Guild

Nation Name:
The Republic of Avalia

Type of Government:
A Federal Republic

Head(s) of Government:

-  President Aarne Styke, executive leader of The Republic of Avalia
- Field Marshal Joni Aake, Leader of the General Staff and commander of Avalian Armed Forces
- Hilppa Karlsson, council member, Head of R&D
- Benjam Hollo, Head of the Tears of the Sky Labor Union
- Jari Karvinen, Head of the Socialist Party
- Niklos Gallen, Head of the "Republican Movement" Conservative Party

Unique Technologies
Avalia enjoys an advance specialization in aerospace research and development, boasting of a robust and sizable air force and airship fleet. For further details, see below in Economy and Military sections

Vast Hydrium Refineries cover the coast and inland of Avalia. Considering the nation's heavy reliance on airships in both military and civilian worlds, Avalia has developed a world class Hydrium industry to support its massive air fleets. 

Economy/Technology: 
Thanks to the progressive policies set forth by the preceding monarch, the Avalian economy has done well to modernize and industrialize to a point of being on par with most modern powers. This is also thanks to in part the large systems of navigable rivers that snake through the nation, generating a far higher ceiling for potential capital wealth. In fact, with trade and transport relatively easy, the resulting canals and railways only furthered this rise in both credit and capital. With a growing middle class and a easing of acquiring credit, this has led to a boom in entrepreneurship and innovation. Despite this industrialization, and with it, urbanization, some of the main exports come from agriculture, being namely cotton and wheat. Salt, coal, and Hydrium also remain high on the export list, thanks to the very rich low lying mountains that make up part of the eastern border. The largest imports happened to be sugar, coffee, silver, and spices. 

The lack of a proper merchant marine and the domestic problems at home as created a highly centralized economy within the nation. Large unions control vast swaths of labor, unions who have struggled to remain in the rising wave of nationalism. Various ideas of Social Liberalism and Market Liberalism are practiced within by said organizations as the government itself has yet to take any true hard stance on the matter. Regardless, the Republic most certainly practices and endorses capitalism and only seeks to modify the system, not outright replace it with an entirely different system. This has lead to an explosion of a middle class and with it, a internal consumer market, creating a healthy tax base that has been more than useful in stitching the country back together. 

 The nation’s military and civilian benefit from cutting edge communication technology which when combined with their complex railroad, road, and more recently canal efforts have lead to a nation where a message from one end of the nation could be spread to all the far corners in merely hours or days. 

Among many of the innovations, none of have causes as much of a stir than in heavier than air flight. For the past few decades, the modernized army had utilized a wide variety of aerospace technologies, ranging from military and commercial airships to a cutting edge aircraft design and production industry. It is needless to say that technological innovation stems from the focus of returning to their natural homes in the sky. As a result, not only do Avalians enjoy an incredibly advance air force in both doctrine and equipment, but also the branching techs the allow such things to be possible such as advance long range radios and communication devices. 

Hydrium is a naturally occurring substance in our world, seeping out of vents in the planet's crust or contained in pockets and chambers. This substance is naturally lighter than Hydrogen and far safer, allowing safer and more practically viable airships. Often being described as smelling of mangoes, Hydrium can be refined into higher/"sweeter" grades of gas, allowing more efficient lift capacity. The process in which to properly harvest, refine, and use Hydrium can be very intensive to set up, requiring large amounts of infrastructure and capital to make worthwhile. While one could, theoretically simply slap a nozzle on a natural vent and call it a day, it would be far more worth while to process the stuff into something far more efficient. This also means, due to its gas nature, that transporting and trading Hydrium can be a difficult endeavor, as both traders would need to have the infrastructure and facilities to receive and store the gas. (Think of it to being similar to the production and exportation of Natural Gas, but maybe a little less intense). As a result, Avalia is covered in a network of pipelines and storage facilities for Hydrium used by both military and civilians alike. Some of the major Hydrium refineries in the world exist along the coast of Avalia, for ease of transport and trade. 

