Nation Name: Divine Empire of Hastur
Type of Government: Absolute Theocratic Monarchy
Head(s) of Government: The Radiant Emperor
Economy (Main imports, exports, industries, etc.): Hastur is a relatively traditional nation of artisans rather than industrial workers, still, due to its sheer size it can be independent from the outside and doesn't suffer from foreign competition against the domestic goods. This tendency to fix prices and at times simply nationalize certain sectors of the economy has been good for the people in general, but dysmal for industrialization. There are a couple state of the art factories but they are almost exclusively ran by the state and are generally 'non-profit' as they for example aim to deliver weapons for the armies, not to sell them to it.
Exports:
-Foodstuff
-Precious Metals
-Luxury Goods
Imports:
-Weapons
-Industrial Goods
-Slaves
Unique Technologies:-The Ontology: The rules of magic in the world have been established for quite some time as it being a power from within. But The Ontology of Hastur is different, for it is a power from without. This has been hailed as a proof by the philosopher and clerics of Hastur that Hastur alone is a true God and that these are not the works of magic, but true divine miracles! One may notice that the 'powers of a god' seem in many ways more limited than that of a mage in how it must be casted using precise incantations, movements and wearing specific items in certain holy places, but its effect is undeniable for in this global crisis Hastur has for the most part, thanks to The Ontology, always received bountiful harvests.
Primary Species: Humans
Population: 150,000,000
Government:For all of its known history, Hastur has always been founded around a powerful bureaucratic administration that was generally meritocratic. Through the centuries however, instabilities within the Golden Palace led to the Janisi caste getting increasing influence within the administration until it took it over. Janisis are educated castrated slaves that have either been captured very young or are of second generation. It is a well kept secret, but the blood of the bearers of the Golden Mask has been foreign to Hastur for many generations now.
The Palace is a microcosm of its own where its all politics as a lowly eunuch cleaning the marble floors can rise to become one of the most powerful person of the world if he is cunning enough. This makes Mask Bearers ruthlessly good at internal politics, but maybe makes them focus too much on that. Very little bearers have taken interest in the outside world lately, too busy dodging plots and poison to care.
It doesn't mean this attention is unwarranted though, for outside the Golden Palace are the local governors and the Warlords. The governors have mostly been neutered as the semi-democratic selection process where landed men may voice their opinion to select whom they think should serve as governor is generally decided by the Palace as it'd be very hard to get the landowners to vote for a conclusive choice that isn't the Palace's. In addition to this, the post of governor comes with great priviledges such as a Janisi administrative cadre, bodyguards and a harem that should in theory be loyal to the governor alone but who of course spy for the Palace (To be sent to work away from the Palace in the Provinces is seen as a punishment by most and as a way to keep enemies far for some, though one shouldn't underestimate how much power a Janisi away from the Palace and with the ear of a powerful Governor can get. Many 'usurpers' were ousted from the Golden Palace by outsiders.)
And then of course, there are the Warlords. The meritocratic system of Hastur extends to its army as well where trained military academy students get junior posts along with promoted soldiers showing potential. Promotions get approved from the top down but this gets complicated when the title of 'Warlord' needs to be given. The process is that the upper officers of the army in question join to select one of themselves to take the title and then ask for approval of the Palace. The Radiant Emperor can of course refuse and appoint whomever he chose but military men tend to be independent minded and choosing an outsider generally leads to an assassination marathon and 'accidents' to happen.
The Golden Palace thus does whatever it can so the Warlords position remains precarious, its main balancing tool being the relentless competition between the Military Academy officers and the Promoted Grass-to-brass ex-grunts who tend to hate each others.
Culture:Hasturian culture has been shaped massively by its religion and the quest for perfection and betterment, both personal and through the generations and that purity of thoughts and actions lead to health and a long life. The culture thus has a somewhat superficial aspect to it in the fact that good and healthy looking individuals are prone to be seen as better at making choices while a successful person that is say, ugly or afflicted by cancer will be suspected to have achieved his success in dishonorable a fashion by exploiting the people under him and so forth.
While this is a stereotype, it doesn't mean any good looking person just waltzing in is certain to get a prestigious job for at the same time, betterment of the mind and education are also held in high regard, making the Hasturian society quite educated.
Why then, would they keep believing in such baloney as an immortal emperor that got unmasked and killed publicly dozens of times through history?
This baffles outsiders but what a lot of them fail to understand, prefering to think themselves superior to Hasturians most of the time, is that the 'Divine Mandate' of the Radiant Emperor is a white lie that everyone silently acknowledge because its better for stability. Indeed, why has the Empire grown to such heights and population in a world ravaged by warfare? Because of the silent agreement that when two rulers with equal right to rule should rise, then you just side with the one that treats the peasants better and say 'Hail the Radiant Emperor' to just like that be on the right side of history and get on with life without having to go through a devastating civil war. Hasturians simply don't care a whole lot for Palace Intrigue and the Great Game of politics, just going along with whatever's happening currently as not to ruin something good.