Primary Species:
Humans

Valkyrians, Valkyria
The natives of the lands of Avalia are known as Valkyria. In terms of their physiology, they are fairly similar to humans, but with very notable differences. First and foremost is their bird like features.With their large wings and feathered tails sprouting from their lower backs, giving them the natural ability to fly. For a Valkyria, flying is nearly no different from walking or running, making them incredibly mobile creatures. For the rest of their physiology, Valkyrians stand at a modest 5’2 to 5’3 with rare exceptions, normally possessing hair/feather colors of black, white, and brown. Valkyrians also seem to naturally perform better at high, thin air altitudes, where normally humans would have difficulty breathing, making them right at home in the sky. 

Population:
51 Million 

Culture:
For much of Avalia’s history, a strong divide between the nobility and the peasantry has existed. Between the ethnic origins of the Valkyrians and Humans to the infamous book “The Peoples of Law”, a strong sense of servitude and noble birthright had been enforced. This all changed, however, with the rise of King Holfgar the VII, otherwise known as the “Iron King”. His radical changes in both power and economic structure has lead to a growing sense of self determination and hatred for the nobility. Even as the merchants coffers grew, they were still held by tradition to be subservient to even the poorest of the noble families, as was their noble blood. 

This has radically changed over the past decades since the revolution, as now Avalians are filled with a strong sense of indepence, self determination, and sense of freedom. While racial divides are still prevalent, the nation as a whole has enjoyed a slow but sure move towards further equality by the two races, gradually shifting its focus to the class divides that nation faces rather than the racial ones. 

Religious and Other Beliefs:
While many in this growing age of rationalism prefer to merely believe in the natural order of the world, some still speak of the ancient prophecies and traditions that swirl around the original peoples and the mysterious “King of the Skies”. Some call him a god, others merely think he was a powerful ruler of the time, but no one has yet known for sure what to make of it. Aside from that, various major religions are practice without much fuss for now. 

Location/Territories:
Dark Green

Climate:
Fair temperate, experiencing warm summers and cold winters. 

Military:

"Join Today! For Honor and Duty"

The Avalian Military Forces are split between three distinct branches of operations. These are the Avalian Ground Army, The Airborne Forces, and the Coastal Defense Forces. 

The Avalian Ground Army is comprised of much of the regular infantry, motorized, and armored divisions of the Avalian military. Both Humans and Valkyrians serve in this branch, often mixed together rather than separated to provide more tactically flexible infantry. Avalian armor is still relatively new and untested, relying a doctrine of light cavalry tanks and infantry support vehicles. Within the army is a traditional, ancient order of troops known as “The Mountain Watch”. 

Standard Avalian troops are moderately trained and are equipped with semi-automatic rifles, light and heavy machineguns, and occasionally sub-machine guns. Infantry utilize company based radiomen to access fire support from either the air or ground, allowing the potential firepower per soldier to rapidly increase.

The hardy, traditionally oriented mountain peoples have their own special infantry known as "The Mountain Watch". Their centuries old duty is to guard the mountain passes and border of Avalia, existing in both Kingdom and Republic. Sometimes, however, divisions of Mountain Watch soldiers will be used elsewhere, particularly in rugged environments. These soldiers are considered a step above the regular infantry men, but are much fewer in number than the standard conscript.

The Avalian armored divisions, much like the Coastal Defense Forces, are seeing rapid and sudden improvement thanks to the new government. Currently, the Avalian armored divisions consist of light Calvary tanks sporting 47mm cannons and coaxial machine guns. They are relatively fast with a top speed of 20mph on flat terrain and enough armor to stop low caliber cannon rounds from the front. Its most beloved feature by crewmen is its ease of maintenance and reliability. A problem that plagued earlier and heavier "infantry support" tanks in the past.

The Airborne Forces consist of most of the aerial assets of the Avalian military, including aircraft, airship fleets, and the infamous “Winged Fusiliers” elite Valkyrian infantry. They are often used in support of ground forces, and practice a specific doctrine using airships as mobile, forward bases from which aircraft and infantry alike can be deployed to support advancing or defending ground and naval forces. As a result, many airships are lightly armed as opposed to some ironclad contemporaries, as they are not expected to engage directly in ship to ship combat. 