And likewise, the Palace prefers not to intervene too much in mundane affairs, except of course to extract wealth out of it. The taxes tend to be flat across the board, a successful merchant not paying a whole lot more than a landless peasant and said taxes would be considered quite high if it wasn't for the value of human lives. Indeed, a household (as determined as everyone of the same blood living under the same roof) may pay its taxes with a life. This means lower income households often pay their entire taxes every year with their offsprings, providing a massive supply of new slaves that will go to the Janisi Academy to either succeed and move to greater things or fail to then grow the ranks of the Central Army or to serve in the state owned industries, mainly the exploitation of deep and dangerous mines.
This system where a massive part of the males are castrated and used as cheap muscle also permits the Empire to allow polygamy as it has a healthy surplus of women. It is judged as a good factor as less successful families will tend to go extinct by selling their young males into slavery and females for dowries, insuring society betters itself. Beware to the households who have neither gold nor young children to pay for the taxes else the tax office may declare them bankrupt and defunct, all assets being seized and people enslaved. Any non child has considerably less value as a slave as they can't take the Janisi exams and are automatically sent to hard labor.
Religion and Other Beliefs:'In the beginning there was only the chaos of everything that was and could be, changing at every moment. For aeons, the darkness that creates and destroy pointlessly created and destroyed, that is until Hastur was made and he could not be destroyed. Hastur then separated things from the everything and from things made the world as we know it. To keep things orderly while he busied himself creating the universe, Hastur created life, a thing chaotic by nature but the only thing capable of repairing the damages caused by entropy, the Crawling Chaos that hides everywhere, and so it was good.'
'It is the ideal of any sentient being to change itself for the better to try and reach artificially what Hastur is naturally: Perfection. The Radiant Emperor, steward of Hastur on this world, is by far the most touched being on this planet. Immortal and above the power of any and all on this earth, his flesh is of solid gold and to witness it would be sure to leave a man blind. His cunning and intelligence is also beyond that of any mortal and as such, to question his actions is futile and one must know that in the end, it is all part of the Grand Plan to instill perfection on this earth and build paradise.'
'There is only one way to perfection and a single wrong action leads to failure and chaos, for a perfect being would never have made a mistake. The way to perfection is uncertain for the only being who never made a mistake ever is the Radiant Emperor but to be placed in the care of his chosen educators is certainly a safe choice to give your offspring a better chance at perfection.'
'Failure to achieve perfection is most likely and so most are destined to return to the Crawling Chaos. But do not worry, for Hastur works tirelessly to separate things from everything so in time, you shall have another chance as you are reborn pure and without the dark mark of mistakes.'
'Outsiders will say that through history, the Radiant Emperor has been ousted from power and unmasked many times, but it is important to look at history in hindsight. The Radiant Emperor always returned triumphant and that is because every event in history was part of the Grand Plan, for the Radiant Emperor never once did a mistake in his existence. At times the Grand Plan demanded body doubles to be put in place and traitors to be allowed to fake being the Emperor at times. If you ever ask yourself 'If the Radiant Emperor is perfect, how could he have known failure?', you have already failed on the road to perfection but should know that your feeble mind simply cannot understand the Grand Plan. For example, if a people is becoming weak and effeminate, then the harshness of war and devastation will whip them back into shape and closer to Perfection. There is always a point to what the Radiant Emperor does.'
Climate:
This country that should in all certainty be dry and hot at all times benefits from a bountiful wet season where suddenly rivers and green sprout in the harsh wasteland, allowing for bountiful harvests and beautiful flora to exist for a bit less than 6 months before the heat returns and everything dies again. This is the cycle of life and most inhabitants of the empire live with it, busying themselves with farmwork during the monsoon and with craftsmanship during the dry season.
Military:-LAND:Military affairs of the empire have historically been a large and complex affair without the existence of radio or telegraphs and as such, the distant provinces of the Empire were assigned commander given practically unlimited power as to the recruitment, training and deployment of his forces, many wars were fought in the pass without a single word of the Emperor as the Warlords have also diplomatic privileges and the duty to protect Hasturian interests whenever they can. Today things are slowly reforming with the creation of a central military academy but still the regional commanders have extreme powers compared to any military officer of any rank in most nations.
-The
Border Armies are poorly equipped with overstock last generation bolt action rifles and the likes from more advanced nations and their training ranges from decent to lackluster depending on which of the four armies they are from.
The Septentrional army led by
Warlord Selim Al-Facil is reputed to be a hardened fighting force with much experience behind it fighting Acradian forces in constant border skirmishes involving them punching way above their supposed strength against a superior enemy. The north however holds some of the poorest provinces of the Empire and is where the monsoon ends, leaving only desert, as such it isn't the most numerous army, which isn't helped by the fact that Al-Facil is reputed to be confrontational and critical of the Golden Palace, which in turns try to limit his power as much as possible.
The Oriental army led by
Warlord Alaydin Al-Mansul guards the eastern coast and a large part of the front behind the Septentional army. These two bodies should ideally work together if they'd hope to have success in the northern operations but Al-Mansul is a known stooge of the Golden Palace prefering much more to spend his days with concubines and enjoying the benefits of his position than really lead his men. As such his army, while sizable and in theory well equipped and supplied, has grown complacent and lazy, anyone competent being held back to lower ranks as not to menace the position of the Warlord.
The Occidental army led by
Warlord Sheik Mustafa Al-Bagreb has always been considered 'Old and reliable' like the general leading it. Al-Bagreb himself is far from a tactical genius but is yet considered an excellent Warlord due to his ability to remain calm, identify good ideas and manage inter-officer relationship within his Staff as well as temper the expectations of the Golden Palace. He doesn't hesitate to say he owes his long and succesful carreer to his ability to avoid praise and that his greatest trait is humility. His forces are thus kept at robust efficiency though innovation maybe isn't his strong suit.
And finally, the Meridional army led by
Warlord Simbel Beiyang, alone in the south. With the relations warming with Alvaria and Hsir while in the north things go to hell, the Meridional army is considered the least important of the 4, but if anything this just leaves more room for Beiyang to further his expertise. The man went to the military Academy and was trained by foreigners, having already travelled the world to get lectures from the best modern generals and taking his job very seriously, he constantly studies both the latest in military news and all military history he can gets his hands on. Knowing not to let bodies grow idle, he spends his and the time of his men training and preparing for fantasy invasion scenarios by the neighbors, knowing preparation, while it doesn't survive contact with the enemy very often, is still key to success.
Then, there is the
Central Army. All of the wealth the empire receives amasses itself in the Golden Palace and the Central army has historically been the most likely to march on the palace to 'remove usurpers' and as such it is always kept under tight control and a short leash. This army is also the one to intervene should a Warlord or provincial governor get upity and defy the Radiant Emperor and as such, it gets the benefits of all the advanced weaponry and training offered by the rest of the world to Hastur. Its troops are capable of great things, remains to see if he who will lead them will get his post due to competence or nepotism for lions led by a sheep are a menace to no one.
And finally at the core are the personal troops of the Emperor. In the palace, the
Key Masters and their
Underlings guard specific doors of the Palace, some obvious some secrets, but their role is mostly ceremonial, the body guards are
Elite Janisi indoctrinated from birth to fear only the eternal hell that awaits them should they break their oath not of protecting the emperor's life (for he is immortal and his intellect so great he'd never get caught in a disfavorable position in the first place), but to protect his divine sight from things so displeasing as someone foolish enough to even try the impossible!
-NAVY:Curiously, the navy (or rather navies as East and West are almost completely dystinct), despite being the subject of the least attention from the capital in term of reforms, is easily the most effective force of Hastur and indeed is considered frighteningly powerful by many, Fenice especially who in the lat ten years saw the Western Navy being considered a bunch of pirate rabble to a near-peer menace that manages to cause considerable military loses and crippling civilian ones. This is mostly due to a lack of oversight from the Golden Palace (You can't sail a ship to the Palace to make a coup) that allows true meritocracy to be achieved along with with a prize system giving out generous rewards for capture and destruction of enemy ships making the post of Sealord one the most lucrative enterprise in Hastur at the moment without counting the monstrous profits to be made in capturing freight and slaves.
The Western Navy under
Sealord Mistral Grel, a demi dark elf exodite from Acrad, has grown legendary for its boldness and balls-to-the-walls raids on Fenice, the best known of them being how a slave raid on the island of Djin that had been held by Fenice for centuries turned in a liberation thought impossible just because Grel saw an opportunity and took it. He is now the wealthiest man in Hastur and attracts countless wannabe mariners with his generous gifts of prize money to the best crews as he now focuses on vanquishing rather than just fighting back the Fenician navy using a doctrine of combined surface, submarine and air ships to try and crack open their battlefleets, sink their sea castles and retake all of the land lost to foreigners and their navy for the Emperor declared he'd reward the person responsible for such a feet with a wish of anything one might desire. What Grel desire is for the Emperor to command his armies to march on Acrad and liberate his homeland from the boot of the humans there, make this land a province and make he, of course, governor.