Air Group One on the move

Aigie Class Carrier 

A cutaway of a standard Avalian troop transport

The Airborne Fleet consists of a variety of support vessels. The largest class can carry up to ten aircraft of either fighters or attackers while smaller classes carry companies of Winged Fusiliers and all Valkyrian infantry divisions. None of the classes of airships sport heavy cannon, however, plenty carry both short range and long range anti-air weaponry. None the less, Avalian Air Fleet doctrine is to rely on the much faster, long range aircraft and anti airship units to engage enemy airship fleets.

The Winged Fusiliers are a veteran force of the all Valkyrian infantry divisions that serve in the Airborne Fleet. These soldiers are armed with a variety of specialized weaponry and are used as shock troops in combat. In both experience and tactics theses are far from normal infantry.

The AI-3B "Pekke" is the standard airship interceptor that is used in tandem with attacker aircraft. Sporting a large, high velocity 57mm cannon, it aims fill airships with armor piercing explosive shells with precision. Due to the size of the cannon, the aircraft is somewhat unwieldy and cannon fire can be inaccurate when sustained. 

Anti Tank cannons are also a part of Winged Fusiliers specializations. Utilizing this 14.5mm gun and assisted propulsion modules, a Fusilier can deliver pinpoint fire against either enemy armored ground forces or air.

An A-15A featured in the center of a dogfight
The A-15 is the main fighter and work horse of the Avalian Air Force. Sporting four 12.7mm machine guns and a top speed of 370mph on average, it makes for a durable dogfighter. Its main advantages lay in its sturdy air frame and rugged design, allowing it to take plenty of punishment while being able to return the favor. Due to this, however, it isn't particularly great in turning, instead, being more reliant on its speed and power to gain an edge.

AT-17A is the premier ground support aircraft of the Avalian Airborne forces. This two seater plane features two forward facing 12.7mm machine guns and four rear facing 7.62mm machine guns. The aircraft is built much like its fighter counterpart, with durability and engine power in mind. As a result, it still has a favorable speed of 330mph and usually carries has 5 hard point that can carry up to 1000lbs of bombs. A major drawback, however, is that it is too heavy to be airship based, and instead must rely on airstrips. 

ATT-18B
A step in a slightly different direction, the ATT-18B is a multi role attacker that airships carry. Designed with a lighter air frame and armament, this aircraft focuses on taking out enemy vessels in both the air and the sky. It can be equipped with anti-airship rockets, torpedoes, or up to 1000lbs of bombs. Thanks to its weight, it is far more agile than its counterparts, at the cost of being somewhat more vulnerable to fire. It also is the slowest of the single engine bunch, reaching a max speed of only 270mpm.

BM-12
The BM-12 is the heaviest bomber currently in service in Avalia. Its strange middle wing design allows it a substantial bomb load of 3000lbs. While not as widely made or used, there are "interceptor" variants designed to bring down airships, equipped with heavy cannons or anti airship rockets.

The Coastal Defense Forces is the most rapidly changing branch of the three, and handles most of Avalia’s naval needs. Due to the nature of its land bound neighbors and recent events, Avalia has never had the luxury of affording or focusing on a proper naval force. Now with the nation’s recovery in full swing and movement towards expansionism, the Coastal Defense Forces are rapidly undergoing refitting and rearming. For now though, the naval forces are merely made up of a combination of heavy cruisers, destroyers, and light patrol vessels alongside a number of strategically placed coastal fortifications. 
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Magic Prevalence/Usage:
Magic was outright banned from the masses centuries ago and has remained so ever since. Only the Royal Cabal of Sorcerers are allowed to practice. Every year “Dousers” go through the cities and farms to find those who contain large magic potential, and then are whisked away to become incredibly powerful sorcerers who serve the nobility, in particular, the king. Thus, while powerful and skillful users exist, they are very few in number, and solely serve the king. When they were outright slaughtered, magic within the nation died with them. Perhaps with the vacuum and changing times, it may return. 