Where the western navy and its Sealord are reputed for boldness and aggression,
Sealord Nizar Al-Reef is liked by his men for being a no-nonsense and eerily silent type. A friend of the merfolks and other undersea humanoids that make a significant part of his crew, he prefers to leave slve taking to others as he just sinks his targets and pillage them from the sea floor. Reputed to be a frustrating enemy, he always seeks to not lose before trying to win and isn't one to take baits or being forced in a corner.
-AIR:Sealords and Warlords all have their small auxiliary flying units but there was never a true Air Force, united in its command until recently. The newly appointed
Skylord Seung Lafla was top of his class along with the now Walord Beifang in his class of the Military Academy. It was unofficially built thanks to the effort and material of Avalia but isn't stuck within the framework of its doctrine either as Avalia never did bother to make this training official. Still, the fleet is relatively modern and its officers and crew well trained and eager, the next step is to create a native design produced within Hastur.
Magic Prevalence/Usage:The use of magic (as opposed to miracles done using the Ontology) was always borderline heretical if only for the fact that mages tended to try and call out priests as just doing magic the same way they did, which is heretical, but there never were purges. There is even a small but prosperous mage's guild in Hastur promoting responsible and above all, discreet, use of magic. Recently however things changed. On one hand it seems like mages are more in demand than ever with the Coreshaw delegation building prototype magic powered factories but on the other, it is rumored slaves with magic and the poorer mages are disappearing to... somewhere.
History/ Background Info:Hastur has been there since recorded history (which conveniently starts about 3000 years ago, anything older being impossible to find) and it is said that before there were only tribes of men obeying the will of powerful witches and wizards calling themselves dieties until Hastur revealed itself to the Radiant Emperor. With the power of the almighty Hastur, the 'golden man' defeated all who opposed him, enslaving and neutering the men and marrying their women to insure ethnic unity (and indeed, the generic 'Hasturian' people are the largest single ethnicity of the world) and would go on to conquer, having a massive magical edge over its enemies.
At times Hastur was closed on itself, at others it became resurgent but always its enemies feared its armies, unending and with the backing of a numerous population to equip and pay for it. Even as firearms revolutionized warfare, it only seemed to make Hastur stronger for its craftsmen were eager to show their expertise to the world! When the industrial revolution came around however, Hastur did not partake in it with the same enthusiasm. It was anathema to the culture of self perfection Hastur had always preached, one of the things that made it strong in the olden times as the men strove for perfection while others wallowed in contempt of their own situation. It is impossible to become a master of anything if you work in a factory hitting the same nail on different shoes, over and over again.
Then, trouble began. Foreigners saw the weakness of Hastur, but still it had the gold of its past glories. Foreigners demanded concessions, unequal treaties and gold, meanwhile the Radiant Emperor dodged conspiracy after conspiracy, many armies unmasking false emperors and placing others on the golden throne. It was 50 years ago that the downward spiral seemed to slow down and stop, the Emperor having changed his strategy from uh... letting the fakes fight one another, to then return on his throne and stay there. It was 10 years ago however that Hastur rather than recover, once again began to expand! The volcano was a curse sent by the Emperor on Fenice for their hubris and with the north falling apart, the dark elves of Acrad who had so long resisted the emperor came to beg him for safety that he provided, in the south more tribes were annihilated and overall, Hastur stands greater than ever and not at all overextended. In fact, it hungers for more.
Nation Relations: -Republic of Acrad: Acrad in its multitude of states had been for the last couple centuries the bulwark of the north, the enemy with which Hastur traded blows for generations. Hastur cheered as the nations of the desert collapsed and indeed secured territories out of the whole ordeal but they didn't foresee that it would actually come back from this chaos, much less that it would do it so fast. Maybe energy spent fighting Fenice would have been better used putting Acrad out of Hastur's misery once and for all but what is done is done. Everyone knows Acrad and Hastur will fight again, but its a question of when.
-Hsir Confederacy: Back in the days, Hsir seemed the weak link of the chain around Hastur, an easy target. The reptiles proved the Empire otherwise. Hostilities between the nations really kind of... stopped. One day it was war, the other Hastur was too busy elsewhere. Warlord Beifang and the local governors didn't push the issue, it seemed these folks were contempt staying in their mountains and so they'd leave them. Whatever they had of worth was easier to trade for that to take by force.
Name: ??? (The Radiant Emperor)
Age: ??? (It is theorized the first Radiant Emperor destroyed all recorded history of Hastur over 2500 years ago to create the religious narrative Hastur is known for today.)
Psychology: His Radiance seem to have decided lately that the Grand Plan demands modernization and an end to the centuries of isolationism the Empire's been in. Hastur will unite all, but pragmatic deals with other temporal leaders who think somehow they'll conserve their authority on the long run shouldn't be discarded either.
Physical Description: ???
History: ??? (Looking for a princess to have been captured and enslaved by Hasturian forces and have sired an offspring that would be the current person behind the mask.)
GoldForest