History/ Background Info:

Where All Things Must Begin
“Welcome the people of the sky, and they shall serve well.”
-A common phrase found on artifacts of the region.

Much of the early history of the native Valkyrians to this land has been lost to time. What remains is mostly speculation, as recorded history of the region only begins after migratory human tribes began to settle the region, and consequently interact with them. Full integration was suspected to have occurred during the raider invasions of around 400 BCE. These invasions are to have supposedly created a deal among the two races, in which the more fortified human communities allowed shelter and safety so long as the peoples of the sky served them loyally . Many radicals point to these events as evidence for human superiority, but with recent trends and archeological digs, the evidence seems to suggest a far more symbiotic relationship than previously thought. 

The Rise of a Kingdom
“Those of noble blood, of noble mind, and of noble heart are the true heirs of this world!” 
-King Aaden Holfgar’s coronation speech. 

The Kingdom of Avalia was created when a man only remembered as “The Sky’s King” had binded the small fiefdoms surrounding his land under his rule through marriage, blood, and war around 200 BCE. Centuries of monarchy lead to a growing gap and disconnect from the peasantry and the nobility, particularly the Valkyrians, as the various families competed to gain favor with the high courts of the Royal Family. The Valkyrians and human peasantry began to become further agitated, and in response to the growing unrest, King Enar the III requested aid of the scholars of the high court. In response, a cabal of powerful sorcerers arrived, swearing loyalty to the crown and nobility. After a demonstration of their powerful magic, the masses became quite once more. 

This was further emphasized when in the early 1700s, a book was published titled “The Peoples of Law” detailing the necessity of the nobility. The very survival of the kingdom, the peasants, and the Valkyrians depended on the continued leadership of their King and his rulers, less the great and powerful forces and evils of the world, raiding from the sea and invading from the land, would destroy us all. 

The book became widespread and soon was taught to many dukes and duchesses, as well as preached to the common folk of the land. A mentality soon set in among many, that the nobility and their blood were of a special breed, a higher quality crop, then that of other lesser peoples. From noble to peasant, it was all sincerely believed for hundreds of years that this held sway. Having good harvests and generally staying out the major wars waged seem to justify, validate this belief. However, as the century began to turn, so to did Avalia’s history, and culture. 

A Man of Iron
“One man always makes a difference. Sometimes it’s a small one. Other times, he tips a war.” 
-King Harold Holfgar the VII to his advisors upon promoting Field Marshal Adron

The Kingdom of Avalia had more or less stagnated under monarchic rule. Series of unimpressive kings and queens had lead Avalia to the edge of outright decline in the 18th century, but soon one of the most ambitious men of Avalia’s history would take power. King Harold Holfgar the VII was crowned on May 3rd, 1820 at the age of twenty five years. This was a man with an insatiable appetite for power, and was the first of many to begin turning the nation towards total domination. For the first time, instead of seeking favor from the courts of nobles to achieve power, he sought to distance himself from it, to make it clear he was the one in charge, not the high court. Of course he was not public with this goal or idea, but began to make subtle changes to how the throne interacted with the noble families. 

First and foremost was the banning of the once treasured book “The Peoples of Law”. While it was seen significant, it was already falling out of favor with recent discoveries in the fields of science and biology, and merely served to encourage the nobility to empower themselves rather than the king himself. Secondly, in private, he ensured the total loyalty of the royal cabal of sorcerers to further secure his personal protection. Using them, he began to strong arm noble families into attending conferences, balls, and festivals hosted in the capital itself more often, all the while displaying his vast wealth to show who really ran the kingdom. Any who showed a hint of disloyalty was imprisoned while any who proved their loyalty gained favors and reward. Very soon he had much of the nobility behind himself. 

Once he had his house in order, so to speak, he began to work upon the nation itself. A century of near total stagnation had originally left the Kingdom of Avalia behind in many fields, thus he sought to change that. He invited merchants and artisans onto his council and together they began to re-industrialize the kingdom. Factories went up, mines were dug, and rail laid. A complete rework of the tax system fostered a great deal of easily acquired credit that, after the “adjusting” of a few laws, made it so those of lower class could acquire far larger loans than originally allowed. 

Soon private ventures were establish and a growing middle class began to form. While originally the noble families protested such moves, they soon grew quiet as their own coffers grew thanks to the booming economy and industry. King Holfgar even established an official “Royal Research Division” and injected his own funds into the University of Avalia to foster a more common form of education. These particular actions and his strong control over the nobility earned him his title “The Iron King”. While he never formally accepted this name, he certainly didn’t stop people from calling him such. 

With his economy pointed firmly in the right direction and modernizing, he turned his gaze towards the military itself. Previous kings had done little in the way of modernizing, but had at least created a professional standing army years ago. In this army, only the nobility could rise high in the ranks. It was unheard of, and almost illegal for a commoner to even become an officer, let alone a captain. Thus, it was a place were many of the noble families simpled dumped their bastards, sons, and daughters who were not being groomed to take over the house. As a result, the commissioned based system of the Avalian military had also lead to further stagnation. 

The Iron King sought to change this immediately, but he needed an example. An infallible man who demonstrated, no, commanded authority, regardless of his birth. That man was Robert Adron. Adron had entered the military at the very bottom, and through courageous valor in the new world, cunning, and quiet a few duels of honor, had risen through the ranks as high as captain. That seemed to have been as high as he could go, as a noble family conspired to prevent him from climbing any further as revenge for shooting their son’s ear off in a duel. After reading through the seemingly endless pile of recommendations, commendations from both peers and officers alike, the Iron King stepped in personally and resolved the matter. Acting as a sort of not-patreon-yet-totally-a-patreon, Adron was able to rise higher and higher until becoming Field Marsha himself in 1880. With this promotion, Adron went about further modernizing the military, completely banning the noble commission system, reforming conscription laws, and modernizing both the military tactics and logistical systems. 

It seemed that the Iron King had found his strong man general, and was just about to finally begin plotting his endgame. . . 

Where All Things Must End

On September 8th, 1888, King Holfgar the VII died due to a sudden heart failure. His one and only heir, now King Holfgar the VIII, was more interested in his women than in his country. The royal court practically seized power and began to undo much of the Iron King’s work. Many loudly protested, and none louder than Adron and his wife. They both accused, quiet openly, that the nobility would rather see Avalia outright absorbed into the noble families own holdings than care for its citizens. The nobility, at the height of their power, thought to teach Adron like a attack dog why he was to obey the hand that fed him, not bite it.

On a warm, spring day in 1891, the nobility in quick succession with both the royal cabal and King’s Guard arrested, tried, and beheaded Adron’s wife while he was away inspecting a military post. He was mailed his wife’s head in a box. From then on, it seemed the old attack dog had learned its lesson with Adron quieting down. 

This was the final straw, both for Adron and the nation. Within ten years of scheming and planning, Adron overthrew the monarchy in a bloody coup that saw the entirety of the nobility slaughtered and beheaded. Shockingly, however, he did not seize direct power. Instead, co-conspirators worked together to form a proper representative government while Adron safeguarded the nation from both internal and external foes alike. 

After a long and arduous career, Adron finally retired and soon died in 1905 at the very old age of 82 years, leaving a growing, newly renewed nation behind him. Since them, his martial legacy has lived on in the Avalian military and the government itself now at full strength promised to continue his dream of a strong, safe nation made by the people, for the people. 

Forward into the Century of Ash

Following the cataclysmic event that was the eruption and start of the “Century of Ash”, Avalian government faltered as it struggled to keep its population fed during the years of long winters. The economy was hit hard as a result, and nearly collapsed when a socialist president’s well meaning relief plan backfired horrendously. Total collapse was avoided, however, thanks to the newly elected conservative president Arne Styke. President Styke’s quick action and rallying radio show held the nation together until it could properly recover from the disaster. Now in his second term, he looks to do more than simply rebuild the Republic, but expand it into the greater horizon and take advantage of the power vacuum left in the wake of the eruption. With strong political backing and a rapidly revitalizing economy, President Styke sets his sights on a new age. An Avalian Age. 

Nation Relations: TBA
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